Chapters Author's Note
I don't expect anyone to actually read this story, but after struggling to write a thousand different, serious stories, I'm putting this one out - unfinished and unpolished - as a reminder to myself that not everything I put out has to be perfect, finished, or serious and deep.
Think of it like putting a scratch into your new car so you'll stop being paranoid and protective about it's pristineness. In this case, the car is my library of stories.
Will I come back at some point and finish and polish it? Hopefully. Until then, this is it. Enjoy or not, it's up to you.
Chapter 1
Cherry Pop walked eagerly down one of Ponyville's many streets. Ever since his arrival, he had yet to get over the sights and sounds of such an active and friendly town. Where he came from, ponies tended to keep to themselves - and more importantly, he had stayed inside most of the time.
Ever since that fateful day a week or two ago forced him and his friend to get out of their comfort zones, he'd be constantly amazed by the many new experiences that laid before him. Just seeing ponies out and about, watching them go about their day, and interacting with them excited him to no end, it was so unusual, so exciting and comforting at the same time!
All-in-all, he had Twilight and her friends to thank for that. Were it not for their kindness, he would've found himself keeping to himself and trying to stay out of other ponies' way. That's why he's out today, on his way to the market with a saddle-bag full of bits. he was going to buy each one of them - Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy... maybe even Rainbow Dash, a gift to thank them for what, he felt at the time, had been a very unusual willingness to make him comfortable here in Ponyville.
Once he arrived in the center of town, booths set up all along the street, ponies of all varieties perusing their wares, he began to look around, being careful not to touch anypony else doing the same thing - an act he would've done out of nervousness before, but now did purely out of respect. He knew ponies here wouldn't get that upset if he accidentally bumped into them, after all. He didn't know as much about his new friends as he probably should, but he knew enough to get them something they'd enjoy, so he set to work looking.
Once he saw it, Twilight's gift was easy. A really neat set comprised of a small notebook, a bookmark, and pencil - all featuring a pattern of constellations on them. Twilight likes books, and Twilight likes constellations, it's the perfect combination!
Fluttershy's gift seemed a bit difficult at first. He knew she would feel obligated to say she liked whatever he gave her, but also that she wasn't picky. All he really knew about her is that she liked animals, and tea. ...But maybe she would appreciate something... a bit hand-made. That's what prompted him to buy a couple of paints as well as a teapot that you would attempt to paint later.
But then he hit a wall. He hadn't really interacted with Rarity much, and wasn't entirely sure what she'd like. He could go ask one of the others about it, but then he might miss something here at the market! So instead he walked the length of the road back and forth, eyeing everything, looking for anything that he knew Rarity would like - which was admittedly limited. Fabric, gems, anything pretty... or something like that, anyway.
That's when something caught his eye. There was a new booth here, one that displayed a multitude of small potions. Being where he was from, he didn't often get to see potions or magic all that much, which is why he approached the booth with a curious interest, undeterred by the old, disheveled-looking light-brown stallion manning it. There were a lot of simpler potions, although even those caught his interest. Potions to enhance memory and focus, potions to numb pain, even potions that promise to temporarily change eye color. Wow!
As he looked further along the display, the potions got smaller, and the prices increased. Strength enhancement, love potions, the like. He wasn't entirely sure how Equestria wasn't run amuck with seemingly risky potions like these readily available, but he chalked it up to the general kindness of everypony. What caught his eye, most interestingly of all, was a de-aging potion. A potion that, according to it's label, promised to turn any stallion or mare into a colt or filly for up to a day.
He had always been curious about foals. It hasn't been that long since he was one, yet he already forgot what it felt like to be one. Now-a-days, they make him uncomfortable, even nervous. Wondering if the large pricetag is worth a bit of liquid-nostalgia, he started to dig around in his saddle-bag, feeling the bits he had left. This was a pretty rare opportunity, but if he bought the potion, he surely wouldn't have enough bits left to buy the rest of his friends gifts.
