Love's Many Forms

by DraconequusMaximus

Chapter 5

Cherry woke early the next morning, he hadn't slept very well at all. He had terrible dreams about ponies catching him, locking him in prison, or even execution. The worst dream of the night involved a cheese grater, just thinking about that one made him feel ill. He walked down the hall to the bathroom & splashed cold water on his face. It helped, but he was still on edge about what would happen later that night. He eventually went down to the living room, he found a book on the sofa. It was a history book, likely belonging to Ruby, as it was rather simple but he decided it would be a good idea to bolster his knowledge of Equestria anyway.

After several hours of reading Berry & Ruby trotted down the stairs to prepare for breakfast. Berry saw him sitting there & motioned for him to follow them into the kitchen. He sat at the table with Ruby & passed her the textbook.

"I hope you don't mind but I couldn't sleep so I read your history book." He said apologetically. Ruby looked at him in surprise.

"You read the whole thing?" She asked. Cherry nodded in response. "Can you help me with my homework sometime?"

"Um... sure?" He said unsure of his abilities. Ruby's eyes lit up & she hugged the disguised changeling. The flow of childish affections was strong. Foals contained the purest energies thanks to their innocence, the aches he had only a few days ago were steadily disappearing. He felt a little better than he had before, if these ponies can accept me for who I am maybe more can down the line? He thought to himself.

"Well, I was going to offer you breakfast but I see Pinchy beat me too it." Berry said with a smirk as she carried over several plates of food on her back. Cherry & Pinchy giggled a bit before chowing down, while Berry made coffee. After a about a half hour Ruby trotted outside to meet up with a group of other foals on their way to school. After the foals were out of sight Berry turned to Cherry with a smile.

"Since we got so much work done yesterday, me & the girls are going to school you in romance today." Berry said leading him down the streets of Ponyville. The journey was interrupted by some sort of pink emotional creature that completely overloaded Cherry's senses. When everything came back into focus he was wearing a party hat & there was an invitation in his hoodie pocket.

"Berry, what just happened?"

"That was Pinkie Pie, I'd avoid her as much as possible if she makes you blank out like that. I told her to hold off till next week on the obligatory welcome to Ponyville party." She said pointing to the invitation in his hoof. Sure enough, it said he needed to be at Sugarcube Corner next Tuesday. He removed the party hat & looked himself over to be sure nothing else was wrong.

"Actually, I feel pretty good right now. Is she always that full of positive emotion?" He asked placing a hoof on his stomach.

"Pretty much constantly, she's Equestria's premiere party pony. Good customer too." Berry said happily. Cherry thought to himself for a moment before placing the invitation on the ground. After a second of focus the invitation lifted in a pink aura.

"Yes! I can use magic again!" Cherry said clapping his forehooves together in delight.

"Congratulations, now let's head to Lyra & Bon Bon's house." Berry said only semi enthused.

After a few minutes they arrived at a shop unfamiliar to Cherry. Berry opened the door & they walked in. It was obviously a candy store thanks to the various jars & bags full of assorted sweets lining the shops shelves. Behind the counter sat a familiar bored looking minty unicorn. Lyra looked up from the comic book in front of her & smiled at the pair as they trotted up.

"Hey guys. How's the pony act going Cherry?" She said in a whisper as she looked around making sure nopony could hear.

"Well actually, that's we came to see you two about. Cherry here got asked out by a stallion on his first night out & needs some dating advice." Berry told Lyra as she nodded to the changeling in question. Lyra's expression brightened greatly & she hugged Cherry from behind the counter.

"That's awesome! You work fast bud! How'd you do it?" She asked.

"I accidentally tripped over his saxophone case & fell face first into my dinner. He felt so bad he offered to take me out to make it up to me." Cherry said with ears drooping. Lyra's expression matched his after a moment.

"Okay, well... that's a little less awesome." Lyra said after a moment. Lyra failed to notice Bon Bon trotting down the stairs that lead to their home above, she then took a place next to her marefriend.

"So... on a slightly related note, is your disguise anatomically correct? I've been wanting to ask sin-" Lyra was cut off by a hoof to the back of the head courtesy of Bon Bon. Lyra rubbed the spot while smiling weakly at her lover.

"Heh, hey there Sweetie. Cherry's here to ask for dating advice, we can totally help with that right?" Lyra said to her scowling love. Bon Bon's scowl vanished as if it were never there in the first place, it was replaced by a cheerful expression.

"Well isn't that nice. We can definitely show you the ropes Cherry. Lyra, thanks to your inappropriate question you can watch the shop for the rest of the day." Bon Bon said never breaking her mock sweetness.

"Awww" Lyra complained. Afterwards she merely went back to her comic book, Cherry could make out strange bipedal creatures on it's pages. Bon Bon lead them behind the counter & up the stairs. Their home was a decent size, easily as big as the first floor of Berry's home. There were pictures of Bon Bon & Lyra together at various places like beaches & some landmarks unknown to Cherry. They both looked so happy together, despite Bon Bon often disciplining Lyra their home had a fair amount of ambient love in the air. Bon Bon motioned for them to sit on the sofa while she fiddled with a strange device he had seen one of at Berry's as well. After she was done she trotted back to the couch with a black rectangular device in her teeth, she took her place on the sofa & pushed a button on the rectangle. The device on the other side of the room came to life & there were ponies on the display. Cherry looked at it with wonder.

