E16
MLP: FiM
Slice of Life
Five years ago, sixteen mares founded a hotel in New Jersey called the Mareiott. These are their stories.
Human
Other
AlwaysDressesInStyle · 350k words · 1.4k views

Cherry Pie Chapter Expansion · 3:59am April 10th

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It must be Cherry Pie’s day. The image above was literally just uploaded to Derpibooru today. This is completely unexpected! Between that and the chapter addition, this is probably the most excitement this obscure toy-only character has seen since she was released over a decade ago. So as a bonus, I'm also posting Cherry Pie, Pet Unicorn as a separate story.

It’s only taken me four years to give Cherry Pie a proper background. This is the second (and final) time her chapter has been expanded. With Act I finally nearing completion, it’s been obvious for quite some time that the earlier characters were shortchanged. Cherry Pie and Daisy Dreams especially, considering that when I initially wrote their chapters I was expecting chapter lengths between 4,000-5,000 words. Instead we’ve ended up with 13,000-16,000 words. With three of the characters getting even more than that.

It’s been a long time since Cherry Pie’s chapter was initially expanded, and even more since it was originally posted. It’s hard to believe that at one point this chapter was only a little over 4,000 words. It’s even harder to believe that I once thought the story would be completely finished more than 100,000 words ago.

The story has changed so much since then. Cherry Spices shows up in Plumsweet’s chapter, and so she gets an early cameo here. I’m trying to avoid ‘one degree of separation’ for the cast, but in this case they’re both part of the Cherry family so it only makes sense for them to know each other. Distant relatives who see each other once a year, but there’s still a connection.

Another thing that’s been revealed since the chapter was posted is that Cozy Glow is Flitterheart’s sister. There was an intentional setup here in Cherry’s chapter (with meeting her during the rampage) and then in Daisy’s chapter (with the Legion of Doom being the villains in an RPG session). Keep this last part in mind, we’re coming back to it.

At the time, the idea was to make readers wonder if there could be any good in Cozy, because Flitterheart’s story is intertwined with Cozy’s. Can Flitterheart truly have a happy ending without Cozy? If not, then Cozy must also have a happy ending. There are very few regrets I have with this story. It’s been a fun ride so far, and I anticipate that will continue, especially once we’re out of Equestria and can start spending some time on Earth. These last few chapters have been slow because this is the genesis of this very ‘verse. I have to make sure I can live with these decisions as we go on.

I mention this because the biggest regret I have is that I set Cozy up to be completely innocent. My original idea was that she would grow jealous of Flit’s ability to make friends (and her own seeming inability to make friends/be anything more than a hanger-on with Flit’s group). I think that’s more in character with Cozy Glow. But there was speculation that something was amiss in Equestria, and with G5 more-or-less confirming that, I ran with it. So instead, she’s been corrupted by an evil entity of some sort. Dark magic? The Nightmare? We shall see!

That means the tone will shift from slice-of-life to action as the story progresses. This was never intended to become an action story, but I have a fairly good idea what’s going to happen in the end. That said, I’m not sure who the villain is going to be just yet. I’ve teased some options (primarily Discord and Starlight Glimmer, and there are some others who’ve been placed in just the right positions so it doesn’t seem like they came completely out of left field when the time comes). That’s really going to come down to what all of you want to see. When we get closer to the time when I absolutely have to lock in a villain, I’ll be posting a blog discussing it. This is a long story – it’s an investment of time not just for me, but for all of you reading along. I’ve read stories that I loved right up until the last chapter when everything just falls apart. I don’t want to pull the rug out from under any of you. Likewise, I don’t want the ending to be deus ex machina either.

Do I have a preference? Absolutely! But I’ve written this in a way that I have multiple options when the time is right.

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There have been certain things that were locked in stone before I started typing the first words of this story (for example, Cozy Glow ). Literally and figuratively in her case – one of the first things I decided was that Cozy Glow would be Flitterheart’s sister (an excellent reason to move away from Equestria). One of the other early ideas was that the very first pony to be featured would be moving to Earth to dodge debt. It was so stereotypical that I wanted to get it out of the way immediately. There were only two ponies of our sixteen mane characters who’d never showed up in Business Trip or Mr. Jones Goes To Equestria. Coincidentally, when alphabetizing the cast, they’re the very first (Cherry Pie) and very last (Sweetie Swirl). Thus it came to be that Cherry Pie’s life had to be ruined. That also meant that Sweetie Swirl, being the only pony to never appear at all previously, would retain her mystery with no hints about her at all until her debut in her chapter.

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With sixteen main characters, and a few bonus characters, I’ve done my best to keep things fresh and interesting. Cherry Pie is the stereotypical ‘running away from my problems’ just to get it out of the way. This is the kind of character the audience is expecting. Which is why I’ve wanted to give more backstory to Cherry Pie. Yes, she’s made some really bad decisions and she considers herself a bad pony as a result, but she really isn’t a deadbeat.

