The Only Truthby bahatumayChaptersChapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1Chapter 2Author's Notes Turns out when Zoom said 'first thing', she really meant, 'first thing'. I hadn't even woken up yet when she crashed through the window. This, to put it lightly, startled me. She had apparently crashed through windows and woken up ponies before, because she didn't even flinch at my expletive-filled rage. When I had finished calling her every name I could think of (which wasn't much; it was way too early in the morning for insulting ponies), she grinned. “So, you ready?” “Ready for what?” “Makeover time!” “You've got to be kidding me...” I growled. “It's way too early in the morning for this.” “It's, like, ten,” she protested. “Doesn't feel like it.” But apparently it didn't matter what I thought, because the next thing I knew, she had carried me out the window and was carrying me through town, notwithstanding my very vocal protests. * * * Let's be honest here. I wasn't exactly the poster filly for personal hygiene (and I'm still not). Sure, I showered every day, but I can't remember the last time I had actually used shampoo in my mane, and I was certainly ok with leaving it how it was—messy, oily, and a bit ratty. I actually expected to be kicked out of the spa as soon as the spa pony saw me. Turns out there are at least two spa ponies in Ponyville, which, in a world where everypony's supposed to be unique, was kindof funny. They were twins, though, if that means anything. “Hi!” Zoom said cheerfully. She pushed me forward. “She really needs some work.” The blue one reached out a hoof and touched my mane. I flinched and scowled at her, but she remained calm. She stroked it lightly and her eyes lit up. She let out a small giggle before calling her sister over in a language I didn't understand. She, too, came over and stroked my mane, and then she began giggling as well. It wasn't a mocking giggle, though. It wasn't even amusement. It was the same kind of laugh I would give after finding a great book (which had happened only twice in my life). It was the 'challenge accepted, and I know I'm going to enjoy this' giggle. I wasn't entirely sure I liked where this was going, but I didn't have much say in the matter, as both ponies grabbed me and frog-marched me into the back, still giggling. “Go, Zoom!” I cried dramatically. “Save yourself!” “Are you kidding?” she hooted. “I'm watching all of this!” * * * I'm not going to describe the torture I was put through there. Suffice it to say that it turned out I didn't need a mane-cut so much as a mane styling and cleaning, and the spa ponies provided. Happily. And enthusiastically. And, from my perspective, painfully. I stumbled out of the spa, still dazed and with my eyes spinning. I smelled clean and fresh, and probably like I was drowning in some of the other perfumes and stuff they sprayed on me because that's certainly what I felt like. I don't know what they had done to my face, but I was probably wearing more makeup than I had ever worn before in my life, and I'm pretty sure my eyelashes had been extended to three times their normal size. Rainbow walked up and obviously suppressed a gag. “Hey, Cherish. Lookin'... uh... good! You smell kinda funny, though.” Well, she didn't sugarcoat anything, did she? I bet she and Zoom got along really well. And even though we hadn't seen each other for almost seven years, Zoom and I still got along pretty well, too. She shared all about Ponyville, the ponies there, the latest thing that had happened (apparently, Ursa Majors aren't myths, after all) and how great Pinkie Pie's parties were. That reminds me. She threw me one. It was a surprise party. I learned this as I walked back inside Twilight's treehouse. I don't envy the parents who had to teach their foals the significance of the words I responded with. Heh... Even Zoom blushed at the swear-filled tirade I unleashed at being surprised, I remember that. Being awake increased my vocabulary somewhat. I also remember the look in Twilight's eyes as she stared at me after my explosive vocabulary. Now, I recognize that look. Back then, though, I didn't. In fact, I felt worried for a while, that she might even take me back to the orphanage. But she didn't. In fact, she never brought it up again. I did make an effort to stop around her, though. And even though I had been surprised, and the games were foalish, I gotta say that Pinkie Pie made great food, especially her cupcakes, and these ponies (eventually) didn't make me want to slam my head repeatedly in an oven door, so all in all, I guess it went ok. Also, another thing happened that afternoon that I am still not sure about. Honestly, what filly would ask about a cussing cutie mark? And what would that even look like? You know, I don't know why I shared that. There are other Ponyville memories that are much more important to my story. That being said, I have never tasted a cupcake as good as Pinkie Pie's. I wonder if I will ever taste another like it. * * * “All right,” Twilight said. “Let's try that again. Remember to feel the water.” I rolled my eyes, but I knew she was right. Being raised in an orphanage really didn't give me much time for learning magic, so I was still stuck on the basics. Let me rephrase that. I had plenty of time, but no teachers. I had gotten pretty far, though, with Twilight as my instructor. She was everything I had imagined, and more. She worked with me, she gave me drills to practice on my own, she assigned readings for me (don't judge me, I like to read), she was perfect. Well, she only had one shortcoming. She couldn't cook very well. This I learned from personal experience. But she was a great magic teacher. And teaching me that wind spell to clear the smoke was pretty cool. The water manipulation to actually put the fire out, though, I didn't do so well on; so that was what we were practicing now. It's hard to explain to a non-unicorn, but I'll try. There's no such thing as different 'kinds' of magic. There isn't fire magic or water magic or anything like that. There's just 'magic', and every spell is weaved from that same kind of magic. Almost like making a wicker basket, or sewing cloth. It's all made with the same basic thread, but can become very different things depending on how you tweak it. Thread can become a heavy coat, or a lacy sock; and no, I wouldn't know that from personal experience. So I was trying to manipulate the magic to lift the water, bring it around my head, and put it back. Simple stuff. Basic exercise. In theory. Let's just say Twilight got a lot of practice with drying spells and all her books were now very much out of the way and on much safer, higher ground. “All right,” she said, after yet another failed attempt. “Try again, and remember to feel...” By this time, my self restraint had run a little low. “The only thing I'm feeling is 'hungry', and the only thing I want to feel right now is some food.” “Cherish, it's only...” Twilight looked over at the clock and blinked in surprise. “Oh. You're right. It's way past lunchtime.” I smiled. “Told you.” She paused, thinking. “Spike's collecting gems with Rarity, and I'm pretty sure we're out of everything I can make. Do you want to go out to eat?” “Only if you're paying,” I grinned. * * * I walked along proudly, if a bit shakily. Twilight walked beside me, still in relative shock. “I have never seen anypony ever finish that challenge,” she breathed. “Five plates! Five whole plates!” Just for clarification, I've seen wagon wheels smaller than these plates. “Well, I'm not everypony,” I said. “I am Cherish, and I am awesome. That, or I've lived on orphanage food for so long that I've never known what real food tastes like.” Twilight smiled. “I'm glad I could remedy that,” she said. I was about to reply when I heard the all too familiar sound of fillies teasing each other. I stopped and turned to listen to the conversation. It was a pink earth pony and a gray earth pony, teasing—I kid you not—an earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus. Yeah. One of each, just like a matched set or something. This place was full of coincidences. And, sure enough, it was about cutie marks. “Give it a rest, DT,” the yellow one said tiredly. I guess she'd been taking a lot of crap from the pink one. “I bet you three are going to be the world's oldest blank flanks!” Here I had to step in. “Actually, that honor belongs to me.” All five spun to look at me, and jaws dropped and eyes widened as they took in my magnificent, blank magenta flank. It was almost like I was at the orphanage again. I could see the balance of power. I could also see that it belonged completely to me, even if none of them realized it yet. The pink one scoffed. “You're the oldest pony I've seen without a cutie mark,” she said. “And you're the brattiest pony I've ever seen with one,” I retorted. Maybe the filly was high on something. That was the only valid excuse I could see that she had for trying to get under my skin. “What's it like?" she taunted. "Being so old, and not having a place in life?” “It could be worse,” I said, taking another step closer and circling around her. “Your special talent is what? Being a tiara?” (1) Before she could respond, I lifted her up and placed her on my head, like an obnoxious squirming pink hat. She squealed and struggled, but I quickly lit my horn and held her hooves in place. “You are the worst tiara I've ever seen!” I said. I began to strut around, much to the amusement of the three fillies who were now rolling on the ground in laughter. “World's worst hat, right here.” “Let me go!” she squealed. “But I'm helping you fulfill your purpose!” I protested. It was at this point that she stopped struggling and began screaming a long, high-pitched scream. To be honest, I could easily have put up with that for a while, but I decided to show some mercy. I made a disgusted face. “This tiara sucks balls,” I said. As soon as I did, I winced, realizing that these fillies probably didn't need to know that phrase. But I did let her go, and she may or may not have fallen flat on her face. Picking herself up with as much dignity as possible, she lifted her nose in the air and walked off, closely followed by her gray sycophant. (2) I heard a more mature-sounding giggle. I looked back to see Twilight covering her mouth and laughing. Oh, no. She had seen all that, hadn't she? Don't be stupid, Cherish; she was there the whole time. I had just responded without even thinking about her. But to my surprise, she didn't seem to mind that much. She walked closer and stood next to me, facing the three fillies. “Girls?” she said, “This is Cherish. She's my daughter.” That one word. That glorious word. The yellow filly perked up instantly. “Nice t' meetcha, Cherish! Ah'm Apple Bloom, and these are my friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” The pegasus and unicorn, respectively, greeted me excitedly as well. “And We Are...” I noticed Twilight quickly place her hooves over her ears. I briefly wondered why. Then I quickly found out. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!” I'm pretty sure my ears were bleeding a bit after that. To be honest, I would rather have listened to the pink one scream. The fillies didn't seem to notice. “We do all kinds of things to try and get our cutie marks.” As if on cue, the three turned and showed their flanks, blank as the day they were born. “That's great,” I said, rubbing my ear. “What have you tried so far?” “All kinds of stuff!” Scootaloo said excitedly. “We're not spa ponies, we're not pet care or grooming ponies, we're not rock climbing ponies, we're not sailor ponies, we're not writing ponies, we're not newsponies...” “I think she gets it,” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “And we may or may not be skydiving ponies. But for some reason, we keep getting interrupted whenever we try.” Apple Bloom brightened. “Hey, you want to come with us? Maybe you'll find yer cutie mark, too!” I looked back at Twilight, who smiled. “You can go if you want,” she said. “All right!” Sweetie Belle cheered. “Hooves in!” I joined in, even though I was twice as tall as they were. I didn't yell when they did, though. “At least do the last part,” Sweetie Belle said. I rolled my eyes. “Yay,” I said. The three cheered again. “Let's go skydiving!” “Actually, I just had lunch,” I said, queasily bringing a hoof up to my stomach. “Can we do something... closer to the ground?” Scootaloo sighed, but the three agreed. “So what do we do instead?” “We can give a guided tour?” Sweetie Belle suggested. This time, I was quick enough to plug my ears before they screamed, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Tour Guides! Yay!” So there I was, walking with these three fillies. They were pretty excited, which was a stark contrast to the foals in the orphanage. I learned that these three were pretty crazy. I did learn a bit about the town, though. I also learned that the pink pony's name was Tiara, Diamond Tiara. That made my last outburst more than a bit awkward. Frankly, if you're sucking balls at that age, you're headed for a world of trouble. Why am I talking about this, again? Oh. Right. Anyway, there we were, walking along, and... You know, I can't even remember what we did that day. I spent a lot of time with the Crusaders when I was in Ponyville, and all those memories are kindof jumbled. I seem to remember a lot of tree sap, for some reason. No, I remember the day after that. They invited me to go rafting, because for safety reasons they wanted a big pony there (as much as Apple Bloom protested that she was such), but they also wanted to keep it a crusaders-exclusive meeting, and I fit both qualifications. From the books Twilight had, I thought it was going to be dangerous. Turns