Springtime in Ponyville. There isn’t a more peaceful time for the small village than when you can go out in the morning to go on a picnic and enjoy the scenery, and Twilight Sparkle knew that. She was on her way to the local elementary school to see her how her girlfriend was doing and to surprise her with a proposition. On her way there she passed by a flower stall and noticed that they were selling flowers.
“I should buy her a bouquet of sunflowers. They are her favorite afterall.” she thought to herself with a smile.
After making her purchase, she continued on her way towards her destination. As the school came into view, so too did a dust cloud of destruction. It took all of Twilight’s power to avoid the chaos that was recently released students and to make it out alive. After the chaos had ended and Twilight saw that it was safe, she continued on towards her goal.
She opened the door while hiding the bouquet behind her back and saw the pony of her dreams. Sitting behind the desk, reading over various assignments, was a cerise colored mare with a light pink mane. She walked up to Cheerilee and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Afternoon Cheery. How was class?” Twilight asked
Cheerilee looked at Twilight with a smile on her face.
“It was good. I gave the children study time near the end of class, so i’m just about done grading their papers.” Cheerilee said.
“Thats good because I have plans for today.” Twilight said
“Oh really?” Cheerilee inquired “What plans would that be?”
“Well it starts with these.” Twilight said.
Twilight brought out the bouquet she was hiding and Cheerilee’s eyes lit up.
“Twilight you shouldn’t have!” Cheerilee exclaimed. “Oh my goodness they’re beautiful. Thank you so much!”
“Only the best for my lovely Ms. Cheerilee.” Twilight said with a smile
“Flattery will get you everywhere, Ms. Sparkle.” Cheerilee said
This statement caused both mares to start giggling like a couple of school fillies.
“Are you almost done?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, but I can always finish these later.” Cheerilee said “So what do you have planned?”
“Well, i’m going to take you to our favorite spot on the hill for a nice picnic.” Twilight explained.
“Sounds amazing.” Cheerilee said with a loving smile.
Twilight and Cheerilee left the school to go to the hill that the two mares had their first date at and a thought occurred to Twilight
“Her smile is as beautiful as an entire field of Sunflowers.”
Cheerilee amiably trotted down the street, a prodigious smile set on her face. A very special letter was tucked away in her saddlebags, which had clasps of yellow smiley face flowers. Soon her destination came into view. The twirling castle of a tree grew tall and strong, its shiny brown bark smooth and clean.
Cheerilee took a deep breath as she got to the front door. She looked up and down the red door. A picture of a flickering candle in a golden candle holder adorned the top of the door. Cheerilee looked down at the golden knob. It would be so easy to turn and give it right to the pony she wanted to give it to, but her stomach became swamped with butterflies just at the thought of her.
Cheerilee's hoof was inches from the door. She was about to knock and dive into the bushes, safe from Twilight's eyes. Then the door swung open, smacking Cheerilee in the face. The lavender alicorn stepped out to see the victim of her un-careful door opening clutching her bleeding muzzle.
Twilight picked up Cheerilee, clucking her tongue at her bleeding muzzle. A card, addressed for Twilight, fluttered out of Cheerilee's saddle bags as Cheerilee was carried onto one of the library tables. Twilight quickly pressed a tissue to Cheerilee's snout before trotting over to the door to close it. She saw the note on the ground and picked it up, slowly opening it and reading it with a few quick swipes over the small card. "Huh, it seems that a secret admirer wants me to meet them at the spa in a week on Hearts and Hooves Day. I know I'm open that day. I wonder if it's sincere?" Oh, its sincere all right. Cheerilee thought as she watched the beautiful lavender alicorn tidy up her bloody nose.
Cheerilie sat down on her couch and sighed. Today had been a long day. First Snips and Snails had lured a manticore to the school to see if somepony could defeat it. Those two would be the death of her, and possibly the rest of the town too she thought bitterly. Then there had been the usual arguments between the CMC and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
If that wasn't enough Twilight had come by right after school with a thirty page report about hearts and how they react when somepony is close to the object of her affection. While Cheerilee was always happy to see that particular mare, she had absolutely NO idea why she had given her the report. Cheerilee had offered to read it, prompting an adorable blush from Twilight. For some reason Twilight had been making her heart race quite a bit for a while now. She supposed it was just a simple crush and that it would pass in time.
Right because every crush lasts two years. After all, Twilight was from a noble family, it wouldn't do for her to be seen preferring the same gender. No, even if Twilight did like her in 'that' way she would probably just deny it up. Though the increase in time they spent together had not been helping.
