Cherry Jubilee took a few steps into the room. Trixie was shocked at the sudden intrusion into her private conversation. She stood there, stunned, speechless. Trixie looked back at the doll, then back at Cherry as if looking for some sort of reassurance, or assistance. Cherry finally broke the few moments of awkward silence.
“Miss Unicorn, I have decided that I am going to allow you to stay here with me and my family for as long as you need to, as I have not been able to contact any relative or friend of yours, nor have I received any similar efforts from them. It could simply be because you have not given me any information. However, I do not like freeloaders, so I’m going to give you a job, here on the plantation.” Cherry’s voice was very stern, her head was held high as she spoke. She looked down at the now somewhat cowering Trixie’s head. Suddenly her tone changed to the much softer and gentler version Trixie had first heard in the hospital. Cherry leaned in close and placed a hoof under Trixie’s chin and lifted her up. “You would be helping me out a great deal, and I do want to have you here as family. Would that be ok? The job is an easy one, and you will get to work with Abby Gale as well.” Cherry nodded, giving Trixie a loving smile.
Trixie’s frown had slowly bent into a small smile. She was finally being accepted somewhere. Someone nice was finally caring for her. Trixie slowly nodded her head, agreeing to Cherry Jubilee’s plan for putting her to work. Cherry smiled and clapped her front hooves together. “Oh that is quite wonderful, my dear. I’m sure you will love it here! But tell me, dear. Please. At least tell me your name. I won’t ask you any more questions if you don’t want.”
There was another long, awkward pause. Trixie’s frown quickly returned to her face. She had no idea what to do. Should she tell Cherry her real name? What if just using that she could figure out who she really is? … or was… Trixie suddenly looked at the doll of Twilight sitting at the small table. The full cup of tea sitting in front of it was now cold. There was another pause.
Suddenly, Trixie spoke in the direction of the doll.
“But I can’t…”
“…”
“I don’t want to go back to that… I don’t even want to be her anymore. She should have died in the desert.”
Cherry was flabbergasted by the sudden conversation the little unicorn was seemingly having with the doll. She wanted to ask so many questions to Trixie, but she couldn’t. She knew she wouldn’t get an answer. But most of all bringing up this little blue mare’s past seemed to be a subject that ‘sore’ simply wasn’t enough to describe. Trixie was still facing the Twilight doll, but her eyes were starting to tear up. Cherry Jubilee was moved; the same feeling she had when she first saw the pitiful little unicorn crying on the hospital floor. She suddenly reared up and wrapped her front hooves around Trixie and hugged her tightly, nearly shedding tears herself.
“Alright, sweetheart. No more questions. I promise. Whatever happened in the past will stay there. I promise. No one here is going to ask about it. You are part of the family now.” She said, still hugging the little blue unicorn tightly.
“Thank you… Miss Jubilee.”
A small, soft voice came from Trixie, prompting Cherry to pull back from the hug, and look into Trixie’s face. Cherry’s tears immediately dried up and a smile spread across her face.
“I think… yes. I am going to call you that. After all, you need a name. Sweet Heart. Is that ok?” Cherry said nearly starting to tear up again. Trixie paused for a moment. Sweet? She didn’t think she was sweet… she looked back at the doll of Twilight and lifted an ear, as if listening to the doll. After a moment, she turned her head back to Cherry and smiled.
“Yes… Twilight says it is ok…”
Cherry took a moment of pause before nodding her head. She led Trixie out the bedroom door. “Well then, let’s take you down to the barn so you can see what you’ll be doing here on the plantation. Abby Gale should be down there now.” She said with a smile. When Trixie was out of the room, and a few steps down the hall, Cherry turned back to close the bedroom door. She paused a moment, looking inside the room.
“That doll… I still hope I am doing the right thing…”
Cherry led Trixie out of the house and down the hill to the largest barn on the plantation. As they approached the barn the sound of squeaky wooden wheels and gears could be heard inside, along with the familiar, boisterous voice of Abby Gale. However, Trixie didn’t recognize a second voice; that of an older male pony. They walked up to the large door at the front of the barn and Cherry slid it open.
“Hello Abby, Dusty. How are things going today?” Cherry said with a very cheerful tone. The sound of wheels and gears suddenly stopped as the large wheel on the side of the barn stopped turning. An elderly looking gray pegasus stepped out of the large wheel and made his way over to Cherry. He had what looked like a small puff of dust or smoke for his cutie mark.
“Well, hello there Miss Cherry! Things a goin’ jus’ fine!” he said with a big smile. “Wheel’s gettin’ a bit tough on these ol’ legs!” Suddenly he stepped to the side, a small shove had moved him out of the way as Abby Gale stepped up to Cherry. “Dusty, yuh bin sayin’ that’s fer years, now.” She turned back to Cherry, but quickly turned her head down towards Trixie. “Oh hello there, little miss unicorn! It’s good ta see ya out ‘n about! Don’t mind my husband, Dusty, he likes to complain.” The older couple laughed and Cherry laughed along with them. Trixie felt a smile stretch across her lips, but aimed her head down at the floor a bit. Cherry Jubilee kept her smile, but suddenly changed the topic.