out Ponyville town limits don't have anything over a class 1 rapid (3), and if you want anything bigger, you have to go through the Everfree Forest, which is just as likely to kill you as the rafting itself. Since none of us really wanted to die a blank flank, we ended up on a lake somewhere, floating around on a wooden raft, sadly without raft-building cutie marks. But that wasn't what was so special about this day. Later, I was walking Sweetie Belle home. Apple Bloom had chores and Scootaloo had flown off with Rainbow Dash, so it was just me and Sweetie. She was bouncing along when out of the blue, she turns to me. “Hey, Cherish, are you any good at magic?” she asked. I shrugged. “I guess.” I wasn't. Thanks to Twilight's training, I had gotten basic telekinesis down, which would be commendable—were I half my age. Right now? I was just behind. “Twilight says I have great potential, but I unfortunately lack the necessary previous experience and required foundational prerequisites to truly become a great magician.” To Sweetie's credit, she understood me. “Yeah. Rarity says that, too, but I still can't do much.” “You lifted the hammer earlier,” I said. “Yeah, to my mouth,” she said with a hint of bitterness, “But you got to tie the ropes with magic.” Suddenly, she brightened. “Hey! You wanna come over and help me practice my magic?” I shrugged. “Sure, why not?” So there I was, heading back to Sweetie Belle's house, which was actually Rarity's house. After convincing her sister that I did not want to model for her and that my slim frame was more the result of a lifetime of eating dry orphanage food than a love for my appearance, she agreed to let me study with Sweetie Belle. She also provided some rather tasty cookies, actually. Oatmeal raisin, and she was generous with the raisins. Stop laughing. I like them. (4) Anyway, Sweetie Belle pulls out this book and sits down at the table and pulls me close to read it. It was a simple magic book, I don't even remember what it was called. I do remember what happened next, though. I was reading one of the spells designed to help fold paper (because Celestia forbid a unicorn use their -le gasp!- mouth to do something) when I realized that something didn't look right. “This part here looks kindof redundant,” I said, pointing the quill at one section. Sweetie Belle scrunched up her face as she reread the part I was looking at. “I don't think so.” “Yeah, it is. I mean, look. You could just do this.” Lifting the pencil, I sketched out a new flow process. “It's much simpler and wouldn't take as much energy.” Sweetie Belle squinted. I don't think she understood. “Just... just try it,” I said. “Ok...” Sweetie said hesitantly, but she gamely scrunched up her face and lit her horn. Her spell worked. Her aim was off, though, and instead of the paper we were aiming for folding, she hit the book page itself. It ripped itself from the book, flipped through the air, folded itself nicely into a little stack, and landed right in front of her. We both stared at it. “Oops,” I said. I looked over at Sweetie, who was still open-mouthed and staring wide-eyed at the paper. After about seven seconds, though, I became concerned. “Sweetie Belle? You ok?” “I did it,” she whispered. “I did it...” She jumped up and threw her forelegs around my neck. “I did it! I really, really did it! I did magic! Didja see? Didja?” “I was standing right here,” I pointed out. “And you don't have to grab my flank like that.” Sweetie withdrew slightly. “I'm not touching your flank,” she said, confusion splashed across her face. I looked down and blinked as my flank shone. Yeah. Some ponies think the light shines out their butthole? Turns out it's true at times. Cutie marks shine when they appear, and I did not know that. Well, I know now. But still. Sweetie Belle later said that I shouldn't be embarrassed about my reaction, because Twilight dances like that too when she's excited. No, I'm not showing you my dance. But yes, I was happy. And Sweetie danced with me, so I guess it wasn't so bad. “This is the best day ever!” I squealed. Sweetie Belle checked her own flank and frowned. “Aw,” she whined. “I was hoping I'd get a cutie mark in helping others get their cutie marks.” “What would that even look like?” I asked. She paused. “I don't know.” But her attitude quickly changed and she began bouncing in place again. “But you got your cutie mark! You're good at making up new spells! That's so exciting! Twilight's gonna be so happy!” “Twilight!” I had almost forgotten. I wanted to show her. I had accomplished something—me!—and I wanted her to know. I guess I really hoped she'd be proud of me, you know? Because that wasn't something I got very often and I think everypony needs to know that they're special to somepony. I sprinted out of there (I might have knocked over a few of Rarity's dresses in my rush) and headed home. Sure enough, Twilight didn't disappoint. Also, Sweetie Belle was right—Twilight dances funny, too. She wrapped me in a hug and squealed. “Not even a week in town and you already earned your cutie mark. Cherish, I always knew there was something special about you.” I smiled broadly. Somepony was proud of me! Me! No longer was I a worthless filly unwanted at an orphanage. She really cared about me. “I'm proud of you, Cherish,” she said, giving me a gentle kiss on the forehead. I felt like I was really worth something right then, and I couldn't help but squeeze and nuzzle her back. The whole emotional bonding thing was kindof ruined when Pinkie Pie appeared with a bang, a cupcake, and the loud, boisterous offer of another party, but hey. That's Ponyville, I guess. Also, confetti is really hard to wash out of your mane. Just saying. Twilight did it again later that night. She whispered, “Good night, Cherish,” and she kissed me on the forehead. If this is what mothers did... every night, kiss her filly good night... life would be a little bit better. At least, it's what mothers should do. Oh, I see that look. You're thinking, 'oh, the poor princess. She got her cutie mark and made friends all within the week and her adopted mother loves her. Boo-hoo, her life is sooo hard.' Heh. We'll see if you still want to be me after I tell you what happened on my eighteenth birthday. Chapter 3I took a breath. Then another. Then another. I couldn't help but giggle with excitement. Normally, of course, breathing isn't that hard. But at that time, I had my head submerged in the bathtub, and was breathing under water, and I was more than a little bit proud of this fact. Suddenly, my lungs filled with water, and let me tell you, that burns. I jerked my head out of the tub and gasped for air, coughing and choking uncontrollably and spewing water everywhere. “Ne- *cough* needs work,” I sputtered. For some reason, that spell just gave out every once in a while, and I wasn't sure yet what it was. And, obviously, the test runs tended to end like this, with much painful coughing and spluttering. Apparently, a talent for creating new spells doesn't mean they'll be perfect spells. But I had quite the line-up of spells I'd created. Twilight had helped me publish them in journals, fancy expensive magazine thingies that I don't even remember the name of. Apparently, Celestia herself would sometimes publish magic research in these journals, albeit under a pseudonym. I had a pseudonym, too. It's not like I didn't want to be famous—I did, really I did—but more than that I wanted to be like Twilight, and Twilight often published things under lots of other names. She thought that magic was its own reward; not to be used for special acknowledgments and stuff. Which I suppose I can agree with. Then again, “Revered Beauty” had become known enough to be invited to a couple smaller conferences. Her assistant, a certain Sundown, had respectfully turned them down, though. ...where was I going with this? Oh, yeah. Me out of the bath. I had dried off and was at my desk working on rewriting the flow yet again when Twilight walked up. “Cherish, how long have you been working on this?” she asked. “Only a little bit,” I lied, trying to make sure I didn't look sleepy. I guess I’m not a good liar, because she came close and rested a hoof on top of mine. “Maybe you should take a quick break. Spend tomorrow out on the town or something. I've found that's very helpful when I hit a wall.” So I did. Next day I was outside, trying not to think about my water breathing spell, and I ran into Dinky. Dinky is this adorable little unicorn filly being raised by her cousin, who's a pegasus. Something happened to their parents or something or I don't even know, but they're together now. Derpy—that's her cousin—she tries hard, but sometimes... well... you know. At least, I did. “Hey, Dinky,” I said. “What's up?” “Oh, nothing,” she said. I knew that wasn’t true. “Oh?” I said simply. “I was wondering... is Twilight Sparkle your real mother?” I was, to be frank, taken aback. “Where did that come from?” I asked, a bit harsher than I meant to. She wasn’t my mother. I knew it. But at night, I would imagine that she was, complete with birthday parties and awful pictures. Dinky rubbed her hooves together nervously. “I kindof thought... well, you both like magic, you both like to read, so I thought...” You know, I thought, she would have been a great mother. She wouldn't have given me an ironic name and then thrown me away. But being adopted by was a close second. I leaned down to her eye level. “Want to hear a secret?” I said. She nodded. “A mother isn't whoever squeezed you out from in between her hind legs all bloody and crying,” I said, grinning at the disgusted expression that flashed over her face. “A mother is the one who loves you and cares about you. A mother puts your needs over her own. A mother is the one that influences you the most and would do anything for you. Now, I bet you know a pony who does all that, right?” Her eyes were brightening already. “Yeah, I do!” “I bet you call her 'mom' already, don't you?” “Yeah, I do!” “How about you go tell her that you love her?” “I will!” she said happily before turning and bouncing away. That conversation would come back to bite me in the butt. But not for a bit. Actually, that week was a week where a ton of things I said came and bit me in the butt, and some fairly quickly. I see you looking. Stop staring at my butt. It's not actually bitten and I'm not into that. That means... uh... that’s something you should ask your mother. So it was the week of my chosen birthday, and I started a conversation with Twilight over breakfast. “You know, today's a special day.” Twilight made the motions of 'keep it down'. “You mean like your anniversary of being here? I thought that was tomorrow. I'm sure Pinkie's already planning some kind of anniversary party.” “Well, yeah, I guess it is; but today is my birthday.” Twilight flinched. “It is?” she asked. “Well, I think it is,” I admitted. “I'm not really sure. I kindof just figured a season from what the matron said about when I got abandoned, picked a day, and stuck with it.” Twilight nodded, seemingly relieved. Back then, I thought it was because she was afraid she had forgotten my birthday. “Makes sense.” “And I've been thinking...” I steeled myself. “I think I'd like to have a birthday party.” “Cherish!” Twilight hissed, but it was too late. Pinkie Pie popped out of a closet that was far too small for her, eyes crinkled up as a wide smile spread across her face. “Did somepony say 'party'?” “I did,” I said. “I think I'd like a birthday party. It's for today.” Pinkie Pie gasped, and I could swear she lifted herself off the ground she gasped so hard. “No way!” she exclaimed. “Yes way!” I responded. Pinkie began to vibrate. Literally, she was airborne and shaking. “I’m so happy~!” she proclaimed. “It’s a birthday party I never thought I would throw! I gotta go get set up! I gotta invite everypony! Pinkie Pie, away!” And she disappeared in a flash of pink, leaving behind a pink contrail. I looked at Twilight, and she shrugged. “If you value your sanity, don’t think about that too hard.” Worked for me. * * * I’d been to many parties my time in Ponyville. I had been to birthday parties, cuteciñera parties (no, I didn’t have one; there was no way I was putting on a frilly dress and getting my makeup done, no matter how much whining Rarity gave me), anniversary parties, even a party celebrating a beaver having grown back a tooth. I dunno about that one. Maybe Pinkie was having a slow week and needed to hit a quota. But there was nothing like this party. I mean, it hadn’t even started yet and the library looked like Pinkie’s Party Cannon and Sugarcube Corner had exploded all over it. I mean, cupcakes lined the walls, brownies organized by flavor, a 'Happy Birthday, Cherish!' cake complete with a little fondant version of me--Bon Bon had even managed to get my cutie mark spot on--more balloons than I had ever seen before, streamers that matched my color scheme, I tell you, it was awesome. I mean, I’m not even that big on being social, and I was still excited. I was avoiding Pinkie and sampling one of the many cupcakes when I saw Big Macintosh bringing in a barrel. You’ve never seen this stallion, so… let’s see… imagine the biggest pony you’ve seen. Then make him twice as big, and red as an apple, and put a sprig of wheat in his mouth. That’s Big Mac. And that barrel probably could have held two or three ponies, easy. I walked over. curious. “Whatcha got there?” I asked. “Cider.” That’s another thing about Mac. He doesn’t speak much. Unless he’s mad. And I’ve only seen that once, when they lost a third of the south orchard to blight. “Apple cider?” Mac cracked a smile. “It ain’t pear cider,” he chuckled. “That’s a big barrel.” Mac looked disparagingly at it. “Eeyup, but it might still not be big enough.” “For what? Bathing?” That might have been the wrong thing to say, because he reached out one of his huge hooves and pulled my head down. I was surprised by the rough treatment, to say the least; but then my unspoken questions were answered when Rainbow Dash flew over my head, missing me by inches, and crashed into the ground, knocking aside balloons and barely missing the cake table. She popped her head up. “I heard ‘cider’,” she breathed. Mac pointed at her. “Rainbow Dash?” I asked. “She’s the one you’re worried about?” “Eeyup.” Rainbow shot to her hooves and started over to the barrel. “This is something else.