As Celestia's sun set on Canterlot, Cross took a step back to review his work. Grinning with pride, he scanned over the boxes stacked high and low; he'd been working hard all day organizing his possessions and packing them neatly into the miniature storage compartments. With a sigh of relief, he walked over to retrieve the only thing left unpacked, his white shutter shades. Having grown accustomed to wearing them everywhere, putting them on was simply habit at this point. His parents despised it, being Canterlot ponies and all. Stiffs, as he so 'endearingly' called them. Soon, however, he wouldn't have to worry about his parents for he was moving to a small town called Ponyville.

"Ponyville..." he said quietly with another sigh. Just the sound of it made him elated, so different from 'Canterlot.' Much less official, much less pompous, much less... stiff. It wasn't all pickles and daisies, however. Moving is tough on anypony and he definitely felt it. Having to leave everything behind isn't easy. Despite his distaste for Canterlot life he couldn't help but feel like suddenly getting cold hooves. He'd lived in Canterlot his whole life and now had to leave behind his family and friends (what few friends he had).

His thought process was broken when a shout came from downstairs. "Penny Pincher! Time for supper!" He winced, twenty years old and still getting called down for dinner, with the name Penny Pincher no less. He couldn't stand the sound of it. Most ponies were named quite aptly for their special talents to come and his father, Hoity Toity, had decided that he wanted his son to join the family business. 'A job for stiffs.' Cross thought, He wanted no part of the family business, fashion and clothing lines and such. He thought it all too tame and thus refused to abide by his father's wishes. Naturally, this caused a major divide between the two and as a result, they didn't get along. All he wanted to do was party. He wanted to feel the bass pounding in his ears and the synthesized leads coursing through his veins. Most of all, Cross wanted to share it with everypony. He shut his eyes beneath the glasses and began to bob his head a bit, imagining the rhythmic thumping of the bass drums and the-

“Penny Pincher! Immediately!” Cross snapped to attention.

“I’m comin’! Sheesh…” Cross started towards the door but stopped. He turned around and trotted into the bathroom connected to his bedroom. A quick self-inspection in the mirror revealed that he didn’t look presentable in the slightest. His cobalt fur and grey mane were matted with sweat from the previous labor. His mane was tangled and unruly and his fur pressed down from being sweaty. His mother wouldn’t allow him to eat in such a condition; she’d simply send him away.

“I’m gonna take a shower real fast! I’ll be down right after!” he yelled through the door, loud enough so it would travel down the stairs that laid behind it.

“Make it quick, darling! And be sure to scrub behind your wings!” her reply was typical of her. She made an attempt to sound motherly but the words were degrading, making the implication that reminding her son of such a thing was necessary at this point in his life. She didn’t mean it, of course, and he knew that. She tried her best and that’s what mattered. ‘Still a stiff.’ he thought. This made him chuckle a bit as he stepped behind the shower curtain.

After emerging from a quick shower, Cross looked himself over again. He made sure he’d gotten everything; from his mane to his wings (which he noted would need preening later) to his hooves, Cross was just as clean as before he started packing earlier in the day. The final step was to simply gel his mane back a little in an almost reverse spiky style. The gel made his mane seem almost silver, something he liked about it. A proud grin in the mirror signified that he was finished and the pegasus went to dinner.

Upon arrival to the dinner table, hooves clip-clopping on the white linoleum floor, Cross spotted his mother waiting patiently. Her eyes half-closed and muzzle tipped slightly upward, the mint-green mare sat on her floor cushion in front of a plate on the table.

“You didn’t have to wait for me, mom.” the pegasus said as he made his way to his place at the table, where a plate had been laid out for him.

“’Twas the polite thing to do, my dear.” her blonde beehive-styled mane bounced a little as she spoke. “And besides, tomorrow is the day you leave me; is it a crime for one to desire spending her final night with her son at supper?” Even though she wasn’t a talented mother, she was skilled at pulling guilt trips, especially on her son.

Cross shook his head a bit before starting into his food. “No mom- it isn’t.” he said between bites.

