Falling Petalsby BronyWriterChaptersWhat He DidYou Failed ThemFalling PetalsEpilogue: SlippingWhat He DidThe brown grass crunched underhoof as Twilight Sparkle slowly walked up the small hill on the outskirts of Ponyville that led to the home of Ponyville's resident schoolmare. The plain, one-room cottage almost seemed to be cast in shadow, despite the sunny day. The normally impeccably well-kept garden was in disrepair, and long weeds had begun to creep up between the bunches of dulled flowers. Overall, a feeling of gloom had completely overtaken the cottage. Twilight sighed and reached the cottage door. She raised a hoof and knocked three times. A few seconds of silence passed before a quiet creaking sound came from the other side of the door. The creaking noise stopped, and the door slowly cracked open revealing a single green, bloodshot eye staring at her. Twilight flashed the eye her best smile. "Hello, Cheerilee." The eye blinked once, but the door opened a little more, allowing Cheerilee to poke her muzzle out of the door. "Hello, Twilight." Twilight kept up her smile, despite the fact that the unkempt looks of the schoolteacher almost made her jaw drop. While Cheerilee hadn't exactly strived to make herself look flawless, she had always looked at the very least presentable. Her mane and tail were always brushed and her coat was always very well kept. But now her mane stuck up in a bunch of different directions, and it looked to Twilight like Cheerilee hadn't bushed her coat in a few days now. Twilight cleared her throat. "I just came by to say hi and to see how you were doing after..." Twilight's smile flickered for a moment. "Er... last week." Cheerilee's ear twitched and the door closed a half-inch as though she wanted to slam it in Twilight's face. She instead took a deep breath and opened the door a little more. "Oh I'm doing... as well as I can," said Cheerilee quietly. "That was a rough day for all of us, I think." Twilight nodded. "Yeah, it was." Twilight uneasily scratched the back of her neck. "Look... I've come by because Applejack told me that you've sent a substitute to class for the past week and, well, we're all worried about you." Cheerilee chuckled weakly. "It's nothing too bad, Twilight. I just think that I came down with some sort of bug." Twilight scoffed. "Look, Cheerilee, I may not be Applejack, but I know when somepony is lying to me." Twilight's face turned sympathetic and she put her hoof on the door. "It's about last week, isn't it? When Discord came?" Cheerilee squeaked in fear at Discord's name, and actually did slam the door in Twilight's face. Twilight opened her mouth to get Cheerilee to open up again, but the door cracked open again after a second. "Sorry, Twilight," Cheerilee whispered. "It's just..." "You're scared of what he did to you," Twilight finished. Her warm smile returned. "Cheerilee, he did stuff to all of us. Just let me come in and we'll talk about it. You know that Princess Celestia and I have been coordinating relief efforts to help ponies that have been hurt by what he did, right?" "Yeah," Cheerilee squeaked. "I heard something about it when Fluttershy came by a few days ago." "We want to help ponies that got hurt by him," said Twilight. "We all got hurt by him. I know whatever he did to you must be terrible, but you can't hide in here forever." Twilight put her hoof through the crack and gently placed it on Cheerilee's foreleg. "If you feel up to it, I just want to talk to you. You don't have to tell me what he did, but I know that it helps to just get your feelings out there." Cheerilee's gaze flickered between the door and Twilight's foreleg, almost as if she was deciding whether or not to push Twilight's hoof away and slam the door in her face again. Despite that, she took a deep breath and completely opened the door. She squinted as the bright sunlight hit her face, but she gave Twilight the smallest of smiles. "I know I've been kind of out of it lately, but..." Cheerilee's left ear twitched and her smile fell completely and her voice dropped to a low whisper. "You wouldn't believe what he did to me." "Like I said, he did bad stuff to all of us," said Twilight gently. "But you're free of his influence now. We all are." Twilight's soft smile returned, and she put her hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder. "I know that your students would love to see you again. Just let me help you." Cheerilee's lower lip quivered, and tears rolled down her face. She collapsed onto her haunches and began softly sobbing. Twilight sat next to her and wrapped her forelegs over Cheerilee's shoulder. "It's okay," she said softly. "Just let it out." "It was terrible," Cheerilee squeaked. "It was like having the worst nightmare I could imagine, but I couldn't wake up." "Do you want to tell me about it?" Twilight asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but it might make you feel a little better." Cheerilee took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with a foreleg. "I don't know if I can," she whispered. "I live with the memory of what he did every waking moment." "You don't have to if you don't want to," Twilight reassured her. "Just know that I'm here to help you however I can." Cheerilee slowly nodded as her gaze trailed over to the familiar schoolhouse she had grown to love so many years ago. "I think I can, Twilight." Cheerilee sniffled and leaned her head against the door frame, her eyes never leaving the schoolhouse. Author's Note Really short chapter, I know. Just a little something to get the brain flowing again. I hope to have a new Gwenwyn chapter out tomorrow or the next day on top of finishing this up. No, this isn't going to go super dark like "Discord made Cheerilee read Cheerilee's Garden then forced her to act it out over and over again." It'll be more on par with what he did to Pinkie Pie in the show, which was still pretty sadistic if you think about it. You Failed ThemThe first sign that morning that something wasn't quite right was when Cheerilee had walked out into her prize garden to see that all of the leaves had been turned into licorice and the flowers themselves were chocolate. She squinted and leaned in next to them, her hoof extended. She brought the hoof close to her flowers, but stopped just short of them as if she was worried that they were going to bite her. Just as she was about to consider running into town to talk to somepony about this when she heard the bell from the schoolhouse begin ringing signifying that it was five minutes until class. She didn't even stop to think about how it was against the rules for somepony other than her to ring the bell. With a yip, she bolted into her home and slung her saddlebag over her shoulder. She ran out of her house and towards the school just in time to see her students begin filing in. She smiled as she came in behind them. "Hello, Twist, hello, Snips." Cheerilee's smile fell, and a frown crossed her face when the two students she greeted not only didn't respond, but they ignored her completely. They simply walked inside and went to their desks. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow and stared at the two before deciding that they must not have heard her. Her smile returned and she walked into her classroom. She placed her saddlebag on her desk and turned to face her class with her usual smile. "Good morning, children." The only response she received was a half-hearted mutter from one or two of them. Her smile faded and was once again replaced with a frown. "Uh... is something the matter?" Dinky and Twist exchanged a glance and burst into giggles. Cheerilee narrowed her eyes and looked in their direction. "Is something funny, you two?" Dinky and Twist shot Cheerilee only the most cursory of looks before giggling once more and turning to face the front. Cheerilee stared at them suspiciously for a moment, but decided that they were probably laughing about something that had happened at morning recess. She pushed it out of her mind and forced her smile back on her face. "Okay, today we're going to continue our lecture about the origin of The Canterlot Gardens. First, I would like everypony to turn in the worksheet I assigned yesterday." Cheerilee gave the surprisingly silent Cutie Mark Crusaders a knowing look. "And that includes the essay about discord that I assigned you three." The foals sat at their seats, silent and unmoving. Twist and Dinky shared another look and giggle, but nopony even reached into their saddlebags. Cheerilee scanned the classroom, her frown returning. "Class, that wasn't a suggestion. I need everypony to take out their homework!" Her eyes landed on Diamond Tiara. "Diamond Tiara, if you could please collect all of the worksheets. You can set them on my desk." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Miss Cheerilee, you didn't seriously expect us to actually do that useless worksheet, did you?" "Yeah, why would we waste our time on that nonsense?" said Silver Spoon. She gave Cheerilee a small smirk. "Seriously, we all have better things to do." Cheerilee's eyes narrowed, and she trotted up to the two of them. "You two are out of line! Detention for both of you! You will stay after class and not go out to recess today!" Diamond Tiara yawned and leaned back in her chair. "As if you have that kind of power." She glanced over at Silver Spoon. "You wanna go to Sugarcube Corner after school?" Silver Spoon giggled. "Better than wasting our time here." "Detention for a week!" Cheerilee snarled. "And I will be talking to both of your parents about this!" "Ooh, tough mare," Diamond Tiara muttered. Cheerilee bit back a retort while mentally adding on another week of detentions for the two of them. She inwardly growled and walked back up to the front of the class. "Did anypony actually do their homework assignments?" The class was silent, only moving to exchange incredulous glances. It was Apple Bloom that spoke up first. "Well, Miss Cheerilee, Ah did want to do tha assignment, but Ah looked it over and thought it was kinda... silly." Cheerilee's mouth dropped open slightly, and took a step backwards. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could misbehave sometimes, but to hear such words out of Apple Bloom's mouth was absolutely unheard of. "I don't..." Cheerilee blinked twice. "Apple Bloom, I'm not sure what you mean by that." "What she means is that the assignment seemed a little condescending," said Sweetie Belle. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the incomplete worksheet. "I thought you wanted to treat us more like adults than this." "Sweetie Belle, it's just a math worksheet on multiplication tables!" Cheerilee walked over to Sweetie Belle and looked over the paper. "It's literally just numbers!" Sweetie Belle sighed and crumpled up the paper. "I dunno, Miss Cheerilee, it just kind of seems like you give us these pointless assignments because you don't know how else to teach us." "Seriously, who cares about stupid multiplication problems?" said Scootaloo. Cheerilee wheeled on Scootaloo and glared at her. "Scootaloo, you know that every job requires some math. What I am teaching you is important! Doesn't that matter to you at all?" "Keep tellin' yerself that," Apple Bloom muttered. Cheerilee turned back to Apple Bloom, still sporting the same glare. "Apple Bloom, I don't know what has gotten into you, but you cannot speak to me like that!" "What's gotten into her is that she's figured out that what you teach is just a bunch of horsefeathers," Scootaloo responded. She leaned back in her chair and began idly playing with the pencil on her desk. "Seriously, I can add and subtract; why do I need to do more than that." "Detention for all three of you!" Cheerilee snapped. "You will remain in class once we are finished." Cheerilee was about to ask the class who had actually done their homework assignments, but she was cut off from a small chuckle by Apple Bloom. "Did that make ya feel good, Miss Cheerilee?" Apple Bloom widened her smirk and leaned in closer to her teacher. "Did that make ya feel... powerful, givin' us detention just now?" "I know it made you feel good giving me and Spoon detention," Diamond Tiara cackled. "You really thought that you were going to put us in our place because we say what the rest of us are thinking, didn't you?" Cheerilee slammed her hoof on the floor. "Enough! Enough all of you!"" Cheerilee stomped to the front of the class and fixed the foals with her intensified glare. "All students who did not complete their homework assignments will receive a week’s worth of detentions!" Cheerilee' glare softened slightly when she heard a slight whimper from the back of the class. She looked in that direction and saw Dinky with her head low and ears flattened. "B-but Miss Cheerilee, I just forgot my homework! My mommy was in the hospital yesterday because of her eyes." Cheerilee stared at Dinky for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "Well that is a reasonable excuse for not doing your homework, Dinky." Cheerilee trotted up to her and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "You can turn it in tomorrow and you won't get detention, okay?" Dinky sniffled, but managed to look up at Cheerilee with a weak smile. "Really?" Cheerilee returned Dinky's smile. "Of course. Your family takes precedent over schoolwork." Dinky's smile widened slightly. "Okay. Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." Cheerilee nodded and began trotting back up to the front of the class to get the day's lesson going. She had only taken a few steps before she heard Dinky lightly chuckle behind her. "Sucker." Cheerilee's eyes widened, and her ears perked up as she registered what Dinky had said. With a snarl she spun around and stomped over to Dinky. "How dare you, you ungrateful brat!" she screeched. "How dare you use a fake story about your mother to try to get sympathy from me! If I ever hear--" Cheerilee's rage died down when she saw that Dinky was legitimately sobbing in front of her. Her wails filled the small schoolhouse, and each of the students was looking at her with a grim expression. Cheerilee softly gasped and reached a hoof out to Dinky. "Oh Dinky, I'm sorry that I--" With a squeak, Dinky slapped Cheerilee's hoof away and slid off of her seat, backing away into a corner. "Go away!" she squeaked. "I-I'm sorry that I did a bad thing, but I just didn't want detention, Miss Cheerilee." Tears began pouring down Dinky's face, staining the floor below her. "I'm s-sorry!" "No Dinky, I'm sorry!" said