Chapters Chapter 1: No Longer an Orphan
I hate her, I hate her, I hate her. I hate the Mother or Father that left me on the orphanage steps that winter day. I was still a baby filly when it happened, but I still felt immense hate for whoever did it. I only remember brief glimpses of that night. A storm was pouring rain, an aura of magic surrounded my basket as I was taken down the dark, forlorn streets. I was set down on the orphanage doorsteps, the unicorn carrying me rang the doorbell, then left.
I turned in my small bed, and looked around the dark room I shared with a pegasus filly named Zoom. She named herself because she never heard her name in any memory she could remember. I knew mine, Cherish. I remembered it from some second long memories of sound, a sweet, gentle voice.
I felt my name was a misnomer. I never cherished anything, nor did I give kindness or care to anything, or anypony. I only cared about Zoom, my only friend.
The sky outside was still dark, and all the other fillies and colts would be asleep. A slight cold draft blew in through the door from the hallway. I hoped that today would bring some kind of happiness, for today was my birthday. I only knew this from a complex spell I made myself. It allowed me to get the season I was born in, but the actual date was to be guessed.
I slipped out of my bed and walked quietly over to the door. I silently unlocked the door, and opened it a crack. I looked towards the end of the dark hallway, where a window was open, bringing in the cold air I had felt chilling my fur. I turned to look at Zoom, who was sleeping peacefully in bed. Her wings twitched in her sleep as she dreamed of flying. She couldn't yet, but she was praticing here at the orphanage when she took classes. I turned back and began to close the door.
A hoof clamped over my mouth, and I jumped sky-high as I found Zoom looking at me.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "You're going to get caught!"
"I just wanted to-" I began.
"I don't care," she interrupted. "Some ponies want to sleep. If you can't, go back to bed."
Zoom walked back to bed and climbed back in. I walked back and got in bed, too. I fell asleep quickly.
I woke when the pots and pans went off. The matron was in the hallway, banging them together with complete ferocity, as if taking out her anger on them. I jumped out of bed, and went straight to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, then went straight to the mess hall. I took the breakfast, which was a dandelion sandwich, along with stale bread.
Then I went to class. The teacher, Ms.Guava, who had to be a total dead-beat if she had to work here, began to talk about something. I zoned out quickly, and began to mess around with my imagination, making tables monsters, the walls covered in spikes, and Twilight Sparkle, my idol, stand in the middle of the room.
A paper landed in front of my hooves. I came back to reality. It was a worksheet, which was about fifteen questions long. I grabbed a pen from one of the colts passing them out. I began to work. I finished in a few minutes, and turned it in. I then allowed my imagination to go wild once more.
We did a few more worksheets, then we left for dinner. It was the same as breakfast, a dandelion sandwich with stale bread. We were then allowed to do what we wanted until eight, which was lights out. I read books while Zoom launched herself out the window to see if she could catch the air.
I put up my book when it was eight, then got up and kicked my bed, which I considered my good luck charm. Maybe I'd get an after-birthday wish. Maybe tommorow I'd get adopted. I fell asleep.
A Few Years Later...
I half-heartedly kicked the bed. Another birthday had just gone by without any adoption or any notice from anyone who came to adopt a child. I was not too suprised, though. I was just a failure that those soon to be parents had to look at while they found a kid who wasn't such a failure.
My mane fell over my eyes, unwashed and greasy, and I saw a reflection on the wall from my ear piercings glittering in the light. I knew I was a failure, with my mane, my piercings, and my incredibly crappy attitude. It was not just crappy, it was beyond crappy. There was no other crappy attitude like it. Tell off everyone who told me to do something, swear violently after a small thing, and so on.
All my years here had killed my hope of adoption, any hope for another life away from this place. I was now sixteen, and was two years away from being kicked out and left to fend for my own in a world I knew nothing about. Life was a subject my books didn't want to talk about, the subject they constantly avoided, and never said a word about. I had no way to get a job, get a morgage, what investing is, hell, buying a home of any kind is a dream right now!