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Where’s Zoom? She’s gotta try this stuff.” “Try what stuff?” Zoom had taken the sane route, and had walked into the library. Then again, she had crashed into the statue once--Twilight keeps this huge wooden pony bust on her center table--and I guess her skull wasn’t as thick as Rainbow’s. Rainbow rested a hoof reverently on the barrel. “This… is cider. This is better than ambrosia and whatever other mystical foods there are.” She looked over at us, and Zoom and I both had matching expressions of confusion. Clearly, we needed instructing. “Mac? Pour us a mug.” Mac shook his head. “Nope. Party hasn’t started yet.” Rainbow’s everything drooped. Ears, wings, tail, lower lip, everything. She put on a pair of puppydog eyes and her lower lip quivered as she wordlessly pleaded for some cider. Mac didn’t bat an eye. “Ah’ve resisted my sister for longer. Do your worst.” So yeah. Poor Rainbow had to wait for the party to start and everypony to sing to me and Pinkie to cut the cake before Mac finally cracked open the cider. The line formed instantly, with Rainbow in the front and Zoom close behind. Applejack was serving, and she made a point that I would be the first to taste it. Now, Applejack is one of the smartest ponies I know. By that, I mean she’s not book smart, but she’s street smart. She poured me my first and it was a small, halfway full mug. I looked at her as if hurt, and she winked at me (but kept eye contact the whole time). “It’s somethin’ like you’ve never had before. You’d prolly better take it slow at first.” And that was clearly meant to be an order. I looked down at my drink. It was frothy, but it looked really good. So I took a small sip, unsure of what to expect. My tastebuds exploded and I almost melted right there. It was the perfect blend of sweetness, but a hint of spices, and… You’re going to just have to try it for yourselves. No, I don’t have any with me. If I did, I would have drunk it already. Heh… interesting choice of words... That day, I learned that cider only froths when it’s alcoholic. And I had never tasted alcohol before. At the orphanage, we didn’t even get chocolate. Nope. No chocolate. Actually, my first time trying chocolate is a pretty funny story, too, but maybe I’ll tell it later. Anyway, that cider is delicious, so I kept drinking it. It got bad enough that Applejack cut me off, so I stuck to swiping drinks from other ponies while they weren't looking, with varying rates of success. Apparently, I’m a very friendly drunk. I was just glad Lyra’s a friendly drunk, too. And that Bon Bon is fairly forgiving. I guess she’d just had her mane done that morning and, well… let’s just say mint frosting doesn’t go well with pink and blue mane. At least, I didn’t think so. Lyra didn’t compla- You know what, let’s just move on. So it’s midway through my party, and I’m completely hammered. I mean, I’m drunk off my rocker off my porch off my property drunk. And it suddenly occurs to me that I haven't seen Twilight recently. Now, sober Cherish would have realized she was just in the bathroom or something, which, incidentally, she was. Drunk Cherish, on the other hoof, was convinced that Twilight was lost and needed to be found, so I wandered around, calling for Twilight. Of course, over the music and party noises, she couldn’t hear me. Soon, I came to the brilliant conclusion that I could use magic to find her. Except I didn’t have a ‘find hidden things’ spell, so I made one up. Yep. While drunk. I don’t recommend getting drunk, though. It leaves you with a massive hangover. But that’s for tomorrow, see? I’m getting ahead of myself again. So drunk Cherish is walking around, flashing my spell everywhere. I found three bits under the sofa, a book Twilight had lost, that bead from Rainbow’s necklace, and something under the first step of the staircase. Now, Twilight wasn’t there, obviously. But I remember there being something there. Even the next morning, when I woke up bright and early and with a killer hangover. Twilight had me stay in bed all that morning (not like I would have gone anywhere anyway) and made me something from a well-worn piece of paper. Guess she’d had experience waking up feeling like your insides want to be on your outsides. That day was pretty uneventful. I think Pinkie wanted to throw me an afterparty, but I teleported a watermelon over her head and walked away. It was a good three months before I felt up to going to another party. Anyway… that day was pretty chill. But that night… I couldn’t sleep that night. Something bothered me, and I couldn’t remember what. So I went downstairs to get a drink of water and as I walked back, I suddenly remembered that secret thing under the first step. Lighting my horn, I pulled the top off and looked under the step. Underneath lay a somewhat thin sheaf of papers. I flipped over the top one and looked at it. Mortgage information, diplomas, loan information, a birth certificate made for someone named Cherish, a death certifi- I did a double take. Cherish? I flipped back through and pulled it out, examining it closely. Born to Twilight Sparkle this day of… that looked familiar. It was the date I had chosen for my birthday. At first, I wondered if this had been a late present that Twilight had forgotten about. I mean, the ‘sire’ spot was empty, and Twilight was definitely single. And then I wondered, why would she leave that somewhere hidden if she just intended on giving it to me anyway? Maybe it referred to another Cherish, I thought, grasping at straws. But as I read the filly’s description, complete with mane color and stripe color, I knew it was talking about me. So my next thought was, it's a fake. A prank of some kind. Well, I put that thing through every spell I could think of. Age-revealing spells. Counterfeit-exposing spells. I even tried to light it on fire to see if it held a hospital-grade protective spell. It did. This thing was real. This birth certificate was real and it was mine. I sank to my haunches as I stared at that paper, that horrible paper, as it shook my world and turned it upside down by just existing. Emotions I couldn't name flowed through me, everything from shock to betrayal to pain to rage and anger. Yep. That’s right. Twilight Sparkle was my birth mother, the same one who abandoned me eighteen years ago. Author's Note What an unexpected twist! -nobody ever Chapter 1Author's Notes Snow gently fell from the gray skies, coating the town in a white blanket of purity, almost like a shield of innocence. It was broken by the slow steps of a unicorn mare, carrying a basket with a tiny sleeping foal inside. Her hoofsteps broke the snow's pattern, leaving little pockmarked scars as she walked. She arrived at her destination and set down the basket. Almost as an afterthought, she cleared the snow off the sign that read Orphanage before knocking loudly on the door. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered to the foal, before turning and running off into the snowy night. I threw myself down on the bed and buried my face in the pillow. Not to cry, of course. That impulse had gone a long time ago. No, just out of rage and frustration and hate. Especially the hate. Hate for the mother that left me on the orphanage steps that winter day. Hate for myself, even though there was nothing I could have done. I was just a baby filly at the time, after all, but I could still remember. I remember an aura of magic around the basket I was in. I remember being put down. I remember the snow. I remember the cold. I remember being abandoned. I somehow also remembered my name. Cherish. I'm not sure how I remembered it, really. And, to be honest, I didn't think it fit me. I never cherished anything, and nopony cherished me. Heck, I don't think anypony really liked me, which was good, because I didn't like them back. A soft buzzing sound from the bed next to mine reminded me of the one exception to that rule. Zoom's wings were twitching in her sleep. She was probably dreaming of flying. She couldn't fly yet in real life, but in her dreams, she was the world's fastest pegasus. That was why she had chosen the name Zoom for herself, after all. She didn't have any memories. I wondered if that made her luckier or unluckier than me. At least she slept happily. Not me. I couldn't sleep just yet. Not tonight. Even though Zoom and probably the rest of the other fillies and colts were asleep, I wasn't about to sleep. Not on my birthday. At least, I thought it was my birthday. I had had to pick a random date from the two-week window I had gotten. The matron had notorious bad memory to go along with her bad breath. I shivered as a cold draft blew in from the hallway. Not even the wind liked me. Even so, I quietly got up and walked as silently as I could to the doorway. I opened it, wincing as it creaked loudly, but when there were no sounds or things thrown, I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Suddenly, a hoof wrapped around my mouth. I suppressed the urge to scream, and I spun around, lighting my horn. I couldn't do anything with it, but I hoped to at least scare off whoever had come at me. Through the violet light, I saw my attacker. “What are you doing?” Zoom hissed, obviously not asleep any longer. “You're going to get caught!” I let my horn light die. “I just wanted to...” Zoom cut me off with a hoof-wave. “You know what? I don't really care. But seriously, get back to bed. Some of us are trying to sleep.” I rolled my eyes, but I followed her back to bed. I must have been more tired than I thought, because I fell asleep quickly after that. I woke the next morning to our alarm clock. By that, I mean the matron did her daily ritual of bashing two pots together ferociously, almost as if she were taking out some inner anger on them. The resulting noise was loud enough to wake a dragon. I jumped out of bed and went straight to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I headed for the mess hall for daily breakfast, which was a dandelion sandwich on stale bread. As usual. Then it was time for class. Ms. Guava, our teacher, was just as much of a dead-beat as every other adult here. I don't even remember what the lesson was on. Heck, I don't even remember the last time I paid attention to one of her lessons. I was in my own world. And what a world. Tables doubled in size and reared up, becoming ferocious monsters. Spikes jutted out from the walls, spelling a painful death for any pony stupid enough to get close. Clouds of thick, black smoke threatened to spell doom for everyone. And in the middle of it all, standing proud and undefeatable, stood my hero, Twilight Sparkle. There was nothing she couldn't do with a wave of her horn. Monsters were obliterated to splinters. Spikes vanished in flames. Smoke itself parted in front of her hooves. Through it all, she didn't even break a sweat. A new challenger approached, a hideous beast more monstrous and deadly than any... A paper fluttered to the desk in front of my hooves. Snapping back to reality, I noticed that I had been given a worksheet, and everypony else was already busily writing. I threw a quick glance over the fifteen problems and began to work. A few minutes later (hey, I'm not stupid or anything) I was done, so I turned it in and let my mind wander again. That's pretty much how the rest of my day went until dinner, but since that was the same thing we had for breakfast—a dandelion sandwich with stale bread—it was nothing too exciting either. At least after that was our free time. I read a book or two, my thoughts only interrupted by the repeated 'thunk' sounds that Zoom made as she tried repeatedly—and failed just as many times—to 'catch some sweet air'. At eight, it was lights out. Zoom was tired after her repeated attempts to fly, and she crashed instantly. I set my book down and kicked the foot of my bed as a good luck charm. Maybe tomorrow I could get an after-birthday wish. Maybe tomorrow I'd get adopted. * * * A few years later... * * * I half-heartedly kicked the bed. Another year, another birthday... and another time I wasn't adopted. But really, it's not like I was expecting much, anyway. I was just a failure that those parents could look at and pass over for somepony else who wasn't such a failure. I looked over at the mirror and scowled. An angry filly stared back, her empty purple-gray eyes looking through her unwashed and greasy mane. My numerous piercings and crappy attitude (hey, I'm mare enough to admit it) certainly didn't help. I knew and used more swear words than most sailors, and it didn't take much to set me off. Somepony bumping into me. Me tripping. Somepony trying to say hi. Running out of hot water. Actually, that last one happened fairly often in this dump that had just gotten dumpier over the years, much to my surprise. I hadn't thought it could sink any lower. But seriously, though. Could you blame me? I'd been here forever, watching almost a constant flow of foals come in and many leave. Not me, though. The little ones went first. Always. Nopony wanted a sixteen year old like me, and especially not a sixteen year old blank flank. They didn't like me when I was