Chapters It had been a long time since she’d last been here, thought Ghost Writer, but Ponyville didn’t look much different. Maybe bigger than it has been a few decades ago, the town had swelled as its importance grew, but it still had that small town ambiance. The tallest building, the circular town hall, was only three stories, even the Duke’s mansion wasn’t as big, no huge overshadowing eyesores here, unlike some other towns she’d lived in over the years.
Her train of thought was derailed as a stallion rushing past bumped into her almost knocking her to the floor, he called out a quick apology as he disappeared into the crowd. Shaking herself she quickly grabbed her case in her aura and started towards the exit. A train station wasn’t the best place to stand around in a daze. Making her way out into the town she quickly orientated and headed towards her destination, this place brought back some happy memories but she was here to do a job.
Maybe coming here was a way of running away from her problems. She’d heard about the subject and claimed she had a personal connection to her, it wasn’t exactly a lie, but she’d exaggerated. She did need the money and the job paid well, but not that well, she had no idea how long it would take, but mostly she had decided she need some time away from Canterlot to think things over.
She liked Pen, probably more than any other stallion she’d ever met, he was interesting, confident, driven, but still made time for her but she hadn’t expected a proposal from him, not yet anyway. She’d told him she needed time to think it over, he’d agreed but she’d seen how much it hurt him. She’d have to give him an answer soon, but she had no idea what that answer would be. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind for the moment and set off into town.
She soon arrived at her target, Ponyville general hospital, definitely a new addition since her last visit, it was huge and modern. Certainly not standard for such a small town, but given where it was situated, who had lived in town and some of the things that had happened here definitely a requirement.
She had only just entered the building when she found herself gently but firmly pushed aside by a white stallion in armour, he and three others like him were quickly clearing a path towards the exit. Ghost was just about to voice a protest when a huge pink maned mare sped past flanked by the guards. Ponies dropped to their knees in respect or surprise as the giant passed the mare responded to the attention with a slight lowering of her horn and a polite wave of her wings.
“Was... was that?” gasped Ghost as the mare left the hospital still travelling at speed.
“An alicorn?” asked a young looking nurse standing next to her cheerfully, her curly orange mane standing out against her while coat and uniform. Ghost could only nod. “Yes! We’ve had all five princess’s visit recently,” she explained brightly.
Ghost blinked, she’d known her subject was important, but it had only just struck her how important. She was used to dealing with minor celebrities, here today gone tomorrow, she’d forgotten just how much of a change to Equestria this pony and her friend had caused, even if it had been a long time ago now. “Oh, could you tell me where Ms Lee’s room is,” said Ghost as she pulled herself together her eyes flashing down to the nurses name tag, “Nurse Carrot Heart,” she read.
“Do you have an appointment,” asked the nurse flipping through a clipboard, “She gets a lot of visitors.”
Ghost lit her horn and brought up the correspondence between her employers and the subject. “I’m her biographer.”
The nurse’s eyes scanned across the documents and nodded apparently satisfied. “She’s in room forty two,” she pointed down a corridor, “Just turn right at the end, it’ll be on your left. I think she’s still got a visitor with her though.”
“I guess one more won’t hurt,” said Ghost, “Time is of the essence.”
The nurse’s eyes dropped. “Well yes, I suppose so. There never seems to be enough,” she mumbled. “She’s always been such a pillar of the community, everypony knows her, to think...” Her voice trailed away. “Anyway I’ve got other duties to perform.”
Nodding politely to Nurse Heart as she turned away Ghost followed the instructions the nurse had given her and found herself next to a slightly open door. “But Ms Cheerilee! It’s hard!” moaned a distinctly prepubescent voice.
“Everything worthwhile is dear,” came the reply from a voice Ghost hadn’t heard for a long time. “Now just think of your hooves, how many do you have?”
“Four!”
“So far so good. So one pony had four hooves, now how many do you and your brother have between you?”
“Eight!” came the quick reply.
“So two ponies have eight hooves, now what about you, your brother and your sister?”
“Um, twelve!”
“So three times four is twelve. Now how many hooves do four ponies have?”
“Sixteen?” a little more hesitation this time.
“Good, you’re doing it!” Ghost couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm, it brought back some good memories of when she was last here.
“But this isn’t real times tables.”
“Yes, it is, the four times table, each pony has four hooves, well most do anyway, so to do the four times table you only need to think of how many hooves that many ponies would have. Now how many hooves do ten ponies have?”
There was a pause, ghost could almost hear the student’s tongue sticking out in concentration. “Thir... no, forty!”
“Very good!”
As interesting as this was Ghost knew she had a schedule to keep to, she gently pushed the door open to reveal a large sterile white room somewhat enlivened by several vases of flowers positioned here and here. A large window covered the far wall letting in the early afternoon sunlight. Off to one side was a large bed from which the conversation had been coming. An old, old earth pony mare was stretched out under the sheets her coat mostly white with a pale pink sheen to it, her thinning mane a light grey with a darker streak still just about visible. Several wires and tubes led from her emaciated form to medical equipment which hummed and bleeped. Next to her on the bed was a young unicorn colt, his mane an untidy blond mop and his coat white with black blotches. Both of them looked up as the door opened.
“Ms Lee,” said Ghost after a few moments of silence. “My name is Ghost Writer, I’ve been sent by Sparkle and Sparkle to help you finish your book.”
“Oh, you,” said the mare with a frown. “I’m sorry Doubloon but you’re going to have to work on your time tables by yourself for a bit.”
The colt nodded and concentrating fiercely he started to use his aura to stuff books into his saddlebags.
“Careful,” admonished the mare as he gripped too hard bending one of the books almost in half.
“Sorry, Ms Cheerilee,” said the colt as he jumped off the bed with a thud and started towards the door. “Sorry Miss,” he said as he passed Ghost Writer.
The old mare leaned back and closed her eyes seeming to shrink into herself. “Doesn’t know his own strength, that boy,” she mumbled, “His grandmother was just the same.”
Ghost paused to see if her assignment would say anything further. “I’ve been employed by Sparkle and Sparkle publishers to help you...”
“I know why you’re here,” said the old mare rolling over with difficulty and looking at her with surprisingly bright eyes. “You’re here to make sure they get themselves a shiny new autobiography.”
