Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, nor the art of teaching, nor any muffins, nor much of anything… That sucks…
Cheer One More Time
By: GWFan (The Softcore Brony)
Princess Celestia paced back and forth in the palace throne room. Still no response. This wasn’t like her information network at all. She just didn’t know how it could have happened.
“Sister?”
Celestia’s silent pacing was interrupted when a dark shadow flew into the room accompanied by two guards who looked to be part bat.
“Sister…” Princess Luna said quietly as Celestia acknowledged her. “I’ve long since brought the night, raised the moon, and just finished plans for an entirely new constellation. What are you still doing awake at this hour? Is it not still my job to watch the night?”
“Yes. But I’ve been worrying over troubling news.”
“We’ve already had our fill of troubling news. What else could possibly go wrong after what occurred in the last few days?” Of course that was still fresh in both their minds. They had barely recovered from the near takeover instigated by a single mare with a dastardly magic artifact that had not only enslaved them, but the Elements of Harmony as well.
“Much the same news I’m afraid. This is the most recent report I received from the stealth force I sent to follow her.”
“Stealth force? Wait, you created a specialized task force the likes of which I was just speaking of yesterday and you didn’t tell me?” Luna took the rolled parchment Celestia had been carrying with her and spread it open with her magic. The contents simply read: Subject suddenly disappeared. Will update you on status in ten minutes. “When is the next note due?”
“Exactly fifty minutes ago.”
“What!?” Luna bellowed, making her royal escorts quiver in place. “You mean to say the villainess has escaped?”
“Or worse, something has happened to our surveillance team.”
“Sound the alarm!” Luna shouted in the royal Canterlot voice. “We want every available guard ready in under five minutes! Cancel the nightly midnight snack and prepare our chariot! Tonight We ride!”
“Hold, Luna,” Celestia said calmly, raising her hoof.
“Hold? What dost thou mean hold? The villain has escaped. We must act quickly lest she enact another plan of evil.”
“And where would you have us look?”
“Huh?”
“The report does not say where she disappeared. Also, what of the stealth team? Their sudden silence could be a message in itself. We do not known if they have been detained or if they are remaining silent for a reason. We already suspected that Plum was not working alone. If she prepared a trap, we do not want to fall into it.”
“What would you have us do then?” Luna replied angrily. Then in a much softer tone she added, “We have already canceled the midnight snack.”
“Patience.” Celestia looked out the window. “I have faith in our stealth team. Plum’s artifact has been destroyed, so she can’t do anything on that scale anytime soon. If we don’t hear anything in the next hour, then we will act.”
“And what act will that be, dear sister?”
Celestia’s reflection in the window frowned. “Exactly what we did with the Changeling Queen. Prepare for a possible threat against Canterlot.”
Everfree Forest was always a dark place, but nighttime was even worse. It was virtually black, not even the moonlight penetrating the canopy of trees overhead. Still, that did not deter Big Macintosh. With a large lantern strapped to his back, he led a small team of stallions through the darkness, ignoring anything that would have turned another pony’s hair white. Needless to say, his fellow searchers were scared out of their little pony minds.
“Big Macintosh, we’ve been searching this forest for two whole days. Don’t you think we should give up the search?” Caramel asked.
“Nnope,” Macintosh replied sharply. He was not going to let anything stop him from finding Applejack or the other ponies who had gone missing two days before.
“You know, maybe they’re back by now. Once of us should go make sure. One of us, maybe me for example, should definitely make sure.”
Big Macintosh snorted loudly, signaling his anger. However, he stopped anyway. There was sense in what Caramel suggested and Macintosh knew it. It wasn’t like him to let his emotions get the better of him, but his sister was missing. Anypony might have felt the same.
“Are we turning back?” Caramel asked.
Macintosh sighed. “Eeyup.” They only had enough fuel for the lantern to last about half a day and they were down to their last meal. Going on would be senseless unless they wanted to go missing themselves.
Caramel grinned. “Finally. I’ve been missing my bed for so long now.” He turned around to go back down the trail, but stopped. “Hey… where did everypony go?”
“Hmm?” Big Macintosh stood next to him, letting the lantern illuminate as much as it would. They had walked into the forest as a team of five and they had just done a headcount barely ten minutes ago. He and Caramel were the only ponies in the light.
“Maybe you should have listened to your friend a lot sooner.”
Big Macintosh turned at the sound of a strange voice, but he didn’t see anypony there.
“W-w-w-what’s going on? Who’s there?” Caramel stuttered. He backed away from where the voice had come from, nervously looking everywhere as he did.
Big Macintosh scanned the area more carefully, letting his eyes roam slowly from each dark bush to the nearest dark tree. No movement.