small, and they sure didn't like me now. I got passed over like they were looking right through me. Maybe they were. Maybe they thought I was a worker here or something. Who was I kidding? I'd never get adopted. And in two years, I'd be on my own, in a world full of words like “job” and “mortgage” and “income taxes”... I shuddered at the thought. My little pity party was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. “Cherish?” the matron screeched. Seriously. It sounded like a big freaking bird was trying to eat me. “What?” “Somepony wants to see you.” I rolled my eyes. Probably the cops, making sure they knew what I looked like so they could arrest me as soon as I stepped outside. Seriously. I probably should have been happy, but I remember just shaking my head. Imagine that, somepony caring about me. That'd be the day, I thought. Tossing my head, I left the room, trotting past the younger orphans, who were still chatting, probably still full of hope that they'd be adopted someday soon. Poor little saps. Still had hope before being crushed. Yeah, it's safe to say I was feeling the opposite of hopeful, and didn't really expect anything. So when I got into the main entrance room and turned to my right, and saw Twilight Sparkle standing there... My jaw dropped, and I really wished I had taken the time to brush my mane. It was impossible. It had to be impossible. My idol? My hero? The pony I had dreamed of being? Standing here in the entrance room? I bit my lip, to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It hurt, so I wasn't, but since it wouldn't be a good idea to start bleeding in front of Twilight Sparkle, I stopped. She smiled and spoke. “Hello, Cherish,” she said. Sweet Celestia, she knew my name. That cemented it. The reason why she was here. It was impossible. It had to be. I willed my mouth to speak. “Wh- why are you here?” I asked. I knew the only reason anypony would ask for me, of course, but it seemed so unreal that I had to ask. “It's obvious, right?” she replied gently. I gasped. It was true. She was here to adopt me. She was here to adopt me She was here. To adopt. Me. “You want to adopt me?” I asked, still stupefied. The matron didn't help. “That uncaring, ungrateful beast?” Twilight nodded. “Yes,” she said simply. I don't know how long I stood there, but I finally got my mouth to work. “Fine!” I said. “We can leave tonight!” But, of course, Equestrian law said differently. It took a few hours of boring paperwork, and then, don't ask me how, but somehow I ended up having to stay there overnight. Isn't my life awesome? So, of course, the next day I was packed and ready to leave almost before the sun was up. I hadn't slept at all that night. Luckily, ever since Zoom had been adopted five years ago, I'd been left alone in my own room, which I was now bouncing around. I'm pretty sure I annoyed the two fillies next door, but I didn't care. I had bigger things ahead of me. A new day, a new home, a new life... It was too good to be true, but somehow it was. A part deep down inside of me was afraid that it had all been a dream, but bright and early there was a knock on my door, and the matron escorted me out of that orphanage for the last time. Twilight Sparkle stood ready and waiting for me downstairs. She still smiled that perfect smile. “Ready?” she asked. I nodded. “Is that everything?” I nodded again. “I don't have much,” I said, shrugging. Twilight nodded. “Come on, then. I'll help you take your stuff.” Lifting my bags like it was nothing (which, to her, I'm sure it was), she turned and I followed. I had never left the orphanage, so just being out in the streets was a new experience. That was pretty fun. The train station, though... that one I didn't like so much. I got a few disparaging looks (yeah, I can talk fancy when I want to) and a few aside glances, and I hate being surrounded by ponies I don't know, and I found myself stepping closer and closer to Twilight Sparkle. Trying to avoid ponies not watching where they were going, I accidentally brushed up against her side. I quickly moved away, but she just looked at me with those eyes, and I felt her brush back up against me, almost as if saying, 'I know, and I'm here'. I really thought she was perfect. The train ride, though, was amazing. I had never gone so fast, everything was a green and blue blur. Twilight noticed my staring, if not my drooling, and smiled again. “First time on a train?” “First time anywhere,” I confessed. “I've never left that orphanage.” Twilight looked at me... was that sympathy in her eyes? Pain? “I'm glad I could rectify that,” she said. Eventually, we arrived in Ponyville. I couldn't help but stare. Ponies seemed to—get this—smile. Of their own free will. I brushed my mane out of my face as I stared in wonder. It was a little town, maybe even quaint, but I thought it was a nice place. There certainly were some characters here, if the giant gingerbread house was any indication. I wondered if anypony had actually tried to ea- “Hiya!” I was, to put it lightly, startled at the sudden appearance of a bright pink pony. Her mane was huge and poofy, and, I kid you not, she seemed to appear from above me. She pulled her head back, and I spun around to see where she had come from, but she was gone. Confused, I looked at Twilight for guidance, but she was a bit further ahead than I was. I shook my head. Maybe it had just been a hallucination. Suddenly, she was in my face again. “Welcome to Ponyville!” she loudly proclaimed. Suddenly she paused, and she leaned in close and squinted at me. “Can I help you?” I asked, in a tone that clearly indicated that I wanted nothing to do with her, but she just kept squinting at me. I took a step back from her piercing blue eyes, and then another; but for every step I took back, she took one forward. Finally, she spoke. “Do I know you?” she asked. “I don't know you,” I answered truthfully. “Is there a reason you're in my face?” Twilight had noticed the crazy pony and walked back over. The crazy pony looked over at her. “Do I know her?” she asked. “She looks familiar. Really familiar. Really, really, really familiar.” “This is Cherish,” Twilight said slowly, as if explaining something to a foal. “I just adopted her from an orphanage. This is her first time here; so no, you wouldn't know her.” “But this is important! Really important! Really, really, really important! I mean, if she's been here before, then it's a 'Welcome Back to Ponyville' party; but if she hasn't, then it's a super special 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!” The pink pony began to physically shake Twilight. “Do you not realize how important this is?” I was about to step in, ready to take down this crazy pony, but Twilight put out a hoof and placed it on her head. The pink pony continued to vibrate under her hoof, but Twilight applied more pressure and slowly managed to settle her down. She had obviously had some experience with this pony before. “Pinkie Pie,” she said, for that was apparently her name, “I know it's important to you, but could you at least wait until she's had a chance to go home and get unpacked before you think about throwing her a party?” Home? Home... My reverie was interrupted by Pinkie Pie's exaggerated gasp. “You're totally right, Twilight! I can't possibly throw a housewarming party for her if she doesn't even have a house to live in!” It was at this point that I determined that this pony needed to be institutionalized. Fast. Twilight sighed. “I don't think she needs a housewarming party just yet.” Pinkie Pie's ears drooped, but she quickly perked back up again. “That's ok. Cherish, we're going to have a great time at your welcoming party! There will be cake, and ice cream, and streamers, and you'll get to meet everypony in town!” “You know, I actually don't much like meeting new ponies,” I confessed. Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped. “You don't?” I shook my head. “Not really. Never have.” Pinkie didn't respond. She just stood there with that frozen expression of shock on her face. Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face. When Pinkie didn't respond, she exhaled in defeat and turned over to the giant gingerbread house. “Pumpkin!” she called. A pale unicorn wearing a little blue bow in her mane popped her head out of the bakery window. She smiled expectantly. “Pinkie's broken again.” Pumpkin sighed and rolled her eyes. “I'll get the frosting,” she said, in a voice that clearly indicated that this had not been the first time, and she clearly doubted it would be the last. This was a strange place indeed. Twilight jerked her head, indicating that I should follow. “Resetting Pinkie can get a bit messy. Let's go home and get you settled.” Again, that mystical word, home. I don't know what I expected, really. In my imagination, she'd lived everywhere from a castle with loads of servants to a little hut in the middle of nowhere, having exiled herself to train and become the strongest magician ever. Turns out my hero lived in a tree. A giant tree. I can honestly say I wouldn't have imagined that. She pushed the door open, and my jaw dropped, along with all my luggage. Books. Books everywhere. Shelves and shelves of pure literary joy. All I could do was stare in awe. Twilight saw me and smiled. “You like to read, don't you, Cherish?” I nodded dumbly. “Yeah,” I finally managed to say. “Kindof.” Twilight grinned. “I'm not surprised. More ponies should read. It's a dying pastime,” she lamented. “Almost nopony visits the library anymore. Or ever, really.” “This is a library?” I asked dumbly. I knew what a library was, of course, but the one at the orphanage had nothing on this. This was beautiful. Twilight nodded. “And all these books are for free use by everypony. That includes you.” I think it was at that time I started salivating. Twilight laughed lightly again. “Come on up,” she said. “Let's get you settled.” Upstairs I found a bedroom with two beds in it. One, probably mine, was neatly made; the other was messy. My first thought was, 'somepony had a nightmare last night'. I shook that off, though. Twilight Sparkle didn't get nightmares; she gave them. Of that I was sure. Sure enough, the neat bed was mine, and I set my stuff down. “Dinner will be ready soon, so you can unpack, read, sleep, whatever you want to do.” “Thank you,” I said. Twilight cocked her head. “For dinner?” I laughed. A true laugh for the first time in I don't know how long. “No. Yes. Maybe. What I meant was, thanks for getting me out of that place.” A look flashed briefly across her face. I didn't recognize it. I thought I might have just imagined it. Either way, she smiled. “You're welcome.” This tender moment was interrupted by a loud crash from downstairs. I dropped into a defensive stance, while at the same time wondering who would be stupid enough to break into the house of Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, on the other hoof, reacted not with magic but with a sigh and a facehoof. “Ugh, not again...” she mumbled. She looked back at me and gave me a half smile. “Welcome home, Cherish,” she said with a shrug, before turning and heading downstairs. Home? Home... Home. I liked the sound of that. Still, was home often riddled with crashes like that? I followed her down the stairs, not really knowing what to expect, but feeling fairly confident anyway, that no matter what, I was safe, because I had finally come home. Heh... I was a funny little kid, wasn't I? I followed Twilight downstairs, but when I got to the landing, I froze. It wasn't Twilight yelling at a rainbow-maned pegasus that surprised me, nor the books scattered everywhere that made it look like a tornado had just run through. No, what shocked me was the pegasus filly pulling herself out of the bookcase, because I'd recognize that fuchsia tail with a pink zigzag running through it anywhere. Zoom pulled her head out of the wall (don't ask me how, I don't know) and made an adorable squeak. “I think that's the fastest I've gone!” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Speed is nothing without control, Zoom. Something Rainbow here seems to keep conveniently forgetting to teach you.” “Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “I'll get around to it later. Now I wanted to meet the pony you adopted.” Twilight gave Rainbow a flat look that clearly said, 'this is not over', but she turned to me up on the staircase. “Come down and introduce yourself,” she said. I watched Zoom, but she didn't seem to recognize me. The other pegasus spoke first. “I'm Rainbow Dash, as you probably already know,” she said, with no small hint of pride. “Zoom!” Zoom said proudly. (1) Would she know me? I swallowed and spoke. “Cherish.” Zoom's eyes widened, and for the second time that day I was squinted at and examined closely. Unlike Pinkie Pie, though, Zoom's verdict was much quicker and more favorable, if the tackling hug was any indicator. “Cherish! It's really you, isn't it?” “It is!” She pulled back and gave me an askance look. “You've changed,” she said, bringing a hoof up and poking at my greasy mane.. I shrugged and brushed my mane out of my face. “It's a phase.” “Well, it sucks,” she said, sticking her tongue out playfully as she helped me up. “You need a mane cut and a bath, pronto.” She struck a dynamic pose. “To the spa!” “Spa's closed,” Twilight said dryly. “It's eight; it closes at six thirty.” Zoom's face fell, but she perked back up right away. “Then we'll go the first thing in the morning!” I gave a wry smile. “I can hardly wait.” We chatted for a while, and then after the best dinner I had ever eaten, I got to go sleep in the best bed I had ever slept on, (only the second I'd ever had, to be honest), and that's how I started my perfect life. Oh, don't go anywhere. My story of lies and betrayal is just getting started.