A knock sounded on my door.
"Somepony wants to see you," the matron said.
Me! Somepony wants to see me! As if somepony actually cared.
I left my room and walked down the stairs, past the rooms of the younger orphans, and down to the main entrance room. I looked to my right, and saw my idol, the pony I had wished I could be for years, Twilight Sparkle.
"Hello, Cherish," she said.
'She knows my name,' I thought, even though it was obvious why she did.
"Why are y- you here?" I asked.
"It's obvious, right?" she replied
I gasped. She was here to adopt... me.
"You want to adopt me?" I asked. "That uncaring, ungrateful beast?"
"Yes," Twilight said.
"Fine!" I said.
After hours of boring paperwork, I was allowed to leave, tommorow.(Don't say anything about how long it took to adopt her. It's Equestria, for God's sake!)
The Next Day...
I was packed and ready early that morning, and had hardly slept a wink that night. A new day, a new home, a new life.
We arrived at her house, a tree, early that morning. We walked in and I learned her house was also a library. There were so many books, I began to salivate (Not to eat the books, though). I set my stuff down and stared in awe.
"Come on," Twilight said.
I levitated my stuff back up and walked up a flight of stairs to a bedroom. There were two beds in the room, one neatly-made, presumably mine, and a another bed up a few more stairs that was messy and had the appearance that someone had had a nightmare in it.
I was shown to the neatly-made bed, and placed my stuff beside it.
"Thank you," I told Twilight.
"For what?" she replied.
"Getting me out of that place," I said.
"Then, your welcome," she replied.
Chapter 2: The Discovery
Twilight left me on my own to unpack, and I began to look around the room. I looked at a few books that littered the ground, some opened, some just tossed with no organization. I levitated one over to me. The title was 'The Secrets of Magic'. I placed the book on my bed and filed it in my head under read later.
I heard some angry yelling coming from downstairs, and another voice replying normally to the yells. I walked out of the room I shared with Twilight and saw a rainbow- colored pegasus talking to a very angry Twilight. Next to the pegasus was a pony I remembered so well, an old friend. It was Zoom, just standing there, watching the entire thing happen.
She cast a glance my way, but she didn't give any special recognition to me.
'Oh, no' I thought. 'She doesn't recognize me.'
Zoom had been adopted shortly after her eleventh birthday, and I had no idea who adopted her. The fact that she was here was the best coincedence ever. Twilight yelled angrily. I then noticed the large mess of books in her library.
"Will you just stop crashing into my house?!" Twilight yelled. "You never seem to be able to fly straight, ever! Fly straight for once, for Celestia's sake!"
"Alright," the rainbow pegasus said. "I'll do better a job trying to fly next time."
"No," Twilight said. "Not a better job, you will not crash!"
Twilight turned her head and saw me standing there, watching her yell at somepony.
"Oh," she said, embarrassed. "Well, Zoom and Rainbow Dash, this is the unicorn I adopted. Introduce yourselves."
"Rainbow Dash," the rainbow pegasus said with extreme pride.
"Zoom," Zoom said (Ha, Zoom, Zoom said).
This was it. The moment where I learned if she remembered me or not.
"Cherish," I said.
I was immediately tackled by a giant hug from Zoom.
"Is it really you?!" she yelled excitedly.
"Yes, it's really me," I replied.
"You've changed," she said.
"It's a phase," I said.
"Well, it sucks," she said jokingly. "You really need a mane-cut and a shower, though."
"Only for you," I said.
A Few Hours Later...
I stumbled out of the spa, dazed. I had showered, then we had begun walking to the barbers to get my mane-cut. Sudddenly, Zoom had pushed me into the spa, and the pampering comenced.
My back ached from the massage, I smelled like soap and mud, and I was covered in make-up. I gagged at my own smell, and noticed that Rainbow Dash stayed well away from me. I returned to the library with Twilight and I went to my bed and began to read the book I had taken off the floor earlier.
