//------------------------------// // Date Forty-Seven - A Secret Affair // Story: Cheerilee's Thousand // by xjuggernaughtx //------------------------------// Cheerilee ran her hoof lightly over the handsome leather-bound volumes of Equestria: Our History that lined the bookcases of the university’s restricted section. “I’ve never seen a complete collection before! You even have the Annotated Annals and the Disputed Errata.”   “A great many rarities travel through the university’s donation center,” the periwinkle unicorn replied while unlocking a shuttered shelf. “A great many things, indeed. Here, perhaps you will enjoy this.”   Cheerilee gasped. “Are those…”   “You told me that you had a respect for literature,” Card said with a laugh, “I see that you weren’t kidding!”   Approaching slowly, almost reverently, Cheerilee’s eyes grew wide as she scanned the shelves. “The Collected Papers of Clover the Clever… Seaponies and Other Legends… And is this a first edition of A Mare in Manehattan?” Cheerilee’s hoof shot out.   “No!” Card threw himself in front of the shelf.   Cheerilee paused for a moment, then took a single step back. “Um…”   “Ah, sorry! Sorry.” Card folded the shutter back into place with trembling hooves. For a moment, he scowled at the latch before it finally snapped into place, then offered Cheerilee a rueful half-smile. “I didn’t mean for that to be so… forceful. It’s just that many of those books are frightfully old. The pages crack if they are opened. We get so many donations from well-meaning patrons, but I’m afraid that many of them have treated their treasures rather shabbily. I do what I can—what I must—to protect the knowledge they contain within. I do hope you’ll forgive that. It was thoughtless.”   “Of course,” Cheerilee said, and she gave the librarian an encouraging smile. “The foals don’t mean to, but sometimes they’ll break things if I don’t keep a close eye on them. I know what it’s like.” Card wiped away a light layer of perspiration. “You’re most gracious. Knowledge is the greatest asset that society has to hold the forces of chaos in check. It takes but the lost of a single rare text to endanger us all.” Cheerilee opened her mouth, then paused.  “Well…” “Oh, you think I’m overreaching?” Card snorted, then retrieved a well-worn book from an upper shelf. “Hidden Truths, written by Grassy Knoll,” he said, tapping the cover. “Without this, we would still believe that Princess Luna had been banished to the moon!” Silence stretched out between them as Cheerilee blinked several times. Finally, she cleared her throat. “But Princess Luna was banished to the moon.” “Cheerilee, you surprise me.” Shaking his head, Card licked the tip of his hoof and flipped rapidly through several pages. “Ah, here we are.” Card fished out a set of pince nez, then held the book out at leg’s length and began: “The inner workings of the royals have ever been murky, but none so much as the sudden disappearance of Celestia’s own sister, Princess Luna. The official line offered to the public was that the criminal Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna were one and the same, but it is only through painstaking research that the truth becomes apparent. Princesses Celestia and Luna have, in fact, merged into a single entity. A sort of Ubercorn, if you will. Intercepted documents meant for the Griffon Empire speak of an arms race, and what could be more powerful than the merger of Equestria’s greatest forces? Though tensions were rising, the griffons never invaded. Now, what could logically deter such an adversary?” Card snapped the book shut. “It goes on and on, but I’m sure you can follow the path.” Cheerilee winced as the familiar throb began between her eyes. “But they clearly aren’t a single entity. They’re both in the palace. Right now. Together.” “Well, the danger’s past, hasn’t it?” Card replied, enunciating each syllable slowly and carefully for her. “Without the looming threat of war, there is no need for the Ubercorn any longer.” Cheerilee fell back on her haunches and rubbed her temple. “And the threat from the griffons was so great that the Ubercorn was needed for a thousand years?” “Clearly,” Card said. He took off his pince nez and stuffed it back into his pocket before giving her a pointed look. “Really, Cheerilee. Your personal said that your were an intellectual, and the first job of an intellectual is to question. Things are not as they seem.” “Oh, I’m questioning, all right,” Cheerilee said with an eyeroll. “I don’t suppose this—” She squinted at the book’s spine “—Grassy Knoll has any kind of proof, does he?” Card raised his eyebrow and held the book up once more. “Let me see that.” Cheerilee flipped the tome open and scanned the notes for several minutes. “It’s all interviews. Where is the documentation?” “Suppressed, of course.” Card shook his head. “The government keeps a firm hoof on such things. Take this, for example.” Opening a nearby drawer, Card fished through it for a moment. “I assume you’ve studied Discord’s reign?” “Of course. I’m actually planning to take the foals to his statue for a lesson some—” Card whirled, thrusting a small block of carved wood out before him. “See? That’s exactly what I mean! There was no reign of Discord! He’s a legend the government has used to scare foals in the night! The woodcut I hold in my hooves shines truth’s light on the subject!” Cheerilee focused in on the wavering block. On it, a rugged mare was chiseling a serpentine form from a block of stone. “And you believe that the princess had the statue commissioned?” “Exactly!” Card Catalogue dropped the wooden block back into the drawer. “Now you’re getting it. What better way to keep the subjects in line, eh?” Cheerilee threw her hooves up into the air. “Yes, that’s a perfectly rational explanation, except for the thousands of personal accounts from ponies throughout that era!” “Mind Control!” Card whispered from behind his hoof. His eyes darted left and right before settling back into an intense stare. “It’s why Canterlot is elevated so greatly, and why it’s buildings are so high-reaching. It aids in transmission of the mental waves. If you’ll allow me to find the book…” Card tapped his chin and squinted up at his shelves. Cheerilee followed his gaze. “So, the university, ah, funds this?” “Unfortunately, no. This is my personal collection,” Card replied, frowning deeply. “Though not for lack of trying, mind you. I’ve petitioned for a public section on suppressed knowledge, but the regents must be in on it. It’s like talking to a wall. In fact, I have a book here that supports much of that. Now where was it…” “Ah, that’s quite alright,” Cheerilee said as she checked the clock. “You know, it’s getting awfully late. Thanks for dinner, but—” “Oh, I see how it is.” Card turned to scowl at her. “A little mental challenge, and you head for the hills. A little shakeup of your carefully constructed worldview, and away you run. Well, I apologize for trying to open your mind!” Cheerilee shot to her hooves. “Open my— Challenge— Why, you—” “If you are very lucky, you’ll see one day.” Card drew himself up to his full height and stared down his nose at her. “Until then, you have my pity. The truth is out there, and anypony who thinks themselves educated ought to strive for it. Why, just this very day, I learned that shapechangers walk amongst us. They’ve taken over the identities of ponies great and small to wrest control from our tyrant princess, seeking to replace her with their own. They feed on love, and—” Cheerilee wrenched the library’s heavy wooden door open. “Well, given the state of my love-life, I should be perfectly safe. Maybe our conniving leader will make me some sort of secret operative. I’m sure you’ll read all about it one day. If you’re lucky.” Stepping out into the university’s hallway, Cheerilee shot the librarian a final dirty glare, then slammed the door.