Marked

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue 1
Epilogue 2

Chapter 1

Manehatten wasn’t an easy place to grow up, but Cherrywood had it a bit easier than most. Her mother, Copper Quill, was the head of a big company in the city. Cherry didn’t know exactly what the company did, but Momma always said that she helps ponies with their money. She always thought it sounded boring. Her father, Ironwood, owned a shop near the edge of town where he made things. He liked making things out of wood.

Cherry loved it when she didn’t have school and Mom was busy, because she got to go to the shop. It was noisy, but it was a good noisy. It was a noisy that meant creative things were being made. Dad would proudly show off the picture of her Great-Grandfather Sturdy Oak, who made the big head that everyone in the city loved. She always wanted to work there when she got big. The idea of making things that ponies would love is something desperately wanted to do, even though she had no idea what to with metal or wood. She didn’t even have her cutie mark. When she did get it, she wanted to make ponies happy with things she made.

But for now, she was just a bored filly wandering the apartment looking for something to do. She would usually occupy herself by drawing, but she had run out of paper that morning. There wasn’t a single spot of white left on any of them. She considered playing, but she couldn’t think of a game to play right now.

On the kitchen table, she found some paper. They looked boring, so she decided to make them prettier. She gathered her wide assortment crayons and set to work. She wasn’t sure why she liked drawing so much, it just felt…right. She felt more alive with a crayon in her hoof, like both paper and utensil became apart of her.

After a while of scribbling, just when she was getting really into her craft, Mom came out of the home office and saw what her daughter was doing. At first, she just stood there with a horrified expression. Then came the dreaded Look. Cherry knew what the Look meant. She tucked her tail between her legs and plodded to her room. What she did wrong wasn’t important, she’d get an earful about it later. It was better this way, ignoring the Look was a recipe for disaster. For now, Mom needed to cool off, then the reckoning would come for her.

She climbed onto her bed with a sigh. In times of crisis like this she needed the help of her best friend and confidant, Robearto, who was seated near her pillow.

“What did I DO?” she asked him pleadingly. Robearto didn’t reply. He was simply at a loss for words at the injustice of this imprisonment. Cherry could tell his stuffing was writhing in righteous fury, though.

The sound of the apartment’s door opening and closing again signified the return of her father.

Great. Cherry thought, Now, I get to be punished TWICE for doing nothing…

It was hard to hear through her closed bedroom door, but she could just make out what they were saying.

“Copper? What’s wrong?” her father asked.

“Your daughter had another burst of creativity today.” Mom replied coldly.

“Oh? Did ‘MY’ daughter doodle on the walls again?” Dad half-joked. Cherry winced at that. It was ONE TIME. Okay twice. Several. But she was sorry!

Mom didn’t answer. Instead, the sound of papers fluttering was her response. There were a few moments of silence. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Cherry grabbed Robearto and jumped down from her bed. Tip-hoofing to her door, she cracked it opened as quietly as she could. Then, filly and bear watched the scene unfold. Dad was staring intently at the papers, while Mom was pacing on the other side of the table muttering to herself. After a minute or so, she stopped and turned towards Dad.

“I’m all for supporting her creativity and all, but this is getting out of control! It was only a matter of time before something like this happened! Worse yet, there’s not enough time to get replacements before they’re due! My career will be ruined, your shop will be repossessed, we’ll both go to prison, and we may never see Cherry again!” She began to breathe hard, waving a hoof in front of her face. Dad trotted over to her and patted her back gently.

“Copper, dear, you’re overreacting again. You know the worst that’ll happen is a small fine, which we can afford.” He said gently. Mom took a deep breath and seemed to calm down.

“You’re right Oakie, it’s just…” she sighed. “We keep telling her what not to draw on, but she ALWAYS finds something new. I just…I-I don’t know what to do anymore…”

“It’s ‘cause she blows through her paper so quick. She get’s bored when she’s not scribblin’ on something.” He gave a short laugh. “I even considered adding a paper mill in the shop just for her.”

Mom snorted at that.

“As if you could get enough wood through it to support her. That filly could go through a forest’s worth of paper in a day if she tried.”

Really? A WHOLE forest? Cherry thought smugly, Challenge accepted.

They both laughed for a minute. Then Mom frowned.

“But what are going to do about Cherry? You know we can’t just let this slide…”

Dad looked at the paper’s again.

“About that…Have you actually looked at these? I mean, as a professional and not a mom?” he said earning a scowl from the rust-colored mare. She snatched the papers from him.

“Of course I-“ she stopped, staring the papers in her hooves. Her eyes moved rapidly as she scanned the page, and she began frantically flipping through the rest. After a moment she slowly lowered them, wide-eye and slack-jawed.

“I…She…This is…” she stammered. Dad tenderly closed her mouth for her.

“Now I’m not a fancy business pony like you, but I’ve had my fair share of dealing with paperwork. And these-“he announced, pointing to the papers, “seem to be perfectly balanced.”

Balanced? Cherry thought, I didn’t balance anything. I just drew on some papers, right?

Mom rushed over to her office down the hall and opened one of the cabinets. Cherry recognized them, because they were full of paper she wasn’t allowed to draw on. Where these papers like those ones?

After rifling through some folders, Mom pulled out another paper and looked between the two.

“Amazing! They even take last years returns into account…It’s incredible! Granted it’s written in crayon, and there a lot of doodles in the margins, but still…” she stopped and walked back to her husband. “I don’t think Cherry’s ever seen forms like these, but she still managed to fill it out perfectly! She even managed to find loopholes I didn’t even know were there! I…” she sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. “I’m so proud…”

Cherry was still thoroughly confused, maybe even more than before, but also relieved. If Mom was happy, that meant that she wouldn’t get punished, right?

Dad put his foreleg around his wife.

“Yes our little sapling is quite some-“ he stopped, his expression blanking. He looked around. “Um, Copper? Where IS Cherry?”

Mom suddenly found the floor very interesting as her cheeks turned redder than normal.

“I, uh, may have sent her to her room just before you got home…”

“…You gave her the Look, didn’t you?” he asked, but it was obvious he already knew the answer.

Mom didn’t reply. Instead, she raised her head and gave him the wide-eyed, ear-drooped, lip-quivering Other Look. She only used this look to get Dad to do whatever she wanted. Or on the rare occasions she’d messed up.

Dad sighed on patted her head.

“C’mon. Let’s go rescue her.”

Cherry bolted back to her bed with Robearto hanging on for dear life. She clutched him tight and buried her head in her pillow, trying to squeeze out a few tears to gain a few more sympathy points. By Celestia, if she was already out danger, she was going to milk this for all its worth. After a moment, her door opened.

