Lighting of a Fire

by SanityLost

Rating: everyone
Tags: Silver Spoon, Snails, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life, Sad, Cheerilee, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 4672

Cheerilee has retired and wonders if she has made a difference in the world.

After teaching at Ponyville Elementary for many years, Cheerilee has been told that she must retire. As she walks home from the schoolhouse for the last time, she questions whether or not she's made a difference in the world.

A big thanks goes out to Taranasaurus0.0, Criticul, and Fluttrick for thier help prereading and editing this story.

Side Note: No cheesy poem this time!

Published 2012-04-27 01:14:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-27 01:14:02 UTC

Lighting of a Fire

Cheerilee looked to the beaming young faces in her classroom. “Class,” her voice was strained and raspy, “I want you all to know that I’m proud of each and every one of you. You all worked very hard this year. I hope that you all enjoy your summer break. Take care everypony, class dismissed.”

The students cheered and leaped out of their chairs. They waved goodbye to their elementary school teacher before running out of the building, into the warm summer afternoon.

Cheerilee slowly walked behind her desk, her legs tremoring with each step. Her knees popped and sent cutting pains through her hip. She winced.

She had given her normal, upbeat speech to her students about how proud she was of them, just like she did every year. The students then jovially leapt out of their seats, told her goodbye for the last time, and ran outside to enjoy their summer break, like they always did. She always used to feel accomplished at this moment, but all she felt was the biting acid creeping around in her stomach.

Cheerilee shakily grabbed a few items off of her desk and placed them into a white saddlebag. Once she had finished she looked into the red, elliptical mirror on her desk.

The age lines around her mouth showed through her cherise coat. She placed it into the bag as quickly as she could, the teacher didn’t want to see the many gray hairs that populated her once predominantly light and dark pink mane.

Her breath was heavy as she took yellow pencils, quills, different colored plastic rulers, flash cards, and other teaching items. She had to blow dust of some of the items. It was amazing how many things you could pile up in a career.

She had to clear her throat once in awhile, and stop to catch her breath. But after a few minutes, she was able to empty out her desk.

The bags underneath her greenish-gray eyes had never felt heavier. Her head drooped as she pulled the saddlebag onto her back and slowly walked toward the door. All of the seats were empty. The room felt strangely cold, even though it was in the middle of summer. Spiky torrents of emotions clawed through her mind, but she pushed them aside and walked out the door.

The red schoolhouse had chipped paint on its sides, and the equipment on the grounds was bent, scratched, and broken. Over the summer, the city was going to have the schoolhouse painted and the equipment replaced. Everything was getting replaced. Next year, everything was going to be brand new, including the teacher.

She got a letter from town hall two weeks ago, telling her that this would be her last year teaching. Cheerilee could have retired five years ago if she wanted to, but she didn’t. She continued to teach, continuing her quest to fill bright minds with knowledge.

The visage of a lanky student with a brown coat and a squat chubby blue student, both unicorns, flitted across her mind. She was sure some knowledge went in one ear and out the other with some of her students, but she at least hoped that they retained something she taught them.

In the distance, she saw a large mansion that looked like a carousel. Rarity had expanded her business, and was able to enlarge her already grandois home and boutique before handing the business off to her children. To her right, there was a large park teeming with wildlife. Fluttershy was able to get a grant to build a wildlife refuge before she retired. At town hall, there was a statue of Twilight Sparkle, the Archmage of Equestria. Of course no one would ever forget the exploits of Rainbow Dash, and you couldn’t go any confectionary in Equestria without seeing Pinkie and AJ’s Super Duper Awesome Terrific Treats on the shelf.

Cheerilee turned and looked at the empty schoolhouse and ravaged playground equipment before slowly moving on. Her hooves crunched in the dirt as she struggled to walk on shaky legs. Her heart was beating quickly and her breaths came in short gasps. She put on a small smile. She was good at smiling, it made everything look okay.