“The publishers are somewhat worried about the length of time it is taking you to produce your book.”
“They’re worried I might pop my clogs before I’m finished,” she gestured at the medical equipment, “And they might have a point.”
“They think they should protect their investment, as one of the two element bearers remaining you’re...”
“Three!” Cheerilee interrupted.
“Three?”
“They never found Trixie’s body, she just disappeared.”
“Countess Lulamoon was in very poor health, it is likely...”
“She disappeared!” Cheerilee insisted. “She’ll just be waiting for the rest of us to pass and then she’ll pop up again, all part of a trick, she always liked to get the last word in.”
“Anyway...” said Ghost trying to change the subject, “You did accept a substantial advance from our employers.”
The old mare grinned. “That I did, quite substantial, it’s kept Ponyville Aquarium going for quite a while, I suppose I have to pay the piper eventually.” She painfully levered herself into a sitting position on the bed waving away Ghost’s legs as she tried to help her. “Do I know you from somewhere?” she asked blinking at Ghost.
“I did live in Ponyville for a short period, but it was a long time ago,” said Ghost.
“It’ll come to me,” said Cheerilee, “I never forget a face. Now this book thing, can’t you just get the details from some of the others written about me and the gang and just stick them all together? Seemed there was a time everypony and their dog was writing about us, our part in Corona’s redemption, the Changelings, Trigon’s reign, all that history.”
“Our employer doesn’t want to just rehash other books, they want a definitive work, something that will put them ahead of the competition.”
“Definitive? Well you can’t get much better than that thing Carrot’s husband put together, what was it ten volumes?”
“Twelve.”
“You’d think a script writer would make it a little less dry. At least it was accurate, Trixie’s was nothing but a pack of lies, of course that was part of the appeal, and the point,” she smiled, “Always knew how to work an audience.”
“Well the publishers have received your notes and have passed them on to me, I’ve written them up and I’ve brought a draft with me for you to approve.” She reached for her bag.
“Do you do this a lot? Write other people’s autobiographies?”
“I have worked on several so far.”
“Don’t you ever want to have your own name on the front cover for a change?” asked Cheerilee sounding quite interested.
“Well,” Ghost paused awkwardly, “Yes, but autobiographies are generally better sellers than biographies written by an unknown author. Anyway there are a few sections that I need to go over with you.”
“What sections?”
“Well,” she cleared her throat and tried not to blush. “Those of a romantic nature.”
The old mare smirked. “Ah, sex sells I see.”
Ghost couldn’t help but think of her own situation, what would her future self be writing in her biography about this time? That she dodged a bullet? That she gave up the best thing in her life by not being willing to commit? “You have been linked to, um, well, a large number of important mares and stallions over the years,” she continued, trying to put her mind back on track.
“If every tale about the mares and stallions I was ‘linked’ to was correct then I wouldn’t have had much time to sleep over the years.”
“So they aren't true?”
“The reports of my sluttyness have been greatly exaggerated! Not to say that I haven't had my times, quite a few times, but only one stallion ever died in my bed, and he wasn’t well to start off with, still I know he enjoyed his send off.” The old mare winked.
Ghost blinked not sure if Cheerilee was making fun of her or not. “But you never appear to have been linked to any partner long term, you’ve not been married.”
“You aren't exactly correct there, I’ll probably get to that later, but no I never really married, you know when I was younger it seemed very important to me, some big target I set myself but as time went by I found I was happy as I was. Still it didn’t stop me putting a whole lot of effort into it at the time. I remember it like it was yesterday you know...“
Ghost quickly removed her note pad from her bag and started to rapidly scratch on it as Cheerilee started her story.
Cheerilee gave a groan as she gently rested her head on her wonderful, hard, lumpy, comfortable desk, she was so very glad that class had ended for the day. Normally she wouldn’t be so exhausted but she had been burning the candle at both ends recently.
It had started a few months ago when she had realised that she had a birthday coming up, and that it was an important one, one with a zero at the end. It hadn’t seemed so important at the time but she’d finally gotten round to cleaning out her spare bedroom and had come across something left behind by her younger self, a list of things to do before she got to this certain important birthday and, as he younger self put it, she got old.
She’d sat down and gone through the list, she’d actually done most of the things in it, in some cases several times, and in one occasion while in free fall. But there was one thing, one little tiny insignificant point that she hadn’t ticked off, one thing her younger self had underlined, twice. Get a special somepony.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried over the years, she’d used to go out looking for the right stallion every week, then a few times a month, then once a month, then, well goodness she couldn’t remember when she’d last been actively looking. That had shaken her, now older and wiser she knew she had time, she might be getting older, but not that old... yet. Still she’d decided to redouble her efforts, there had to be some pony out there for her, right?
So instead of just laughing off their suggestions she went along with the dates her friends set up, then she wrote down a list of the eligible, and in a few cases not quite so eligible bachelors, in town and worked her way through them one by one and on one rather embarrassing night when her scheduling had broken down two at a time. She’d had a good time, most of the time anyway, but no pony really clicked, no pony had really been worth a second date let alone more than that. As time had passed and that pesky birthday got closer and closer she got more and more desperate, she’d gone out all three nights so far this week and to be honest the dates were starting to blur into each other, still tonight was going to be the night, right? It had to be, it was her hated birthday tomorrow, the day she officially ‘got old’ according to her younger self.
Still there was always tonight, she thought lifting her head from the desk and stretching, Pinkie had set her up with somepony she knew from Canterlot, a guard, Splash something, Splash Century? He was supposed to be pretty hot stuff according to Pinkie. She had a good feeling about this one. Now she just needed to get home, get her head down for a few hours and she’d be ready.
“Um, Miss Cheerilee?” came a whispered voice from the door.
Cheerilee turned towards the sound and saw one of her youngest students, Star Burst, the unicorn shuffled his hooves nervously. “Yes, what is it?” she asked gently.
“Um, well my daddy said he would take me to Whinny World this weekend if I passed all my tests.”
Cheerilee frowned a little, she had noticed that the colt had been working harder in class recently. “Well I think you’re well on your way, you’ve been doing really well recently.”
“There’s the spelling test tomorrow though, I’m not good at spelling, all the letters get mixed up in my head, they all look the same,” explained the foal. “Could you... could you make the test really easy?” he asked, “I really want to go to Whinny World!”
