//------------------------------// // Act 3: Running Through Her Head // Story: Cheer Up // by LDSocrates //------------------------------// The next thing Cheerilee experienced was blackness. Then touch came back, to the feel of bed sheets above and below and a warm, furry body next to hers, her back against another’s front with their forelegs wrapped around her. Then hearing came back, the sound of gentle breathing in her ears and a heart beating against her spine. Then her sense of taste came back… And she was suddenly very aware of what she did last night. Her eyes shot open. Morning’s light crept in through crystalline windows; she was in the hotel. The hotel that Harshwhinny was staying in. In Harshwhinny’s room. It was easy to tell: the game inspector’s earrings were laying on the bedside table in front of her. The big muzzle nuzzled into her mane was also a good clue. Cheerilee groaned a little and held her head as it pounded, her everything feeling like lead. “Wow that was strong whiskey… need a warm shower…” She wiggled and squirmed as gently as she could to escape Harshwhinny’s grip. The older mare hummed in her sleep and held Cheerilee tighter against her warm, toned front with her muscular forelegs. “What am I thinking?” Cheerilee asked herself, facehoofing and immediately regretting it. After the throbbing pain in her head went away, she relaxed and smiled as she basked in the glow of a full bed… for a while. The shower called to her, and her hangover begged for some relief. She finally managed to pull herself from her lover’s side and slip out of bed, hooves meeting plush carpet. She looked over to see Harshwhinny, fast asleep and none too happy to have her bedmate leave, her forelegs lightly pawing at the spot Cheerilee had left. The teacher gently pushed a pillow within her reach, which Harshwhinny seemed to accept begrudgingly, nuzzling into it. Cheerilee smiled as she looked Harshwhinny over. The older mare had a frown on her muzzle that could only be described as adorably grumpy, hugging the pillow tight. Her mane was disheveled from what was likely a wild night, and the sheets covered her only up to the hip. Cheerilee giggled a little before a throb in her head turned it into a pained growl, trudging towards the hotel bathroom. As she climbed in and turned the water on, soaking her fur in the hope her hangover would wash away, Cheerilee started muttering to herself. “Okay… I ordered whiskey… then what?” She strained her brain to remember through the pain as she let the water wash over her, brief flashes coming up here and there. Sounds of her and Harshwhinny’s laughter; the feel of their cheeks brushing together; the smell of strawberry shampoo in Harshwhinny’s mane; many pieces to a greater puzzle, many missing but thankfully enough to get an idea of the picture. “Come on Cheerilee, you can do this; this is a night you want to remember,” she tried to pep talk herself through the haze of booze. She remembered coming back to the hotel. She remembered being pushed onto the bed with sloppy, drunken kisses. She remembered… she remembered… absolutely nothing after that. She groaned and rubbed her temples. “Well, I can tell what happened, at least,” she muttered, smacking her lips with a frown. “Going to need to brush my teeth…” She sighed and lifted her face up into the stream of water, closing her eyes and humming an aimless tune as she thought some more, about other things. “Still… had a lot of fun last night. And Harshwhinny is a really nice mare, when you get past the prickly parts… I’d really like to go out on a proper date,” she admitted to herself. “I wonder what she’s thinking… I hope she’d like to, too.” Cheerilee showered - well, sat in the shower - for several minutes more before climbing out and drying off, hoping that Harshwhinny didn’t mind the use of her hotel towels. She eyed the sink, seeing only one toothbrush. Yeah, brushing her teeth would have to wait until she got back to her own room. They were nowhere near that close yet. Newly damp, Cheerilee stepped out of the bathroom to find the older mare up and about. She was stripping the bed, her rear turned to Cheerilee. She didn’t even notice the teacher until Cheerilee cleared her throat rather