Chapter 2Author's Notes Turns out when Zoom said 'first thing', she really meant, 'first thing'. I hadn't even woken up yet when she crashed through the window. This, to put it lightly, startled me. She had apparently crashed through windows and woken up ponies before, because she didn't even flinch at my expletive-filled rage. When I had finished calling her every name I could think of (which wasn't much; it was way too early in the morning for insulting ponies), she grinned. “So, you ready?” “Ready for what?” “Makeover time!” “You've got to be kidding me...” I growled. “It's way too early in the morning for this.” “It's, like, ten,” she protested. “Doesn't feel like it.” But apparently it didn't matter what I thought, because the next thing I knew, she had carried me out the window and was carrying me through town, notwithstanding my very vocal protests. * * * Let's be honest here. I wasn't exactly the poster filly for personal hygiene (and I'm still not). Sure, I showered every day, but I can't remember the last time I had actually used shampoo in my mane, and I was certainly ok with leaving it how it was—messy, oily, and a bit ratty. I actually expected to be kicked out of the spa as soon as the spa pony saw me. Turns out there are at least two spa ponies in Ponyville, which, in a world where everypony's supposed to be unique, was kindof funny. They were twins, though, if that means anything. “Hi!” Zoom said cheerfully. She pushed me forward. “She really needs some work.” The blue one reached out a hoof and touched my mane. I flinched and scowled at her, but she remained calm. She stroked it lightly and her eyes lit up. She let out a small giggle before calling her sister over in a language I didn't understand. She, too, came over and stroked my mane, and then she began giggling as well. It wasn't a mocking giggle, though. It wasn't even amusement. It was the same kind of laugh I would give after finding a great book (which had happened only twice in my life). It was the 'challenge accepted, and I know I'm going to enjoy this' giggle. I wasn't entirely sure I liked where this was going, but I didn't have much say in the matter, as both ponies grabbed me and frog-marched me into the back, still giggling. “Go, Zoom!” I cried dramatically. “Save yourself!” “Are you kidding?” she hooted. “I'm watching all of this!” * * * I'm not going to describe the torture I was put through there. Suffice it to say that it turned out I didn't need a mane-cut so much as a mane styling and cleaning, and the spa ponies provided. Happily. And enthusiastically. And, from my perspective, painfully. I stumbled out of the spa, still dazed and with my eyes spinning. I smelled clean and fresh, and probably like I was drowning in some of the other perfumes and stuff they sprayed on me because that's certainly what I felt like. I don't know what they had done to my face, but I was probably wearing more makeup than I had ever worn before in my life, and I'm pretty sure my eyelashes had been extended to three times their normal size. Rainbow walked up and obviously suppressed a gag. “Hey, Cherish. Lookin'... uh... good! You smell kinda funny, though.” Well, she didn't sugarcoat anything, did she? I bet she and Zoom got along really well. And even though we hadn't seen each other for almost seven years, Zoom and I still got along pretty well, too. She shared all about Ponyville, the ponies there, the latest thing that had happened (apparently, Ursa Majors aren't myths, after all) and how great Pinkie Pie's parties were. That reminds me. She threw me one. It was a surprise party. I learned this as I walked back inside Twilight's treehouse. I don't envy the parents who had to teach their foals the significance of the words I responded with. Heh... Even Zoom blushed at the swear-filled tirade I unleashed at being surprised, I remember that. Being awake increased my vocabulary somewhat. I also remember the look in Twilight's eyes as she stared at me after my explosive vocabulary. Now, I recognize that look. Back then, though, I didn't. In fact, I felt worried for a while, that she might even take me back to the orphanage. But she didn't. In fact, she never brought it up again. I did make an effort to stop around her, though. And even though I had been surprised, and the games were foalish, I gotta say that Pinkie Pie made great food, especially her cupcakes, and these ponies (eventually) didn't make me want to slam my head repeatedly in an oven door, so all in all, I guess it went ok. Also, another thing happened that afternoon that I am still not sure about. Honestly, what filly would ask about a cussing cutie mark? And what would that even look like? You know, I don't know why I shared that. There are other Ponyville memories that are much more important to my story. That being said, I have never tasted a cupcake as good as Pinkie Pie's. I wonder if I will ever taste another like it. * * * “All right,” Twilight said. “Let's try that again. Remember to feel the water.” I rolled my eyes, but I knew she was right. Being raised in an orphanage really didn't give me much time for learning magic, so I was still stuck on the basics. Let me rephrase that. I had plenty of time, but no teachers. I had gotten pretty far, though, with Twilight as my instructor. She was everything I had imagined, and more. She worked with me, she gave me drills to practice on my own, she assigned readings for me (don't judge me, I like to read), she was perfect. Well, she only had one shortcoming. She couldn't cook very well. This I learned from personal experience. But she was a great magic teacher. And teaching me that wind spell to clear the smoke was pretty cool. The water manipulation to actually put the fire out, though, I didn't do so well on; so that was what we were practicing now. It's hard to explain to a non-unicorn, but I'll try. There's no such thing as different 'kinds' of magic. There isn't fire magic or water magic or anything like that. There's just 'magic', and every spell is weaved from that same kind of magic. Almost like making a wicker basket, or sewing cloth. It's all made with the same basic thread, but can become very different things depending on how you tweak it. Thread can become a heavy coat, or a lacy sock; and no, I wouldn't know that from personal experience. So I was trying to manipulate the magic to lift the water, bring it around my head, and put it back. Simple stuff. Basic exercise. In theory. Let's just say Twilight got a lot of practice with drying spells and all her books were now very much out of the way and on much safer, higher ground. “All right,” she said, after yet another failed attempt. “Try again, and remember to feel...” By this time, my self restraint had run a little low. “The only thing I'm feeling is 'hungry', and the only thing I want to feel right now is some food.” “Cherish, it's only...” Twilight looked over at the clock and blinked in surprise. “Oh. You're right. It's way past lunchtime.” I smiled. “Told you.” She paused, thinking. “Spike's collecting gems with Rarity, and I'm pretty sure we're out of everything I can make. Do you want to go out to eat?” “Only if you're paying,” I grinned. * * * I walked along proudly, if a bit shakily. Twilight walked beside me, still in relative shock. “I have never seen anypony ever finish that challenge,” she breathed. “Five plates! Five whole plates!” Just for clarification, I've seen wagon wheels smaller than these plates. “Well, I'm not everypony,” I said. “I am Cherish, and I am awesome. That, or I've lived on orphanage food for so long that I've never known what real food tastes like.” Twilight smiled. “I'm glad I could remedy that,” she said. I was about to reply when I heard the all too familiar sound of fillies teasing each other. I stopped and turned to listen to the conversation. It was a pink earth pony and a gray earth pony, teasing—I kid you not—an earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus. Yeah. One of each, just like a matched set or something. This place was full of coincidences. And, sure enough, it was about cutie marks. “Give it a rest, DT,” the yellow one said tiredly. I guess she'd been taking a lot of crap from the pink one. “I bet you three are going to be the world's oldest blank flanks!” Here I had to step in. “Actually, that honor belongs to me.” All five spun to look at me, and jaws dropped and eyes widened as they took in my magnificent, blank magenta flank. It was almost like I was at the orphanage again. I could see the balance of power. I could also see that it belonged completely to me, even if none of them realized it yet. The pink one scoffed. “You're the oldest pony I've seen without a cutie mark,” she said. “And you're the brattiest pony I've ever seen with one,” I retorted. Maybe the filly was high on something. That was the only valid excuse I could see that she had for trying to get under my skin. “What's it like?" she taunted. "Being so old, and not having a place in life?” “It could be worse,” I said, taking another step closer and circling around her. “Your special talent is what? Being a tiara?” (1) Before she could respond, I lifted her up and placed her on my head, like an obnoxious squirming pink hat. She squealed and struggled, but I quickly lit my horn and held her hooves in place. “You are the worst tiara I've ever seen!” I said. I began to strut around, much to the amusement of the three fillies who were now rolling on the ground in laughter. “World's worst hat, right here.” “Let me go!” she squealed. “But I'm helping you fulfill your purpose!” I protested. It was at this point that she stopped struggling and began screaming a long, high-pitched scream. To be honest, I could easily have put up with that for a while, but I decided to show some mercy. I made a disgusted face. “This tiara sucks balls,” I said. As soon as I did, I winced, realizing that these fillies probably didn't need to know that phrase. But I did let her go, and she may or may not have fallen flat on her face. Picking herself up with as much dignity as possible, she lifted her nose in the air and walked off, closely followed by her gray sycophant. (2) I heard a more mature-sounding giggle. I looked back to see Twilight covering her mouth and laughing. Oh, no. She had seen all that, hadn't she? Don't be stupid, Cherish; she was there the whole time. I had just responded without even thinking about her. But to my surprise, she didn't seem to mind that much. She walked closer and stood next to me, facing the three fillies. “Girls?” she said, “This is Cherish. She's my daughter.” That one word. That glorious word. The yellow filly perked up instantly. “Nice t' meetcha, Cherish! Ah'm Apple Bloom, and these are my friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” The pegasus and unicorn, respectively, greeted me excitedly as well. “And We Are...” I noticed Twilight quickly place her hooves over her ears. I briefly wondered why. Then I quickly found out. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!” I'm pretty sure my ears were bleeding a bit after that. To be honest, I would rather have listened to the pink one scream. The fillies didn't seem to notice. “We do all kinds of things to try and get our cutie marks.” As if on cue, the three turned and showed their flanks, blank as the day they were born. “That's great,” I said, rubbing my ear. “What have you tried so far?” “All kinds of stuff!” Scootaloo said excitedly. “We're not spa ponies, we're not pet care or grooming ponies, we're not rock climbing ponies, we're not sailor ponies, we're not writing ponies, we're not newsponies...” “I think she gets it,” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “And we may or may not be skydiving ponies. But for some reason, we keep getting interrupted whenever we try.” Apple Bloom brightened. “Hey, you want to come with us? Maybe you'll find yer cutie mark, too!” I looked back at Twilight, who smiled. “You can go if you want,” she said. “All right!” Sweetie Belle cheered. “Hooves in!” I joined in, even though I was twice as tall as they were. I didn't yell when they did, though. “At least do the last part,” Sweetie Belle said. I rolled my eyes. “Yay,” I said. The three cheered again. “Let's go skydiving!” “Actually, I just had lunch,” I said, queasily bringing a hoof up to my stomach. “Can we do something... closer to the ground?” Scootaloo sighed, but the three agreed. “So what do we do instead?” “We can give a guided tour?” Sweetie Belle suggested. This time, I was quick enough to plug my ears before they screamed, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Tour Guides! Yay!” So there I was, walking with these three fillies. They were pretty excited, which was a stark contrast to the foals in the orphanage. I learned that these three were pretty crazy. I did learn a bit about the town, though. I also learned that the pink pony's name was Tiara, Diamond Tiara. That made my last outburst more than a bit awkward. Frankly, if you're sucking balls at that age, you're headed for a world of trouble. Why am I talking about this, again? Oh. Right. Anyway, there we were, walking along, and... You know, I can't even remember what we did that day. I spent a lot of time with the Crusaders when I was in Ponyville, and all those memories are kindof jumbled. I seem to remember a lot of tree sap, for some reason. No, I remember the day after that. They invited me to go rafting, because for safety reasons they wanted a big pony there (as much as Apple Bloom protested that she was such), but they also wanted to keep it a crusaders-exclusive meeting, and I fit both qualifications. From the books Twilight had, I thought it was going to be dangerous. Turns out Ponyville town limits don't have anything