She was having that flying dream again. The wind whistled as she rushed by the clouds. She casually waved a hoof at Princess Luna who was passing by on her nightly rounds. In a few flashes of some unseen cameras, she passed the finish line at exactly the same time as her big sister Rainbow Dash. She even felt her cutie mark appear.
But before she could see for sure, Scootaloo’s head popped off her pillow.
“Oh no!” she yelled out. She took a quick look over at the calendar. That day’s date was circled for a reason. “The science project! That’s due today!”
In the midst of her worries, there was a knock followed by her room’s door slamming open. Two very energetic fillies scampered over to their friend’s side just as she was getting out of bed.
“Hey, Scootaloo,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Ready to make our project erupt into the top of our class?” asked Apple Bloom excitedly.
“Oh, right, duh.” Scootaloo softly tapped her head with her hoof. “I’m working with you guys this year. Heh heh. For a minute there, I was worried that I would have to fill a cup with dirt and make up something about mineral composition.”
“Now that’s just silly,” said Apple Bloom, waving a hoof dismissively.
“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle nodded her head in agreement. “You wouldn’t need to make that up. You could just draw on the experiences we’ve had to eat dirt after our crusading led to a crash.”
Apple Bloom raised her brow to that.
Scootaloo slowly wiped the front of her face with her hoof. “Anyway, we should probably get going.” She picked up her scooter before all three of the fillies ran out of the house. “Catch you later, Pops!”
The front door slammed shut before the stallion could respond.
Lots of little desks were set up outside this day. Each of them held a little wonder explored by the respective student standing nearby. A hamster was scurrying inside a wheel to power an electric flute’s tune. A potato had been hooked up as a battery for a small cuckoo clock. Gold and silver pieces were taped to a piece of cardboard to… show how much better off two certain fillies were than the rest of their classmates. Great.
Cheerilee chuckled nervously before moving on to the next table. However, the extra supervisor looked at that last project with a bit more scrutiny.
“My word, those coins are composed of inexpensive thermoplastic.” Doctor Time Turner shook his head before trotting elsewhere, leaving behind two gaping fillies.
Meanwhile, Cheerilee was fascinated by the clay volcano. “Baking soda and vinegar? That’s always fun to watch.”
“Yep!” Scootaloo started tipping the full flask. “Time to watch Mt. CMC blow its top!”
Sweetie Belle turned her head in confusion. “Baking soda?”
“Yeah, that was your part of the project,” answered Apple Bloom. “Remember?”
“I thought you said baking powder.”
The squeaky word caused the Doctor’s ears to prick up just in time to watch some of the vinegar pour down. “Great whickering stallions! Every pony gallop for your lives!”
Cheerilee turned around to see a herd of screaming ponies. Behind her, a rather pale-colored explosion wiped the volcano and its desk off the map. The three fillies were sent screaming all the way through a tree about thirty feet away. Some orange, sticky sap dripped down their faces.
“Oh, come on,” moaned Scootaloo.
If there was anything to know about Cheerilee, it was that she was not interested in flying. On very rare occasions, she’d secretly envy the magic-users and wonder what it was like to have a horn. She wasn’t that interested in having wings. But, that was neither here nor there. The fact of the matter was that she was flying through the air without any extra limbs. Rather, there were parts of her hide that felt like they were getting eaten by acid.
Yet during this entire experience, she didn’t scream. She didn’t open her mouth very wide in spite of her fear of crashing headfirst into something and dying. No, instead she let out a sigh. The antics of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had once again put herself and other ponies in danger. Was it Thursday already? That was the last thing she thought before she blacked out to the sound of breaking glass.
“I’m worried that this might turn into a species war.”
“I understand what you’re saying, Queen Altairneat,” said Princess Celestia with her usual composure. “But, you must understand that this isn’t something either of us can fix in a single day. It’s going to take time for either side to fully remove their generalized opinions about each other.”
The tall changeling sighed and lowered her head. “Yeah, I hear you. Thank you for the audience anyway, Your Majesty.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Celestia bowed with similar respect.
The conclusion of their meeting was interrupted by one of the windows suddenly crashing inward. A pale and maroon projectile slid across the floor. It stopped right in between the standing figures of royalty. Altairneat let out a few strained noises from her mouth before slowly taking a few steps backward. Celestia stared at the interruption with her eyes wide.
The princess cleared her throat. “Feather Muster, Dancelot, tell the medical staff to make preparations.”
“Yes, Princess!” The royal guards saluted in stereo before galloping down the hallway. Carefully grabbing the injured pony in her magic hold, she trotted toward the large doors herself.
“I… I didn’t…” Altairneat was still shaking on her hooves.
“Shhh.” Celestia brought up her hoof to about the level of the changeling’s mouth. “It’s going to be alright. You don’t have to worry.” After giving a small smile of encouragement, she turned her head away and continued her trot to the medical warden.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
Cheerilee groaned as her eyes cracked open. For a moment, everything in sight remained blurry. She wasn't really sure she should be getting up this morning. Then again, what exactly would have happened if she skipped a day of work?
But, when she could finally see her surroundings, she realized that something wasn't quite right. For starters, her bedroom didn't have an annoying heart monitor beeping every second or so. Also, when did she get all of these scattered bandages on and around her body? Then she sat up as earlier events brimmed inside her mind. Though, she immediately winced after at an uncomfortable pain in her back.
"How are you feeling, Ms. Cheerilee?"