“Hhhheeeeee-!”
Macintosh turned. Caramel was gone. A brief rustling in the bushes was the only clue he had. Keeping his eyes and ears alert, Big Mac moved through the underbrush keeping careful note of the hoofprints on the ground. They rather abruptly stopped in a small clearing. Macintosh moved his eyes towards the sound of low snickering.
A smiling pony illuminated in the lantern light. “You’ve been in the forest for too long. Your sister was already saved last night.”
Macintosh narrowed his eyes at the pony. “I don’t know you, but you seem to know me.”
“Red stallion, cropped tail, only pony within miles wearing that big collar thingy…” The pony sounded as if he were trying not to laugh as he spoke. “You are the big brother, Big Macintosh, right?”
“Eeyup,” Macintosh replied slowly.
“Good. Then I was sent to collect you.” His smile seemed to get even bigger. “You got two choices. One you come quietly or two, I make you do it. Oh, and I highly suggest option two cause it would be so much more fun for me.” Big Macintosh didn’t answer. He only glared. The other stallion frowned. “Ah, come on, you gotta answer. There’s no fun if you don’t. Are you gonna come or do I have to mess you up?”
“Nnope.” Big Macintosh pawed the ground. He had never been the sort to fight in his school days and he had never been especially inclined to violence, but he had spent a couple of years as a professional wrestler with Cheerilee.
The other stallion regained his smile. “Then it’s Choco time.”
Cheerilee blinked dazedly. She didn’t remember falling asleep or even going to bed. Taking a moment to think about what she did remember, the last thing she did was walk into her house. She couldn’t remember anything after that. How odd. She must have gone to bed however, because she was sitting on the floor leaning on her bed as if she had fallen out of it. Her head kind of hurt too. She tried to rub it, but realized that her foreleg was stuck. In fact, both of them were.
Cheerilee opened her eyes wide, finally comprehending the darkness around her. Listening as she tried to move her forelegs, she realized that something metal was holding her fast, like hoofcuffs. In fact, it felt like hoofcuffs.
“What in Equestria?” Cheerilee was hoofcuffed to her bed in the dark. She struggled against them, even though she knew it probably wouldn’t do much good. Her mind flew trying to figure out why she was hoofcuffed like this.
“Are you wondering why you are hoofcuffed to your bed?”
Cheerilee stopped struggling and froze. She didn’t recognize the monotone voice at all. A match ignited and a single candle lit up a portion of her room. An earth pony she didn’t know was sitting backwards in a chair that didn’t belong to her. His back hooves dangled off both sides. He stared at her with tired eyes and a bored expression, resting his head on the back of the chair. The match he had lit sat lazily in his teeth, still on fire.
“Who are you? What are you doing in my house?”
“Who am I? That’s the first thing that jumps to your mind? Not fear? Not fear about what it is I might have in mind for you?” The match dropped from his mouth and went out.
Now that he mentioned it, yes, that did come to mind. She gulped. “Okay then, what do you have in mind for me?”
“Nothing really. I just didn’t want you to run away,” he replied in the same monotone voice.
Cheerilee fixed him with a sour look. “You could have just asked.”
“I find this to be much more appropriate considering what I’m about to tell you.”
“Then you do have something in mind!” The stallion looked unimpressed and remained silent. “Well, what is it then?
“First, are you going to ask who I am again?”
Cheerilee could feel a bout of impatience hit her as the stranger continued to stare at her with tired eyes. “Should I?”
“It would probably make this easier in a certain light at least.”
Cheerilee stared silently at him for a moment. He continued to look at her, waiting. Cheerilee groaned. “Who are you?”
The odd pony slowly pulled himself off the chair and turned sideways. “Do you recognize my cutie mark?”
Cheerilee was beginning to wonder if she would ever get a straight answer from the stallion. Examining his cutie mark, it looked to be a stringed guitar instrument of some sort. An odd one too, rather old and outdated in appearance, possibly a mostly unused instrument like a cittern.
A cittern.
Cheerilee’s eyes went wide as her memory suddenly jogged. “Random wandering minstrel?”
“You do remember me. I’m pleased.” Despite what he said, he neither sounded nor looked any happier, still wearing the same expression as when he had lit the candle.
“Um… if this about me chasing you out of town before, I’m sorry. I wasn’t myself that day and I was going through a very difficult time.”
“No. This is completely unrelated. It’s nice that you apologized though. You’re students must be very fortunate to have such a kind teacher.”
“I haven’t exactly gotten my job back yet. The principal is still recovering in the hospital from malnourishment.”
“A pity. You seem deserving of your teacher role and more after what you accomplished.”
