A Deal with A Cherry on Top

[CherryRie]

“You say that like it was a bad thing.”

For a moment a wry smile flitted across the filly’s strained features, wavering as though it would evaporate like so much smoke in the tinny bar room air. Yet it persisted, shedding its irony as she inhaled the creamy vapors wafting from the fresh mug before her. Taking a long sip, pent up tension flowed away from her withers with a long relaxing shudder. Right now it was difficult not to smile. Everything about the little filly had subtly altered as an adrenalin fueled storm gave way to tranquil beaches of intoxicated thought. Sanguine eyes gleamed slightly and focused on objects instead of gazing through them apathetically. Even her posture had sifted as she lay comfortably on the long sofa, no longer hunched over her drink trying to shut out the world. Overall Cherry felt lighter then she had in days, even if it had been at a cost.

But there was something else. Some deeper, more meaningful emotion that kept throwing kindling on the dwindling bonfire in her soul.

“To be honest I’m not sure ‘why’ either.” She continued, blowing on the top of her coffee “I know alot about the kind of things your family has been a part of, and a part of me wanted to go the moment I heard your name. But I wouldn’t,” Sanguine eyes rolled up from the steaming beverage to look at Max "Because I knew you didn’t want me too. Plus I realised what you were trying decide, so I suppose you could say I didn’t want good intentions to go to waste."

Pausing breifly to sip at glorious black silk, Cherry looked wholly at the Rockefilly sitting across from her, some part of her psychie over rulling the desire to treat this as a buisness endevour. There was.. hope here. And not just for Maximilian.

"Tell me Max, how long have you been feeling like this?”

[Bannhammer]

Maximilian sputtered and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his Tuxedo. Like a small foal, he was unable to rein in his emotions. The Rockefilly sipped at his coffee, and placing the mug down he took a deep breath, finally able to compose himself.

"For a while. I just looked back at my life one day, after my mother left, and for some reason the full weight of everything just hit me."

"I was bred to do business, to take over the family, but now... now I just don't know anymore. Part of me wants to continue, but another part of me is disgusted with myself." He looked down at the black elixir. 

"The things I've done, they're the worst of the worst, I have no excuses. I knew I was hurting ponies, and yet I still do it. I want to stop hurting others so much, but wouldn't that mean I'd be a failure to him?"

"And I know everypony hates me for what I've done, so why should I change? No matter what I do, ponies will always assume I'm out for myself."

"Like father said, 'everypony acts for themselves, you should too. Do what you can for yourself'. Those words are what I live by... And I always assumed they were correct, nothing had ever proven me wrong."

Max raised his head and looked at Cherry. "Which is why i'm still amazed by what you did. Nopony has EVER done something for me before, and for somepony who doesn't know me to just stick up for me like that, it's almost unreal."

[CherryRie]

“Maybe you’ve been surrounding yourself in the wrong kind of company?” Suggested the filly “Selflessness isn’t as rare as you would think. We’re a herding species after all. That’s why we’re so easily upset if we don’t have somepony to follow or care for. Ponies aren’t naturally cold or greedy. It takes effort to get as nasty as that Turpentine chap.”

Smiling kindly at Max’s downcast expression, Cherry allowed a thin pause while the meaning of her statement sank in and her fuzzy thoughts organised themselves.

“Which I suppose brings us back to your question,” She continued “When is a pony too far gone? You were never taught that any of this was wrong, yet it’s hurting. Even if you don't know why, I’d say that’s a pretty good sign."

[Bannhammer]

The Rockefilly reached for his mug, but it was empty. Sighing, the rich stallion relaxed in his seat.

"It sure feels alright, but..." He slumped in his seat.

"I don't feel like it's a good sign. I used to hate myself because I could never live up to my Father, now I hate myself because I finally realize how bad I really am. Everything I ever knew is wrong, what do I do now? What kind of company can I keep? Who would want to stick around me?"

Max tossed a hoof dramatically and slumped even further. "I'm completely lost, and even though I know it's not enough to rest on my laurels and be pleased with my revelation, what else am I supposed to do? I know what the problem is, but every ounce of my being screams for me to continue, at least, the ounces of my being that still are still willing to call themselves Rockefilly."

"How can I do this? What gives me the right to spit in my father's face and do this to his family?"

Even though Maximilian Rockefilly Sr was long deceased, his son still spoke of him as though he were right there in the room. He rested his muzzle on the large rest of the sofa.

"I fear I may know the answer to my own question. I'm certainly far enough gone where I can't even see where I started, and I don't know how to get back."

