Chapter 18 - Class In Session
From behind my eyelids I could feel the sunlight strike my senses. My sightless vision turned from pitch black to a pale, dark orange as the light beat against the lids. The contrast bore into my skull as I tried to clench my eyes tighter to try and defend myself from the assault, but it only ended up hurting my eyes all the more. I tossed and turned myself to one side, burying my head against the tree until at last the blackness overtook my sight once more.
A long, drowsy yawn escaped my mouth. Perhaps it was about time I woke up. Ugh, but the taste of morning breath ever lingered on the palette of my tongue, horrific and decaying. Some milk and frosted flakes wouldn't go amiss right now. Maybe some breakfast with my new 'best friend'? Hah, such a thought still left a sense of humour in my mind. As those thoughts wandered, another softer yawn passed my lips, coupled with a gentle smile that sprawled across my lips. Slowly my eyes began to open, letting in those blinding rays of sunrise light little by little until my vision was undeterred by it.
"Good… Good morning, Luna," I spoke groggily, my voice straining a little as my arms stretched forwards, then upwards. My back arced a little against the trunk of the tree, a couple of stiff joints popping as I reached the peak. As my body relaxed, my eyes fully opened. But there was no sight of the princess. My head scanned from left to right, taking in the view of the crystal clear skies, the glistening horizon, the fluttering petals of the flowers and the blades of grass before me, and the bustling morning town below. And yet I caught no sight of her. "I guess… it was all just a dream…?" It was a thought that lingered in the back of my mind, but one that I couldn't come to terms with until the moment I spoke it. And when I did, it made more sense. Of course it was just a dream—I was asleep, after all. But then that realisation became bitter like dark chocolate on the tip of my tongue. Why would any princess come talk to me without us even meeting?
As I pushed off of the tree trunk, I felt something scrape and scratch along my shoulder blades. Reaching back with a hand, I felt something sticking up from the back of my shirt. A finger and thumb pinched something thin yet flexible and soft like wool. As my hand came back my eyes locked onto a dark indigo feather I held between my fingers. Slowly I tilted and waved it from one direction to another, followed by the smell of the night sky with each swish. I couldn't help but just chuckle to myself. "Hah. I guess she was real…"
That fact was all that was needed for that bitter taste to turn to sweetness. More than enough to make a big smile on my face, and more than enough for a great start to a new day. But man, I really needed a nice cool glass of milk. Or orange juice. All that vitamin goodness.
I remembered the hill being a lot more steeper than this though. Or maybe it was just all the exhaustion I had yesterday that made it feel like a complete pain to climb, but now the hill felt much easier and much less taxing on my legs to get down it. Part of the grass was cut short, making a sort of makeshift pathway that lead from the peak down to the town below. The pathway began to quickly shift from a path of short grass, to light sand and dirt, to lightly scattered paving stones the closer I approached the town. But like the path, so did my heart change—I was hesitant about setting foot back in. It was like two opposing magnets, with me trying to push against the other but never connecting. My heart raced and my blood flooded into my brain from the tension, the nervousness, the… fear. I feared what would happen if any of those ponies I met yesterday found me again. I know Rarity would likely flay me and use my skin for a new dress line up after what I did to her window, and Applejack would probably kick my rear in for at least an hour after I buried her under all that hay. And Fluttershy… Ugh, just the thought gives me chills!
But I couldn't just run away forever. After all, Princess Twilight was the only pony who could help me even if it was only in the slightest. I had to get back into town and hope that she wasn't too miffed about me running away, and hope that she would still be inclined to help me get home. I was conflicted, but it was one of those times where I just had to charge head first—and not through a window, with any luck. My lungs inhaled sharply, taking a deep breath as a single foot stomped hard onto the cobblestones with an audible tap. With a huge sigh of relief, I took a second step. Then a third. Gosh, it was like learning how to walk again. With this new sense of mobility, I strode on into Ponyville. Just gotta keep the happy thoughts going…
As a matter of fact, this was actually the first time for me taking a stroll through the main square. Running—now that was something I did plenty of before, but taking a nice, casual, relaxing walk? This was something I could get used to. Well, that would be nice if I wasn't getting all the judgmental stares from the ponies all around me. My eyes shifted to each and every one of them as they entered my sight, and every one of them I could read. Perhaps some of them knew it too, their eyes changing from a look of bewilderment and callousness to one of embarrassment or fear as they locked with mine.
