A hot dry wind blew across the open plains of cracked, rains starved ground as the sun brightly over head, its rays beating down on on all beneath it. Despite the benevolent intentions of the pony that guided it across the sky each day, many beings of many different species had fallen into the habit of continually cursing its presence. If only it were not quite as warm most of time it would be much easier to tolerate, but as it was, most could do little more than grumble at their perceived misfortune.

Cherry Jubilee was not one of these individuals. The red maned mare had learned long ago to not begrudge things that she had no control over. Her basic opinion on the matter was that if it helped more ponies than it hindered, then there was absolutely no point in griping. If there was going to be anything that she would have a problem with, it would be with the schedule of the weather ponies charged with bringing rain clouds, which should have arrived some time in the last two days.

Yet here she was now, standing on the train platform, and there was not so much as a wisp of a cloud in sight, and the soil showed no signs of a recent deluge. The sky above remained clear, blue, and at times unbearably hot. Jubilee herself would not have minded if Celestia was willing to call it in early that day. Little drops of sweat rolled down her cream colored, soaking her fur until the moisture evaporated from existence. At least it was getting late in the afternoon, so it would not be too long before the sun started to set.

Glancing around at the little wooden shacks and houses that made up the majority of the towns infrastructure, although truthfully Dodge Junction barely qualified for the term as it had no more than a few dozen buildings. In actuality the place was little more than a pit stop for travelers, pony or otherwise, to take a break from their trip before continuing on their way. Very few here were permanent residents, which at times made the place feel more like a ghost town than not.

But even then, it was still home to Cherry Jubilee, and the earth pony mare could not even imagine herself living anywhere else in Equestria but here.

Pausing to take a breath and take in the scent of her home town, Cherry trotted off of the train platform, and began humming a little tune to herself that her niece had taught her. At the moment she could not recall the exact lyrics, but the pleasant melody had remained a fixture in Cherry's mind ever since she had heard the filly singing it during her last visit. Jubilee continued as such for a few minutes, making her way along a familiar road, when she forced to come to a halt as a creature that was definitely not native to this continent, or even this dimension, crossed her path.

It was approximately between three and four feet tall, and sported bulky green armor on its torso, while its exposed leathery skin was colored a dark grey with splotches of red. In addition the creature possessed two tusks that sprouted from either side of its upper jaw at a horizontal angle, with red at the tips. Walking upright on its hind legs, the creature carried a bulging sack over its shoulders.

One would think that the moment that Jubilee saw the intimidating creature she would run away and hide and call for help. She did no such thing however, even when the creature noticed her as it walked along. Pausing, the creature turned towards Jubilee before proceeded to wave at her and say, "Fraxure."

"Well, good afternoon to ya too Blitz," Jubilee replied cheerfully, giving the pokemon a smile. "Hope that you're doin' okay under this heat."

"'Xure," Blitz replied with a shrug, causing a metallic clinking sound originating from the bag he was carrying.

Taking notice of the sound emanating from it, Jubilee said in an observant tone, "I see those parts that Silver Spanner's been waitin' for have finally came. Is that mare still workin' on that old carriage of hers?"

Blitz rolled his crimson eyes and answered while giving her a slow nod, "Fra, fraxure."

Unable to suppress a chuckle, Jubilee said, "Well, don't be workin' too hard now. Can't have ya faintin' in the middle of the road now."

Reaching into the pockets of one of the saddlebags slung over her back, Cherry procured a hoofful of bits and tossed them to the pokemon. "Here," she said warmly. "Do yourself a favor and get yourself somethin' at the Salt Block." Before Blitz could offer any sort of protest to her Jubilee cut him off with a wave of her hoof and said, "Ah! I don't want to hear none of that now. I know how hard ya work for Spanner, and gettin' yourself a drink is the least ya should be doin' for yourself. Ya can do it later if it makes ya feel any better."

Glancing at the coins in his cawed hand, Blitz gave Jubilee a small nod of appreciation.

"Fraxure," he said.

"Think nothin' of it there sweetie," Jubilee responded before letting blitz continue on his way. "Take care o' yourself now, ya hear?" she said in farewell, getting a short wave as Blitz disappeared around a corner, and Jubilee resumed her own trek across town.

When the creatures known as pokemon had first appeared in locations all across the world as a result of some sort of inter-dimensional relocation program, Cherry Jubilee would have been counted as one of the first ponies to lock herself in her room and start figuring out a way to contact the royal guard so they would come and remove them. While a few of the odd creatures seemed harmless for the most part, many others, ranging in appearance from metal birds with razor sharp wings to wingless dragons with axes for teeth, were downright fearsome to look at. If Jubilee had been told back then that she would come to call some of them her acquaintances, and in some cases her close friends, she would have likely accused whoever made the claim of being a complete loon.

