//------------------------------// // Good Morning! // Story: How to Magic: Cheerilee Edition // by Aquarian_Sage //------------------------------// "Good morning, class!" Cheerilee greeted her students. "Good morning, Miss Cheerilee!" a couple dozen or so foals answered back in unison. "Today is a very special day—" "Ooo! Ooo!" Snips interrupted, rapidly waving his hoof in the air. "Yes, Snips?" Cheerilee asked. "Is it your birthday?" he asked. "My birthday?" the mulberry mare repeated. And then she burst out laughing. "Sorry, Snips, but I'm afraid that today's not my birthday, but today is special nonetheless: we have special guests coming to talk to you today!" "Who is it? Is is somepony we know?" Rumble asked. "Yes, but I want their appearance to be a surprise. Yes, Silver Spoon?" "What is the guest going to be talking about?" At that, Cheerilee's green eyes flashed and a mysterious smile lit up her face. "The most wonderful and amazing thing in the world: magic." Dinky raised a tentative hoof. "Miss Cheerilee?" "Yes, dear?" "When is Mrs. Doctor Princess Twilight Sparkle coming?" At that, Spike crashed through the door, accidentally dropping his scrolls, quills, and corked vials of ink. "Sorry!" the hatchling grimaced as he scrambled to pick up his things. "I told you to let me carry some of those for you!" Twilight chastised from outside the door. "Honestly, you wouldn't be in this situation if you just listened—" "Ugh, you're just like Mom," Spike grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "Well Spike, if I'm 'just like Mom,' then why don't you listen to me like you do with her?" Twilight snapped as she entered. "Do we need to—?" A deep, rich chuckle interrupted the pair. "Ah, true sibling love. There is no greater blessing from the heavens above," Zecora sighed as she followed the alicorn inside. "Zecora!" Applebloom exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the zebra. "And a 'hello' to you, my dear Applebloom," the Zebrican mare smiled at her. "Class, I would like to present our special guests today: Zecora, Champion Spike Sparkle, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Say good morning, children!" "Good morning!" the foals chorused. "Uh, hey, guys," Spike waved a claw at them. "(Um, Cheerilee, do you think you could lay off on our titles next time?)" he whispered to her under his breath. "Spike, we're behind schedule! We need to get everything ready!" Twilight whined. "And a good morning to you very special foals," Zecora greeted the class with flawless ease. "Let us hope that we can make a wondrous day unfold. "Not too long ago, our dear Miss Cheerilee approached Twilight Sparkle with a proposition, don't you see? She would like Twilight to teach the magic of your pony races each." Scootaloo raised a hoof. "So Twilight is going to teach us how to do the magic that pertains to our race?" Zecora chuckled, skillfully ignoring the movement and noises of the two mares and dragon behind her. "Nay, sweet Scootaloo, I'm afraid that would be far too much for a single pony to do!" "But you and Miss Cheerilee just said we're going to be learning about magic!" Diamond Tiara protested. "Indeed you are—" "Yes!" Twilight suddenly popped up from behind her presentation easel. "You are going to be learning about magic, but as for how to do magic, well..." "You might want to go to somepony else for that," Spike supplied as he and Cheerilee finished the setup. "Besides, from what I've seen with her sessions with Granny Smith and Rainbow Dash, her earth and pegasus magic needs a lot of work." The alicorn glared at her brother. "Thanks, Spike, I really appreciate—" "Our princess visited my home in Everfree seeking wisdom and guidance from me," Zecora continued, her aura of calm unshakeable. "I said before she begins, she must tell you all of your origins." "Um, Miss Zecora?" Dinky once again raised a tentative hoof in the air. "Yes?" "What story are you going to be telling us?" the violet filly mumbled softly. "Oh, I will not be today's literary architect, instead I'll just be handling the special effects!" And Zecora laughed, causing every other foal to laugh along with her. "Instead that honor belongs to none other than Princess Twilight. No doubt her story will bring great curiosity and delight!" the zebra concluded as she joined Spike and Cheerilee in the background. "Thank you, Zecora," the alicorn nodded. "A few days ago, I visited Zecora and told her about this little project I'm doing, and she suggested instead of diving in horn-first into the basics of our pony magic, I should start with the oldest story known to Equestria, a story that may be oldest-known to all of the world. Spike, Cheerilee, could you please shut the curtains?" "Sure thing!" One by one, the curtains were drawn shut until at last, the schoolhouse was dark. The class passed some time in silence. Finally, from the extremely dim lighting of the classroom, they saw Zecora gather something in her hooves. She brought her muzzle close to her hooves and stared at it. It slowly began to glow. She then took a sharp inhalation, scattered glowing dust with her breath. The foals looked on in the wonder at the dark green mist that now creeped at their hooves and