In Search of Time
In Search of Time
“Okay, my little ponies!” Cheerilee called, causing the foals still milling around the door to rush inside and retake their seats inside the modest schoolhouse. The teacher walked back and shut the door to the playground, signaling the official end of recess. “I have good news.”--All the foals started paying attention, backs straight, eyes focused on their teacher, ears perked forward--“and some bad news.” As one, the foals slumped down, eyes studiously looking everywhere but Cheerilee.
“The bad news,” Cheerilee continued, ignoring the groans and complaints, “is that the unit on the different ponies is going to be moved to the end of the year, so I need you all to turn in Ponies Big and Small to me.” Several fillies and colts began rooting around in their desks, pulling the small tomes to the top. “The good news, however, is that the unit is being moved because the book is being rewritten by myself and Miss Twilight Sparkle, with the approval of Princess Celestia.”
Cheerilee’s students “oohed” and “aahed,” and three certain fillies shot grins at one another over the heads of their classmates. “But it won’t be done until the end of the year,” the fuschia pony continued, causing the class to quiet down. “So until then, we will start working on other things, so get out your assignments from last night, and we can get started.”
More groans followed, but Cheerilee wasn’t paying attention. She was clearing the chalkboard to the tune of her happy thoughts, for she had special plans. All she had to do was get through the day...
*****
Four hours has the most amazing way of dragging by when you’re waiting for something, Cheerilee mused while she waited for the last few fillies and colts to grab their books and walk out the door. Every few seconds, she found herself glancing at the clock, watching the seconds tick by with the weight of centuries. At long last, Featherweight slung on his saddlebags and, with a cheery goodbye, left. Now, all that was left was for Cheerilee to settle in and wait.
Tick
Grading work, words blurring together, scores becoming an endless parade of numbers written on the paper itself, then in the large gradebook.
Tock
Wiping down the student’s desks, the chalkboard, and other surfaces used every day.
Tick
Sweeping up the debris around the coat area, and the little bits of paper and eraser shavings around the desks.
Tock
Searching the room, returning waylaid books to their proper place.
Tick
Making sure that all of the balls and other toys used for recess made it into the bins used for storage.
Tock
Exhausted from rushing around the schoolhouse swamped with busywork, Cheerilee finally sat down at her desk. She laid her head down on the large calendar holding the plans for every single day from the beginning of the school year until the end of the school year. Opening one eye and turning her head slightly, Cheerilee stole a glance at the clock, staring at it’s overly-simplistic face before letting out a groan.
Even after all of her bustling and work--trying to busy herself to make the time pass faster--it hadn’t been more than half an hour. Stupid broken clock, Cheerilee grumbled to herself, though she knew it wasn’t. After all, she had just rewound it when the Ponyville Clocktower struck three, as she did every day.
At this rate, her plans wouldn’t even matter. Cheerilee would be dead from boredom long before the clock chimed again.
*****
“Shadow, is something bothering you?” Shadow didn’t answer, instead preferring to stare at herself in the mirror. “Come on, Shade, you can’t stay in there forever.”
“Yes I can!” Shadow responded, shouting through the door.
Cheerilee glanced up at the clock again. Only five minutes to go. Suppressing another groan, she looked back down at her book.
“You’ve been in there for almost an hour! If you don’t come on, we’re going to miss our reservations.”
“Go yourself, Steel,” Shadow replied, still staring into the mirror.
“What’s up with you, Shade? You’ve been acting strange ever since--
Cheerilee’s reading was interrupted by a flurry of knocks. Trying, and failing, to force down a smile, she quickly stuck her book in her saddlebags and trotted over to the door. She reached out a hoof and quickly drew back the door, revealing the lavender pony standing beyond.
“Hey Cheerilee!” Twilight said. “Did I give you enough time to get everything done, or do you want me to come back later so you can--”
“Nope! Nope, you’re perfect... ly on time.” Cheerilee chuckled nervously, mentally berating herself. “So, uh, what’s the plan?”