“Pardon?”
“The way you defeated Plum.”
Plum. The evil teacher who had taken over her class, mind controlled several ponies, and had plotted to take over Equestria. It was almost a fluke that Cheerilee had managed to figure out what was going on in time to stop her. She had her own students’ curiosity to thank for that. However, all that was something that had been resolved only the day before.
“How do you even know about that?” Cheerilee asked him.
“I have ways of keeping quite informed. Besides, did you know that Plum is one of us?”
“Plum is a random wandering minstrel?”
“Yes.”
“Well that does explain her extensive knowledge of things.” Cheerilee wasn’t sure what else to say. She was having a surprisingly civil conversation despite being shackled. It still wasn’t clear what the stallion’s motive was, but if Plum was apart of his small band, then perhaps there was some relevancy between that and Cheerilee’s current situation.
“Are you wondering if Plum’s association with me has something to do with your current predicament?”
“Huh? How did you figure that out?”
“It was a logical train of thought.”
The two of them sat for a moment, neither saying anything until Cheerilee couldn’t stand it anymore. “Are you waiting for me to ask something or are you going to tell me what this is about already?”
“I was indeed waiting for you to say something along the lines of what you just said. You are just as intelligent as I had perceived.”
“Uh… thanks, but I don’t think that has much to do with intelligence.”
“You’re also quite modest. I like that. I think I chose well.”
Cheerilee raised her eyebrow. The stallion’s expression still hadn’t changed. “You chose what well?”
“You.”
Cheerilee swallowed. She absentmindedly tested the hoofcuffs but they seemed no looser than they had a few moments before.
“You seem rather tense, but I assure you I mean you no harm. I suppose this calls for a bit of an explanation as to why I chose you before I tell you what it is I expect you to do.”
Expect her to do? Cheerilee wasn’t planning on doing anything he asked, especially considering how they were meeting.
“This is all relevant to you defeating Plum. She had a task and a goal that she devised for a particular purpose, although that no longer has any meaning so I’ve no reason to give you further detail on that part. However, I will say this about her plan. I wasn’t expecting her to succeed, thus the length at which she managed to succeed far exceeded my expectations. She’s much smarter than she looks and almost as much as I had hoped when I initially heard her plan. Honestly though, its not clear what her final intentions might have been had she managed to succeed in full. Depending on her choice I don’t know how I might have dealt with it. In that regard I might actually have to thank you for successfully stopping her. So, thank you.”
“You’re… welcome?”
“That is the only thanks you will get from me, so it might be best to savor it.” He still spoke in a very monotone manner as if he didn’t care either way that Cheerilee had done a so called favor for him. “Continuing from that train of thought, although I was not expecting her to succeed, I was also not expecting you to be the pony to discover her plan and devise a method through which her defeat was astonishingly assured. At the time we first met, I had perceived you as mere collateral damage in Plum’s scheme, never suspecting in the slightest that you would be the key to her downfall. In fact, had it not been for your specific interference, it is possible that Plum may have taken control of all ponykind as she had intended, and once again, I have to give you credit for that, as I don’t know what she may have done with that position in regards to the rest of us minstrels, which may very well have been inconvenient for us had you not defeated her before her unexpected success was assured. As such-”
“Stop. Stop. You already said that and you keep flip-flopping between talking about me and her. You know you’re not that easy to follow?” Cheerilee took a deep breath in an attempt to clear her thoughts. “No wonder you came up with such poor musical lyrics.”
“You’re words are so true they hurt. I’m embarrassed enough to become shamed.” His expression didn’t change in the slightest.
“You’re really a strange one. Please don’t tell me that you’re the ringleader of those minstrels.”
“Then you ask for the impossible.”
Cheerilee lowered her head. “I should have known.”
“Of course. Your intelligence precedes you. That’s how you defeated Plum.”
Cheerilee sighed. “This is ridiculous. You weren’t anything like this when I met you before.”
“Playing the fool is something one does when plotting. My part was merely to be exactly what I am and make sure no higher powers or the bearers of the Elements of Harmony caught wind of Plum’s plan. In other words, I had no reason to be anything other than a minstrel at that time.”
“Suddenly I think I understand why some ponies don’t like my lectures. At least outside of school anyway.”
“Despite that role,” the stallion continued as if he hadn’t heard Cheerilee speak at all, “I was thinking about what I would do after Plum failed, since, as I said already, I was expecting her to fail. As such I felt the need for a plan similar to her goal was necessary to accomplish our groups’ goal. After her impressive defeat by you, I sat and planned for a day until we came to tonight. During that time I decided that I would like to include you in my factors. That is why I’ve chosen you.”