Two Years Later...
Best. Night. Ever. Tonight had been my first birthday party, and it was amazing. I had skipped it until this year because I didn't like attention, but I had figured there was a first for everything. I had finally turned eighteen, and was finally legally a full grown mare, and I was going to find a job soon.
So, you might ask, what did I do first with my careless nature? Of course, I got drunk. Even Twilight managed to drink some! Now, I was lying in bed, my head pounding from the drinks. I looked over in the corner of the room I still shared with Twilight, and saw something I had never seen before.
A chest sat in the corner, a purple magic lock glowing feebly in the dark. Why had I never noticed that that? I quietly walked over to it and cast a spell that showed me where other spells were. The chest began to shine as my spell revealed tons of charms and spells.
I cast the coresponding spells to break them and opened the chest. In the chest, a piece of paper reading 'Birth Certificate' sat on top of a pile of photos and other papers. I levitated the birth certificate out and looked at it. It said 'Cherish Sparkle'. I let the paper flutter to the floor.
'No,' I thought. 'Not possible.'
I looked over at Twilight's sleeping form, where the drinks had knocked her out. I rummaged further into the chest and found the photos were of me as a little filly, being held in purple hooves. I quickly put everything up and restored all the charms and spells that I could remember were on the chest.
I got back in bed and thought about waking Twilight up to unleash fury on her. She had left me at that orphanage for sixteen years! I decided to wait until the morning to unleash my anger. The anger compressed inside for so long was about to explode, and it was not going to be good for Twilight.
[Original Ending] The Truth Ends in Fire
Chapter 3 [Original Ending]: The Truth Ends in Fire
I eventually fell asleep, and my mind was filled with the images of the chest. I awoke in the morning, my mind set on one goal. I was going to unleash my fury as slowly as possible, drain it out onto Twilight, make her feel my hurt, too. I got up and looked to Twilight's bed, finding it empty. I immediately went downstairs and into the kitchen, where Twilight sat with Spike at the table.
"Good morning, Cherish," she said happily.
"Good morning, Mom," I said, beginning to let my fury out.
A flicker of panic crossed Twilight's eyes, which was enough for me to continue.
"Don't you usually take a shower before you eat?" Twilight asked.
"Yes," I replied. "But today is different then any other day."
"How so?" Twilight asked, gulping.
"Today is the day you tell me the truth," I said plainly. "Why you gave me away, then got me back."
Twilight sighed, then looked at Spike.
"You can go," she told him.
Spike left without a complaint. I watched him leave, then turned to Twilight.
"Well?" I asked angrily.
"Because I needed to," she said, pain and sadness in her eyes.
"BECAUSE WHY!?" I yelled loudly.
"Y-You were a-," she began to say, choking up. "You were an accident, you were not meant to be."
"What?" I asked. "So, who's the Dad? What lucky stallion got you?"
"No stallion," she replied. "You were an accident, like I said. But, you were a magical accident. I miscast a spell, and we never learned of the effects until I became pregnant."
I was shocked. I was just a mistake. Just a magical mistake that wasn't meant to be. I turned my face away and let a tear roll down my face.
"Why did you give me away?" I asked.
"Spike and I couldn't afford a child," Twilight replied. "All the parent help centers around Equetria had closed because of these times of prosperity. And, one main thing; I was having to pay money for an old debt that I never paid off. I just couldn't keep a child, I just couldn't afford it, no matter what path I took."
I was angry. Now, not as much at Twilight, but still plenty pissed. I just wanted to hurt her, to let her feel my pain. And that's exactly what I did. I felt my magic flow out of me as I closed my eyes, my blind rage becoming a weapon. I heard a body slam into the wall, and I ran from the library, my mind cluttered with the truth.
