Love's Many Forms

by DraconequusMaximus

Chapter 9

Today was the day of Cherry & Noteworthy's first date. Though technically they had one prior, both of them agreed not to count that one for obvious reasons. It was still pretty early in the day, & their date wasn't until dinner time. Cherry was currently using his magic to push Noteworthy alongside him as he trotted through the streets of Ponyville, following Noteworthy's instructions. After about ten minutes they reached their destination, the home of Filthy Rich. Filthy Rich was the town's wealthiest pony, according to Berry & Noteworthy he owned at least a small amount of everything in Ponyville except for Sugarcube Corner. The house had an impressive iron fence around it with a heavy gate in the front. There was a small post with a button & speaker on it. Cherry pushed the button for Noteworthy.

"Who is it?" An annoyed staticky voice said through the speaker.

"It's me Noteworthy, here to talk about me not suing you." Noteworthy replied in an equally annoyed tone. No reply came, but after a moment the gate made a clicking noise & opened slowly. Cherry wheeled Noteworthy to the front door & with a little strain got the chair up the front porch steps. As soon as they reached the door, a posh pony in a black suit with coattails. His eyes seemed closed & he had an exquisitely groomed curly moustache & wore a monocle.

"Gentlecolts, Master Rich will receive you in the study. If you would be so kind as to follow me. My name is Sebastian the head butler." The posh pony butler turned & motioned for them to follow him with a white gloved hoof. The pair followed closely behind him through the ritzy near-mansion home.

"So... does Filthy pay you extra to put on the fancy clothing & ridiculous moustache?" Noteworthy asked from behind the butler.

"As a matter of fact, he does. My name isn't even Sebastian, it's Smiling Service. But you didn't hear that from me." The butler said without changing tone. Noteworthy had been joking, but now he felt genuinely bad for the stallion.

After a few minutes, the trio came to a large set of wooden double doors. "Sebastian" opened one side of the wooden doors & ushered them in. Behind a large ornate wooden desk sat a displeased looking stallion wearing a vest & tie & slicked back mane. Cherry wheeled Noteworthy in front of the desk & stood at his side.

"Hello Noteworthy, I'm sorry to hear about your accident. I apologize for my minor oversight, the official paperwork for the residence had been misplaced due to a clerical error. Thus, we had no idea that the property was in need of inspections." Filthy Rich said with an obvious face tone of sincerity. The emotions coming of of the stallion sickened Cherry a little but he held his composure.

"Right, well I'm willing to settle instead of going to court. But I want at least three times what I payed for that dump, otherwise I'm sure Princess Sparkle would be glad to look into your clerical error. I hear she's a master of organization, she loves keeping things in order." Noteworthy said not trying to hide his obvious threat. Filthy was seething with hatred & Noteworthy wasn't putting off many positive vibes either. Cherry was feeling sick to his stomach.

"I see, I suppose that's fair. That will certainly afford you a nicer home." Filthy said as calmly as he could. He pulled a checkbook from his vest pocket & began writing out his owed sum. He ripped the check from the book & slid it forward. Cherry took it into his magic & passed it to Noteworthy. Noteworthy looked it over & smiled.

"Thank you very much Filthy, it was a pleasure doing business with you again." He said sarcastically.

"Sebastian, please show our guests out." Filthy said through gritted teeth.

The pair complied with Filthy's subtle "get out". They left without saying a word to Sebastian or each other. The gate quickly slammed itself shut behind them. Noteworthy was in rough shape still, but at least he could afford a much nicer home now.

"How much did you end up getting?" Cherry asked curiously.

"21,000 Bits! I was totally bluffing too! That stuff about the princess was just a rumor!" Noteworthy said giddily. Cherry could feel the happiness oozing off of the incapacitated stallion.

"So... I'm guessing that's a lot?" Cherry said tilting his head to one side a little. Noteworthy just looked at him strangely for a minute.

"Do you... not know about money?" Noteworthy asked him.

"Well, I know what it is & everything. But back home we didn't use money, everyling was given enough love to live comfortably as long as they did their job. I don't really know much other than ponies tell you a number & you give them that number." Cherry said looking back at him, feeling silly for not knowing more.

"Oh well yes, this is enough for three houses as nice as my old one. But I'm going to use most of it to buy one really good house, & the rest will furnish it. I'll still need to find a job before long but everything will probably work out alright." Noteworthy said with a smile. Cherry could feel worry behind Noteworthy's smile but he chose to not say anything about it.

The two headed back to Berry's house after a quick stop at the bank. Cherry also opened an account & deposited his first paycheck which he had been holding on to, unaware of what to do with it. Noteworthy explained the way money worked in as much detail as he could, Cherry was a quick study & was already asking questions Noteworthy was unable to answer.