So here she sat reading through another 'thrilling' paper written by her unrequited love. All the while hoping that she would somehow be able to achieve the impossible and have Twilight share her feelings. As she reached the end of the paper, she noticed that Twilight had suddenly changed the way she had written it. It had changed into a letter explaining how she had been using her magic to see if increased time with her object of affection had any sort of effect on the heart. She also explained that she knew about Cheerilee's crush on her and apologized for using her like that; The strangest part was when I noticed that my heart would race whenever yours did..........Cheerilee? What happens when two hearts race? What does it mean?
Twilight was sitting at her desk musing over her recent finding in her research, when she heard a knock at her door. She walked over and opened it...and had her lips pressed to Cheerilee's. Her heart started racing as they broke their kiss and she didn't need magic to know that Cheerilee's was as well.
Cheerilee was the first to speak. "The answer to your question about hearts Twilight is that when two hearts race, both win. It's kinda cheesy, but I think it's the best answer." "So do I," Twilight said as she smiled.
Twilight could feel the sweat pouring off her face as she waited at the door of Cheerilee's house. It was going to be their first date. She had worn a simple cream dress with lacy blue ribbons holding it together, a simple creation by Rarity.
Twilight could feel the heavy book in her lavender saddle bags weighing her down. It read "Romance for Novices." Soon the door creaked open. Cheerilee stood there, looking spectacular in a deep magenta dress. She grabbed her saddle bags, put a few bits inside, and smiled at Twilight. The two began to head down the street, starting up mild chit chat as they looked for a place to eat.
"How about that new place, Taco Belle?" Twilight asked.
The couple agreed on the location and headed towards it. Soon the new building, stone with gray cement, came into sight. It stood out; most of the buildings were wooden in Ponyville. In fact, this new Taco Belle might be the only building in the town that was made of stone. They entered and got in line to order food. They each got three lettuce and tomato tacos.
The pair paid and went to sit down at a table in one corner where no pony else sat. Both munched on their first taco as they talked about there childhood. Laughter erupted from their mouths several times.
One time, when Cheerliee was telling Twilight about a parrot and a bottle of rum, she burst out laughing. She spit out the remainder of her third taco all over Cheerliee. Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof in horror as Cheerliee went to the bathroom to clean off. The date had been going so well, according to the book and her common sense. Now both were pointing in the direction of no second date as Twilight hoped there might be. When they finished eating, Cheerliee asked Twilight something.
"Would you like to go to Sugarcube Corner for another date in a few days?"
"Of course!" Twilight shouted, making some ponies stare in their direction.
"Do you really want to go out with me after I spit my food on you?!"
"Twilight, I'm a teacher. I've dealt with worse."
Twilight remembered one of Cheerliee's stories, concerning moldy cheese and a goat. She giggled as the pair got to their hooves and went their separate ways after making a time for their next date
“Hey Roseluck, can I get a bouquet of tulips please?”
“Sure, No problem Twilight. Who’s the special somepony, if I might ask?” Roseluck winked at her through her flower booth.
Twilight blushed. “Oh, it’s no one.”
“Sure it is.” Roseluck smiled knowingly and handed the bouquet to Twilight. “Have fun!” She called as the purple alicorn departed her stand.
“Apple Bloom!”
“Huh?” the young filly carrying the large Hearts and Hooves Day poster for her teacher looked around to see Twilight Sparkle calling her. “Oh hey Twilight.”
She slowed down to allow Twilight to catch up to her and noticed something strange. Twilight was holding a gorgeous bouquet of tulips aloft with her magic.
“Hey, can I ask you a favor?” the purple unicorn asked. “Can you give these flowers to Cheerilee and tell her that an anonymous somepony is thinking of her today?”
The puzzle pieces connected in Apple Bloom’s mind. “Ohhhhhh, you’ve got a crush on Miss Cheerilee!”
Twilight blushed. “Don’t say that so loud!”
“Oh right, sorry. Well I’ll be sure to give it to her for you.” Apple Bloom turned to walk away.
“Thank you!” Twilight called as Applebloom disappeared around the bend in the road.
Her stomach tightened into a knot as she headed back towards the library, and she sighed loudly. It hadn’t quite been the romantic confession of undying love that she had dreamed about. No, she was far too nervous to try something like that, but it was a start.
“But Cheerilee, I said I was sorry.” pleaded a purple Alicorn.
“I know what you said Twilight and I’m still upset.” Said Cheerilee.
