Gingersnap signed the papers and let go a big sigh, she looked at the pile of “IN” and felt her heart hit the ground.
She was going to be here all night.
Not that she had any plans on the first place, this wasn´t exactly an exciting day on her agenda. Just another day sorting students applications and the janitor report, her usual work. Which made it rather depressing since that day was also Hearts and Hooves Day. Gingersnap took a look at the calendar of the wall and saw the big heart-shaped horseshoe in the picture and a big red heart scribbled on the date. She didn´t made the scribble of course, that was the work of the same pony that gave her the calendar as a gift.
*****
First day of the school year in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was always quite a spectacle. Not only because the Royal Guard on its fullest was there to escort the Princess as she marched through the rows of students; but because said rows were the most colorful gathering of ponies, courtesy of the frizzy dresses students were forced to wear.
Gingersnap hated the dress, she felt she looked ridiculous. Her mother had gotten her the biggest possible bow and she felt like a walking birthday present. The rest of the students were jsut as annoyed as her, all except one. Standing right next to her was a short unicorn filly with a butter colored coat and soft almost magenta mane. Honestly, with the giant bow (almost as big as Ginger´s) that circled her back, the filly looked like a giant wrapped candy.
Gingersnap snickered, watching her bounce up and down, like she was in the line for the circus. She looked ridiculous and the other students were starting to crack too. One of the teachers scolded them and they all stand straight, just as Princess Celestia passed by. The filly tried to stand still but she was clearly having trouble keeping her excitement and Gingersnap got worried for her. When the Princess passed by, she gave them a quick wink. The fillies looked at each other and laughed.
That day, the teacher forced them to stay and clean the classroom after hours but they didn´t minded.
That day was the day, Gingersnap met Giddilee.
****
Gingersnap laughed at the memory, glad that the new principal got rid of that ridiculous custom for the first day. She and Giddilee were just lucky enough to be the last generation subject to it. The happy memory made room to another sigh as Gingersnap wondered what Giddilee was doing that day. Knowing her she was looking for the biggest chocolate cake possible. She always shared a slice with Ginger, who couldn't hold her laughs at the sight of her friend snout covered in chocolate.
Gingersnap laughed out loud again but this time she had an audience.
“Uh excuse me?”
“Well, if it isn´t Twilight Sparkle. Oh excuse me, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Gingersnap said to her guest.
“Please Gingersnap, you don´t need to call me Princess,” Twilight said.
“Easy enough. I still have a hard time anyways getting sued to the idea that the new Princess is the same filly that Celestia used to sent to my office,” Gingersnap said.
“He-hey, I was a model student! I was never sent to the office!”
“You were also the student that refused to go to any field trip, so Celestia always made me keep an eye on you,” Gingersnap said,
“I´ve gone a long way since then,” Twilight said, slightly blushing.
“You go to camping now?”
“If my friends insist…” Gingersnap raised an eyebrow to this and Twilight blushed again. “ A-anyways, I´m just doing a check on the school staff and inventory on the school supplies.”
“You just came to visit the library, don´t you?”
“I have a visit schedule to supervise the new materials, yes.”
Gingersnap laughed. “It´s fine, Twilight. I´m glad to see you're getting sued to your royal duties. You seemed a bit hesitant during your coronation.”
“Well, it was all so sudden. Guess I was going through an emotional rollercoaster or a emoti-coaster, as Pinkie will put it,” Twilight joked.
Gingersnap was actually glad to see her relaxed. The little filly had been one of her favourite students, applied and diligent and quite likable despite her anti-social behaviour.
“I just passed by to say hi. I can see you have quite a lot of work to do,” Twilight said, looking at the pile of pending papers. While Gingersnap looked at it with dread, Twilight's eyes were almost beaming. “I´ll leave you alone.”
“Sure, leave your poor former teacher all alone without a date on Heart and Hooves day.”