Berry & the pair lazed about until Pinchy arrived home from school. Afterward Cherry ended up being drafted into helping her with her history assignment. Noteworthy sat in silence with Berry in the living room, it was pretty awkward considering the last time they had been alone Berry had threatened him with severe bodily harm. Strangely enough it had happened without Berry lifting a hoof. Regardless, Noteworthy didn't really know what to say to the mare. Luckily a familiar turquoise unicorn came in through the front door wearing a camera around her neck & saddle bags.

"Hey Berry, Hey Noteworthy. Have you guys seen Cherry? I had a favor to ask." Lyra said looking at the mare, then the injured stallion.

"He's helping Pinchy with her homework right now." Berry said motioning toward the kitchen with her hoof.

"What do you need Cherry for?" Noteworthy asked genuinely curious. Lyra's eyes darted back & forth a little at the inquiry.

"U-um... nothing important." Lyra said before looking at her saddle bags. Berry raised an eyebrow at the mare.

"Lyra, why do need a camera?" Berry asked as she got up from her seat on the sofa. Lyra was visibly sweating. Berry trotted closer to the unicorn & looked her in the eyes, Lyra felt like Berry was staring into her soul.

"Okay, Okay! I was going to ask Cherry if he could turn into a human so I could take a picture with him!" Lyra said levitating several well drawn & extremely detailed sketches of humans, inside & out. The last picture was of a human on the cover of a comic book. Berry's face met her hoof quickly upon Lyra's confession.

"Dammit Lyra, you're a grown mare! The human nonsense was kinda funny when we were foals but now it's getting weird." Berry said removing her hoof from her face. Cherry & Ruby Pinch chose this moment to enter the living room.

"Um... are we interrupting something?" Cherry said looking at all the documents floating around Lyra.

"Cherry! Can you turn into a human?" Lyra said practically running up to the disguised changeling with her many drawings in tow.

"I don't know what that is." Cherry said officially confused. Lyra floated the documents over to the changeling, they were almost medical quality notes on anatomy, bone structure, & organ placement. There were also scale drawings & specific height & weight measurements marked clearly.

"Where'd you get so much detailed information on a fictional creature?" Berry asked slightly disturbed.

"Princess Twilight! She was telling her friends about this mirror thing & I overheard her talking. She drew these up for me! She saw real humans!" Lyra said almost shaking with excitement. Cherry was carefully studying the drawings, memorizing the plethora of vital information required for formulating a disguise of a creature he had never seen before. After a moment he looked up at Lyra.

"I should be able to do it, I've never heard of humans before but these notes have all the information I need." Cherry said unsure of how easy the task would be. Lyra made a series of squee noises & began hopping around frantically. Cherry focused himself on the information in his head & tapped into his magic. His hot pink flames engulfed him & shot upward before dispersing. Cherry was obviously still Cherry, his clothes were like those of his original disguise but fitted to his new form. He looked himself over warily & examined his new hands.

"This is so weird, I have hands like a minotaur. But I don't have any fur, or chitin or anything!" He said poking his hand with his new pointer finger. Lyra was simply speechless for a good five minutes. She eventually came back into the realm of consciousness & darted over to him. She floated her camera in front of the transformed changeling & snapped a photo which slid out of the bottom of the camera. She shook it with her magic to develop it faster. After viewing it she donned a smile to rival the intensity of Celestia's sun. She pulled Cherry into a bone crushing hug, there was so many positive emotions seeping out from her Cherry's senses were nearly overloaded. After she let him go she regained her composure.

"Thank you sooo much! I've gotta go show this to Bon Bon!" Lyra said before turning to leave. Berry stepped on her tail, preventing her from leaving though.

"I know this was important to you Lyra, but you can't keep that photo. If anypony saw it Cherry's cover could be blown. Give it back to him so he can destroy it." Berry said deadly serious. Lyra knew nopony talked back to Berry when she was like this but still wasn't happy about it. She levitated the picture over to Cherry. Cherry flamed back down into his original disguise & ignited the photo with his own magic. He could feel Lyra's hurt as he did it.

"If it's that important to you, I'll shift into a human for you the next time Bon Bon comes over." Cherry said hoping to lift the mare's spirit. It worked as he was tackled into another emotional hug.

"Yes! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" Lyra cried out. After being freed from her vice-like grip Cherry caught his breath while Lyra apologized to everypony for the weird visit. She took her leave shortly after, but there was a noticeable spring in her step.

"Does this sort of thing happen often around here?" Noteworthy asked Berry.

"More than I'd like to admit." Berry said trotting into the kitchen. "I'm going to get our supper started, you two probably wanna get cleaned up for your date."