“Cherry? Sweetie?” her mother called softly.

Cherry sniffled in response. She felt a pair of hooves wrap around her.

“I’m sorry I was hard on you, but those were very important papers you drew on. It turned out alright, so you’re not in trouble. I think you’ve suffered enough.” A quiet sob was all that was offered. Copper rolled her eyes. “Plus, I know you’re trying to milk this.”

“Aw, I thought I was doing good.” Cherry whined as she sat up to face her mother, who grinned and ruffled her mane.

“You were, but you can’t fool me. I’m your mother, I’m immune to that.” She leaned in and loudly whispered. “It might have worked on your father, though. He’s a big softy like that.” She earned an incredulous look from her husband in return.

“So... I’m not in trouble?” Cherry said, looking between her parents, who nodded in response.

Satisfied, she stood up and stretched. She was about to pick up Robearto and go play Jousting Tournament in the living room, when she noticed her parents staring at her.

“…What?”

Copper didn’t move, frozen in place with a grin on her face and a gleam in her eye. Iron’s jaw dropped.

“What?” Cherry whined, growing uncomfortable.

Her father shook his head, breaking his stupor, and moved to Cherry’s side.

“Cherry, look at your flank.”

My flank? Cherry thought, looking at the place in question. Her eyes widened. Adorning her flank was wooden pen with a golden trail following behind it.

She had finally gotten her cutie mark!

Cherry jumped and pranced around the room, squealing with joy. Robearto sat on the bed, struck speechless by the revelation. Copper, finally free of her paralysis, swept her daughter up in an embrace, giggling like a school filly.

“I’m so proud of you, Cherry!” she squealed “You’re going to be an accountant just like your Momma!”

“Hehe, yeah!” Cherry laughed as gave her mother a hug.

“…Momma, what’s a ‘accountant?’”

Chapter 2

Cherry sighed. She’d long since lost count, but she was pretty sure that was at least the tenth in the past five minutes alone. Outside, a steady rain fell over the city. The Pegasi in charge of the city’s weather made sure that it wasn’t too hard, but it was still a pretty good downpour. Enough for large raindrops to smack against her window, at least. Umbrellas dotted the sidewalks, with those without one darted any cover they could find. A few simply plodded along, seemingly unaware or uncaring about the rain. Ponies exiting the building below were hastily trying to wave down a taxi before they got too wet, to varying levels of success. She figured that the last few guests leaving her party were among them.

It had been about a week since she’d gotten her cutie mark, and since then she’d been showered with nothing but praise. Her parents had told just about everypony they knew, and at school her teachers congratulated her too. Her classmates had been overjoyed, and even the ones who hadn’t gotten their marks yet were happy for her, without showing a single shred of jealousy. Alright maybe a little bit, but not nearly what Cherry had been expecting.

When she had gotten home from school today, she was greeted by her whole family and a few family friends. It seemed while she was gone her parent set up a huge party for her, all to celebrate her getting her cutie mark. There was lots of food and games, and she got a lot of presents.

Cherry enjoyed herself, she really did. All the attention was nice, but there was still something nagging at the back of her mind. Namely, the phrases she had heard repeatedly since she had gotten her mark.

“You’re a big girl now!”

“You’re all grown up!”

“How’s it feel being an adult now?”

When ponies asked her that, it made her feel…weird. All squirmy and fidgety and weird. She wasn’t sure how she felt being treated differently all of a sudden. Just because a dumb picture showed up on her flank didn’t mean she was a grown-up now, nothing had really changed. After all, she was still just a filly!

…Right?

Mom constantly bragging about how ‘her little Cherry’ is going to be a massively successful businesspony and calling her a ‘prodigy” didn’t help either. Again, she liked the praise, but wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole situation. When Cherry had asked her what an accountant was, Mom had launched into a gleeful lecture about the ins and outs of her job. After an hour or so she wrapped it with:

“Well, those are just the basics. You’ll learn more soon enough!”

If those were the basics, Cherry really didn’t want to find out what the rest of it was. She barely stayed awake for the first ten minutes!

Cherry put on a brave face through it all, but truthfully? She thought the whole thing was just so BORING. She had never liked math. She was alright at it, but she never enjoyed that part of her education. Now that was supposed to be an integral part of the rest of her life? Pretty much the sole defining factor of her career? Her general lack of interest in money didn’t help matters. She only had a few bits in her piggy at any given time.

Cherry sighed again, and watched the rain hit her window. Before her mark, days like this would have inspired her to draw endlessly in a whirlwind of paper and color. But now? Her imagination felt as gray and lifeless and the clouds above. She just felt…empty.

She’d felt this way ever since her mark had appeared, and when she’d been told what it meant she was good at. She’d tried, oh how she had tried, but she couldn’t make more that a few random scribbles before giving up. It was as if her mark had drained her of her creativity. And there wasn’t anything she could do to change it!

With yet another sigh Cherry trotted over to her open closet, looking at herself in the mirror that hung in the door. The filly that looked back was an Earth pony filly identical to her. Same reddish-brown coat, same curly mess of dark maroon mane, same bright blue eyes. The only thing that stuck out was that mark. That stupid pen and stupid gold line. Being there on her flank like she’d ask for it. Well she HADN’T!

“Still getting used to that mark, eh?” a voice asked.

Cherry whirled around to face to voice. It was Cast Iron, her father’s right hoof at the shop, and a close family friend. He chuckled.

“I get it. Takes a while ta get used to it. Took me months when I got mine.” He laughed, looking at the anvil the adorned his charcoal-colored flank. “It’ll come.”

“Uncle Cast…What if…” Cherry began sheepishly, “What if I don’t want to get used to it?”

Cast studied her for a moment, affectionately tousled her mane.

“Growing up’s scary. Believe me, I know it is. I had the same thoughts as you when I was your age. That doesn’t mean you can stop it, though. Can’t keep from gettin’ older.” He pointed to her cutie mark. “You got a destiny ahead of you. That mark’s proof of that.”

At that moment the rain outside stopped, and shafts of sunlight began to pierce the clouds. Cast noticed it too.

“Heh. Look’s like Princess Celestia agrees with me. Must be a bright future ahead. Now c’mon, your parents sent me to get you. Said somthin’ about tellin’ you more about your mark.” He smiled warmly and began to leave the room. Cherry looked back out the window at the light peeking through the sky. As the light grew, an idea began to form in her head.

“Princess Celestia…can really do anything…can’t she?” she said, half to herself.

Cast stopped and looked at her, slightly confused.