I shivered in the cold morning, and began to wander the streets. I walked all day, staying away from public areas, preferring my solitude over any company. It was late afternoon when I decided to stop, and I walked into a dirt-filled alley by Sugarcube Corner. I curled up and began to look at the sky, the sunset sending ripples of color across the sky. I fell asleep as drops of rain began to fall from the sky.
I awoke with a sneeze. It was incredibly cold, and I coughed. I was going to get a cold from being out here as the rain began pouring down hard on Ponyville. I walked to the front of Sugarcube Corner and saw it wasn't open yet, so I stood under the awning out front. As I sat there and thought about yesterday, I heard hoofsteps approach.
I looked up and saw Zoom approaching me. She held out a hoof, and I accepted it. She began to fly up to Cloudsdale, while I Teleported up. She took me to her house that she still shared with Rainbow Dash. I walked in with her and looked around at the familiar sight of my friend's shared house. My eyes settled on the two ponies in the center of the room, Rainbow Dash and... TWIIGHT.
"Why in the hell are you here?" I asked.
"Calm down," she said. "Zoom needs to know the truth too."
"What?" Zoom asked.
"Twilight's my mom," I said before anypony else could.
"Huh?" Zoom said. "She's... YOUR mom? Your idol just happened to be your mom? Then why aren't you happy?"
"She left me in that orphanage for sixteen years! Why in the hell would I be happy?!" I yelled.
I looked to Twilight and saw that she was pacing, and also limping. I knew it was most likely my angry outburst if magic that had done that. I didn't care, though. She deserved every ounce of pain. Twilight looked at me sadly.
"You've changed so much in one day," she said.
"And why would I not have changed?" I said.
"Not that way," Twilight said. "You've never used that much magic in your life before. You've never been able to let out your anger before have you?"
That was it for me. Just hearing her talk was enough to make me angrier. I left the house, fuming. I Teleported to a store in Ponyville and bought some matches. I then went straight to the Everfree Forest and went to the main clearing down the path. I sat in the middle of the clearing, contemplating my thoughts for a while. I made up my mind. I didn't want to live my life knowing that I had been abandoned only to be picked back up. I pulled a match from the box. I struck the match and threw it to the edge of the clearing, a fire beginning to burn in my heart and in the forest.
The fire now surrounded the clearing, allowing no escape. The smoke began to overcome the oxygen in the air, and I coughed. I wanted this. I wanted to no longer face the truth. I just wanted to die. Suddenly, something appeared in my mind.
Twilight was crying as Ponyville began to burn from the fire I started. The ponies who would lose so much from me. I looked around the clearing and another thought entered my head. The thought that I was more than just some magical mistake that didn't have a life. I was something that had a life. I could become something more, a scientist, a magician, anything.
"No!" I yelled. "I know what I want! It's not this!"
I tried to cast an aqua spell, but the smoke and lack of oxygen was preventing me from focusing. The fire grew ever larger, and ever closer to me. A tear rolled down my cheek, and sobs began to rack my body. It was too late. I had doomed myself to death. The fire enveloped me, and the burning took me.
This next section is third- person.
Zoom looked to the picture of Cherish on her nightstand next to her bed. It had been a year since the day she had killed herself, and some of the damage the fire she started caused was still around. All of Ponyville had nearly burned down when she had done that, but the fireponies had stopped it before it destryed everything.
Zoom looked at the picture of her and Rainbow Dash. She remembered what Rainbow Dash had told her the night Cherish had died.
"I am your mother," she had said.
Zoom had been happy to hear that her idol was too her mom, but she was still hurt that she had done the same thing to her as Twilight had done to Cherish. Twilight had a permanent limp from Cherish, and her and Zoom's hearts still hurt from that day.
Twilight had been a recluse for weeks after the incident, and even now she didn't come out of her library often. Twilight always spoke about how good a magical accident Cherish was, and Zoom agreed. It was impossible to hate each other when they were family. Rainbow Dash and Zoom, Twilight and Cherish. Mother and daughter.
THE END.