Cheerilee was sitting on a couch in the living room of Twilight’s library, listening to her marefriend of 3 years beg for forgiveness. However, Cheerilee wasn’t going to forgive her that easily especially after what she had done.
“Cheery, I know you’re upset but you have to understand it was for a good cause.” Twilight said.
Cheerilee glared at Twilight with obvious anger. “What cause Twilight Sparkle? Tonight was our anniversary. I gave my students an extension on their homework, so I wouldn’t have any papers to grade tonight and I made reservations at the nicest restaurant in town so we could have the perfect romantic atmosphere and nothing is more embarrassing than getting stood up by your date. Especially, when your date just so happens to be a Princess of Equestria.” Cheerilee ranted angrily. “So whatever your “good cause” was had better be good.”
Twilight nodded her head and began walking towards her desk. Cheerilee kept a close eye on the Princess, following her with an impenetrable gaze. Twilight opened up her drawer and pulled out a small rectangular box. The box piqued Cheerilee’s curiosity but she didn’t let it show. Twilight walked up to Cheerilee and looked deep into her green eyes.
“Cheerilee, 3 years ago today I asked you out on a date and asked you to be my marefriend. Today I had something important planned and, like usual, i over thought the little details and and ended up missing our anniversary dinner and for that I’m truly sorry. You’re the best thing thats ever happened to me and I would never intentionally do anything to jeopardize that.” Twilight said.
Twilight went down on one knee and opened up the box. Inside the box was a golden chain. On the chain was a beautiful amethyst that glowed with a supernatural light.
“Cheerilee, not only am I asking you to forgive me.” Twilight said. “I’m also asking if you’ll be my wife.”
Cheerilee was stunned. She was expecting Twilight to present to her a slideshow of the top ten reason’s why she should forgive her. However this was a pleasant surprise.
“I missed our dinner date because I was trying to figure out how to enchant the necklace before I gave it to you. I had just finished when you began banging on the door.” Twilight added.
“Enchant it how?” Cheerilee asked.
Twilight shifted in her spot on the floor and chuckled nervously.
“Well, I like having you around when I do my princess duties and, with you being an earth pony, you can’t exactly go everywhere with me. So I went ahead and enchanted the necklace with a cloudwalking spell thats powered by your innate earth pony magic. That way you can go anywhere with me, including Cloudsdale.” Twilight said. “So what do you say?”
Cheerilee didn’t even need to think about her answer.
“Yes Twilight, I forgive you and I would be happy to be your wife.” Cheerilee answered with a huge grin and tears of joy in her eyes.
They embraced and kissed each other with enough passion that others would think it was their first kiss.
Tonight was the beginning of something new. Tonight was the start of their new lives and a new story.
As the light of the day began to wane Twilight paused the magically held quill’s writing and turned to glance briefly to several points in the library’s main floor lighting candles and a few other illumination devices. Once again able to see without a stray shadow covering her parchment she lifted the quill and continued writing. 14. She’s good with foals 15. She’s well organised 16. She’s very patient ---- “Twilight dinner’s ready,” Spike called from the kitchen peeking out through the door to see the purple mare still hunched over her writing desk. “OK Spike,” She answered back, lighting a few more candles now that the sun was setting, then immediately turned back to her scroll and continued writing. Spike watched her for a moment with confused eyes then shrugged, she’s probably be along in a minute. 173. She never gives up 174. She believes in everypony 175. She’s generous --- Spike quickly jerked his head up before it could slip completely through his clawed hands which cupped his face, his elbow resting on his knees, as he sat on the bottom step of the stairs trying to stay awake. Twilight still sat at her writing desk using her magic to scrape the quill along the parchment, now bathed only in candle light the sun long since set. “Twilight it’s late, I’m going to bed,” Spike said standing up groggily, tired bags under his eyes “OK Spike,” Twilight answered automatically, not looking up from her writing. Spike sighed at this but didn’t fight it. He had unsuccessfully tried to tear the unicorn away from her work all night and was now too tired to care anymore. It wasn’t the first time she’d stayed up all night working and it wouldn’t be the last. With a long yawn he made his way up the stairs. 