desks. "No mortal in the world can say for certain what it was like when Equus was first made," Twilight began. "Even Discord, Queen Celestia, and Queen Luna— each of them old and powerful gods filled with deep magic— couldn't tell when or how the world started. Nevertheless, with scant evidence (and sometimes no evidence at all), everyone in the world has ideas on how everything began. "Some say that Equus was once a place even more wild and wonderful than it is now— filled with beasts and plants and souls we no longer have the imagination for. A few believe that a great civilization, one dominated by two-leggers, ruled the world and then destroyed it. But the theory with the most evidence is the one stating that Equus was nothing but a barren, inhospitable waste. Regardless of what one believes, something that everyone does know was that in the beginning, there was Lord Grogar, the Ram of Death and the ruler of the Asphodel Fields." Zecora blew another puff of powder, and this time, a stolid, silent image of the death god meandered between the desks. "Before ponies, the world was a lifeless and miserable place. The skies were wild and untamed, leading to massive and destructive tempests that destroyed everything in their wake." Grogar dissipated into nothingness and Zecora blew smoke to the ceiling of the schoolhouse. Miniscule bolts of lightning occasionally crackled from the smoke clouds overhead. "The seas were constantly churning and unpredictable, causing great tsunamis to crash into the shores, rivers to disappear and reappear, and floods to come and go with no rhyme or reason." Zecora trotted down the center of the classroom, and where she passed through, the green mist turned into tumultuous waves. "The earth was brown, barren, and lifeless— utterly incapable of nourishing any creature." The shaman silently cantered along the edges of the room, spreading dust that turned the green mist of that area into an ugly, murky brown. "But worst of all were the heavens." Zecora stomped a hoof and at that sharp sound, and everything instantly condensed into three spheres: one gold, one silver, and one of brown and blue. The three of them floated around in random, aimless directions. "For some reason or another, Equus was not in line with either its sun or moon. Instead, it floated around without a set path. Without the sun and moon to regulate the ebb and flow of the planet, Equus was almost destroyed." The three orbs disappeared, only to melt back into the creeping green mist of earlier. "But even though all seemed lost, something mysterious happened: ponies were born. "In the wild skies, it is said that someone, no one knows who, scattered feathers in the tempestuous wind and clouds. From those feathers, pegasi took flight! With each flap of their wings, they tamed the storms and skies." From above, the foals watched as misty apparitions of pegasi dove through the air, dissipating an tumultuous storm. "In the seething seas and waves, someone scattered the hairs of a tail into the waters. The moment each hair came into contact with the ocean, sea ponies sprung up! With a flick of their tails, they quieted the churning sea and became the guardians of the world's waters Sea ponies now swam underneath desks as they stilled imaginary waters. "On the earth, hooves were said to have been mixed in with the soil and earth ponies sprouted up. With each step they took, life followed and they dutifully nourished all living things." Through the mists, earth ponies galloped in herds throughout the classroom, summoning trees and animals in their wake. "Finally, it is said that a horn was exposed to the light of twilight, the time when the light of the three Divine Lights— the sun, moon, and stars— shone. From that horn, the unicorns were said to spring into existence, and with that, they lit their horns and became masters of the heavens." Small unicorns, each of them the size of dolls, materialized on everypony's desk and the three spheres appeared once again. This time, the sun and moon glided in perfect orbit around Equus. "The four races— the pegasi, the sea ponies, the earth ponies, and the unicorns— brought harmony to the world. " The fillies and colts marveled at the ethereal apparitions that Zecora had crafted for them, each of them drinking in the lively images. But all good things must come to an end, and Zecora snapped a curtain open. Her creations vanished in the morning light and everypony sat in silence for a moment. At last, Scootaloo, never one to sit still for long, grinned. "That. Was. Awesome!" she proclaimed as she clapped her hooves in appreciative applause. Everypony (and dragon) in the room joined her. "That was so cool!" Snips and Snails agreed in unison. "You've got to show me how to do that!" Applebloom exclaimed with excitement. "Like, I wish my parents were able to see this!" Diamond Tiara grinned at the zebra. "Mine too!" Silver Spoon concurred. "I wish my whole family was here for that!" Sweetie Belle proclaimed. Zecora looked away, a bashful blush coloring her white and black cheeks. "My illusions were lovely, I suppose, but credit to the mare who had this tale told. A cheer for Twilight Sparkle, and Miss Cheerilee too. They wanted to make