And yet now, more than a few months since that fateful day when she found a weird dancing cactus that made a sound similar to maracas raiding her pantry, that is exactly what happened. Now every time she thought back to that moment she could not help but shake her head at how much she acted like a scared filly when the dancing cactus was obviously just as confused and frightened as she was.

What made the situation even stranger was a fair number of the odd creatures had actually not been pokemon to begin with, but were formerly some sort of ape like beings called "hyoomahns". At least that is how Jubilee thought it was pronounced. Jubilee herself could hardly imagine waking up one day to find herself in an unfamiliar place while inhabiting an unfamiliar body.

But even then, in those days when everypony and everyone was just trying to make sense of the incredibly stressful situation, Jubilee had learned rather quickly that Equestria's newest residents were harmless, at least for the most part. She also learned early on that they were here to stay, so there was really no point in hiding in her room forever, and if Jubilee was honest with herself, she would sometimes have difficulty recalling a time where she would not occasionally see a skarmory flying overhead or a dunsparce crossing her path.

Cherry began to hum again as she trotted along, saying hello to anypony or pokemon she happened to pass by. After a few minutes she eventually left the perimeter of Dodge Junction behind her, entering an orchard consisting of dozens upon dozens of cherry trees of various types, along with the occasional oran or pecha berry tree. It was as she was strolling through them on the route to her house that she came across a large object resembling a sharks dorsal fin sticking straight up out of the ground, and she took note of the deep rumble that it seemed to be giving off.

"I see the old coot decided to take a nap in my orchard. . . again," she said aloud with grim amusement. Unfortunately the matter could not be dealt with at the moment, as it was starting to get rather late in the afternoon now. Besides, he was not hurting anything by just sleeping there, and she would have hated waking him up just to make him sleep somewhere else.

"I'll get Mavis to set him straight in the mornin'," she decided as she resumed walking, the sound of snoring gradually fading behind her. Presently her home came into view, appearing over a rise in the path, located near the center of her orchard. For a two story log house, it was fairly modest, but compared to the rest of Dodge Junction she might as well be living in a mansion. Jubilee had inherited it from her aunt and uncle, and she made sure to keep it in good condition since then.

Grateful to be home at long last, Jubilee aproached the house and stepped onto the wide porch. She did not immediately go inside however, instead choosing to set her saddlebags on the floor and sit down to simply sit down and enjoy the moment as the sky gradually began to darken. She took a deep breath through her nostrils, inhaling the faint scent of cherries in her lungs before releasing it into the evening air.

The moment was interrupted when an odd sight distracted her. A small glass filled about halfway with reddish liquid floated into her line of sight, surrounded by a light blue aura similar to that of a unicorns. "Oh," she said in mild surprise as the glass hovered in front of her. Already aware of who was behind the act, Jubilee took the glass, balancing it on the bottom of her hoof. She allowed herself a brief sip before turning to address the dark being standing behind her.

"Hello there Mavis," Jubilee said cheerfully. Patting the vacant spot next to her with a free hoof she added, "Why don't ya come here and join me? The sunset's especially pretty."

Silently, a tall black pokemon hovered up beside the mare before settling down next to her with her concealed legs hanging over the side of the porch. As always, the gothitelle was dressed in attire much like a segmented black nightgown with four white ribbons along the front. In the past Jubilee had wondered why she never seemed to opt for a change in wardrobe, until she learned that her "clothes" were really more of a second layer of skin. Jubilee had felt somewhat embarrassed for asking the question, in public no less, but she was glad that her friend did not seem interested in holding the matter against her. Apparently the topic was just as obscure here as where she came from.

Taking another sip from her glass, Jubilee savored the taste of cherry tinted cider before turning to Mavis again.

"Did ya get yourself one too?" she asked. Her answer came when Mavis glanced at her with a small grin on her purple face, and a second glass floated into view. Mavis proceeded to pluck the beverage out of the air with her fingers before drinking. Jubilee chuckled and shook her head. A few moments of silence passed between the two before one of them finally spoke, although it was not with her mouth.

"So how was your trip?" Mavis asked, her voice echoing slightly in Jubilee's head in its familiar accent. "Was the train ride any good?"