2731. Her smile 2732. Her laugh 2733. That look she gives me when I orate --- The sun shone in through the windows as a gentle knocking echoed through the library, calling Spike from his slumber. He groggily rolled out of his bed and made his way down stairs, finding his way with a combination of memory, touch and the occasional unfocused glance as he rubbed his eyes with one claw. Reaching the door he opened it to reveal the Cheerilee’s confused face shift into a smile. “Morning Spike late night last night,” she said with a wink figuring the young dragon had stayed up too light reading comic books or something like that. Come Monday morning she’d have a few students with that same look on their faces. “Twilight and I were going to get breakfast together this morning so I’ll just get her and you can go back to sleep.” The pinkish purple mare said with another wink, then asked, “Is she in the shower?” Spike glanced over his shoulder into the library then with a shake of his head swung the door fully open revealing the purple unicorn asleep at her writing desk. “I think she forgot.” Cheerilee frowned at the sight of the mare slouched at her desk, but gave a loving sigh and turned back to Spike. “Let’s get her to bed then.” This wasn’t the first time she had seen Twilight stay up all night working either. The school teacher and the baby dragon hoisted the sleeping mare up onto Cheerilee’s back gaining only an incomprehensible murmur from the librarian as a thanks. Cheerilee smiled at that adorable sound and was about to head to the stairs when curiosity got the better of her. With a hoof she pushed back the rolls of parchment and exposed the top of the scroll and the title witch read: “Reasons to ask Cheerilee to go on a date” followed by two columns one marked ‘Pro’ the other ‘Con’. Cherrilee smiled at this imagining the overly worrying and organized Twilight Sparkle try to decide something like that with logic while overlooking that there wasn’t a single Con marked down, it made her heart swell with love for the sleeping unicorn. Cheerilee got Twilight up the stairs and into her bedroom easily enough, but depositing her into her bed proved a challenge as the sleeping mare hand wrapped her hooves around Cheerilee’s neck and wouldn’t voluntarily let go. With little other options and suddenly no plans that morning Cheerilee crawled into the bed herself and settled them both under the covers. As they settled into the bed Twilight’s murmuring began to from proper words. “Ten thousand three hundred eleven, Cheerilee’s mane smells like chalk. Ten thousand three hundred twelve, Cheerilee’s fur smells like books.” Cheerilee smiled and kissed the unicorn’s for head, “You’re sweet, but that’s enough. Just go to sleep you don’t need to keep thinking about it. I’ll definitely go in a date with you.” Twilight smiled in her sleep and snuggled in closer to the earth pony mare, who snuggled back, “Beside how many more reasons could there be?” “Innumerable.”
Twilight and Cheerilee’s lips pressed together passionately, their hooves running across their backs and shoulders despite trying to touch everything at once. Cheerilee ran her tongue along Twilight’s bottom lip requesting access to her mouth, it was granted instantly. Their tongues danced for several long seconds that felt like minutes to the mares. Finally they broke apart, but only half an inch, as the panted and stared deep into each other’s eyes and their hot breath mingled on their muzzles. “We missed the sunset,” Cheerilee noted still panting. It was the first thing she could think of to say that was appropriate to public park bench they had settled down on after their dinner. However considering how passionately they had just been making out, the lateness of the day and the emptiness of the park, worrying about being appropriate seemed unnecessary. “Mmm-hmm,” Was the closest thing to a response that the unicorn could form before leaning back in for another kiss, only to be stopped by a quick tip of the hoof to her lips by Cherrilee. “Maybe we should get inside before things get out of hoof,” The schoolteacher suggested suddenly remembering it was still early enough for mischievous colts and fillies to be snooping about. “But Spike’s home,” Twilight whined softly, in the way Cheerilee found adorable. “There’s always my place,” Cheerilee suggested seductively rubbing her nose gently against Twilight’s. “It has two you want me, and those books you wanted to borrow.” Cheerilee was sure Twilight didn’t hear the second thing as she quickly jumped down to her hooves and tore off towards the schoolteacher’s house eagerly pulling the pinkish purple mare along urgently. ---- Twilight nibbled at Cheerilee’s ear as the other mare worked to open her door, until at last it gave a click it began to swing open. Cheerilee rose up on her hind legs wrapping her hooves around her marefriend’s neck and pulling her into another kiss kicking the door open with a hoof. Twilight returned he kiss with gusto wrapping her own hooves around Cheerilee and lead the way into the school teacher’s house. Together they stumbled into the dark house an odd but effective unit Cheerilee guiding them towards the sofa. There was a sudden ‘snap’ as Twilight’s hoof stepped on something hard and thin and caused her to jump in shock. Losing her already shaky balance Twilight fell back bringing Cheerilee with her, but with some luck or the guiding hoof of her marefirend they landed with an ‘Ooph’ on the couch. Cheerilee let out a soft giggle and reconnected their lips unbothered. Twilight