“Well, I don’t know about ‘anything,’ but I’ll bet the list of things she can’t do is pretty darn short.” He scratched the stubble on his chin. “What made this come up so sudden?”

Cherry smiled and trotted past him.

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking.”

If I can’t do anything about this mark, maybe SHE can…

Chapter 3

“Don’t give me that look. I know this is crazy, but I don’t have a choice! I don’t want to be a boring old accountant for the rest of my life!” Cherry hissed.

Robearto didn’t reply, and just sat trying to work through his frustration. He had been trying to talk her out of this plan all day, but he just couldn’t see that it needed to be done.

“Princess Celestia is the bestest, powerfullest, awesomest pony ever!” Cherry went on “She’s the only one who can help me!”

Robearto asked how she was planning to get to her.

“The train, of course! How else would I get to Canterlot?” Cherry replied while she counted the bits from her piggy bank. Twenty-two. She hoped that would be enough, and tossed them in her school saddlebag. “We’ll go to the Princess’ castle, get me a new mark, and be back home by dinner!”

Robearto was skeptical that it would be that short of a trip.

Pfft. When we went to spend Hearthswarming with Uncle Burnt Oak in Ponyville, it was only an hour trip. How far could it be?” Just to be safe though, she added some candy to snack on if the trip was a little too long.

She tried, and failed, to stifle a yawn.

Robearto paused, then reminded her that she didn’t sleep that much last night.

“I’m fine. I was just…up late working out the fine details of the plan.” Cherry grumbled, rubbing her eyes. She wasn’t tired, they just itched.

Robearto wondered why she just didn’t ask her parents to take to see the Princess.

“Because they would never go for it. You heard them, they’re both sooooo excited to have me as their little ‘accounting Starswirl.’” She sniffled, staring at the floor. “I know they’re gonna be disappointed, but I need to do this.”

Robearto asked her what she would do if Princess Celestia wouldn’t help her. After all if she was so powerful, what could Cherry do to make her help?

“Well…I’ll figure that out if it happens. But why wouldn’t she? She’s supposed to be super nice to everypony, so I’m sure she’ll help me! If she wasn’t nice, she wouldn’t be a princess right?”

Right?

She tossed a pad of paper and colored pencil set she had received at her party into her saddlebags. Even if her creativity was gone, it wouldn’t hurt to have it around in case that changed during the trip.

“That should be everything. All set to go!”

Robearto tried one last time to get her to reconsider. Implored her, begged her.

“I’m sorry Robearto, but this dumb mark is gonna ruin my life! I have to get Princess Celesita to change it.”

Robearto, finally giving up on trying, simply asked if he could at least go with her. He thought she would need someone to watch her back.

“Of course you’re coming!” she exclaimed as she gave him the noogy of a lifetime, “What would I do without my right-hoof bear?”

“And where would you be going?” a voice asked, causing Cherry to jump with a tiny Eep!

Leaning on the doorframe to her room was her mother, wearing an amused expression.

“That’s a lot of stuff in your bag. Taking a trip?” she asked.

Cherry thought quickly, forcing an uneasy smile on her face. Robeato was paralyzed with fear.

“Y-yeah, Robearto and I were gonna go to…THE PEAKS OF PERIL! Yeah, we’re gonna find the kirins and make them teach us their secret…kirin…magic…?”Cherry hoped that sounded good enough.

Copper looked at Cherry, then at her bag, then back to Cherry. There was a long moment of silence, and terrified filly was beginning to think the jig was up. Then Copper finally spoke.

“Well, alright then!” she said cheerily. “Think you could teach me some ‘kirin magic’ when you get back?”

Cherry smiled.

“I’ll see what I can do!”

“So while you’re off exploring, I’ll be doing some work in my office. Think you’ll be back in time for dinner?’

“No problem!”

As Copper trotted down the hall to the office, Cherry let go of the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Robearto noticed, and asked her again if she was sure about this plan.

“Of course I am! Mom doesn’t suspect a thing, and when she starts working, nothing can get her away from it. And Dad won’t be home from the shop for hours! It’ll be easy to sneak out, you’ll see! I’ll bet we’ll be back before they even know we left!”

Placing the bags and Robeato on her back, she began to enact her plan. She waited a few minutes to give Mom time to get into her work. Once she was sure she wouldn’t get caught, she peeked her head out of her door. Mom was certainly in her office, were she was dead to the world.

Perfect. Cherry thought.

She tiphoofed her way down the hallway, and met with her first major hurdle: the front door. She could reach the handle, but only barely. The real problem was if her mother might hear the door open. While it was hard to get her attention while she was working, the door might be enough to get her break her concentration. It was a gamble.

Cherry carefully turned the doorknob. Once it turned completely with a quiet (yet somehow loud) click, she paused. No response from the office. Taking that as a good sign, she slowly opened the door. Again, nothing happened. Anxious to get out, she darted out into the hallway, and cautiously closed the door behind her with another soft click. She waited for a moment, expecting her mother to storm out and demand to know what was going on. But she never came.

Giving a silent cheer of victory, she galloped down the hall to the stairs. She knew how to work the elevator (she like pushing the button), but a lone filly in the elevator would make some ponies ask questions she really didn’t want to answer. So she happily trotted down the stairs, occasionally jumping down the last two or three for fun. It was quiet in the stairwell, since most ponies used the elevator, and so no one was there to bother her.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, she paused to catch her breath (there were a lot more stairs than she remembered) and to look around the lobby. Thankfully it was empty, save for the mare behind the reception desk, whose snoring was echoing throughout the room. Cherry didn’t know her name, but she seemed really cranky all the time (when wasn’t asleep). After a moment, Cherry decided to leave a piece of candy for her, a lemon drop, in hopes it would make her happier. Cherry didn’t really like lemon drops herself, but the thought the mare might, since she was so sour all the time.

Navigating the streets to the train station wasn’t difficult for Cherry, since she’d been all over the city with her parents. All she had to do was take look both ways before crossing the street, and not talk to strange ponies. It wasn’t uncommon for an older foal to roam the city unattended, and she certainly fit that role with no-longer-blank flank, so few gave her a second glance. There was a close call when a police pony tried to get her attention, but then got distracted with an improperly parked taxi.

After about twenty minutes of trotting, the station came into view. She galloped to the board that showed the train schedule, looking for one that would take her to Canterlot. Luckily there were a lot scheduled trips there, but one was going to leave very soon.

“We don’t have much time. Let’s go!” Cherry proclaimed and dashed to the ticket counter, taking care to keep Robearto from falling off her back. A middle-aged unicorn stallion with a mutton chop mustache sat behind it, taking bits and giving tickets. Cherry patiently waited her turn, fidgeting all the while, but in a patient manner. When the couple in from her received their tickets, she quickly tossed her bits on the counter.