this just for you." Another round of applause filled the schoolhouse and both princess and teacher smiled at the children. "Thank you, Zecora," Twilight nodded at the zebra. "We couldn't have done this without you. Now do you have any questions about the story?" Foal in the room raised their hoof. "Um, yes, you, with the peppermint sticks for a cutie mark. What is your name and what is your question?" "My name ith Twi-Twi-Twist, printh-princess" she managed to articulate properly. "How long ago did all that thuff happen?" "Excellent question, Twist," Twilight nodded. "Truthfully, nopony can pinpoint an exact date as to when this all happened, and many academics— academics are those who dedicate their lives to learning— doubt the validity of these stories. Nevertheless, some ponies guess that all this happened over ten thousand years ago, maybe even longer than that!" "Ten thousand years ago?" Sweetie Belle interrupted without raising her hoof. "How many zeroes is that again?" "Four," Spike supplied as he drew the number on the board. "That's, um...!" Applebloom began as she looked up at the ceiling in thought. "That's one-hundred hundreds!" "Very good, Applebloom!" Cheerilee beamed. "Yeah, great job on the math," Spike complimented her with a nod of approval. "Anyway, like Twilight said, at the very earliest guess, all this stuff could have happened ten thousand years ago, but for all we know, the whole shebang could have been twenty thousand years ago, or fifty thousand years ago, or even a hundred thousand years ago!" The class tried to wrap their minds around the numbers. Applebloom, quick as a whip, did the math again. "A hundred thousand years ago? That's, uh... that's... a thousand centuries?" she finished, uncertain with her answer. The dragon and three mares at the front nodded. "Gosh... that's a lot," the Apple filly concluded. "Any other questions?" More hooves shot up in the air and Twilight decided on the next foal to pick. "Yes, Scootaloo?" "You said everypony— everyone in the world knows that Lord Grogar was the first one around, but you also said that nopony knows who actually scattered the feathers and planted the hooves and stuff. How do you know that Lord Grogar wasn't the one that made ponies?" "Good point, Scootaloo," Twilight nodded in approval. "There are two reasons why we know for certain that he had no hoof, or actually a limited hoof, in creating ponydom. First and foremost, he has said so himself, and sec—" "Woah! Really?!" Snails exclaimed. "He can talk? I thought ponies just heard his bells whenever he was about to collect the soul of a dead guy!" "Snails, what did I tell you about interrupting?" Cheerilee admonished with a stern look. "Oh, um, sorry, Princess Twilight," the chubby blue colt apologized with a deep bow. The alicorn gave him a gentle smile. "You don't have to bow, Snails; just raise your hoof next time. And to answer your question, yes, Lord Grogar can indeed talk. While he prefers to use his bells to announce his presence, he will, from time-to-time, grace someone with either wisdom, warning, or knowledge. On one of the few instances he decided to speak, he told Meadowbrook— a powerful wizard from long ago— that he had no significant part in creating us. Lord Grogar stated he merely set the stage. Now Scootaloo, what was your question again?" "How do we know that Lord Grogar didn't make us?" "Ah yes. Like I just told Snails, Lord Grogar said so himself, but even before he denied playing a major role in our creation, ponies were mostly certain it was impossible for him to do so. Why did our ancestors draw that conclusion? Well, just like the moon can't grow crops and the sun can't control the tides, the ability to give life is simply beyond Lord Grogar's ability. For death to create life is completely antithetical— that is to say 'completely against'— what he is. He may be the oldest and most powerful of the gods of Equus, but even gods have their limits and Lord Grogar is no exception. Does that answer your question? Excellent! Anypony else? How about you... Miss Hooves? Your last name is Hooves, isn't it?" "Yes, Mrs. Doctor Princess Twilight Sparkle. How did you know?" Twilight laughed. "I'm not a doctor of anything, Miss Hooves, and furthermore, 'Mrs.' is a title reserved to married mares. Just call me 'Miss Twilight.'" "Sorry," the filly murmured with a blush. "It's okay," the alicorn assured her. "You look just like your mother, Derpy. What is your name, little filly?" "Dinky, Miss Twilight," Dinky responded into her desk. "Speak up, Dinky," Cheerilee gently prodded from behind the princess. "Sorry," she mumbled again, this time slightly louder. "Miss Twilight, I think I might have two questions." "Okay. What's your first one?" "The feathers, the tail hairs, the hooves, the horn... did all that stuff come from a pony?" "In all frankness, Dinky, nopony really knows. However, I personally don't think so. Ponies did not exist before they were made to bring harmony to Equus, so how could all those parts come from a pony?" "Well it's just that—" "Speak up, Dinky," Cheerilee reminded her again. "It's just that... it sounds an awful lot like somepony's, maybe an alicorn's body parts were separated to make the four