On a side note, Cherry Pie, Pet Unicorn (written for Ponyville CiderFest ’23) is a ‘what-if’ story showing what might have happened to Cherry Pie if she hadn’t been recruited to join the Mareiott by Snowcatcher and Ploomette. Based entirely on another line that’s been in this chapter since it was published: Maybe I’ll volunteer to be somebody’s pet.

Daisy Dreams is now the only pony who still needs her chapter expanded. She provides a great contrast with Cherry Pie, as a pony who’s going to Earth to further her education and become a better pony as a result.

We have one last new chapter in Act I. It will be yet another unique take on why this pony (and her sister) came to Earth. They weren’t trying to. They didn’t even know about Earth at the time… There have been hints about this in Bifröst’s and North Star’s chapters. Once we resolve this last plot point, we’ll move on to Act II and scenes from the Mareiott/Hotels Horsey.

The below image has absolutely nothing to do with the next chapter. Probably.

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Cherry Spices turns up! Plumsweet’s best friend is a part of the Cherry family, so she gets to cameo in this newly expanded chapter to go with her supporting role later on in the story. Not the first time a character that appeared later on got an early cameo in the expanded earlier chapters.

Seen below behind Zecora and next to Big Macintosh. Hay's is the place for ponies... and explosions.

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Fresh Cherries is named after a range of diecast cars featuring unloved cars. Pinto? Check! K-Cars? Yup! AMCs? You betcha!

_{Source: https://www.deviantart.com/captainelsa/art/Sweet-Sakura-Bear-598606770}

Cherrywood is named for Mickey Rooney’s character in The Care Bears Movie. He also showed up in one of my stories a few years ago: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/507849/therapy-session

Sweet Sakura is named for a Japanese-themed Care Bear.

Image my surprise while researching cherries to discover that sakura, Japanese for cherry blossom, is also Japanese for horse meat (sakuraniku, or sakura for short).

So for the purposes of this blog, her younger brother is named Cheval (French for horse meat) and has absolutely nothing to do with cherries. Definitely puts a different spin on Filly Cheesesteaks, that’s for sure.

Also, there’s a brand of horse jerky available in Europe called My Brittle Pony.

I can’t make this stuff up.

_{Source: IDW}

Cherry-themed ponies have been a thing with MLP since G1. Because of the size of the Cherry family, we see a pair of G1 ponies and a G3 make cameo appearances. Cherry Sweet is a G1 earth pony in blue with bright red hair and four cupcakes on her flank. Cherry Treats is white with bright red hair and a bowl of cherries for her cutie mark. She’s also from G1, so I’ve made them sisters (canonically, nothing says they’re sisters, but nothing says that they’re not siblings either; note that Cherry Sweet was a UK exclusive pony). Berries ‘n Cherries is from G3, she’s a pink earth pony and her symbol is a raspberry and a cherry.

G4’s Cherry Jubilee is also heavily inspired by G1’s Cherries Jubilee. Their names are similar, as is their look. Cherries Jubilee was in some of the G1 episodes.

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Cherry Pie suffers some angst over Cozy sparing her amidst the battle for Canterlot. This gets embiggened a bit more with her talks with Cherry Jubilee (note this is G4 Cherry Jubilee and not G1 Cherries Jubilee; for my sanity and all of yours, we won’t have both Cherry Jubilee and Cherries Jubilee appearing in this story ).

Which brings me back to Daisy Dreams’ RPG campaign where they manage to give the villainous trio redemption instead of petrification. Daisy’s chapter is the only one left to expand at this point. I’m considering changing that campaign to be another villain entirely. Not exactly a retcon (this particular campaign can be considered to have also happened, but may become a deleted scene), but a way of lessening the Cozy-overdose right at the beginning of the story. She’s one of the main plotlines of the story, and it’s nice to get an idea of how the various characters feel about her, but now that we’ve seen her side of events it’s overkill at this point.

The temptation to retcon Daisy’s chapter for real is there. With her modeling career added to Sunny Rays’ singing career (not to mention the rather infamous Starbeam Twinkle and the pegasus duchess, Ploomette), the hotel’s packed with celebrities. Sunny was never supposed to be a famous singer. My initial plan for her was to be a weathermare (which we also see in her chapter), but when inspiration hit, I knew it was the right direction.

If the story wasn’t being published as I go along, I’d have dropped the modeling angle on Daisy as a result. That way there’s only one celebrity instead of two. I’m not going to do that now though. I may reserve the right to make minor tweaks as I go along, but I don’t do retcons. Besides, if I cut that part of her character, now, I’d have to go back and get rid of one of my favorite exchanges in Snowcatcher’s chapter.