The colt did have a problem with his spelling, agreed Cheerilee. “I’m sorry Star but I can’t make the test easy.”
The little foals head drooped. “Oh, well sorry Miss Cheerilee, I’ll just...” he started to turn away.
Cheerilee glanced up at the clock, it was almost three hours until she was due to meet her date, a quick cat nap should be enough. “Wait a minute Star,” she said, “I can’t make the test easy, but I can give you extra help.” She dragged one of the foal sized chairs over to her desk and patted it until the colt leapt up onto it. “Ok, let’s start with an easy one, can you spell cat for me?”
“Cat, cat,” repeated Star, “K... A....”
Cheerilee tried to stop the smile from slipping from her face, this could take a while.
Old! Old! She was officially old, thought Cheerilee as she gazed into her drink. Around her it seemed like most of Ponyville had turned up to celebrate her decrepitude. Her last chance to turn her life around had been wasted, by the time she had finished tutoring Star she was late for her date. She’d run across town and had caught him just as he was leaving and made her apologies. She’s got him to agree to try again, but once they had started talking he had turned out to be so dreadfully boring, that coupled with her lack of sleep resulted in her nodding off into her soup. They’d said the usual platitudes as the night came to a close but she doubted she’d ever see him again, although he did mention he'd been assigned to guard the Ponyville library and it's occupant given the recent trouble. At least Star had scraped by in his test.
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Ghost, "Splash Century? You dated Prince consort Sentry!"
"Probably," said Cheerilee with a smile, "Like I said he was so boring I fell asleep. No do you want to hear my story or not?"
"Sorry," said Ghost levitating her quill again.
Cheerilee glanced over at her sister standing near the bar, husband to one side and their new foal balanced carefully on his back, it was almost like she was mocking Cheerilee with her success. She wasn’t even the only one, many of her friends had special someponies, Lyra was up on the stage playing her instrument with Bon Bon looking up at her wife, her eyes glowing with adoration. Just a few tables away Pinkie was apparently trying to suck the face off of her betrothed, rumour had it that their marriage wasn’t far away then Viscountess Pinkie Blood-Pie would be unleashed upon Equestria. Even Carrot Top, only a few lengths away was occasionally nuzzling her own special somepony. The orange mare had still kept her figure despite her first foal being due in only a month or two. Next to them sat Ditzy, the other mare in her circle of friends who had a special somepony, if you asked her she would deny it but she and Big Mac spent almost all their free time together these days. It just wasn’t fair! Everypony seemed to have someone, except her, thought Cheerilee bitterly.
She supposed that wasn’t quite right, at least some of her friends were still singletons, she doubted Trixie would ever find somepony to put up with her various eccentricities, and despite a few flings it didn’t look like Raindrops would be pairing up with anypony anytime soon. But the yellow mare was quite a bit younger than her, she had time, time Cheerilee had lost.
“Great party!” cried Carrot Top over the sound of Lyra’s music.
“Thanks,” mumbled Cheerilee.
“What’s up?”
“I’m old! I’m an old mare that no pony will ever love!”
Carrot Top let out a little giggle. “You’re not old! Thirty is not old!”
“You would say that, you’ve got years to go and you’ve got a stallion and a foal on the way, what have I got?”
“A great life? Look I wouldn’t give up Written for anything, but I do wonder if we aren't going too fast,” she rested a hoof on the slight curve of her belly. “This wasn’t really planned you know, not all of gran’s potions work quite as well as they should. Still what was supposed to happen happened.”
Cheerilee sighed and took a mouthful of her drink. “So I’m supposed to be a lonely single?”
Carrot Top sighed. “Are you really lonely?” she asked.
Cheerilee thought about it for a moment, she didn’t feel all that lonely she had to admit, she had her friends and her class and her family, she had more ponies that she knew what to deal with really. “No I don’t suppose I am, but I just don’t want to get left behind. Surely there's some stallion out there for me, I’ve been looking hard enough.”
“Then there’s no point rushing things, you need to go for quality over quantity. I didn’t go looking for Written, he just was just sort of there when I needed him, Ditzy and Mac have just drifted together over the years. Besides, how many stallions have you dated in the last few months?”
“I don’t know, a few dozen?”
“Did any turn you down?”
“Well no, most seemed quite into me,” she smiled, when she looked at it that way it was quite the ego boost.
“So you’re certainly not past your sell by date then are you? Just stop stressing about it, things will work out when they’re supposed to.”
“You might be right,” she admitted. “When did you get so wise?”
“I’ve been practising, for the foal, I’ll need to fake all sorts of motherly wisdom.”
Cheerilee laughed. “I don’t think you need to fake anything Carrot.” She was probably right, she just needed to let things take their own pace, not try so hard. Thirty? That was hardly anything, the new twenty really, you were only as old as you feel, and she didn’t feel old.
She glanced around the room with a more alert eye, there were quite a few single stallions around, she hadn’t dated all of them, yes she could go with the flow, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to hurry things on a little. “Ok gentlestallions,” she cried leaping, a little unsteadily, onto the table. “I’m looking for a special somepony and one of you might be the lucky guy. Now,” she grabbed a pad from her bags and tore out a mouthful of pages throwing them into the air like confetti. “There’s going to be test, a five hundred word essay on why you’re the stallion for me, and points will be deducted for spelling and grammar. The highest scoring of you will move on to a more,” she winked at the crowd, “Practical exam.” It warmed her heart to see stallions leaping into the air to grab the offered paper, who was getting old? She still had all the time in the world to find the right stallion.
“Very wise mare Carrot Top, she still visits every few days, her and her kids, eight of them, who knows how many grandkids and even some great grandkids now. I guess that potion of her grandmothers never did work,” she grinned, “Or maybe she just rolled the dice often enough that probability won out.”
“We’re you really that worried about being single by your thirtieth?” asked Ghost. She’d be reaching that milestone in a few years, was that part of why she was considering Pen’s proposal, she did like him, but they hadn’t been together all that long.
“That was over sixty years ago now,” Cheerilee stared into the distance for a moment, “Over sixty years,” she mumbled then snapped back to the present, “I was young, it seemed so important at the time, now, well I know I had time.”