was a little too shaken to find it to be funny, but tried to forget it and enjoy the kiss. She may have been able to do just that to, if something hard and flat wasn’t poking into her back. Shifting up, but not breaking the kiss Twilight horn glowed with pick energy and she sized the object under her and pulled it out. It was easy enough to tell it was a book, probably just something Cheerilee was readying and forgot to put away. Shakily her magic guided the book to a flat surface next to her Twilight assumed was a tall coffee table and she released the book. Getting back to her date Twilight continued the kiss as she shifted into a more comfortable position her hind leg flailing a little as if failed to assist in the process. However it did find a ceramic plate on the edge of the nearby end table sending it flying into the air and both it and the utensils on it crashing to the floor. Twilight cried out in shock breaking the kiss and shifted to see what happened only to have the cushion she was on, which was pushed halfway off the couch to tip over and dump her onto the floor. For her part Cheerilee let out another giggle and chided playfully, “I’ll have to kick you out of you keep wrecking my house.” Only to stifle another laugh as the book Twilight and extracted from under her tipped off the stack she had set it on, mistaking it for the coffee table, and smack her in the fore-head. “Oh sweetie are you OK.” “What… hun… naww…” Was all Twilight could say. “Sorry the place is a little messy today.” Cheerilee said pushing Twilight mane out of her face lovingly. Without much thought Twilight’s horn lit up and her magic surged out finding every light and lantern and flicking it on. She gasped quietly as light flooded the room. There was a coffee table, but its surface was covered in strewn about papers, plate with a few crumbs of a meal covered them on one side while a stack of books covered the other. Papers books clothes, cloths, and more dishes covered the rest of the room as well leaving only a few patches of floor visible here and there. “How can you find anything in this mess,” Twilight shrieked then quickly bit her tongue as if it wasn’t too late to stop speaking. Cheerilee frowned down at her marefriend and puffed her cheeks in annoyance. A dozen angry response passed through her mind, but years of practice as a teacher allowed her to calm herself and she spoke in an instructorial way. “’Teaching for Beginners’ is on bookshelf left side third from the top, ‘Foal Psychology’ is on the kitchen table’s rightmost chair, ‘Equestian School Codes and Regulations is holding up the back left side of the couch, and ‘In Her Mare’s Hooves’ just smacked you in the head.” Twilight picked up the book that struck her and found the school was right, “How in all this chaos?” she looked up in confusion. “Organized chaos,” Cheerilee corrected. Twilight bit her lip looking from Cheerilee, to the book, to the mess, and back again. “Can we make it a little more organized?” Cheerilee smile at the soft pleading whine in Twilight’s voice, “Sure love.”
“Girls!” Cheerilee voice rang out through the dark trees of the Everfree forest.
“Girls!” Twilight Sparkle’s joined hers, the unicorns horn aglow keeping the darkness at bay.
They checked around trees and in bushes, anywhere that could be hiding even a single filly. Despite their fervent searching Cheerilee never strayed more than a foot from Twilight as they searched. Venturing a look up to see if there were any clues that the crusaders had climbed up into the tress, the school teacher froze seeing the claw-like branches above her seem to shift and move with Twilight’s light.
“Cheerilee,” Twilight voice asked softly snapping the earth pony out of her terror, their eyes meeting. “Are you OK?”
“Of course,” Cheerilee nodded a little too instantly and quickly broke eye contact with the unicorn. “We should keep moving we have to find the girls.” Cheerilee turned to continue on down the vague path through the Everfree Forest but hesitated until Twilight was Trotting alongside her.
“It’s OK if you’re scared,” Twilight assured her softly, “We can go back if you want, half the town is out looking for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they might not even still be in the Everfree Forest.”
Cheerilee bit back her first response, which was to bite Twilight’s head off for even considering they stop looking. She knew her friend was just concerned for her and the girls, for even if they did turn back Twilight would just teleport back to this exact same spot and keep looking by herself. Pausing and staring down at her shuffling hooves Cheerilee admitted, “I try not to be, I try to think of the girls and be strong, but just scare of getting lost myself.” Biting her cheer she stopped herself from fidgeting and looked Twilight in the eye, “But I’m not going to stop looking until those girls are found.”
Twilight smiled at that then looked back behind them, Cheerilee fallowed her gaze and watched at Twilight seized they ends of both of their tails and knotted them together. “There,” She finished and looked back at Cheerilee with a reassuring smile, “Now we can’t get separated.”