“That makes two of us, Gingersnap,” Twilight said, sounding just as cynical as her.
“Oh please, you telling you don't plan to visit the barracks? Pay a little visit to a certain pegasus?”
“O-of course not! I´m here for strictly royal business!” Twilight insisted, blushing. “Now if you excuse me, I must flash. I mean dash away. I have a very sentry schedule, strict schedule!”
Gingersnap laughed at looking the flustered Princess leave the room. She clearly hasn't changed much since she was just a student. She took a look at her office, looking at the many pictures of her and the students and colleagues over the years and in all of those pictures, Giddilee was standing next to them.
Gingersnap resumed her work on the paper but the image of Giddillee and the years they have been together kept popping in…
****
Not all students were as easy as Twilight Sparkle, Gingersnap had her fair share of troublemakers. One name came to mind, Trixie Lulamoon, a boisterous, illusionist who wasn´t below cheating, which ultimately led to her being expulsed.
Gingersnap remembered a field class that turned into a magic duel contest. Trixie was in full swing, turning manes green and horns into corkscrews. Gingersnap and Giddilee tried to reason with her but she retorted with a classic argument.
“How can you expect us to get better at magic if we don´t practice?”
“There´s a difference between practice and bullying your classmates,” Gingersnap told her.
“It´s not my fault that they´re terrible at magic duels,” Trixie said, obviously not caring one bit about the angry students glaring at her.
“Trixie, I know magic duels can be fun but they also can be dangerous. You have to be very careful,” Giddilee said, trying to reason with her.
“Is that so? Well perhaps you could show me how to be more careful…”
“Glad to!”
“In a magic duel.”
“Oh but I can´t fight against you! It wouldn't be fair!”
“What? You're saying you´re better than Trixie?”
“Of course she is better than Trixie. She is a teacher and you´re a first year student, Trixie,” Gingersnap said, putting emphasis on the name.
“Very well, then you two fight and Trixie will watch!”
“We´re not going to fight to entertain you,” Gingersnap said.
“What? Afraid you can´t handle your own in a duel?”
“That´s enough! Now listen to me, little…”
“Actually Ginger, that may not be such a bad idea,” Giddilee said.
“What, you serious?”
“Well, look at it this way. All these students lose to Trixie because they obviously don't know how to make a defense.”
“Of course,” trixie said, oblivious to Giddilee´s unintentional insult.
“Maybe we can show them a few counterspells. Teach them how to block magic, you know.”
“I don´t know…” Gingersnap said but she didn´t want to look like a coward in front of her students. “Okay.”
Gingersnap and Giddilee faced each other in the field, all except Trixie cheering for both of them.
“Okay, we´ll start with something simple. Throw me a spell and I´ll counter it, okay?”
Giddilee nodded and fired a green beam at Gingersnap who raised and shield and made it bounce back to Giddilee, whose mane turned into a multi colored afro.
“Okay, now…” Gingersnap said, trying to hold a gigle. “I´ll shoot at you. Ready?”
“Ready!”
Gingersnap suppressed a few more laughs and created a small cloud over her head.
“This is a simple, one shot thunderstorm. A weak spell but very uself to deal with snobby pegasus.”
Giddilee lciked her lips, ready to bounce the lighting but then she got distracted. Trixie and the rest of the students were laughing at her, pointing and mocking her.
“Do...do I lock that bad?”
That distraction proved almost fatal, the lighting hitting Giddilee right on the horn.
“GIDDILEE!!” Gingersnap rushed to her side, picking her up. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Oh I´m so sorry, so sorry!”
“I´m fine, Ginger...just a little smoky,” Giddilee joked about her new look.
“Oh I was so worried!” Gingersnap hugged Giddilee, holding her tight.
“...Ginger.”
It took Gingersnap a minute to realize the students were looking at them with various degree of blush. Gingersnap let her friend go and called the class dismissed.
