Bookends

CHAPTER ONE

Late Night at the Library

Cheerilee was always nervous when this lesson came up in the curriculum.  It was kind of funny how most parents were putting the responsibility of teaching the ‘Facts of Life’ i.e. reproduction, to the school, saving themselves the embarrassing questions.  Questions that they had faith in the teacher to answer.

The single, unattached and lonely teacher.  A teacher that had very little interest and even less experience in that subject.

She was reading a book that Twilight Sparkle recommended, How to Speak to Kids About Pony Sexuality.

It was kind of embarrassing; this subject always gave her strange feelings.  It was an odd mixture of passion and humiliation, being in front of the class and talking about a subject that, aside from books, that she knew next to nothing about.

“Cheerilee!” said a voice; it was Twilight Sparkle, “I didn’t realize you’re still here.  I was getting ready to lock up and turn in.”

Cheerilee looked up from the book, seeing the clock on the mantel and the darkness outside the window.

“Oh my! Twilight” said the teacher, “I’m so sorry to have kept you up, I’ll get going.  Thanks for your hospitality.”

“Anytime,” said the purple unicorn, walking Cheerilee to the door.

When they opened the door, they discovered that a late Fall snowstorm was raging.

“Oh pony feathers!” remarked Twilight, “I forgot that Rainbow Dash warned me about this.”

“It’s okay,” replied the teacher, “I’m sure that I can make it home without much problem.”

“My hoof you will!” said Twilight, “Spike is in Canterlot and so there’s plenty of room.  You can stay here tonight.”

“I don’t want to impose,” said Cheerilee, actually glad that she didn’t have to walk a little over a mile in the snow and at this late hour.

“Don’t be silly;” said Twilight, “it’ll be nice to spend an evening with an intelligent pony.”

Cheerilee smiled and blushed at the praise.

“I’ll whip us up some daisy sandwiches and chamomile tea for a ‘bed time’ snack,” said Twilight with a twinkle in her eye.

“I’d like that,” said Cheerilee with a smile.

They sat at Twilight’s kitchen table, nibbling the delicious sandwiches and drinking the tea.

“So you went to the university in Baltamare?” asked Twilight.

“Yes,” said the guest, “I got my Bachelor Degree in Education there.  I did get my teaching credentials at the Royal Canterlot College, however.  Isn’t Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns affiliated with the RCC?”

“Yes it is, but I’m kind of jealous of you,” said Twilight.

“How so?” asked Cheerilee, “I’d have thought being taught by the very ruler of Equestria would be a thrill and an honor.”

“It is,” replied Twilight, “but it’s part of what caused me to be such a recluse for so long.  I just think now it might have been fun to be in that kind of environment, the whole college experience.”

“It was fun,” said Cheerilee, “but sometimes it was a distraction.  It did made getting my degree that much harder.  But what about you?  What did you get from your studies?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you were to have gone to the RCC only,” asked the teacher, “what degree would your studies be worth?”

Twilight blushed; she didn’t like bragging on herself.

“Come on Twilight,” said Cheerilee with a smile, she reached out and put a hoof on Twilight’s.  “It’s just us bookworms here.”

Twilight looked at the hoof, then looked up and smiled.

“I don’t like to brag, but I hold a Doctor of Magic Arts and Masters Degree in Government Science.”

“And you’re embarrassed by that?”

“I don’t want ponies thinking that I think that I’m better than anypony else.” Said Twilight, “it was hard enough to make friends at first.  And I do truly have some very good friends now.  And not just the five I hang out with the most.  But other ponies of the community are my friends as well.  Golden Harvest, Bon-Bon, Cherry Berry, Bubbles, Lyra Heartstrings, the Cakes, Big Mac and the list goes on.  But I’m truly thankful that I’ve an intelligent and scholarly friend like you.”

Twilight reached out her other hoof and put it on the hoof that was touching hers.  Both ponies exchanged warm smiles and blushed.

They drew back their hooves, not too quickly, and worked on finishing their snack.  Looking out the window, Twilight commented;

“If it keeps this up, you might not have school tomorrow.”

“Yes,” said Cheerilee, “the students will like that.  Until the next day and I give them double the homework!”

Both scholarly ponies laughed.

“So what do you do when you’re not teaching or getting lessons ready?” asked Twilight.

“Really, I don’t have that much of a life outside of the school,” said Cheerilee, “I do, however, like to read the classics, I’m in to some medieval classics right now.  I’ve been reading the Cantorberry Tales.  And when I’ve the time, I do a little gardening, mostly flowers.”

“So when you’re not growing children, you’re growing your mind and nature,” said Twilight.

“I guess that would be one way to put it,” said Cheerilee, “what about you?  What do you do when you’re not working here or out saving Equestria or the world?”

Twilight blushed to hear such recognition.

“You’ll think it silly and unbecoming,” said Twilight.

“Try me,” said Cheerilee with a smile.

“I write dirty limericks,” said Twilight almost inaudibly.

“I didn’t catch that,” said Cheerilee.

“I write dirty limericks,” said Twilight, blushing almost the color of Cheerilee’s coat.

Cheerilee’s eyes went wide; a short snicker/snort escaped her lips.

“Tell me one!” said Cheerilee.

“I couldn’t” said Twilight, blushing even brighter.

“Come on Twilight,” said the teacher, “I promise that I won’t tell anypony, and I promise not to think any less of you.  I won’t even grade it.”

Twilight swallowed, took a breath and proceeded;

“There once was a mare who burned,

To fill her marehood with sperm,

She made a large sign,

To hang on her behind,

So every stallion could take a turn.”

Cheerilee sat there silent, then she burst out laughing, she once again reached out a hoof to Twilight’s hoof.

