CHAPTER 1

“Now who can tell me what size the Tipler cylinder should hypothetically have to allow a pony to travel through time… ?”

As Cheerilee turned around, she realized that her students hadn't been listening to a thing she said for the past 15 minutes. Snips and Snails were chuckling at the doodles they drew in their notebooks. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were discussing their plans for the week-end. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were talking Sweetie Belle into signing up for some magic competition, while Sweetie Belle was trying to explain to them that it's not a small competition and that the greatest unicorns in Equestria are participating. Berry Pinch was reading the latest Daring Do book by A.K. Yearling. Dinky was sleeping.

Cheerilee face-hoofed and let out a long, loud sigh that immediately caught most of the class’s attention.

“Are you okay, Miss Cheerilee ?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No.”

“What's wrong ?” Scootaloo asked.

“I am tired of having to repeat myself twice all the time.”

“Sorry. Ah think that's mah fault,” Apple Bloom apologized, thinking about the last 30 times she hadn’t paid attention in class… which all happened today.

“No no, it's not anypony's fault ! It's just… I've been giving a lot of homework lately. You foals just need a break.” Cheerilee reached for her desk to try to sip some coffee, only to find that her coffee mug was empty again.

Snips noticed it. “Maybe you need a break too.”

Cheerilee took note of Snips's suggestion. She scratched her chin while thinking about it, then she grinned. “Actually, good idea Snips.” She slammed her hoof on her desk. “That's it ! It's decided ! Tomorrow, no one comes to class. I'm taking a day off, and all of you too.”

“Yayyy !” All the students cheered, except Dinky who was still sleeping.

“I think we all deserve one,” Cheerilee finished.

****

Cheerilee woke up to her alarm clock, which she immediately knocked off the bedside table. She also knocked over the table itself. She went downstairs and took carrot juice with cereal for breakfast. She watered the plants in her garden then went on the stroll around Ponyville that she had planned.

Ponyville seemed rather calm today. Not many ponies were in the streets, probably due to being busy at work or for other reasons. It was normally a work day, after all. Cheerilee went to Carrousel Boutique to look over the dresses, to see if she would buy some. When she was about to pass the entrance door, she bumped into a mare with a large cloak, hat, and glasses who was trotting out of the boutique.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you there…” Cheerilee suddenly stopped when she realized who was in front of her. “A.K. Yearling ?”

“Um… hi. Sorry, I'm kind of in a rush, right now. Books to write, and stuff.” A.K. Yearling quickly went away while waving Cheerilee goodbye.

“Huh.” Cheerilee stood in silence for a few seconds. She then finally entered Carrousel Boutique.

“Hello ! Welcome to– oh, Miss Cheerilee ? It's rare to see you here. Welcome !” Rarity, the owner of the boutique, greeted her happily.

“Hello, Miss Rarity.”

Cheerilee came and looked over some of the dresses. She wanted to find something that wouldn't look too bland, without clashing with her fur's colors. Her eyes stopped on a yellow dress that she liked, along with a cool cape to go with it. After looking at the prices to make sure she could afford them, and they were surprisingly cheap, she tried them on and bought them.

Cheerilee wasn’t usually one for costumes, but she thought that maybe casually wearing one would be a change of pace, at least for the day, just to try. It wasn’t usual for most ponies to wear as much clothing outside of special events, but some did anyway for the heck of it. And Cheerilee almost considered this day off as a special event for her.

****

While wandering around town, pondering on what to do, Cheerilee came across a stand with a unicorn stallion in front of it.

“Five minutes left before the end of the inscriptions ! Quick ! Sign up to our talent contest and try to win a prize !”

Cheerilee considered. She didn't have many talents that could work for a contest, as gardening and teaching both take too much time to attract a public's attention, but it's not like she'd lose anything just trying. She went over to the stand.

“I'll sign up.”

The unicorn looked surprised, and somewhat confused for some reason. “Um, are you sure, Miss… ?”

“Cheerilee. And yes, I am sure.”

The unicorn scratched his head, not sure of what to say, and he eventually wrote down Cheerilee's name in the contestants list. “The contest will take place in a few minutes, over there.” He pointed over toward a stage that had been installed near the town square of Ponyville.

Cheerilee cheerfully trotted over to it. She was glad she had bought that dress earlier, so looking good wouldn't be a problem. Now she had to start thinking about what she was actually going to do on stage.

She came in front of the stage and sat down with the other contestants on a row of chairs where the organizers had asked them to sit. Next to her was a somewhat familiar cyan mare with a purple cape and hat.

“Aren’t you that teacher at the local school ?”

“Please Trixie, if you're going to talk to me, call me Cheerilee.”

“It's the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie for you. Don't mess it up.”

Then, a unicorn mare who seemed to be an organizer walked on the stage and started talking. “Your attention please ! Fillies and gentlecolts ! You have come from far and wide to show a demonstration of your magical talent ! I'm Emerald Flower, and I'll be your host and one of the judges !”