Cheerilee as she reached out her hoof to Dinky. "I didn't mean to yell like that!" "Pathetic." Cheerilee wheeled around to see Apple Bloom glaring at her. "Apple Bloom, what--" "Ah called ya pathetic!" Apple Bloom snapped. "Yellin' at Dinky like that. Wasn't detention fer all of us enough for ya?" "I bet she enjoyed that," said Diamond Tiara. "She really loves being the one in charge, doesn't she?" Silver Spoon agreed. "Maybe that's why she got into teaching, so she could boss foals like us around." Cheerilee turned to Sweetie Belle and wildly extended a hoof. "That isn't true, Sweetie Belle! I became a teacher to bring joy to your learning! I love teaching foals!" Sweetie Belle scoffed and shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, we've heard your cutie mark explanation a million times." "Is she seriously seeing the same cutie mark that we are?" Scootaloo muttered. "Her flowers don't look that happy to me." Cheerilee turned her head and looked back at her cutie mark. Where once there was a trio of healthy, smiling flowers, now there were a trio of sickly flowers with crying faces. The colors were dulled, and the petals were shivered up and black. "Oh no," Cheerilee whimpered. "She's seeing what we all have from the very first day of class," said Snips. "I told you she wasn't going to be very good," said Snails. "Never thought she'd be in this just to make us feel bad." "That isn't true!" Cheerilee wailed. "I love you all and it has been my privilege to teach you." The class began laughing all around Cheerilee, with only Dinky's sobs mixing in. Their caws echoed throughout Cheerilee's brain, and she collapsed onto her haunches and shoved her hooves over her ears, begging her class to stop. Her begging became so hysterical that she didn't notice that a shade of gray was creeping up in her fur, encasing her completely. Her class was talking around her, but only Dinky's words made it through to her. "Miss Cheerilee... I thought that I could trust you." With that, Cheerilee curled up on the ground and began loudly sobbing, hoping for the nightmare to end. Her hooves still covered her ears, but the laughs and the crying from Dinky still rang throughout her head as she sobbed on the ground. She was still lying there and crying when a rainbow burst shot throughout Ponyville. She wasn't found by Twilight and her friends until many hours later. She was still sobbing on the floor of the completely empty schoolhouse, begging her students to stop laughing at her. Falling PetalsTwilight stared silently down at Cheerilee. She had begun crying again, and was leaning against the doorframe, her back to Twilight. Twilight put a hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder. "You know they would never say that to you, right? They love you, Cheerilee." Cheerilee sniffled and wiped her eyes with a foreleg. "I know that, but it didn't seem like it at the time." Cheerilee glumly looked over to the schoolhouse. "It's strange. I think that when I was on the floor..." Cheerilee's ear twitched. "You know... I thought that I heard some voice speaking to me, saying that I had failed them and that I wasn't a fit teacher." Twilight scooted closer to Cheerilee and put a hoof over her shoulders. "That's Discord for you, I'm afraid. But you don't have to worry; he's gone now." "I know," Cheerilee muttered. Twilight gave Cheerilee a comforting smile and nuzzled her shoulder. "The foals miss you, you know. Every day that I sub for you they ask if you're better yet. They really want you back." "I know," said Cheerilee quietly. She sighed and stood up. "And I want to be back, I really do. I want things to go back to the way before... that." "It wasn't them saying that to you, Cheerilee," said Twilight. "You're a great teacher; one of the best that I've ever known." Twilight chuckled lightly. "I should have been so lucky to have a mare like you teaching me when I was their age." Cheerilee sighed and shook her head. "I would have been back the day after the incident, I really would have. It's just that..." Cheerilee lightly groaned and shook her head. "I keep looking at them whenever I see them pass by my house, and I'm always scared that if I go back, I'm going to blow up at them for the most minor of offenses. Whatever was pretending to be Dinky said that she thought that she could have trusted me after I got mad." Cheerilee folded her ears against her head and her gaze trailed to the ground. "I don't know if I can trust me." "Cheerilee, you can trust yourself!" Twilight motioned over to the schoolhouse. "If you need more time to recover from what you endured, I understand. You know that Princess Celestia and I set up therapy for the ponies who endured Discord, right?" Cheerilee slowly nodded, prompting a warm smile from Twilight. "You can come to that as often as you like. We're here for you, Cheerilee. Whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask." Cheerilee stared silently at the horizon as Twilight's words registered in her brain. Twilight gave her a comforting nuzzle, and Cheerilee slowly closed her eyes. "I can try," she said quietly. "I think that I can try to go back to teach tomorrow and see if that helps me at all." Twilight widened her smile and gave Cheerilee a squeeze. "If you need me to be with you, I can certainly help you through it." Cheerilee gently leaned in on Twilight's shoulder. "Thank you, Twilight," she whispered. "I... I would love to go back to teaching my students again." Cheerilee sat in silence and let the cool breeze flow through her mane. It almost reminded of her of when she was a filly and her mother would comb her mane after a hard day. It comforted her. It told her that everything would be okay, and the she wouldn't fail her real students. She poked at the grass with her hoof and looked over at her garden. The sight of the weeds that had overtaken some of the flowers caused her stomach to clench, but she could fix it just as she could regain her courage. Cheerilee's gaze flickered over to the schoolhouse. Twilight's kind, encouraging words did make it seem less intimidating. Yes there were no students there, but it seemed like a warm, inviting place again. If she could go back, the students would smile and enjoy learning as they did before the madness. The bell from the clock tower echoed throughout the land. It was seven o'clock. School would be starting for everypony in a mere twelve hours. Cheerilee stood up and faced the schoolhouse. "I have to do it for all of us, Twilight. Helping the foals, well, it's my special talent, after all." A small smile played at Cheerilee's lips for the first time in a long time. "They're a wonderful group of students, and I could not be more honored or privileged to teach them." Twilight stood up and put a hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder. "I think that you know what you have to do, then." Cheerilee glanced back at Twilight. "I have to get ready for class." * * * * The crow of the rooster roused Cheerilee from her slumber, and she immediately shot out of bed with a large grin on her face. After a quick shower and breakfast, Cheerilee put her fresh lesson plans that she had spent all of last night on in her saddlebag. She slung it over her shoulder and trotted out the door. The crisp