What was she going to do now that she had to retire? She could take up knitting or gossip with the other ponies at town square. Blah, that’s what all of the old fogies did. She was going to live and enjoy her life. Maybe she could make an extended visit to Canterlot, or perhaps she could go to Trottingham again like she always wanted to. So many options. That would make life fun!

After a few minutes she had made it to Town square. The teacher stopped in front of the statue of Twilight, the unicorn was nobly looking off into the distance. Cheerilee saw the upper tip of the Carousel Boutique Mansion. The teacher looked around town square and felt a sharp sting in her gut. She didn’t see any of the students she had taught over the years. Then again, why would she? Most of them were in other parts of Equestria.

Thoughts of a fun retirement evaporated. Her head hung low as she slowly moved along. Arthritis taking biting vengeance out on her knees with each movement. She didn’t notice the pain though, she was too busy staring at the ground. She was so busy in fact, that she didn’t see the yellow pony standing in front of her.

Cheerilee bumped into the mare, who reached out to catch the teacher before she fell to the ground. “Hi Miss Cheerilee!” The voice was thickly accented in a country drawl.

The cherise pony looked up to see yellow eyes and a bright, smiling face. “Apple Bloom!” The teacher grinned, which hurt her face muscles. She slowly backed up a step and regained her footing.

“Boy am I glad to see you!” Apple Bloom’s bright red hair waved in the warm breeze.

“It’s wonderful to see you too Apple Bloom, goodness it has been a long time. I don’t think I’ve seen you since goodness knows when.”

“It’s been about twenty years, I think.” Apple Bloom’s voice was loud and upbeat.

“Yes it has, I remember how you used to visit me after you graduated from elementary. I really enjoyed those times, I was so sad when you decided to move to Phillydelphia.” Cheerilee smiled.

“I know, and I didn’t wanna to go either, but I got a huge offer from that contracting firm that I just couldn’t turn down.”

“How are things going for you?”

“Oh, they’re going alright. Things have been right busy since I got promoted to Chief Architect and all, but I’m still hanging in there.”

Cheerilee nodded. “I always knew that you would go far.”

Apple Bloom chuckled. “I guess so. I wouldn’t have gotten too far if you hadn’t complimented that ugly, homemade bread box I built for class. If I remember right, I got my cutie mark after that.”

“That bread box was not ugly,” Cheerilee gasped. “I still have it this very day as a matter of fact. It was the best shop project that anypony has ever done in one of my classes.”

Apple Bloom laughed. “You’re too nice Miss Cheerilee, you always were. That’s why you were my favorite teacher. Anyway I gotta get going, I’m gonna spend the rest of the evening with my family. I was going to come by and visit you later though, I’ll be in Ponyville for two weeks. See you!”

Cheerilee feebly waved goodbye to Apple Bloom. When her former student was out of sight, she slowly continued on her way.

Gloomy thoughts were on the edge of her mind when she passed by the Carousel Boutique Mansion. The large edifice was baby blue and bright pink. A carousel was situated on the fourth story. The boutique was easily three times the size it used to be when Cheerilee was younger.

With the many red banners that had a golden “R” embroidered on them, it reminded the teacher of a castle whose monarch was the queen of fashion. Out on the front porch, Cheerilee spied a marshmallow coated unicorn mare sweetly singing to three foals of similar color. The mare’s dark and bright purple mane were tied back in a ponytail. Her bright green eyes sparkled when she saw the elderly teacher walk up. “Miss Cheerilee!” Came the gentle voice of the white mare.

“Sweetie Belle.” Cheerilee said with a smile. “It’s so wonderful to see you dear. How are things going?”

“They couldn’t be going better,” Sweetie beamed.

“Who are these young colts?” The elderly teacher looked down at the bright eyed foals.

“These are my sons, Note, Harmony, and Treble.” Sweetie Replied.

The young foals looked up at the teacher with wonder. They looked just like their mother, just like Rolling Rocket Magazine said they did. “My Goodness, what does that make, five children?”