Dewey then pointed to Daisy Dreams. “Please tell me you know who that is.”
I looked at the earth pony again. She looked vaguely familiar. “Isn’t she the mare on the orange juice packaging?”
“No.” Dewey facehoofed. “Well, yes, she is, but she’s a professional model. She’s been on a lot of packaging and promoted a bunch of products.”
“It’s good orange juice.”
“Will you focus, Snowy? You have a famous model and a famous musician wanting to go in on this hotel with you.”
I shrugged. “Dewey, they’re ponies same as you or me. Celebrities have never meant anything to me.”

Snowy may be the glue holding them all together, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a silly pony sometimes. It’s also a good glimpse into her character – she doesn’t get starry-eyed just because somepony’s famous.

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I’m young and I have my whole life ahead of me. I’m not going to let one false start ruin everything.

This was actually in the original text. This isn’t a new addition, but for some reason my brain never made the mental connection until now. She’s on Earth for five years, minimum. That means…

False start. Five-year penalty. Repeat first down.

Yes, I can even make a bad wordplay based on something I wrote more than four years ago. :facepalm: It’s my special talent after all.

Speaking of bad puns, Cheery Jubilee, who lives in Dodge Junction, has named her trees just like the Apples have. Just as the Apple’s trees are named after mayors/politicians of New York City (The Big Apple), the Cherry’s trees are all named after Dodge (and other Chrysler Corporation) models. In this case, the treehouse’s tree is named after the Dodge Mirada.

_{Source: AlwaysDressesInStyle}

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Dodge Junction: ten years, two months, and seventeen days ago

I stared out the window as the train slowed to a stop. At first the scenery had been interesting, but we’d been traveling through scrub country for hours. We’d travelled halfway across Equestria for the Cherry family’s yearly reunion. The initial excitement of the journey had worn off during the train ride that had taken up most of the day. Now I was bored.

Daddy hadn’t joined us, so it was just Mommy and me trudging from the rail depot to Cherry Jubilee’s farm in Dodge Junction. We were tired from the long trip. I picked up the pace as I caught a whiff of the cherries on the trees, fatigue instantly forgotten as excitement coursed through my veins. I kicked up clods of dirt from the path as I raced down the road to the farm, Mommy struggling to keep up behind me.

We arrived just in time for the Cherry family dinner. Auntie Cherry Jubilee welcomed us with a smile, then herded us to the dinner table. Or rather, tables. With so many Cherry family members present, multiple tables had been set up.

While the adults discussed their plans for the upcoming harvest, I sat at the foals table with my cousins. I wasn’t the only unicorn – there was also a brown filly with pink and red hair by the name of Cherry Spices. The others were all earth ponies; a green colt with yellow and red mane named Fresh Cherries, Sweet Sakura, a pastel pink filly with a cherry blossom cutie mark, and Cherrywood, a white colt with tan hair and a cherry tree cutie mark. I was jealous of my two cousins who’d already managed to earn their cutie marks, but mine would come someday too. With luck, before next year’s gathering.

Cherrywood was the oldest and he took charge of our table, pretending he was an adult and pledging to keep the rest of us ‘in line’. The instant he said that, it was like the rest of us all came to the exact same decision at the same time – we’d make him eat those words.

It was Fresh Cherries who made the first move, picking up his cherry cobbler and throwing it at Cherrywood. I didn’t see who fired next, because suddenly I was wearing my namesake, cherry pie. Somepony was going for irony. I licked my lips. Delicious irony.

I wasn’t about to let that go unpunished. I had no idea who’d hit me, so I levitated my cherry juice in my aura and whirled it around the table, soaking everypony. I lost my grip on the glass in my wobbly magic when somepony hit me with a cherry tart. It smashed to the table, shattering.

It was loud enough to attract the attention of the adults at the other tables.

“Who’s going to clean up this mess?” Cherry Jubilee tried glaring at all of us, but the amusement in her eyes gave her away – she was trying hard not to laugh.

Four hooves pointed at Cherrywood.

Auntie Jubilee nodded. “Such is the problem with responsibility, Cherrywood. You took ownership of keeping your younger cousins in line and failed to do so. So cleaning up will also be your responsibility.”

The rest of us giggled.

“And the four of you can help him.”

We groaned in unison..

Dodge Junction: ten years, two months, and sixteen days ago

We woke at dawn the next morning. This was a vacation – a working vacation. The family reunion conveniently coincided with harvest.

After breakfast, Auntie Jubilee divvied out chores to the adults, all of whom disappeared into the orchard immediately after receiving their assignments.

That left my cousins and I as the only ponies not doing anything important. Instead, we were playing in a neglected part of the orchard. It was an eerie area with scraggily trees that had seen better days, and was the perfect spooky setting with Nightmare Night approaching.

We ran to-and-fro, Cherry Spices doing her best impression of an evil sorcerer. Her magic was stronger than mine, so I joined my cousins in running away from her. I felt her magic grab my leg.

“Eh-heh-heh! I’ve got you now!” She laughed evilly. “I shall turn you into a newt. No, a toad. Wait, even better! I shall turn you into… Kumquat Pie!”