That's when an idea struck him. It surged across his mind as though it was the greatest inspiration he'd had in a decade. If he bought this potion, he could use it to play a harmless, innocent prank on his friends, giving each of them quite a laugh in the aftermath. He always did enjoy entertaining others, after all, and what better gift than a bit of entertainment? He already had it all figured out in his head.
With an optimistic grin, he dug out the necessary bits and placed them on the counter, looking at the stallion. "I'll take one of those de-aging potions, please!" The stallion looked over to the shelf where they were contained with a satisfied, content grunt. Once he spoke, Cherry heard just how deep, raspy, and old his voice was - weighed down by wisdom... or senility, one of the two. "...Which one would'ya like, hm..? Got an hour, six hours, twelve hours, hay, even an entire day if ya' can afford it." Hm... if he was going to manage to play a prank on each of them,he might need a full day. It was going to cost, but mare would it be worth it. "Full day!", Cherry replied eagerly, sliding the bits forward along the counter a bit.
The old stallion took the potion down from the shelf and sat it on the counter. With a contented expression, the stallion spoke up as he began to slide the bits into a bag he had behind the counter. "No questions asked. Have fun, good day." Cherry took the bottle into his teeth and placed it in his saddlebag. "Thank you, you too!" He turned and trotted away from the stall, a small, mischievous little laugh escaping his mouth as he began to think about the plan. He was glad that went well, he still wasn't quite good at interacting with other ponies in that manner, and it helped all the more that that stallion didn't seem particularly judgemental.
With that, he stepped just outside of town, sat against a tree, and dug the bottle out of his saddle-bag. Let the games begin.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Once Cherry was around the corner, he burst into laughter, running off toward his next target. he had such a hard time keeping it cool back there that he had to run off. It went about as well as he expected. He was almost afraid he'd be mistaken for a changeling or something, something he only realized after-the-fact, but it went incredibly well nonetheless. So well, in fact, he was ready for his next target.
He ran all through Ponyville, and toward Sweet Apple Acres. He hadn't put much thought into his prank on Applejack, but he had a basic idea. His goal was, ultimately, to vary it depending on the pony. Twilight's smart, so obviously to be matched, unexpectedly, by a young colt was bound to floor her.
The prank he had in mind for Applejack was to simply... weird her out. Make her nervous, maybe. Once Cherry arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, he walked through the gate and was quickly spotted by Applejack, who was nearby. "Hold up there, little fella!" Cherry wasn't prepared for this, he had expected to catch her at the front door. As quick as he could, he put on the widest smile he could and turned to look at her. She trotted up to him and spoke. "Ya' one of Applebloom's friends? Actually, shouldn' ya' be in school or somethin'?"
Cherry merely looked up at her with the wide smile. "I like apples." It turned into a wide grin.
"Ya do, huh..." Applejack seemed to get a bit uncomfortable, just like Cherry predicted, but she put on a smile and friendly demeanor nonetheless. "Well, uh... ya' come to the right place... would you... uh.. like one?" Cherry merely stared up at her for several seconds, before nodding silently. Applejack definitely looked weirded out. "Well, uh... come on over here then." Applejack led Cherry to a bucket of apples nearby and motioned with a hoof. "Where are your... uh... parents?"
Cherry didn't respond. He merely stared at the bucket of apples, attempting the most excited, mind-blown, happy expression he could possibly manage - to the point it nearly hurt. He slowly stepped toward the bucket, one hoof at a time, before stopping within reach of it's many apples. And tipped the entire bucket over.
"Hey - whoa, I said one!" Applejack was, at first, a little frustrated. She was prepared to scold the odd foal before her, until Cherry's next action began to baffle her. Cherry appeared to look through the apples with suspiciously detailed observation. He pretended to look for the absolutely perfect one. And then when he found it, he took it into his hooves, laid down on his belly, then gently rolled to his side and cuddled the apple as close as possible, curling up like a cat and closing his eyes with the most contented and happy smile he possibly could manage. To Cherry, the apple was a lot bigger than he anticipated, which made it all the easier to cuddle up to. Any mirth he felt inside he tried to repurpose for making his smile even wider than before.
