Cherry Berry -- Aviatrix
Written by: Admiral Biscuit
Rated EveryoneCherry Berry carefully backed the stinking wagon alongside its shed, which was intentionally located on the downwind side of her farm, as far from the house as possible. Even with regular washings, the smell of garbage never quite left the wagon. She reached her head around and pulled the release pins on the yoke. Stepping forward, she let it fall to the ground—with the wagon against a stopping block, the yoke would dig into the ground if it tried to roll forward, keeping it secure.
Free of her load, she happily trotted into the shed, pulling the clip that joined the hip strap with the breaching seat loose as she did. She hung them on the wall carefully with her teeth, followed by the belly band, each to its own peg. A quick examination showed everything was in order: despite her hatred of the wagon and harness, Cherry Berry was a very meticulous pony.
She walked back outside into the golden early-morning light, head held high with a feeling of expectation. She sniffed her sides thoughtfully and decided that the odor of sweat and garbage wasn’t too pungent yet.
Cherry stopped by the fence surrounding her garden and pulled a wicker pack onto her back—of her own devising, it was a pair of baskets joined by a sturdy strap. Gardening tools were held in small cloth loops around the perimeter, in easy mouth reach. She opened the gate and stepped into her small garden. It was nowhere as neat as Golden Harvest’s, or the flower trio’s flowerbeds, but it was good enough for one pony and it was able to fit in enough vegetables that she only made half as many trips to the market as some ponies. Of course, that was only if she gave the best care to her crops. While she may not have had a green hoof, she made up for it with diligence.
Although it was still very early spring, and only a few of her vegetables had done much more than send a single sprout above the ground, weeds were ever-present. Some of them were horrible and annoying. Those she stuffed into the left basket. Others were tasty in their own right, such as young dandelion. She put those in the other side, saving them for a quick field breakfast.
She finally reached the end of the last row and looked up. To her surprise, the sun was higher than she expected, and her gardening baskets were full. Her hooves and legs were caked with mud, and sweat was drying on her fur. Cherry sighed as she walked out of the garden—remembering to close the gate behind her—and rolled her head around, wincing as her neck cracked. All that bending over can’t be good for a mare. She emptied the sack of noxious weeds into her compost heap, scraping dirt over them with a foreleg. She dumped a little bit of her fertilizer and wetted it to set the composting process in order. A few weeds grew in her compost pile, but that didn’t really bother her too much: like the garbage wagon, it was downwind of anything that mattered.
Cherry paced a few ponylengths away from the compost heap, then dumped out her other bag and began hungrily grazing on young dandelion leaves, quitch grass, and chickweed. Some ponies would find this disgusting, she thought between mouthfuls. No plate, no utensils, outdoors—well, to Tartarus with it. It’s good enough for an earth pony.
As soon as her breakfast was finished, she tossed the gardening baskets back over the wooden fence, then eagerly walked towards the southwest corner of her orchard. Years ago, when she was just getting started, a slick Manehatten salespony had sold her on a simple irrigation system ‘because weatherponies, bless their hearts, don’t always do what’s best for an earth pony like yourself, ma’am,’ and had further suggested that she install a separate, above-ground sprayer. When she had asked him what possible use that would have, he’d winked at her, and replied that she might be surprised to find how useful such a thing might be.
She stepped on the valve that started the water and took two steps sideways, shivering as the icy, sulphury artesian water sprayed on her flank. Gritting her teeth, she slowly backed up into the spray, wincing as it moved up her back and into her mane. The first time she’d tried this, she’d jumped right back of the shower, repelled by the smell and frigidity, but she’d long since gotten used to it. After a few moments, she’d become accustomed to the temperature and let the spray play across her, watching the rivulets of mud flow into the grass and disappear.
As soon as the water sluicing off her was clear, she shut off the sprayer and shook herself off. Celestia’s sun would finish the job of drying; anyhow, there was nopony she needed to impress.
Blonde mane still dripping, she began to inspect her saplings. She stuck her muzzle right against the dirt and sniffed carefully, making certain that the ground still smelled moist enough for them to thrive. To someponies, the smell of rich soil was off-putting; to Cherry Berry, it was one of the best smells there was. She inspected the stakes and twine, being sure that they were secure, and that they weren’t chafing into the bark. Each small leaf was scrutinized for any sign of pest. She cared for her cherry trees as if each one was a part of her family—which, in a way, they were—from the earliest saplings she had selected from Cherry Jubilee’s vast acreage, to the younger grafts and seedlings she added every spring.
She finally made her way to the oldest part of the orchard, and here she paused. The faint wind wafted the soothing perfume of the blooms over her, and she perked her ears up, picking up the faint omnipresent drone of bees over the soft rustling of leaves. A brief gust of wind sent hundreds of pink petals pirouetting earthward, falling like a gentle snow across the short-cropped grass and occasionally on her fur and mane.
She unconsciously made a happy noise in her throat, watching her trees gently sway in the wind. They were simple and undemanding and, if cared for, would go on longer than she would. Someday, the bright-eyed foals of Ponyville would sit with creaking limbs on their porches, and, while they might not remember who she was, they would know her orchard, and that was all a pony could ask.
She frowned. Normally her thoughts didn’t turn maudlin until the leaves were falling from the trees. Then she brightened, looking skyward. Today was a perfect day. The wind was mild and out of the east. The sky, cloudless. No rain scheduled for the next few days. Her garden was taken care of, and her orchard too. She had no responsibilities for the rest of the day, and by Celestia, she was going to take advantage of it.