“Noooooo! Lemme go!” Cherry Spices dragged me closer to her as I kicked and wailed for my cousins to leap to my rescue.

Sweet Sakura and Fresh Cherries each grabbed onto one of my legs, and Cherrywood chomped onto my tail. All three of the earth ponies dug their hooves into the ground and stopped my eminent ‘doom’.

Cherry Spices was sweating as her corona flared. Suddenly, all four of us were sliding towards her. But she was struggling and the trio of earth ponies started tugging me in the opposite direction. Suddenly what had been fun was starting to hurt. “Ouch! Time out!”

As one, everypony stopped.

I stood up on shaky legs. “Tug-of-war isn’t fun when I’m the rope.”

My squeal had attracted Aunt Jubilee’s attention. She looked down at all of us. “And what are you mischievous foals up to, hmn?”

“Just playing!” I pointed to Cherry Spices. “She was gonna turn me into Kumquat Pie!”

Cherry Spices let out a cackling laugh. “I would’ve gotten away with it to, if not for my meddling cousins. And that dog over there.” She pointed and we all turned to look, but there was no dog anywhere.

When we turned back she was gone.

“Muhahahahaha! There’s no escape from the Wicked Sorcerer of the Cherry Orchard!”

Auntie Jubilee stamped in approval. “Quite the flair for the dramatic! Do we have a future actress in our midst?”

“Nah.” Cherry Spices reappeared and shook her head. “It’s fun to play pretend, but it’s a lot of work to act. I was a background pony in the school play a few months ago and all those practice sessions where I didn’t do anything but stand around were so boring.”

“Practice makes perfect, as they say. All things in life take time, my dear little ponies. That said, I have a special task for the five of you.”

My ears perked up and my tail wagged.

“This section of the orchard has been… shall we say, unproductive, for many years. The trees here are dead and we’ll be cutting them down during the offseason. To make our job easier, I want you to collect as many dead branches as you can from the ground and add them to a pile right here.” She scuffed her hoof in the dirt, making a giant ‘x’ on the ground. She turned to Cherry Spices and I. “As for the two of you, grab as many branches from the trees as you can with your magic. It’ll make it easier to fell the trees.” She looked at all of us. “But most importantly of all, have fun!”

Thus encouraged, we made a game of it and started singing a foalhood classic. “One, two, nail my shoe. Three, four, close the door. Five, six… pick up sticks! Seven, eight, shut the gate. Nine, ten, do it again!”

Cherry Spices’ magic was stronger than mine, and she had an easier time stripping the twigs from the dead trees. She could pull down thicker, sturdier branches than I could, so I helped her by guiding them with my magic, preventing them from hitting anypony.

With the persistence of youth, we kept at the task, singing our silly song until it was lunchtime. We enjoyed an assortment of cherry dishes while Auntie Jubilee inspected our work.

After lunch we galloped outside to see if we’d impressed Auntie Jubilee. She was waiting for us, a smile plastered on her face. “That’s an impressive pile of sticks. Now, let’s do something with them.”

We all looked at her expectantly.

“Your next task is to find a nice, sturdy tree. These trees may be dead, but they could stay standing for decades if we let them. We’re going to leave one of them up, so we can build a clubhouse for all the Cherry family foals. When you’ve found the right tree, then you’ll come back here and sort out the thickest, sturdiest branches to use as building materials.”

“Yay!” We cheered and scattered through the orchard, each of us hoping to earn bragging rights for finding the best tree.

We each dragged Auntie Jubilee to our picks, and Cherrywood’s was the biggest and strongest of the lot. With a cherry tree as his cutie mark, it was fitting and not particularly surprising. Auntie Jubilee looked up at it with a sad smile. “Ah yes, this is…was Mirada. Mirada grew big and strong, and was always one of our best yielding trees. You couldn’t have made a better choice.” She patted Mirada’s trunk.

With a tree selected, we bounded back to the pile of sticks and brought the best ones over to Mirada. We returned to find that Auntie Jubilee and most of the other adults standing next to a pile of boards.

“Looks like we found some more wood while all y’all were gone.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon building a treehouse.

Dodge Junction: six years, two months, and thirteen days ago

Thankfully, I knew exactly who I could talk to about the questions burning through my mind – I just needed to be patient.

At harvest time, Mom and I made our yearly pilgrimage to the cherry orchards, while Dad made his normal excuse about work being too busy for him to take off. For two weeks it was all hooves on deck, and Cherries from across Equestria descended upon Dodge Junction to collect the harvest.

The hardest part was catching my aunt alone. I didn’t want anypony else overhearing this conversation. She delighted in spending time with her nieces and nephews, so I knew it was only a matter of time until I had her attention. But could she make time to talk to me solo?

