C.M.C.T.N.G Daughter of discord

Lonely Apple Club

It was a regular old day at Sweet Apple Acres. Granny Smith was in the house watching baby Applespike, Cinnamon Stick was baking muffins, Spike was feeding the livestock and Applejack and Cinnamon Roll were harvesting apples. But when Cinnamon Roll came to the next group of trees, she found Cherry Pie beneath one of them, standing on her head against the trunk and wearing a grim expression on her upside-down face.

"Well, lookie what we got here," Cinnamon Roll said, tilting her head so she could see the filly right-side-up. "And here I was comin' to harvest apples. Who knew there were cherries here too?"

Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Ain't there usually two more of ya?"

"It's just me today," the red filly said, wiggling her back hooves.

Since her neck was getting sore, Cinnamon Roll brought her head back up and walked over to another tree that was facing Cherry's. She placed her hooves at the base of the trunk and kicked up her back legs so that she was in the same position as the younger filly.

"What's up, buttercup?"

Seeing that she was making an effort, Cherry sighed in relent. "I have this...friend, you see, who likes this other friend who doesn't like the first friend and doesn't even know the first friend likes her and can't stop thinking about her no matter how hard she tries and can't even talk to her sisters about it because she's not sure they would even understand. What should she do?"

Cinnamon Roll scrutinized her. Then she flipped down, raised her front hoof to her mouth and whistled. Spike, Applejack and Cinnamon Stick came running and Cinnamon Roll quickly repeated Cherry's dilemma.

"Mmm-hmm," Applejack said thoughtfully, looking at the red filly. "Ya like someone who doesn't like ya back, huh?"

"No," Cherry said, blushing. "A friend of mine likes someone who doesn't like her back."

"Uh-huh," Spike said with a knowing smile. "Well, you're in luck, kid. It just so happens our family has a tendency for unrequited love."

She lowered her back hooves and twisted into a sitting position. "How do you get over it?"

Applejack shrugged. "Say nothin' and wait for the feelin' to go away."

"Hope that someday she will notice you," Cinnamon Stick grumbled.

"Wait on her and pamper her and worship the ground she walks on and pray to a doll you had custom-made in her image that she will..."

Every pony, especially Applejack, gave Spike a strange look.

"I mean," he coughed, throwing his arm around his wife. "Realize that there are other fish in the sea and love again."

"But I..." Cherry stammered. "My friend can't just wait for the feeling to go away. That could take forever! And making a doll is just plain creepy. And what if no pony ever catches my...friend's eye?"

Cinnamon Roll shook her head at her folks. "Y'all are goin' about it the wrong way. Y'all actually got yerr unrequited loves." She looked at her father. "And it took a datin' game set up by Uncle Discord to get ya over yours. What Cherry needs is advice from some pony who got over their crush all on their own, without any other loves comin' in the mix."

She turned to Cherry and sat beside her. "Let me let ya in on a lil' secret. Some time ago, when I was just around yerr age, I had a crush on Thunder Dash."

"You did?!" Cinnamon Stick gasped.

"Shut up, big brother, it was no big deal. I couldn't really help it. He was over all the time and was nice to me. But the thing is I knew he had a thing for my cousin, even though I prayed he'd one day notice me. After a while, I realized I was just a kid to him, but it took a little more than that for me to get over it."