“But you never did get married did you?”
“Well, that might depend who you talk to...”
Ghost sat more upright, this was new, if the old mare had gotten married in secret some when that would certainly spice up the book. Suddenly her face was split by a wide yawn, “Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Boring you am I?” asked Cheerilee with a raised eyebrow.
“No, I’m tired, I’ve just been travelling all day, I’d just got back from Manehatten when I found out about this job, set out from Canterlot straight away.” Before Pen could force an answer out of her.
“Then you should follow the advice in my books, look around town for a bit, get settled in, it’ll make you more alert. Besides I’m tired myself, I’m sure I’ll still be here tomorrow.”
Ghost considered, it was clear she wasn’t going to get all this sorted out in one day, she would need to find somewhere to stay and she could update her notes with what Cheerilee had told her so far. “Fine, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” said the old teacher gesturing at the medical equipment with a hoof. “Maybe we can talk about what’s bothering you as well.”
Ghost frowned. “How did you?”
“I’ve been around a long long time, I know when somepony is distracted, I dare say it’s something to do with your romantic life, most things are, and you were quick enough to try and pry into mine.”
Ghost considered lying, but the old mare seemed to be able to see through her. “I do have a big decision to make,” she admitted.
“Well it will keep to tomorrow, might look better then as well.”
Ghost nodded and made her way out of the room. Maybe things would look better tomorrow, at least she should have more notes for the book.
Author's Note
Thanks to RDD for his corrections.
This story is roughly based on an old film called Goodbye, Mr Chips about a school teacher living between the 1890s to and 1930s. I've never actually seen it just read about it so I've no idea how similar it is.
I've partially written this to see how many ships I can fit into a single story particularly the second chapter so see if you can keep track of how many I mention or at least suggest.
As always comments are appreciated.
“Now you said something about getting married?” asked Ghost. She had found herself a hotel quickly enough and had spent most of the evening rewriting her notes using the small typewriter in her luggage. She was quite surprised how interesting she was finding Cheerilee’s life, it seemed more relatable than the music stars and minor nobles she normally wrote for.
She had returned to the hospital quite early in the morning and had been surprised to not only find Cheerilee already awake but to with another visitor as well, a green coated mare looking almost as old as the bedridden element bearer. The visitor had quickly made her excuses and left leaving Ghost alone with Cheerilee again.
“Well it’s not that much of a secret really, I got married in university, we were both very very drunk at the time,” she smiled. “I almost forgot about it for a while. However, there was another time when I got very close to being married, I must have been in my mid-thirties...”
Cheerilee rushed out of the town hall as quickly as her legs could carry her, the vital sheet of paper gripped in her teeth. She screeched to a halt hooves skidding in the muddy ground left behind by last night’s rain. She glanced up at the clock tower, she was going to be late! Oh well, it wasn’t like the wedding could happen without her, she, and the paper, were rather important parts of the ceremony, still it wouldn’t look good if there was too much of a delay. It had seemed such a good idea to hold it in Whitetail woods, the place looked beautiful on an early autumn evening such as this one, the leaves yellow, brown and red. However, then you got to the practicalities of how far out of town it was and how much mud would be tracked up getting there, and how much of that mud would end up on the dress than Rarity had made for her. She sighed, oh well, nothing for it now, if she got muddy, she got muddy. Putting her best hoof forwards she pressed on through the almost deserted streets of Ponyville.
She wouldn’t have been so late if she hadn’t had to deal with that incident at school earlier today. Pumpkin Cake had been so distraught after Manalock had told her that her magic would never come in because her parents were earth ponies, the young Cake’s best friends Honey Heartstrings and Grape Sunday, Cheerilee’s own niece, had quickly stepped up to defend their friend and a scuffle had broken out in the playground. Cheerilee had quickly stepped in to sort things out, she wasn’t going to have talk, or fighting, like that in her class.
She’d arranged to have words with Manalock’s parents after class, she hoped she’d gotten through to them, they were bigots, to put it bluntly, but she wasn’t going make it easy for them to spread their idea’s to their daughter, she’d managed to keep their older daughter Firelock on the right path and she wouldn’t give up on Manalock either. She still had to talk to Lyra and Berry about the fight though. Still, she was glad she’d dealt with the problem even though it had pushed her schedule back. She’d only just gotten to the town hall before it closed, and she’d had to put all her persuasive skills to use to get Raven to finish the paperwork. Now she was starting to have second thoughts about delivering them. She knew she should, so many ponies were waiting on it, today would certainly go differently if she didn’t, but it seemed such a big thing now, such a huge change all balanced on a few sheets of parchment. She hadn’t thought it would feel like this but maybe she’d just gotten used to the way her life was.
She had to make her decision soon, the site for the wedding was coming up quickly. The weather patrol has made sure it looked perfect and Pinkie and her helpers had arranged the tents containing the tables for the reception into a rough horse shoe. Ponies, hundreds of them were milling around waiting for the ceremony to begin. Panting Cheerilee started to slow her approach, she was sure it didn’t used to be so far out of town, maybe her age was starting to catch up with her. As she got closer to the festivities a few ponies noticed her and nodded or waved a hoof before returning to their conversations. It still got to her seeing the ponies she had once taught now adults, some of them even starting their own families, she guessed she’d be teaching their own foals in just a few years, that did make her feel old.
“Cheerilee!” came a cry and she was shaken from her thoughts by an approaching stallion, his brown mane for once under control thanks to a huge amount of gel. Gosh, she thought, he really did fill out a suit well. “Cheerilee!” cried Heavy Roller again as he came to a stop next to her, “Did you get the paperwork?”
“Um, yeah, just needs a signature and well...” her voice trailed off.
“Second thoughts?” he asked. “We talked about it with you, and the offer is still open. I certainly wouldn’t mind being married to two such beautiful mares.” He grinned but Cheerilee thought she saw a trace of worry in him. At one point she had thought they might have made a good match, but that had been quite a few years ago, and with his daughter in his class it wouldn’t have be right. By the time she’d considered it seriously, he’d already found the soon to be Mrs Roller.
“It was a generous offer but I don’t want to be a third wheel, maybe if you’d asked me before... well before I introduced you to her but, I think that ship’s sailed now.”