[CherryRie]

Cherry nodded at the unicorn’s plight whilst looking to catch the bartender’s eye “When I was in flight school my tutor told me something that fits your situation quite well. ‘When you’ve started into the storm and things begin to go bad, it’s difficult to see a way out for the thunder heads. Stay still and you’ll stall out for sure. So you’ve got three options. Flying down is easy even if you get wet. Up’s harder as you don’t know how high you’ll have to fly, but either way you’ll never know what’s on the other side of the clouds. But pressing on through the storm? That’s when you find out what kind of flyer you really are.’ ”

Dusk trotted over with a floating flask of coffee, topping up both their drinks as the filly mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to him.

"Your father sounds like a very imposing stallion and you’re afraid that inaction is a sign of weakness that dishonors his legacy, right?" She posed, taking another sip from her mug and observing Max’s reaction.

"Have you considered that ‘continuing up’ the way he showed you, even though you now know its wrong, might be just as much of a smear as trimming your wings and getting out of the storm? Just because he made a lot of bits, dosn't meen his word is gosple. Legacies are only foundations after all, lasting ones yes, but foundations. There’s nothing to say you have to build the same castle on top of them he did."

[Bannhammer]

"My father's word is gospel, even if he's dead and gone."

With a halfhearted sigh the rich stallion levitated his coffee over towards him, also thanking the barkeep. He swirled the noir concoction around, lost in thought. Max didn't know what to think, this young filly had made a great point, and he meditated on it for a moment. All of this surely wasn't his father's fault, and she was right in saying that he had to keep going forward...

"So what you're saying is that I should give up? Or that I should forge on ahead, damn the consequences?" He was still slightly inebriated, and neither of the extremes seemed very appealing.

"Foundations are what you build your LIFE upon, am I supposed to tear down what I have and try again? The blueprints have been chosen and the materials gathered, I can't change what is going to be built." Disgusted, Max lowered his glass and scowled at nopony in particular. "I can't blame my father for my mistakes."

There was an awkward silence, and the stallion looked at the filly with a soft glare, more of sorrow than contempt. Finally, he spoke up, placing a hoof on his chin. "Although..."

"It seems that maybe, maybe, all is not lost. Even if I needed your help, I managed to one thing right. It's not much, but it's a start. If i can change in small ways... " He removed his hoof from his chin and exclaimed. "I can change in BIG ways too!"

Noticing his outbreak, the dignified unicorn cleared his throat and adjusted his tux. "Of course, that was obvious."

[CherryRie]

Giggling at the failure of her analogy, Cherry smiled encouragingly as the stallion felt out his own way through the logical jungle. At last they seemed to be getting somewhere.

“That’s the spirit!” she said, bostering the unicorn's confidence “You can make your life anything you want, do whatever you choose. You don’t need to patsy out to make good of yourself, or soldier on up when you don't like where that's going to take you!

"Make your own path through the storm! Don’t like the game? Change the rules! What’s to say you can’t use the tools you’ve been given in a harmonious, yet productive, way? Your cutie mark is a pile of bits, so dose that just meen you like money? Or dose it meen that you can find productivity in the most unlikely of places, get the most out of life, make any sceme work for everypony? It could take a while, but with time I bet that’d change popular opinion. For instance...errrhh."

For a moment the filly stalled, gesticulating as though trying to grasp the end of whatever thread she had enthusiastically been chasing “Well... let me ask you something. What do you think will happen to that deal now that you’ve turned it down?”

[Bannhammer]

Maximilian felt his hopes rising, and he straightened up in his seat. The pressure in his gut and the passion  in his heart combined to form a powerful mixture simply waitig for the catalyst to set it off. Each one of her words was a spark, and each got closer and closer to igniting the flame. Eventually, she sputtered out, and so did the building fire, snuffed out by her return to more somber topics. 

"Well, they'll find somepony else to do it, I might be the richest, but they'll find a replacement. It's sad, but that's how the world is, I can only do my part and hope the others follow suit."

"I guess I could look at the futility of it all, and just shrink back into my old habits. On the other hoof, shouldn't that motivate me further? To defy the world is to impress yourself upon it. I can build my own legacy! If it is as a pony who tried and failed..." A loom of nervousness seized his face, but he shook his head and resumed. "...then so be it."

"Tis better to take a stand, I can only hope my father will be proud of me, Rest his soul."

[CherryRie]

Humming a contented note of agreement, the short Pegasus savoured the silky cream that was gradually pulling her addled senses back together.

“Do you want to hear a secret that only Mares know? Parents are always proud. While I doubt he’d be pleased with the result, he knows that he made you strong enough to make that choice by yourself. There’s a lot to be proud of there.”

