Twilight's dreams come true when she founds a club for book reading, and makes a new friend in Cherilee who seems to like everything she likes. Unfortunately, somepony else gets just a little bit jealous of all this.
Twilight's dreams come true when she founds a club for book reading, and makes a new friend in Cherilee who seems to like everything she likes. Unfortunately, somepony else gets just a little bit jealous of all this.
/----------------------------- // Story: Out of the Book Club // Chapter: Chapter 1: President Sparkle // Author: ThatOneYellowPony //-----------------------------
You didn’t have to tell Twilight Sparkle twice that Magic Kindergarten sucked. She had made that discovery a long time ago, approximately 10 seconds flat after her very first day, where a smelly colt poured glue in her hair. Making friends was something the awkward pony found very difficult. By that age she could solve Rubik’s cubes, derive most all functions of ‘X’, and read Old Equish texts. She was unfortunate enough to have what she called the “T” factor; T for Twilight. Somehow this innate something made her a target for teasing. Her social abilities were suffering, and no matter what she tried the “T” factor just wouldn’t go away. On and on she went, hoping she could solve this problem and at last gain just one friend who wasn’t also her brother. No such solution came. Eventually she accepted that nopony cared and moved on with her sad, sad life. At least until an act of fate blessed her with five incredible mares. She liked to call them her ‘besties foreversies’, though never aloud.
But before our purple protagonist gave up on Magic Kindergarten, there was one thing that kept her fire alive: clubs. Clubs seemed perfect. They were virtually designed to stick compatible ponies together with the express interest of making meaningful relationships. Unfortunately, though she joined many clubs, things would never work out for the unicorn. She joined a gardening club with two ponies, one of whom thought his front lawn counted, but the group disbanded from lack of interest. She was kicked out of the Alicorn Club seconds after joining, and other times she had trouble determining just what would be ‘overdoing it’. She came to her Daring Do club’s first meeting in full cosplay and having just brushed up on the full saga, before realizing that most of the other members had perhaps read a single book. She was laughed at horribly. This pattern continued through Magic Grade School, where she left most of her clubs with a chorus of laughter and tears, all because she was trying too hard. An Applied Physics Club started and she was the only pony to show. What was the point of that? And how could nopony show? Didn’t somepony have to start the club in the first place? It was as though the club was created from the universes sheer will to remind everypony that Twilight was tragically different. Tragically nerdy. Tragically alone.
But now it was the future! Or rather the present, which is the past’s future as Twilight would have happily pointed out, and she had decided to give the club thing one last shot. Sure, she was out of formal magical education, and sure, she now had five ponies permanently residing in her heart, but those were all the more reason to be bold. This time she had turned the tables. This time she had founded the club and organized it rigidly. She had called it the Ponyville Reader’s Club, while most simply called it the ‘Book Club’.
“Ahem” she coughed delicately as she stepped up to the podium. Their meetings took place on Thursdays, in Pinkie Pie’s room. She wasn’t a reader, but she loved to just ‘pop-in’ with sweets and treats. Twilight had brought her podium, and arranged Pinkie’s bed and some of the Cakes’ diner chairs in a semi-circle around her.
“It has been precisely one week since our last meeting. I trust you all have read the books you’ve selected?” said Twilight. The ponies before generally nodded, while a few avoided her gaze. “Great! Now it looks like we have a pony or two new with us here tonight, so I thought we’d circle about and introduce ourselves. We could even make it fun! Say your name and tell us about what you like to read!” she smiled sweetly. She was finally about to be a part of a real club! And she’d get to talk about books, her very most favoritest thing!
“I’m sure I don’t need to tell anypony here my name,” blushed the Mayor. Nopony pointed out that Ponyville was small enough that almost everypony in attendance already knew the names of everypony else in attendance. “My favorite stories are about detectives” she said quite proudly. The book she had in her saddlebag was called Fifty Manes of Grey, and Twilight was all but certain the mayor hadn’t cracked open the cover.
“M’ Dash,” said Rainbow Dash, laying across Pinkie’s bed with one of the Daring Do books as her pillow “And I brought Daring Do cause she and I are both pretty tough chicks” she said without sitting up.
You mean you brought Daring Do because they’re the only things you read, thought Twilight. She liked the adventurous pony too, don’t get her wrong, but there’s only so much discussion to be had about Do’s awesomeness. If only she could get Dash to try something new, like the Unicorn Games or Good Filly Bad Filly.
“My name’s Mr. Cake” said Mrs. Cake.
“And my name’s Mrs. Cake” said Mr. Cake. They both giggled at their clearly setup joke. Everypony, save for Dash, laughed politely even though it was that special kind of humor only funny to couples and preschoolers.
“I don’t get a lot of time to read, what with the twins and all, but I usually stick to culinary books. Sometimes I read other things but only if Oprahoof Winfurry suggests them to me” said Mrs. Cake.
“I like those books you’re supposed to read in the outhouse, the ones with sports trivia and funny articles. They even change the length of articles so you can pick one to match how long you’re in for” explained Mr. Cake. Everypony except for his wife just kind of stared at him. “Hey that’s literature!” he huffed in defense, though his face was blushing beyond Applejack hue.
