//------------------------------// // In Search of Plans // Story: In Search of Knowledge // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// In Search of Plans Consciousness slowly seeped back into the prone form of Cheerilee.  Unwilling to give up the last vestiges of sleep still clutching at the corner of her mind, she kept her eyes shut, revelling instead in the faint scent of... lilac?  Cheerilee’s grayish-green eyes shot open. A quick glance around the room revealed what she already suspected.  Instead of the airy, open bottom floor of the library, she was up in a room she had never been in of the treehouse.  A few shelves lined with books covered one wall, ending by a writing desk littered with stray scrolls.  Across from Cheerilee sat a bed, sheets undisturbed.  The small notebook inscribed with a six pointed star with five other stars nearby confirmed it.  She was in Twilight’s room, lying in what was likely Twilight’s bed. Cheerilee rolled from the bed, tripping over a basket at its foot in the process, and stumbled over to, and through, the door.  From there, it was easy to step past what appeared to be a bathroom on her way to a stairwell, and back down to the main floor of the library. “Oh, you’re up,” Twilight’s voice called from the library’s kitchen.  “I was beginning to worry that I would have to wake you up so you could be ready in time to go to school.”  She giggled.  “I never thought I’d be saying that, especially to a mare as old as I am!” “Yeah, I imagine that’s different,” Cheerilee replied with a smile.  She glanced over at the clock.  “Hey, why are you up so early?  I didn’t think anypony else got up at the crack of dawn, aside from maybe the Apple family.” “Normally, I’m not up this early, to be honest, but the couch isn’t really that comfortable to sleep on...” Twilight replied, leaving the kitchen to shoot a venomous glare over at the fabric couch in the corner, heaped with blankets.  “That, and I thought you might enjoy some breakfast before you have to go to the schoolhouse.” With that, the unicorn pointed one lavender hoof over towards the doorway to the kitchen.  Leaning sideways ever so slightly, Cheerilee could just make out the edge of a plate, full of what looked like eggs on toast and a glass full of orange juice.  Her stomach growled its approval. “Ah heh heh.”  Cheerilee’s ears shot straight down.  “Now that you mention it...”  With Twilight’s approving smile, Cheerilee trotted her way into the kitchen.  Her flank had barely touched the wooden chair before the open egg sandwich was in her hooves, and mouth. Twilight watched from the doorway with a bemused smile as her egg creation--such a shame, Spike would have been so proud--was devoured.  Her grin grew even wider when Cheerilee looked up, suddenly very self-conscious.  “Um, thanks,” she said, blush growing every second.  “It was delicious.” “It seems like it.  Though, I’m surprised you even tasted it.”  Twilight suppressed a chuckle as Cheerilee’s blush darkened.  “Alright, I’m done teasing, promise.  I also thought you might want a shower, so I left a towel in the bathroom.  It’s up the stairs, first door on your left.” “Thanks, Twilight.  I’ll be out quick, have to be gone in an hour,” Cheerilee replied, leaving the room and clopping up the stairs.  Just a short while later, Twilight heard the door click shut, followed by running water.  A quick burst of concentration and shimmering lavender light later, the kitchen was once again spotless.  Now with nothing to do and nopony to talk to, Twilight wandered from the kitchen back into the library’s main room, over to the table laden with the book materials. She took her seat from the night previous and levitated over sheets of paper covered in her own tight scrawl, and the mouthwriting of Cheerilee--large, looped letters that were clear and easy to read.  Twilight pondered for a moment before levitating over a blank scroll, and a quill dipped in ink. Dear Princess Celestia, Cheerilee and I spent most of the night looking over the documents you sent us.  After much thought and consideration, and Cheerilee’s past experiences teaching with the original copy of Ponies Big and Small, and my own personal experience reading it, we came to a conclusion on the styling and order of the book. We decided to throw out most of what they already had, as far as the organization is concerned.  We decided that the best course of action was to divide the book into four parts. Our introduction will cover the basics of everything, the fundamentals of magic, the basics of aerodynamics and wing anatomy--things that we believe everypony could benefit from a general knowledge of. From there, we divide the instruction itself into three parts, one part each for the three different pony races.  Depending on the foal, the teacher will instruct the pupils which section of the book they should read.  Within those chapters is where we intend on doing the majority of writing, delving into the specifics of everything we generalized, or omitted, in the introduction. Those specialized sections will delve in deeper on the strengths of the races, and how they can use those abilities to complement those of the others.  We feel that this will aid instruction, as well as increase the overall educational value of the text itself.  We hope to minimize the necessity of basic questions, which will help the teacher, who may not be able to answer the question fully. We believe this is the best course of action to take in writing the book, but I want your opinion.  I am... worried about doing this wrong, and I hope that your experience and insights can help us avoid grievous error.  Most work on the book itself will wait for your reply. Thank you, Princess. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle As Twilight rolled the scroll and touched it to her horn, sending it straight to Celestia’s private quarters--unlike Spike’s dragon breath, which would send the letter to Celestia personally.  The book was important, but not interrupting the Day Court important--the sound of running water stopped. A few minutes later, a damp Cheerilee made her way down the staircase.  The sound of creaking wood drew Twilight’s gaze over and upward.  As she reached the bottom of the stairs, their eyes locked.  One single drop of water plopped down from her mane onto her muzzle, causing her to blink and shrink back in surprise.  The laugh started small, no more than a small giggle from the lavender mare, but it ended with both girls barely on their hooves, lost in hysterics. So loud was their laughter, that they failed to hear the clacking of clawed feet coming down the stairs.  