“One for the next train to Canterlot please!” she proclaimed, puffing out her chest.

The stallion seemed surprised. He glanced around, unsure of who just spoke. Then he looked down and saw her. His surprised turned to shock, then bewilderment, then suspicion.

“Yer a little young ta takin’ the train by yerself, ain’tcha little lady?” he said slowly, adjusting the glasses on his snout. Cherry started to panic. She forgot that she was too young to ride alone!

“I…er,well…the thing is…”she stammered, desperately trying to thing of a way out of this. The clerk’s eyes narrowed.

“I think I should be gettin’ security over here ta find out where yer parents are.” He began to get out from behind his desk.

Roberto informed her that he had told her this wouldn’t work. There was no way a filly could buy a ticket without her parents.

Parents…That’s it!

“Wait! Those are my parents over there!” she exclaimed, pointing to the couple that had just left the counter. They were ambling along on their way to the rails, and Cherry was sure it was the train to Canterlot, she had heard them ask for the same tickets!

“Just a minute, Mom and Dad, I’ll be right there!” Cherry called after them. She felt bad about lying to the clerk, but this was an emergency. Her plan to change her mark depended on it!

The clerk looked at her, then to the couple, and then back to her.

“Those are yer parents?” he asked flatly.

“Yep.”

“Those two right there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Those two that look nothin’ like you?”

“Um…” she shuffled her hooves. Indeed, neither of them looked like her at all. The stallion was light blue unicorn with a violet mane, and the mare was an orange pegasus with a pink mane. Cherry’s reddish coat and brown mane didn’t fit at all, and neither did her lack of a horn or wings. But she had another idea. She pretended to look sad, and quietly said “They said I’m…’adopted?’ I’m not really sure what that means, but they got worried when I asked, so I stopped. Do you know what it means? ‘Adopted?’”

“Oh, um…” the clerk coughed, visibly uncomfortable and anxious to change the subject, “Well, how come yer’ payin’ for yer’ own ticket? Why ain’t they buyin’ it?”

“Because I’m a big filly now, so I can buy my own ticket with my own bits!” she huffed, and turned to show off her mark. “See? I even have my cutie mark!”

The clerk stared at her for a long moment. Cherry was about to make a run for the train, when he let out a sigh.

“By Celestia, parents today. Back in my day, we had ta at least be able to see over tha dang counter to buy anythin’…Oh well, if yer folks are okay with it…” He counted out her bits, and subtracted her change, which he gave back to her with her ticket. Seventeen bits left. “You have a nice trip y’hear? And don’t tell no one, but a I’ll let yer little friend there ride fer free, okay?” he said with a wink pointing to Robearto.

“Wow, thanks mister…um…” she looked the nametag pinned to his uniform. Ticket Stub. “Thanks Mister Ticket!”

“Aw, just call me Stubs, s’what most folks call me.” Stubs said with a laugh.

“Oh, okay then! Here, take this too!” she said, placing a gumdrop on the counter.

“Well I’ll be. How’d ya know that’s my favorite candy? Thank ya kindly, miss. You have a nice trip, y’hear?”

“I will! Bye Mister Stubs!” Cherry yelled as she scampered after her ‘parents’.

Mr. Stubs was nice. I wish I didn’t have to lie to him so much, but I didn’t have a choice. She thought. Maybe I’ll tell him the truth when I get back. He deserves that much and besides, he’ll probably notice my mark changed by then.

She fell into step behind them, close enough to give the appearance of them being together, but not so close as to make them suspicious.

Robearto noted that her cutie mark had come in handy in that situation.

“I guess. Most useful it’s been so far.” She grumbled. “But that’s all gonna change soon.”

Cherry entered the train and selected a seat near her ‘parents.’ A few ponies gave her questioning glances, so she just pointed to them. Most seem accept that, deciding it wasn’t their business. After a few minutes, the conductor gave the last call, signaled the engineer, and entered the train.

As the train chugged along, she pulled out her paper and pencils to try drawing. She just made a few random skribbles for a while before giving up. She just wasn’t feeling it, as was the new usual. With the city falling away behind them, she rested her head on window. The rhythmic bouncing of the car felt soothing. Her eyelids started feel heavy.

Robearto offered a bit for her thoughts.

“I wonder…” she mumbled as she drew her friend closer, and yawned “I wonder what my new cutie mark will look like…”

She softly drifted to sleep, dreaming of paper and pencils, and marks that may soon be hers.

Chapter 4

The screech of metal and wail of the train’s whistle woke Cherry from her sleep. She glanced around for a moment before remembering where she was and her goal.

Canterlot. A second chance.

One step closer to my new mark, she thought, growing more excited as she grabbed Roberto and her saddlebags.

She followed the flow of ponies exiting the car, keeping somewhat close to the couple she had followed on. Again, most ponies didn’t give her a second glance, assuming she was simple another filly travelling with her parents.

The filly and bear paused for a moment on the platform, taking in the skylight of the capitol. The city, the castle, and the mountain upon with it all sat. It was breathtaking.

Robearto nervously noted that the sun was much lower in the sky than it was when they’d left Manehatten.

“I gotta admit, it IS a lot darker than I thought would. Maybe the ride here was a bit longer than I’d thought…” she whispered, half to herself. “It must be long past dinnertime by now…Mom and Dad are gonna be worried…and mad…”

Robearto wondered when the next train back to Manehatten was. They looked at a nearby schedule board. There were a few new trains listed to leave for home that night, but not a lot. And there wasn’t a lot of time before the last one left for the night.

“We’ve got to hurry. If we don’t, we’ll be stuck here until tomorrow! Then we’ll really be in trouble!” Cherry exclaimed, dashing down the road she hoped would lead to the castle.

Robearto flatly stated they were already in deep trouble, and that a few extra hours wouldn’t make much difference. Cherry ignored him and kept running.

“Hey, you! Little Filly! Stop!” a voice shouted behind her. Cherry turned her head, and her eyes grew wide. Briskly marching towards her was a fully armored Royal Guard Pony. He was wearing a stern expression, which made her incredibly nervous. The Guard towered above her.

“Where are your parents?” he asked sternly.

“I…they…” she stammered, unable to come up with a response.

He’s so scary! She thought, beginning to panic.

“Come on, you’re coming with me.” He commanded, roughly grabbing her foreleg. Cherry struggled, but the stallion’s grip was like a vice. Panic began to consume her as she fought to free herself to no avail.

“Private! What are you doing?” a voice behind them barked. The guard’s face immediately shifted to a look of terror.