“Yep, five.”

“That has to be difficult while you are on tour.”

The white unicorn drew herself up, inadvertently drawing attention to her microphone cutie mark on her flank. “Nah, it’s not too bad. After I’m finished with a tour, I make sure to put some time aside for my family. My agents push me to work more, but I tell those money hungry beasts to back off or I’ll find others.”

“Oh my goodness,” Cheerilee gasped. “What do they do when you tell them that?”

“Oh, they back down,” Sweetie chirped. “There are plenty of agents crawling under rocks.”

The mares chuckled while Sweetie’s children trotted off to go play under the mansion’s porch. “Are you still teaching at the school Miss Cheerilee?” Asked Sweetie.

Cheerilee sighed and shook her head, “No, I was recently told I had to retire from teaching because I had been doing it for too long.”

Sweetie gasped, “No way! They can’t make you retire, you’re the best teacher they’ve ever had in Ponyville. At least I thought you were.”

The elder mare felt her former student’s warmth melt the ice around her heart. “Thank you Sweetie, that means so much to me. Wow, I can remember back when you were my student, it seems so long ago.”

“I know,” a faraway look came into Sweetie Belle’s eyes. “But it really wasn’t. Remember that one time I sang at the Canterlot Music Festival?”

Cheerilee nodded, “How could I forget? That was your breakthrough performance. Wasn’t that where Hock Specter signed you to that huge contract?”

Sweetie nodded. “It was. But don’t forget who pointed me out to him.”

“Oh, I just gave him a little nudge.”

“A little nudge?” Sweetie giggled. “If I remember the story right, you half-way kidnapped him and brought him to the festival.”

The teacher gasped, “I didn’t half-way kidnap him. I used my marely charms on him, then told him that he was in for a real treat. It wasn’t my fault he misinterpreted what I said. When he found out that he wasn’t getting what he thought he was, I drug him into the performance. Luckily he liked your voice, that might not have turned out very well if he hadn’t.”

Both mares laughed and relived old times. After several minutes, Sweetie looked back at the boutique where her three sons were wrestling on the porch.

“Well I better get back to my kids. Take care Miss Cheerilee, I’ll drop by and see you soon. I’m in town for the month.”

Sweetie waved goodbye as Miss Cheerilee walked away. After walking for a few more minutes she heard a buzzing noise coming behind her. Turning around, the teacher saw an orange pegasus mare riding a red, metallic scooter, screech to a halt in front of her. The mare pulled off her blue helmet to reveal flowing purple hair.

If miss Cheerilee had been one of her students, she would have squealed delightfully at seeing Scootaloo, the world famous daredevil. The orange mare grinned at her former teacher. “Miss Cheerilee! I never thought I would run into you. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing wonderfully Scootaloo, how are you?”

The orange pegasus’ face exploded into a grin. “Wow, you remember me?”

“It’s kind of hard to forget one of the most daring students I’ve ever had in my class. How did your last jump go?”

Scootaloo hopped off of her scooter and struck a pose. “It was incredibly awesome!” I jumped over fifty carriages lined up side by side, longways, and I didn’t even use my wings when I was in the air.” The pegasus flapped her wings to emphasize her point.

“So what are you doing back in Ponyville?”

“Oh I came to check up on Rainbow Dash. Silly mare broke her wing trying to do the Sonic Rainboom.” Scootaloo shook her head.

Cheerilee looked astounded. “At her age? She’s still trying to do Sonic Rainbooms?” She felt felt a pang of sorrow as her thoughts drifted to her own age.

Scootaloo nodded and laughed, “Yeah, but that’s Rainbow Dash for you. She’s always been hard headed about that kind of thing. The Wonderbolts are pushing her to retire but she won’t have it.”

Cheerilee grinned. “Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have it any other way. That mare won’t stop flying until she’s in the ground. Even then, I bet she’d find a way to get back in the sky.”

“You darn right!” Scootaloo’s voice was filled with the same enthusiasm she always had for her hero.

