In Which Cheerilee Confronts a Fashion Trend
Cheerilee locked the door of the schoolhouse behind her and plodded through the schoolyard. The light from the afternoon sun was still bright enough to elicit a squint from the teacher but low enough in the sky to suggest evening was about to commence.
Her saddlebags weighed her down. The tests and papers in the bags weighed her down. Yet she currently did not let her mind linger on that thought. It had been an odd couple of weeks and she found her mind more cluttered than usual. In fact, she couldn’t find an appropriate adjective to properly describe the past few weeks – ‘odd’ was simply a place holder. She let out a heavy sigh and turned towards town.
Ponyville would be bustling this time of day and yet there was no anticipation in her steps. A few birds sang in the trees but their songs fell on deaf ears. Cheerlee’s mind was currently reserved for rumination; rumination about the attention paid to her. The allure of Cheerilee had recently increased exponentially due to the allure of the costume she had worn at the Applewood Derby a few weeks back. Her discovery of this fact led to a discomfort she’d never felt before. She had vowed to put an end to this absurdity when it was still in its infancy but before she could even start that task her discomfort was compounded by another unnerving discovery. It was a discovery of an action she needed to end immediately.
A few ponies turned their attention to her as she wandered into and through the streets of Ponyville. Some greeted her kindly, but many gave looks of interest or suspicion. Even though she shuddered on the inside she moved on as though nothing had changed. Eventually, she turned a corner to find her destination just down the street: Carousel Boutique. Gathering courage, she continued onward.
She felt a wave of trepidation overtake her as the door to the boutique opened. Diamond Tiara’s mother, followed immediately by Silver Spoon’s mother, exited the store. So desperately Cheerilee wanted to stop and turn away, yet she forged ahead. The middle-aged mares spotted her and their conversation abruptly halted. They altered their direction and avoided further eye contact but not before giving Cheerilee a hefty dose of the stink eye.
Cheerilee sighed and rolled her eyes. That’s fine. I deserve it. Sort of. Not really. Not at all. She remained stoic as she peered at the mares in her periphery. The stoicism gave way to a frown when she noticed the neatly wrapped packages they carried on their backs. Hypocrites.
Without hesitation she entered the shop, the bell above the door announcing her presence. She scanned the scene, thankful she didn’t find any ponies besides herself.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique” came an elegant voice from the back room. “I’m sorry, I’m a tad busy at the moment. I’ll be right with you. However, we are closing in just few minutes, just so you are aware.”
Cheerilee perked up to see if she could see the mare but no such luck. “R-Rarity. It’s Miss Cheerilee. I was just wondering…”
There was a commotion in the back room and a dazzling white blur rushed towards the teacher. “Cheerilee, darling! So lovely to see you!”
“Nice to see you as well,” groaned Cheerilee, as she passively fought against the enthusiastic embrace. Since when were we on a hugging basis?
“My dear, what may I do for you? Never mind that,” she added, quickly waving her hoof. “Darling, you look positively exhausted. Come in, sit down, have some tea.”
“Well, I was only just…”
“And take those bags off,” she said, lifting the saddle bags with her magic. “I insist, dear.” Rarity’s hospitality was notoriously difficult to resist. Cheerilee heard the ‘Open’ sign flip to ‘Closed’. There was no fighting it.
“Of course.” Cheerilee followed Rarity to the table in the kitchen and took a seat. Rarity busied herself with preparing the tea. Cheerilee sat at the table and uneasily shifted her attention from the orderly kitchen to the pristine unicorn.
Rarity pleasantly hummed to herself, almost as if she had forgotten she had a visitor. She carefully gathered all the dishes appropriate for tea. “I am glad to hear that Sweetie Belle is doing as well as she is. Her mind always seems to be somewhere else,” she said, staving off the growing silence.
Cheerilee blinked a few times but then recalled the conference with Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s father. “I wouldn’t worry too much about Sweetie Belle. Now that she has her cutie mark I think she’ll settle down some. I can’t imagine we were so different at that age.” She forced a little levity into her voice.
Rarity turned to the teacher, the tea tray floating next to her. “Yes…I suppose.” She quickly turned her attention back to the tea. Cheerilee shifted in her seat as the tray set on the table, sounding much louder than it should have. Rarity poured the tea and delicately sipped from her cup. Cheerilee followed suit, though with the delicacy of an exhausted school teacher who had a tremendous weight on her chest.
“Speaking of which,” Rarity chimed, “I heard from Applejack that Big Mac was the representative Apple for the parent-teacher conferences.” Her voice betrayed any attempt to refrain from prying.
“Oh. Yes. It was nice to see him again. Y’know, he’s always working, I’m always working. It was nice to talk again.” Try as she may she could not deny the blush.
“Nice,” Rarity repeated. She cocked an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.”
“Rarity…if I may…”
“Shush, darling, I know what you’re going to say. You needn’t worry. Big Mac likes you. Reserved he may be but he will make a move. Eventually.”
“Uh, yes…I hope – I’m sure he will.” She cleared her throat.
