Cheerilee, Y'alright?
Oh Celestia, what will it be today? Sweetie Belle wondered as she gazed up at the closed door to the Ponyville schoolhouse. Once again, it was time for school, which ordinarily wouldn't bother Sweetie an undue amount. However, as of late Cheerilee had been acting... well, more than strange. In the past few days she had interrupted herself to laugh at nothing more than once, had flung a chair out a window for no reason whatsoever, and seemed to always be drawing odd symbols on the board rather than math problems. Her voice would suddenly become distorted and unsettling, and when this happened the room always seemed to become slightly darker, as if a cloud has passed over Celestia's sun.
These changes disturbed and frightened Sweetie, who had up until now deeply enjoyed Cheerilee's lessons and had more often than not looked forward to school (although the fact that the other Crusaders were always there may have contributed to this). More unsettling than Cheerilee's unusual behavior, however, was the fact that no one else in her class seemed to care. At first, many of the fillies and colts had gathered during recess to discuss their teacher's quirky actions. After about a week, though, the only ones Sweetie could get to listen to her were Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Anyone else would immediately stop talking to her if anything was mentioned pertaining to Cheerilee. Yesterday, Apple Bloom also refused to discuss the teacher with Sweetie, and Scootaloo displayed only a vague awareness of what they were talking about, seeming as if she were day dreaming.
What really scared Sweetie Belle was that she suspected that whatever was wrong with her teacher was, somehow, spreading. In class yesterday, two students had suddenly giggled just like Cheerilee had, and another had started slamming his head onto every desk in the classroom, muttering about candles. He had only stopped when Sweetie Belle had grabbed him and stopped him from doing it. No else seemed to react, besides Scootaloo rubbing her teeth on a ruler.
Am I the only one who sees this? Sweetie despaired. Rarity had laughed and shooed her away when she had tried to tell her big sister what was happening, simply saying that Sweetie was just desperate for school to end for the summer. Sweetie had considered going to Twilight with her concerns, but was afraid she'd just get dismissed again for her troubles. With no one to confide in, Sweetie felt alone and isolated.
It made her dread Cheerilee's 'lessons' all the more.
Sweetie snapped back to the present as the door to the schoolhouse slowly opened on squealing hinges. Sweetie winced and covered her nose at the odd aroma that wafted out. Cheerilee's head, mane askew and tangled, poked out from behind the door. "Come in, children!" she sang in a high-pitched voice, drawing out the i's. Sweetie cautiously entered, keeping Cheerilee in sight whenever she could as she found her seat. All of the blinds were fully drawn on all the windows, casting the whole room in a amber glow from the sun outside. The room was very humid and warm, uncomfortably so. When all the children had seated themselves, Cheerilee gently closed the door with a click, then turned to face the class. For the first time, Sweetie got a good look at her face.
Despite the heat, Sweetie's insides began to turn to ice.
Cheerilee's face had become grotesque. A large blister had formed over her right eye, and her mane was falling out in clumps on the back of her neck. A tooth was missing from the gleaming smile the teacher flashed the class, doing nothing to reassure Sweetie. Multiple cuts adorned Cheerilee's muzzle, some of them looking quite fresh. Small burns decorated the earth pony's chest, looking as if hot wax had been dripped on them. Only Sweetie seemed to notice these omens, as no one else reacted in the slightest. Worst of all, however, were Cheerilee's eyes. They practically brimmed with mania. Any traces of the kind, caring, considerate nature that had made her such a successful mentor were utterly gone. Instead, there was a horrible madness, a simple insanity that chilled Sweetie to the bone.
For the first time truly fearing for her well-being, Sweetie decided that it was time to get her and her friends out as fast as she could. She turned to Applebloom and Scootaloo, panic on her face. When she saw the same look in their eyes as in Cheerilee's, she despaired, then rallied, grabbing them both and dragging them towards the door.
Instantly, Cheerilee descended on them. "Where are you going, girls?" she whispered. "Recess isn't for another thousand years!" Ignoring her, Sweetie tried to push around her former teacher, her friends dead weight in her arms as adrenaline fueled her. Cheerilee was everywhere at once, it seemed, slowly pushing Sweetie and her apparently comatose friends back towards the other students - who, Sweetie had noticed out of the corner of her eye with horror, had begun to get out of their seats and shamble towards the CMC. Desperate, Sweetie drew upon her magic to launch her and her friends over the crazed teacher. She thanked Celestia she had decided to attend Twilight's magic lessons. As the trio landed, their path to the doorway momentarily clear, Cheerilee screamed with ear-splitting volume, her tone mocking.
"No! You cannot escape the darkness!"