“S-Sargent Spear! Sir!“ he yelled, snapping into a salute with his free leg so forcefully his helmet rang like a bell for a moment. “I found this unattended filly and-“

“And you decided to pull her leg out of its socket?” the louder stallion cut in. “Let her go this instant!”

The stallion (though now that she got a better look at him, he looked more like an older colt) complied, albeit reluctantly. Cherry rubbed her throbbing leg, glaring at the Guard. The older stallion paced in front of them both, looking quite angry.

“Private Armor, I know you’re new to the Guards, and you’re inexperienced with public relations, but for Celestia’s sake! You have a little sister about her age don’t you? Would you grab her like that?”

The younger one tried to respond, but was cut off by the older one. It went on like that for a while with the Guard next to her weakly responding every so often, but mostly taking the brunt of his superior’s ranting.

Cherry looked between the two, generally stunned at this turn of events. Were all Guards like this? Eventually, she realized that neither of them were really paying attention to her that much. Slowly, she quietly inched her away from the scene. When she was a few feet away, the Guards noticed her. Panicking, she bolted down the street.

“Hey! STOP!” one of them yelled after her.

Cherry, being a filly, had much shorter legs than the Guards and she wasn’t nearly as good at running. Had the street been clear, they would have caught her easily. Fortunately, the street was fairly crowded, and Cherry was able to weave between the ponies ambling about their business. The Guards tried to keep up, yelling after her and pushing ponies to who wouldn’t move aside fast enough.

The thought occurred to her that running away from the Royal Guards wasn’t the best idea, but she was too scared to really act on it. Robearto yelled something, but she couldn’t hear what he said. She just kept running.

There was an alley up ahead, so she dashed into it. Luckily there was a trash can set out, so it made for as good a hiding spot as any. Pressing up against the building wall, and hidden the view from the street, Cherry held her breath and did her best to pretend she didn’t exist. Two sets of hooves ran past the alley, and she heard them calling for her. They sounded mad. After they ran past, Cherry waited a few minutes to catch her breath. She peeked out from behind the trash can. There were a few ponies trotting past, but no Guards. It was silent (as silent as a busy road could be), with no indication of pursuit.

“I…I think we did it Robearto…”she panted.

There was no response.

“Robearto?”

Cherry looked behind her to see, to her horror, only her bare back. She frantically dug through her saddle bags, hoping that he had hidden in them during the chase. No luck.

He must have fallen off! That’s what he was yelling about!

Dashing to the street, she desperately searching the ground from which she came, hoping to find her friend. There was no sign of him between the legs of the crowd. After a few heart wrenching minutes of searching, she gathered the courage to ask around.

Most passersby didn’t even acknowledge her, and the few that did couldn’t help her. Eventually, one of the nearby shopkeepers said that he believed he saw the guards were carrying a bear as they ran past.

Cherry didn’t know what to do. The Guards had kidnapped Robearto! How was she going to get him back? She wandered the streets for a while (keeping an eye out for more Guards), not knowing what else to do.

A glare in her eye caused her to blink out of her fugue state. The sun was even lower in the sky, just behind Canterlot Castle, the light shining directly into her eyes. Princess Celestia would be lowering it below the horizon soon.

“Wait...” Cherry whispered, “Princess Celestia runs the Guards. She could just tell them to give back Robearto, of course!”

With renewed vigor, she resumed her advance on the castle.

Don’t worry, Robearto. She thought, I’ll get you back soon.

Canterlot, it turned out, was a large city. Especially for a filly who had never been there. It wasn’t as big as Manehatten, but Cherry had never had to walk so far or for so long. That and there were a lot more hills here, and with the roads being mostly made with cobblestones instead of pavemnet, making it very slow going for the tired and hungry filly. Her snack reserves had long been depleted, and her energy not far behind.

The sun had set a long time ago. It had probably been an hour or two since Robearto had been captured. At first Cherry had kept to the shadows, trying to keep from being noticed. But after the streets cleared, and with everything that had happened, she stopped had caring. She just wanted to get to her destination.

Eventually, she reached the main gate to the castle. There were several Guards patrolling in front, and Cherry couldn’t see any way to get through without being noticed. An imposing metal fence made this gate the only viable entry point within view.

If only Robearto was here. He’d have a good idea to get us through.

Lacking a better option, she snuck along fence left of the gate. She didn’t have anything she particularly searching for, simply anything that would help.

She noticed an older bar in the fence that had rusted free of its welding. Cherry prodded it experimentally. After a few minutes of poking and fiddling, she discovered that she could move it up just enough to squeeze through. It couldn’t be moved side to side, but she didn’t think it would be a problem.

Not wanting her saddlebags to get damaged in the attempt she pushed them through the bars and into a bush on the other side, out of view of anypony that may be on the other side.

It took some effort, as well as some mental preparation, but she forced the bar up to give enough space to pass. She waited a few moments, and stepped back as the bar stuck in place. After a few more experimental pokes, she believed it would stay where it was, at least for now.

Am I really gonna do this? Running away is one thing, but THIS? I could get in really big trouble for this…

Cherry shook the doubts from her mind.

NO! I can’t give now! I’ve come too far! It’s not just about my cutie mark anymore, I need to get my friend back! I can’t just abandon him!

Her mind cleared, she made a dash for her makeshift entryway.

Unfortunately, she must have bumped the fence or something. Because as she passed through the hole the raised bar came down on her left leg, just above her cutie mark.

Hard.

Stilfling her yelp of pain and surprise, she squirmed into the brush to look at her injury. The bar hadn’t pierced the skin, thank goodness, but she could already see a nasty bruise beginning to form. She placed the leg back on the ground, and tentatively put some weight on it. She didn’t think anything was broken, so the thought she had gotten off lucky.

And then the pain hit her full force.

She collapsed in a heap, sobbing in agony, doing her best to stay quiet at the same time. Although she probably did need medical help, she still was not ready to give up on her mission.

It felt like an eternity before the pain finally starting ebbing away. At least enough to move again. With tears still rolling down her muzzle, she managed to sit up.

Alright, she though amidst her pain-fogged mind, Find Princess Celestia, get Robearto, get my new mark, then get help for my leg. Easy.

With a weary sigh, she placed her saddlebags back on her back and stood, careful not to put to much weight on her injured leg. Cautiously, she stuck her head out of the bush and checked around. She seemed to be in a fancy garden of some kind. The full moon provided the only light, as if the mare on its surface was guiding her. There was not a pony in sight.