There was a long moment of silence during which Cheerilee looked at him with an annoyed expression. “That doesn’t explain what I asked at all. In the end it sounds like you chose me at random.”
“That is not true. I explained perfectly why I chose you.”
Silence.
“No you didn’t. If anything that was convoluted. Would you just tell me what any of this,” she shook one of the hoofcuffs, “has to do with me?”
“I plan to enact an evil deed that far exceeds Plum’s attempt. I want you to stop me.”
Cheerilee stared at him. “You want me to… what?”
“Stop me from enacting my plan.”
Cheerilee blinked, waiting for a punch line, but the stallion apparently was finished with what he had to say. “If you’re planning something bad, why would you… I mean why are you asking me to…? I don’t understand. This doesn’t even make any sense. Why are doing this?”
“Because I’m the villain.” For a moment, Cheerilee thought he was being sarcastic. His serious expression said otherwise.
“You know, most villains don’t actually refer to themselves as being villains.”
“Is that true?”
“I think so.”
“Then I should probably amend that statement.” He silently scratched at his chin and appeared to think. “My reasons are to right a wrong. A wrong that my band and I believe in though most do not see it that way.” He looked at her again and stopped talking.
Cheerilee huffed. “Let me guess, you’re waiting for me to ask what this wrong is?”
“No. Not really. And in any case I don’t intend to tell you at present.”
“Oh for Pete’s sake.” If her hooves were free, Cheerilee would have facehoofed right then. “Stop dragging this out! Why don’t you just tell me what you’re after and get it over with?”
“If I told you now, then it wouldn’t be foreshadowing.”
“What?”
“This is a battle of wits, Ms. Cheerilee. I plan to win everything. I will say this though, you will know the beginning of my plan first thing in the morning. I guarantee it.”
A silence grew in the room. Cheerilee blinked twice, but his expression never changed.
“So… that’s it? After all that, you just wanted to tell me that you’re going to tell me something later?”
“I suppose if you want to phrase it that way.” He nodded and Cheerilee saw his eyes shift to the side. She looked and noticed the clock on her nightstand.
“Goodnight Ms. Cheerilee. You should get some rest now.”
“What? After chaining me up and putting me through all this, you think I can sleep?”
“Rest up, not sleep. I say this because you might not be able to sleep tonight nor tomorrow.” His sudden smile sent a shiver down Cheerilee’s spine. With no apparent intention of taking the chair that didn’t belong to Cheerilee, the stallion turned towards the door and started walking.
“Wait! Who are you? What is your name?”
“My name? You want to know my name?” He touched a hoof to his lip and looked at nothing. “I suppose its true that its good to know the name of your adversary early on. Otherwise, when the final confrontation occurs, that enemy has less impact and merely seems thrown in at the last minute as if his or her importance was of no real consequence other than for the shock factor of being a hidden enemy unless of course the idea that there is a bigger, badder enemy out there at the very end who was manipulating the other villains all along is interpreted as being more satisfying since the gratification of defeating such an obviously more powerful foe would be more rewarding. Of course, you have already met me, which means the shock factor has already passed and I am more of an established mysterious foe whose final confrontation would now be highly anticipated and expected, meaning that revealing my name now could potentially harm the air of mystery that currently surrounds me-”
“You know what, never mind. I shouldn’t have asked,” Cheerilee said, leaning her head back against her bed.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ve decided I’ll tell you,” he said in the same monotone he had been using throughout their conversation.
“I don’t know if I should feel surprised or annoyed.”
“As you can see my cutie mark is that of a cittern, a rather archaic instrument not commonly seen in today’s culture.”
“I kind of already figured that out.”
“Just as expected of you. Then I’ll skip the explanation and say this: You may refer to me from now on as Citole.”
“Is that your real name?”
“Does it matter?”
Cheerilee’s ears dropped. “I suppose it doesn’t.” The stallion named Citole nodded once more and blew out the candle before making his way out the door again. That’s when Cheerilee remembered one rather important detail about the citation. “Wait a minute! I’m still hoofcuffed!”
“Oh. That reminds me. I suppose you will be needing this key.” He held up a key for her to see in the moonlit doorway, though he didn’t turn around. “I look forward to seeing you at the finish line, Ms. Cheerilee.” He casually tossed the key behind him and silently walked out the door.
“Wait!” Cheerilee called after him. “I can’t reach the key!” She stared at the open door, but Citole didn’t answer as it slowly closed shut. Sighing, she tried to use her back hoof to touch the key, but she was just a little short. Cheerilee looked around, but there wasn’t anything within reach that could help her grab it. Instead, she tried to move her bed, pulling as hard as she could. She didn’t remember her bed being so heavy.