"Ugh… This is so stupid. What's with everyone giving me dirty looks every time I walk past?"
"C'mon, Jay-Jay, don't take it so personal. They're all just upset because you're gonna rock the costume contest. After all, you did spend a ridiculously long time—and money—making this. You gotta be more confident! You're gonna rock the contest!"
"… You really think so?"
"You're gonna rock harder than a Metallica tour! You've got this in the bag!"
A sudden shooting pain ruptured through the side of my head. I clenched the side of it, fingers tightening against my skull until the pain of my digging fingers overwhelmed the ache, but it just wouldn't shift. A painful grunt passed through gritted teeth as I tried hard to scratch and claw at my lobe, to do something to try and get rid of the pain, but nothing happened.
"…ey… Hey… You okay there…?" A low, soft, gentle voice carried on the winds and passed my ear. As those words filtered through into my head, the pain began to release its hold on me, almost as if driven back. Slowly my head shifted to the side until I caught a glimpse of a coat of cerise. My eyes shifted further and further up, met with a tuft of petal-like pink hair that covered her forehead and hung at the sides of her neck, draped over her withers. Likewise, her own green apple eyes shifted up to meet with mine. "Do you need to see a nurse?"
I couldn't help but some sense of familiarity about her. The tone and pitch of her voice, the language she used, and the overall aura of her made me feel like I had to talk to her respectfully. "N… No, miss," I muttered under my breath as my hand relinquished the hold on my skull. The pain stopped, but now my head felt bruised. "I'm sure I'll be alright."
"Hmm… Well, if you say so," she replied somewhat hastily, and yet she never took her eyes off of me. She was definitely different, never looking at me like the others did. While the others looked upon me with contempt, she was more… concerned. "You looked like you were in a bit of pain, though. We should probably check your temperature just in case."
"No, really, I—" but before I could even finish my sentence I found myself with a glass thermometer tucked under my tongue. "Ack! Ah thed ahm thine!"
"Now, now, we can't be too careful! You could be running a fever for all we know!" The back of her hoof pressed into my forehead, all the while I could do nothing but just look at her. I hoped that she would leave me alone after, but the look on her face began to twist a little, her eyes squinting ever slightly as her lips grimaced. "Hmm… A little high, but you should be fine."
I groaned a little before spitting out the thermometer, letting it clink off of the stone floor. I was fairly surprised that it didn't break, actually. "Well I'm glad we got that out of the way," I blurted rather bluntly. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Miss Cheerilee. I'm a teacher at the Ponyville schoolhouse." Ah, a teacher. so that's why she felt so authoritative. "Perhaps you'd like to introduce yourself to the rest of the class?" she questioned with a smirk turned smile as she chuckled to herself. "A teacher joke, you see?"
A good joke to use on twelve year olds, maybe. "Right… I'm Summers. Pleasure to meet you, Miss Cheerilee."
"Oh, you don't need to call me 'Miss', Summers. We're out of class." A rather awkward smile crept along my lips as I felt a little embarrassed. It was like being back in primary school again… Ugh. "Why don't you have some breakfast with me; tell me about yourself while we eat, too."
I told her what I told most of the other ponies I had met as I sat across from her in what looked and smelled like a diner, munching on a slice of a fried egg sandwich. I was surprised to see her more intrigued than puzzled, but even more so that she was open to confronting me than sitting idly by like the others. I had to ask, though. "So you're not the slightest bit scared of me?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," she replied back, feeling more like a scolding than a statement.
"S-sorry." I gulped down whatever food I had before I nodded for her to continue.
"Thank you. To answer your question: not particularly."