Tentatively, she made her way through the garden, limping slightly on her bad leg. She shivered a bit in the cool night air. Ahead, she saw a few statues. A few figures she recognized from History class. There was one, however, that intrigued her. Near the hedge maze, there was a statue depicting a mis-matched patchwork of different animals striking a merry pose. She wasn’t quite sure if she liked the design or not, but it was definitely interesting.

Continuing onwards, she reached a clearing, with the castle looming just ahead of her. Without anything in the way, Cherry got a good view of the moon. She couldn’t help but stare at it for what seemed like an eternity. Its soft light calmed her nerves, and she felt the pain in her leg fade away a bit. It felt like the light was singing her a lullaby. For a brief moment, she felt totally at peace.

“The moon is quite beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” a calm voice beside her said, jolting Cherry from her reverie.

Whirling around, Cherry saw a large figure seating next to her. The figure was big, bigger than any pony she had ever seen before, with a mane flowing like water.

“Hello, Cherrywood.” Princess Celestia said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Chapter 5

Cherry’s mind refused to work.

Here she was face-to-face with Princess Celestia, her entire reason for putting herself through all that had happened in the past several hours.

And she couldn’t even speak. Not even a single word.

The princess hadn’t spoken in a while. She just looked towards the night sky with a warm, loving smile on her face. Occasionally she would glance at the filly, but otherwise didn’t move. It seemed she was waiting for Cherry to make the first move.

Eventually, Cherry found her voice.

“P…Princess Celestia!?” she squeaked. It may not have been an especially strong voice, but it was better than nothing. Celestia giggled.

“Indeed, my little filly.” She said. “Why don’t you sit with me, and we’ll talk for a while?”

Not really knowing what else to do, Cherry sat down. Pain stabbed through her injured leg, causing her to winch. Princess Celestia had obviously noticed her pain, but didn’t say anything.

“How…How do you know my name?” Cherry asked, starting to become a bit bolder.

“I make it a point to learn the names and descriptions of missing foals. Especially ones that seemed to have packed their worldly belongings before suddenly appearing miles away from their home.” Princess Celestia’s expression shifted to one of great concern. “Care to tell me why you ran away? Are you unhappy there? Do your parents…mistreat you? In ANY way?”

Cherry blinked. She had expected Mom and Dad to upset that she’d left, but what was with these questions? Cocking her head to the side, she tried to make sense of all this.

“No, why would they? I like being with them. Sure, I have to do homework when I want to play, and I still think my bedtime is too early, but I know they do that because they love me. And I love them, too.”

“I see. So then, why is your leg hurt?”

“Well, I hurt it when I…” Cherry hesitated, not really wanting to admit what she had done. She looked away in shame, and her ears folded down on her head. “When I snuck through the fence. One of the bars hit me really hard.”

The princess studied her for a minute, looking between Cherry and the fence. Eventually, she seemed to relax and sighed.

“That fence has been a rusted mess for years.” she whispered, half to herself, “I’m honestly surprised no pony’s been hurt before now. It’s time for a long overdue conversation with Raven about getting that ugly thing removed.”

She addressed Cherry once more “Come here, please. And hold still.”

Cherry obeyed, limping to her princess’ side.

Golden light flared from her horn, enveloping the filly’s leg. The pain quickly faded away. Amazed, Cherry jumped up.

“You...you fixed it!?” she gasped.

“Not quite, I only numbed the pain. I am afraid my proficiency with medical magic isn’t what it used to be. You should take it easy for now. Once we’re done talking, we’ll get you to a proper doctor.” the princess replied warmly.

Her tone changed, becoming more serious.

“So, if there are no problems at home, then why did you run away? Why worry your parents so?”

No words came out. Despite opening and closing her mouth a few times, Cherry couldn’t manage to form the words, and she couldn’t understand why. Here she was, with Princess Celestia herself, miles from home, and she couldn’t even tell her why! Tears began to well in her eyes.

Princess Celestia noticed her internal struggle, and placed her hoof on the filly’s back, softly rubbing up and down. Cherry sniffled, hot tears streaming down her muzzle.

“It’s alright. You’re safe here. You can tell me anything.” She cooed, her voice as soft as a lullaby.

Maybe it was the rubbing, maybe the princess’ soothing voice, maybe it was the fact she’s been running around in an unfamiliar city for the past few hours, but she couldn’t take it anymore.

She broke down.

“It’s this stupid cutie mark!” she screeched, causing the alicorn to flinch back in surprise. Cherry began pacing in from of the princess, and let everything out.

“All I ever wanted to do was draw, or write, or do was Dad does, but NO! I’m stuck in with this dumb mark telling me that I have to be a stupid, boring accountant! Now I can’t draw AT ALL, and I can’t even tell Mom and Dad about it ‘cause they’re just soOOoo proud of their little ‘Accounting Starswirl!’ If I told them, they’d be so disspapointed…”

She sat down, not knowing what else to do.

“I’d rather be a blank-flankforever…”

Princess Celestia scooted closer to her.

“Surely you don’t mean all that…A cutie mark is a wonderful thing; surely you must know that?”

“Well, maybe I don’t mean ALL of it. But I do hate this mark.” Cherry admitted, indicating the offending image. Princess Celestia paused, studying the pen and its golden trail.

“I think it’s a beautiful cutie mark. It’s rare to see one as detailed as yours. Besides, it’s not as if you can change it.”

“I can’t change it,” Cherry said, jumping up with renewed hope. “But YOU can!”

The princess blinked.

“I-…Excuse me…?”

“You’re Princess Celestia! Strongest, nicest, most powerful pony ever! If anypony could change it, it’s you!”

“Cherrywood, I-“

“Please do it! Pleasepleaseplease!”

“I’m genuinely sorry, but- “

“I don’t’ even care what turns out to be, just not this!”

“Please listen I can’t-”

“I’ll do anything! If you wanna get paid, I have bits!”

Cherry dove for her saddlebags, and began collecting the loose coins within.

“I know it’s not much, but I’ll pay you back, I promise I- “

“Cherrywood.” Princess Celestia’s voice boomed, silencing the filly. She didn’t shout, but she didn’t need to.The air went still, and the creatures of the night fell silent. It seemed as if the world obeyed the Sovereign of the Sun’s command for respect. There was a long, soundless moment as the princess composed herself.

She spoke.

“There is no power in this world, of pony make or not, that can change your cutie mark.” Cherry tried to speak, but a raised hoof silenced her once more. “Many before you have tried to alter their marks and the marks of others, even in the tiniest of ways. All of them failed. A cutie mark is tied to a pony’s soul, their very essence. Even if an alteration could occur, the consequences for doing so could be far greater than what could ever be gained.”

