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Bittersweet Taste1,462 words
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Cheer me on1,418 words

Cheer me on

Roseluck sighed happily as she looked around the park. So many couples everywhere. Just minutes ago she was about enraged about it, but now, now there was a bit of joy in the moment. She smiled peacefully as she reached beside her, grabbing one of the many paper airplanes she and Cheerilee had folded from the teacher's paper supplies. She sighted her targets, threw the plane, and watched as the gentle breeze caused the plane to bank and shift. Her face screwed up in intense focus as she tried to make the wind blow one more time through sheer force of will. Big Macintosh and Berryshine jumped apart in surprise as the plane zipped by overhead, just missing the two of them. Roseluck pumped her hoof in joy. "Yesssss, right between them, five points!" Cheerilee rolled her eyes as she looked around and tried to pick her own targets. Rose chuckled to herself. Target rich environments were so much fun.

♥♥♥

Between the movie, the parade, and the time spent interfering with couples in the park, the sun was already dipping to the horizon. Roseluck and Cheerilee stretched out on the park bench with smiles. "Alright, that was a pretty rousing way to spend Hearts and Hooves. Thanks Cheerilee."

"Thanks yourself, Roseluck, but we still have dinner to go."

Roseluck shot the teacher a suspicious glare. "Are you sure you're not trying to turn this into a date of some kind?" Cheerilee simply rolled her eyes.

"As lunch showed, these two pony deals are pretty worthwhile."

The gardener smiled and waved a hoof dismissively. "Alright, alright, fine, but dinner is the end of it."

Cheerilee chuckled in return, and nodded. "Agreed."

♥♥♥

The obvious problem soon reared its ugly head. While lunch was still an informal event at the best of times, dinner was a matter of reservations and slow eating. Especially on Hearts and Hooves day. Cheerilee sighed as she eyeballed the fifth overfilled restaurant with a line of waiting ponies extending well to the other side of the street. "I fear we didn't think this through entirely."

Roseluck pouted as she glared at the ponies staring into each other's eyes over emptied dinner plates. "There wouldn't be this much of a problem if they just went to stare at each other somewhere else."

Cheerilee winced as she looked at the almost ravaged grocery store. "And romantic picnics appear to be popular as well. ...I might have an apple or two in the fruit bowl. Probably." Cheerilee chewed on her lower lip in frustration. That wasn't much of a dinner.

Roseluck grumbled, then gasped. Her eyes widened in surprise as her face split into a grin. "Cheerilee, I'll meet you by the lake in about 20 minutes, alright?" Without any further warning the gardener took off, leaving the confused teacher behind.

"Al... right?"

♥♥♥

Cheerilee looked around the lake. As the sun set in the distance, couples had snuggled up to one another, or moved into the shallows of the lake to play with each other as the celestial spectacle performed its vanishing act. Further from the banks, ponies shared bites from their picnic baskets, or relaxed with juice bottles and cider. Rather than feeling the pang of loneliness from earlier once more, Cheerilee couldn't help but smile. She might not have a special somepony, but spending time today with Roseluck was more fun than not.

"Hey, Cheerilee!" Roseluck smiled as the teacher turned her way, her eyes widening in surprise at the bouquet of roses. She flicked the surprised expression from the flowers to the flower bearer, who smiled sheepishly.

"Considering how much you complained I can't say I expected this."

Rose rolled her eyes and made a dismissive noise. "Don't flatter yourself. This is dinner. But, well, it's also thank you."

"What for?" Cheerilee picked one of the roses from the bouquet. Her teeth gently separated the aromatic bloom from the stem and she chewed slowly. Delicious.

Roseluck smiled as she took a seat beside Cheerilee. The teacher favored her with a slight smile as they both stared up at the sunset. "You're not my special somepony. But today... today would've been a lot worse if I were just glaring angrily at everyone walking by. So thank you, for being a special somepony for me." A blush drifted across her face before Rose leaned over, putting her head on Cheerilee's shoulder.

Cheerilee, though surprised, leaned her own head onto Rose's. "You're quite welcome. And thank you for being a special somepony for me too."

The pair smiled softly as the sun drifted below the horizon. Rose took one of the roses with a frown, and bit the flower off. The sweet flavor was wonderful.

♥♥♥

Epilogue

"Aaaand that should do it!" Discord chuckled to himself as he finished drawing a red line between the last two names in the book. He was lounging on his stomach, one leg kicked up into the air like a young filly writing in her diary. "Not missing any names this time around."

He was a bit unfamiliar in the Golden Oaks Library, but since it did have the census reports for Ponyville, it was simply more convenient. Plus Twilight had been missing for some reason or another. He perked up as the door to the library started to open, revealing Fluttershy. "Oh, good evening Discord." She blinked a few times at the draconequus armed with a pen, laying in front of an open book. "O-oh my. You're not writing in one of the library books, are you?"

"Good evening Fluttershy. Oh no, I'm not that crazy." He smiled, tugging on the end of his pen. A small red string extended out. "This is hardly ink."

"A red string?"

"An old Neighponese belief about destined souls. It's rather colorful. Would you care to hear about it?"

"Thank you, but, well, not right now. Do you know where Twilight is?"

"Afraid not."

Fluttershy's expression fell, but she smiled weakly to Discord. "Okay. Thank you again. Umm. I guess I'll go look for.. Rarity. Rarity might be good." The confused mare headed back out of the library. Discord climbed to his feet and stretched out with a smug smile.

"Oh these ponies are so easy to manipulate. Especially when it's for their own good. This was almost as fun as Discording them had been." Discord giggled like a schoolfilly at the prospect of the chaos that was sure to happen when his little love enhancing wore off tomorrow morning. "So full of love and harmony, give them a little nudge and they simply can't hold it back."

He snapped his fingers, a dark cloak and swagger stick appearing on his back and in his paw respectively. He considered a moment, then snapped his fingers again, finishing the ensemble with a tophat, and a pair of heart-shaped glasses on his face. "Better." With a cheerful whistle he exited the library with no small amount of pomp.

A bush beside the front door to the library shook from side to side before revealing the head of Princess Twilight Sparkle, who glared at the back of the smug draconequus. Covering her horn was a somewhat familiar purple wizard's hat with blue and yellow stars. "Oh you just wait, Discord. I'll figure out what you're up to this time."

Trixie's blue head popped up with a tired expression beside that of the princess. "Did something happen?"

With a small smile Twilight nuzzled up to the showmare. "Library's free. And I have a couch that's quite a bit more comfortable than a bush."

Trixie chuckled as she lead the way into the library, followed by Twilight wearing Trixie's hat and cape. "So Trixie still has to earn her costume back? There are worse punishments. Trixie shall wow you with a fabulous dinner!"

Twilight smiled as she closed the door behind her. Tomorrow. She could figure out Discord's plan tomorrow.

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