" 'Particularly'?" I repeated. Seemed an odd choice of words given the circumstance.
"Well, you see, we have quite a few different… um… 'creatures' come to Ponyville from all sorts of places, like the griffons, sometimes dragons, the occasional Ursa Minor, and a few others, so I'm used to seeing all sorts of scary stuff—others, however, perhaps not so much. But you don't look scary to me." She looked almost smug as her words strolled on, only vanishing for a moment as she took a sip through the straw for her apple juice. "And besides, I'm a teacher. I can't be a good role model for my students if I went around treating others badly because of their appearance."
"Hah, a fair point," I mused for a moment as my hand lightly pinched at the soft white of another slice. But as I rose it to head height I began to think rather than eat. "But there are still those who will judge others on appearance alone. I understand first impressions is just an integral part of the way we work, but to make a final judgment on that alone? It's absurd."
"I couldn't agree more, but I can't say that I myself haven't judged a book by its cover from time to time. And I'm sure you have too. We all have, despite us not wanting others to do it to ourselves. It's just one of those self-hypocritical things, I guess."
"Or perhaps we just haven't had good teachers like you when we grew up."
An audible chuckle rumbled from Cheerilee as she reared her head from her drink. A few of the other ponies that sat at a couple of tables around us turned, gazing at the two of us. Not that I cared, by any means. I was having a nice breakfast with a nice pony, and that's all that mattered right now. "Oh, such a sweet talker, you are," she giggled, almost teasing with her tone. It made me feel a little unsettled, to be honest. "But I'm glad we got to talk. I don't often get to socialise, what with all the work and marking to do."
"Yeah, I can imagine," I empathised before finally taking a bite out of the sandwich in my hand.
For a while the both of us remained silent, eating away at our breakfast in what felt like a silent exchange of small talk. Despite neither one of us extending a voice for conversation, I felt maybe the two of us were bonding little by little as we sat together. Every so often I glanced up to watch her take a bite out of her lettuce and tomato sandwich, at times catching her looking up at me in the same vein and sharing a smile.
"Heehee… You got a bit of sauce on your nose, Jay."
"Uh… Hmm…? Did I get it?"
"Not even close! Here, let me get it for you."
"Oh, Summers? Do you want me to pay for your food?"
I managed to catch wind of Cheerilee as I returned from my own mind. I looked around a little, noticing a pale yellow sheet of paper at the edge of the table between the two of us. A mare with a white apron stood at the tableside, looking at me expectantly. My head shifted down to each side of my pockets, back and forth as if I was going to somewhat magically wind my wallet after double checking. I couldn't help but sigh in contempt at myself as I gazed back up to her. "Sorry…"
"Oh, it really is no big deal," she assured me as she reached into a little pouch around her waist, taking a couple of coins from it and placing them on top of the bill. "I didn't really expect you to have money anyway, being from a completely different planet and all." I know she was trying to make me feel better, but it only made me feel worse; she didn't know who I was until after she offered to buy me breakfast. "And a couple of bits isn't a lot for a couple of rounds of egg sandwiches anyway."
"I'll pay you back," I blurted out as she scooted from her seat. My mind wasn't engaged at that point, but my heart was. That's what counted.
"It's nothing, really. Although…" She hummed for a moment as she got to her hooves. She sauntered over to me slowly, her tail swishing from side to side a little more than usual. Now I was really unsettled. "How about a cuddle for the good time? I bet a creature like you gives good cuddles with those long arms of yours."
Long arms? Come on, they weren't that long. They were… average, I'd say. But in any case, it was the least I could do for her. Rather unenthusiastically I stood up from my seat, and turned to her, arms outstretched before slowly wrapping them around the back of her neck and withers. Her, not so much—her forelegs wrapped around me so quick and so tight it was like getting caught in a bear trap. A fuzzy purple bear trap that smelled like daffodils.
"Thought so," I heard her whisper into my ear. "You do give good cuddles." Her forelegs uncurled around me after she praised me, planting them back on the floor before sighing a little. "I guess it's off to school for me. Hope to see you again soon!"
