“Alright my little ponies!” Cheerilee said to the class. “Have a nice weekend! And thanks to all of you for the Hearts & Hooves day gifts. Especially yours, Twist!” She glanced over at the stallion-sized heart which was made out of homemade candy-canes.
“No problem, mith Cheerilee!” She replied with her usual lisp. “Ith the leathst I could do for thuch a nice teacher.”
“And it very much appreciated. Now remember class. Don’t forget to do your reading for Monday!”
A small portion of the fillies and colts of the class let out a small groan, while the others simply shrugged it off.
After all of the small and colorful ponies left the classroom. Cheerilee gathered her belongings, along with her new supply of chocolate and candy hearts, and locked up the one-room schoolhouse. Since she worked and lived in Ponyville and her home was but a short walk from the school, Cheerilee usually decided to take the long route, trotting through the park as the sun began to set. It also gave her a chance to talk to other ponies that weren’t under 12 years of age.
“Hello Cheerilee! Is that a new bag?” Bon Bon said. She was sitting at a bench by the pond with Lyra.
“Oh hello, Bon Bon. Nope. Same old same old.” She replied.
“Oh. I guess I haven’t noticed it before; probably because I haven’t seen it so packed.”
“Yeah, you know. Students plus Hearts & Hooves day means gifts for the teacher!”
Lyra perked up. “Oh yeah, that’s tomorrow!” She was immediately given a look from Bon Bon. “I mean… uhh. Of course! Yeah. I’ve got cool things planned for us, Bonnie!”
“Yeah, I’m sure you do, Ly’. Just like our date at the Sofa & Quill store last year.”
“Hey, I wanted to get you a sofa or a quill, but I couldn’t decide, so I had you come with.”
“Well!” Cheerilee broke in. “I have to be on my way. Have a nice night you two.”
“You too.” The two ponies replied.
The rest of her walk was fairly quiet, with the sky now a burnt orange, just bordering a line of purple from Princess Luna’s inevitable claim of the night sky. The path lamps turned on one by one. Cheerilee’s walk eventually brought her adjacent to a certain red stallion.
“Hello Big Mac. It’s a nice night, isn’t it?”
Big Mac peered his eyes to the sky. Without staring too long he brought his eyes back to the path in front of him. “Eeyup.”
“Yeah. So, any plans for the weekend?”
He merely lifted his right front hoof to give a shrug, and with a look of ambiguity, responded. “Mmmm… Nnope.”
Cheerilee, figuring that would be his answer, decided to end the seemingly one-sided conversation. “Well, alright then. Have a good one then.”
She veered off at the fork in the path where she went right, and Big Mac went left.
When Cheerilee got home, she went up to her bedroom after stashing the sweets from her students in a closet, promising herself not to pig out on them like she did the year before. She let out a small sigh.
“Oh, I wish I could get him to speak more.” She said to herself. “It’s just that, he has such a smooth voice.” She thought back to when three of her students attempted to get her into a love relationship with the stallion. She remembered how surprised she was, since the students could’ve never been able to guess correctly at who she admired. “I don’t know how they figured it out, but because of them my relationship with Big Mac will never be more than an awkward acquaintance. I’ve been trying so hard to get him to really talk to me, to give me a chance to learn more about him. I mean, I see him three times a day. It has to mean something.”
Her run-ins with Big Mac were definitely a routine. Once in the morning while walking to the school, again during her lunch break between teaching the A.M. and P.M. classes, and finally on her walk home.
That night, it took Cheerilee much longer to get to sleep than normal. Since the Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt to get her a special somepony last year, she’s been having migraines. They started out bad, and then started to disappear around July. After that they slowly came back, and they seemed to be at their peak in February, right around Hearts & Hooves day. She had gone to Zecora for some headache remedies, and they did what they could; but it never truly got rid of them.
The next morning was much better. The sunlight came in through the bedroom window, Cheerilee’s head was as clear as ever, and she felt very well rested. When she went down to her kitchen, she poured herself a glass of orange juice and grabbed a chocolate heart from her closet. She sat at her table, nibbling on the candy, pondering on what to do for the day.
Since she was low on food, and didn’t want to depend on her chocolate stash, she decided to go to the market and stock up.
“But of course, if I wait till tomorrow, maybe I can get some more chocolate on sale.” She noted to herself.
She thought about the statement, and stepped outside with a giggle.
Ponyville was very efficient at turning festive overnight. There were rosebushes everywhere, pink banners and flags decorating the streetlamps. The fountain by Cheerilee’s house even had the water dyed pink. Ponies were prancing joyfully around town, almost all of them in groups of two. While heading towards the market, She even spotted Bon Bon and Lyra, apparently at Lyra’s new choice of venue for a date: The bookstore. Not surprisingly, Bon Bon looked less than pleased.