*****
Gingersnap put the paper down and fell onto her chair. That was just one of the many memories she had with Giddilee, all precious to her. Through the years they have grown closer, closer than just co workers or friends but Gingersnap felt there was a gap between them. A gap made by a couple of words that she wasn't ready to say, not even on this day, Gingersnap gulped, trying to break the lump in her throat, a feeling she had a few times before…
****
The wedding of Princess Cadence and Shinign Armor was one of those times. They were standing in the street, watching the carriage go away.
“That was beautiful!” Giddilee said, wiping her tears. “I always cry at weddings...Gingersnap, are you okay? You look...tense.”
“No. I´m not okay. Giddilee, don't you remember what just happened? The invasion? A real invasion, like the ones Inkwell keeps babbling about. It was...it was...terrifying!”
Giddille grabbed her hoof, trying to calm her down.
“Those horrible creatures were filling the sky and one of them...it looked at me and ten took my form. It was awful, just awful,”
“It´s okay, Ginger. It´s all over.”
Gingersnap looked at her and said, “You saved me. Back there, you saved me.” But Giddilee just smiled, not making a big deal out of it. “How could you tell? It was identical to me, how could you tell she was the fake one?”
“I know you, Ginger. How could I mistake you for a monster?”
Gingersnap didn´t had a snappy reply to that, she had no reply at all.
*****
Gingersnap placed the paper in the “OUT” pile and let go a big sigh. When she looked again, she discovered she had finished with the paperwork, Lost in her memories, she had actually done all the work for the night. That only made her more depressed, now she was all alone on her office for the rest of the day.
She grabbed a frame, a picture of them on the day they became teachers. Gingersnap looked at her younger self and scolded herself for not saying out loud what she wanted to say that day. It was somewhat curious, it could be months without even thinking about it and then, just like today, she fell like tearing apart. She wanted so badly to say it but every time she cowered, Giddilee would always say or do something to make her laugh and Gingersnap would hide the words some more time.
Always the same…
“There you are! Been looking for you all over the school!”
“Gi-giddilee, what are you doing here?”
“Looking for you, didn't I just say that?” Giddilee giggled and she made Gingersnap smile. “Oh, you finished your paperwork already! Impressive!
“Thanks. I still think I waited too long, when did you finished yours?”
Giddilee blushed and stuck her tongue out, making her friend sigh.
“Seriously? Not even started?”
“Sorry, I need you to help me with that! After our date of course!”
Gingersnap needed a minute to realize what she just heard.
“Wait, our what?”
“Oh, you forgot! But even marked it for you! You still have the calendar I gave you, right?” Giddilee said, trying to peek behind Gingersnap to see the calendar. “You didn´t forget, did you? This is Hearts and Hooves Day, Ginger. The day of the year you have to spend the ponies you love.”
Those words made Ginger blush in a way that seemed impossible, turning her peanut coat into a full red.
“So, I was thinking we could go pay a visit to Inkwell at her office and have a picnic!”
“Oh, you meant it that way…”
“And then we could go to this new restaurant and then to that popular dance club. I have a friend who knows the DJ and ten…”
“Giddilee, I love you.”
Giddilee turned around, looking surprised.
“I love you. Heh, I said it. Can't believe I said it.” Gingersnap seemed as surprised as Giddilee what she just said. “Listen, I know I never said it before but I…”
Her words got interrupted by a hoof closing her lips.
“You don´t need to said it,” Giddille said and softly nuzzled Gingersnap. “I love you too.”
If the words that came out of her own mouth were a shock for Gingersnap, the kiss she received almost made her faint.
Giddilee took her hoof and asked her “Ready?”
Gingersnap laughed, she was ready. She had been ready all along, those words she taught she need to say, that gap that needed to be filled; it was already filled. It had been filled all these years, everypony could have seen it, only Gingersnap was blind to it.
Smiling, she hold tight Giddilee´s hoof and walked with her out of the office.
