Bookends

CHAPTER TWO

Pillow Talk

Cheerilee followed Twilight up the stairs to a cozy little bedroom with books lining the walls, a small fireplace with a steady low fire burning and one window facing the east.  It was the kind of bedroom she’d expected of Twilight, comfortable, utilitarian and tidy.  There was only one bed but of a size that would be comfortable for two ponies to sleep close, Cheerilee had no problem with that.

She also noticed a basket with a pillow and blue blanket, obviously Spikes empty bed.

Twilight showed Cheerilee the bathroom and where the towels were so she could take a quick shower before going to bed.

After Cheerilee finished her shower, she and Twilight passed each other in the narrow passage between the room and bathroom.  They had to brush up against each other to pass.  Both mares enjoyed the contact.  Twilight then took a quick shower herself.  Then returning to her room she saw Cheerilee sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Use which ever side is more comfortable to you.” Said Twilight, “it really makes no difference to me.”

Cheerilee looked pensive.  It was time to get the truth in the open.

“Won’t your coltfriend be upset that you shared a bed with me?” asked Cheerilee.

Twilight sat down beside her, close enough to be touching.  To Twilight’s delight, Cheerilee didn’t scoot away.

“I’ve never had any coltfriends,” she’d an almost sad look in her eyes.

“Neither have I,” Cheerilee paused, she was sure that this was the right time to tell somepony.

If this was to go any further, and Cheerilee was hoping it would, and if they were going to share a bed, she owed Twilight that much.

It had to come out now.

Then on faith and what her heart was telling her, Cheerilee decided that she could trust this pony that she’d found that she’d so much in common with.  So she came out with it;

“To be honest Twilight, and I’ve never shared this with anypony, but I’m a mare-lover.”

Cheerilee paused to see if Twilight reacted, she didn’t;

“But I’ve never had any marefriends either, never have had time.  But I just have known what it is that I like.”

Cheerilee again waited for Twilight to react.  To her amazement, and delight, Twilight acted as if Cheerilee had just told her that she’d had oat pancakes for breakfast.

“You sure you still want to share a bed with me?” asked Cheerilee.

Twilight started to snicker.

“What?” asked Cheerilee, not sure how to take it.

“It’s just that Applejack told me how her sister and friends tried to hook you up with Big Mac last Hearts and Hooves Day.” Said Twilight, Cheerilee just looked puzzled, “Rainbow Dash, who most ponies assume is a mare-lover, has been trying to find a way to get Big Mac to take her to the Apple’s Barn Dance.  I think she is sweet on him.  But she thinks that she is too cool to admit it!”

Both ponies burst out in gut wrenching laughter at the irony.  They put a foreleg around each other to steady themselves.  As the laughing slowed, they looked in each others eyes.  Both ponies blushed; they lowered their forelegs, and again, without any hurry.

“Cheerilee...” started Twilight.

“Cheeri,” interrupted the guest, “in my college days, what friends I had called me Cheeri.  I’d love it if you’d call me that.”

“My close friends call me Twi,” said Twilight with a smile.  “I’ve no problem with your lifestyle; and I don’t believe that you’ll be chasing me around the bedroom for nefarious reasons.  I’ve never heard of a mare-lover out on recruitment missions.”

Cheerilee chuckled.

“So unless you have a problem with it.  I don’t think you need to concern yourself with what I might think.  You’re welcome in my house; you’re welcome in my bed.  You’re my friend, and you will always be welcome.”

Cheerilee looked at Twilight, she’d a tear in her eye as she returned Twilight’s smile.  Cheerilee then gave Twilight a small hug and kiss on the cheek, which Twilight returned.

“Thanks, Twi,” said Cheerilee, “I wish we had had this talk sooner.”

“So do I, Cheeri,” answered Twilight, “my friends are special ponies, but as I mentioned earlier, it’s nice to have a friend that has so much in common with myself.”

There was an awkward pause

“We had better turn in now.  No telling what the weather will be in the morning,” said Twilight.

The two ponies climbed under the covers, Twilight’s horn glowed and the lights went out.  There were dancing shadows on the wall from the fire and the soft sound of snow hitting the window.

Both ponies lay there on their backs breathing slow.  Both could tell that the other was awake.

Cheerilee wanted to know if Twilight was ready to reveal the last part of the puzzle.  This could be make-or-break.  She was almost ecstatic to have found out that the pony she’d known in passing was the type of pony that she’d been looking for for a long time.

“Twi?” said Cheerilee, “may I ask a personal question?”

“You’re in bed with me Cheeri,” snickered Twilight, “I don’t see how you could be any more personal.”

Cheerilee gave a small giggle;

“Okay, you got me there Twi.  But if I may ask, why have you never had any coltfriends?  If it none of my business, just say so.”

Twilight just lay there for a moment, and then she turned to face her guest, who turned to face her.