Spike took one look at the two mares, practically collapsed on the floor, laughing, and shook his head.  “First, somepony trips over my bed, then they wake me up giggling...  Mares...” He stood around for a few seconds, waiting for the giggles to die down, but when they didn’t, he decided to take matters into his own hands.  “Hey, do you two want breakfast, or not?”  When the two didn’t stop, Spike repeated himself, louder. Twilight was the first to come to her senses.  “I wouldn’t mind some, but I already made something for Cheerilee.”  The teacher barely managed to contain herself before noticing Spike’s expression of complete shock mixed with the slightest hint of terror.  He tore off into the kitchen, practically gouging out part of the hardwood floors in his haste, and causing another round of giggles from the two mares. A comfortable silence settled around the room, draping the ponies within in its soft, relaxing embrace.  Cheerilee allowed herself to luxuriate for a couple of minutes before sighing and taking a fleeting look at the clock.  “Twilight, I really have to get going,” she said, looking over at the mare beside her.  “After all, school doesn’t teach itself!” Twilight smiled back.  “No, I guess it doesn’t.  Do you need anything else before you go?” Cheerilee looked off into space for a moment.  “I don’t think so,” she replied with a shake of her still-damp mane.  “Everything I need, I have at the schoolhouse.” “Alright...”  A glance over to the papered desk in the corner brought another question to the fore of Twilight’s mind.  “When do you want to get together and work on the book again?” A mental picture of the calendar sitting on her desk popped into the teacher’s head.  “I’ll probably be busy grading papers and the like until this weekend.  I usually have them do something special for Nightmare Night, so next week should be clear.” “Great!”  Twilight beamed.  “I have a report for the princess due Friday, so I’ll be pretty busy up until then.  After something like that, I’ll have to clean the library too, so maybe next Saturday?” Cheerilee nodded.  “I’ll be here around noon?” “It’s a date,” Twilight confirmed.   Cheerilee, already halfway to the door, did a double take and spun around to face the librarian.  “A date?” “Yup!  A predetermined agreement between two or more ponies to meet at a specific place at a certain time to accomplish a common goal,” the lavender unicorn recited.  “We’re meeting here, at noon Saturday, to work on the book.  It matches the definition perfectly.” A nervous chuckle slipped from Cheerilee’s mouth.  “Y-Yeah, alright.  See you Saturday!”  Before Twilight had a chance to respond, the teacher slipped through the door, and hurried on her way to the town’s schoolhouse. --_--_--_-- “And then she just took off!”  Twilight tossed her hooves out wide in her excitement. “Oh, my,” replied the room’s other inhabitant, one yellow pegasus with pink hair and a quiet disposition.  “Was she upset with you?  Not that you’d do something on purpose, but accidents happen.” The events of the previous day and morning flew through Twilight’s mind.  “No, I don’t think so.  She didn’t seem angry, or even upset, but she was acting... strange.  She was tripping over words, and giggling a lot, too.” “She always seemed like a happy pony to me,” Fluttershy replied.  “But I don’t really talk to her, so I’m not sure.  Sorry.” Twilight rolled her eyes.  “Fluttershy, you have nothing to apologize for,” she said in a stern voice. “Right, s--” the pegasus cut herself off with a giggle.  “So, did she do anything else?” “The only thing that really stands out from normal was about a book she borrowed from the library a few days ago.”  Twilight bit her lip in thought.  “A book called...   Her Secret Desire.  I’d heard the series was good, so I started reading Her Only Stallion, which is the first one.  When I told her, she said something, and I made a joke, and she looked... really hurt for a moment.  Whatever it was, it didn’t last for too long, though, and she was back to normal.” Fluttershy’s eyes flicked over to the set of three books resting on her shelf, too quick for Twilight to notice.  “Oh, I-I don’t know anything about that...  When are you two meeting again to work on the book?” “Saturday,” came the quick reply. “Well, why not just ask her then?”  Twilight opened her mouth to reply.  A few moments later, it clacked closed again, followed by a shrug and a nod. “Makes sense.”  The mare took a moment to reposition herself on the couch.  “So, how’s Owlowiscious doing?” At the question, Fluttershy brightened up noticeably.  “Oh, he is doing much better.  Um, I gave him some medicine to help regrow his lost feathers, I hope it’s okay.  He should be back to normal in a couple more days.” Twilight’s face grew into a smile.  “That’s good to hear.  I was worried about him for awhile, and to be honest, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain he was going to be alright.  It was an experimental spell, after all.” “Well, don’t worry.  I’ll make sure he gets better, promise.” The lavender pony got to her hooves, padding over to the door before turning around and flashing her friend a smile.  “I know, I left him with a very capable pony.”  Fluttershy’s yellow cheeks burst into a slight blush.  “Anyway, I need to get back to the library.  That report on Everfree fungi isn’t going to write itself!” The very tips of Fluttershy’s ears drooped.  “Oh, okay...  I have to get ready to meet Rarity anyway.  I agreed to meet her to help with Nightmare Night costumes, she always gets so busy this time of year.  But don’t worry, I already told her I agreed to help you tomorrow with the,” she gulped softly, “t-the forest.” “Thanks, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied with a smile.  “It’ll cut a lot of research time off if I can observe and test some of the Everfree fungus myself, even more if I can visit Zecora sometime.  I’m sure she’ll have some interesting insights.” “Oh, I’m sure.  Bye, Twilight.”  The librarian waved and walked through the door.  As soon as Fluttershy was sure her friend was gone, she trotted over to her closet, and dug up her favorite saddlebags--the one Rarity had made her for her birthday.  Inside one of the pockets, she placed Her Only Stallion before making for the door.  She was going to help Rarity, but she had a couple questions, too, as long as Rarity didn’t mind, anyway.