"What is that? Is it magic? Can earth ponies do magic?" He asked not taking his eyes off the device. Berry & Bon Bon looked at him like he was stupid, making him feel as such. His ears drooped again & he hung his head.

"Hey it's okay, television is a pretty new thing in Equestria. We shouldn't be surprised that you don't know what it is." Berry said placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"This is new pony technology, it doesn't run off of magic. It runs on electricity supplied through cables & stuff. We don't really know how it works, we just know it does." Bon Bon said as she flipped through channels until she found one she deemed appropriate.

"This is a show, it's basically a play without the need to leave your home. You see them, but they don't see you & nearly everything is fictional but often has realistic elements to it." Berry said pointing to the screen.

"Well I did always enjoy going to the theater with mother." Cherry said, his mood brightening a bit.

"That's the spirit! This is a romantic comedy, you basically need to ignore the story & just let social queues & stuff soak in." Bon Bon said cheerily.

After the romantic comedy they watched several of Bon Bon's favorite soap operas, the news, & the history channel. By seven o' clock Cherry was full of relevant knowledge about being a social pony & Equestria itself. The girls were surprised that he could tell them absolutely everything he had learned in the last few hours. He merely told them that changelings had wonderful memories so they could better formulate disguises. They shrugged it off as fact & he & Berry trotted off after he received hugs from everyone to bolster his reserves. They returned home to see Ruby once again concentrating hard on her school work.

"Cherry since we're back don't you think it'd be a good idea to take a shower & get cleaned up before your big date?" Berry asked.

"Oh, yeah good idea." He replied. He dropped his disguise & trotted up to the bathroom. Berry heard water running & began cooking for her & Ruby. Cherry trotted back down to the kitchen at about seven thirty five.

He put his disguise back on, happy that he finally had enough magic built up to change now & again. Just as he was about ask Berry how he looked he heard a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be noteworthy! He's early! Berry? I'll be back later!" He said with nervousness evident in his voice. He trotted over to the door & opened it revealing an equally nervous stallion of similar coloration. Noteworthy was the first to speak up.

"Uh, hi Cherry. Look I feel awful about this, but I actually just realized how financially in the red I am after paying my bills today. I can still get you dinner but it's gonna have to be homemade & nothing quite as fancy as I planned." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. Cherry relaxed a little at this much to Noteworthy's confusion.

"That sounds great actually, I don't do so well in public situations anyway." Cherry replied. Noteworthy's mood brightened considerably at this.

They walked to his home in relative silence, as it turns out he lived only a couple blocks away from Berry. His home was visibly smaller than Berry's or Bon Bon & Lyra's but had a cozy feel to it. The smell of food filled Cherry's nostrils as they entered the kitchen. Noteworthy had already prepared the food & left it in the oven, there was scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, & turnip greens. Cherry had never had any of these things but had to admit they smelled good. As they made their plates Noteworthy struck up conversation as best as he could.

"So, you're new in town right? Were are you from originally?" He asked without making eye contact.

"Oh, I'm from Vanhoover originally. I'm staying with Berry until I can afford a place of my own." He said feigning honesty.

"Oh yeah, you said she was your cousin right? I haven't met her too many times, but she seems like a nice mare. You... here to find a mare for yourself?" Cherry didn't know much about this stallion but he could tell it was a baited question, & he could feel hope coming off of him as well. He decided to go with it & answer as honestly as he could.

"No, I'm just here to learn to be a brewer like Berry. I'm not really into mares, but they make really great friends." Cherry replied with a smile before taking a bite of the scalloped potatoes. He could feel the relief ooze out of the stallion when he said this. His changeling instincts were overriding his nervousness, making him much more collected than he thought he would be.

"So, how about you? What do you do for a living?" Cherry asked. Noteworthy's mood fell again at the question.

"I'm just a small time musician, I play saxophone for a jazz group in a cafe in Canterlot a few times a week. I live here though because living there costs a fortune." He said feigning happiness at the mention of his work. Cherry could feel the sadness emanating from him, making him feel bad about bringing it up.

"I'd love to hear you play sometime, I'm sure you're great. Your cutie mark is music notes after all." Cherry said trying to lighten the mood. Noteworthy had his mouth full & couldn't answer just then but Cherry didn't need him to, he could feel the sadness lift somewhat. After Noteworthy swallowed, he began talking again.

"You sound just like my mother, every time I get down about my career she says pretty much the same thing." He said with a chuckle. "What about you, Cherries are a little less specific. How did you get your cutie mar-" Noteworthy stopped before he finished his sentence. Cherry could tell he was surprised by something, but he seemed to be staring at... My flank? He thought to himself. He turned to see that he had left his cutie mark off his disguise again. His eyes widened & he began to sweat profusely, he said the one thing he could think of.

"Oh horseapples."

Author's Note:

Next chapter will be up soon. Sorry for the cliffhanger everypony!