“I’MPINKIEPIEANDEVENTHOUGHI’MNOTPARTOFTHISILOOOOVETHESEGETTINGTOKNOWYOUTHINGS” Pinkie Pie’s head burst forth through the wood floor. “I don’t really read books at all but I ate a classical fantasy once. It wasn’t very good.” she had managed every word before her head disappeared from whence it came, leaving no evidence of her visit.
“I’m Sweetie Belle,” said newcomer Sweetie Belle “And I’ve been reading ever since I fell off Scootaloo’s Scooter and broke my leg.” She indicated her fat blue cast.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Twilight with genuine empathy. “What books?”
“Daring Do!” she said with chipper enthusiasm.
“Oh” said Twilight, barely hiding her disappointment.
The other newcomer was Scootaloo, who sat beside Sweetie trying to look cool for Dash.
“I’m Scootaloo Von Awesome but my friends call me Scootaloo. I like to read-” she froze for a moment. She was really only here because Dash was, but she had no idea what genre would make her sound as radical as possible. In a panic she spat out the first thing she could think of “Romance!”
She blushed instantly. Wow. Romance. Way. To. Go.
“Well that’s everypony here! The Mayor, the Cakes, Dash, Scootaloo, and Sweetie. My name’s Twilight Sparkle and I read any and all manners of books. This week I decided to give a quick read through of one of my favorites: ‘Saddle Up!’ a quirky romance between a royal Canterlot guard and a flower girl. The twist? She’s got two identical twin sisters with the exact same cutie mark! It’s a great example of dramatic irony and ambiguity as plot elements. Should be right up your alley Scootaloo.” Said Twilight before handing off said book to an orange pegasus who clearly did not want to be alive right now.
“I suppose I can’t talk about the ending if Scootaloo’s going to read it.” She thought aloud before an idea hatched with a Ping! “I’ll just have to pass on the honors. How about you Mr. Cake”
“I don’t want to hear about his toilet book” said Dash.
“It’s not a toilet book! It’s an intelligent text for use on the toilet!” said an increasingly distressed Mr. Cake.
“No offense but it’s still nowhere near as cool as what Daring does” said Rainbow Dash.
“And besides, I read my recipe books while answering nature’s call. Everypony does it.” Said Mrs. Cake, patting her husband’s back.
“DON’T YOU COOK WHILE HOLDING THOSE?!” blurted Mr. Cake.
“I hope she washes her hooves” said Sweetie Belle, scrunching up her face.
“Girls! Please, let’s do our best to keep this about books okay?” pleaded Twilight from the stand.
“Pardon me.” grumbled Mr. Cake, getting up to leave “I have to use my toilet book”
“Well I just started a wonderful book where a little colt goes on a journey to heaven. I haven’t got very far, but a beautiful angel has promised to bring him back to his family. It’s keeping me on the edge of my hooves!” said Mrs. Cake.
“Well that’s boring. If the kid’s dead then where’s the excitement?” blurted out Dash.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand” said the Mayor.
“What if heaven has a deadly spike trap? Kid can’t die twice, so where’s the danger? Kinda kills the story doesn’t it?”
“I think this might be more a metaphorical tale than what you usually read.” started to explain Twilight before pausing a little too long and letting somepony else chime in.
“Why would heaven have spike traps?” wondered Sweetie.
“Duh! Every book I’ve ever read has had spike traps in it. It’s as common as ‘Chapter 1’” said Rainbow Dash.
Having also only read Daring Do, Sweetie accepted her club-mate’s reasoning.
The two of them erupted into a discussion of their favorite Daring Do dungeons and the night was lost. The group broke apart at nine because with the Cakes’ little ones it was important for the home to run on strict sleep schedules. Twilight couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Tonight was the night she finally had ponies to share her love of books with, and it was far from intellectual or at the very least engaging.
After kissing Spike goodnight (something he whines about to no end), she crawled under her own midnight blue covers. Normally she would read a bit but she somehow felt betrayed by books. To her surprise, a little tear formed in her right eye. Was it not enough to have five great friends? For the better part of her youth she had dreamed of a sort of Superfriend who was cool, attractive, loved everything she loved and cared for her. Sure she had RD to be ‘cool’ and Rarity to be ‘attractive’ and everypony certainly cared for her. Perhaps she was just being moody.
#####
It was Friday afternoon, and Twilight was feeling no better, at least not until she visited Sugar Cube Corner to pick up some flour of all things.
“I’ll just pick that up for you” smiled Twilight sheepishly, levitating the bag before Mrs. Cake could lay a hoof on it.
“I WASH MY HOOVES CELESTIA DARN IT!”
“Are you Ms. Sparkle?” a voice came from behind her.
Twilight turned around, now nose to nose with a rosy mare in a white sunhat. Her mane was pink and fluffy without being overdone, and her flank had smiling flowers on it.
“I am. Pardon my asking, but I don’t think we’ve met.” said Twilight.
“That doesn’t surprise me” laughed the pony with a roll of the eyes “I’m a bit of a shut in. My name’s Cherilee and I am a schoolteacher here in Ponyville. I heard two of my students discussing a Book Club I’d just love to be a part of and I was told a young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle was its President.
She was never actually called President, but she liked the ring to it. President Sparkle.
“Well certainly! I’d love more members! What kind of books are you into?” asked Twilight with obvious enthusiasm.