morning air washed over her. It felt refreshing, and Cheerilee took a deep breath to calm the last traces of her nerves before walking towards the schoolhouse. The schoolfoals were already being dropped off at the school when Cheerilee came near it. A small smile crossed her face, and she reached the schoolhouse. The foals all squealed in delight as she walked up, and Sweetie Belle even came up to wrap her forelegs around her in a crushing hug. "You're back!" She squeed. "We missed you so much, Ms. Cheerilee!" Cheerilee chuckled softly and patted Sweetie Belle's head. "I missed you too. I'm thrilled to be back here." Cheerilee motioned over to the schoolhouse. "Let's get started for the day, shall we?" The foals practically bounced into the schoolhouse and took their seats. Cheerilee stood in front of the classroom and placed her lesson plans folder on her desk. "Do you wanna go to Sugarcube Corner after school, Silver Spoon?" Cheerilee's ear flickered and she turned her head to look at Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara who seemed to just be having a normal pre-class conversation. Yes that's what Diamond Tiara had said the day Discord had taken over, but it surely must have been a coincidence. She took a deep breath and pulled out her math lesson plan. "Just a coincidence, Cheerilee," she muttered. "Keep calm." She forced a smile on her face and began passing out worksheets for her students. "Okay, class. Today we are going to start off by learning long division. It is the opposite of multiplication, so I think that studying how it is different is a good place to start." Cheerilee had almost finished passing them all out when she heard Scootaloo quietly groaning behind her. "Seriously, who cares about stupid division problems?" Cheerilee's ear flicked again, and she began blinking rapidly. The remaining worksheets fell from the hoof she had been balancing them on, and she began taking several deep breaths. Calm down, Cheerilee. Calm down. It's okay. Cheerilee cleared her throat and turned back to Scootaloo. "I don't see it that way, Scootaloo. Every job requires some math." Scootaloo flattened her ears at being caught, but a hint of a frown played at her lips. "Sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. I don't get it, though. I can add and subtract; why do I need to do more than that?" Cheerilee's legs began shaking, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Because... there will be times when multiplying and dividing will be the quicker way to go. I promise you that it's very simple." "Okay," Scootaloo muttered. "Sorry, Ms. Cheerilee." Cheerilee flashed Scootaloo a forced smile and picked the worksheets back up. "It's... it's okay, Scootaloo. When I was your age I didn't like them either." Cheerilee finished handing out the worksheets, and walked back up to the front of the class. "Oh, right." Cheerilee motioned over to her desk. "I forgot to collect homework. Twilight told me that she assigned a worksheet. Uh, Snips, if you could collect them and put them on my desk, I would appreciate that." The students reached into their respective saddlebags and began pulling their worksheets out as Snails came around and collected them. As he did, Cheerilee sat down at her desk and leaned her head against one of her forelegs. The day was starting well enough aside from the small coincidences. Surely that was all they were. It's not like she was still living that nightmare that she had to go through that day when Discord took over the town. She shook her head and glanced up at her class. She frowned when she saw that one of her students didn't turn in her homework: Dinky. Cheerilee bit her lip, but forced herself to stand up and walk over to Dinky. "Dinky, did you do your homework last night?" Dinky averted her gaze and flattened her ears. "I'm sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. I couldn't do it last night." "Was it..." Cheerilee began blinking rapidly and taking shallow breaths. "Was it because your mother was in the hospital because of her eyes?" Dinky raised her head and frowned. "Uh... yeah. How did you know that?" Cheerilee whimpered and began backing away from Dinky. "No," she whispered. "No... i-it isn't..." Dinky raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Mommy's fine, Ms. Cheerilee. I just couldn't do my homework because she was sick and I had to help her." "Oh Celestia, please no!" Cheerilee hit the wall and collapsed onto her haunches. The first traces of tears filled her eyes, and her stomach tied itself into knots. What's worse was the fact that Twilight hadn't shown up, despite the fact that she had promised to help. Cheerilee was all on her own in front of the students. It was Apple Bloom that spoke up first. "Uh, Ms. Cheerilee... are you okay?" Cheerilee chanced a one-eyed glance at the foals and saw that they were all staring at her, unblinking. She whimpered and covered her head in her forelegs. "Don't do that to me," she mewled. "Don't look at me like that!" "Look at you like what, Ms. Cheerilee?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Just... please don't..." Finally Cheerilee began to sob on the floor as the memories of what had happened that day forced themselves into her mind. The foals were muttering something to each other, something that sounded remarkably like condemnation. With a final whimper, Cheerilee pushed herself to her hooves and bolted out the door. She ran past Twilight who was saying something about being late. It didn't matter. It was a mistake to try again, she realized that now. She would only keep getting scared by remembering that day. The foals would likely be so confused that they wouldn't want a scaredy-pony like her as a teacher anyway. She had failed them. All she could do now was run. Epilogue: SlippingIt was five hours before anybody managed to locate Cheerilee. A search party had been organized about an hour after she had run off. They had split into groups of five, each searching a different section of Ponyville. It was the group led by Twilight that eventually located her in the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. She was leaning against a tree, shivering like it was ten below. The only words that anypony managed to get out of her were 'I failed them.' She repeated them like it was the most important mantra she knew. Twilight carried her back to Ponyville on her back and led her into her cottage. Throughout the entire trip, Cheerilee never lost the blank stare that had been plastered on her face the entire time. When Twilight put her in bed, Cheerilee curled up into a ball and began stroking her tail, still repeating that she had somehow failed her students. Twilight had sent the rest of them off and had promised to keep an eye on Cheerilee for the night. She set up a small mattress not far from the bed and sat on it, her eyes never leaving the shivering form in front of her. She slowly reached a hoof out to Cheerilee and gently stroked her mane. "It's okay, Cheerilee. You're safe." "I failed them. I yelled at them. I made them sad." "You didn't, Cheerilee," Twilight insisted. "They love you." "I failed them. They don't trust me anymore. I'm a terrible teacher." "Cheerilee, that's not true! They adore you!" "I failed them!" "Cheerilee--" "I failed them!" "Chee--" "I FAILED THEM!"