With every passing year there were younger foals to meet. Us older fillies and colts were given more responsibilities, mostly looking after the younger ones. We also had the run of the clubhouse, which was really nice. We’d helped build it, after all, and Aunt Jubilee was insistent that we use it as our ‘base of operations’ whenever we were on the farm. Probably to keep us from being underhoof.

Cherrywood and Cherry Spices were old enough to help with the real chores, so it fell to Fresh Cherries, Sweet Sakura, and myself to keep the youngest members of the Cherry herd in line. It was a lot of responsibility, and now I understood how disappointed Cherrywood felt when we started that food fight at dinner years earlier. The actions of our younger cousins reflected on us as well. If they were well-behaved, it made us look good, but when they misbehaved we took the fall right along with them.

Of course, they liked misbehaving because the little brats enjoyed seeing us get in trouble. Just like we had when we were their age. I sighed. They’ll regret this in a few years when it’s their turn to keep an eye on the foals but that doesn’t help me now.

Guignolet launched herself off the treehouse’s balcony while I was distracted. That wouldn’t have concerned me if she were a pegasus, but the Cherry family was distinctly lacking in that particular tribe. My corona flared as I galloped to the railing. I caught her in my magic before I could even see over the edge. When I looked, I saw her floating above Cherry Jubilee, who waved at me.

“Shucks, I was gonna catch her, but I’m glad to see you’re on the ball keeping an eye on the youngin’s.”

I exhaled. “She about gave me a heart attack.”

“You get used to it. Foals get into all kinds of mischief. Like food fights.”

I blushed as she reminded me of past transgressions.

“How you doing, sweetie? It’s been a while since we last chatted.”

I scraped a hoof on the floor. I finally had my aunt’s attention and I was tongue-tied. “Just puzzled over some things.”

She chuckled. “You’re at that age, all right. Plenty to be confused about right now, but it’ll all start to make sense in a few years. You’ll find your place in the world eventually. Did you ever wonder why I hire outside labor to work the orchard all year, when you can see there are plenty of family members who could do the job?”

I nodded.

“Every pony has their own unique interests and personality. I encourage that – I want everypony to go out and do what makes them happy. Your mother, for example, married a city slicker and moved to Canterlot. She was never happy on the farm. She may be my older sister, but we both knew I was going to inherit the farm from our folks. I have the talent, and earth pony magic to back it up. She doesn’t. She’s got a horn instead – there aren’t too many unicorns in the Cherry family tree, and bless their hearts, I don’t think our parents knew exactly what to do with her. She found her own place in the world, and I must say she’s been an inspiration to me. I look at her as a success story in her own right – she was lost and found herself, just like you will someday.” She tousled my mane. “There’s always a place for you here on the farm, but I don’t think this is what would make you happy for the rest of your days.”

I shook my head – I might not know where my place in the world was just yet, but I did know where it wasn’t, and she was right. I wasn’t a farmhoof, and no amount of trying was ever going to make me one.

“But you’ve got family here, and family sticks together, even when we drive each other crazy. Like your father, for example. I bet he gave you some lame excuse about why he couldn’t come with you this year. The same excuses he makes every year, right?”

I nodded.

“He’s not allowed on the farm ‘til after harvest. Nice enough pony, but he’s about as useful as an aphid infestation. Bless his heart, he tries hard. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen somepony try as hard as he did. But he’s not an earth pony, so he has no connection to the land. He doesn’t have cherries in his blood like you and your mother do. He hasn’t been back to the farm since… the incident.”

“What happened?”

She said nothing, but pointed to the unused section of the orchard filled with stumps – the trees my cousins and I had helped strip of dead branches years earlier. Some of the stumps had been pulled, but no real effort had been put into the land. I could tell the stumps were a low priority, something that was done when there was nothing else worth doing. On a farm, that was rare.

“Oh.”

“I still can’t get anything to grow there. It’s like I was saying – everypony has their talents. Your father contributes to society in his own way, but he’ll never be a cherry farmer. If nothing else, he’s made my sister very happy, and given me an adorable niece I get to see a few times a year.” She nuzzled me.

“I love you too, Aunt Jubilee.”

“Anything else on your mind, kiddo? Time’s short, I’m afraid.”

“Well…” I scraped a hoof in the dirt. “Some things happened in Canterlot last year.”

She chuckled. “That’s an understatement.”

“I don’t understand something. Cozy Glow was right in front of me, and there I was, terrified and shaking in my horseshoes. I’d tripped while I was running away from her and she just picked me up with her magic and thanked me for bowing to her. Then she continued on toward the castle, guards clinging to her futilely. She could’ve hurt me, or stolen my magic, but she didn’t.”

“I’d be grateful for that, if I were you.”

“I am, I definitely am. But I’m trying to figure out why.”