Cheerilee returned Twilight smile with a thankful one of her own and together they started off once again.
Cheerille called out for the girls again, and Twilight echoed it continuing the search for several more long moments. Finally Cheerilee spoke over Twilight’s echoing shout, “It must seem silly to you for a pony to be scared of something like walking through the Everfree Forest after everything you’ve been through.”
“Actually I’m terrified of this place,” Twilight said as Cheerilee called out in turn.
“Really?”
“Of course, every time I come in here something tries to… get me, and during all those other adventures too. I don’t know how I did any of that stuff to save Equestria or my friends. Almost every single time after all the danger and celebration was over I would lock myself in my room and cry… just cry.” Twilight suddenly realized they had stopped walking and calling out, Cheerilee was watching her with a pained look on her face. Twilight suddenly couldn’t believe she had just told the other mare that, she hadn’t told anyone that since her adventures began, not even Spike knew about it.
“We should keep looking,” Twilight said quickly brushing off her sudden outburst of honesty. Cheerilee nodded not really knowing what to say anyway.
“Cheerilee… Twilight,” Met the mares’ next called into the woods, the tiny cries of a trio of fillies answering back at last. The mares rushed forward only to be met by the Cutie Mark Crusaders who burst forth from the bushes and charged at the two mares. Sweetie Belle buried her head into Cheerilee chest jabbing her slightly with her short horn. Apple Bloom crashed into twilight chest nearly knocking her down and Scootaloo pressed herself between them, totally not crying out ‘mommies’ when she saw them.
The mares quickly checked the fillies over finding them a little scuffed up but not at all injured. The group quickly retreated from the forest the two mares only softly scolding the fillies for what they explained was an attempt to get mapmaking cutie marks. Soon enough they were out of the Everfree Forest and delivered the fillies back to their worried sisters and mothers, along with one worried big brother and grandmother. The search teams were called back and after a short celebration, insisted upon by Pinkie Pie, the long night was nearly at an end.
“Well I should be heading home then, I’ll see you tomorrow Cheerilee,” Twilight said and began to quickly trot away her embarrassing admission creeping back into her thoughts. Suddenly there was a sharp yank on her tail and she was halted in her tracks. Looking back the confusion on her face turned to embarrassment as she realized her and Cheerilee’s tails were still tied together.
Cheerilee looked embarrassed as well and started to stammer, “Sorry I… You could… I mean we could…” Cheerilee bit her tongue trying to force back her nervousness, unable to think of anything else to say she finally said. “You don’t have to be scared alone.”
It was a bit of a shock when the thought hit me, when I returned home, that there was now a pony (well, a former-pony) that would now be writing me about the lessons of friendship that she learned in a far off, yet so similar, world. I couldn’t believe the irony (as ponies have come to misuse the word) of the situation.
It occurred to me very quickly that I had no Idea how to teach others. Sure I had much MUCH experience being a student, but when I had tried with Rainbow, my lack of teaching ability had shown in astronomical quantities. And even though that situation turned out well in the end, it wasn’t as if Sunset Shimmer was going to come out and say her personal learning style directly, or by accident, like with Dash.
So, it was soon after my arrival home that I decided it would be best to educate myself in education. But, though I looked through every book in my newly-acquired Royal Library, I could find no single book on the topic. There were certainly many on how to help a reader that had a specific learning style, but as far as learning another persons or, even then, teaching a student, I was at a loss.
“Well,” I sighed to myself (as autocommunication had become a rather persistent habit of mine) “I guess the next best thing to do would be to ask the source directly.”
Turning to look at one of the many calendars that lined the wall of the library (hey, a girl can never be too prepared), I quickly found the one that kept schedule of the Royal Events. I sighed inwardly, no matter how long I have these wings, I don’t think I’ll ever be quite used to the bureaucracy and politics of it all.
Princess Celestia would be booked for the next week with a Royal Summit of some Canterlot nobles. She had given me a choice of whether or not I would participate, but I decided against it. So, that means I needed a different, more local source of teaching. My face suddenly felt very hot, and my cheeks began to flush.
“T-that means…”
I suppose it was fitting (for several reasons) that it was Hearts and Hooves day that I decided to visit the Ponyville Schoolhouse. I felt… I don’t quite know how to put it… shocked? delighted? scared? some mixture of all three I suppose. It was certainly a duty of mine to the girls at Canterlot High to learn as much as I could about teaching them lessons, but even so, that didn’t stop my footsteps from being heavy and slow. I groaned quietly to myself, making sure it was low enough for nopony other than myself to hear.