Then, realization hit Cheerilee. She looked at the rest of the contestants and… they were all unicorns. This was a magic competition. ‘Oh no.’

“LET THE GAMES BEGIN !”

‘OH NO.’

“…in two hours, when the fourth judge's train arrives in Ponyville.”

Cheerilee sighed in relief, then thought. ‘Wait, I only have a few hours to prepare for a magic show. And I can’t do magic !’ “OH NO !” she ended up exclaiming out loud.

“What's wrong ?” Trixie asked smuggly. “Scared to get your flank kicked ?”

“What ? I mean… NO ! I'm, uh, scared that my opponents might be too ashamed after being defeated by me, and, uh, um…” Cheerilee didn’t know what to say next.

“Hmpf ! Say what you want, but the Great and Powerful Trixie is the one who will make you cry.” Trixie sat back more comfortably, leaning her hat over her eyes.

Cheerilee thought to herself, ‘Great… I really got myself into a mess with this one. I guess that's on me for signing up to a random contest without thinking.’

****

While waiting for the contest to start, the participants wandered about around town. Cheerilee absolutely needed to find a plan. What was she going to do in that contest ? Magic ? How ? Can earth ponies do magic ? She needed to ask someone who knows more about this.

Cheerilee first went to the Castle of Friendship, thinking she might find the answer in a book. The library section of it, which was the biggest library in town, was opened to Princess Twilight's friends, and Cheerilee hoped that ‘teacher of a friend's sister’ was good enough to let her enter. Thankfully Princess Twilight was very keen on letting her in anyway as soon as she heard the word ‘book’.

Cheerilee sat and started scrolling through books on magic for a few minutes. Good news was that she found an answer quickly ; bad news was that the answer was ‘no, earth ponies can't do magic’. She slammed the book shut and laid her face on its cover, grunting for a while.

Princess Twilight came into the room with a tea set for her guest when she saw the look of despair on Cheerilee. “Um, are you okay ?”

“No,” Cheerilee moaned. She raised her head. “I entered a magic contest without thinking, and now I can’t do anything about it.”

“This explains the costume then…”

“Actually…” Cheerilee suddenly forgot her bad mood for a second. “I bought it for myself. I don't know, it just looked cool.”

“I see… Well, I can confirm, it looks good on you.”

Cheerilee cheered up. “Thank you, Princess Twilight. I needed to hear that.”

****

Cheerilee went for a stroll once again. She figured that thinking about that contest too much wouldn't help, so she'd be better off simply ignoring it for now. She went to buy a snack at Sugarcube Corner when she bumped into A.K. Yearling at the entrance.

“Oh, A.K. Yearling. That's the second time today.”

“Oh, um, sorry.” A.K. looked around. “Uh, say, would you happen to have seen Rainbow Dash today ? Anywhere ?”

“Sorry, I haven’t,” Cheerilee responded.

“Aight. I've been looking for her for an hour. I really need her help, right now.”

“Is it… something I can help with ?”

“Um.” A.K. Yearling hesitated. “I guess you could help too. But, aren’t you too busy ?”

“I'm having the day off.”

A.K. considered. “I don't know how many options I have right now… Okay ! You can come with me. But, are you sure ? I mean, if you're having a break…”

“It's alright, really,” Cheerilee reassured her.

****

Cheerilee finished eating the donuts that she bought. She was carrying a rather heavy saddlebag with what she assumed could only be bricks inside. And she had been told not to look inside. A.K. Yearling was carrying a similar bag herself. They were traversing the Everfree Forest.

“So, where are we going already ?” Cheerilee asked.

“Somewhere I cannot tell you,” A.K. answered. “I promise you won't have to be involved with anything… too dangerous.”

This didn’t reassure Cheerilee. They arrived at what looked like an ancient pyramid in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. A.K. Yearling asked Cheerilee to stay near a lever at one side of the pyramid, while she went to another lever on the other side.

“We do it in three ! One… two… three !” A.K. shouted as they both pulled the respective levers they were close to.

Suddenly, an entrance hole at the top of the pyramid opened. Cheerilee watched in confusion while A.K. Yearling changed herself into a Daring Do costume.

“I should be able to take it from there.” Said A.K. Yearling/Daring Do as she took one of the heavy saddlebags that they brought. “You can go on with your day now.”

“YOU'RE DARING DO ?” Cheerilee asked in shock.

“…yeah, I probably shouldn’t have changed in front of you. Whatever, time to save the world ! See you later !” Daring Do waved as she took a saddlebag and dropped it in the pyramid's top entrance before jumping in herself.

Cheerilee stood still, her jaw dropping. She regained her senses a short while later. “Time to go on with my day I guess.” She took her saddlebag and went back to Ponyville.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoy this story...

...even if it doesn't make sense.