Cherry Berry loved her job. She did. And she had loved it for going on 10 years now. As one of the only certified pilots in Ponyville, she was responsible for showing everypony the sights to see in the quaint little town down south of Canterlot. Best of all, she did it from several hundred feet in the air. Being an earth pony herself, with mostly similarly wingless companions going up with her, she cherished every second of it.
But, it was kind of getting old. Cherry hated that it felt like that. She didn’t want flying as an earth pony to feel normal, or even (Celestia forbid) boring. Being able to fly was awesome, and being able to give that same gift to others felt just as great, but doing it again and again, every day for years? She was starting to get used to it.
There was just one thing left to do, and not being one to think things through as much as she probably should, Cherry decided that it was time to move. To where, she didn’t know. But it was definitely time for the scenery of what was down below her flights to change. Variety is the spice of life, as they say.
Boarding the first train out of Ponyville after making this decision, Cherry departed at around noon for Appleloosa. She had heard of the place before, but never went there. The train ride wasn’t too long, but Cherry was on the edge of her seat the entire time, wondering what this new, exciting place would be like.
“What do you mean “there’s nothing here”! There’s got to be something in this town, right?”
Cherry Berry had been greeted by a rather handsome young stallion, welcoming her to “Aaaaaaaaappleloosa!” After a little chit-chat about where she came from and who she was, she had asked what there was to do here, and apparently did not like the answer.
“Well, Ah don’t mean there’s nothin’ in town. We’ve got plenty! Just that for your… perticular request for a job in tourism is already taken, by yours truly!” The stallion, who had introduced himself as Braeburn, spread a big, dumb smile across his face, and if Cherry hadn’t thought he was cute, she probably would have slapped it off him.
She sighed, “Ok, so if there’s nothing like that here, is there at least something that a pilot like me can do here?”
Braeburn was taken aback. “A pilot? You can fly?!” He was getting excited. “Oh, ya gotta take me up there! Ah’ve always wondered what it’s like up there…” He stared dreamily up into the sky, imagining himself as a pegasus, flying through clouds and sending a particularly dark one to rain on his neighbor, Mr. Smalls.
Cherry was used to this, and waved a hoof in front of his face, immediately pulling him out of the dream state. “Ah’m,” she coughed to clear her throat, embarrassed at being caught using his accent “sorry, I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’ve gotta have my balloon delivered here, so right now I’m just kind of… window shopping, but for places to live and work.”
A loud whistle sounded from behind them, coming from the front of the train, which she had just gotten off a few minutes ago. A conductor leaned out of the window and yelled loudly, “Train to the Crystal Empire, leaving in five minutes! Train to the Crystal Empire, leaving in five minutes!” and then retreated back into his train car.
Cherry turned back to Braeburn, who refocused on her. She blushed and looked at the ground for a moment as she figured out the best way to say what she wanted to say, and then met his gaze. “I’m sorry, Braeburn, but I’m afraid I’m going to be taking that train. Don’t think this is the right place for me.”
Braeburn didn’t speak for a moment, then smiled. “Well, if that’s all, ya better get yer tail over there! Ah hear it’s gonna be leavin’ soon.”
She smiled, and turned to leave. “Thanks for the welcome, Brae!” She bought a one-way ticket to the Crystal Empire, and got on.
The Crystal Empire, so new and grand, was not as intimidating as she had thought it would be. She was welcomed right off the train by the crystal ponies, still so amazed by life a thousand years in their future. She had joined a tourist group that had taken her around the city, seeing the sights around town, going to popular cafes, and finally ending the tour at the Crystal Heart just below the castle.
There was no doubt about it. This place was perfect. Everypony was so nice, and the few she had talked to were legitimately interested in what she had to say. The food was good, though it was a little weird at first to be eating what looked like rocks. That feeling quickly subsided when she had tried a bit of it.
It was decided. She was living here. 100%.