“With that crafty filly, there ain’t no telling. Maybe she really did think your stumble was a bow. Admittedly, that’s the kinda thing that would appeal to an ego the size of hers. Maybe she thought that by showing you kindness, you could be her backup plan in case things went poorly for her, so you could do like you’re doing now, and questioning her motives. Or maybe it’s because you’ve got a horn, but don’t have wings to go with it. She was probably a might too focused on the alicorns to worry about a little unicorn filly.”

“So you don’t think she has any good inside her?”

“Of course she has good inside of her. Everypony in Equestria has good in ‘em, just like everypony has ill in ‘em too. She made her choices and she’s paying the price for them. Maybe someday the princesses will give her another chance, but we’ll both be long dead and buried before that happens. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The princesses have been ruling for a long time. Ain’t no point in second guessing them.”

“Thank you. I needed to have this conversation.”

“No problem.” She nuzzled me. “Now I got a question of my own. You meet any nice colts yet?”

“Uh, not yet.” I shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t you think I’m a little young to be worrying about such things?”

“One of these years you’re going to want to talk to me about all the things you can’t talk to your parents about.” She looked me up and down. “If y’all ain’t interested in boys yet, it won’t be much longer. Then you’ll be talkin’ my ears off about how great your coltfriend is. Or maybe fillyfriend – don’t think you have to find yourself a colt just to please Auntie Jubilee. If your heart leads you to a mare, you follow it. If y’all want to stay single, that’s okay too, but I’ll warn ya in advance – life’s a lonely road when you’re all alone.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Canterlot: six years, one month, and eight days ago

Mom and I had been back from Dodge Junction for almost a month when I finally decided to approach Dad about what Aunt Jubilee had told me. Mom was out getting her hooves polished, so I waited until Dad was done reading the newspaper to start up a conversation.

It used to be so easy to talk to my parents, but it seemed it was more difficult as I got older. I was unsure of the best way to bring up this topic – I wasn’t sure there even was a good way to do so. So I tried the direct approach. I sat in front of his favorite easy chair and once I had his attention I just blurted it out. “What did you do to Aunt Jubilee’s orchard?”

“Uh, so you finally found out about my darkest secret.” Dad blushed. “Your mother and I were still newlyweds at the time – believe it or not, that was our honeymoon. Cherry Jubilee lets the family do what they want for the rest of the year, but she calls everypony home every year for harvest. She does a marvelous job managing the farm… and I wish I’d realized that back then. But I was young and stupid, and from Canterlot. You know that superior attitude so many ponies around here have? That if a pony isn’t from Canterlot, they aren’t worthy? I wasn’t as bad as others, but I had some of that thinking too. I just… I just thought I could do it better. I couldn’t.”

“What happened?”

“I had all kinds of plans drawn up, and none of them worked. I was looking mighty foolish in front of my new bride and I got desperate. Two salesponies found me in town one day that week, and they told me all about this new miracle fertilizer they were selling. They had apples for cutie marks, and they were unicorns, so I thought they knew better. I just wanted to contribute so badly I was willing to try anything. Turns out the only thing that was really fertilizer was the word of those two no-good scammers. I trusted them because they were unicorns, and I’d been told ‘unicorns are smarter than earth ponies’ so many times growing up here in Canterlot that I actually believed it. Not my proudest moment, I admit. I don’t know if Flim and Flam are smarter than earth ponies, but they certainly outsmarted this unicorn. Whatever chemicals were in the ‘fertilizer’ they gave me killed an entire section of orchard before your aunt stopped me. How is that section doing these days, anyway? All those years since I was last there, and your mother has never told me.”

“Eh… it’s doing better. Much better.” That wasn’t a complete fabrication. Pulled stumps are certainly an improvement over dead trees.

“Good to hear. But maybe you can learn something from my mistakes. We all make mistakes, and you’ll make plenty of your own, so there’s no sense repeating those made by your dear old dad. First, just because we’re unicorns living in Canterlot, we don’t know everything. Second, don’t try to impress other ponies, especially when you’re not in your own area of expertise. There’s an old saying about pride going before a fall. Actions have consequences, and something to keep in mind is those consequences don’t only effect you. I deserved to be shown up. Cherry Jubilee didn’t deserve to have part of her farm ruined for years to come by an ignorant unicorn.”

I nodded.

“I’ve been too embarrassed to go back, and your aunt won’t let me anywhere near the farm during harvest. Can’t say I blame her one bit.”

“Me either.”

“But on the bright side, I guess I won’t have to make up reasons why I won’t be joining you for your annual pilgrimage anymore.” He chuckled. “As embarrassed as I am, I hate fibbing to you even more.”

I nuzzled him. “You tried your best, and you recognize that your talents are elsewhere.”

“Thanks.” He nuzzled me back and maybe all wasn’t right in the world, but at least everything was right in our living room. “That’s also why you get to take two vacations every year, young filly. You work hard with your mom on the farm, then you get to play someplace exotic.”

“Baltimare, Las Pegasus, and Chicoltgo aren’t all that exotic, Dad.”