Cherilee burst through a quick laugh “I meant it when I said ‘shut in’ Twilight. When I’m not teaching I’m reading anything with words, and when I’m not reading I’m buying quick meals!”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. She dropped the flour, which burst and covered them both in white powder.
Twilight bit her lower lip, hoping the accident wouldn’t be too off-putting. Cherilee didn’t seem to mind, and helped her and the cakes clean up.
“I only came here to get some flour, after that I was going to go home and study-but I don’t have to do that! Er, I mean. Um. It’s just, I mean, this was so unexpected” she stumbled about. Wow Twilight. Way to make this epically awkward. Lucky for Twilight, Cherilee was every bit as awkward, being so used to interacting with ponies much younger than either of them. “Would you-would you like to go to the park together?”
“Absolutely! Have you ever read The Tin Flute?”
######
If you’re a socially awkward pony who’s recently met a pony who’s as awkward as you are, one of two things can happen. Thing One: you avoid eye contact and pray for an opportunity to leave. Thing Two: a friendship develops so rapidly it goes to ludicrous speed and beyond.
Twilight and Cherilee landed on Thing Two, and were now so close they were practically interchangeable in their skin. Never before had either of them had the opportunity to analyze poetry with somepony else. To share their thoughts on character actions. Metaphor. Deeper Meaning. Interconnectivity. It was a sweet release of suppressed intellectualness. It left Twilight dizzy. They walked the dirt roads, lay by the lake, and bonded while cloud watching. She learned how Cherilee was the youngest in a family of six. How she too had hated schooling. She had become a teacher to help fillies, especially the ones who didn’t fit in, feel as much at home as she could. Her passion for learning was unmatched.
The two of them got some ice cream, and started off towards Cherilee’s house on the far side of town. On the way she learned where Cherilee and she differ in taste. She was much less into geek culture than Twi. She didn’t even know what cosplaying was and quickly expressed disinterest in multi-universes, which were a comic book staple. Twilight wasn’t as into existential themes or biographies as her rose colored friend. But they were both grateful for their differences; it assured them that they each would come to the table with different viewpoints, and difference was the spice of life.
The pair had arrived at Cherilee’s lakeside cottage at dusk.
“So the club meets every Thursday then?” asked Cheerilee.
“You bet it!” said Twilight with a twirl of her tail.
Twilight smiled as she crawled into bed that night. It seemed her new friend needed that as much as she did.
######
“And it was sooooo cool when the Cunning Colt trapped her in that crusher and said ‘Farewell Daring Don’t!’!!!” said Rainbow with a small flip in the air.
She was floating alongside Twilight, who was watering her tree houses various potted plants. She was on the outer run at the moment.
“Mm-hmm” said Twilight, not really listening and humming a happy tune. “And then she escaped and said ‘Daring Does what Daring Do!’ before popping him one in the face and taking back the Emernigurnu Emerald or whatever it’s called.” Continued Dash unabated.
“Ermanyangairu Emerald. It’s in the book’s title” Corrected Twilight. “And I haven’t read that one yet.”
“Whaaaaat?! Twi, that’s not cool. Seriously. It’s been out since Saturday. 24 full hours!! I thought you were the egghead here!” said Dash, waving her hooves about in exasperation.
“I’m sorry. Cherilee invited me in and we read together.”
“I-wait huh?”
“She poured some cocoa; she read Round Hooves and Black Hearts while I read the Tin Flute again. We just sat in comfy chairs and enjoyed each other’s company in silence” explained Twilight.
“Well if you were just reading why not read Daring Do and the ErmergerdDerenDer Emerald?”
“I didn’t read Daring Do and the Ermanyangairu Emerald because Cherilee rekindled my love for the Tin Flute” said Twilight, slowing a little for the Ermanyangairu part.
“Wait, wait, wait!” said Dash, eyeing her friend over and elevating herself. “You mean to tell me you read a book you’ve already read over a brand new Daring Do! Daring Do?!”
“Well it is the 27th Daring Do you know” said Twilight more hotly than she intended. She was also overwatering her dahlias.
“And isn’t Cherilee the grade school teacher?” Rainbow Dash’s voice also a little hot in tone. “When’d she get so important?” Dash elevated herself higher, glaring at Twilight. The dahlias were now drowning.
“I’m sorry” said Twilight bowing a little. She sensed they were on the edge of a fight she really didn’t want to happen “I just met Cherilee the other day and she and I really hit it off. She’s the only book buddy I have and-“
“’Book buddy’? Did you say book buddy? I thought we were book buddies! Daring Do was our thing. Our thing! What’s it not good enough for you anymore?”
“I love Daring and you know it” said Twilight, somehow making her sound apologetic. She swallowed a few times, caught in her friends judging gaze. She looked hurt behind her curt demeanor. Unexpectedly she dashed away in a spectrum of color.
Dash flew to the nearest cloud and buried herself inside. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. What was the point of what she just did? It didn’t do any good for nopony! And why was she so upset over Twilight Sparkle, the pony she had the least in common with, having a new friend? Celestia! She already had four others! And who cares if Cherilee’s a better book buddy than her. Rainbow didn’t know how or why but she might have just ruined the only thing she and Twilight shared.