Applejack was about to ask what this little colt was doing, but his unbelievable look of pure bliss confused her even more and made her leave it be... for a minute or two. She silently picked up the rest of the apples around Cherry, placing them back into the upright bucket and glancing nervously at him every few seconds. Soon enough, Cherry heard and felt heavy hoofsteps, and was tempted to open his eyes to see what was going on, but remained steadfast. "...What is he doing?"
It was Big Mac, Cherry knew that for sure. He hadn't interacted with him much or heard him speak much at all, and certainly never a full-on sentence like that. He silently congratulated himself on such a good prank that it even made Big Mac curious enough to ask about it. Applejack leaned toward him and whispered. "I don' know, he just... showed up. I offered him an apple, and he just started... layin' there. I think he's plum crazy..." There's that honesty Cherry knew Applejack was so capable of. He overheard the whole sentence in whisper. "Stay here with 'im, I'm gonna go ask Granny Smith what we should do about 'im." Cherry heard hoofsteps get quieter and quieter before hearing the creak of a door closing.
Cherry slowly opened one eye to see, and was startled at the sheer size of Big Mac. He was massive, bigger than any normal pony, and even bigger now that Cherry was looking from the perspective of a foal. Cherry jumped slightly, he knew he did, and now the joke was up. It was definitely time to move on.
Without missing a beat, Cherry jumped to his hooves, and looked up at Big Mac, forcing as serious a face as he could muster - which actually wasn't much now that he was face to face with such a massive pony - and said in a hushed voice, "You saw nothing." He quickly turned and ran down the path out of the farm, hearing a distant "Eenope" as he ran off.
That wasn't nearly as entertaining to watch as the prank against Twilight, but it was pretty hilarious to imagine - even moreso to enact. Though he did feel a bit dirty now that he had spent a good portion of time laying on the ground. Oh well, he thought to himself, it was time for his next target. And that would be- "Hey, who are you?"
Cherry stopped dead in his tracks. Up ahead of him was Applebloom, coming over the hill and bounding toward him. School must've let out already. Cherry did not need such a delay. Not right now. Applebloom stopped once she was beside you and - wow, she was even slightly bigger than you - but only slightly. "What were ya' doing at Sweet Apple Acres?" Cherry wasn't sure how to respond. Crud - if she saw his lack of a cutie mark, there would be serious problems. He knew that right-away.
...Which she immediately did. Jumping to the side to look, she suddenly appeared excited. "Did ya' come lookin' for the Cutie Mark Crusaders?! We can help ya!" She suddenly appeared quite eager, it was almost kinda cute to Cherry, but unfortunately he was still uncomfortable around foals. and, more important than that, did not have time for this. The potion wouldn't last forever.
"I... uh... uh..." Cherry locked up, unsure of how to respond. He was never good with foals, even AS a foal! What was he going to have to say in order to prevent himself from getting wrapped up in the CMCs for the rest of the day? If only he had a cutie mark about being unnoticeable... like an invisible one. He couldn't lie, that just wasn't in his nature. So far, his pranks were morso him pretending, not lying.
Wait, that it! Time to go back to pretending. But what would work...? Oh... he had an idea, alright, but it didn't really make him comfortable. Cherry felt he might actually have to apologize for this one later on. He put on a disgusted face and took a small jump back, away from Applebloom. "Ew, a filly! Stay away, don't touch me with your... filly germs!"
"Filly germs...?" Appleblook looked at Cherry with an odd mixture of confusion and offense. "You uh... know you're the one half-covered with dirt, don'tcha?" Cherry looked at his side. Oh right... the apple... the ground... right. He had to get out of here, quickly. "Get away from me!" In a half-second, he came up with, what he felt, was the most immature phrase he could think of. "Fillies are freaks and colts are cool!" With that, he turned and ran - as fast as he could, hoping she didn't decide to pursue him... for one reason or another. He didn't look back and didn't slow down until he made it all the way back to Ponyville.