Taking another pause to finish her drink, Cherry pushed her mug aside and scooted around the bench a little closer to

“What you did tonight took a lot of courage. Questioning ourselves is one of the hardest things anypony can do.”

“Trouble is.” She continued, ending the brief dip into the depths of psychoanalysis “Simply turning contracts away doesn’t really help. It’s bad for your reputation and business. And like you said, if you reject a sour deal, they’ll only find some other business pony to sign. So the damage isn’t averted, the only thing to change is the source.”

A twinge of some inner guilt caused the filly’s ear to twitch. Oddly she seemed to be listening to herself as much as she was the stallion opposite her.

“But here’s a thought; what if you didn’t simply reject them. What if you changed them? Whether that means taking a contract and altering the outcome or moving to throw a spanner in their works and being there to turn the wreckage towards some good, I bet you could find a way.”

Perhaps it was a mere trick of the light, but Cherry seemed so much closer now. Those deep eyes, so recently overflowing with pain now brimmed with untouchable hope. Once again there was the sensation that her words were gaining some otherworldly strength. Bypassing the ears, they arrived in the brain as fully formed concepts, lighting a bonfire in the recesses of the listeners waking thoughts.

"You’ve got the mind and the will to change the world, Max. Don’t believe in ghosts. Believe in yourself.”

[Bannhammer]

Maximilian listened carefully to her words, and he had to take a moment to fully digest what she had said about his father. His reflection didn't last long, as she quickly returned to the business side of things. She scooted closer to him, and once again she spoke with a passion in her voice that threatened to engulf Max as well.

"Well, I could..."

Cherry uttered a phrase that shook the very soul of the Rockefilly, who had to pause and let the truth of her words wash over him. 

Then, a flash of brilliance, "Myself! By Celestia, that's it!"

He jumped off of the couch and started pacing, muttering to himself. Max levitated a bar napkin over and a quill as well. Holding both items aloft in the air, he began to scribble furiously.

"There!" Maximilian tossed the quill aside and pulled the napkin closer to his face before thrusting it in Cherry's.

"Myself! I can buy the apartments! I can use my own money and beat all competing bids, locking those other ponies out and giving me full control over their management. First, i'll have to make some minor improvements to the building itself, nothing too expensive, but the upgrades will bring more ponies in, which means more bits!"

He took a deep breath, continuing his breakneck speed. "Assuming that this building is average, it can hold 2-300 occupants. If I can fill the building, that allows me to lower rent due to the larger number of ponies paying! BUT, the low rent is offset by the improvements I made that increase efficiency, and lower maintenance costs! All of this, combined with the improvements to the suites themselves, creates an above average apartment for each pony at a price anypony can afford!"

Max stopped, and beaming, he summed up his point.  "Nopony loses a home, it's Low rent, high standard of living... And I still turn a profit!"

[CherryRie]

“Ha! Who says you can’t teach an old pony new tricks.” Chirped the Pegasus, wings fluttering with the unicorn’s contagious excitement “That’s brilliant Max! And if you can do it for this exception, imagine what else that same genius could be turned to...”

Cherry beamed with happiness, and maybe just a touch of pride. But there was something else there that was bringing damp tears to the corners of her eyes. This pony, one who had fallen so far and thoughtlessly hurt so many, was willing to try make amends. Perhaps it was out of some self pity over his own scared conscience, but that was irrelevant, what mattered was the act. And if Maximilion could be saved from himself, maybe others, closer to her own heart, could be convinced to leave their destructive ways behind too.

“...thank you.”

[Bannhammer]

Max took a break from his calculations to look at the young filly. 

"You're... Welcome?"

He cocked his head and returned to his seat. "Cherry, I should be thanking you! You're strength gave me the courage to find my own. I could never give you what you deserve."

"And yet..." He placed a hoof to his chin. "Yet I have to ask."

"Why do you care? I understand caring about others, but it seems to me that you throw yourself emotionally into others problems, almost as if you treat then as your own."

"I don't doubt your sincerity, but from your... tears, I doubt how healthy this is for you. I appreciate what you did, but do you do this all the time? That mare you mentioned before, with the rhubarb, ou did the same for her, I can tell."

Max quickly remembered some of the lessons he'd taken at private school. Psychology was a favorite, although Max usually used his knowledge of the mind to exploit it, not help.

"But why? Is it some kind of martyrdom complex? Or do you fear having evil around you, lest it drag you down as well? Cherry, for somepony so young to see and know such terrible things, it's awful. I'm sorry if I get too personal, I just want to know if I can help you like you've helped me."