“Sugar?”
 
The familiar, gravelly voice sucked Sugarcube out of her sleep, not rudely but not exactly sweetly either. The room tinted blue with the light of dawn, she fluttered her eyes open to see her mother Limestone standing over her.
 
“Hey, wake up. I got you something.”
 
 
Upon seeing her mother standing over her she groaned, her eyes bloodshot and crusted from having to never wake up this early usually. However, ever since she turned 12 her mother and ma started talking about “the responsibilities of a mare.” She assumed this was one of them.
 
“Mother! Its 5:00 AM! I dont have to wake up for 2 hours!”
 
 
“Maybe most days, but you gotta start getting used to waking up at earlier hours,” Limestone lectured. “Besides, don’t you want your gift?”
 
 
The word gift made the ears of the filly perk up, and in turn the rest of the filly as well.
 
“Gift?!”
 
She squealed as she practically leaped out of bed and began trotting around the room.
 
“What is it? Perfume, a new brush, gems?!”
 
 
“Nope,” Limestone smirked. “Now close your eyes.”
 
Sugarcube did so, reaching her hooves out and excitedly fidgeting. Oh, she couldn’t wait to see what is!
 
But when she felt the cold, heavy, weight in her hooves, she opened her eyes and her heart sunk.
 
“There you go, your very first pickaxe.”
 
 
Limestone could remember how happy she was when SHE received her first pickaxe so she had assumed sugarcube would be the same, however her daughter simply stared at her with blank and empty eyes.
 
“But I..dont want to rock farm. You know that mother, I like to model for paintings and pictures! Like how Auntie Fluttershy used to do!”
 
“But you have responsibilities,” Limestone pointed out, calmly but sternly. “As long as you live here, you gotta work. The modeling stuff can wait. And look, this pickaxe is just your size!”
 
 
Sugar let the axe drop to the floor and began to back up a bit, sitting down on the floor before picking it back up and staring at it. Her brow was furrowed intensely.
 
“Maybe I dont want to live here then!”
 
Her voice was shaky and tearful, she didnt really mean what she had said. She was just a little…upset.
 
“Don’t you DARE say that!” Limestone shouted and reeled in anger, but quickly noticed her filly on the verge of tears. She tried her best to calm down and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
 
“Look, Sugarcube. This is your home. This is where your family is. The work isn’t fun, but you just gotta do it. You can’t just leave. Why would you?”
 
“Why cant I do both mama? I can work here but still do my modeling, I wanna be a pretty pony like the mares on tv! It’s not fair that I cant! Maybe I’d earn my cutie mark if you’d let me!”
 
She swished her tail to the side to reveal her blank flank.
 
 
“I thought I would be a royal guard when I was your age. Thought it’d be my cutie mark and everything. But I got it being a rock farmer,” Limestone showed off her own flank. “Sometimes things don’t work out how we want. Sooner you come out and do your chores, sooner you’ll realize that.”
 

 
“Fine…”
 
Sugarcube finally held the pickaxe to her chest and walked out of the door of her room, a somber expression on her face. She looked extremely unhappy, but Mother was right. An apple works. A Pie works. It’s just how things are.