“Yeah, I think you’re probably right, but... oh wow!” he gasped looking past her.
Cheerilee turned and gave a similar response to the approaching bride. Although normally anonymous there was no way Notary could be lost in a crowd today she looked absolutely stunning. The white dress clung to her form in just the right places, even though Cheerilee knew from personal experience that the colour was not exactly fitting. Rarity had outdone herself designing the ensemble, although it was just as well the fashionista wasn’t present given that the hem was currently being dragged through the mud, if she had been she would have had a seizure. Her mane had been done in an intricate style that had taken Snips all morning to get right, it was based on a crystal empire fashion and included a number of jewels, provided as a gift by her employer, as well as several flowers he had grown himself.
Notary smiled as she stopped next to Heavy whose mouth was hanging open. “You’ll catch flies dear,” she said. His jaw swung closed with a snap and he quickly leaned forwards to nuzzle his bride to be. “Are those the annulment papers?” she asked Cheerilee.
“Y..yes,” replied the teacher not quite able to get the words out.
“Are you sure you want to do this? As I said I'd be happy for you to stay in the family, we’ve been married for such a long time.”
“No, I wouldn’t want to get between you two.”
With a sultry grin Notary leant forwards and whispered, “I thought between us would be just where you’d want to be.”
Cheerilee’s eyes went wide at the image and Notary gave a laugh. Cheerilee couldn’t believe how much her friend had loosened up over the years. Although she was still calm and collected at work Heavy Roller’s laid back style had certainly rubbed off on her social personal, no longer was the white mare driven for success above everything else, she had realised that she was happy with what she had rather than what she could have. The change went the other way as well, Cheerilee doubted Heavy would be running a chain of wagon repair shops with offices in a dozen cities without Notary to push him on. “Well it is your honeymoon tonight, I might pop by for an hour or two.”
“Um, do I get a say in this?” asked Heavy, not seeming very upset.
“No!” said both of the mares as one.
Cheerilee passed over the paperwork and Notary quickly signed it using her husband to be as a rest. “Right now that’s done and my best mare is here, I think we can get on with things,” remarked Notary leading the other two towards the large tree chosen for the wedding itself. Heavy Rollers seemed to be dragging his hooves a little. “Nervous?” asked Notary a little stress in her voice.
“Well your boss did promise that I’d disappear if I ever hurt you.”
“Oh, he was probably joking.”
“Really?”
“No, but I don’t think you’ll ever hurt me so we won’t have to find out, will we,” said the white mare striding forwards.
“What have I gotten myself into?” muttered Heavy straightening his bow tie before following his bride to be, causing Cheerilee to laugh.
Trixie had been entertaining the crowd and with the party approaching the Countess quickly switched roles preparing to officiate. Taking her position opposite Heavy’s best mare Cheerilee admired the newly minted sergeant Scootaloo of the Royal Guard in her dress uniform, she remembered when the mare had been an awkward filly, not the towering intimidating soldier she was now.
Running her eyes over the crowd Cheerilee noticed Diamond Tiara looking hungrily at the guard, the two of them had dated for a while and their split up hadn’t been acrimonious but it looked like she might still have some feeling for the orange pegasus. Next to Diamond stood her father Filthy Rich who was talking to Big Mac in a hushed whisper, along with her they were the other ponies responsible for getting the bride and groom together after somepony had tried to blackmail Heavy and Cheerilee had gotten a team together to stop them. Next to the large red stallion was his wife, and across from her were the other element bearers, Lyra and Bon Bon sat with their daughter between them, Carrot Top leant against her husband surrounded by their children, she wasn’t showing but Cheerilee knew she had another on the way, that mare really didn’t seem to know when to stop. As always her eyes scanned the crowd for Raindrops, even after so many years since her death she expected her to be there.
Trying to distract herself she glanced over at Notary’s side of the gathering, Greengrass and a number of other nobles were present sitting amongst the large white herd that made up the bride’s family. The ex-baron seemed to be overcome by emotion and was sobbing into a handkerchief held by his wife, one of her pale green legs thrown over this back.
For a moment she felt sad, it seemed like everypony else had somepony except her. She knew she had time, just maybe not as much as she used to have. It had been a while since she’d last dated, as always life tended to get in the way, maybe that was why she had found Heavy and Notary’s offer so tempting? She shook herself, now wasn’t the time for that, today she would be happy for her friends, maybe very happy tonight and that was enough for her.
“You were married to this Notary for years? This wasn’t in any of your other biographies,” said Ghost.
“Well I was drunk at the time, it’s not like it was the worst thing I did after a night’s drinking. Besides I didn’t want to break her trust.”
“So what changed? Why bring this up now?”
“She passed a few years ago, you probably wouldn’t know it but most of the political reform in Equestria over the last few decades had her hoof in them somewhere. It’s all very well being a hero of Equestria but its stallions and mares like Notary who get things done,” she sighed, “Her daughter, my goddaughter, is one of Celestia’s closest advisors you know.”
“So what did you do after the wedding?” asked Ghost deciding to change the subject.
“Well if you really want all the juicy details of the honeymoon we could be here all day,” said Cheerilee struggling to sit up in the bed.
“No not that,” said Ghost blushing a little, “Did you date more, did you find a special somepony.” She stood up and helped the old pony get comfortable.
“Thanks, I looked a bit more, I did that after every wedding, didn’t last long. I was in a nice comfortable rut you see. It wasn’t until I started writing that things changed and I met somepony,” she paused for a moment, “Somepony special.”
“Your travel books were very successful, six best sellers.”
“Seven actually,” said Cheerilee with some pride. “Still you’ll have to wait until tomorrow now.” She pointed up to the clock on the wall. “It’s time for that hunky young nurse to give me my sponge bath, if only I’d met him thirty years ago, still it would have been awkward given he wasn’t born then. After that, Chalk Board is due around to talk to me about the curriculum changes this year.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I’d be rushed off my hooves if I could still stand on them.”
Author's Note
Bet you didn't see the bride and groom coming! Just something that occurred to me when thinking about Force, Torque and Fulcrum by Zap Apple Smash.
As always comments are welcome.