“When is your next jump?”

“It’s going to be on Hearth’s Warming Eve night in Canterlot. It’s going to be awesome! There’ll be a fifty foot ramp, on each end, and I’ll be jumping over a two hundred and fifty foot wide pit of fire!”

“Oh my goodness, that sounds really dangerous.”

Scootaloo puffed up proudly, “Dangerous is my middle name.”

“Isn’t your husband worried?”

“Meh, my husband is always worried. Besides, this jump is special. It’s commemorating one of the most special ponies in all of Equestria!”

Cheerilee smiled and nodded. “I am sure Rainbow Dash will be thrilled that one of her closest friends is doing a jump in her honor.”

Scootaloo laughed. “No, it’s not for her, it’s for you.”

The elderly mare took a shaky step back, “For me?”

“Yes, for you. You’re part of the reason I got discovered in the first place.”

Cheerilee wrinkled her brow, “How was I part of the reason you got discovered?”

Scootaloo looked down and scuffed a forehoof in the dirt. “Uh, well, please don’t ever tell anypony this, but I was really scared to make that first jump that got me where I am. I didn’t want to jump over that pit of snakes without using my wings, I honestly just wanted to go home, even after Rainbow Dash’s pep talk.”

“Why did you do it then?’’

Scootaloo looked up and tears welled in her eyes. “I remember being terrible at math when I was in elementary. I used to be really scared to take math tests because I thought I would fail. But you always told me, if you want to soar, you have to leap take a leap of faith and believe in yourself. So, that’s what I did.”

Cheerilee chuckled, “I never thought that you would take my advice so literally.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Neither did I to be honest. When I was going up that ramp for my first jump, I pictured Rainbow Dash cheering me on from the stands. But then I thought of how hard you worked to get me to pass school, and that just made me more determined.”

A small smile settled on Cheerilee’s face and her chest became a little tight. “It makes me so happy that you would think about doing something like that in my honor. Thank you so much Scootaloo.”

“Oh I’m not going to just think about it, I’m going to do it. I never back down from a challenge.” Scootaloo looked down at a watch on her forehoof. “Oh, I promised I would visit Rainbow Dash ten minutes ago. I have to run, or rather ride.” the orange mare nodded toward her scooter. “but it was nice bumping into you. Take care!”

Cheerilee watched scootaloo buzz away on her scooter. Her mood was considerably lighter than it had been half an hour ago. She held her head up and looked to the sky where cottony clouds were scattered about. Young pegasi played hide and go seek among them, giggling quietly while the pegasi who was “it” tried to find them.

The retired teacher looked down to see a gray mare with a similarly colored mane. Beside her, was a pink mare with a purple and white mane. “Silver Spoon? Diamond Taira? Goodness, I am running into all of my old students today. How are you doing?”

“We’re doing great!” Both said in unison.

“We’re here in Ponyville on vacation, it’s always nice to come back our old hometown.” Said Silver Spoon.

“It’s wonderful to see how things haven’t changed here. In Manehatten, things are constantly moving, it’s really hard to keep up.” Said Diamond.

“How are things in Manehatten?”

“They are splendid!” Exclaimed Diamond.

“Things couldn’t be any better.” Silver responded in kind.

“How are your businesses doing?”

“We sold them!” Both of them said together.

“Do what?”

“We sold our businesses,” said Silver. “We both did what our Dad’s wanted us to do and became businessmares at first.”

“We both liked it and all,” said Diamond. “But, after about ten years, we felt like something was missing.”

“Oh my goodness,” Cheerilee gasped, “so what have you been doing for the past ten years then?”

“We’ve been traveling the world, helping foals in need.” Said Silver Spoon.

“We established our own charity, The Helping Hooves and Happy Hearts Organization. Since we started, I think we helped close to one hundred thousand foals find homes, get food, go to school, get clothes, all that stuff!”

“That is wonderful! I am so happy you are helping so many ponies. But what made you decide to do philanthropic work?”