over a class 1 rapid (3), and if you want anything bigger, you have to go through the Everfree Forest, which is just as likely to kill you as the rafting itself. Since none of us really wanted to die a blank flank, we ended up on a lake somewhere, floating around on a wooden raft, sadly without raft-building cutie marks. But that wasn't what was so special about this day. Later, I was walking Sweetie Belle home. Apple Bloom had chores and Scootaloo had flown off with Rainbow Dash, so it was just me and Sweetie. She was bouncing along when out of the blue, she turns to me. “Hey, Cherish, are you any good at magic?” she asked. I shrugged. “I guess.” I wasn't. Thanks to Twilight's training, I had gotten basic telekinesis down, which would be commendable—were I half my age. Right now? I was just behind. “Twilight says I have great potential, but I unfortunately lack the necessary previous experience and required foundational prerequisites to truly become a great magician.” To Sweetie's credit, she understood me. “Yeah. Rarity says that, too, but I still can't do much.” “You lifted the hammer earlier,” I said. “Yeah, to my mouth,” she said with a hint of bitterness, “But you got to tie the ropes with magic.” Suddenly, she brightened. “Hey! You wanna come over and help me practice my magic?” I shrugged. “Sure, why not?” So there I was, heading back to Sweetie Belle's house, which was actually Rarity's house. After convincing her sister that I did not want to model for her and that my slim frame was more the result of a lifetime of eating dry orphanage food than a love for my appearance, she agreed to let me study with Sweetie Belle. She also provided some rather tasty cookies, actually. Oatmeal raisin, and she was generous with the raisins. Stop laughing. I like them. (4) Anyway, Sweetie Belle pulls out this book and sits down at the table and pulls me close to read it. It was a simple magic book, I don't even remember what it was called. I do remember what happened next, though. I was reading one of the spells designed to help fold paper (because Celestia forbid a unicorn use their -le gasp!- mouth to do something) when I realized that something didn't look right. “This part here looks kindof redundant,” I said, pointing the quill at one section. Sweetie Belle scrunched up her face as she reread the part I was looking at. “I don't think so.” “Yeah, it is. I mean, look. You could just do this.” Lifting the pencil, I sketched out a new flow process. “It's much simpler and wouldn't take as much energy.” Sweetie Belle squinted. I don't think she understood. “Just... just try it,” I said. “Ok...” Sweetie said hesitantly, but she gamely scrunched up her face and lit her horn. Her spell worked. Her aim was off, though, and instead of the paper we were aiming for folding, she hit the book page itself. It ripped itself from the book, flipped through the air, folded itself nicely into a little stack, and landed right in front of her. We both stared at it. “Oops,” I said. I looked over at Sweetie, who was still open-mouthed and staring wide-eyed at the paper. After about seven seconds, though, I became concerned. “Sweetie Belle? You ok?” “I did it,” she whispered. “I did it...” She jumped up and threw her forelegs around my neck. “I did it! I really, really did it! I did magic! Didja see? Didja?” “I was standing right here,” I pointed out. “And you don't have to grab my flank like that.” Sweetie withdrew slightly. “I'm not touching your flank,” she said, confusion splashed across her face. I looked down and blinked as my flank shone. Yeah. Some ponies think the light shines out their butthole? Turns out it's true at times. Cutie marks shine when they appear, and I did not know that. Well, I know now. But still. Sweetie Belle later said that I shouldn't be embarrassed about my reaction, because Twilight dances like that too when she's excited. No, I'm not showing you my dance. But yes, I was happy. And Sweetie danced with me, so I guess it wasn't so bad. “This is the best day ever!” I squealed. Sweetie Belle checked her own flank and frowned. “Aw,” she whined. “I was hoping I'd get a cutie mark in helping others get their cutie marks.” “What would that even look like?” I asked. She paused. “I don't know.” But her attitude quickly changed and she began bouncing in place again. “But you got your cutie mark! You're good at making up new spells! That's so exciting! Twilight's gonna be so happy!” “Twilight!” I had almost forgotten. I wanted to show her. I had accomplished something—me!—and I wanted her to know. I guess I really hoped she'd be proud of me, you know? Because that wasn't something I got very often and I think everypony needs to know that they're special to somepony. I sprinted out of there (I might have knocked over a few of Rarity's dresses in my rush) and headed home. Sure enough, Twilight didn't disappoint. Also, Sweetie Belle was right—Twilight dances funny, too. She wrapped me in a hug and squealed. “Not even a week in town and you already earned your cutie mark. Cherish, I always knew there was something special about you.” I smiled broadly. Somepony was proud of me! Me! No longer was I a worthless filly unwanted at an orphanage. She really cared about me. “I'm proud of you, Cherish,” she said, giving me a gentle kiss on the forehead. I felt like I was really worth something right then, and I couldn't help but squeeze and nuzzle her back. The whole emotional bonding thing was kindof ruined when Pinkie Pie appeared with a bang, a cupcake, and the loud, boisterous offer of another party, but hey. That's Ponyville, I guess. Also, confetti is really hard to wash out of your mane. Just saying. Twilight did it again later that night. She whispered, “Good night, Cherish,” and she kissed me on the forehead. If this is what mothers did... every night, kiss her filly good night... life would be a little bit better. At least, it's what mothers should do. Oh, I see that look. You're thinking, 'oh, the poor princess. She got her cutie mark and made friends all within the week and her adopted mother loves her. Boo-hoo, her life is sooo hard.' Heh. We'll see if you still want to be me after I tell you what happened on my eighteenth birthday.
Chapter 3I took a breath. Then another. Then another. I couldn't help but giggle with excitement. Normally, of course, breathing isn't that hard. But at that time, I had my head submerged in the bathtub, and was breathing under water, and I was more than a little bit proud of this fact. Suddenly, my lungs filled with water, and let me tell you, that burns. I jerked my head out of the tub and gasped for air, coughing and choking uncontrollably and spewing water everywhere. “Ne- *cough* needs work,” I sputtered. For some reason, that spell just gave out every once in a while, and I wasn't sure yet what it was. And, obviously, the test runs tended to end like this, with much painful coughing and spluttering. Apparently, a talent for creating new spells doesn't mean they'll be perfect spells. But I had quite the line-up of spells I'd created. Twilight had helped me publish them in journals, fancy expensive magazine thingies that I don't even remember the name of. Apparently, Celestia herself would sometimes publish magic research in these journals, albeit under a pseudonym. I had a pseudonym, too. It's not like I didn't want to be famous—I did, really I did—but more than that I wanted to be like Twilight, and Twilight often published things under lots of other names. She thought that magic was its own reward; not to be used for special acknowledgments and stuff. Which I suppose I can agree with. Then again, “Revered Beauty” had become known enough to be invited to a couple smaller conferences. Her assistant, a certain Sundown, had respectfully turned them down, though. ...where was I going with this? Oh, yeah. Me out of the bath. I had dried off and was at my desk working on rewriting the flow yet again when Twilight walked up. “Cherish, how long have you been working on this?” she asked. “Only a little bit,” I lied, trying to make sure I didn't look sleepy. I guess I’m not a good liar, because she came close and rested a hoof on top of mine. “Maybe you should take a quick break. Spend tomorrow out on the town or something. I've found that's very helpful when I hit a wall.” So I did. Next day I was outside, trying not to think about my water breathing spell, and I ran into Dinky. Dinky is this adorable little unicorn filly being raised by her cousin, who's a pegasus. Something happened to their parents or something or I don't even know, but they're together now. Derpy—that's her cousin—she tries hard, but sometimes... well... you know. At least, I did. “Hey, Dinky,” I said. “What's up?” “Oh, nothing,” she said. I knew that wasn’t true. “Oh?” I said simply. “I was wondering... is Twilight Sparkle your real mother?” I was, to be frank, taken aback. “Where did that come from?” I asked, a bit harsher than I meant to. She wasn’t my mother. I knew it. But at night, I would imagine that she was, complete with birthday parties and awful pictures. Dinky rubbed her hooves together nervously. “I kindof thought... well, you both like magic, you both like to read, so I thought...” You know, I thought, she would have been a great mother. She wouldn't have given me an ironic name and then thrown me away. But being adopted by was a close second. I leaned down to her eye level. “Want to hear a secret?” I said. She nodded. “A mother isn't whoever squeezed you out from in between her hind legs all bloody and crying,” I said, grinning at the disgusted expression that flashed over her face. “A mother is the one who loves you and cares about you. A mother puts your needs over her own. A mother is the one that influences you the most and would do anything for you. Now, I bet you know a pony who does all that, right?” Her eyes were brightening already. “Yeah, I do!” “I bet you call her 'mom' already, don't you?” “Yeah, I do!” “How about you go tell her that you love her?” “I will!” she said happily before turning and bouncing away. That conversation would come back to bite me in the butt. But not for a bit. Actually, that week was a week where a ton of things I said came and bit me in the butt, and some fairly quickly. I see you looking. Stop staring at my butt. It's not actually bitten and I'm not into that. That means... uh... that’s something you should ask your mother. So it was the week of my chosen birthday, and I started a conversation with Twilight over breakfast. “You know, today's a special day.” Twilight made the motions of 'keep it down'. “You mean like your anniversary of being here? I thought that was tomorrow. I'm sure Pinkie's already planning some kind of anniversary party.” “Well, yeah, I guess it is; but today is my birthday.” Twilight flinched. “It is?” she asked. “Well, I think it is,” I admitted. “I'm not really sure. I kindof just figured a season from what the matron said about when I got abandoned, picked a day, and stuck with it.” Twilight nodded, seemingly relieved. Back then, I thought it was because she was afraid she had forgotten my birthday. “Makes sense.” “And I've been thinking...” I steeled myself. “I think I'd like to have a birthday party.” “Cherish!” Twilight hissed, but it was too late. Pinkie Pie popped out of a closet that was far too small for her, eyes crinkled up as a wide smile spread across her face. “Did somepony say 'party'?” “I did,” I said. “I think I'd like a birthday party. It's for today.” Pinkie Pie gasped, and I could swear she lifted herself off the ground she gasped so hard. “No way!” she exclaimed. “Yes way!” I responded. Pinkie began to vibrate. Literally, she was airborne and shaking. “I’m so happy~!” she proclaimed. “It’s a birthday party I never thought I would throw! I gotta go get set up! I gotta invite everypony! Pinkie Pie, away!” And she disappeared in a flash of pink, leaving behind a pink contrail. I looked at Twilight, and she shrugged. “If you value your sanity, don’t think about that too hard.” Worked for me. * * * I’d been to many parties my time in Ponyville. I had been to birthday parties, cuteciñera parties (no, I didn’t have one; there was no way I was putting on a frilly dress and getting my makeup done, no matter how much whining Rarity gave me), anniversary parties, even a party celebrating a beaver having grown back a tooth. I dunno about that one. Maybe Pinkie was having a slow week and needed to hit a quota. But there was nothing like this party. I mean, it hadn’t even started yet and the library looked like Pinkie’s Party Cannon and Sugarcube Corner had exploded all over it. I mean, cupcakes lined the walls, brownies organized by flavor, a 'Happy Birthday, Cherish!' cake complete with a little fondant version of me--Bon Bon had even managed to get my cutie mark spot on--more balloons than I had ever seen before, streamers that matched my color scheme, I tell you, it was awesome. I mean, I’m not even that big on being social, and I was still excited. I was avoiding Pinkie and sampling one of the many cupcakes when I saw Big Macintosh bringing in a barrel. You’ve never seen this stallion, so… let’s see… imagine the biggest pony you’ve seen. Then make him twice as big, and red as an apple, and put a sprig of wheat in his mouth. That’s Big Mac. And that barrel probably could have held two or three ponies, easy. I walked over. curious. “Whatcha got there?” I asked. “Cider.” That’s another thing about Mac. He doesn’t speak much. Unless he’s mad. And I’ve only seen that once, when they lost a third of the south orchard to blight. “Apple cider?” Mac cracked a smile. “It ain’t pear cider,” he chuckled. “That’s a big barrel.” Mac looked disparagingly at it. “Eeyup, but it might still not be big enough.” “For what? Bathing?” That might have been the wrong thing to say, because he reached out one of his huge hooves and pulled my head down. I was surprised by the rough treatment, to say the least; but then my unspoken questions were answered when Rainbow Dash flew over my head, missing me by inches, and crashed into the ground, knocking aside balloons and barely missing the cake table. She popped her head up. “I heard ‘cider’,” she breathed. Mac pointed at her. “Rainbow Dash?” I asked. “She’s the one you’re worried about?” “Eeyup.” Rainbow shot to her hooves and started over to the barrel. “This is something else.