“But…that’s not…” Cherry whispered, a quiver entering her voice “No…No you’re lying! You have to be!”

Noticing that one of her pencils had fallen out of her bag, Cherry grabbed it in her mouth. Her body was acting on instinct, with her mind taking a backseat. Brandishing the utensil like a knife, she pointed it at the princess.

“You have to change my mark, or I’ll…I’ll…” Cherry stammered, only now realizing what she’d just committed to. She began to panic, and her legs began to shake.

This had gone too far. It has some time ago, she realized.

Princess Celestia said nothing keeping her gaze locked with Cherry’s. It was intense, concerned, and compassionate, all at the same time. After a few tense moments, the alicorn ignited her horn. Cherry shut her eyes, expecting to something horrible to happen, some powerful spell to reduce her to smudge on the ground.

Instead, she felt the pencil being gently tugged from her mouth. She didn’t resist, and let it tossed aside. Opening her eyes, she met Celestia’s gaze.

Celestia gave the weeping filly a compassionate, loving smile. Still silent, she opened her forelegs welcomingly.

Without thinking, Cherry accepted the offer, running over and burying herself into the alicorn’s chest. She barely noticed when the pair of hooves gripped her, and a pair of wings wrapped on top of them. Her chest fur was soft as a cloud, and the hug was warm against the crisp night air. The princess simply letting the filly bawl to her hearts content, ever patient.

Time stopped mattering. Cherry didn’t know how much time passed, and she didn’t care. Eventually, the tears and sobbing slowed and eventually stopped. She wiped her eyes with a hoof, and looked up to the one holding her.

“Feel better?” Celestia asked softly. Cherry nodded. “That’s good, because there’s something you should know.”’

The princess wiped the last remaining tears from the filly’s face.

“A cutie mark does not change anything about you. It only shows what is already inside of you. Just because your cutie mark is one thing, doesn’t mean you can’t do something else.” She glanced at her own flank. “I may move the sun with ease, but I like to do other things in when I can.”

The alicorn leaned in and whispered, “I enjoy playing the occasional prank on the castle staff, and I think I’m quite good at it.”

Cherry couldn’t help but giggle, but quickly frowned in confusion.

“But…why can’t I draw anymore? Ever since I got my mark…” she trailed off.

Celestia paused, placing a hoof on her chin in thought.

“Well over the years, I’ve often heard of many artists experiencing this same thing. I believe the term is ‘art block.’ And if I recall, the only cure is to give it time.” she smiled “Your inspiration will come back eventually, I promise.”

“Art…block…” Cherry slowly repeated. So, it wasn’t just her that was going through this? Others like her had had gone through the same thing? She supposed it sounded reasonable. It wasn’t as if she had anything to lose at this point. If even Princess Celestia couldn’t change her mark, waiting a while longer to see if her drawing skill came back wouldn’t hurt.

“I guess…all this seems a bit silly, huh?” she said, looking at the princess meekly. “I packed all my stuff, came here and-“

A realization stuck her, stopping her mid-sentence.

“ROBEARTO!” she shrieked, causing Celestia to jump in surprise. “I FORGOT ABOUT ROBEARTO!”

“Rob…bearto?” Celestia repeated slowly, not fully understanding.

“Robearto! He’s my bestest friend in the whole world! I brought him with me, but then those scary guards chased me, and I lost him…” Cherry trailed off, new tears beginning to well up.

“Scary guards…chased you…?” the princess repeated again, mostly to herself. Suddenly she made a connection, and disappeared in a flash of golden light. Cherry sat there in the garden, sad and confused for a moment, before another flash brought the monarch back.

And in her hooves was-

“Robearto!” Cherry yelled, grabbing her friend tightly.

Robearto said he was worried about her, and that he was glad to see her again.

“Those guards looked all over for you, they were so worried.” Celestia explained. “When they lost track of you all they found was your little friend here, so they brought him to me. He was very brave, and told me all about his bestest friend in the world, a spunky little filly named Cherrywood.”

Cherry looked at Celestia in amazement.

“You can understand him!? I thought I was the only one!”

Robearto agreed, saying he too was amazed that she could understand him.

“I have a lot of experience with these things.” Celestia said, winking.

As Cherry hugged Robearto tighter, she felt herself being picked up by Celestia’s magic and placed on the royal’s back.

“Now let’s get your leg looked at, then off to bed.”

“You’re not taking me home?” Cherry wondered. Celestia shook her head, and started into the castle.

“I’ve sent word to your parents, and they will be here in the morning to take you home. For the moment, though, you need to rest.”

Cherry yawned.

“Oh…okay…” Cherry looked away, “…I’m going to be in trouble, aren’t I?”

Celestia giggled.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. Many fillies have gotten in trouble for less. This too, will pass.”

“Hmm…” Cherry squeezed Robearto closer, and felt her eyes growing heavy. “I guess I can live with that.”

As she drifted into sleep, she felt a tender kiss on her forehead.

“Sleep well, Cherrywood.”

Epilogue 1

Cherry adjusted her glasses as she finished her final piece of work for the day. It had been a long day, and she as glad it was finally over so she could go home.

Rather than hailing a cab, she decided it was a nice enough day to walk.

As she passed a storefront, she noticed her reflection in the glass, her cutie mark in particular. Her thoughts wandered to the time when she had gotten it, and the trouble she had caused.

After she had met Princess Celestia and spent the night in the castle, her parents arrived on the first train of the day. There were hugs, tears, and no small amount of scolding that followed their reunion. She had also been grounded for what (at the time) felts like years, but had probably been at most a month.

Remembering all this caused Cherry to giggle as she continued on her way.

Since that time, a lot had happened. She had grown considerably (thanks, Dad), gotten glasses (thanks, Mom), had gone to college, and got a job at her Mother’s accounting firm. Whether that had relied more and her merit or her mother’s glowing endorsement, she didn’t know. At this point, it didn’t really matter.

As she ambled along, she saw the train station. She wasn’t in any sort of rush, so she decided to pay a visit to an old friend. Ever since the ‘incident’ she had frequently visited the aging stallion, bringing gumdrops to share when she could. He had a few more wrinkles than before, thicker glasses, and what remained of his mane had long turned white, but he was still the same old Stubs.

And he was currently fast asleep at his desk.

Cherry stifled a laugh. She frequently found him like this these days. There was a little bell near his sleeping head, so she gave it a ring. Stubs bolted upright with surprising speed for a stallion of his age.

“Wha- Who!?” his eyes came into focus. “Oh, Cherry! How many times have I told you to not ring that darn bell?”

No longer able to hold back her laughter, Cherry grinned at her friend.