Not even bothering to wonder how exactly she was able to hear an accent through a mental link, Jubilee merely shrugged and replied, "It was fine I suppose. The trip from Fillydelphia was as long and borin' as it usually is. Had to wait a while for the train to get to the station too, and there was this weird stallion there that kept givin' me a funny look. He kinda looked like the type o' pony that had a little too much o' the strong stuff, if ya know what I mean."

"Really?" Mavis said, adopting a concerned expression. "He didn't try anything, did he?"

"Nah," Jubilee answered with a wave of her hoof. "One o' them big fightin' type friends o' yours saw it and gave him a look of his own that would've made a hydra think twice. Some big four armed fella in speedos, looked like he was on a business trip or something. Besides,, even if he did decide to try anything funny, well," Jubilee began to chuckle as she spoke, "I didn't spend my whole career in a managerial position. I've bucked every cherry tree ya see here, and I got the legs to prove it."

They both shared a laugh at her statement, after which another pause followed as they simply enjoyed being in each others company. It was times like these that the mare enjoyed the most in life. She would never be the kind of pony one could call lazy, but she would be damned if she did not get a few moments every now and then to be with a friend. Cherry turned to Mavis to say something similar to that, but stopped when she noticed the frown that had formed on the gothitelle's face, along with the distant look in her vivid blue eyes as she stared ahead at seemingly nothing. Cherry quickly found her good mood soured the moment she saw it, and she understood exactly why Mavis had changed so suddenly.

Jubilee let a quiet sigh as she set her empty glass down. "Still miss em'?" she asked in a way that did not really sound like a question.

Mavis remained silent as she watched the sun sink lower and lower in the horizon, painting the sky a rich orange. Her lack of a response was answer enough for Jubilee, and the mare felt compelled to put a hoof on her friends shoulder, offering any comfort she could.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that their out there somewhere," Jubilee added. "And you know what?" she asked, getting a questioning look from the pokemon. "I'd be willin' to bet anythin' that they miss ya miss just as much."

After a brief moment, Mavis finally let a small smile cross her face, and she put her own hand Jubilee's shoulder.

"Well," Cherry said, "I should probably let ya go now. Thanks again for watching the house and makin' sure it didn't burn down while I was away."

Mavis let out a little laugh at the quip. "Always happy to help ma'am," she replied. "And I'll be sure to take care of guest tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

"How did you-" Jubilee began to say, until she was struck by realization. "Ah yeah, that's right. Mind powers and whatnot. Can never quite get used to that."

Mavis apparently could not help but find humor at Jubilee's expense, but the mare took it all in stride. She was just happy that the pokemon was feeling better. Their glasses now empty, Mavis stood and dusted herself off. Saying a last farewell to the gothitelle, Jubilee watched as a white mist suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere, surrounding Mavis and obscuring her from sight. When the fog dissipated, Mavis was gone, leaving Jubilee alone once more on the porch of her house.

"I wonder how long until she finds out there's no more pie left," Mavis wondered wondered as her vision was obscured by a thick blanket of white fog. She knew Jubilee would likely be a little upset to find that all of her desserts had mysteriously disappeared in the time she had been away, but it was nothing that Mavis could not easily replace or make up for. She knew how to prepare a more than decent meal from her previous life. She could still vaguely recall a few of the nice compliments she had received in her line of work.

As Mavis reminisced about her past experiences, she hardly noticed the scenery around her gradually begin to change. The fog slowly faded away, transforming into a pristine wooden floor polished to near perfection, and walls adorned with many paintings of various people and landscapes. Overhead was a tall arched ceiling, giving the interior of the mansion an almost cavernous feel to it. The faint smell of flowers was constantly present.

Mavis paused, taking it all in. The sights, the smell, just the familiarity of it all.

The faint sound of footsteps drew her attention to her left, where she saw a pair of ornate wooden doors decorated with a carving of a serperior. Mavis smiled fondly as she went over to the door and grasped the handles. She opened the door and stepped inside, letting herself be carried away by her memories.

Author's Notes:

So here it is. I finally decided to get on the bandwagon and submit my own side story to Zeus's masterpiece of a tale.
Now, before I begin, I just want to thank each and every single one of you for taking the time to read my tale. It really means a lot to me that you do, and I hope that you enjoy it.
If any of you are wondering if this story is in any way connected to the others, know that this story will largely be independent. Whether or not characters from other tales will be featured here or vise versa, or if it will even be considered canon to Zeus's story, is up to interpretation at this point.
Once again, I hope that you enjoy, and kindly request that you point out any errors through the PM so that I can correct them.
Dilos1