races, kinda like how the Apple family takes parts from old apple trees to make new ones. And Miss (Mrs?) Granny Smith Apple told us that Sweet Apple Acres wasn't always around, so all the trees must have come from either one grandma tree or from a few grandma trees." "They came from a few grandma trees," Applebloom quickly supplied. Twilight frowned in concentration as she listened to Dinky's parallel. "Is this related to your second question or your first?" "Um, both, I think." The princess studied her intently. "What is your second question?" "Well, you and the other alicorns are more than your wings, tails, hooves, and horns..." "Right." "So if somepony's body was used to make the four races, what happened to the rest of that pony?" The cogs began turning in Twilight's head as she pondered Dinky's words. She began to pace around the room. Spike, knowing his sister was already gone, took over. "Those are very good points you're bringing up, Dinky, but like Twilight said earlier: the beginnings of Equus and ponydom are mired in mystery. Maybe there was some sort of grandmother alicorn of all ponydom, or maybe there wasn't, but either way, there currently isn't enough evidence to answer your question accurately, sorry. But who knows? Maybe you'll learn the answer in the future," he finished with a wink. "Mmm, maybe you should move on the next points," Cheerilee proposed, watching her princess pace and rub her chin thoughtfully. "Good suggestion. Perhaps it is time we change direction," Zecora agreed. "Okay, guys," Spike went over to the presentation easel and had Zecora turn the page. "Like Twilight said earlier, there are four races, but did you also know about the four elements and the four domains?" Sweetie Belle raised a hoof and Spike nodded for her to speak. "Aren't there six Elements?" "There are six Elements of Harmony, if that's what you're talking about, but there are other types of elements out there: the periodic table of elements, the four natural elements, the element of surprise..." The class erupted into giggles. "The elements of which he speaks are the elements of your races each. Air, water, earth, and fire— those are the four natural elements, my child." "Exactly. As everypony knows, all ponies have magic, and your magic stems from the four natural elements. Pegasi have air magic, and they use their wings to manipulate the air molecules (did you learn about molecules yet?) to fly, move clouds, and create lightning. Sea ponies have water magic and apparently use their tails to do their magic, but since sea ponies are so mysterious about themselves, that's about all we could tell you about them. Earth ponies have earth magic, and they use their hooves as conduits, but their magic is weird in that it extends to plants and animals— that'll be explained later in the week. And unicorns have fire magic which they use to produce the light and the will for magic. If you have any questions, write them down and save them for later; Twilight is more of an authority on this stuff than I am. "Now in addition to the four races drawing their power from the four natural elements, there are also four domains. Does anypony know anything about the four domains?" Dinky raised a hesitant hoof. "Yes, Dinky?" "The four domains are heaven, earth, sea, and sky." "You got it!" Spike grinned at her. "Can you tell me anything else about the domains?" She quickly shook her head and the lesson continued. "As the tale illustrated, the four races had a domain to straighten. The pegasi were born to tame the skies, the sea ponies exist to guardian the seas, the ponies of earth were made to nourish and serve the earth, and unicorns were born to fix heaven with their horns. And thus to stop the world from breaking, a domain and element for each of the pony races." Twilight snapped out of her thought processes. "Oh! I'm so sorry, children, the lesson!" "I think your brother and Zecora did a fantastic job in finishing today's lesson in magic," Cheerilee assured her with a wink. "Besides, it's lunchtime everypony! Class dismis—!" "Wait!" Snails shot a desperate hoof in the air. Cheerilee raised her brows in surprise. Normally, he was one of the first to go racing outside for lunch and recess. Nevertheless, she paused her dismissal and addressed him. "Yes, Snails?" "Mr. Sparkle, you said that there would be more explanations later this week. Is that true?" Twilight smiled as she answered his question. "Of course! It takes more than one day to learn about magic, and I plan on having you learn about the magic from all the races." Scootaloo sat up in her seat, her wings fluttering slightly. "Really?" she asked, her violet eyes shining with excitement. "Yes, Scootaloo," the alicorn assured her. "Today was only the first part in a six-part—" "Six?" "— educational series. We only covered the basics today, but over the next four days, we are going to talk about each individual race and their magic. Tomorrow should be of particular interest to you, Scootaloo, because tomorrow we are going to learn about pegasus magic." Excited chatter rose up from the students, particularly from the pegasi. "Be prepared for the princess' lecture tomorrow; it will take place after lunch! Dismissed!"