“You had to pick her, didn’t you?” I mumbled to myself, “There are all sorts of pretty mares all over ponyville, but noooo, you had to develop a crush for the school teacher of all ponies. She even has a coltfriend already, but you still have to be the idiot you are...”
Despite myself, I kept walking.
As I approached the cozy-looking red building, I began to pick up something...unusual. A very distinct smell, or, I suppose two smells. One was very familiar, given my residence in ponyville: Cider, though it made little sense for there to be cider this late into winter.
The second smell was one I had less acquaintance with, but definitely one I knew and would sometimes smell on the breath of wobbly nobles in Celestia’s court: Dunder.
When I opened the Door, I was met with what I can only describe as the most absurd sight my eyes have ever beheld (and I’ve fought Discord!). The maroon-coated school teacher, Ms. Cheerilee, was standing atop one of her student’s desks. I could hear her humming blissfully to herself as she danced loosely from left to right. I couldn’t help but notice the glass bottle in her hoof.
“CHEERILEE!” I shouted, well alarmed by the situation, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”
Apparently my voice was enough of a distraction for her to lose her step, since the next thing I saw was her falling off the desk. I feared the worst for a moment, but was relieved (well, somewhat relieved and somewhat scared in a different way) to hear her suddenly explode in uproarious laughter.
When I walked over to her, she was standing, albeit a bit wobbly, as if her fall had never happened.
“Heeeeey, Tw’ight!” She slurred out, the bottle in her hoof obviously wasn’t her first, “You wanna drin’?” She extended the bottle toward me.
“Cheerilee what’s going on? Why are you…? Why?” I struggled to find the right words. Apparently the message got to her anyway, since her face immediately went from the extreme high to the extreme low as her eyelids drooped down and her smile faded in a fraction of a second.
“You do know what today is, don’t you?” Her voice suddenly became clear as she lost her slur. (I had heard of someone “sobering up” in sad situations, but this was uncanny). Cheerilee sighed, “I act well enough in front of my students, but…but I…” Her eyes watered up. “I’m so alone…” she finished quietly, before falling on to her haunches in tears.
I was shocked “I thought you were with Big Macintosh…” I said, recalling the fiasco from last year.
She sighed, “Oh, Mac is sweet, but he… isn’t exactly my type…”
“What? How so?” I asked.
“He’s a he…” she answered, matter-of-factly.
“Wait, you mean…?”
She nodded. , “Well, you know…” I began. (What the hell am I doing?) “I-if that’s really the problem...a-and i-if it will keep you off the bottle…” She tilted her head up to gaze at me with starry, sad, but hopeful eyes. My face flushed again as I continued my stuttering attempt at confidence.
I coughed, cleared my throat and said as steadily as possible, “Will you be my very special somepony?”
I immediately turned away fearing the worst.
Then there was silence.
The sound of her standing up.
My heart swelled as I felt the amazing sensation of her kissing my cheek.
Cheerilee's teacup shook, drawing worried glances from the pair sitting in the noontime sun. The schoolteacher looked across the table to Twilight. "Is there something going on?"
Shaking her head, Twilight replied, "I don't believe so. As far as I knew, it should be a quiet, peaceful afternoon." She smiled and put one of her hooves over Cheerilee's. "That's why I took the day off to be with you."
Cheerilee put a hoof over her chest, eyes sparkling, "Aww, you're too much sometimes, you know that?"
Twilight's cheeks flushed. "I just try my best to make you happy." Nevertheless, she kept her grin and leaned in, exchanging a quick peck with her marefriend.
"Thank you, Twi." Cheerilee glowed. "I know it's difficult–"
The store behind them exploded, a wave of splinters, dust, and debris shooting out into the street. A cloud enveloped the neighborhood, made of dirt that was kicked up into the air. Cheerilee found herself thrown from her chair, sprawled on the ground.
As she rose to look over their downed table, she caught sight of the most gruesome creature she had ever seen. Standing on four legs, with the body of a lizard, its head ended almost prematurely, stopping at a wide, gaping hole full of teeth. Tusks lined its back like a porcupine, flowing down to a long tail that sported barbs aplenty. At it's end, specifically, it had a long, curving hook of bone.
It unleashed a garish scream and, swinging its tail, obliterated a farmer's stall. It searched for prey with its hooks, finding little as most ponies had already begun to flee. It continue to wreak havoc, tearing open storefronts with ease. It's open, gaping mouth continued to screech, its teeth rotating like saw blades.