The best part about it was that these crystal ponies didn’t seem to have implemented modern technology into their city yet, and so there were no flying tours. Which meant that there was absolutely no reason why she couldn’t set up shop here.
She asked the tour guide at the end of the tour about where the touring department was, and he so gladly showed her the way, walking her directly into his boss’s office. Just a simple question about work and she’d be… wait.
“What do you mean you don’t allow “aircraft” in the Crystal Empire?!”
Head Honcho (that was his name, it said so on his desk) sighed, and replied, “It means exactly what you think it means. No flying crafts of any size larger than a chariot in the Crystal Empire. Don’t want any complications with the shield protecting us from the North’s winds. Already had a problem this year when Sombra returned, and we’re not looking forward to experiencing that again any time soon. Sorry, little lady, but I’m afraid we can’t give you that position. Though, there are lots of tourists flocking here, so we may be able to find some other job for you, especially considering your experience.”
It was definitely a generous offer, and Cherry would have been lying if she had said that she hadn’t seriously considered leaving her balloon behind to live and work here, but… she just wasn’t ready to give it up.
“Sorry, Mr. Honcho, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to turn down that offer. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” With that said, she turned to leave.
“Nothing to be sorry for! And hey, if you change your mind, the offer still stands.”
Well, that was a bust. Cherry was starting to think that she didn’t belong anywhere anymore. When she got back to the train station, she saw that it was heading to Manehattan. She didn’t exactly have anywhere else to be, and she had never been there. She bought a ticket, boarded the train, and patiently waited to arrive at the Big Apple.
Manehattan, Cherry found out rather quickly, was perhaps slightly bigger than Appleloosa, and a teensy bit bigger than the Crystal Empire. There was a job specifically for bringing ponies from one place to another place, so they wouldn’t get lost in the large, confusing layout. Appleloosa was a town with one road. The Crystal Empire had a few that all came together at the center of town. Looking at the map in the (again, huge) train station, there were… too many, Cherry decided.
Another thing that she decided, almost immediately in fact, was that there was no way she was going to do anything tourism related here. She would never learn where the roads lead, or where the best restaurants, or much of anything here. She figured that flying over everything would be rather neat, but that living here and waiting for her balloon for weeks just to do that would not be worth it. No job, no living.
But, as she turned to go back on the train, she paused and wondered if there was some other job that she could do here. In Ponyville, the only use for her flying ability was for tourism, but who’s to say that there wasn’t some other use for it here? Maybe… maybe they needed a way to quickly bring earth-bound ponies up to the top floors of buildings. Yeah, she could look into doing something like that. If there’s another use for her balloon, surely it could be found somewhere in this gigantic city
It was the finals of the International Buckball season, with the hometeam of Manehattan versing a surprisingly strong team of changelings. It had been so long since the Manehattan team had been anywhere near this placement, and now they had a shot at Number 1, which would be the first time it had ever happened.
It was a close and high scoring game, 24-24. The night was nearing an end, and with Manehattan’s track record, the team were fearing the worst. But the crowd wasn’t worried.
The crowd was going wild.
So wild, in fact, that they could be heard miles away. Cheers of “Mane-Hat-Tan, Mane-Hat-Tan” were crystal clear to a certain pony piloting a dirigible over the field.
It had been a few years since Cherry Berry had moved to Manehattan, and had eventually found a job with Mr. Year, piloting his floating advertisement: The Good Year Blimp.
Cherry had piloted this blimp over every major buckball game, of which there were only a few, but had followed the sports scene closely from the ground level. Though she still said that she was from Ponyville, when it came to sports, there was no team she rooted more for than the Manehattan Monsters. She usually watched it from the stands, but liked how it looked from above more.
So, as she witnessed Manehattan score a goal in overtime to win the game and the season, she cheered alongside everycreature else in those stands. The sound was deafening even from up here, and it only got louder as the trophy was handed to the team captain. Manehattan had finally won, and she knew that moving here was the best decision she had ever made.