A loud, wet pop sounded behind Sweetie, and against her better judgement she turned to look. She nearly vomited at what she saw. Cheerilee's eyes had ruptured, and protruding from her eye sockets were scores of dripping tendrils, colored black as midnight. They exuded a kind of terror, as Sweetie Belle found herself unable to move, rooted to the spot by sheer fear and revulsion. The other students were all giggling, walking towards her unsteadily. Cheerilee advanced, blood, pus and the unspeakable darkness coating the mass of tendrils staining her cranberry coat. The tentacles, or whatever they were, seemed to hiss as they drew closer, the darkness starting to spread across the floor.
The spell broke. Sweetie suddenly found herself sprinting in a dead run for the door, the way out of this abyssal place. She knew that if she could just get outside, if she could just get help, she could escape. The warm sunlight outside would keep her safe. She was so close. The door handle teased her, glinting in the bloody hues of the light filtering through the window shades.
This all passed in a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours to Sweetie's mind. As she skidded to a stop in front of the door, she let her magic pulse through her, reaching out for the handle. So close.
Then the sides of Scootaloo's and Applebloom's bodies exploded, swarms of tendrils pouring forth from the gaping wounds along with blood. The horrible appendages latched onto Sweetie, their cold, clammy touch totally shattering her concentration. Her magic, which had been moments from winning her freedom, failed and faded. The bodies of her two closest friends dragged Sweetie back towards the waiting Cheerilee and her students, paying no heed to Sweetie's trembling or tearful pleas to let her go. The utterly terrified filly was dumped at Cheerilee's hooves like garbage.
It was all Sweetie could do to control her body and try to stop shaking as Cheerilee grinned, exposing a mouth brimming with darkness. "Now, Sweetie, I told you it wasn't time for recess. But you didn't listen to me!" The earth pony's voice was like a frozen blade thrust into Sweetie's gut. Cheerilee smiled even wider.
"Now, class, show precious Sweetie Belle here what happens when you disobey a teacher."
One by one, each student's body burst and sprouted teeth, extra legs, horns, stingers, and other horrifying things that Sweetie couldn't even recognize. Her body shook violently with unadulterated terror as she tried and failed to get her hooves under her. What was left of Cheerilee's body rose into the air, hanging lifelessly from the tendrils as her tattered mouth spoke the word, "Detention."
The darkness surged forth. Sweetie choked out a scream of pure fear.
And then she was gone.
Sweetie jolted upright in her bed, breathing heavily, sweat and tears intermingled on her cheeks. She had just had the most horrible dream... but what had it been? As the events of her dream faded from her memory, banished by her awakening, Sweetie felt a sudden need to remember them. Try as she might, however, all she managed to snatch from the jaws of wakefulness was that her dream had taken place in... the schoolhouse? Sweetie wasn't sure of it, but despite her efforts, nothing more came to her.
Oh, and something about... Cheerilee?
Sweetie sighed and shrugged. Oh well. If it was such a horrible nightmare, then perhaps it was best that she could not remember it. Sweetie saw no need to unnecessarily burden herself with unpleasant memories. She stretched languidly, working out the... kinks in her muscles? How had those gotten there? Unless Sweetie's memory failed her, the night before had been a calm one, with no roughhousing or playfulness from Rarity. Her older sister had been far too tired from working overtime on a new batch of dresses to devote much energy to playing with Sweetie.
Guess that's just one more question that I won't have an answer for, Sweetie thought, uncharacteristically melancholy. Feeling sufficiently limber, the young unicorn crawled out of bed, nearly slamming her head into the floor of her room when her legs were slow to respond to her commands.
Grumbling, Sweetie got to her feet; with some difficulty, she noted. Obviously, something was wrong with her. Perhaps she had caught a bug or something at school from one of the other students. But no, this didn't feel like any illness Sweetie had ever experienced before. She felt sluggish, slow.
Heavy.
With the first flashes of fear, Sweetie forced her increasingly unresponsive limbs to support her. Sweetie realized she needed to go straight to Rarity, and ask her to help. As she waddled toward her room's exit, however, Sweetie's reflection in the large mirror in her room caught her eye. She turned to face it, and her jaw dropped at what she saw.
She was... bloated. Seemingly, inflated. And as she saw, and felt something slithering beneath her skin, she realized the truth. She was... infected.
The events of Sweetie's "dream" came back to her in a rush at the sight of her body bulging and twisting to make way for the creature. She remembered it all. Cheerilee, her friends, the other students. She turned to run, to get Rarity, Twilight, Celestia, or even Discord, anyone. Or, at least, that's what her brain told her legs to do. They didn't respond.
Sweetie was suddenly aware that she was no longer in control of her muscles.
She tried to scream, but it wouldn't let her.