“Either that or some other mare will steal him from you.” She took a sip of her tea, purposely oblivious to Cheerilee’s indignation. “Though, I sense there is something else you wish to discuss.”
“Yes…” Cheerilee alternated between sipping her tea and taking deep breaths.
“Out with it, darling,” the unicorn encouraged.
“Well…” she mumbled, setting the tea cup down. “It’s not easy to discuss and I’ve thought a long time of how to do so. I’ve tried to create other options but this is the only route.”
“This doesn’t sound pleasant.”
“It’s about the outfits you’ve been making the last week or so. Those outfits.”
“Oh?”
“I’d…I’d appreciate it if you’d stop making them. Really appreciate it.”
“What?! But, darling, they are so popular right now. I just sold two more before you came in.”
“Yes, I saw. But the idea that mares are…using it for…you know. And that it’s associated with me. I’m not comfortable with it.”
“Pshaw, darling. You should be flattered. I was even thinking of naming it after you. What do you think of ‘Cheerilee’s Passion’? Or how about ‘Cheerileeder’? Or maybe just ‘Hot for Teacher’? Simply divine, don’t you think?”
Cheerilee fought back the horror spreading across her face. “Please don’t.”
“Why not? You are exceptionally marketable right now. Surely you’ve noticed all the ponies in town talking about you?”
“Yes, and I’m not particularly fond of it.” Her voice was defiant.
“Oh,” Rarity said, shrinking a little. “But…”
“Rarity, while I admit that a small part of me appreciated the attention – to a very limited degree – I’d much rather be the object of one stallion’s affection, not a whole herd’s.”
“Why not? Any mare would love to have every stallion around wanting her, wishing they could be alone with her. Think of the power you have! Truly divine! All you had to do was don a cheerleader outfit and every stallion is on your tail. And after it.”
Gritting her teeth, Cheerilee forced her voice to remain level. “I’m not in the habit of enticing stallions.”
“Habit or not, you seem to have a knack for it.”
“I’d prefer to not have it.” She took a couple of deep breaths through her nostrils. “If you could simply cease making those outfits, I’d appreciate it. Greatly.”
“And lose my best-selling item?! Hardly. As I said, you are in right now and those outfits are some of the best work I’ve done all year. Each one is custom tailored to the mare’s liking. Or the stallion’s.” She snickered. “There are so many possibilities from one basic form. It’s marvelously divine!”
“I suppose that depends on who you ask,” Cheerilee grumbled. “I’d just like some consideration for my privacy and dignity. And some respect. That’s all.” The patience in her voice wavered under the weight of incredulity.
“But I do respect you, sweetie,” Rarity flirted, her attention focused on her tea cup. “But you have to understand that my business has exceeded all my expectations this month thanks to you. You can’t possible expect me to forfeit all those bits? It’s quite lovely to have all those bits. I’m sure you know what that’s like.”
Cheerilee sourly glanced down at her saddlebags - which Rarity had placed on the floor next to the table - before turning her attention back to the unicorn. The teacher’s glare could have beaten a yak into submission and Rarity was fortunate she continued to avoid it. “No, I don’t.”
Silence crashed over the scene. It was the kind of silence that could have woken a deaf pony from slumber. Cheerilee continued her intense glare. Should things take a turn for the worse the glare could have been used as evidence of malice aforethought. Rarity finally turned her attention to the teacher.
“Oh, is something the matter, darling?”
“I’m not sure you quite understand my predicament.” Her voice strained to remain calm. “Mares are dressing up like me because the stallions in this town have an unsettling fixation on that outfit. It’s caused me nothing but stress and my reputation is severely in danger, which means so is my job. I need this to end. Now.”
“All in good time, sweetie. You’re trending right now. Sure, it’s just Ponyville now, but I expect to broaden my horizons. Canterlot and Manehatten will love this outfit. It’s simply divine. Sometimes you just have to follow the leader. Or the cheerleader, hmm? Just like those stallions.” Rarity giggled at her joke, which sent Cheerilee over the edge.
“That outfit was not meant for that!” she cried, letting the anger out. “It was simply for fun! It was for the children! I wanted them to have fun. I wanted to add to the festivities, not seduce every stallion in Ponyville!”
“But...”
“Rarity, I’m not you!” She took Rarity’s stunned silence as a cue to continue. “I never was. I don’t want to be leered at, to be ogled. It’s humiliating, it’s disgusting! Every stallion wants me and every mare either hates me for it or tries to imitate me for something I’m not. That’s not what I wanted, Rarity. That’s not who I am! I’m not just some object made for viewing pleasure!” She took a few hard breaths to sooth herself a bit. “I’m just a teacher, okay? And I just want to do my job and for ponies to like me. Nothing more.”
“I…I…I don’t know what to say,” Rarity muttered, clearly shaken. Her tea cup clinked against the saucer as even her magic appeared to be shaken.
The two mares stared at each other. Cheerilee dared to maintain her icy glare while Rarity slowly developed one of her own.
“You were correct,” Rarity said shortly. “This is certainly a difficult topic to discuss.” Her voice smoldered, waiting to ignite.
Cheerilee softened her expression. “We’ve rarely seen eye to eye but I implore you to see things my way just this once.”