What He DidThe brown grass crunched underhoof as Twilight Sparkle slowly walked up the small hill on the outskirts of Ponyville that led to the home of Ponyville's resident schoolmare. The plain, one-room cottage almost seemed to be cast in shadow, despite the sunny day. The normally impeccably well-kept garden was in disrepair, and long weeds had begun to creep up between the bunches of dulled flowers. Overall, a feeling of gloom had completely overtaken the cottage. Twilight sighed and reached the cottage door. She raised a hoof and knocked three times. A few seconds of silence passed before a quiet creaking sound came from the other side of the door. The creaking noise stopped, and the door slowly cracked open revealing a single green, bloodshot eye staring at her. Twilight flashed the eye her best smile. "Hello, Cheerilee." The eye blinked once, but the door opened a little more, allowing Cheerilee to poke her muzzle out of the door. "Hello, Twilight." Twilight kept up her smile, despite the fact that the unkempt looks of the schoolteacher almost made her jaw drop. While Cheerilee hadn't exactly strived to make herself look flawless, she had always looked at the very least presentable. Her mane and tail were always brushed and her coat was always very well kept. But now her mane stuck up in a bunch of different directions, and it looked to Twilight like Cheerilee hadn't bushed her coat in a few days now. Twilight cleared her throat. "I just came by to say hi and to see how you were doing after..." Twilight's smile flickered for a moment. "Er... last week." Cheerilee's ear twitched and the door closed a half-inch as though she wanted to slam it in Twilight's face. She instead took a deep breath and opened the door a little more. "Oh I'm doing... as well as I can," said Cheerilee quietly. "That was a rough day for all of us, I think." Twilight nodded. "Yeah, it was." Twilight uneasily scratched the back of her neck. "Look... I've come by because Applejack told me that you've sent a substitute to class for the past week and, well, we're all worried about you." Cheerilee chuckled weakly. "It's nothing too bad, Twilight. I just think that I came down with some sort of bug." Twilight scoffed. "Look, Cheerilee, I may not be Applejack, but I know when somepony is lying to me." Twilight's face turned sympathetic and she put her hoof on the door. "It's about last week, isn't it? When Discord came?" Cheerilee squeaked in fear at Discord's name, and actually did slam the door in Twilight's face. Twilight opened her mouth to get Cheerilee to open up again, but the door cracked open again after a second. "Sorry, Twilight," Cheerilee whispered. "It's just..." "You're scared of what he did to you," Twilight finished. Her warm smile returned. "Cheerilee, he did stuff to all of us. Just let me come in and we'll talk about it. You know that Princess Celestia and I have been coordinating relief efforts to help ponies that have been hurt by what he did, right?" "Yeah," Cheerilee squeaked. "I heard something about it when Fluttershy came by a few days ago." "We want to help ponies that got hurt by him," said Twilight. "We all got hurt by him. I know whatever he did to you must be terrible, but you can't hide in here forever." Twilight put her hoof through the crack and gently placed it on Cheerilee's foreleg. "If you feel up to it, I just want to talk to you. You don't have to tell me what he did, but I know that it helps to just get your feelings out there." Cheerilee's gaze flickered between the door and Twilight's foreleg, almost as if she was deciding whether or not to push Twilight's hoof away and slam the door in her face again. Despite that, she took a deep breath and completely opened the door. She squinted as the bright sunlight hit her face, but she gave Twilight the smallest of smiles. "I know I've been kind of out of it lately, but..." Cheerilee's left ear twitched and her smile fell completely and her voice dropped to a low whisper. "You wouldn't believe what he did to me." "Like I said, he did bad stuff to all of us," said Twilight gently. "But you're free of his influence now. We all are." Twilight's soft smile returned, and she put her hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder. "I know that your students would love to see you again. Just let me help you." Cheerilee's lower lip quivered, and tears rolled down her face. She collapsed onto her haunches and began softly sobbing. Twilight sat next to her and wrapped her forelegs over Cheerilee's shoulder. "It's okay," she said softly. "Just let it out." "It was terrible," Cheerilee squeaked. "It was like having the worst nightmare I could imagine, but I couldn't wake up." "Do you want to tell me about it?" Twilight asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but it might make you feel a little better." Cheerilee took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with a foreleg. "I don't know if I can," she whispered. "I live with the memory of what he did every waking moment." "You don't have to if you don't want to," Twilight reassured her. "Just know that I'm here to help you however I can." Cheerilee slowly nodded as her gaze trailed over to the familiar schoolhouse she had grown to love so many years ago. "I think I can, Twilight." Cheerilee sniffled and leaned her head against the door frame, her eyes never leaving the schoolhouse. Author's Note Really short chapter, I know. Just a little something to get the brain flowing again. I hope to have a new Gwenwyn chapter out tomorrow or the next day on top of finishing this up. No, this isn't going to go super dark like "Discord made Cheerilee read Cheerilee's Garden then forced her to act it out over and over again." It'll be more on par with what he did to Pinkie Pie in the show, which was still pretty sadistic if you think about it.
You Failed ThemThe first sign that morning that something wasn't quite right was when Cheerilee had walked out into her prize garden to see that all of the leaves had been turned into licorice and the flowers themselves were chocolate. She squinted and leaned in next to them, her hoof extended. She brought the hoof close to her flowers, but stopped just short of them as if she was worried that they were going to bite her. Just as she was about to consider running into town to talk to somepony about this when she heard the bell from the schoolhouse begin ringing signifying that it was five minutes until class. She didn't even stop to think about how it was against the rules for somepony other than her to ring the bell. With a yip, she bolted into her home and slung her saddlebag over her shoulder. She ran out of her house and towards the school just in time to see her students begin filing in. She smiled as she came in behind them. "Hello, Twist, hello, Snips." Cheerilee's smile fell, and a frown crossed her face when the two students she greeted not only didn't respond, but they ignored her completely. They simply walked inside and went to their desks. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow and stared at the two before deciding that they must not have heard her. Her smile returned and she walked into her classroom. She placed her saddlebag on her desk and turned to face her class with her usual smile. "Good morning, children." The only response she received was a half-hearted mutter from one or two of them. Her smile faded and was once again replaced with a frown. "Uh... is something the matter?" Dinky and Twist exchanged a glance and burst into giggles. Cheerilee narrowed her eyes and looked in their direction. "Is something funny, you two?" Dinky and Twist shot Cheerilee only the most cursory of looks before giggling once more and turning to face the front. Cheerilee stared at them suspiciously for a moment, but decided that they were probably laughing about something that had happened at morning recess. She pushed it out of her mind and forced her smile back on her face. "Okay, today we're going to continue our lecture about the origin of The Canterlot Gardens. First, I would like everypony to turn in the worksheet I assigned yesterday." Cheerilee gave the surprisingly silent Cutie Mark Crusaders a knowing look. "And that includes the essay about discord that I assigned you three." The foals sat at their seats, silent and unmoving. Twist and Dinky shared another look and giggle, but nopony even reached into their saddlebags. Cheerilee scanned the classroom, her frown returning. "Class, that wasn't a suggestion. I need everypony to take out their homework!" Her eyes landed on Diamond Tiara. "Diamond Tiara, if you could please collect all of the worksheets. You can set them on my desk." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Miss Cheerilee, you didn't seriously expect us to actually do that useless worksheet, did you?" "Yeah, why would we waste our time on that nonsense?" said Silver Spoon. She gave Cheerilee a small smirk. "Seriously, we all have better things to do." Cheerilee's eyes narrowed, and she trotted up to the two of them. "You two are out of line! Detention for both of you! You will stay after class and not go out to recess today!" Diamond Tiara yawned and leaned back in her chair. "As if you have that kind of power." She glanced over at Silver Spoon. "You wanna go to Sugarcube Corner after school?" Silver Spoon giggled. "Better than wasting our time here." "Detention for a week!" Cheerilee snarled. "And I will be talking to both of your parents about this!" "Ooh, tough mare," Diamond Tiara muttered. Cheerilee bit back a retort while mentally adding on another week of detentions for the two of them. She inwardly growled and walked back up to the front of the class. "Did anypony actually do their homework assignments?" The class was silent, only moving to exchange incredulous glances. It was Apple Bloom that spoke up first. "Well, Miss Cheerilee, Ah did want to do tha assignment, but Ah looked it over and thought it was kinda... silly." Cheerilee's mouth dropped open slightly, and took a step backwards. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could misbehave sometimes, but to hear such words out of Apple Bloom's mouth was absolutely unheard of. "I don't..." Cheerilee blinked twice. "Apple Bloom, I'm not sure what you mean by that." "What she means is that the assignment seemed a little condescending," said Sweetie Belle. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the incomplete worksheet. "I thought you wanted to treat us more like adults than this." "Sweetie Belle, it's just a math worksheet on multiplication tables!" Cheerilee walked over to Sweetie Belle and looked over the paper. "It's literally just numbers!" Sweetie Belle sighed and crumpled up the paper. "I dunno, Miss Cheerilee, it just kind of seems like you give us these pointless assignments because you don't know how else to teach us." "Seriously, who cares about stupid multiplication problems?" said Scootaloo. Cheerilee wheeled on Scootaloo and glared at her. "Scootaloo, you know that every job requires some math. What I am teaching you is important! Doesn't that matter to you at all?" "Keep tellin' yerself that," Apple Bloom muttered. Cheerilee turned back to Apple Bloom, still sporting the same glare. "Apple Bloom, I don't know what has gotten into you, but you cannot speak to me like that!" "What's gotten into her is that she's figured out that what you teach is just a bunch of horsefeathers," Scootaloo responded. She leaned back in her chair and began idly playing with the pencil on her desk. "Seriously, I can add and subtract; why do I need to do more than that." "Detention for all three of you!" Cheerilee snapped. "You will remain in class once we are finished." Cheerilee was about to ask the class who had actually done their homework assignments, but she was cut off from a small chuckle by Apple Bloom. "Did that make ya feel good, Miss Cheerilee?" Apple Bloom widened her smirk and leaned in closer to her teacher. "Did that make ya feel... powerful, givin' us detention just now?" "I know it made you feel good giving me and Spoon detention," Diamond Tiara cackled. "You really thought that you were going to put us in our place because we say what the rest of us are thinking, didn't you?" Cheerilee slammed her hoof on the floor. "Enough! Enough all of you!"" Cheerilee stomped to the front of the class and fixed the foals with her intensified glare. "All students who did not complete their homework assignments will receive a week’s worth of detentions!" Cheerilee' glare softened slightly when she heard a slight whimper from the back of the class. She looked in that direction and saw Dinky with her head low and ears flattened. "B-but Miss Cheerilee, I just forgot my homework! My mommy was in the hospital yesterday because of her eyes." Cheerilee stared at Dinky for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "Well that is a reasonable excuse for not doing your homework, Dinky." Cheerilee trotted up to her and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "You can turn it in tomorrow and you won't get detention, okay?" Dinky sniffled, but managed to look up at Cheerilee with a weak smile. "Really?" Cheerilee returned Dinky's smile. "Of course. Your family takes precedent over schoolwork." Dinky's smile widened slightly. "Okay. Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." Cheerilee nodded and began trotting back up to the front of the class to get the day's lesson going. She had only taken a few steps before she heard Dinky lightly chuckle behind her. "Sucker." Cheerilee's eyes widened, and her ears perked up as she registered what Dinky had said. With a snarl she spun around and stomped over to Dinky. "How dare you, you ungrateful brat!" she screeched. "How dare you use a fake story about your mother to try to get sympathy from me! If I ever hear--" Cheerilee's rage died down when she saw that Dinky was legitimately sobbing in front of her. Her wails filled the small schoolhouse, and each of the students was looking at her with a grim expression. Cheerilee softly gasped and reached a hoof out to Dinky. "Oh Dinky, I'm sorry that I--" With a squeak, Dinky slapped Cheerilee's hoof away and slid off of her seat, backing away into a corner. "Go away!" she squeaked. "I-I'm sorry that I did a bad thing, but I just didn't want detention, Miss Cheerilee." Tears began pouring down Dinky's face, staining the floor below her. "I'm s-sorry!" "No Dinky, I'm sorry!" said Cheerilee as she reached out her hoof to Dinky. "I