She turned her head and gasped at the source of the question. Princess Celestia herself was trotting in as a nearby healer pony bowed in her presence. Cheerilee found herself scrambling for an answer as well as shaking her head rapidly at all of what she was afraid were the wrong responses.
"Yes! I mean no! I mean great! I mean terrible! No, wait..."
The princess simply smiled and nodded. "Ah, one of those days, was it?"
"Y-Yeah." Cheerilee finally settled on one response to allow herself a moment to breathe calmly.
Celestia turned her head in the healer's direction. "How does her condition look to you, Akew?"
Akew pulled out a slip of notes and cleared her throat. "Aside from some scars that'll be hidden by her hide, the burn damage should repair itself in a couple of days and the bandages can come off by then." She looked up at Cheerilee. "You might feel a couple of extra aches in your back for the next week, but it's no worse than a dancing sprain."
"A dancing sprain?" echoed Cheerilee, tilting her head in confusion.
Akew rolled her hoof over. "Something you'd get from shaking your front hooves around while sticking your tongue out."
"Oh, that was one of Twilight's favorite dance moves." Celestia chuckled lightly.
"Right, so you're pretty lucky," commented Akew. "You could get up and walk out right now if you really wanted to."
"Oh." Cheerilee blinked and shuffled out of the covers. "Alright then." Despite her back still telling her to cool it, she was able to stand on the floor without any trouble.
"Before you go," Celestia spoke up, "would you care for some lunch?"
Cheerilee opened her mouth, ready to insist that the princess didn't have to go to that trouble. However, her belly was quicker to select its dialogue and growled like a grumpy manticore. She hadn't realized that it had been so many hours since the science fair incident and even longer since breakfast. She almost blushed as she sheepishly nodded.
"Come with me." Celestia motioned with her hoof before trotting out the door. "I know of a good place at this hour."
At first, the bandaged pony wasn't sure what to expect. She was kind of concerned that princesses ate at five-star restaurants with food that was tasteless and came in way-too-small portions. Yet, she braced herself to make sure that she would respect the princess's decision. So when she found herself following Celestia into a hole-in-the-wall Marexican joint, she was caught completely off guard.
"It's a... nice place," commented Cheerilee.
"It is, isn't it?" Celestia rang up the front pony for a table for two.
For a while, they sat in silence. They spoke up when ordering, but after that Cheerilee wasn't sure of what else to talk about. Meanwhile, Celestia was taking deliberately long sips of her iced tea. The waiter came by and filled her cup almost instantly after she had finished. She started taking shorter and shorter sips, yet her cup was never below the full line for long. She made one more sipping noise with her mouth barely a millimeter away from the cup.
"Yeah, not falling for that," remarked the waiter as he passed by.
"Hmm, I didn't think so." Celestia kept smiling gently.
"I feel like I've heard your voice before," commented Cheerilee at last.
"That is quite possible," admitted Celestia. "I have made a countless number of public speeches over the years."
Cheerilee shook her head. "No, no, no, I mean like closer than that. It almost sounds like a voice of some pony I've heard each and every day."
"Truly?" Celestia took a genuine sip this time.
"Yes," said Cheerilee insistently. "It's on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't seem to place a name to whom that pony is."
"Hmm, how curious," commented Celestia.
The waiter came back and set down their food. "Enjoy." He picked up his tray and left.
"Princess." Cheerilee tentatively laid a hoof against her quesadilla.
"Yes?" A smothered nacho chip stopped midair in Celestia's magic grasp.
"Why did you offer to take me out to lunch today?"
"I was in the mood for Marexican and I wanted some pony to come along." The chip completed its course into Celestia's mouth.
"But... why me?" Cheerilee held up her other hoof. "There are surely any number of ponies who are more worthy of the honor."
"Does eating always have to be about who is most worthwhile?" Celestia prodded gently.
"Well, I guess not..." The littler pony shut herself up by stuffing a bite of quesadilla in between her teeth.
"Can I tell you something, Ms. Cheerilee?"
"Hmm?"
"There are times where I wish I had your talent when it comes to students."
Cheerilee swallowed before looking sideways at the princess. "What are you talking about? You've done a wonderful job teaching Twilight Sparkle."
Celestia glanced off as she took another bite. "She wasn't my first attempt."
Cheerilee's ear flicked at that muttered statement.
"She was just the best example I've had so far. I wouldn't trade her accomplishments for anything. But if I had just taken the same approach with the previous one, maybe I wouldn't have needed to fail first. Maybe, she would've still been..."
"You've been through a lot," said Cheerilee observantly.
Celestia let out a chuckle. "Heh. That's an understatement."
"You're not at all what I expected you to be," commented Cheerilee.
Celestia sighed. "I'm so-"
"You're even better."
The next chip in Celestia's magic clattered back onto the plate. Her eyes were open and alert. "What?"
"Not only are you kind enough to offer to the needs of others, you were willing to put yourself out there and admit a guilty conscience to me, a complete stranger." Cheerilee smiled. "Trust like that is very admirable."
"Huh, I suppose it is." Celestia couldn't help but mirror the good cheer coming off of the little pony. "In that case, how about we stop being strangers, Cheerilee?"
"I'd like that very much, Celestia."
"So, how was your trip to Canterlot?"
Despite the bandages, Cheerilee couldn't help but reflect on that event and laugh.
Author's Note
The Priestess Arcana social link has been formed.
...
Oh, whoops. Wrong game. 