You didn’t have to tell Cherilee twice that Earth Pony Kindergarten sucked. She was so excited on her first day (she was just like her big sister now!) that she brought the teacher a big, round, granny smith apple. Nopony else did this, which put the purple little pony first in the teacher’s heart. School, as many know, comprises of three groups: pupils, teachers, and pets. Cherilee fell into the pet category, which was quite lonely. You see; pets and teachers get along great, teachers and pupils pretend to get along, but pupils and pets just plain don’t get along outright and in the open.
Naturally, Cherilee grew fond of teachers. She didn’t understand the ones who would pass out worksheets and retreat behind their desks. Especially since children held such great potential, a belief she held even then. Teachers were amazing! They could instill passion, nurture talent! If it weren’t for a few magnificent teachers, how would she have gotten into reading at all? Or teaching itself?
It seemed to her that teachers were respected. In school they’d talk about her behind her back, but never the teacher. What she didn’t realize is that students insult teachers where they certainly can’t hear, but would insult teachers’ pets where they probably can’t hear. And how would Cherilee, super glued to her teachers straight through to graduation, have possibly known?
A consequence of her punishing lack of friends meant she never really learned how to have fun, something that may not have been true anymore.
Today was a Monday, and her school children were filing in miserably. Scootaloo had brought Daring Dos with her, as did Sweetie Belle. Sweetie was almost caught up in the series by now but Scootaloo hated reading so much she could only get through maybe a paragraph at a time. She figured that since school with Ms. Cherilee was so boring, she’d have nothing to distract her from reading up on Rainbow Dash’s favorite hero: Daring! Apple Bloom, who’d never heard of Daring Do decided to support Scootaloo’s effort to prove how cool she was to her surrogate older sister by reading some too.
When everypony sat down, Cherilee, who was quite bubbly, bounded over her desk and smiled at her classroom.
“Good Monday Morning Everypony! Let’s get right to it: open your science texts to page one hundred twelve!”
Everypony who remembered their textbooks flipped lazily to the page, which was filled with many boring astrological diagrams. Below each were long blocks of text which seemed utterly designed to sap them of their childhoods.
When everypony was ready and attentive, Cherilee, who’d been barely containing a wild fit of giggles, burst out laughing.
The school fillies looked about, trying to see whatever funny thing it was they were missing. A few young colts who had already been laying down their heads to sleep were jolted upright in their desks.
“Oh come on! Nopony wants to learn about this! Let’s take the day off! Twist, pull out the board games from the back shelf!” said Cherilee.
At first everypony was still, and then a few dared to believe that their teacher had really just given them a day of seven-up-hoofs-up, monopoly, and battleship, and cheered loudly. Schoolponies vaulted over desks, Twist pulled out the heavy games with hardly any effort, and the day of play begun. Scootaloo shrugged and tossed her Daring Do aside, eagerly challenging Featherweight to a game of battleship.
Cheerilee smiled as everypony threw aside their yellowed textbooks. She sat behind her desk and watched all her little ponies laugh and play, enjoying the childhood she wish she’d spent better.
######
Still not really wanting to see her old Book Buddy that Monday afternoon, Dash was instead spending her time with little Scootaloo, her surrogate little sister, who’d just gotten off of school.
“I’m just saying I used to be into Romance but then I realized that was totally lame! Now I only read Daring Do just like you!!” Scootaloo, trying to redeem herself from an earlier blunder. Even though the two of them were sisters so to speak, Scootaloo still found it necessary to prove her worth.
“How many Darings have you read” asked Dash. The two of them were walking along one of the park’s dirt paths.
“All of them!” Scootaloo lied. She’d tried the very first Daring Do in between battleship games, but the words were fuzzy and her eyes strained, but glasses were totally un-cool, so instead she planned to get plot summaries from Sweetie Belle.
But then a voice came from over the hill, a voice Rainbow really didn’t want to hear.
“Are you kidding I love Lenard Cohoof! Especially A Thousand Kisses Deep!” said Twilight Sparkle, as she and Cherilee’s heads popped over the hill.
Rainbow’s wings sprung open, ready to fly her out of there, but the two ponies coming towards them had already spotted her.
“Hello Ms. Cherilee!” Said Scootaloo, regretting how goody-two-shoes she sounded.
“Oh, hello Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash too! Twilight Sparkle’s told me all about you!” said Cherilee, twirling her tail when she noticed she rhymed.
“Yeah, hi” said Rainbow, pawing at the dirt.
Twilight swallowed slowly, choosing her words are carefully as she could.
“Cheery and I were actually just heading over to get some ice cream, our treat if you’d like to come. I miss you”
That last sentence was for Dash, referring to the last time they saw one another, during a fight they’d had last weekend. Dash wondered if Twilight had told Cherilee about that. She supposed not, as Cherilee’s small smile made her look oblivious.
“Sure! Me and my girlfriends love to get ice cream!” said Scootaloo, her tail doing a delightful twirl as well.
“You can go if you want Scoots, but I’m just going to head home” said Rainbow, ignoring Scootaloo’s cringe of horror. Twilight closed her eyes and was silent.
“Nonsense! Everypony loves ice cream!” said Cherilee with a flick of the hoof.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, which made Cherilee frown.
“Ugh, fine: I’ll get a chocolate, but then I’m going home, I’ve got seats to the Wonderbolts tomorrow morning and I’ve gotta get up before Celestia cracks the dawn.”