“I don’t know if it was jealousy or misunderstanding, but the other kids in the school, at least in the beginning, would make fun of me because of the attention I’d receive from Princess Celestia.  They would call me Teachers Pet and Twilight Awful.  When that didn’t get the reaction they wanted, they started with more personal attacks.”

Cheerilee could see in the low light a tear running across Twilight’s muzzle.

“Plain Mane and Twilight Ugly they would say.  And I believed them,” said Twilight the tears starting to flow, “I learned later that they were just being mean, but I think it stuck in my psyche.  Because of that, I was always wary to attempt any close personal relations.  I was always afraid that I’d get more confirmation on my lack of desirability.”

“Oh Twi,” said Cheerilee, placing a foreleg across Twilight’s shoulder.  “You’re far from ugly or even plain.  Your friend Rarity, she is a beautiful mare.  But ask her how much work she has to do to keep it up!  Don’t take this wrong, but you’re what I’d call ‘cute’.  Cute is an attractiveness that’s the same if you spent several hours primping or just dried off after a shower and the only thing you have done is brush your mane.”

“You’re not just saying that, are you?” asked Twilight with a weak smile, “because I’ve always thought that you’re an attractive mare that I wish that I could be more like.”

“Say that in the morning after I get up!” said Cheerilee, thrilled to hear that this mare found her attractive.

Both mares giggled at that.  Cheerilee noted that Twilight had not reacted to the foreleg on her shoulder.  And she was even more surprised when Twilight leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thank you for that,” said Twilight.

They lay there for several minutes, Twilight was trying to sort through the feelings that had been growing this evening.  The feeling of just laying next to this mare was so special, Cheerilee’s touch gave her a thrill she’d never known she could feel.  There was a little more that she needed to know so Twilight spoke up.

“So if I may ask?” started Twilight.

“We are in the same bed, remember?” said Cheerilee.  Both mares giggled again.

“If you realized that you’re a mare-lover, why no marefriends?”

Cheerilee lay there for a moment, thinking how to put it.

“When I told you that I had never told anypony about my sexual preference, that was not quite accurate.  When I discovered my feelings, I was still in high school.  I needed to talk to somepony about it, so who do you turn to when you need to talk about something that important, at that age?

So I went to my parents and told them that I liked mares.  You’d have thought that I had told them that I was engaged to Nightmare Moon!  After a good three quarters of an hour of my father yelling and belittling me while my mother cowered in fear, he told me in no uncertain terms that if I ever brought this up again or told anypony else that he would consider me dead and I’d be forever forbidden to see them ever again!”

Cheerilee started to cry; Twilight put her foreleg on Cheerilee’s shoulder and pulled her close.  Cheerilee buried her face in Twilight’s shoulder.  Twilight felt the tears on her coat.

“I’m so sorry, Cheeri,” said Twilight.  Stroking Cheerilee’s rose and pink mane.

Twilight held Cheerilee until she got control of her crying.  To tell the truth, it felt quite nice.  Twilight knew that she would not mind at all to continue holding this mare that she was discovering was cut from the same cloth, but she was not ready to push it, yet.  The both backed off but they still had forelegs on each other’s shoulders.

“Strangely,” said Cheerilee, able to work up a small smile, “that felt good to get that out.  Thank you Twi.”

“What are friends for?”  said Twilight with a smile.

It was Cheerilee’s turn to give Twilight a kiss on the cheek.

The silence was awkward.

“So,” said Twilight, “is it your intent to stay teaching at the elementary school level?”

Glad for the diversion Cheerilee answered;

“I really like teaching the young kids, but I’d really like to get into administration eventually.  That way I can have a hoof in shaping the lives of kids that I may never meet.  Because of my lifestyle they are the only children I’ll ever have, unless the unforeseen happened.”

“I’ve never thought of administration that way,” said Twilight.  “I know that eventually Celestia will recall me to Canterlot for some government position.”

Cheerilee snickered.

“What?” asked Twilight, slightly confused, “you think me doing administration work is funny?”

“No!” answered Cheerilee, “heavens no!  I don’t think that there’s anypony I know that would handle that type of work better!”

“Then what?”

“I know of no pony that just refers to the princess so casually,” replied the teacher.

“You think that’s something?” said Twilight, slightly amused, “Luna gets mad at me when I call her princess.  You don’t want to know where she has threatened to shove her tiara if I do so again, except in very formal circumstances!”

Both ponies got a good laugh out of that one.  In the distance, the clock in the Ponyville Tower struck two.

“Oh my gosh!” said Cheerilee, “we have talked half the night away!  I know that you have work to do tomorrow, and if the weather clears, I have to get home to get my materials for school.”

“Too bad,” said Twilight, “I’ve not spent a more enjoyable evening in a very long time!”

“Me either,” said Cheerilee.

The two just smiled at each other and then exchanged a hug.  They backed off, smiled again and turned away to go to sleep.

“Good night Twi.”

“Good night Cheeri.”