Rarity couldn’t hold back her scoff. “Implore all you want but I feel as though I’m being accused of something. Am I culpable of intentionally slighting you? What have I done to receive such scorn?”
“No, Rarity, it’s not that,” Cheerilee sighed, daring herself to keep an even tone.
“I should hope not! I can assure you, darling, I am unaccustomed to being the recipient of insults in my own home. I will not stand for such a breach of decorum!”
“Rarity, I’m not insulting you,” Cheerilee spoke in her teacher’s voice.
“Are you sure? I feel insulted.”
“Aargh!” Cheerilee let loose once more. “That’s just it! You always miss the point! I can never talk to you because you never focus on the real issue! You’ve always been like that. You always make it about you!”
“Is this not about me?!”
“No! It’s about what you did to me!”
“I’ve done no-“
“Yes, you have! You never get it! You always do that! You always find some way to make it about you. Rarity, I am a nervous wreck over here because of something you’ve done and yet you’ve managed to make me the antagonist! This isn’t about you. My reputation is in shambles because of you! I have stallions leering at me and mares who’d, I’m sure, love to run me out of town! I am not the kind of mare that your costumes make me out to be and you need to do something about it!”
Rarity once more found herself in stunned silence. Cheerilee seethed through gritted teeth before realizing where she was. In her anger she had stood on her seat, front hooves on the table and leaning maliciously towards her host. Quickly, she lowered herself back into her seat, terrified of what she’d done. She made to apologize but held back.
“I…I’ve never seen this side of you,” Rarity cautiously offered.
“I’ve never had to show it.” Cheerilee looked away and her ears drooped.
“So this is how you really feel? You feel…threatened by my work?”
“That’s one way to put it, yes. I just wanted some consideration for my feelings and how it would affect me. Rarity, you carry influence with your work. You know how easily ponies around here are influenced by anything. I’m just asking for a little more care on your part.”
Rarity inspected her tea. She idly stirred what was left in the cup with a spoon. She looked like she was having a difficult time processing the last few minutes. She looked away and her cheeks reddened. She looked as though she was about to cry.
“If it helps, I’ll concede to some of the fault,” Cheerilee quickly stated. “I was the one who wore the stupid outfit to begin with.”
“Yes,” whispered Rarity. Composing herself she turned back to the teacher. “No, I won’t let you take the blame for this. This is my fault.” She sniffled as quietly and elegantly as she could. “I suppose you are right. When I find inspiration I tend to run with it, no matter where it leads. But I see I have taken things too far. And here I had plans to start an entire line of cheerleader-inspired clothing.” She sighed. “Production of the cheerleader outfits will cease immediately,” she announced proudly, sitting up straight. Then she quickly lowered herself, wearing a defeated look. “Well, perhaps it’s for the best. I am sorry, darling. I never meant for any of this to hurt you.”
“I know, Rarity. Thank you for understanding. And I’m sorry that this had to happen. I know you work hard and…well, I’m sorry.”
Another silence fell over the ponies but this one lacked some of the tension of the previous silences. Still, it wasn’t entirely comfortable.
“Maybe, after a while, when this has all settled down you can try again,” Cheerilee offered. “Without any connection to me.”
“Yes. I suppose.” There wasn’t any emotion in her tone and Rarity looked out the window.
There was no fighting it: the conversation had run its course and all that was left was uncomfortable glances, sips of tea, and clearing of throats. Cheerilee knew there was probably more to say on the subject but that would be for a less tense time. She realized she had long overstayed her welcome and made to excuse herself.
“It’s a shame when these differences come between friends,” Rarity said, noticing the teacher’s movement.
“Rarity.” Cheerilee settled back into her seat. Her voice was soft but carried the unmistakable air of intent. “We’ve never really been friends.”
Rarity sat shocked. “But…”
“Classmates? Yes. Acquaintances? Yes. But nothing more. You never gave me a reason to be your friend. And I’ve never made any effort to be yours. I’m sorry to be so blunt about it but this may as well be the best time for it.”
“I…uh, I never knew...that…um.”
“I just assumed it was implied. We’ve never been close in any way.”
Rarity sipped at her tea until there was no more in the cup. She quickly refilled it and sipped some more. “I admit I’m at a loss for words. It’s been quite a…revelatory afternoon.”
The two mares took turns sipping their tea. The clock on the wall ticked away, each second cringing at the two mares. The light outside grew dimmer and anything in the kitchen was suddenly more interesting than the mare across the table.
“You have a point,” Rarity spoke at last. “I do believe this is the longest I’ve talked with you.”
Momentarily perplexed, Cheerilee quickly gained traction. “I think your right. I always had my books and teaching but you were always interested in fashion.”
“Do I sense a rebuke?”
After a moment: “A regret.”
“Nothing a little tea won’t fix?” Rarity optimistically poured some more tea for the teacher.
Cheerilee slowly picked up the cup. “It’s gone cold.”
“I’ll prepare a fresh pot.” The unicorn hopped up and busied herself with preparations.
An inkling of a smile popped on the teacher’s face. “If you insist.”