didn't mean to yell like that!" "Pathetic." Cheerilee wheeled around to see Apple Bloom glaring at her. "Apple Bloom, what--" "Ah called ya pathetic!" Apple Bloom snapped. "Yellin' at Dinky like that. Wasn't detention fer all of us enough for ya?" "I bet she enjoyed that," said Diamond Tiara. "She really loves being the one in charge, doesn't she?" Silver Spoon agreed. "Maybe that's why she got into teaching, so she could boss foals like us around." Cheerilee turned to Sweetie Belle and wildly extended a hoof. "That isn't true, Sweetie Belle! I became a teacher to bring joy to your learning! I love teaching foals!" Sweetie Belle scoffed and shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, we've heard your cutie mark explanation a million times." "Is she seriously seeing the same cutie mark that we are?" Scootaloo muttered. "Her flowers don't look that happy to me." Cheerilee turned her head and looked back at her cutie mark. Where once there was a trio of healthy, smiling flowers, now there were a trio of sickly flowers with crying faces. The colors were dulled, and the petals were shivered up and black. "Oh no," Cheerilee whimpered. "She's seeing what we all have from the very first day of class," said Snips. "I told you she wasn't going to be very good," said Snails. "Never thought she'd be in this just to make us feel bad." "That isn't true!" Cheerilee wailed. "I love you all and it has been my privilege to teach you." The class began laughing all around Cheerilee, with only Dinky's sobs mixing in. Their caws echoed throughout Cheerilee's brain, and she collapsed onto her haunches and shoved her hooves over her ears, begging her class to stop. Her begging became so hysterical that she didn't notice that a shade of gray was creeping up in her fur, encasing her completely. Her class was talking around her, but only Dinky's words made it through to her. "Miss Cheerilee... I thought that I could trust you." With that, Cheerilee curled up on the ground and began loudly sobbing, hoping for the nightmare to end. Her hooves still covered her ears, but the laughs and the crying from Dinky still rang throughout her head as she sobbed on the ground. She was still lying there and crying when a rainbow burst shot throughout Ponyville. She wasn't found by Twilight and her friends until many hours later. She was still sobbing on the floor of the completely empty schoolhouse, begging her students to stop laughing at her.
Falling PetalsTwilight stared silently down at Cheerilee. She had begun crying again, and was leaning against the doorframe, her back to Twilight. Twilight put a hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder. "You know they would never say that to you, right? They love you, Cheerilee." Cheerilee sniffled and wiped her eyes with a foreleg. "I know that, but it didn't seem like it at the time." Cheerilee glumly looked over to the schoolhouse. "It's strange. I think that when I was on the floor..." Cheerilee's ear twitched. "You know... I thought that I heard some voice speaking to me, saying that I had failed them and that I wasn't a fit teacher." Twilight scooted closer to Cheerilee and put a hoof over her shoulders. "That's Discord for you, I'm afraid. But you don't have to worry; he's gone now." "I know," Cheerilee muttered. Twilight gave Cheerilee a comforting smile and nuzzled her shoulder. "The foals miss you, you know. Every day that I sub for you they ask if you're better yet. They really want you back." "I know," said Cheerilee quietly. She sighed and stood up. "And I want to be back, I really do. I want things to go back to the way before... that." "It wasn't them saying that to you, Cheerilee," said Twilight. "You're a great teacher; one of the best that I've ever known." Twilight chuckled lightly. "I should have been so lucky to have a mare like you teaching me when I was their age." Cheerilee sighed and shook her head. "I would have been back the day after the incident, I really would have. It's just that..." Cheerilee lightly groaned and shook her head. "I keep looking at them whenever I see them pass by my house, and I'm always scared that if I go back, I'm going to blow up at them for the most minor of offenses. Whatever was pretending to be Dinky said that she thought that she could have trusted me after I got mad." Cheerilee folded her ears against her head and her gaze trailed to the ground. "I don't know if I can trust me." "Cheerilee, you can trust yourself!" Twilight motioned over to the schoolhouse. "If you need more time to recover from what you endured, I understand. You know that Princess Celestia and I set up therapy for the ponies who endured Discord, right?" Cheerilee slowly nodded, prompting a warm smile from Twilight. "You can come to that as often as you like. We're here for you, Cheerilee. Whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask." Cheerilee stared silently at the horizon as Twilight's words registered in her brain. Twilight gave her a comforting nuzzle, and Cheerilee slowly closed her eyes. "I can try," she said quietly. "I think that I can try to go back to teach tomorrow and see if that helps me at all." Twilight widened her smile and gave Cheerilee a squeeze. "If you need me to be with you, I can certainly help you through it." Cheerilee gently leaned in on Twilight's shoulder. "Thank you, Twilight," she whispered. "I... I would love to go back to teaching my students again." Cheerilee sat in silence and let the cool breeze flow through her mane. It almost reminded of her of when she was a filly and her mother would comb her mane after a hard day. It comforted her. It told her that everything would be okay, and the she wouldn't fail her real students. She poked at the grass with her hoof and looked over at her garden. The sight of the weeds that had overtaken some of the flowers caused her stomach to clench, but she could fix it just as she could regain her courage. Cheerilee's gaze flickered over to the schoolhouse. Twilight's kind, encouraging words did make it seem less intimidating. Yes there were no students there, but it seemed like a warm, inviting place again. If she could go back, the students would smile and enjoy learning as they did before the madness. The bell from the clock tower echoed throughout the land. It was seven o'clock. School would be starting for everypony in a mere twelve hours. Cheerilee stood up and faced the schoolhouse. "I have to do it for all of us, Twilight. Helping the foals, well, it's my special talent, after all." A small smile played at Cheerilee's lips for the first time in a long time. "They're a wonderful group of students, and I could not be more honored or privileged to teach them." Twilight stood up and put a hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder. "I think that you know what you have to do, then." Cheerilee glanced back at Twilight. "I have to get ready for class." * * * * The crow of the rooster roused Cheerilee from her slumber, and she immediately shot out of bed with a large grin on her face. After a quick shower and breakfast, Cheerilee put her fresh lesson plans that she had spent all of last night on in her saddlebag. She slung it over her shoulder and trotted out the door. The crisp morning air washed over her. It felt refreshing, and