Cheerilee had just entered the first year of high school. Her demeanor matched that of an angry teen, and she had some reasons to be. The first and most important, her little brother's rival had been getting more and more honest in his distaste for them both.
Since Cheerilee had slapped River a few years ago over bad-mouthing her mother, River had put more attention on antagonizing Cheerilee, as well.
The arguing between those two had nearly escalated into fighting between the two of them, and since River had grown a bit, he could nearly hold his own against the older mare.
One day, on a warm, sunny spring morning, Cheerilee had gotten tired of getting into it with River, and decided to skip school. She was on her way to the lake to sleep the day away, listening to her favorite tunes.
However, when she was halfway there, she spotted Filthy Rich leaving a building. She didn't like the stallion, mostly because he was River's brother.
Something about him today seemed even worse than usual: He was making a direct beeline for her home. Deciding that music could wait, Cheerilee followed him at a discreet distance. She was horrified to discover her mother meeting Rich at the front door.
She saw her give Rich a hug that lasted for far too long before beckoning him inside. This was the last straw...she had warned her mother multiple times about getting too close.
As the fifth grade piled out of the classroom, River was concentrating on what he'd need to do to get Cheerilee off his back. She'd been coming down hard on him, and he'd almost forgotten that he hated her brother.
He wasn't really paying attention, so when he was grabbed up by the scruff of his fur, he let out a surprised and undignified yelp.
He stared, shocked, into the infuriated eyes of the mare that was quickly becoming a bigger pain than her brother. He had no time to speak to her or question her when she brought a hoof hard across his nose, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Blood fell onto his fur as he looked up at her. He hadn't even done anything to warrent this!
"What are you doing?" He shouted. He got to his feet, but he was quickly shoved down again. A crowd was gathering now. Many of the students in River's class disliked him, and more than a few of them were jeering, cheering on his beating.
"You and your family disgust me!" Cheerilee shouted. River had gotten back up and shoved his forehead against hers, returning the challenging glare.
"I didn't do anything! How dare you strike me!" Cheerilee could barely contain her anger. She reared up and came down again on River, pinning him on his back. "Your stupid brother is sleeping with my mother!" This sudden announcement brought all the loud jeering to be so quiet as to hear a pin drop on the ground.
River stared up at Cheerilee. This was news to him. Maybe she was making it up? It had to be, his brother wouldn't dirty himself with such common blood...would he? "You're lying! You're lying, my brother has better taste than that who-"
Cheerilee brought her hoof down again, this time cutting his nose. River let out a scream of pain and rage as he pushed against Cheerilee, finally getting up. He ran off, right past Angelica as she had come out, too late to stop the violence.
Cheerilee glared around at the younger children. They were all staring at her. It didn't help to quell her anger. Lately it seemed that no matter what she did to try and get rid of it, her anger just got bigger.
She turned away from the younger students and ran back home on the other side of the building and went inside, past Rich and Cherry as they sat at the table, and into her room, slamming her door.
Cheerilee stared at her dresser. She didn't know what else to stare at, because everything else just made her mad. Her mother, her own mother, had completely disregarded her wishes concerning who was allowed to be in their lives.
And of all the ponies in Ponyville, she had to pick the one stallion that she didn't want to be included in their family.
She went and lit some incense. It was forbidden in the house. The last time she'd left some lit, it had started a small fire. She didn't care. It helped to calm her nerves, it was soothing. She closed her eyes, laid down on the floor, and cried.
River ran. He didn't know where he was going, but he was furious. Cheerilee had gone over and above the line. Not only had she really hurt him, but she'd done it in front of the whole school.
He was completely humiliated, and it had been done by a mare! It was triple the insult, and it was not something he would soon forget.
Cherry Joy let out the biggest sigh of the year. There had been some big ones, and it was starting to be commonplace. She thanked Angelica for telling her about the confrontation at the school, then closed the door and turned to Rich, who was waiting at the table.
"Rich...I think you'd better leave for now. I have to go and deal with Cheerilee, and it'd be better if you weren't here for that." Rich frowned sadly. Things weren't going as well as the two of them had planned, and the animosity between Cheerilee's daughter and his brother weren't helping things at all.
"I think you're right. I'm sorry for making this so difficult, Cherry." He got up and headed for the door when she stopped him with a hoof and kissed his cheek. "It's not your fault, Rich...We just seem to be the only ones in our familes not at each other's throats."
She let out a humorless chuckle and hugged him before he slipped out.
Cherry closed the door and leaned against it, quietly gearing herself up for what would be the hardest talk of her life. She headed up the stairs, and knocked on her daughter's door. "Go away...you traitor," she heard from inside.
Cherry closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Why did she always have to be so difficult?
"Cheerilee...You don't have to like my decisions...you don't have to agree with them. But you do have to live with them. I am the head of this house until you come of age, and then if you want to move out, then you're totally free to. But until that time comes, you've got to learn that I have a life, too, and I get to live it!"
Cheerilee suddenly opened the door, glaring at her mother angrily. "I don't care! If you keep going down this road, which you've made it clear that you don't care if I get dragged along, you'll be marrying this guy and River will be my brother! Do you have any idea how miserable you are making me? Don't you care?"
Cherry Joy's own anger was rising. She was starting to tremble, and tears threatened to slip down her cheeks. "How dare you. You know I care, Cheerilee! I...I love you, and I love Spark Storm. I want you both to be happy. But don't I deserve to be happy too? Don't I get to have the life that I want?"
Cheerilee was done with this. She was just done. She pushed past her mother and glared back at her. "No. If you really cared about us, you'd do the right thing and stop seeing him. Just think about that for a while, mom." She flicked her tail and took off down the hall.
Cherry Joy let out a small, tired sob and sank to the floor. After a few minutes, Cherry Joy stepped into Cheerilee's room and put out the incense, making sure it was good and out before she left the house. She needed to talk to Rich.