“Aaaahhhhhh!” She suddenly fell forward, pulling her bed sideways on top of her. Pain. Her mattress was definitely heavier than she remembered. However, the key was right there. Cheerilee opened her mouth, but she couldn’t quite reach. In desperation, she extended her tongue and reached for the key. Success! She actually touched it. And then abruptly it fell down a crack in the floor. The sound of metal touching down in the basement echoed in her ears. “Drat,” she grumbled. “Somepony help,” she called meagerly, but she knew everypony must be asleep right now. “It’s going to be one of those longer nights.” So much for resting.
Twilight Sparkle breathed in deeply. The fresh morning air was soothing to her senses and she almost felt like singing. “What a wonderful morning. I have a feeling that today is going to be fine.”
After being a mind slave for two days, Twilight was glad to finally be home in Ponyville. Joining in Pinkie Pie’s celebration party not even an hour after waking up from the spell hadn’t left her feeling very energetic either, but after a good night’s sleep she felt refreshed and ready to seize the day. Even though Cheerilee had already been thanked enough times for the whole year, Twilight hadn’t had the chance to talk to her much during the party. Even though it was still fairly early, she wanted to give her a quick visit to thank her one last time.
On the way, Twilight wished several other ponies a good morning, knowing that many of the residence had worried about her during her absence. Now that everything was back to normal, Twilight was ready to get on with her regular routine.
“But that sure was a crazy ordeal. I’m glad I’m not going to have to go through anything like that again for a while.” Arriving at Cheerilee’s house, Twilight knocked. She took a moment to smell some of the flowers growing near the door before patiently waiting for a response. Nopony answered the door, but she was sure she heard something odd that almost sounded like muffled cries.
“Cheerilee?” Twilight called when she heard a crashing noise from inside. Considering all that had happened just two nights before, Twilight threw caution to the wind and broke the door open with her magic. “Cheerilee, are you… okay?” Twilight saw the teacher laying on the floor under her mattress, her front hooves shackled to two broken bed posts, and her body twisted in a bed sheet. “Um… should I even ask?” Twilight mumbled.
“Could you please help me? My hooves are falling asleep.”
Still feeling a bit flustered at what she found, Twilight walked in. “What happened?”
“Somepony broke into my house last night and hoofcuffed me to my bed. I’ve been trying to get free all night.”
“Oh my gosh! Really? Who was the perpetrator? Should I look for clues to solve this mystery?”
“It was sort of somepony I know, but I have no idea where he went.”
“Ahhh. I was hoping I could try the new print duster I just bought.”
“Uh, Twilight, the hoofcuffs please?”
“Oh, right.” Twilight examined the cuffs and her horn lit up in magic. “You know, some pony’s consider picking locks to be a form of puzzle solving. I just read a book all about it and…” Twilight trailed off when she realized Cheerilee was sulking. “Oh, sorry. I’ll get them off as fast as you can say-”
“Rainbow Dash is here!” a cyan pegasus yelled from outside. “Hey, Cheerilee, I saw the broken door and…” Rainbow Dash stopped mid-flight and hovered in the doorway when she saw Twilight standing over the otherwise tied up Cheerilee. The pegasus’ mouth hung open for a moment before she spoke. “Twilight, don’t take this the wrong way but…are you being mind controlled again?”
Cheerilee and Twilight looked at each other. “This isn’t what it looks like!” they shouted at Dash.
“Well… what does it look like then?”
“I’ll explain later. Just get me out of these cuffs!” Cheerilee wailed.
“Hang on.” Twilight conjured a spell and teleported the hoofcuffs elsewhere. “Rainbow Dash, you should know better then to barge into ponies’ homes.”
“I thought she was in trouble. Wait a minute, I almost forgot!” Dash landed and looked serious. “Twilight, did you know that Big Macintosh formed a search team to find you guys when you, and the others went missing?”
“No, it’s the first time I heard about it. Why?”
“The team just came back around dawn. Get this, they said Big Macintosh was abducted.”
“What?” Twilight and Cheerilee said in unison.
“Yeah, Caramel just told Applejack and she’s looking for all of us.”
“That’s awful. I can’t believe a pony as strong as Big Macintosh could be ponyknapped,” Twilight said methodically. “And so soon after that whole incident in Canterlot.”
“Canterlot…” Cheerilee’s memory suddenly jogged. …you will know the beginning of my plan first thing in the morning. I guarantee it… “Citole. He couldn’t have. Why Big Mac?”
“What’s up Cheerilee? Do you know something?” Dash asked her.
“Yes and I have a lot to tell you.”