“Well, Silver and I were really bummed after one hard day of work. We had enough of running those stupid, high demand, stress inducing businesses, so we wanted a change.” Said Diamond Tiara.

“We remembered how nice you were to everypony,” Said Silver, “and how happy it made all of your students. So, we decided to try to make other ponies happy, too. After a lot of thought, we settled on starting a charity to help foals.”

Cheerilee nodded, and smiled widely. “That honors me so much, thank you, and thank you for what you are doing for the world.”

“You’re welcome Miss Cheerilee,” said Diamond.

“We thought about stopping by your house later to say hello, after we give our speech today at Fluttershy’s cottage about our work.” Said Silver. “Speaking of which, we need to go, we’re late!”

“Right then,” said Diamond. “We’ll stop by and say hi again later Miss Cheerilee. See you around!” The two younger mares walked away, leaving Cheerilee with a large smile on her face.

If her hooves were as light as they were when she was young, she would have been skipping. However, her shaky step was still jovial as she got closer to her house. Before she entered her neighborhood she met another familiar face.

The unicorn stallion that stood before her was tall, possibly taller than Mr. Cake. His amber yellow coat seemed brighter in the sunlight, and drew a sharp contrast to his turquoise mane. He looked at the elderly mare with a vacant stare, although if one were to look closely, a pony could see intelligence in his black eyes. A little intelligence anyway.

“Snails,” Cheerilee gasped in surprise, “I didn’t think I’d see you here, too!”

“Hi Miss Cheerilee, how are you doing?”

“Oh, I am doing wonderfully! How are you doing? What is it like up in Canahoof?”

“Cold, as always,” Snails laughed, “how is life in Ponyville?”

“Oh, small and quiet.” Cheerilee said with a smile. “Are you still working as a train conductor?”

“Oh no, I actually quit my job.” Snails’ voice was slow and methodical like it always had been. “I wanted to move back to Ponyville. I finally got married and have a foal. I want him to grow up where I grew up. Are you still teaching?”

Cheerilee slowly shook her head, “Oh, no. I was told that I had to retire. I guess I’ve been there so long they wanted to remove me before I grew roots and stayed.”

Snails laughed loudly, “Miss Cheerilee, you always told funny jokes. Could I hire you to tutor my son, then?”

“What does he need help with?” Cheerilee asked sweetly.

“Oh, nothing really. He’s a lot smarter than me. I just want him to have the best teacher in the whole world.”

Miss Cheerilee felt her cheeks get warm, “Oh goodness Snails, I don’t think I’m that good.”

“Yes you are. You taught me a lot of stuff.”

“Well, that is what teachers do.” Cheerilee said, her tone was playfully sarcastic.

“Yeah, but you taught me lots more stuff than just in the classroom. I remember back when I was in your class. It’s hard to remember things, but I remember that. The whole class was doing a group art project and me and Snips couldn’t help much. You told us that even though we couldn’t help much, every little bit counts. So, we held the poster while other students painted. I got all dirty, but I felt really awesome.” Snails’ dim and placid smile as he recollected his past made Cheerilee swell with pride.

“I’m so happy that lesson stayed with you.”

“It sure did,” Snails said excitedly, which only sounded a little faster than normal. “That was how I met my wife.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, ever since that day, I did all of the little things I could do to help people. Well ,one day ,I opened a door for this mare and she said it was the most gentlecoltly thing anyone had ever done for her. She said she thought there were no more gentlecolts left in Equestria. I said that I liked being gentle, because I didn’t like being rough. I hung out with other ponies that liked it rough, and they said I didn’t know how to do it right. So, I just decided to just be gentle. She looked at me funny, and then asked if she could get me a drink. We’ve been married for ten years!”

“That is wonderful to hear,” said Miss Cheerilee. “How is Snips doing?”

“Oh he’s doing great, he would be here but his train got held back. Well, I have to get going, take care Miss Cheerilee.”