“Well I am glad you two are doing well today. This is Sweet Heart.” She said, motioning towards Trixie. It took a moment, but Trixie remembered that that was the new name she was taking, with Twilight’s permission, of course. Not just a name, but a new life. Trixie looked up and gave a soft smile towards Abby. “Sweet Heart, you know Abby already; this is her husband, Dusty Gale. You’ll be working with them for today, ok? And don’t worry if you make a mistake; I’d have to say that these two ponies are the kindest in all of Equestria!” Cherry laughed, as did Dusty. Abby just smiled and shook her head, then turned towards Trixie.
“Well, Sweet Heart, you’ll have a lotta’ fun here with me and ol’ dusty here-” Dusty cut her off. “If ya like listen’ to two ol’ feed bags complain ‘bout everythin’!” He laughed again, as did Cherry, but Abby wasn’t amused, giving him another small shove.
Cherry took a step out of the barn. She turned back and lowered her head to look eye to eye with Trixie. “Now don’t worry one bit, ok? I’m going to be right up in the house if you need me. Are you going to be ok, Sweet Heart?” Cherry said, that soft, loving tone returning to her voice as she placed the side of her hoof on Trixie’s cheek. Trixie gave a small nod and an equally small smile. Cherry stood up and smiled, looking back towards the Gales. “Take good care of here. Call me if you need anything.” And with that Cherry made way back up towards the house.
“Well, Sweet Heart! You’ll have a lotta’ fun here. Really. The work’s simple an’ the food is great! At least for us ‘ere in the barn!” Abby laughed, leading Trixie over towards a rack containing several aprons and a shelf of mane-nets. “’ere ya are, Sweet Heart, gotta put one a deez on first.” Abby threw an apron around Trixie’s neck, leaving it untied over her back and then held out a mane-net for her. Trixie lifted the net with her front hoof and looked back at Abby whom was looking back with an almost expectant look on her face. Trixie tried to place the mane-net over her head but fumbled with it in her hooves, dropping it to the floor. Trixie looked down at it, almost ready to cry at her mistake. Abby was a little confused, but shook her head, reaching down and picking up the net, tossing it aside.
“Magic’s not so good, eh? Oh don’t worry ‘bout that. Not like they expect me an’ Dusty to fly anymore, either!” Abby said, putting a clean mane-net on Trixie’s head, then began to tie Trixie’s apron for her. A voice came out of the giant wheel on the side of the barn. “I kin fly just as good as any a’ them youngsters!” Dusty yelled. “Ya ‘aven’t flown in years, ya’ ol’ feed bag!” Abby yelled back, then laughed. She turned back to Trixie. “Oh don’t mind us, Sweet Heart. Anyway…” Abby turned towards the giant wheel and walked around to look inside of it. Trixie followed close behind.
“Might as well explain what you’ll be doin’, eh?” Abby laughed. She pointed a hoof at the wheel that Dusty was in. “Now this here’s the engine of the barn. It stalls out, spits and sputters all the time, but it gits the job done.” Dusty just shook his head. “When he walks, it moves that conveyer belt over there.” Abby lead Trixie over towards the conveyer belt. There were green and red cherries lining the top of the conveyer and large bins on one side matching either color. Abby led Trixie up to the side of the belt opposite of the bins.
“See, what we’s gunna be doin’ is sortin’ out the cherries. The best way to learn how tuh do sumtin’ is ta see it done. Hey Dusty! Start ‘er up!” Abby yelled, startling Trixie a bit. Dusty’s hooves could be heard against the wood of the giant wheel and it slowly began to turn. The conveyer next to Trixie also started to turn. Cherries began moving down from outside of the barn and Abby was pushing them off into the properly colored baskets. “See, Sweet Heart? This ain’t so bad!” Abby said. “Ya just push the cherries off into the correct bin and that’s it. Dusty goes nice n’ slow so it won’t be too much of a hassle for ya. Come on over here and give it a try!” Trixie traded places with Abby and Dusty started moving again. Trixie missed a few, put a few in the wrong bins, and all around didn’t do too well for her first try. She was starting to get upset, but Abby could tell.
“Ya done good fer yer first try, Sweet Heart!” Abby suddenly said, motioning for Dusty to stop. Abby had been correcting Trixie’s mistakes, but not in a manner that would hide them from her. “Sure ya made a few mistakes here and there, but ya done better than me on my first day! And a helluvuh lot better than Dusty could ever do. That’s why he just turns the wheel.” Dusty’s head poked out from around the side of the wheel. “I’m right ‘ere, yanno!” he said, then started to chuckle. Trixie’s showed a small smile and even a tiny laugh right along with Dusty. Abby’s smile turned from that of laughter to that of an old, caring grandmother. She reached her front hooves out and hugged Trixie for a moment before pulling back.
“Welcome to the family, Sweet Heart. It’s gunna be just wonderful havin’ ya ‘ere!”
After a long day’s work in the barn, Trixie finally got a handle on sorting the cherries, even getting Dusty to speed up a little, though that didn’t amount to much at all. Abby led the trio out of the barn and closed the large door behind her. They headed back to the house for dinner.