loudly. “O-oh, good morning,” Harshwhinny said with a blush, looking over her shoulder. “Just hhhhh…” Harshwhinny blinked, cheeks flushing a deeper red. “I believe you put it best yesterday… ‘hubba hubba.’” “Give me some time to get my curlers in; I’ll look like a small town dork soon enough,” Cheerilee joked with a shy smile. “As you were saying…?” Harshwhinny shook her head as if she could shake off her blush. “Right, yes, just helping the maids by stripping the bed of its, ahem, spent sheets. Least I can do for getting them dirty, really.” “Thoughtful of you,” Cheerilee said, sitting on the floor. She didn’t let the silence take over for long before she added, “So, about last night…” “What about it?” Harshwhinny asked as she kept stripping the bed. Her tone was firm, almost defensive, but it wavered a little. “Well, to be honest, I can’t remember much about it,” Cheerilee admitted. “We go to bed, we kiss like the pair of plastered ponies we are, then I hit a wall of booze. I was more wondering what you thought about it.” “I thought it was… nice,” Harshwhinny said simply. Cheerilee blinked, her ears flattening. “That’s it? Just nice?” “More than nice,” Harshwhinny sighed with a little growl. “Wonderful. Best night I’ve had in years, if I’m to be painfully honest, and like you I don’t remember half of it myself.” Cheerilee’s heart didn’t flutter like she thought it would. If anything, it sank. “So why do you sound so angry?” “Because I know that things won’t work out between us,” Harshwhinny said with a stern stare, turning to face her. Cheerilee’s heart plummeted, making a proverbial hole in the floor. “Don’t get me wrong; I like you a lot. You’re cute; you’re kind; you’re patient; you know how to lighten up my day; and I’m mature enough to admit you’re quite sexy,” Harshwhinny listed, her ears flat and a worried, sorry look on her face. “But for the next few months, I’ll be here, in the Crystal Empire, and I normally live in Vanhoover. You live in Ponyville, and as you said yourself, you’ve never lived anywhere else. Both of us are adult enough not to do anything foolish like uproot our entire lives over… over just one night.” “I… I understand,” Cheerilee sighed, shaking her head and looking away. “I’m not sure what else I should have expected.” Harshwhinny trotted over and nuzzled her cheek against Cheerilee’s, nudging her gaze back up. “If it helps… we can keep in touch by letter. And I might be able to visit every now and then, once the Games are over.” Cheerilee forced a smile and looked Harshwhinny in the eye. “I think I’d like that…” Harshwhinny frowned and sighed, pulling Cheerilee into a tight, warm hug. Cheerilee melted in her forelegs, letting the older mare’s toned muscles support her. “I’m sorry, Cheerilee, but that’s the reality of things. I wish I could say more. I wish I had the gift with uplifting words that you do, I really do. But I don’t, and… I’m sorry for that.” “It’s okay; I understand,” Cheerilee said, hugging Harshwhinny back tightly. The two basked in each other’s warmth before the teacher brought herself to pull away. “I guess I better get going. Trains to catch, home to get back to, all that good stuff.” “I suppose. Don’t let me keep you,” Harshwhinny said quietly. Their eyes locked. Harshwhinny shifted a bit on her hooves. Cheerilee glanced away, but only for a second. Harshwhinny leaned in first, but Cheerilee returned the gesture within the second. The two shared a kiss, their eyes closing in warmth and splendor. They both were a mess, they both had morning breath, but a jolt of electricity went through the both of them like a bolt of euphoria. Cheerilee pulled herself away from the kiss as well, a sad smile on her muzzle as she trotted to the door. “Good luck with the games, Miss Harshwhinny.” The older mare followed her to the door and saw her out. Cheerilee turned to see a more easy smile on Harshwhinny’s face, the games inspector looking five years younger for it. “Thank you, Cheerilee. And cheer up; trust me, you’ll see me again. Until next time.” With that, gently, slowly, hesitantly, Harswhinny closed the hotel door. Cheerilee found a little smile working its way on her face as she trotted away, muttering to herself, “Yeah… until next time…”