“I’m getting a chocolate too! I love chocolate! My absolute favorite!”
“I think Cheery and I are just going to get our usual Strawberry Delight to share.”
Sharing drinks? That’s the kind of things best friends did. It bothered Dash that Twilight was welcoming this new pony in so quick. It took time before Dash and Twi connected. For a long time, Twilight would read in her library, and Dash would do awesome things awesomely. Then came Daring Do, and suddenly the pair of them had something special, and it was like they each had a brand new best friend. It was sacred, even.
“Well okay then,” said Cherilee, who wasn’t quite sure if she liked Rainbow all that much “It’s just as well, Sparkily and I were just discussing going to a Leonard Cohoof concert tonight”
######
How many times can these ponies giggle while they slurp up strawberry? Thought Rainbow, while Scootaloo alternated from choking down her least favorite flavor of ice cream, and discussing Daring as though she knew something about her.
“You seem to have an awful lot of time to read Daring Do, Scootaloo. How are you coming along on that novel Twilight said she’d given you?” asked Cherilee
“Huh? Oh I um” stammered Scootaloo
“You know, Saddle Up? You must be doing a lot of reading, with that novel study on Bridge to Equestithia due soon” said Cherilee. Her voice sounded pleasant, but hid the sharp sting of judgment traditionally used by teachers and mothers.
“Ummm” said Scootaloo, making a mental note never to hang out with a teacher again, even if Rainbow Dash was there.
“Exactly, there’s nothing wrong with pulp fiction, but it’s important to read the serious stuff too” said Cherilee, innocently enough.
Twilight started chewing the end of her straw. Daring Do was almost insulted in front of Rainbow Dash, which just shouldn’t be done.
“Don’t listen to her Scoots” said Dash, also innocently “Daring’s the best”
“But she should be reading different things, Rainbow” said Cherilee “There’s a whole world of literary joy out there, I spend half my time teaching, just trying to get the children to sample some. Sometimes it’s very hard, especially when there are adults out there who refuse to give reading a try.”
“Yeah, yeah” said Dash. “I gave reading a chance. I love Daring Do. I read her all the time ‘cause she’s the best there is, and Twi does too!”
Cherilee considered for a moment telling Dash about how Twilight had been complaining, not but a few hours ago, that Daring’s mainstream popularity had grown disproportionately to its quality. She decided against this.
“I suppose there is something to be said for action in literature” she said instead.
The rest of the meet-up passed mostly in silence. Not from hostility, but from a general lack of common ground between Cherilee and Dash, save for their relationship with Twilight. Twilight didn’t want to talk to Dash about the Wonderbolts, as that would push Cherilee out of the conversation, nor did she want to talk to Cherilee about the Leonard Cohoof concert, which would push away Dash. Instead she talked about nothing, as there seemed to be nothing similar between Dash and Cherilee. Weather? No. Animals? Not really. The Grand Galloping Gala? Absolutely not. Royal gossip? Hardly.
Scootaloo, clever enough to feel the tension, tried to spark a few conversations (usually with stories about her doing awesome things awesomely just like Rainbow Dash does), but the silence remained until Twilight and Cherilee had to leave for their concert.
######
“Those two have it in for me” mumbled Dash as she leafed through book after book, judging them by their covers. She was trying to find a book with something cool on the front, like a decapitation or pirate ships.
“It’s getting late” said Scootaloo, who was lying on the library floor “Why isn’t Spike home?”
“Probably because he’s at that Cohoof concert too.” said Dash with great loathing.
Despite the fact that she had a Wonderbolts thing on tomorrow, she and Scootaloo had snuck into Twilight’s tree house library. She thought that if she spent the whole night reading books, Twilight would see how much of a literary egghead she’d become, and she’d stop wasting her time with Cherilee. She wasn’t a real friend.
“I’m getting a little”-she yawned-“tired here” said Scootaloo, eyes fluttering.
Sure enough, she passed out like a light.
Dash frowned, it was indeed getting late. She would have to stop being so picky and just read the book she happened to have in hoof. It was a particularly massive text with yellow pages. She opened it up and began to read:
A, A (ä) n. pl. a’s, A’s or As, aes, (äz) 1 The first letter of the English alphabet: from Phoenician aleph, through the Hebrew aleph, Greek alpha, and Roman A. 2 Any sound of the letter a. See ALPHABET. –symbol 1 Primacy in class or order: grade A beef 2 A substitute for the numeral 1: Section A. 3 Music. a One of a series of tones, the sixth in the natural diatonic scale of C, or the first note in the related minor scale. B a standard for tuning instruments: the pitch of this tone. C the written note representing this tone. D the scale built upon A. 3 Chem. Argon (Symbol A)
WHAT WAS THIS WRITTEN IN?! HIEROGLYPHS?!
She blinked and returned “A-K” to the shelf from whence it came. She stopped. The world was quiet here, and everything was so beyond her. She stood there, feeling small among the towering shelves, and thought about how out of place she felt. This was the den of a pony who loved stories. Who dedicated hours to learning the worlds’ secrets. This pony only needed some tea (green leaves, lump of sugar, dab of honey), a sleeping bag, a single candle, and a new hardcover to have a great night. Over there at that table, now taking the role of prodigy, she’d write letters about her studies, which she’d send to the Princess. But here too, she’d write to her parents, whose beloved child was studying abroad, or to her brother, separated from her by miles, but who seemed to be right there. Did she and Dash even live in the same world? Perhaps Twilight and hers brief overlap of interest was a mistake. A hiccup from the universe.