Trixie came down the stairs from cleaning up after work and peeked into the kitchen. Plume had prepared a large dinner for the family. It seemed like an awful lot of food for just five ponies. Trixie made her way to the other side of the kitchen. There was a grand dining room she had not seen before. What surprised her most is that there were upwards of 20 chairs at the table. She made her way back up to her room, wondering what all those extra chairs were for. Were their more ponies in Miss Jubilee’s family? Trixie sat down on her bed and looked over at the doll of Twilight, still sitting at the tea table. Trixie’s horn glowed and the doll got up off the chair and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to Trixie. Trixie’s ear lifted up.
“…”
“Well… a lot better than expected. The Gales are really friendly.”
“…”
“I… I’m not that great at the work…”
“…”
“I hope so… I want to stay here.”
“…” The dolls front leg glowed and wrapped around Trixie’s shoulders. Trixie’s face flushed red and she squirmed nervously on the bed.
“I… I think you are right. This is my chance to start over. Thank you, Twilight.”
“…”
Plume, whom had followed Trixie upstairs to let her know dinner was ready, had stopped at the door, hearing Trixie talking inside. Plume took a long pause after the conversation ended, trying to put together what was going on in her head. Was there another pony in there? After that moment, she gave up and knocked on the door, then immediately opened the nob. Trixie’s magic immediately ended as the door opened, prompting the doll to fall onto its back on the bed. Trixie had a surprised expression on her face as she looked over at Plume. Plume paused again, adding this newly seen piece of the puzzle to the jumble in her head. She quickly realized that she had stepped into someone else’s bedroom and was just staring.
“Oh uh, Miss Unicorn, dinner is ready.”
Trixie’s face seemed to calm down a bit, but instead of getting up to follow Plume down to the dining room, she looked at Twilight. She sat Twilight up at the head of the bed with magic, but still hesitated to get up and follow Plume. She looked at Plume, then back at Twilight and paused, lifting an ear.
“…”
“Are… you sure? Do you want to eat with us?”
“…”
“I’ll... I’ll bring you something, then.”
“…”
Plume’s confusion only escalated at the odd conversation she had just witnessed. But she quickly snapped out of it as Trixie stood up and walked over to her. Plume slowly backed out of the room and Trixie followed. Plume gently closed the bedroom door, her eyes locked on the doll until the door latched in place.
As the two ponies made their way down the stairs a familiar sound echoed in Trixie’s ears. Ponies. Lots of ponies. Talking, laughing, and carrying on. She slowed down, Plume getting ahead of her and entering the dining room. Plume walked over and took her seat at the back end of the room. Trixie peeked around the corner as if she was checking the audience from back stage. She could see Cherry Jubilee at the head of the table and every seat but one was filled with ponies. They all seemed young and fit. Mares, colts, a whole mix. Everyone was an Earth Pony except for the Gales whom were up near Cherry Jubilee. Trixie began examining the entire audience of ponies whom she didn’t recognize. After looking across the entire table, Trixie’s eyes made their way back to Cherry Jubilee, whom, to her horror, was staring directly at her from across the room.
“There she is!” Cherry yelled, getting every ponies attention, quieting the room. “Come on out, Sweet Heart, the whole family’s here!” Cherry stood up and patted the empty seat next to her and smiled at Trixie. “Everyone, this is Sweet Heart, the newest member of the plantation work family. Sweet Heart, these fine ponies are the summer farm workers that help this little old lady harvest the cherries when they are in season. They stay in the workers dorm just beyond the barn.”
Everypony… every single pony was staring at her as she stood in the doorway to the grand dining room. The doors were folding doors with decorative glass and a red velvet curtain to go with them. The doors were open and the curtain was tied open with a yellow chord. Trixie stood, motionless. A look of horror slowly covered her face.
“Sweet Heart? What’s wrong? … Sweet Heart?” Cherry called from across the room, but her voice was being drowned out by the murmurs and whispers of all the other ponies at the table. They became louder and louder to Trixie…
Suddenly it felt as if the only light in the room that was on was aimed directly at her. She saw that red velvet curtain open up. She could hear her name being called ‘…the Great and Powerful Trixie!' All the ponies weren’t clapping. They were staring at her, disappointed looks on every face, whispering to each other about the unicorn on stage. She took a step back.
“No! NO! That’s not me! She’s dead! … I can’t! I don’t know any! I can’t! I’m sorry! I’M SORRY!!”
Trixie started to yell from the doorway. She started to back up, backing into a chair at the smaller table in the kitchen knocking it over and falling over onto the floor. Cherry looked across the table, her smile quickly turning into a look of deep concern and horror. Her and Plume immediately jumped up and ran into the kitchen, but before they could get to Trixie, she had picked herself up and bolted the other direction, audibly sobbing. They followed her out and up the stairs, hearing the guest room door suddenly slam shut.
The farm workers at the kitchen table sat in silence, baffled. Their faces all shone with a look of confusion. Except for Abby Gale. She had a sad look on her face. She whispered to herself…
“That poor, poor child. There is something… something deep inside of her, haunting her. We may never know what it may be.”