While heading over to the market, a familiar yellow filly with a red bow in her mane scampered over.
“Ms. Cheerilee! Ms Cheerilee!”
“What is it, Applebloom?”
“Mah big brother is lookin’ for ya! He wants to talk!”
Cheerilee thought for a second.
“Applebloom, are you trying to get us together again?”
“No m’am! Ahm serious! He was all frantic this morning. Said he was thinkin’ about you all night, and it was givin’ him horrible headaches! He was all sweaty, and said he had a--”
“Okay, okay, Applebloom; I get it. Where should I go to look for him?”
“Oh that’s easy. He’s at our apple stand at the market! He sent me to look for you, cus he couldn’t leave the stand, since we were the only ones there, an’ Applejack is back at home with Hay fever, an’-“
“Alright, I’ll go find him. I was just heading there. Now don’t you be playing matchmaker on me again.”
“Oh, trust me, ah don’t want to. You two were mushier than an apple tree in the West Orchards!”
“Oh. Well that’s good to hear, I guess. I’ll be on my way then.”
“Ah’ll follow you. I need to help Mac at the stand anyway.”
“Well okay, I just need to take care of other personal things as well, so there will be some detours.”
“Fah’n by me.”
With Applebloom tagging along, Cheerilee made her shopping trip a little shorter, getting just enough to make it through the week, and figuring she would be held up at the apple stand with whatever Big Mac needed, she avoided getting anything that could spoil quickly.
When she and Applebloom got to the stand, they saw Big Macintosh completing a sale with Mr. Cake: A rather hefty order of a dozen of a variety of baking apples in Big Mac’s stock, thoroughly wiping out half of the inventory.
After Mr. Cake left, showing signs of struggle with his great purchase, Big Mac waved over at Applebloom and Cheerilee.
“Hello, Cheerilee.” He greeted.
“Oh, Hi, Big Mac. Nice day, isn’t it?”
“Eeyup.”
“So, what was it you needed me for?”
Big Mac raised a hoof, and gestured for Cheerilee to walk with him.
“Big Mac, wait! Do you seriously expect me to take care ah’ the stand all by mah’self?” Applebloom whined.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac replied, without turning his head. “Maybe you can get your cutie mark this way.”
“But ah already tried this!” But it was too late. Big Mac and a confused Cheerilee were already out of hearing range.
After a few minutes of silent walking, the two ponies found themselves in isolation, away from everypony else.
“Okay Big Mac; I’m still waiting for you to tell me what this is about.”
Big Mac stopped walking, and looked around to see if anypony else was nearby.
“I just wanted to be alone for a bit, cus I’ve wanted to talk to you.”
“But we see each other all the time. Why wait till now? And why were you so quiet back there?”
“Oh, you know me. There’s a very small hoof full of ponies that I’m comfortable talking to. If it something important, it would just feel wrong talking about it in public.”
“What are you trying to say? What’s important?”
Cheerilee’s cheeks were slowly turning red, and her mind began to process Big Mac’s words.
“What’s important, Cheerilee, is you.” He moved closer to the mare, his voice softening.
“I know it seems like I’ve been avoiding conversation every time we cross paths. It’s just that ever since last Hearts & Hooves day, I could never find the courage to talk to you again. But now I think I can. I always thought you were a magnificent mare, and before the whole thing with the love poison I was getting ready to ask you out.”
“You mean it?”
“I do.” He looked into Cheerilee’s eyes for a moment, but his gaze soon broke. He turned and buried his head in his hooves.
“Uugh, I probably sound like a moron. I just can’t put together the words I need to properly tell you what I feel!”
He felt Cheerilee as she put her forehoof over him, her eyes sparkling with a mist that could only be identified as tears.
“Big Mac, any words are good enough for me! I know you’re a shy guy, and it makes me feel so happy that you were able to tell me how you feel!”
It was his turn to ask; “You mean it?”
“Yes. Believe it or not, I’ve been meaning to ask you the same thing! What happened last year just, made it a bit challenging…”
“That it did. That, it did.” Big Mac perked up, and soon after, he gave Cheerilee a hug, which was immediately returned.
After they finished the hug, they were still holding each other close. The two ponies immediately spoke in unison.
“Wanna go on a date?”
Author's Note
This is a mini-fic. Only two parts.
I know Valentines day was Friday. Thats when i started writing it. It's just that i told myself i'd post it by tonight (monday) and i'm not done yet.
So heres the first part. HOPE YOU LIEKY.