“You shouldn’t speak with your mouth full, honey. It’s impolite and frankly quite disgusting.” ‘Honey.’ Another thing he didn’t like being called. “And sit straight. It is uncouth to slouch in your chair.” With a roll of his eyes, the colt did as he was told and sat straight.

"So," Cross cleared his throat, "where'd you get these chrysanthemums from? I thought they weren't in season until September? These snaps too." he looked over his spread, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, and some strawberry oats. A beautiful monochrome blend of different shades of pink were strewn about his plate. Even for rich ponies like his mother, finding flowers that were out of season was extremely challenging.

The mare across from him swallowed before responding. "One just has to be in contact with the proper ponies, my dear. An old colleague of mine resides on the side of the Everfree Forest opposite of us. He's a botanist now and raises plants of all kinds on the edge of the forest, where the seasons are irrelevent." Cross knew of the forest's magical properties, how the plants and animals fended for themselves, and the clouds moved on their own. He wasn't against the idea of it, he just found it a bit... off-putting.

"They're delicious." he said with another mouthful of petals. His mother shot him a look and he swallowed. "Erm, sorry." A few minutes passed silently, the only sound being the eager chewing of food. A grey unicorn in a tuxedo soon entered, balancing a platter on his back. The platter was enveloped in a sparkling white light emitted from the butler's horn and it floated onto the table. On the platter were two small plates bearing vanilla cupcakes. "Cupcakes too? You must really want me to stay." Cross said. He laughed a bit at his own joke as the butler levitated the empty entree plates onto his platter and left.

"I knew the day would come." the mare began, "You'd leave me, just as your father and that physician did. Tomorrow I shall be without my family. I just want to make you aware of how much you mean to me, honey." Cross' ears flicked up at the sound of this. She was pulling the guilt trip again, but this time she was being honest. The colt looked up in time to spot a single tear run down his mother's face, taking a bit of her makeup with it.

"Aw, mom." The colt stood and walked over to his mother to embrace her. "Don't worry, mom. It's not like I won't visit."

"But what about when you aren't visiting? Why have such a magnificent home when it shall be only me? The help and myself..." For once, her muzzle wasn't pointed up in pride. Her head hung low, something Cross had never seen before.

"W-what about Uncle Vinny? He lives downtown in a small house with his family. Maybe you can have them come live here with you." His mother wrinkled her snout at the thought.

"Vincent? My brother? Here? Just the thought of having his atrocious paintings in my home is..." her voice trailed off.

Cross waited a moment for her to finish. "Mom?" he said, unsure of what was wrong.

"Y-yeah. Sure I'll visit. But I think you should be getting to bed, mom. You don't seem too well." They both stood and Cross guided his mother upstairs and to their respective rooms, leaving the cupcakes behind for the butler to tend to.

While laying in bed, Cross found himself contemplating his own feelings on the current situation. Different emotions filled his mind. He was excited for his move to Ponyville but what he wasn’t looking forward to was seeing his mother's face when he left. He loved his mother, despite her pompous nature. Having to sever old ties was tough for him to process as well. Old ties. The words brought his father to mind. The pegasus shifted his gaze toward the window across from his bed, which he'd decided to simply replace once in Ponyville. He didn't like the fact that he wasn't close to his father, both literally and figuratively. His poor relationship with Hoity did, however, make the fact that he left him and his mother two years earlier easier to bear. His parents were divorced because of a mishap involving another stallion. Cross cringed at the thought of his mother being unfaithful. It was so... uncharacteristic of her. Not at all prim or proper. 'No. Stop.' he thought. He didn't like thinking of his mother that way. Burying his muzzle into the plush feather pillow, Cross decided to ignore any more thoughts on the matter and slowly drift off to sleep.

No more thoughts, just slowly... drifting... to sleep...

Author's Note

A couple references here. One that won't be cleared up until later though. Also, to those of you reading, thank you! I'm happy if you're happy!

Special thanks to my prereaders!
The5Pieces, iStacyx, KFJ943, and my good friend Sidney