Cheerilee’s heart was fluttering as she waved goodbye to another former student and continued on toward her house.

There was still a burden beneath the old teacher’s eyes, but it was feather light. The aciding clawing in her stomach was gone, and for the moment, her arthritis couldn’t be felt. Euphoria bounded through Cheerilee. She hadn’t felt that way since since the early part of her career, which was longer ago than she wanted to remember at the moment.

Several more minutes of walking found her at the door of her house. She reached her hoof out for the handle, but she stopped and turned around. The sun’s setting rays danced along the hills of the horizon. Cottony, red and orange clouds slowly moved along a purple sky.

Diamond glimmers danced on the lake, filling Cheerilee’s eyes. Where were they all? Where were the little diamonds that once attended her classes and left for the different parts of Equestria? Did they all shine? Maybe some didn’t shine as brilliantly as others, or maybe some had their own way of shining. But, the teacher’s gut told her that they shined, just like she knew they would.

Cheerilee turned back around and looked at a letter stuck in her door that she had missed before. With a mouth she shakily took it from its resting place, and with some difficulty, she opened it. It read.

Dear Miss Cheerilee,

I wanted to tell you that you left a quill here yesterday at Sugarcube Corner and you should come and get it. It’ll be really hard for you to write without it, and I’m sure you have to write lots of things, like how I have to write lots of letters!

Your friend,

Pinkie Pie

The elderly mare chuckled at her eccentric friend. Pinkie had never changed, even after all these years. She thought about just letting Pinikie have the quill, however she knew that the party mare might take it as an affront if she didn’t come get it right away. With a sigh, she prepared herself and slowly started the trek to Sugarcube Corner.

By the time she made it to the over decorated building that looked like it had a cupcake on top, her legs were screaming in agony. Pains clawed through her hips. Getting old was painful, however Cheerilee’s good humor staved off any physical agonies that might slow her down.

With a shaky hoof she opened the door to Sugarcube corner. The door opened with a creak, and inside it was completely dark. “Hello?” Cheerilee called inside. There was no answer.

She took a step inside and she heard a giggle. Cheerilee took a few steps inside and the door shut behind her. The lights came on, and she found herself surrounded by several ponies. “Surprise!” All of them yelled.

Cheerilee felt her heart jump into her throat. She looked around at the beaming faces and she grinned. To the right was a pink mare, a few years her junior, smiling the same youthful smile she always smiled. “Hi Miss Cheerilee, when I heard you were retiring, I decided to hold a special ‘The Best Teacher in the Whole World is Retiring’ Party. I invited all of your old students to come, and most of them came! Do you like it?” Pinkie’s eye twinkled.

For a moment, the retired teacher just smiled. Cheerilee couldn’t believe it, she saw all of her old students there. She saw Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Dinky Doo, Featherweight, and so, so many more. Some were students that had just graduated, while some were students she hadn’t seen for decades. But it wasn’t just them, it looked like some of them had brought their families with them. The Elements of Harmony were among the crowd as well, including Rainbow Dash, who supported a broken wing. If she didn’t know any better, half of the town was there.

The retired teacher smiled. Her breaths came in heavy gasps as her eyes looked upon the joyous gazes that were fixed on her. The knot in her throat was thick and weights were pressing her lungs together. “I love it Pinkie,” she said in a barely audible whisper, “thank you so much.”

The party mare hopped off to see to her other guests and start the music.

A gentle song began to play. All of the ponies in the room gathered around the former teacher and embraced her in a large group hug. Flowers bloomed in her heart, and in the hearts and minds of many other ponies in Equestria.

The End

Author's Notes: I would like to thank Taranasaurus, Criticul, and Fluttrick for editing and proofreading this piece. I would also like to thank Criticul for his advice, which helped this story, and me, significantly. I would also like to thank many of the teachers I have had over the years, who inspired me to write this story. Bonus points goes to the person who figures out where the title of this story came from. Thank you so much for reading.