“Well, the Princess is supposed to send what they had of the second edition of Ponies Big and Small over to the library sometime tonight, so I was thinking we could just stay there and wait until we get it, then look the manuscript over and start planning from there...?” Twilight looked at the teacher, an eager smile on her face. When Cheerilee didn’t respond, her expression wilted. “Or, if you’ve got something you’d rather do...”
“Stay there and wait until we get it....” Looking over at Twilight’s slowly drooping ears, Cheerilee snapped back to reality. “Oh, no, of course not. That sounds amazing,” she replied with a big grin.
“Shall we?” Twilight stepped back from the door, moving towards the side. Cheerilee walked out, locking the door before heading off towards the library, lavender unicorn by her side.
“So, when is the Princess sending over the manuscript?” Cheerilee asked as the duo approached the library.
“She didn’t say when, exactly, but I don’t think it will be too late,” Twilight replied. “Why? Do you have plans tonight?”
“No, but I do have to teach tomorrow.”
“Well, if we end up working too late, you can always stay at the library with me.” Cheerilee tried not to notice the lightest dusting of pink on Twilight’s cheeks.
“I can think of worse places to stay.” Cheerilee mentally jumped for joy when her friend’s blush darkened. Before the teacher had any more chances to see if she could turn Twilight’s face red, they arrived at the oaken door of the library.
Twilight threw it open with a hoof. “Would you like to come in?”
“I suppose.” The teacher stepped over the threshold, moving in far enough for Twilight to enter right behind her and shut the door. As always, the warm interior of the library calmed the teacher. Both the atmosphere, and the sheer amount of things to be learned and taught brought a smile to her face.
“Spike! I’m home, and I brought Cheerilee!” Twilight called into the depths of the library. Somewhere above, something crashed to the ground, followed by a flurry of movement just before Spike came sprinting down the stairs.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t sleeping, honest! I was just, uh,” the dragon quickly looked around the room, finally settling on a feather duster, sweeping it up with one claw. “Dusting your room!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say anything about you sleeping.”
“Well, good, because I wasn’t. I’ll just get back to it then.” Refusing to look back at his caretaker, Spike bolted up the stairs, to resume ‘dusting’. Silence reigned once again in the library, until the two mares looked at each other. The suppressed smiles on both of their faces caused them to burst out laughing, until the wooden walls echoed with their giggles.
Twilight was the first to return to her senses. Still stifling her last few chuckles, she moved towards the small kitchen. “Feel free to take a seat. You want something to eat? Drink?”
“Some water would be great.” Cheerilee leisurely strolled around the room, running one hoof lightly over the spines of the books housed in the main room. Every so often, one would grab her attention. The Practical Guide to Gardening, Foal Psychology: A Beginner’s Manual, How to Woo Your Love in Ten Easy Steps, Her Final Wish.
“What are you looking at?” Twilight asked, walking back into the large chamber, levitating two glasses of water before her.
“Just the last book in the series I’m reading,” the teacher replied, slipping the paperback into it’s place. “I didn’t know it was out already.”
“It came in last week.” Both glasses were set down on a small table between two chairs. “I’ve been trying to read Her Only Stallion, but I just can’t get into it.”
“Hmm, your interest couldn't be because I read it, could it?” Cheerilee asked with a wry grin.
“Of course not. Don’t be silly.” Seeing her friend’s hurt expression, Twilight quickly shot her an apologetic smile. “Sorry! Sorry, I was just teasing. To be honest, it sort of was, that trilogy has been getting a lot of attention. I figured I would find out what all the fuss is about.”
“Well, I enjoyed it, but I’m kind of a sucker for a good love story.”
“Really? Why didn’t you come here before? We have a whole section on romance stories.” To emphasize her point, she waved a hoof at the shelves behind Cheerilee.
“I just, well, I... You see...” Cheerilee stuttered and mumbled, looking down at her nervously shuffling hooves.
“Ahhh, I get it.” The teacher looked up, pupils small pinpricks. “You didn’t realize it, huh?” Cheerilee breathed a silent sigh of relief. “I understand. The romance section was actually stored away in the basement until I dragged it up when I put my lab down there. I just finished cataloguing all of the books a few weeks ago. You would not believe how messy this library was when I moved in...”
