//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 GRAND FINALE! // Story: Someone Who Cares // by Frizzy //------------------------------// Today you were working out in the orchard, picking apples. You were picking the apples as fast as humanly possible. When working in the orchard you only had to pick so many bushels of apples before you could leave, rather than work for a set amount of time. Just meet the quota, and you're done. You wanted to get done as fast as possible, hoping to have time to get ready for your date with Cheerilee tonight. "Woah there!" A voice called out from behind you. It was Applejack. What could she want? You turn to face the orange mare. "Y'all sure are working mighty fast. Why? You got a date tonight?" At that last comment you blush deeply. AJ looked at you with a smug smile (Author's notes:this is what the smile looked like, only on Applejack). "Hehe, Ah completly understand. Here, why don't you ya take the rest of the day off, an' head on over to my friend Rarity's shop. She'll make you look nice an' fancy for yer date tonight. By the way, who is it?" You mumble incoherently. "Ah'm sorry, what was that?" You mumble again. "Yer gonna have to speak up." "Cheerilee!" You quickly say. Applejack looks shocked for a moment. Then she smiles, warmly. "Good fer you! Ah've known Cheers since we were in school together. Ah hope everything goes well." Thanking her for letting you off early, you quickly head in the direction of Carousel Boutique. ... Cheerilee sat at her desk, watching the clock tick away. 'How can I still have five hours left of class? It feels like I've been sitting here for more than two hours.' She thinks to herself. The timer on her desk rings. "Okay class," She says, in her sing-song voice. "Time's up! Turn in your tests!" There was the sound of shuffling chairs as students got up from their desks to turn in their tests (Scootaloo appeared not to have answered any of the questions, instead drawing a picture of her and Rainbow Dash flying together). She sighs as she places the papers in a neay stack in the corner of her desk. Normally she enjoys teaching, but today she's too anxious about her date tonight. "Okay class, open your text books to page seven-hundred and thirty-six." She says, getting up from her desk and going towards the chalkboard placed at the front of the room. She begins giving the class their usual math lesson, but her mind is wandering elsewhere. 'I wonder what exactly we're doing tonight. Does he have a plan? Do I need to dress up? Should I bring some extra bits, just in case he doesn't have enough?' The questions just kept going on in her head. She clearly wasn't focused today. Snapping out of her daze, she looked at her chalkboard only to realize she had been writing your name repeatedly, instead of writing down problems. She quickly erased it, hoping none of the students had written it down in their notes. 'This is going to be a long day'. ... Finally, after several hours of measuring, fitting, sewing, and much confusion on your part, your dress clothes were finally finished. And you were quite impressed with how they had come out, and thankful that Rarity hadn't put any rubies on it, much to her disappointment ("But they would really bring out your eyes, darling!"). Now you were stuck with another three hours until Cheerilee got off work. 'That's a really long time.' You thought to yourself. 'Maybe I should surprise her at work! But how do I do that without interrupting class, and looking like a giant ass-hat?' You thought for a minute, hoping for an idea. Your stomach growled. It was about lunchtime. 'Maybe I could surprise her with lunch.' You thought. That actually wasn't a bad idea. The students would be leaving to eat their own lunch, and it was a nice gesture. You smiled. "This is the greatest I've ever had, ever!" You said, louder than you should have. You quickly dropped your new clothes off at your home, before heading to the local deli to get some sandwiches. You kindly paid the cashier before heading towards Ponyville's school house. Just as it came into view, the bell rang signaling the begining of recess. You hurried up to the building, and knocked on the front door. "Come in!" Cheerilee's voice called from behind the door. She looked up from the papers she was grading, and smiled. "Hello!" She said, waving at you. "Hi." You reply. "I brought you some lunch." You said, holding up the bag. "Thank you, sweetie!" She said, offering you a seat at her desk. "You really didn't have to. You know that I always eat when I get home." She took one of the sandwhiches nonetheless "Well, Applejack let me off early, so I figured I'd do something nice for you." You reply. "Oh how thoughtful!" She said, giving you a hug. She then resumed eating as she graded the papers. "Do... Do