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Where’s Zoom? She’s gotta try this stuff.” “Try what stuff?” Zoom had taken the sane route, and had walked into the library. Then again, she had crashed into the statue once--Twilight keeps this huge wooden pony bust on her center table--and I guess her skull wasn’t as thick as Rainbow’s. Rainbow rested a hoof reverently on the barrel. “This… is cider. This is better than ambrosia and whatever other mystical foods there are.” She looked over at us, and Zoom and I both had matching expressions of confusion. Clearly, we needed instructing. “Mac? Pour us a mug.” Mac shook his head. “Nope. Party hasn’t started yet.” Rainbow’s everything drooped. Ears, wings, tail, lower lip, everything. She put on a pair of puppydog eyes and her lower lip quivered as she wordlessly pleaded for some cider. Mac didn’t bat an eye. “Ah’ve resisted my sister for longer. Do your worst.” So yeah. Poor Rainbow had to wait for the party to start and everypony to sing to me and Pinkie to cut the cake before Mac finally cracked open the cider. The line formed instantly, with Rainbow in the front and Zoom close behind. Applejack was serving, and she made a point that I would be the first to taste it. Now, Applejack is one of the smartest ponies I know. By that, I mean she’s not book smart, but she’s street smart. She poured me my first and it was a small, halfway full mug. I looked at her as if hurt, and she winked at me (but kept eye contact the whole time). “It’s somethin’ like you’ve never had before. You’d prolly better take it slow at first.” And that was clearly meant to be an order. I looked down at my drink. It was frothy, but it looked really good. So I took a small sip, unsure of what to expect. My tastebuds exploded and I almost melted right there. It was the perfect blend of sweetness, but a hint of spices, and… You’re going to just have to try it for yourselves. No, I don’t have any with me. If I did, I would have drunk it already. Heh… interesting choice of words... That day, I learned that cider only froths when it’s alcoholic. And I had never tasted alcohol before. At the orphanage, we didn’t even get chocolate. Nope. No chocolate. Actually, my first time trying chocolate is a pretty funny story, too, but maybe I’ll tell it later. Anyway, that cider is delicious, so I kept drinking it. It got bad enough that Applejack cut me off, so I stuck to swiping drinks from other ponies while they weren't looking, with varying rates of success. Apparently, I’m a very friendly drunk. I was just glad Lyra’s a friendly drunk, too. And that Bon Bon is fairly forgiving. I guess she’d just had her mane done that morning and, well… let’s just say mint frosting doesn’t go well with pink and blue mane. At least, I didn’t think so. Lyra didn’t compla- You know what, let’s just move on. So it’s midway through my party, and I’m completely hammered. I mean, I’m drunk off my rocker off my porch off my property drunk. And it suddenly occurs to me that I haven't seen Twilight recently. Now, sober Cherish would have realized she was just in the bathroom or something, which, incidentally, she was. Drunk Cherish, on the other hoof, was convinced that Twilight was lost and needed to be found, so I wandered around, calling for Twilight. Of course, over the music and party noises, she couldn’t hear me. Soon, I came to the brilliant conclusion that I could use magic to find her. Except I didn’t have a ‘find hidden things’ spell, so I made one up. Yep. While drunk. I don’t recommend getting drunk, though. It leaves you with a massive hangover. But that’s for tomorrow, see? I’m getting ahead of myself again. So drunk Cherish is walking around, flashing my spell everywhere. I found three bits under the sofa, a book Twilight had lost, that bead from Rainbow’s necklace, and something under the first step of the staircase. Now, Twilight wasn’t there, obviously. But I remember there being something there. Even the next morning, when I woke up bright and early and with a killer hangover. Twilight had me stay in bed all that morning (not like I would have gone anywhere anyway) and made me something from a well-worn piece of paper. Guess she’d had experience waking up feeling like your insides want to be on your outsides. That day was pretty uneventful. I think Pinkie wanted to throw me an afterparty, but I teleported a watermelon over her head and walked away. It was a good three months before I felt up to going to another party. Anyway… that day was pretty chill. But that night… I couldn’t sleep that night. Something bothered me, and I couldn’t remember what. So I went downstairs to get a drink of water and as I walked back, I suddenly remembered that secret thing under the first step. Lighting my horn, I pulled the top off and looked under the step. Underneath lay a somewhat thin sheaf of papers. I flipped over the top one and looked at it. Mortgage information, diplomas, loan information, a birth certificate made for someone named Cherish, a death certifi- I did a double take. Cherish? I flipped back through and pulled it out, examining it closely. Born to Twilight Sparkle this day of… that looked familiar. It was the date I had chosen for my birthday. At first, I wondered if this had been a late present that Twilight had forgotten about. I mean, the ‘sire’ spot was empty, and Twilight was definitely single. And then I wondered, why would she leave that somewhere hidden if she just intended on giving it to me anyway? Maybe it referred to another Cherish, I thought, grasping at straws. But as I read the filly’s description, complete with mane color and stripe color, I knew it was talking about me. So my next thought was, it's a fake. A prank of some kind. Well, I put that thing through every spell I could think of. Age-revealing spells. Counterfeit-exposing spells. I even tried to light it on fire to see if it held a hospital-grade protective spell. It did. This thing was real. This birth certificate was real and it was mine. I sank to my haunches as I stared at that paper, that horrible paper, as it shook my world and turned it upside down by just existing. Emotions I couldn't name flowed through me, everything from shock to betrayal to pain to rage and anger. Yep. That’s right. Twilight Sparkle was my birth mother, the same one who abandoned me eighteen years ago. Author's Note What an unexpected twist! -nobody ever
Chapter 1Author's Notes Snow gently fell from the gray skies, coating the town in a white blanket of purity, almost like a shield of innocence. It was broken by the slow steps of a unicorn mare, carrying a basket with a tiny sleeping foal inside. Her hoofsteps broke the snow's pattern, leaving little pockmarked scars as she walked. She arrived at her destination and set down the basket. Almost as an afterthought, she cleared the snow off the sign that read Orphanage before knocking loudly on the door. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered to the foal, before turning and running off into the snowy night. I threw myself down on the bed and buried my face in the pillow. Not to cry, of course. That impulse had gone a long time ago. No, just out of rage and frustration and hate. Especially the hate. Hate for the mother that left me on the orphanage steps that winter day. Hate for myself, even though there was nothing I could have done. I was just a baby filly at the time, after all, but I could still remember. I remember an aura of magic around the basket I was in. I remember being put down. I remember the snow. I remember the cold. I remember being abandoned. I somehow also remembered my name. Cherish. I'm not sure how I remembered it, really. And, to be honest, I didn't think it fit me. I never cherished anything, and nopony cherished me. Heck, I don't think anypony really liked me, which was good, because I didn't like them back. A soft buzzing sound from the bed next to mine reminded me of the one exception to that rule. Zoom's wings were twitching in her sleep. She was probably dreaming of flying. She couldn't fly yet in real life, but in her dreams, she was the world's fastest pegasus. That was why she had chosen the name Zoom for herself, after all. She didn't have any memories. I wondered if that made her luckier or unluckier than me. At least she slept happily. Not me. I couldn't sleep just yet. Not tonight. Even though Zoom and probably the rest of the other fillies and colts were asleep, I wasn't about to sleep. Not on my birthday. At least, I thought it was my birthday. I had had to pick a random date from the two-week window I had gotten. The matron had notorious bad memory to go along with her bad breath. I shivered as a cold draft blew in from the hallway. Not even the wind liked me. Even so, I quietly got up and walked as silently as I could to the doorway. I opened it, wincing as it creaked loudly, but when there were no sounds or things thrown, I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Suddenly, a hoof wrapped around my mouth. I suppressed the urge to scream, and I spun around, lighting my horn. I couldn't do anything with it, but I hoped to at least scare off whoever had come at me. Through the violet light, I saw my attacker. “What are you doing?” Zoom hissed, obviously not asleep any longer. “You're going to get caught!” I let my horn light die. “I just wanted to...” Zoom cut me off with a hoof-wave. “You know what? I don't really care. But seriously, get back to bed. Some of us are trying to sleep.” I rolled my eyes, but I followed her back to bed. I must have been more tired than I thought, because I fell asleep quickly after that. I woke the next morning to our alarm clock. By that, I mean the matron did her daily ritual of bashing two pots together ferociously, almost as if she were taking out some inner anger on them. The resulting noise was loud enough to wake a dragon. I jumped out of bed and went straight to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I headed for the mess hall for daily breakfast, which was a dandelion sandwich on stale bread. As usual. Then it was time for class. Ms. Guava, our teacher, was just as much of a dead-beat as every other adult here. I don't even remember what the lesson was on. Heck, I don't even remember the last time I paid attention to one of her lessons. I was in my own world. And what a world. Tables doubled in size and reared up, becoming ferocious monsters. Spikes jutted out from the walls, spelling a painful death for any pony stupid enough to get close. Clouds of thick, black smoke threatened to spell doom for everyone. And in the middle of it all, standing proud and undefeatable, stood my hero, Twilight Sparkle. There was nothing she couldn't do with a wave of her horn. Monsters were obliterated to splinters. Spikes vanished in flames. Smoke itself parted in front of her hooves. Through it all, she didn't even break a sweat. A new challenger approached, a hideous beast more monstrous and deadly than any... A paper fluttered to the desk in front of my hooves. Snapping back to reality, I noticed that I had been given a worksheet, and everypony else was already busily writing. I threw a quick glance over the fifteen problems and began to work. A few minutes later (hey, I'm not stupid or anything) I was done, so I turned it in and let my mind wander again. That's pretty much how the rest of my day went until dinner, but since that was the same thing we had for breakfast—a dandelion sandwich with stale bread—it was nothing too exciting either. At least after that was our free time. I read a book or two, my thoughts only interrupted by the repeated 'thunk' sounds that Zoom made as she tried repeatedly—and failed just as many times—to 'catch some sweet air'. At eight, it was lights out. Zoom was tired after her repeated attempts to fly, and she crashed instantly. I set my book down and kicked the foot of my bed as a good luck charm. Maybe tomorrow I could get an after-birthday wish. Maybe tomorrow I'd get adopted. * * * A few years later... * * * I half-heartedly kicked the bed. Another year, another birthday... and another time I wasn't adopted. But really, it's not like I was expecting much, anyway. I was just a failure that those parents could look at and pass over for somepony else who wasn't such a failure. I looked over at the mirror and scowled. An angry filly stared back, her empty purple-gray eyes looking through her unwashed and greasy mane. My numerous piercings and crappy attitude (hey, I'm mare enough to admit it) certainly didn't help. I knew and used more swear words than most sailors, and it didn't take much to set me off. Somepony bumping into me. Me tripping. Somepony trying to say hi. Running out of hot water. Actually, that last one happened fairly often in this dump that had just gotten dumpier over the years, much to my surprise. I hadn't thought it could sink any lower. But seriously, though. Could you blame me? I'd been here forever, watching almost a constant flow of foals come in and many leave. Not me, though. The little ones went first. Always. Nopony wanted a sixteen year old like me, and especially not a sixteen year old blank flank. They didn't like me when I was small, and they sure didn't like me now. I