She listened to Scootaloo snore for some time before opening a new book at random, tucking her hooves under her belly, and beginning to read. Not, as she had done with “A-K”, out of jealousy, but because she didn’t want to lose this mare, who felt so near and so far.
######
When Twilight returned to her home the next morning, she found the door irresponsibly ajar.
“Hello? Anypony home? Spike is that you? I thought you said you were going to Sweet Apple Acres,”
There was no answer. Slowly the unicorn walked in, almost tripping over a little orange filly.
“Huh? Sis…no please sis don’t go…” she mumbled as Twilight woke her up “What, wait, huh? Did I get anything read?”
“I don’t know, what are you doing here? Don’t you have school?”
“Not for an hour. Rainbow Dash was supposed to wake me at ten too.” said Scootaloo getting to her hooves “Or at least I think she said she would”
“Rainbow’s here? Will you help me find her?”
The pair of them searched the tree house, but neither could find Rainbow Dash until Twilight gave up and went to her room, where Dash was drooling on her pillow. She’d made it halfway through Animal Farm before passing out.
/----------------------------- // Story: Out of the Book Club // Chapter: Chapter 3: Rainbow Reader // Author: ThatOneYellowPony //----------------------------- You didn’t have to tell Rainbow Dash twice that flight school sucked. Well, half the time anyways. You see, while she loved the so-called ‘practical classes’ like P.E, Aerial Maneuvers 101, and Weather-Maker’s Workshops, she would often skip out on classes like Flight Theory, which would wedge her between a desk and seat so she could listen to somepony read to her from a textbook. Unfortunately when her parents found out that she was skipping out on several of the required courses for graduation, they cracked down on her hard. ‘We got you into the best school bits can buy’ they’d say ‘Wear your uniform! It’s a sign of your good breeding!’ they’d order. She struggled though her academics, passing with C minuses if at all, before being forced to downgrade to public flight school. Here she met Fluttershy-one of her oldest and best friends-and first learned that she could still get into the Wonderbolts Academy even with the poor academic grades she was achieving.
But, although here the classes were easier, in her mind there was still a sort of stigma associated with inside classes. A stigma that she could never do well at them, and that she was simply too dumb to understand the course content like the eggheads around her. They all looked down on her in their own subtle ways, with raised eyebrows, sneers, snorts of derision-that sort of thing. When the teacher asked if there were any questions everypony would look at her expectantly, but she would refuse to raise a hoof, although she usually did have questions. But none of those jerks were going to become a Wonderbolt like she. Yeah! She kicked tail at all the outdoors classes; none could match her agility, her daring, her style, not a one. Everypony knew her name and the coaches loved her. She was convinced that the only world she wanted to be a part of was the world of athletics.
Last night she perhaps delved further into the world of reading than ever she had done before. Her friend Twilight Sparkle had introduced Dash to Daring Do not so long ago, and it quickly became the only thing she read. Now she was trying her best to read Animal Farm-a strange book featuring evil talking pigs-but just couldn’t do it. Every sentence was a struggle, but she valiantly continued to drag her eyes from left to right, down, left to right, down, left to right, down, until she realized she had lost track of what was happening. Then, frustrated with her short attention span, she would remain stringent, and take the paragraph from the top.
“Dash?” Squealer, one of the pigs, asked, or so that’s what Dash read.
“Huh? That’s my name!” said Rainbow Dash, tilting her head to one side and eying the text, which indeed had her name, all four letters, being spoken by the pig.
“What are you mumbling?” the book said Squealer asked.
Dash blinked. She was talking to a book! “Wh-what are you? A Demon Book?!”
Through prose the book described a chicken entering from the bushes.
“Eeew! She drools!” the text said the chicken said.
Wait a minute! She recognized that voice! Wait another minute! How could she hear a voice she was reading?
“Dash, come on, get up, it’s Twilight” The book said Squealer said, and she felt something nudge her forehead.
With a sticky pop her eyelids opened. Wherein her mind’s eye she had been imagining Squealer and the chicken were, stood Twilight and Scootaloo respectively.
A groggy Rainbow Dash removed her wet face from the pages of Animal Farm like a hoof from mud.
“I’m a bit surprised to see you here, I locked up before I left” said Twilight Sparkle, deciding not to be overly mad that her friend broke into house somehow.
“zuh?” asked Rainbow Dash, who was too tired to remember most of her and Scootaloo’s plot to break in and read, as well of most of the plot of Animal Farm, now that she thought about it.
“Have you always drooled in your sleep?” asked Scootaloo, who was sickeningly chipper, no doubt from the full night’s rest she had.
Twilight noticed the book Dash had drenched in drool.
“You know, I like to read in bed too but couldn’t you read your Daring Do’s in your own bed, not mine?”
“I wasn’t reading a Daring Do” said Dash, getting up, blushing and showing her Animal Farm’s cover, depicting a barn.