"Yeah… You too," I replied with a gentle wave as she made her way from the diner. With an exasperated sigh of almost euphoric relief as I plonked myself back down on the chair, returning to whatever I had left on my plate. As I picked up the next slice, I caught one of the other ponies glancing over at me past a pair of shades. After a moment of locked eyes he gestured at me with a fist pump and a wink.
"Oh God, what a morning…"
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Good to see you alive!
Aww, Summers' coming out of his shell!
6209335 I'm good to see me alive too!
What a morning indeed
And now he is chased around again. Please?
YAY! New chapter and he gets a cuddle from Miss Cheerlie.
Won't be long before he gives other ponies cuddles.
Well, this was casual and nice. Food for hugs is a great deal no matter how you cut it.
Though I gotta say, I'd like to see chapters like Trixie's and Scootaloo's again, you know, with ponies that need a warm, comforting cuddle.
He's having such a good morning.
It would be just awful if he were to step outside only to be confronted by the ponies he rejected...
Murphy's Law! Murphy's Law! Murphy's Law! Those denied a cuddle must be waiting in ambush for him outside.
Ah, always nice to see an new chapter.
6209831
You know what this calls for? Group Hug!
I will be laughing my ass off if the first thing that he hears after stepping outside is....
I'd hug Cherilee too, even without the bribe of a free fried-egg sandwich (which are AWESOME).
And if no one else has mentioned it, there's a rather obvious pattern showing up as we go along; ponies that demand a hug are rejected while the ones that try to make friends first get a hug.
And since we bumped into Cherilee, he might want to avoid the schoolhouse. Weaponized cuteness bending the will of weak humans for scritches and hugs... Just sayin'...
Well, definitely better than panicking and getting the heck out of dodge.
Also what's Summers' aversion to cuddles? Hugs and cuddles are awesome!
Still a lovely chapter, and good to see you again! Well, at least in the form of your writing
6210485 Heh. seem i became a popular person,
Everyone has things they can and cannot do. i'll do what you can't do and you do what i can't do.
6211508 i see your comments on some of the fanfics i read too
6209349 well you might of jynxed it
Thank you for keep going.........thank you......i love you.
6211781 So? what you need for?
It just a comment about story line.
Nice chapter, but there's a couple of minor things you may want to edit.
That should be "black".
And that should be "I". I look forward to reading what happens next.
6214921 Thank you, and fixed! Always good to have someone else find the stuff I miss.
well... looks like he i giving in to the cuddles
oops i was trying to say was well... looks like he is giving in to the cuddles
Summers, here's an idea: "Will cuddle for food".
Enjoy an endless supply of cupcakes and muffins
I just love Miss Cheerilee, and I love how she's portrayed here. Nice work.
6216841 The notion of a sign that reads, "Will cuddle for sex." struck me as irrationally hilarious... namely because in this world it would probably be terrifyingly successful.
Death by snu-snu, indeed.
6220877 Well, here's it would be a sign saying "Will cuddle for food" instead and I recon it'll be just as successful with a certain set of mares
i8.photobucket.com/albums/a48/Crescent_Moon/will-cuddle-for-food52.jpg
6216310 It fits the established pattern. What Summers here doesn't consciously realize -- or at least, is unable to find the words to express -- is that he's fine with it when he's gotten to know the pony to some extent. Conversely, he's rather uncomfortable with it when they try to cuddle with him right off the bat, as some of the ponies in this story seem to be intent on.
This is a really great story of the attack of the cuddlings.
I wonder what other ponies with try to cuddle Jamie Summers and that he dodges. I just hope that everything in Ponyville will just calm down or that he will be hunted in a contest of hugs. I just hope that he will be alright with Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity.
STOP BEING CUDDLED YOU MORON!!!!!!!!
how much longer will we have to wate not that i am complaining but with my health a may be dead be for the next chapter is out
I hope this continues. I want to read more of this story.
Update?
6921443 I raze you 8 espàrda
I love this story.