“I’d have never, in a thousand years, guessed that of you!” said Cheerilee.

Twilight looked away dejected.

“No!  Don’t take it wrong!” said the teacher, getting control of her laughing.  “I think it’s very clever!  If a pony doesn’t expand themselves then they stagnate.  I’m sure that you have other activities you do, but being creative is very healthy for the mind!”

Twilight started to look sheepish.  Twilight was very unsure of herself when it came to friends.  Now there was something telling her that this one might become more than just a friend.

Friendship was hard to learn at first.  Now she felt like she was being drawn in a direction that she’d never considered.  She knew that she needed to be as upfront as possible to avoid the possibility of misunderstanding or making a fool of herself.

“I don’t just sit around writing naughty poems.  I love reading and playing chess as well, I just wanted to put the shocker first.  That way I could see if you’re the kind of pony I think you are.”

“And what kind is that?” asked Cheerilee, intrigued.

Again, Twilight put her hoof on the hoof that Cheerilee had placed on hers and blushed.

“I was hoping that you’re an open-minded, intelligent pony who could handle a friend who was not the norm.”  Said Twilight, “a pony that was flexible when it came to… to relationships.”

Cheerilee caught the inflection on relationships, was Twilight trying to tell her something?  Was it just hopeful thinking?

There was something that Cheerilee had never shared with anypony, could Twilight instinctively know?  She was a very intelligent, and insightful pony.  Twilight was so much like herself, that was so nice and hard to find!

“I think you’d be surprised about me,” said Cheerilee with a smile.

Twilight holding her hoof felt so good.  And she appeared to be in no hurry to let go.

“I really hope not,” said Twilight, she was blushing again.

Again Cheerilee was hoping that she was receiving the message implied.  But it was also implied that she was not yet ready to ‘lay all the cards on the table’.  Cheerilee thought, ‘anything worth having is worth waiting for.’

The two ponies just sat there for a moment, just enjoying the feel of the other’s hoof and looking into each other’s eyes.

“So if I may ask,” said Twilight.

“Anything, within reason!” said Cheerilee with a giggle.

“Where do you see yourself in ten years?”  asked Twilight, “not work, but personally.”

Cheerilee thought a moment.  How could she put it without giving too much away.  Now was not the right time, or perhaps Twilight was fishing for clues.

“I hope to be with a special pony, somepony that would share my likes, share my interests.  A pony with more than a little brain.” Said Cheerilee, happy with how she was putting it.  “A pony to grow old with.  A pony that I’d want to bring joy to.”

“Joy, as in children?” asked Twilight.

Cheerilee paused and thought, ‘how to put it’?

“No, I don’t think that children are in the future for me,” said the teacher, a shadow appeared to cross her lovely face, “not that I don’t love them.  Children are my life and livelihood.  I’m afraid that circumstances won't allow it.  Although if my dream pony was for it, adopting would be an option.”

Twilight knew better than to ask a question that Cheerilee so obviously sidestepped.

“But what about you?” asked Cheerilee, a smile coming back to her face, “what kind of life will the princess have in mind for you?”

“Princess Celestia is my teacher, mentor and most of all, my friend.”  Said Twilight, “she has told me more than once that my life is mine.  She might advise, but how I’ll live is strictly up to me.”

“So where do you see yourself?” asked Cheerilee who chuckled, that denoted that she was only half serious.  “A library full of kids?  Doting wife to a government administrator?”

“You might think that, but I don’t think that children are in the cards for me either.  I too would like to settle down with a pony that’s my equal.  A pony that would read with me, laugh and cry with me, not go on an extended ego trip when I beat them at chess.  I know my parents would be happy with whatever I chose to do, but I think that they are a little sad that there will be no grandchildren.  Although, I think that I’d be open to adoption as an option.”

“What about your brother and Princess Cadence?” asked Cheerilee.

“Cadence loves children more than anything, she was my foal sitter and I’m forever grateful for that.  She would like nothing better than to have a house full of kids,” Twilight paused, trying to think of a respectful way to put it, “but it’s impossible.

I found out during my schooling with Princess Celestia that alicorns are a special and deeply magical type of pony.  They contain all the traits of the three subspecies of ponies.  Because of these properties, they are immortal.  But at a cost, because they are immortal, they are incapable of reproduction, they are sterile.  No need for replacements if you’re going on forever.”  Twilight looked a little sad after telling this.

Cheerilee did notice that Twilight was careful to be gender neutral when she was talking about settling down.  It was almost as obvious as what she’d said.

However she was glad to hear that Twilight might want children, if only adopted.

Twilight tried to stifle a yawn, but didn't do a good job.

“I've been known to have that effect on my students,” laughed Cheerilee.

Twilight joined the laugh.

“Sorry,” said Twilight, “I think the chamomile tea is working.”

Catching the hint, Cheerilee looked back toward the main library.

“If you have an extra blanket and pillow, I should be comfortable on one of the couches,” said Cheerilee.

“I don’t think so!” said Twilight, then blushing slightly, “I could not let you do that.  If it would not bother you..........

I’ve a bed big enough for two ponies.”

“Where would you sleep?” asked Cheerilee, Twilight looked confused, then Cheerilee laughed, “I’m only kidding!  I’d have no trouble sharing the bed with you.  That’s if you don’t snore!”

“I don’t snore,” said Twilight with a sly look in her eyes, “I’ve been known to wet the bed once in a while!”

Twilight paused to see the odd look on Cheerilee’s face, then she laughed again.

“There!  I got you back!”

“Oh you!” laughed Cheerilee, she was now as relaxed with Twilight as if she’d been a friend all her life.

They both looked at their hooves, still in contact with each other.  Then reluctantly they separated and got up from the table.  Twilight walked toward the stair, looking back she said;

“It’s this way!”