Where you least expect it
Pen had tried to call again last night, he’d somehow gotten the telephone number of the hotel she was staying in, he’d left half a dozen notes asking her to contact him. She wasn’t being fair to him she knew, he deserved an answer, she only wished she had one to give him. Maybe her lack of an answer was the answer, if she truly loved him wouldn't she have just said yes? But what if she ended up like Cheerilee, the old mare seemed to have done everything, but here she was at the end, alone. But was fear of being alone really the best foundation to build a relationship on? Maybe it was all most ponies had? She tried to push her maudlin thoughts aside as she entered the hospital again. It had only been a few days since her first visit but she was already treated as part of the furniture, she nodded to Carrot Heart as she passed. When she got to Cheerilee’s room she was surprised to find it almost full of ponies of all ages from young foals to an elderly mare easily Cheerilee’s age.
“Ah, Ghost, nice to see you again,” said Cheerilee cheerfully. “This is Carrot Top,” she gestured to the old mare who nodded, her bright orange hair bouncing, despite her age her mane still looked stunning, ”And this is a chunk of her family.” She gestured at the other ponies who all nodded, or waived, or gave some greeting.
“I hope Cheerilee has been treating you properly, and not making too much up,” said Carrot Top.
“She’s been very interesting,” said Ghost politely, and entirely truthfully, she hadn’t expected to get so engrossed in Cheerilee’s tales. “Maybe you could add some of your own perspective to the book?”
The old mare’s face hardened. “I’m afraid I only gave interviews to one writer and... well I haven't see him for a while, although I’m sure we’ll meet again, sooner or later. Anyway I better be off and let you get on with your work,” she turned to the bed, “I’ll see you again tomorrow Cheer.”
“I can’t wait,” said Cheerilee sitting up with effort and hugging the other mare. “How else would I get all the best gossip in town?”
Nodding as they passed the crowd of ponies slowly snaked out of the room leaving Ghost and Cheerilee alone.
“Now we’d gotten to your writing career,” said Ghost opening her note book.
“I never really thought of it as a career, more a hobby.”
“A very profitable and successful hobby.”
“Well summer holidays were always a bit of a drag so rather than just lie about at home counting my fish I decided to go away on holiday, and something exciting always seemed to happened. I used to tell my stories to the kids and my friends, and they suggested I write them down. I sent them off to be published, and to my surprise they were popular.”
“Your mix of travel guide and adventure story was quite ground breaking at the time,” agreed Ghost, certainly her tutors at colleague had spent a lot of time dissecting their structure and success.
“I was just writing what I knew, anyway it was while I was away on one of my trips that I met the closest I ever got to a special somepony...”
This trip to Naqah seemed to be going better than her last one, thought Cheerilee as she sipped at the potent coffee a camel servant had just passed her and flipped through this morning’s newspaper. No sign of any god like spirits, magical armies or deserts of glass this time. Her days hadn’t been entirely uneventful, she had spotted a certain Dr Ritter at the Bazaar yesterday. She and her friends had had several run in with him in the past and she decided to follow him, while mentally composing a section of her next book on proper haggling protocol in this culture, she might be in her fifth decade of life but she could still multi task. She had followed the ‘archaeologist’ back to his rooms in the city and had spied a certain magical looking statue that she was certain shouldn’t be in his hooves. It had been child’s play to pick the buildings lock, sneak inside and take the artefact, after all she’d had plenty of practice. The statue was now safely stored in her saddlebags and she was trying to decide whether to return it to the equestrian embassy, the Naqah government, a local museum, or if it would look good on her mantelpiece at home when she glanced up at the door and saw Ritter himself enter. How had he tracked her back here?! Some spell on the statue? She cursed, she should have been more careful. She slumped down in her seat and covered her face with the newspaper, maybe he wouldn’t notice her.
To Cheerilee’s surprise the treasure hunter and two burly thugs, a minotaur and a zebra, walked straight past her and instead focused on another guest. Peaking over her paper she frowned as the minotaur used one meaty fist to hold the brown coated stallion in his seat while Ritter sat down opposite him. Cheerilee saw a flash as Ritter produced a small crossbow and held it under the table pointing at his opponent who didn’t seem very distressed, he instead leaned forwards and picked up a cup of coffee from the table and took a sip seeming to savour the flavour. Now that Cheerilee could get a look at him she was rather impressed, he was tall and slim, and although she guessed from the slight greying of his messy yellow and white mane he probably wasn’t much younger that her, his boyish features and thin framed glasses made him look a decade or more her junior. The look was rather spoiled by the thin scraggly beard on his chin, but you couldn’t have everything. Despite the oppressive climate he wore a knitted cardigan. Intrigued she tried to slowly move closer to overhear the conversation.
“And just after the Icon of Isolante goes missing from my personal villa I find that you are in town, return it to me immediately!” hissed Ritter.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, I didn’t even know you were in town. You know me, always after new experiences, I thought Naqah might be a nice place for a holiday, away from the beaten track,” replied the stranger calmly. “Of course if I did know you were here I would have dropped in.”
“Don’t play the fool with me! Return what you’ve stolen or there will be consequences,” he gestured with the crossbow. “I could kill you now and search your room.”
“Well that would cause rather a mess wouldn’t it? I wouldn’t want to get blood in this rather fine coffee, did you know the beans are only ground once they’ve passed through the digestive system of a rodent of some kind?” The zebra henchman screwed up his nuzzle in disgust. “Well yes, it doesn’t sound very appetizing, but really the flavour is most unique.”
“Stop prattling and tell me what you did with my statue!” cried Ritter.
Cheerilee decided things had gone too far, and that she didn’t want to know anything more about the coffee she’d been drinking since she arrived in town. Thinking quickly she rolled up her newspaper and sliding up from her chair poked Ritter in the flank with it.
“Drop the crossbow!” she hissed enjoying watching Ritter jump and the recognition in his eyes as he turned his head to get a look at her. “Ah ha, no sudden moves, just put down the bow or I’ll put a bolt right through you.”
“I should have known you weren’t working alone,” said Ritter scowling as he carefully placed the weapon on the table in front of him.
“Sorry but I’ve never seen this ravishing beauty before,” said the brown unicorn, “I’m sure I would have remembered.”
Despite herself Cheerilee felt a blush glow on her cheeks. “Anyway,” she said clearing her throat, “The two of us are going to walk out the door now and you and your friends are going to stay here unless you like having holes in you, believe me, only Changelings can pull off that look.” She nodded to the stranger who shrugged and started to get to his hooves as she backed away from Ritter.