“And how many times have I told you if can’t stay awake, then maybe it’s time retire?”

Stubs waved a hoof.

“And do what? Take up knitting? Nah, I like it here, and I ain’t done yet.”

Cherry rolled her eyes. They’ve had this conversation before many times, and they would likely have it again.

“Yeah, yeah…got some gumdrops for you.” She smirked, placing a small package of the treats on the desk. Stubs’ eye lit up.

“Well…Doc’ says I’m not supposed ta have too much sugar these days…” he droned as casually snatched the package off the desk. “But a few won’t hurt nothin’, not will it?”

The two shared a laugh, and Cherry left with a wave.

As she exited the station, she paused. She reminisced about her fillyhood, and the…rash decision she had made to go all the way to Canterlot to get her cutie mark changed. Her gaze drifted to her flank, and the pen that rested there. Over the years, she had grown to accept her mark, even though it wasn’t exactly what she had wanted.

She began to move on, until something caught her eye. A lone Pegasus colt, staring intently at the schedule board. He was carrying saddle bags near to bursting. He would occasionally cast glare at his flank, which was adorned with a cutie mark Cherry couldn’t quite make out from this distance. She carefully scanned the crowd, hoping to find his parents, or anypony that might be looking for him.

No such luck.

Carefully, Cherry trotted up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He let out a surprised yelp, and whirled around. Cherry flashed a kind smile.

“Hey there, kiddo. I saw you all alone over here, and was just wondering; Where are your parents?”

The colt glanced around nervously.

“U-uh…they’re over there.” He stammered pointed at two ponies a distance away.

“You mean the two that look nothing like you?”

“…I’m adopted…?”

“You really expect me to buy that?” Cherry replied with a raised eyebrow.

The colt looked down in shame.

“I-I…kinda hoped…?” he stammered.

Cherry couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah, don’t look so down. If you’d been a bit more confident with your delivery, I might’ve bought it. So, what’s the real story here, kid?”

The colt looked confused for a moment, but then scowled at his flank.

“This dumb cutie mark is the ‘story!’ It’s ruining my life!”

Looking at his flank, Cherry could see his cutie mark more clearly. It was a hoofball flying through a goalpost. While she couldn’t quite see the problem with it, the situation felt oddly familiar.

“Ever since I won that stupid game at school, I got my cutie mark, and now I can’t even cook right! Everything just burns!”

Okay, seriously, there was something really familiar with this whole situation.

“So I’m gonna go to Ponyville and get Princess Twilight to change it! She’s the most powerful pony ever, so she HAS to be able to! I even have some bits to pay her if she wants to!”

Oh.

OH.

What were the odds? Here, rifling through his saddlebag to show her his bits, was a foal (likely worrying his parents sick) trying to hop a train to somewhere to get a Princess to do the impossible to change their cutie mark. Though the details were slightly altered, it was essentially the same situation she had put herself through so many years earlier.

“…You serious about this?”

The colt nodded, and wings buzzing confidently.

“Of course! What else can I do? I can’t live without this dumb mark forever!”

Cherry sighed. How should she talk him down? She knew that outright telling to stop wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t have on her when she did it, and she knew it wouldn’t work on this colt. After thinking for a minute, she had an idea.

“Well, the train to Ponyville doesn’t leave for a while, so why don’t I tell you a story to pass the time?”

The colt cocked his head at her.

“A story? What’s it about?”

Cherrywood smiled.

“It’s about a little filly who, just like you, didn’t get the cutie mark she wanted. It all started many years ago……”

Epilogue 2

Night had long since fallen over the city when Cherrywood finally returned to her apartment. She was exhausted, but pleased.

She had stayed with the foal for some time, telling him the story of her ‘trip’ to Canterlot. He seemed to understand the severity of the situation, and agreed to call off his trip. It took an hour or two for his parents to show up, and Cherry stayed with him the entire time. When they did arrive, they took turns lecturing the poor colt and thanking her profusely before heading home. The colt had even given her sheepish wave as he headed to certain grounding. It felt good.

Dropping her saddlebags near the door, she glanced at the clock on the wall.

Not as late as I thought…Maybe I can do a little work…she thought.

Her stomach growled an additional option.

And maybe eat something.

She trotted to the kitchen, filling the kettle with water and placing it on the lit stove. From the cupboard she retrieved a cup and placed it next to the stove, ready for when it boiled.

Ah, instant noodles. A single mare’s best friend.

While she waited for the water to boil, she booted up her computer. The technology was still relatively new, but it had caught on quickly. Her workplace had adopted it for official reasons, and she often had to do additional work at home.

However, Cherry had found out that you could draw in a digital format, and she couldn’t resist her fillyhood calling to her. When she gave it a try, she found she enjoyed it. No issues with buying supplies or finding storage space, both of which were godsends, given her limited space/budget.

Recently, she had found a site that allowed ponies to commission other ponies for various forms of art, usually in a digital form. Upon urging from some of her followers (She was still surprised she had so many!) she gave it a try. It had been slow at first, but she had recently received a commission from user by the name of “SolarSovereign1000” for a picture of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They had been very polite in their limited exchanges, had given her nearly free reign in the specific details, and stated that they would “price was no object.”

In short, a commissioned artists’ dream.

Cherry had working on the piece for a week now, and was almost finished. She just couldn’t seem to get the final details right. Sovereign had been so kind to her so far, and she wanted to deliver something that was perfect.

What she had decided on was a talisman depicting both of the princess’ cutie marks circling each other. It wasn’t overly complicated, but she still labored over every detail. Perhaps a bit too much, as it had almost been a week since she was first commissioned.

Cherry sighed as she tweaked a few more details. Whenever she looked at it, she always found something else wrong with it. Why couldn’t she just be satisfied with it?

Her eye caught a small figure on the shelf above her desk. His fur was a lot thinner than it had been, and he had been sewn back together many times. Even as an adult, Cherry valued the company of her old friend.

“What do you think, Robearto?” she asked, turning the screen towards him. “You think it’s ready?”

Robearto didn’t reply. He didn’t talk much these days, but Cherry could still understand his meaning behind that silence.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s as good as it’s gonna get.”

Cherrywood adjusted her glasses and saved the file. She’ll give it one last look in the morning before she sent it to Sovereign. All she wanted to do right now was eat her noodles and go to bed.

She had other work to do, other commissions to complete. Tasks for another day.

As she turned off the screen, she spied her flank in her reflection. Shifting to get a better look at cutie mark, she thought about how far she had come from that little filly that had caused such a ruckus so long ago. She smiled.

I guess this cutie mark isn’t so bad after all.