you need any help with those?" You ask. She looks up. "Really? You bring me lunch, and you offer to help me with work? You are just the perfect gentlecolt- er, gentleman." She says. She hands you a couple of the tests, and returns to the one she was working on. Time passes slowly as the two of you grade the papers, occasionally taking a bite of the food. Eventually you both finish grading the papers, and you begin talking, mostly about how your days have been, but you also talk about some of the local gossip. "So, do you have any plans tonight?" She asks, looking up at you. "Um..." You begin. "Actually... I haven't thought about it yet." You respond, sheepishly. She just smiles warmly, placing a hoof on your cheek. "That's okay," She says. "We'll figure something out." The two of you slowly lean it towards eachother. You both begin to close your eyes. Just a few centimeters seperate the two of you... And then the bell rings, signaling the end of recess. "Well..." Cheerilee begins, awkwardly. "I should probably let the students back in, and continue class. See you when I get back home!" She said, waving. "Bye." You say, heading towards the door of the schoolhouse. Damn! You almost had it! 'Oh well, might as well go home'. You walk home to begin getting ready for tonight. ... It was nearing time for your date, and you would be ready... if you hadn't felt the need to repeat everything at least twice. You wanted this date to be perfect, or forever risk making things awkward between you and Cheerilee. Let's check to see if you've done everything: Shower? Twice. Hair combed? Twice. Teeth brushed? Three times. Deoderant? You lost count after five times. New fancy clothes? Yes. Yeah, you should probably be ready. 'Maybe I should take another shower?' NO! You've already taken enough of those. Maybe you should just wait for her in the living room? 'Yeah, that's a good idea.' You go out into the living room and sit on the couch, waiting for Cheerilee to come out of her room, so you two could leave. Finally, Cheerilee comes out of her room, wearing a simple black dress. She looks absolutely stunning. "Wow." You say, eliciting a blush from her, causing her cheeks to turn a darker shade of magenta. "Thanks." She smiles, sheepishly. 'She probably has no idea how cute she looks right now.' You smile. Tonight is going to be perfect, you just know it. "So, you wanna head out now?" You ask. "Yes." She simply states. You lead her the door, and open it for her (you proper gentleman, you). The two of you walk down Ponyville's main street, casually talking. After a few minutes you finally reach the street diner you had decided to take her to tonight. The two of you sit at a table and start looking at the menus. You decided that you might as well start a conversation with her while you wait for your food. "So, uh..." You begin. Crap! Isn't the whole point of a first date to get to know her better? What do you talk about when you've known your date for a few weeks now? "You don't know what to talk about either, do you?" Cheerilee pipes up. You nod your head yes. "Oh good," she says. "I thought I was the only one. I thought the whole point of a date is to get to know you better, but we've been living together for a few weeks now, so I already know about you." "I guess we already know eachother pretty well." You say. The both of you burst out laughing. "I guess it is kinda funny." She says, tears in her eyes. "Maybe we can learn a bit more about eachother." She suggests. "So tell me, what was it like coming to a completely different world than what you were used to?" You begin to tell her more about human culture, and she seems particularly intrigued. She occasionally makes a comment or asks a question. She actually seems to enjoy hearing about things that are actually quite boring. After awhile you run out of things to talk about. "So, what was your childhood like?" You ask. Now it's her turn to rant. She talks about what her family is like, all the way up until your food arrived. You continue to exchange stories while you eat. Now you're telling her about what humans eat (avoiding the subject of meat be difficult, but you try not to mention it to avoid making her sick). "You know," she says. "I'm really glad we did this." "Me too." You agree. ... Later the two of you are sitting back in your living room, drinking coffee and telling more stories. "Well," She says, getting up from the couch and stretching. "I had fun tonight. We should do that again." "Yeah." You say. "How about next Tuesday?" She simply smiles, and gives you a kiss. The two of you begin blushing profusely. "Sounds like a plan." She says. THE END. AUTHOR'S NOTES: Holy crap, I finally finished a story. I would like to thank you all for reading, and hope you read some of my other stories. Signing off, Frizzy.