“Boss!” cried the Minotaur, Cheerilee cursed, she hadn’t been paying attention and he had managed to get alongside her and had a clear line of sight to what she had, or rather didn’t have in her hoof. “That’s not a...”
Suddenly the unknown stallion grabbed the coffee in his aura and swung it at the minotaur who staggered back with a cry trying to shield his face from the boiling liquid. Quick as lightning the stallion leapt to his hooves. Ritter turned towards Cheerilee with a growl and she reacted instinctively slapping him across the face with the rolled up newspaper, surprised he staggered back onto the table which shattered and he slumped to the floor. Feeling the Zebra reach out to grab her Cheerilee dropped her weight to one side while grabbing his hoof with her own, overbalanced the Zebra flew over Cheerilee’s head and crashed into a group of Camels sitting at another table.
“Come on!” yelled Cheerilee at the brown stallion who was standing there blinking stupidly, she grabbed him by the hoof and started to drag him out onto the street. “This way!” she cried pulling him down the main road.
“I’m sorry I’ve got you into this miss, I’ll do my best to keep you safe,” said the stranger.
“You’ll keep me safe!” exclaimed Cheerilee. “Who just took out two of the bad guys in there?”
“I had the situation under control, there was no need for you to put yourself in danger.”
“Well you know when I see a cute guy being hassled by some thugs I like to step in.”
“But you could get hurt!”
“Could, but that’s part of the fun.”
He laughed. “I like you,” he said.
Grinning Cheerilee gestured for him to follow him down a side road.
“No wait,” said the stallion, “This way,” he pointed to a back alley. “I found a shortcut while wandering the city last night!”
For a moment Cheerilee tried to weigh up her options then shrugged and followed the stranger, she wasn’t one to shy away from new experiences. “Who are you anyway?” she cried, “How did Ritter know you?”
“I’m Trenderhoof, we’ve bumped into each other on occasion.”
“I’m Cheerilee,” replied Cheerilee, then paused for a moment frowning.
“I’ve read your books!” they both cried at once.
“They’re shallow and uninspired,” said Cheerilee scowling, “You just follow the latest trends without really thinking for yourself.”
“Well you’re far behind the times, I mean your book on Nulpar, everyponies been there!” replied Trenderhoof loudly.
“Well at least I actually do research! Your last book was full of factual errors!”
“Well I don’t make up what happens to me!”
“Every word in my books is true!”
“Talentless Hack!”
“Soulless Hipster!”
The two of them snorted at each other standing with their muzzles only an inch or two apart. Some primitive part of Cheerilee reported that he smelled good and maybe she could do with being an inch or two closer to him. They were interrupted by a cry as Ritter and his minions spotted them and started to pursue.
“Run now, argue later!” yelled Cheerilee grabbing Trenderhoof’s surprisingly muscular arm and dragging him down the street he’d previously indicated.
“So what happened then?” asked Ghost.
“Well the two of us ended up hiding out in a back street hotel for a few nights while Ritter combed the city for us. I won't go into too much detail, but when you write up that section you might want to try some of the following adjectives ferocious, violent, convulsive and multiple, you might also want to stop foals from reading it.” Cheerilee grinned her eyes a little unfocused. “I thought it was going to be a one off thing, like so many before him. Once we’d dealt with Ritter and stopped the statue from destroying the city he was off. He was always so keen on finding new things, going to new places, but we bumped into each other again and again, I think he might have been stalking me, I was certainly following him l. He agreed to visit Ponyville so we could collaborate on a book and said the place was ‘charmingly rustic’ that he might even consider settling down there, then...” she trailed off.
“Then what?” asked Ghost.
“Then Pansy’s Spirit happened.”
Ghost frowned, she thought she’d heard of that, some sort of airship crash on its way to Canterlot, it had happened before she was born but it had been a big thing, there had been no survivors. “Oh.”
“Yes, he was on his way back from a coronation up in the Griffin lands. I... I was going to ask him something important when he got back but he was gone.” A single tear dripped from the old mare’s face.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she rubbed her eye, “It was a long long time ago now, we had some good times. I don’t know if he ever really could settle down, maybe he would have moved on eventually, but we did have some good times,” she whispered.
“You stopped writing your books,” noted Ghost trying to move the conversation on, it was an uncomfortable reminder than Pen might not wait for ever, that she would have to give him an answer sooner or later.
“I stopped traveling for a bit, I stopped doing everything for a bit, but I had some good friends and I still had my students,” she perked up a bit. “I threw myself into my work, of course by then Ponyville was growing, they started up the new school, decided my little schoolhouse wasn’t needed any more, that I should move onwards and upwards. Maybe they were right,” she shrugged, “But those bigger schools are so impersonal, they wanted to close me down but I dug in my heels, called in some favours. I had saved Equestria a few times and I was personal friends with the province’s ruler, not to mention the princesses, all four of them, so I managed to keep the place open, it’s still going now,” she glowed a bit with pride. “Of course I couldn’t fight all the changes,” she scowled, “Time moved on and I stayed the same, but things became more about numbers, tests for tests sake, each pupil changed from a living breathing unique beautiful little pony to a collection of scores, sucked in by the educational system chewed up and spat out!” Cheerilee was becoming quite animate, waving her hooves around in anger, suddenly she was wracked by a cough, then another. Alarmed Ghost rushed forwards, she glanced at the medical equipment, surely there was some way to summon help?
“What do I...” she cried.
Cheerilee's coughing fit subsided and she waved a reassuring hoof at the writer. “Don’t fuss,” she croaked breathing heavily. Ghost helped her reach for a glass of water on the sideboard and she took a long drink. “I fought against the changes, but I was seen as a fossil. I was past retirement date by then anyway, eventually I was told to change to the new ways or get out. So I got out. There was a bit of a kerfuffle, a petition to keep me on but I was having trouble keeping going as it was, age catches up with us all, eventually. Of course they couldn’t keep me away from my kids, as much as they might pretend they hated school, there were some who kept coming around asking for help, extra tuition,” she smiled. “My special little foals. Turns out next year’s test scores were the worst on record for Ponyville, apart from the ones I helped,” she grinned, “Course it was mostly a new teacher finding his place but still it got picked up by some bigwig in the Night Court, Cliff Posey, came down here to lead an investigation in person, we got talking, handsome stallion he is. Took me on as an advisor got some changes put through, got back to treating the little ponies as ponies rather than just points on a graph. I still help with the school and Cliff visits occasionally as well.” She let out a yawn. “Sorry I’m a bit tired, maybe we can finish this up tomorrow?”