Twilight, being a self-described “friendship expert” didn’t understand at first. It appeared that Rainbow and Scootaloo had broken into her home while she was out with Cherilee, to read books clearly outside their fields of interest. Scootaloo was all into romance-she said so herself-but hadn’t laid a hoof on her romantic fiction shelf, which contained some of the smuttiest stories ever smat out by the romance-fiction industry, not that a filly should lay a hoof on most of those. And, well, Dash reading Animal Farm? It didn’t even have spike traps, ancient treasures, or treacherous dungeons, which are the three things ever story worth its salt should have according to Rainbow Dash.
Downstairs there was a knock on the library door.
“It’s unlocked!” called Twilight, which prompted Cherilee to enter, ascend the stairs, and enter Twilight’s room with the three other ponies.
“Oh, hello everypony” said Cherilee, a little confused by the company surrounding her, but nevertheless cheerful.
Without delay she buried her head into her beige saddlebag before removing a small brown package. It appeared to have some weight to it, was an inch in depth, and about as wide and tall as that photograph of Twilight and her five best friends kept by her bed.
“When you left my house this morning you didn’t wake me up, and you forgot this. Also I tried to wake Spike but he gets really cranky without his rest so I thought I’d let him sleep it off.”
“Oh, why thank you” said Twilight, her thoughts derailed.
“Well I’m sorry I can’t stay longer you three, I’ve got a class to teach, and speaking of which, you’ve got a class to attend!” said Cherilee, giving a concerned look to Scootaloo.
Before following Cherilee out the door Scootaloo looked back at Twilight and Rainbow Dash almost pleadingly. Neither of them seemed to notice.
“Bye you two”
The bedroom was silent and still until the door to Twilight’s library closed, and the two former book buddies were certain they were alone, alone for the first time since their fight.
Twilight carefully levitated the package Cherilee had left with her magic, and placed it by her prized photograph of the five friends she loved so dearly, displayed in a simple brass picture frame. She then propped herself onto her bed, sitting at Dash’s back hooves. Dash shimmied herself up so her back was propped against Twilight’s pillows and the back of her neck against the headboard, so she could look her friend in the eyes, even though her friend was staring fixedly towards the center of the room. Rainbow set Animal Farm down on the same table, neatly beside the package, and waited a few heavy moments for Twilight to speak.
“I felt bad I hadn’t read the latest Daring, so I started reading it yesterday. I finished it on the train ride to the concert. The farther the train traveled, the more we’d stop, and the more ponies, ponies going to the Cohoof concert too, would get on. Just as I was finishing it, somepony very special noticed what I was reading. Somepony I’ve always wanted to meet” said Twilight. The atmosphere in the room was different than Dash was used too with her purple friend. Each sentence was delivered with great thought, and there was something crushing about the long silences which punctuated her speech. She still hadn’t looked Dash in the eye.
“She was kind” described Twilight “she was brave, and outgoing, and loved her admirers, but not in any sort of bad way. She could pick a shy, awkward pony like me out of a crowd and show them that they’re worth something” at long last she looked at Dash “she was a lot like you”
Now it was Dash’s turn to look away, as though their eyes had locked too long “I’m sorry we fought. It’s just that I didn’t want to lose you” she dared to confess.
Twilight frowned down at Animal Farm “You didn’t like that book did you?”
“I hated it. I didn’t get the talking animals thing, and I still don’t know what a ‘human’ is supposed to look like” said Dash, with a small chuckle. The seriousness by which she tried to turn herself into an egghead was beginning to wash off. It wasn’t a part of her anymore, and she could watch it circle the drain and ‘schloop’ out of existence.
“Then why’d you read so much of it?” said Twilight. She suspected she knew, but wanted to be sure.
“I thought the only way I could keep you was by becoming an egghead too” said Dash, with a smile. The confessional atmosphere was at long last beginning to dissipate, now that each friend was starting to open up.
There was a small crinkling noise as dash lifted the package, and thrust it into the pegasus’s hooves.
“Here, I’m sorry too” said Twilight, gesturing that she should open it.
Curious, she ripped it open.
“Erma….gerd?” said Dash
“Ermanyangairu” corrected Twilight
Ermanyangairu indeed, in Dash’s hooves was Twilight’s copy of Daring Do and the Ermanyangairu Emerald, the 27th and most recent escapade of the fictitious adventurer, of which Dash already…owned…in hard cover…collector’s edition…
More than a little confused, she pretended to be grateful for the baffling present.
Twilight smiled sheepishly.
“Open it”
On the inside cover was a message written in blue ink, which confused her more. If Twilight wanted to write her a letter, surely she could find some plain parchment. The message was as follows:
‘Dear Rainbow Dash;
‘I had the pleasure of getting to know your friend Twilight Sparkle on the train ride to Baltimare, and if you’re anything like she described, then you’re exactly the kind of pony I’d love to call my friend. She said you were strong, loyal, adventurous, and open minded, and if it weren’t for that you wouldn’t even be a Daring fan. It reminded me of a friend I have, without whom I would never have been inspired to create Daring Do in the first place, which is why I’m happy I can take this opportunity to thank ponies like you and she. Never forget, the best friends we can ever hope for, are the ones who are brave enough to share their passions, and in the end it never really matters how different you were, just as long you had something special together. I truly hope you continue to enjoy Daring well into the future
‘Sincerely; Bravely Blue
‘P.S. Don’t give up on your dream to become a Wonderbolt, I never gave up on mine, and Daring’s bigger than ever!’