“Well, before you moved in, the library didn’t really have a librarian, it--”
“What!” Twilight shouted. Cheerilee grimaced, folding her ears flat against her head. “Sorry...”
“Before you came, nobody really wanted to be the librarian. Not many ponies here actually went, so it was a sort of community thing, on the honors system. If you took a book, you brought it back. Once a week or so, someone from the town hall would come and do some cleaning. It worked surprisingly well.”
“That would explain why there were some books in the master registry missing when I did the first inventory check,” Twilight muttered, glancing over at her desk.
“Well, did they come back?” Cheerilee asked, drawing Twilight’s attention back to the fuchsia pony.
“Yeah...”
“There you go then. No... problem...?” Cheerilee pointed a hoof to a speck of light near Twilight’s head. “I think you’ve got mail.”
“Huh?” The lavender pony prodded the point of light, causing its contents to fly out. Hundreds of pages poured into the room, all landing in a neat stack upon the table, next to the drinks. Last floated down a letter, affixed with the Royal Seal. “This must be the manuscript,” Twilight said, moving the stack of paper over to her desk. She sat down behind it, motioning Cheerilee to the other side, and began to read.
My faithful student,
My apologies, it took longer than I anticipated getting the permissions of the book signed over to you and Cheerilee, but it is done. Hopefully, either before or soon after you receive this letter, you will receive the manuscript as well. I know it looks like a lot, but in truth, only the bare bones are there, with some blank pages as padding. Most of the structure is already in place, units, chapters, and lessons, but everything else is missing.
Of course, the most important part is the body of the textbook. Along with the manuscript, I have sent my own personal thoughts and insights gleaned from my experience with the Equestrian Educational Board. I hope it helps. A suitable introduction is also needed, but I have every confidence that you two will produce something we can use for a long time to come.
Good luck, and feel free to send me a letter if a problem arises.
Princess Celestia
Twilight set down the letter, and Cheerilee looked up from her quick perusal of the sheaf of papers. “There really isn’t much here,” the teacher said. “It’s like the Princess told us, mostly just the structure, and even some of that I’m not sure of. I think it would be a good idea to rearrange some things before we actually start writing. How long do we have again?”
“A little under three months,” Twilight replied, not looking up from the page she was reading--presumably Celestia’s notes. “Yeah, it says right here that the Board would probably accept it as-is, but we would have a better chance if it was arranged better, and I agree. Just the way they have the contents arranged makes me wonder if they were actually going to write the book like this... Is that the first order of business then?”
“Yup. Do you have paper and a pencil?” Twilight slid both items over, clearing some space for Cheerilee to work. “Alright. Let’s get started then.”
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I don't mind cliffhangers. I'm just happy that two of my favourite ponies are being shipped.
2457501
Thank ya.
2457525
Then you're really hyped for the sequel?
The exchange with Twi and Cheery about the romance trilogy is a little confusing. It sounds like Cheerilee is asking if Twilight can't read the book because Cheerilee read it first and is upset when Teilight assures her that isn't the case.
I got it, but it took a couple re-reads of the exchange.
2457648
That's odd. None of us over here had any problems with it at all.
2457648
Alright, I took some ducttape to it.
2138041 So, how about that Twilicorn part?
2457538
You bet I am!
They're just happy because their shipping bingo cards paid out.
Type more horse words for this story. That's my demand.
2471774
Nope, the pone words are being focused elsewhere.
Butt touching my be involved.
2471801
A good ol' fondling of the rear is a fine addition to any story.
This is a nice little Cheerilight story you got here. Be a downright shame if it was never finished (hint, hint).
...
Finish it... please? Pretty please with sugar, chocolate fudge, whipped cream and a cherry on top?
2529071
It is going to be finished. Again. I'm just working on a different story right now, because it wouldn't get out of my head.
Really liking it so far. This ship is growing on me.
I remember reading the original of this, didn't realise it was being rewritten. It's a lot better than it used to be.
2673623
Glad you're enjoying it, though.