got passed over like they were looking right through me. Maybe they were. Maybe they thought I was a worker here or something. Who was I kidding? I'd never get adopted. And in two years, I'd be on my own, in a world full of words like “job” and “mortgage” and “income taxes”... I shuddered at the thought. My little pity party was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. “Cherish?” the matron screeched. Seriously. It sounded like a big freaking bird was trying to eat me. “What?” “Somepony wants to see you.” I rolled my eyes. Probably the cops, making sure they knew what I looked like so they could arrest me as soon as I stepped outside. Seriously. I probably should have been happy, but I remember just shaking my head. Imagine that, somepony caring about me. That'd be the day, I thought. Tossing my head, I left the room, trotting past the younger orphans, who were still chatting, probably still full of hope that they'd be adopted someday soon. Poor little saps. Still had hope before being crushed. Yeah, it's safe to say I was feeling the opposite of hopeful, and didn't really expect anything. So when I got into the main entrance room and turned to my right, and saw Twilight Sparkle standing there... My jaw dropped, and I really wished I had taken the time to brush my mane. It was impossible. It had to be impossible. My idol? My hero? The pony I had dreamed of being? Standing here in the entrance room? I bit my lip, to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It hurt, so I wasn't, but since it wouldn't be a good idea to start bleeding in front of Twilight Sparkle, I stopped. She smiled and spoke. “Hello, Cherish,” she said. Sweet Celestia, she knew my name. That cemented it. The reason why she was here. It was impossible. It had to be. I willed my mouth to speak. “Wh- why are you here?” I asked. I knew the only reason anypony would ask for me, of course, but it seemed so unreal that I had to ask. “It's obvious, right?” she replied gently. I gasped. It was true. She was here to adopt me. She was here to adopt me She was here. To adopt. Me. “You want to adopt me?” I asked, still stupefied. The matron didn't help. “That uncaring, ungrateful beast?” Twilight nodded. “Yes,” she said simply. I don't know how long I stood there, but I finally got my mouth to work. “Fine!” I said. “We can leave tonight!” But, of course, Equestrian law said differently. It took a few hours of boring paperwork, and then, don't ask me how, but somehow I ended up having to stay there overnight. Isn't my life awesome? So, of course, the next day I was packed and ready to leave almost before the sun was up. I hadn't slept at all that night. Luckily, ever since Zoom had been adopted five years ago, I'd been left alone in my own room, which I was now bouncing around. I'm pretty sure I annoyed the two fillies next door, but I didn't care. I had bigger things ahead of me. A new day, a new home, a new life... It was too good to be true, but somehow it was. A part deep down inside of me was afraid that it had all been a dream, but bright and early there was a knock on my door, and the matron escorted me out of that orphanage for the last time. Twilight Sparkle stood ready and waiting for me downstairs. She still smiled that perfect smile. “Ready?” she asked. I nodded. “Is that everything?” I nodded again. “I don't have much,” I said, shrugging. Twilight nodded. “Come on, then. I'll help you take your stuff.” Lifting my bags like it was nothing (which, to her, I'm sure it was), she turned and I followed. I had never left the orphanage, so just being out in the streets was a new experience. That was pretty fun. The train station, though... that one I didn't like so much. I got a few disparaging looks (yeah, I can talk fancy when I want to) and a few aside glances, and I hate being surrounded by ponies I don't know, and I found myself stepping closer and closer to Twilight Sparkle. Trying to avoid ponies not watching where they were going, I accidentally brushed up against her side. I quickly moved away, but she just looked at me with those eyes, and I felt her brush back up against me, almost as if saying, 'I know, and I'm here'. I really thought she was perfect. The train ride, though, was amazing. I had never gone so fast, everything was a green and blue blur. Twilight noticed my staring, if not my drooling, and smiled again. “First time on a train?” “First time anywhere,” I confessed. “I've never left that orphanage.” Twilight looked at me... was that sympathy in her eyes? Pain? “I'm glad I could rectify that,” she said. Eventually, we arrived in Ponyville. I couldn't help but stare. Ponies seemed to—get this—smile. Of their own free will. I brushed my mane out of my face as I stared in wonder. It was a little town, maybe even quaint, but I thought it was a nice place. There certainly were some characters here, if the giant gingerbread house was any indication. I wondered if anypony had actually tried to ea- “Hiya!” I was, to put it lightly, startled at the sudden appearance of a bright pink pony. Her mane was huge and poofy, and, I kid you not, she seemed to appear from above me. She pulled her head back, and I spun around to see where she had come from, but she was gone. Confused, I looked at Twilight for guidance, but she was a bit further ahead than I was. I shook my head. Maybe it had just been a hallucination. Suddenly, she was in my face again. “Welcome to Ponyville!” she loudly proclaimed. Suddenly she paused, and she leaned in close and squinted at me. “Can I help you?” I asked, in a tone that clearly indicated that I wanted nothing to do with her, but she just kept squinting at me. I took a step back from her piercing blue eyes, and then another; but for every step I took back, she took one forward. Finally, she spoke. “Do I know you?” she asked. “I don't know you,” I answered truthfully. “Is there a reason you're in my face?” Twilight had noticed the crazy pony and walked back over. The crazy pony looked over at her. “Do I know her?” she asked. “She looks familiar. Really familiar. Really, really, really familiar.” “This is Cherish,” Twilight said slowly, as if explaining something to a foal. “I just adopted her from an orphanage. This is her first time here; so no, you wouldn't know her.” “But this is important! Really important! Really, really, really important! I mean, if she's been here before, then it's a 'Welcome Back to Ponyville' party; but if she hasn't, then it's a super special 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!” The pink pony began to physically shake Twilight. “Do you not realize how important this is?” I was about to step in, ready to take down this crazy pony, but Twilight put out a hoof and placed it on her head. The pink pony continued to vibrate under her hoof, but Twilight applied more pressure and slowly managed to settle her down. She had obviously had some experience with this pony before. “Pinkie Pie,” she said, for that was apparently her name, “I know it's important to you, but could you at least wait until she's had a chance to go home and get unpacked before you think about throwing her a party?” Home? Home... My reverie was interrupted by Pinkie Pie's exaggerated gasp. “You're totally right, Twilight! I can't possibly throw a housewarming party for her if she doesn't even have a house to live in!” It was at this point that I determined that this pony needed to be institutionalized. Fast. Twilight sighed. “I don't think she needs a housewarming party just yet.” Pinkie Pie's ears drooped, but she quickly perked back up again. “That's ok. Cherish, we're going to have a great time at your welcoming party! There will be cake, and ice cream, and streamers, and you'll get to meet everypony in town!” “You know, I actually don't much like meeting new ponies,” I confessed. Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped. “You don't?” I shook my head. “Not really. Never have.” Pinkie didn't respond. She just stood there with that frozen expression of shock on her face. Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face. When Pinkie didn't respond, she exhaled in defeat and turned over to the giant gingerbread house. “Pumpkin!” she called. A pale unicorn wearing a little blue bow in her mane popped her head out of the bakery window. She smiled expectantly. “Pinkie's broken again.” Pumpkin sighed and rolled her eyes. “I'll get the frosting,” she said, in a voice that clearly indicated that this had not been the first time, and she clearly doubted it would be the last. This was a strange place indeed. Twilight jerked her head, indicating that I should follow. “Resetting Pinkie can get a bit messy. Let's go home and get you settled.” Again, that mystical word, home. I don't know what I expected, really. In my imagination, she'd lived everywhere from a castle with loads of servants to a little hut in the middle of nowhere, having exiled herself to train and become the strongest magician ever. Turns out my hero lived in a tree. A giant tree. I can honestly say I wouldn't have imagined that. She pushed the door open, and my jaw dropped, along with all my luggage. Books. Books everywhere. Shelves and shelves of pure literary joy. All I could do was stare in awe. Twilight saw me and smiled. “You like to read, don't you, Cherish?” I nodded dumbly. “Yeah,” I finally managed to say. “Kindof.” Twilight grinned. “I'm not surprised. More ponies should read. It's a dying pastime,” she lamented. “Almost nopony visits the library anymore. Or ever, really.” “This is a library?” I asked dumbly. I knew what a library was, of course, but the one at the orphanage had nothing on this. This was beautiful. Twilight nodded. “And all these books are for free use by everypony. That includes you.” I think it was at that time I started salivating. Twilight laughed lightly again. “Come on up,” she said. “Let's get you settled.” Upstairs I found a bedroom with two beds in it. One, probably mine, was neatly made; the other was messy. My first thought was, 'somepony had a nightmare last night'. I shook that off, though. Twilight Sparkle didn't get nightmares; she gave them. Of that I was sure. Sure enough, the neat bed was mine, and I set my stuff down. “Dinner will be ready soon, so you can unpack, read, sleep, whatever you want to do.” “Thank you,” I said. Twilight cocked her head. “For dinner?” I laughed. A true laugh for the first time in I don't know how long. “No. Yes. Maybe. What I meant was, thanks for getting me out of that place.” A look flashed briefly across her face. I didn't recognize it. I thought I might have just imagined it. Either way, she smiled. “You're welcome.” This tender moment was interrupted by a loud crash from downstairs. I dropped into a defensive stance, while at the same time wondering who would be stupid enough to break into the house of Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, on the other hoof, reacted not with magic but with a sigh and a facehoof. “Ugh, not again...” she mumbled. She looked back at me and gave me a half smile. “Welcome home, Cherish,” she said with a shrug, before turning and heading downstairs. Home? Home... Home. I liked the sound of that. Still, was home often riddled with crashes like that? I followed her down the stairs, not really knowing what to expect, but feeling fairly confident anyway, that no matter what, I was safe, because I had finally come home. Heh... I was a funny little kid, wasn't I? I followed Twilight downstairs, but when I got to the landing, I froze. It wasn't Twilight yelling at a rainbow-maned pegasus that surprised me, nor the books scattered everywhere that made it look like a tornado had just run through. No, what shocked me was the pegasus filly pulling herself out of the bookcase, because I'd recognize that fuchsia tail with a pink zigzag running through it anywhere. Zoom pulled her head out of the wall (don't ask me how, I don't know) and made an adorable squeak. “I think that's the fastest I've gone!” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Speed is nothing without control, Zoom. Something Rainbow here seems to keep conveniently forgetting to teach you.” “Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “I'll get around to it later. Now I wanted to meet the pony you adopted.” Twilight gave Rainbow a flat look that clearly said, 'this is not over', but she turned to me up on the staircase. “Come down and introduce yourself,” she said. I watched Zoom, but she didn't seem to recognize me. The other pegasus spoke first. “I'm Rainbow Dash, as you probably already know,” she said, with no small hint of pride. “Zoom!” Zoom said proudly. (1) Would she know me? I swallowed and spoke. “Cherish.” Zoom's eyes widened, and for the second time that day I was squinted at and examined closely. Unlike Pinkie Pie, though, Zoom's verdict was much quicker and more favorable, if the tackling hug was any indicator. “Cherish! It's really you, isn't it?” “It is!” She pulled back and gave me an askance look. “You've changed,” she said, bringing a hoof up and poking at my greasy mane.. I shrugged and brushed my mane out of my face. “It's a phase.” “Well, it sucks,” she said, sticking her tongue out playfully as she helped me up. “You need a mane cut and a bath, pronto.” She struck a dynamic pose. “To the spa!” “Spa's closed,” Twilight said dryly. “It's eight; it closes at six thirty.” Zoom's face fell, but she perked back up right away. “Then we'll go the first thing in the morning!” I gave a wry smile. “I can hardly wait.” We chatted for a while, and then after the best dinner I had ever eaten, I got to go sleep in the best bed I had ever slept on, (only the second I'd ever had, to be honest), and that's how I started my perfect life. Oh, don't go anywhere. My story of lies and betrayal is just getting started.