Terror rising in her throat, Cheerilee whimpered.
The creature paused, holding in its mayhem. It snapped it's head towards her, and charged.
Unable to close her eyes, she watched as it snaked forward. The monster was fear incarnate, and soon all she could stare at was its growing mouth. So wrapped up in its grasp that she was paralyzed, unable to flee, move, or think.
A wave of light crashed down upon the creature, melting it to where it stood. It decomposed quickly, leaving nothing but an uncomfortable stain on the ground and bits of teeth. Hooves wrapped around her.
Cheerilee awoke, her body shivering and slick, in the depths of the night.
"Are you okay?" a voice whispered in her ear.
Turning over, she snuggled into Twilight. "Just a bad dream."
"Oh." Sheets were magically tucked over Cheerilee once more. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Cheerilee breathed in through her nose, taking in the comforting smells of her partner. "No," she mumbled into Twilight's shoulder. "You made it all better in the end. Like you always do."
Cheerilee groaned and slumped over onto her desk, spilling over the large piles of paper that littered its surface and knocking their contents to the ground. Subjects mixed, reports were scattered, and even her precious timetable ended up face down on the floor.
She didn’t care.
“Why?” she moaned into the desk. She remained there unmoving for several minutes, not moving at the hesitant knock on her front door. She didn’t move at the louder, more insistent knocks that followed, nor at the impatient cough that sounded from outside the door. For all intents and purposes, she was dead to the world.
She didn’t even move when the door slid open with a creak and a purple horn poked its way through, followed shortly by the head and body of Ponyville’s resident princess. Twilight shook her head ruefully at the mess and purposefully made her way up to Cheerilee. “Is this a bad time?” she asked, peering over her shoulders in an attempt to see what she was working on.
“The worst,” came the baleful reply, Cheerilee’s head remaining firmly planted on the desk’s polished surface.
Twilight’s face creased into a frown, and bit her lip for a few moments before she replied. “Is it anything I can help with?”
Cheerilee sighed and she dragged herself up from her resting place, blinking at the sudden change in brightness. “Believe me, Twilight, I wish you could, but—” She paused and gestured down to the space her head had recently vacated. Resting there was a small card, large letters marked in red ink in neat rows, each followed by a sentence written so small that Twilight had trouble making out the individual letters. “I have to fill out these reports on my own.” Her face morphed into a weak smile. “Even though you may have come up with half of the course with me, you weren’t there, so you can’t comment on the students.”
Twilight’s ears drooped, and she nodded slowly. “All right. I know you’ve never liked writing report cards.” She paused. “Still, I don’t remember them giving you this much difficulty this time last year. Did we not schedule you enough time this year?”
Cheerilee chuckled tiredly. “No, Twilight, you didn’t make a mistake with your schedule. I just…” She gestured silently down at the desk again for a few moments, before sighing and slumping down in her chair again. “There’s just more of them this year. A lot more. I feel like this time eight years ago, every couple in ponyville decided to pop one out.”
Twilight snorted, and gave Cheerilee a comforting rub on the shoulder with a wing, before trotting around the desk again. “Come on, I’ll get this place cleaned up again, and then we can try to work something out.”
Cheerilee nodded glumly and watched as Twilight’s horn lit up, her papers magically sorting themselves back to their rightful places on her desk. She remained still, slumped in her chair as Twilight pulled up another and sat down next to her. “All right then,” she began, holding up a small pile of empty report cards in her aura. “When do you need to have these done by?”
There was an uncomfortable silence before Cheerilee sighed and shook her head. She turned to Twilight, an expression of despondency on her face, and replied “I’m meant to have them all done by tomorrow. The last week of the school year starts tomorrow, and I don’t want to give them out any later.”
Twilight grimaced, but nodded her head and adopted a thoughtful expression. “Okay… well, how many of them do you have to have done?” Cheerilee didn’t reply this time, simply pointing down at the table.
“Only one?” asked Twilight, her grimace becoming more pronounced. Cheerilee simply nodded. Twilight sighed. “And you’re sure I can’t help with any of them?”
Cheerilee began to shake her head, but stopped herself, and opened her mouth as if to say something. She remained silent for a few seconds, before she finally said, “Just... don’t leave me alone.”
Twilight smiled and pulled her chair up closer to Cheerilee, giving her a gentle nuzzle. “That’s fine, I don’t have to do anything else tonight.” Cheerilee smiled gratefully at her, before turning back to her desk, her eyes filled with renewed vigour.