Dash was stunned, and for a while after she finished reading it, her eyes would linger on the crammed brick of text, taking it in. She looked at Bravely’s loopy signature one last time before looking back to her friend.
“I didn’t recognize her at first, but she was the author, she even told me a bit about the upcoming volume ‘Daring Do and the Lost Labrynth’” said Twilight
Without another word Dash hugged the unicorn tightly, completely unable to put her feelings into words.
“You know you can still catch your Wonderbolts thing right?”
######
“There’s more where this came from, so just give me a little shout if you want s’more!” said Pinkie Pie, sliding a tray of hot chocolate and cookies off her head and onto a small table positioned in the center of the Ponyville Reader Club’s semi-circle.
As she hopped to her bedroom’s exit door, she stopped to assure that a moderate or gargantuan shout would be fine as well.
“Sure thing Pinkie” said Mrs. Cake.
“I’d like to take this opurtunity to welcome the Reader Club’s newest member: Miss Cherilee” said Twilight Sparkle, pointing to the schoolteacher who sat beside Dash on Pinkie’s bed.
“Hello everypony! Twilight’s told me all about you, but I thought you said the Mayor was also a member” said Cherilee, craning her neck about as though the town’s mayor were hiding behind the waste paper basket.
“I’ve been told she opened her Fifty Manes of Grey book and hasn’t been seen since.” said Mrs. Cake.
“Her loss” said Dash, who was flipping her way through a comic book. Twilight had the idea to introduce Dash to things more action-packed, that way they could talk about more than just Daring, and Dash could have more in common with her enigmatic pal. She had shown her sci-fis, epic fantasies, zombie literature, manga, and comedy adventures, with varied results, but nothing stuck quite like comic-books. She particularly liked Batmare, which she was now absent-mindedly paging through, a comic superhero whose only superpower was a seemingly endless supply of wealth with which to make bat-themed gadgets.
“It certainly is, shall we go around the circle?” asked Twilight looking expectantly at Sweetie Belle “How’s your reading of Daring been going?”
“Oh um, I kinda put the whole Daring thing on hold” admitted the filly sheepishly.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, Scootaloo didn’t want that Saddle Up! romance you gave her so I kinda…yeah…it was good” she blushed
“Good?! You couldn’t put it down!” blurted out Scootaloo, flipping through her own Batmare comic.
Sweetie responded only by blushing and letting her mane cover one eye like she’d learned from Fluttershy.
“For school I wrote a story about it…” said Sweetie eventually
“You mean like a Fanfiction? That’s wonderful, how was it?” said Twilight looking at Cherilee.
“It was, you know, like…” she clicked her toungue a few times awkwardly. In truth it was a strange little story pairing two ponies not interested in each other in the book’s canon. “…well I haven’t had a chance to really…mark it yet, you know” At this she stopped speaking, deciding she’d accept that as successfully averting the topic.
Twilight got the message and moved on to the Cakes, both of whom had barely progressed in their books, with maybe 60 pages read between them.
Next Cherilee explained how she’d gotten her hooves on 1001 Books to Read before you Die, and has started on number one, Aesop’s Fables.
Last up was Rainbow Dash, who had listened attentively to Cherilee, determined to give the mare more respect than she had been, and had now stood up, and wiped some hot chocolate residue off her lips with her hoof. Without hesitating, she pulled out her autographed Daring Do volume, and began to read aloud Bravely’s message. Only Sweetie Belle, a fellow Daring fan was star struck that Dash had an authentic personal message from Bravely Blue, everypony else seemed either confused or indifferent. Only Twilight blushed.
When she finished she tossed the book to her seat beside her Batmare.
“When I joined this club” confessed Rainbow to her club-mates “I only planned on reading Daring, talking about Daring, and stuff like that. If it weren’t for Twi here, I wouldn’t have found Daring in the first place. I forgot that she did that for me, and I didn’t want to try new things. Now she’s shown me some of the coolest stories ever, and now I’d like to share them with you. Course I still love Daring, cuz she’s awesome, but check this chick out!”
She quickly picked up her comic and thrust it forth like she was presenting the new lion king to Africa. On the cover was a gritty looking caped pony, brooding over the edge of a really tall building. Evidently this was Batmare. The pegasus had no problem describing at great lengths how cool Batmare was, mostly just pointing at the illustrations and sputtering words like ‘awesome’ and ‘epic’ like she was a malfunctioning faucet.
And so, for the first time, the Ponyville Readers Club had a meeting not spent just talking about Daring Do. Instead there were enough comics to go around so that everypony got one. Even Cherilee, tentative at first, got into it, and at last she and Dash started to warm to each other. The schoolteacher was surprised at how much depth and complexity Batmare had to offer, and even decided that Batmare could be an effective way to encourage her students to read.
Twilight couldn’t help but smile, sure her club hadn’t exactly turned out the way she first planned it four weeks ago, but from that moment on there was a charm to their gatherings. Each week, instead of all reading their own books, they would move as a group from franchise to franchise. It started to become a blast, Cherilee became a dedicated cosplayer, as did they all, and the group grew with more and more ponies, all wanting to come together and share an experience; ponies that had nothing in common with one another, sharing something special together.