“Maybe next year we’ll go up to the Crystal Empire. Is that exotic enough?”

I nodded. “That would be awesome!”

Dodge Junction: two months, twelve days ago

My restaurant was on the verge of bankruptcy. Closing for two weeks to go to the yearly reunion wasn’t the smartest business decision I’d ever made, but the Cherry family reunion was more or less mandatory and I couldn’t afford to pay anypony to staff the place in my absence. Aunt Jubilee was understanding, and if I’d asked I’m sure she would’ve accommodated my absence for a year. But it just seemed wrong somehow. Family always comes first.

I traveled with Mom, as I’d been doing ever since I was a foal. This year was the first I’d purchased my own train ticket; trying to keep up appearances so my parents wouldn’t know how much red ink I’d been using when updating my ledgers.

The train ride was relaxing, but overly long. It gave me too much time to think about things. How much money I was losing by not being open, how much money I was wasting on paying utilities for two weeks I wasn’t using them, all the wasted inventory I’d thrown out the previous night. The thoughts wouldn’t shut off, and I wasn’t tired enough to sleep. You’d think I’d be ready to pass out between the exhaustion of working long hours as a sole proprietor and the sleepless nights due to stress, but apparently whatever restless sleep I was getting was somehow adequate.

Instead I contented myself with watching the scenery. The same scenery that had been so exciting and inspiring years earlier was now boring and routine.

If Aunt Jubilee noticed I wasn’t my usual cheery Cherry self, she didn’t mention it. I sat at a back table, away from my aunt. Instead I found myself seated with Cherry Spices and some relatives I barely knew: Cherry Sweet, Berries ‘n Cherries, and Cherry Treats. Cherry Sweet’s cutie mark was cherry cupcakes, reminding me instantly of one of my rival bakeries in Canterlot, Filly Creek Cupcakes. Cherry Treats was her sister, both of the mares having bright red hair. Their father had had a fight with Aunt Jubilee before they were born and he’d stopped coming to the family gathering. They were slightly older than me, but this was their first time coming to the Cherry family reunion. The entire situation was awkward, but at least they were trying to fit in.

Berries ‘n Cherries, meanwhile, had both a cherry and a raspberry in her cutie mark. Her father had married into the Raspberry family, and Berries had never quite felt like she belonged with either family. The Cherries and Raspberries weren’t exactly the Hooffields and McColts, but there was no love lost between our families. She sat there forlornly, mostly observing the rest of us and only joining the conversation when her input was asked for. I had a hunch we wouldn’t be seeing her at many future gatherings, though the rest of us tried to keep her engaged in our chat.

I’d found my place amongst the rest of the outcasts. But that didn’t explain why Cherry Spices was sitting at the table. But there’s one way to find out. I turned to my fellow unicorn. “So what have you been up to?”

“Oh, not too much. I won a cooking competition with a friend of mine, and we’re going to Earth for five years. We’ve got a deal lined up for a TV show.”

Cherry Spices is planning to go to Earth? No wonder she’s sitting here, as far away from Aunt Jubilee as she can get. I can’t let her know Earth is my backup plan or she’ll ask why I’m going. But… that also means she’s had more time to learn things. Maybe I can catch up if I pick her brain a bit… without making it seem too obvious.

“What’s a TV show?” Berries asked.

Or I can piggyback off everypony else’s questions. Mix some real questions in with all the silly ones.

“It’s a moving picture, but on a small screen in your home,” she explained.

“You always were a good actor.” I played dumb. “Can you speak a few words of human?”

She laughed. “Which language?”

I shrugged. “Whichever one you plan on speaking the most, I guess.”

“Blue dehydrated feline helicopter Massachusetts falcon hazard fetlock gyrating curlers.”

I know some of those words, and there’s no way that word soup makes any sense. She’s just spouting random gibberish. I once more played dumb, oohing in appreciation of the exotic language. She humored me, but not in the way I was hoping. I’m just going to have to study harder in my downtime.

I tuned her out as the others hung on her every word. I just need to be careful not to run into her if I go to Earth. Most importantly, if everypony was paying attention to her, they wouldn’t have time to ask what I’d been up to recently. I was proud of my bakery, but admitting it would open me up to being asked about it at future gatherings. If it failed… everypony would eventually know.

Ponyville: today

I looked at the hotel’s alarm clock and sighed. 3:45 in the morning. Old habits die hard. For months I’d needed to be up this early to start baking things for the morning rush. Now though, conditioned by months of rising early, I had no hope of falling back asleep. It was way too early to get breakfast and there wasn’t much to do at this hour of the morning in Ponyville. I looked out the window and the only lights I saw were the moon and the streetlights. All of the buildings were dark.

In Canterlot, there were all-night diners and I would’ve had my choice between three of them within walking distance of home. Not that it mattered, I didn’t have the budget for meals. I didn’t have the budget for hotels, either, but it had been a necessary expense if I wanted to get through the portal on time. I wasn’t risking staying in Equestria another day longer than necessary.