That was an awkward situation, and it made him uncomfortable to act that way in the first place. That was too close to the way a normal colt might act, and he hated every second of it. It was colts like that that made him uncomfortable, even AS a colt. Once he was sure he was safe, he turned back to look, just to be sure, and ran into something soft, yet unrelenting as he fell backwards onto his back.
"Hiya! I haven't seen you around Ponyville before!"
That voice was familiar. Cherry knew right-away, and opening his eyes only confirmed it as he was made with mane, fur, and a whole lot of pink all at once. As soon as he opened his eyes, Pinkie extended a hoof to him. "I'm Pinkie Pie!" Cherry was not prepared for this. He had considered options for Pinkie's prank, but he didn't expect to have to choose so quickly. In order to buy himself a few seconds, he immediately jumped to his hooves and put on a cheerful, foal-like appearance.
"Hi! I'm ...ng... Orange Tree!" Cherry was still not a fan of the name. He took Pinkie's larger hoof into his own - or more like the reverse - and shook. Pinkie looked ecstatic. Cherry knew right-away this might be a problem.
"New in town? You're so cute!" Cherry was surprised by Pinkie's immediate and very open honesty about that. It caught him so off-guard, in fact, that he jumped right into the first plan he could think of. He mustered as cheery a face as he could.
"It's my birthday!" He pretended to be super happy and hopped up and down gently... before Pinkie immediately made him realize that was a big mistake. Her eyes lit up like the stars and she looked ready to run off.
"WHAT? AND I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED PLANNING FOR IT!" She looked like she could barely contain herself, as though she suddenly had the weight of the world on her shoulders and had to run. Cherry wasn't surprised by her reaction - she was known as a party pony after all - but he did nearly face-hoof himself for mentioning it. Before he has a chance to course-correct, Pinkie picked him up with absolute-ease, tossed him gently onto her back and began running. To where? Cherry could only assume Sugarcube Corner. "Come on, there's still time!"
"Whoa!" He was used to Pinkie running off to plan parties, but what he wasn't used to was being brought along with her. And now he clung to her for dear life, for she was moving at a speed that would surely hurt to fall from - if the height didn't hurt first. After a short few moments, he found himself in Sugar Cube corner, Pinkie slowed to a complete stop inside the building. Cherry let go and slowly slid off to the side, falling to the floor. "Ow..."
Once Cherry got up, he looked toward Pinkie and saw her looking at him expectantly. She took a deep breath.
"Chocolate or vanilla cake? How many guests? What theme would you like-!" Her questions went on and on, and Cherry wasn't sure what to do. The last thing he needs is Pinkie to suddenly plan an entire party solely because of a prank-gone-wrong, he didn't intend on this.
"It's not my birthday!" He quickly replied in contradiction. Pinkie merely waved a hoof.
"Pff - don't be modest now , silly, just because you're new in town aaaand it's your birthday doesn't mean you have to be nervous!" She looked at Cherry with an eager expression. Pinkie's extravagance turned toward somepony was almost as intimidating as a timberwolf staring at somepony. For different reasons. She gasps lightly, then does an excited squee. "I know...! What about a surprise! Don't worry, I'll get to work on it right away!" Before Cherry could turn her down, a hatch opened in the floor and Pinkie leapt down into it. "Wooo~!" The hatch closed before Cherry could say anything.
"Pinkie! Wait- oh... crud." Cherry realized his only option now was to run, and maybe Pinkie would give up on the entire thing. If worse comes to worse and she comes looking for him, he can always wash the dye off his fur, quickly. If there was one thing he DID know about Pinkie, it was that she was sure to be disappointed once she found out there wasn't a party to be had, but she might just twist this one around into a new party somehow. She was resourceful like that. So... maybe his mistake wasn't that bad.
He urgently left Sugarcube Corner in search of his next target, hoping not to take things too far this next time.