Cheerilee took a deep breath to calm the last traces of her nerves before walking towards the schoolhouse. The schoolfoals were already being dropped off at the school when Cheerilee came near it. A small smile crossed her face, and she reached the schoolhouse. The foals all squealed in delight as she walked up, and Sweetie Belle even came up to wrap her forelegs around her in a crushing hug. "You're back!" She squeed. "We missed you so much, Ms. Cheerilee!" Cheerilee chuckled softly and patted Sweetie Belle's head. "I missed you too. I'm thrilled to be back here." Cheerilee motioned over to the schoolhouse. "Let's get started for the day, shall we?" The foals practically bounced into the schoolhouse and took their seats. Cheerilee stood in front of the classroom and placed her lesson plans folder on her desk. "Do you wanna go to Sugarcube Corner after school, Silver Spoon?" Cheerilee's ear flickered and she turned her head to look at Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara who seemed to just be having a normal pre-class conversation. Yes that's what Diamond Tiara had said the day Discord had taken over, but it surely must have been a coincidence. She took a deep breath and pulled out her math lesson plan. "Just a coincidence, Cheerilee," she muttered. "Keep calm." She forced a smile on her face and began passing out worksheets for her students. "Okay, class. Today we are going to start off by learning long division. It is the opposite of multiplication, so I think that studying how it is different is a good place to start." Cheerilee had almost finished passing them all out when she heard Scootaloo quietly groaning behind her. "Seriously, who cares about stupid division problems?" Cheerilee's ear flicked again, and she began blinking rapidly. The remaining worksheets fell from the hoof she had been balancing them on, and she began taking several deep breaths. Calm down, Cheerilee. Calm down. It's okay. Cheerilee cleared her throat and turned back to Scootaloo. "I don't see it that way, Scootaloo. Every job requires some math." Scootaloo flattened her ears at being caught, but a hint of a frown played at her lips. "Sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. I don't get it, though. I can add and subtract; why do I need to do more than that?" Cheerilee's legs began shaking, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Because... there will be times when multiplying and dividing will be the quicker way to go. I promise you that it's very simple." "Okay," Scootaloo muttered. "Sorry, Ms. Cheerilee." Cheerilee flashed Scootaloo a forced smile and picked the worksheets back up. "It's... it's okay, Scootaloo. When I was your age I didn't like them either." Cheerilee finished handing out the worksheets, and walked back up to the front of the class. "Oh, right." Cheerilee motioned over to her desk. "I forgot to collect homework. Twilight told me that she assigned a worksheet. Uh, Snips, if you could collect them and put them on my desk, I would appreciate that." The students reached into their respective saddlebags and began pulling their worksheets out as Snails came around and collected them. As he did, Cheerilee sat down at her desk and leaned her head against one of her forelegs. The day was starting well enough aside from the small coincidences. Surely that was all they were. It's not like she was still living that nightmare that she had to go through that day when Discord took over the town. She shook her head and glanced up at her class. She frowned when she saw that one of her students didn't turn in her homework: Dinky. Cheerilee bit her lip, but forced herself to stand up and walk over to Dinky. "Dinky, did you do your homework last night?" Dinky averted her gaze and flattened her ears. "I'm sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. I couldn't do it last night." "Was it..." Cheerilee began blinking rapidly and taking shallow breaths. "Was it because your mother was in the hospital because of her eyes?" Dinky raised her head and frowned. "Uh... yeah. How did you know that?" Cheerilee whimpered and began backing away from Dinky. "No," she whispered. "No... i-it isn't..." Dinky raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Mommy's fine, Ms. Cheerilee. I just couldn't do my homework because she was sick and I had to help her." "Oh Celestia, please no!" Cheerilee hit the wall and collapsed onto her haunches. The first traces of tears filled her eyes, and her stomach tied itself into knots. What's worse was the fact that Twilight hadn't shown up, despite the fact that she had promised to help. Cheerilee was all on her own in front of the students. It was Apple Bloom that spoke up first. "Uh, Ms. Cheerilee... are you okay?" Cheerilee chanced a one-eyed glance at the foals and saw that they were all staring at her, unblinking. She whimpered and covered her head in her forelegs. "Don't do that to me," she mewled. "Don't look at me like that!" "Look at you like what, Ms. Cheerilee?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Just... please don't..." Finally Cheerilee began to sob on the floor as the memories of what had happened that day forced themselves into her mind. The foals were muttering something to each other, something that sounded remarkably like condemnation. With a final whimper, Cheerilee pushed herself to her hooves and bolted out the door. She ran past Twilight who was saying something about being late. It didn't matter. It was a mistake to try again, she realized that now. She would only keep getting scared by remembering that day. The foals would likely be so confused that they wouldn't want a scaredy-pony like her as a teacher anyway. She had failed them. All she could do now was run.
Epilogue: SlippingIt was five hours before anybody managed to locate Cheerilee. A search party had been organized about an hour after she had run off. They had split into groups of five, each searching a different section of Ponyville. It was the group led by Twilight that eventually located her in the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. She was leaning against a tree, shivering like it was ten below. The only words that anypony managed to get out of her were 'I failed them.' She repeated them like it was the most important mantra she knew. Twilight carried her back to Ponyville on her back and led her into her cottage. Throughout the entire trip, Cheerilee never lost the blank stare that had been plastered on her face the entire time. When Twilight put her in bed, Cheerilee curled up into a ball and began stroking her tail, still repeating that she had somehow failed her students. Twilight had sent the rest of them off and had promised to keep an eye on Cheerilee for the night. She set up a small mattress not far from the bed and sat on it, her eyes never leaving the shivering form in front of her. She slowly reached a hoof out to Cheerilee and gently stroked her mane. "It's okay, Cheerilee. You're safe." "I failed them. I yelled at them. I made them sad." "You didn't, Cheerilee," Twilight insisted. "They love you." "I failed them. They don't trust me anymore. I'm a terrible teacher." "Cheerilee, that's not true! They adore you!" "I failed them!" "Cheerilee--" "I failed them!" "Chee--" "I FAILED THEM!"