Rolling over and trying to go back to sleep was an effort in futility. Instead I showered and packed. Oh well, Cherry Spices is probably leaving today too. If I get there early I can beat her through the portal and hopefully she won’t even see me. I’ll just blend into the crowd.

“Is everything okay?”

I’d woken the pony sharing the room with me. She was supposed to cater to my every whim, but I’d opted for a ‘no frills’ stay, insisting on sleeping on the room’s cot instead of in the comfortable bed. “I’m an early riser.”

She looked at the clock. “Apparently you’re a very early riser.”

“Yes.” I’d paid for the room in advance so there was no checkout procedure that needed to be followed. “I just need directions to the Earth portal and then you can go back to bed, miss.”

She’d been groggy until I mentioned where I was going. “Are you crazy? The portal’s in the Everfree Forest! You can’t go in there at night.”

I shrugged. “I’m not scared of a bunch of trees.”

She started listing the threats but I held up a hoof to stop her. “I know, and I don’t care. If it wasn’t safe, there’d be transport directly to the portal. But there isn’t, so they obviously expect ponies to traipse through the woods to get there.”

She gave up arguing, pointed me in the right direction, and wished me luck. I could see the light on in the room I’d vacated, with Loveshine silhouetted in the window, watching me. Not that she could do anything to ‘protect’ me from there. Not that it mattered, I wasn’t scared of the Everfree and if something did gobble me up… Equestria would be a better place.

The path to the portal was well marked, which made sense because the Everfree was still dangerous and they didn’t want ponies getting lost. But the monsters feared ponies almost as much as ponies feared them. The trail between Ponyville and the portal was heavily traveled. Even if we were supposed to be the first ‘official’ visitors to Earth, humans and ponies had been traveling back and forth for years getting everything ready for this day. Most creatures would’ve moved further into the forest once they realized that the ponies traversing this trail weren’t easy pickings. Poison joke had been cleared from the path. Even in the predawn darkness the forest wasn’t as spooky as it had been years ago. It was another sign of the progress ponies had made since Princess Twilight’s reign began just a few years ago. Human technology had given us a jumpstart, even if most ponies were still hesitant to use any of it.

Nowhere in Equestria was that more blatant than Ponyville. The path to the portal was rutted where human transits had driven back and forth to the nearby town. Foreign scents lingered in the forest, even though there was no one around other than myself. I guess this is a teaser for what’s to come. Earth’s going to smell very different from Equestria.

As I trudged through the forest, weighed down by my meager remaining belongings, I heard the hooting of owls and the distant howl of timberwolves. Thankfully, they stayed distant. No hydras or manticores pounced on me, and I made it to the portal intact. Not to mention exceedingly early. The guards were certainly surprised to see me.

After asking me a few questions to make sure I wasn’t up to anything suspicious, they checked my bags and gave me the all clear. I’d get to be the first pony to trot through the portal to Earth. Just not yet. There was an official time for the portal to open, and there’d be a ceremony.

It gave me plenty of time to check out the sights… not that there was all that much to see. There were a few prefab buildings – obviously imported from Earth. One was a makeshift barracks for the guards, while another was used for processing the paperwork of those entering Equestria, and a third for those who were leaving Equestria. My unexpectedly early arrival had caused a flurry of activity in the latter as it was prepped for the day.

I yawned as I watched the efforts of the guards. Two stared at the portal, watching for unauthorized entries into Equestria. A dirt embankment had been constructed directly across from the portal to stop speeding vehicles from crossing. Anything moving fast enough to elude the guards on the other side would be going too fast to avoid hitting the wall upon exiting on this side.

As other ponies started arriving I was ushered to the portal and told to remain standing twenty feet in front of it. Ponies lined up behind me as they were cleared by security. The line behind me was an odd mix of mares. Some, like me, were downtrodden, staring at the ground and trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Others were boisterous, chatting with friends or making new friends with strangers.

I wonder what’s going on with the rest of these ponies? How many of them are fleeing their problems like I am? How many of these ponies are bad ponies like me? How many are even worse? Does anypony actually have positive reasons for leaving Equestria behind?

I was shaken out of my reverie by a mare’s voice. “First Scoop with the Equestrian Press. I’d like to interview you.”

“No thanks.”

She looked taken aback by that. “Come again?”

“I decline to be interviewed.”

“This is an important moment and future generations are going to look back on this day. You’ll be famous if you consent to the interview.”

Being famous is the last thing I want right now. “Find somepony else to write about.”

“Fine, but you’re forfeiting your place in line. Equestrian Press has an exclusive on this story and we get to pick who goes through first.”

“Seriously? I’ve been waiting here for hours. I just want to get this over with already.” There, I’ll be whiny. That’ll drive her off. No story to be had here.

She left me alone after that.

_{Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/165286}