Ghost looked down at her note pad, she hadn’t noticed she had almost filled it up, she’d been so engrossed in the old pony’s story. “Yes, I think that will be a good idea.”
“I hope you’ve got an answer to whatever’s been bothering you these last few days.”
Ghost considered what to tell her for a moment, it was her own business but she did feel close to the bed ridden pony after listening to so much of her life story. “My boyfriend, Pencil Pusher, he asked me to marry him and I... I don’t know,” she admitted.
“Do you love him?” asked Cheerilee.
“I think so, but do I love him enough? I’ve only known him about a year, what if it’s a bad idea?” She wrung her hooves for a moment.
“I’ve done lots of stupid things over the years, never been married, well not properly. I think I turned out alright, it’s not for everypony, but it is for someponies, my friends Lyra and Bon Bon, Carrot Top and Written, Ditzy and Mac, Heavy and Notary, all two parts of a greater whole, but not for everypony. I can’t tell you the answer, only you can.”
Was marriage for her, thought Ghost, Cheerilee seemed happy with her life but would she? She considered for a moment, then made her decision.
“I should be off,” she stood up quickly, “I have a phone call to make, urgently.”
“Good filly,” muttered Cheerilee as the younger mare rushed from the room.
Author's Note
Every day I'm Shipping! I don't think I've seen Trenderlee before.
Comments are always welcome.
By the next day Ghost felt so much better, her decision had been made and she’d had a long conversation with Pen on the phone last night. Maybe it would work out for her, maybe not, but at least she had done it, and now she would live with the consequences.
The hospital seemed rather crowded as she entered, ponies of all ages were bustling around, had there been some sort of accident last night? There didn’t seem to be any more patients that normal. She looked around for Carrot Heart as she made her way towards Cheerilee’s room, she saw the mare hurry by looking glum and gave her a nod and a smile. The nurse looked up in surprise then turned towards her. “Oh, you’re still here?” she asked.
“Well almost done, maybe another day or two and I’ll have all the notes I need to finish, I can run through anything else with Cheerilee later.”
“Oh, you haven't heard?”
“Heard what?” A shiver ran through Ghost.
“Miss Cheerilee, she had a turn for the worst, she... she doesn’t have long.”
“How long? A month? A few weeks?”
The nurse hung her head giving a silent reply.
Suddenly Ghost found her hooves dragging her down the corridor towards the room she’d spent much of the last week in. The path was crowded, packed with ponies, it seemed like most of the town were there, she rudely shoved her way past and burst into the room. She realised that it was just as crowded as the corridor outside, she was greeted by a flash of steel as two royal guard ponies pointed their weapons at her. All heads in the room turned towards her, she recognised Carrot Top and a chunk of her family, but there were also other ponies of all ages from new-borns to ancient mares and stallions almost as old as Cheerilee, and there towering over then were three of the princesses! Ghost’s legs locked not knowing if she was supposed to bow, or prostrate herself, or beg for forgiveness.
“Ah, Ghost,” came a weak voice from the bed. “Come to see me off to have you. You can put your weapons down gentlemen, what’s she going to do? Kill me?” She gave a weak laugh.
The guards looked towards the royalty present who nodded and they stepped back opening a path to the bed. Cheerilee led there propped up on thick pillows, Ghost hadn’t noticed how thin she looked or how faded her coat was, still the old mare seemed to have an aura of peace around her.
“I’m sorry, I heard how you were and...” Ghost’s voice trailed away.
“I’m very lucky to have so many friends who wanted to see me before I go,” she gestured around the room. “So did you talk to your stallion friend?” she asked conversationally.
“I think I’ve sorted things out.”
“Good, don’t tell me what happened, I like to have some surprises in my life. How’s the book going?”
“I... I’ve almost finished it,” said Ghost her voice cracking.
“I think it’s going to do rather well, given the timing, you might have to work quickly though. As you’ve done most of the work you should probably get the writing credit for it.”
“I doubt the publishers would agree...”
“Given our esteemed company,” she weakly tried to raise a hoof towards the princesses, “I think they’ll probably comply with my last wishes, don’t you? I’m sure you wrote it down somewhere, but I like to help those around me bloom, special talent, cutie mark, and all that.”
“I guess they will. I’d like to thank you, for the time you spent with me, your life... your life was... is inspirational.”
Cheerilee gave a little chuckle. “I was just in the wrong place at the right time, again and again and again. Nothing more, but thank you.”
“I guess I should be off, there is a whole crowd of well-wishers outside, I don’t want to take up too much of your time,” she turned from the bed. “Goodbye, Miss Cheerilee,” she said.
The ancient’s mare’s face scrunched up for a moment then it was as if a lightbulb went off over her head. “Of course! Class of ‘61! Second row, third seat from the right. You were only there for one term. I never forget a foal! I told you!” She started to sink back into the bed, seeming exhausted by the revelation.
“Yes, dad kept us moving, never in one town for long, it was his job.” She paused, there was one extra thing she wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure if it would be respectful, still she’d never get a chance to ask again. “Do you regret it?”
“No, I regret nothing!” cried Cheerilee weakly almost by instinct, she blinked, “Regret what?”
“Not having a special somepony, not having foals of your own.”
“Don’t be stupid,” said the old mare closing her eyes. “Who needs a single special somepony when there are so many special ponies I’ve known? And I’ve had thousands of foals, thousands of them.” With effort she waved a hoof around the room seeming to indicate not only the ponies present but the ones in the corridor outside and maybe all of Ponyville and even beyond. “Others may have birthed them, but I raised them, saw them blossom, made them the best they could be, all of them mine. All of them,” she hissed as the last breath left her body.
Author's Note
And that's all folks.
So what do you think Ghost's decision was? I've left it up to the reader to decide.
As always comments are very welcome.