Cherry & Noteworthy nodded to one another & Cherry took him to the bathroom to get him cleaned up. Some embarrassment & awkwardness ensued as Cherry had to help clean him up as he couldn't reach some areas & couldn't get his casts wet. The two agreed to forget what transpired, after that was done Cherry changed the bandages across Noteworthy's chest. After that Cherry placed Noteworthy back into the living room & left to tend to himself. A little over a half hour later Cherry trotted in in his native form. He stood before Noteworthy before using his magical fire to change into a pony. This time however Cherry's clothes were different, he wore his rose tinted glasses, but instead of his hoodie he wore a light red jacket open over a light pink button down shirt.

"What's with the new duds?" Noteworthy asked, looking him over.

"Well, this is a date. The television programs I've been watching say you shouldn't wear just anything to a date. Why? Do you not like it?" Cherry said with ears drooping.

"No, No, you look great. I was just curious." Noteworthy said trying to fix his minor blunder. Evidently it worked as Cherry perked up & his cheeks became flushed a little.

After double checking his disguise the two left the house. The walk to Sugarcube Corner wasn't long, as Ponyville was still a fairly small town. Cherry had never actually seen the building before now & was genuinely impressed with the sweet inspired design. As he wheeled his date inside he stopped to take in the numerous wonderful smells. Sugarcube corner had recently expanded it's menu from just sweets & baked goods to other foods at dinner, making it a bit more than just a bakery. Cherry positioned Noteworthy opposite himself at a table near a window. A tall & skinny yellow stallion in a paper hat & apron brought them their menus & took their drink orders shortly after. The couple began talking as they searched through the menus.

"Looks like we lucked out, Pinkie Pie doesn't seem to be working tonight. Everypony likes Pinkie, but she's a little much sometimes." Noteworthy said trying to start up a conversation.

"Yeah, She managed to find me the first time I was out during the day. She was so overwhelmingly emotional I just kinda froze up, apparently she's throwing me a welcome party on Tuesday." Cherry replied looking up from his menu.

"Well you know me & the girls will be there for you, right?" Noteworthy said catching Cherry's worried tone.

"I know, but I've never been around very many ponies at a time before. I'm kind of worried about it." Cherry said before turning back to his menu. Noteworthy had already decided on his choice. He was going to try & further reassure Cherry but the stallion came back to take their orders. Cherry was having the vegetable stew bread bowl, & Noteworthy the roasted bell peppers stuffed with, beans, cheese, & spices. As they waited for their meals conversation picked up again.

"So, did you have any ideas for what you wanted to do for work once you're well again?" Cherry asked. Noteworthy was silent for a moment.

"I'm not sire yet, I've always wanted to do something with my music but there are already so many musicians out there. It's becoming harder & harder to find a good job in music right now, I may have to settle for something else." He said obviously saddened at the thought of giving up his dream.

"You know, I never did get to hear you play. Maybe you could play for me once you're up & around again?" Cherry said trying to encourage Noteworthy.

"Well if I ever get a new sax I'll be sure to play for you." Noteworthy said brightening a little. Their conversation carried on even after their food had arrived. The two were getting along well, Noteworthy was honestly having a much easier time connecting with Cherry than he had had with any other stallions. Cherry could feel Noteworthy's small spark of affection, things couldn't be rushed but in all honesty Cherry didn't want them to be. He had a steady food supply of positive emotion, he wouldn't risk anything by trying to move too fast with Noteworthy. He genuinely liked the stallion too, he had still given him a chance even after the disguise was dropped. Plus, Cherry had never connected with anyone like he was with the injured stallion.

After the finished eating there was a brief squabble over who would pay, they ended up splitting the bill evenly despite it. As they walked home they were mostly silent but caught each other's glances a number of times. After arriving home Cherry used his magic to get the wheelchair & stallion back up the stairs, & into their room. The two talked for awhile before deciding to turn in Cherry did his physics defying wall walk up the ceiling after helping Noteworthy into the bed. The two were quiet for awhile until Noteworthy broke the silence.

"Hey Cherry? Do you think maybe when it's just us & the girls, drop the disguise? I think you make a really cute stallion & all, but I like knowing the real you too." He said in a sincere tone. Cherry was genuinely taken by surprise, he didn't know what to say. So he didn't say anything, he just let go of his disguise. His facade dissolved into pink flames. Noteworthy could make out faintly glowing pink eyes & smiled. The two fell asleep soon after with smiles on their faces.

Author's Note:

Okay, so the ending for this chapter seems really sappy to me but I apologize for nothing!
The bit with Lyra was probably unnecessary but I thought it was okay.

Comments

[alphiebronystory]

so awsome

[CrimsonCrown69]

I love human obsessed Lyra!

[mylittlebrony15]

6457030 I really like the human obsessed lyra too. It's funny and cute.