A few quick trips between her hip roof barn and pasture and she had her hot air balloon set up, the envelope filling with hot air ducted off a small swampgas burner she’d devised. The basket was tied securely to the ground stakes, and everything had been inspected carefully. One failure of the parachute valve had driven home the need for a thorough pre-flight inspection more than any amount of lecturing could have.
This was a side of Cherry Berry that nopony but a pegasus understood. She could hardly explain to an earth pony how she had felt the need to take on a second job as a garbagemare to pay for her hobby, or to a unicorn why she just didn’t have a flight spell or a cloudwalking spell cast on herself. True, when she took foals and their parents and siblings up for rides, they enjoyed it, but she didn’t think they felt the yearning for the sky in their hearts like she did; only a pegasus truly knew. She shrugged. Who cares what they understand, or don’t? She tugged her cap tight and pulled on her goggles. Let them stay on the ground, while I soar free. She stepped into the basket and made one last check of the lines, then pulled the belaying pins loose, her smile growing as the basket lifted into the air. As always, unconsciously, she began whispering the words of a poem she’d once seen in a Wonderbolts program. Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth/And danced the skies....
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A wonderful look at a very obscure pony.
And the opening lines from High Flight was a nice touch. I think that sums her and any pony's feelings up neatly.
I'm gonna try and read all of these. But I demand some Fleetwing. NOW
2016788
Do you mean Fleetfoot? The Wonderbolt? 'Cause I'm not finding any 'Fleetwing'. If you do mean Fleetwing, I'm afraid that name is not official and therefore s/he is unavailable for entry into the Album. If you mean Fleetfoot, well...her name is official, so I'd allow her. You'd just have to find someone to writer her snapshot, mate.
2017376 Wow I am embarrassed. yes she would make for a pretty badass chap. in my opinion.
2016218
She's a frequently appearing background pony, who was, among other things, rescued from the balloon in Mysterious Mare Do Well, and was flying it and towed it back out of the Everfree in Spike at your Service.
http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/150/i/2012/366/9/e/cherry_berry_vector_by_artpwny-d5pzr08.png
and i was hoping that would show up as a picture, but I guess I'm not clever enough to know how to put links in these little boxes.
2015751
Thank you! It was a fun story to write.
For those not in the know, the poem is High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
2016218 2019245 Don't worry, I got it.
th03.deviantart.net/fs71/150/i/2012/366/9/e/cherry_berry_vector_by_artpwny-d5pzr08.png
Before I discovered EqD, and Fimfic, I tried to memorize the names of all the background ponies; well, all the ones that show up regularly. There are actually fan names for every pony that has ever appeared in the show. A lot of them are puns or jokes or references to characters they vaguely look like, or in some other way are reminiscent of. And I'm really glad I did; you would be surprised how often an author uses an obscure background pony instead of an OC. Also the full list is worth a look though just to read the joke names. This is the list of common background ponies, and this is the full list of ponies.
Great Story BTW. I liked it.
2019412
Thanks for liking it! And posting the link!
I try to use extant ponies (even if their names are only fan names) rather than make up my own names. I think it's a little more rewarding, since if your fic and character portrayal is good, you might become the default (like the 'winning' Cloudkicker that Chengar Qordath is writing), and it's an interesting mental exercise to try and figure out what makes a background pony tick. I mean, this particular story came to mind after watching Cherry tow the balloon back towards Ponyville in Spike at your Service; my earlier attempt at Cherry Berry (I am a pony that nopony knows) was not very good.
I started writing a story about Sunny Rays (it sucked) when I first began writing fanfiction. I think an author could make a very interesting story for Sea Swirl--how does one get a dolphin cutie mark...hmm....
2022178
I always figured scuba diving. Also no prob with the link and I feel the same way about using background ponies. In my most recent story I used a knuckled down and did my research with a few obscure background ponies. I'm still waiting for someone to call me out on it. It will probably never happen.
2025054
One of the things on my bucket list is to stargaze in monument valley. I am told there is no clearer night sky anywhere than in the desert.
2025523 Oh... Well that was "Hawkward" >.> Well then take all my internets and a few interwebs as well
2040078
That's all right, you had quite a few comments. I really did enjoy it, especially how you connected the bow back to everything. And thanks right back!
This is seriously how I'm spending all my small breaks throughout the day.
2120999
It was on the day the site made it's big update/overhaul. One of the bigger issues were new chapter uploads kept failing, but before I knew that, I uploaded the chapter and all it would save was an accented 'a'.
2210817
See that book and clock just to the left of the main title? Click it, make sure it turns blue, and there you go.
Hey Peregrine, I was wondering when you were planning on updating! It's been a few months and still no new chapters have been published...
I'd be interested in seeing some of the finished chapters from the GDoc get published over here.
2406466
Appreciate it a lot. Keep meaning to try and do something like this again. Because, mostly, beyond this (though the Heistverse stories are pretty awesome, I do say) I really don't deserve her good word.
2408839
You and me both. I'm really going to try and make some time for that. The entries I have deserve to take their place. Just always hard to find time for all the myriad things I need and want to do. But they'll get here. Some day I do want to get an official 'Complete' tag on this.
THis was neat.
This is beautiful. Melancholy in a way, but also inspiring. Me like.