Chapters It was a beautiful Friday morning and the students in Ponyville Elementary were ready for the weekend to come. Lots of fun was to happen soon, as the last day of school was next week. Nevertheless, the students walked inside, ready for class to begin.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Last year, they had earned their cutie marks after helping Diamond Tiara reform. They smiled as they took their seats. Within a few minutes, Cheerilee, their teacher, entered into the classroom.
“Good morning, class,” she said.
“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” the class answered.
“Take out your Math textbooks and turned to page eight,” Cheerilee said. “We will be working on fractions.”
The students did as they were told and the class commenced. As Cheerilee was teaching class, Apple Bloom turned to her friends.
“Are you girls available for the weekend?” she asked them in a whisper.
“Yes,” Sweetie Belle whispered.
“Yes,” Scootaloo whispered.
“Cool, because we should help some more ponies out with their cutie mark problems,” Apple Bloom whispered to them.
“We should talk about this during recess,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “Cheerilee’s teaching us right now.”
“Got it,” Apple Bloom whispered.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders turned their heads back to Cheerilee, who was continuing to teach. Within about ten minutes, she made an announcement.
“Okay, class,” she said. “We will now be taking a math quiz. It will last for fifteen minutes. Be sure to do your best.”
Cheerilee passed out the quizzes using her mouth and then walked back to her desk.
“The quiz starts now,” she said, as she set a timer.
* * * *
After the quiz, Cheerilee walked into the closet and pulled out a projector.
“Okay, class,” she said. “We’re going to watch a movie about how the Friendship School began. Then we’ll have a quiz involving the film that we watched.”
Cheerilee plugged in the projector and pressed a button to turn it on, but nothing happened. She pressed the button a few more times, but the projector wouldn’t work. All of a sudden, the bell rang.
“Uh, class,” Cheerilee said. “Go to recess. I’ll fix this while you’re outside.”
The class did as they were told. Cheerilee looked at the wires to see why it wasn’t working.
“Hm, it looks like the wires are all mixed up,” she said to herself.
Cheerilee untangled the wires.
“Okay, I think I fixed it,” she said to herself. “Now to plug it in.”
Cheerilee plugged in the projector. All of a sudden, the projector flashed and Cheerilee felt a big zap hit her. Her whole body convulsed to the ground as she was being electrocuted. Within a few seconds, the electricity stopped zapping Cheerilee and she lay still on the floor with her eyes wide open, as if she was shocked to see something disturbing coming towards her.
* * * *
Back outside, Apple Bloom heard the buzzing sound. She rushed inside.
“Miss Cheerilee, is everything alright?” she asked worriedly. “I heard some zappin’ sound!”
Apple Bloom found Cheerilee lying on the ground motionless.
“Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom called out. “Equestria to Miss Cheerilee? Are you there?”
Apple Bloom waved her hoof toward Cheerilee’s face, but got no response. She then moved her hoof to try to get a response, but still got none. She began to get worried.
“Come on, Miss Cheerilee,” she said. “Please get up. This isn’t funny!”
Apple Bloom put her face toward Cheerilee’s mouth, but found that she wasn’t breathing. She then put her hoof on Cheerilee’s neck to find a pulse, but found none.
“Oh, Celestia,” Apple Bloom said in horror. “Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Come in here! This is a serious emergency!”
Her friends immediately ran inside.
“What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Where’s the fire?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s our teacher,” Apple Bloom answered. “She’s…dead!”
At that point, she began crying.
“Dead?” Sweetie Belle answered. “But how?”
“I think she was electrocuted,” Apple Bloom responded.
“What are we going to do?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“We got to call the police!” Scootaloo answered.
“No!” Apple Bloom said frantically. “They might think that we did it!”
“But we didn’t!” Scootaloo responded.
“But we found her body first,” Apple Bloom said in horror.
“So, what are we going to do?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We can’t just leave her here.”
“Nopony can know that she died,” Apple Bloom answered. “We’ll have to teach her class. Besides, we only have one week of school left until summer break.”
“But how are we going to convince others that she’s still alive?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Simple, we need to use her as a puppet,” Apple Bloom answered. “We need strings that can be turned invisible and a voice enhancer placed in her mouth. Sweetie Belle, can you use your horn to produce all of what Ah had just said?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Rarity gave me some magic lessons and I’ve mastered all of the basics. I even learned a few spells of my own.”
“Good,” Apple Bloom said. “Class resumes in about ten minutes. We need to make sure that everything’s prepared." She turned to the projector and saw that it was on. "Fortunately, the projector seems to be working again. I guess Miss Cheerilee did manage to fix the projector before dying. Then there’s the quiz that she mentioned about. We need to find the copies and the answer sheet to grade them afterwards.”
“Got them,” Sweetie Belle said, as she raised her hoof up with the quiz papers and answer sheet set face down.”
“Good,” Apple Bloom said. “Don’t look at it yet. What about the first quiz?”
“The first quiz papers were already graded,” Sweetie Belle said, as she pulled the papers out. “I actually did pretty darn well. I scored a 90.”
“Cool,” Scootaloo said.
“I’ll make the strings and voice enhancer,” Sweetie Belle continued, as she used her horn to create them using some small pieces of string to lengthen them and a pencil to change into a voice enhancer. Within about thirty seconds, both were finished. “Okay, all done.”
“Good job, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said. “Now, let’s put the strings onto Miss Cheerilee’s hooves and neck and the voice enhancer in her mouth.”
Sweetie Belle did as she was told and then turned the strings invisible using the magic coming from her horn.
“One more thing,” Apple Bloom continued, as she opened Miss Cheerilee’s desk drawer, pulled out a pair of sunglasses, and put them on their teacher.
“Are you sure that’s going to convince the class?” Scootaloo asked.
“Trust me,” Apple Bloom. “On some days, Miss Cheerilee actually wore sunglasses in the classroom. Besides, there’s only six days left in the school year.”
Scootaloo sighed.
“Okay, if you say so,” she said.
“Now then, let’s put our teacher’s body on her seat,” Apple Bloom said.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders used all of their strength to drag the body to her desk chair and then had her sit straight to make it look like she was still alive.
“Alright, that settles it,” Apple Bloom said.
After the Cutie Mark Crusaders sighed in relief, the school bell rang and the students returned to their seats.
Well, here goes nothing, Apple Bloom thought, as she took her seat.
As class resumed, Sweetie Belle ignited her horn to use the invisible strings to move Cheerilee’s body around to teach. She also quietly used her voice enhancer by barely opening her mouth and covering it with one of her front hooves to keep the other classmates from seeing her talk.
“Okay class,” she said in a tiny microphone, as she used the strings to make Cheerilee’s body get up from her seat and walk to the chalkboard. When Sweetie Belle spoke, Cheerilee’s mouth opened with the voice enhancer implanted under her tongue with her voice sounding exactly like Cheerilee’s voice. “It’s time to watch the movie. It’s a documentary known as, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of the Crystal Empire . Apple Bloom, can you turn on the projector, pull down the screen, and turn off the lights?”
“Will do,” Apple Bloom said, trying her best to act normal on the situation. She pulled the string on the screen to reveal it to the class, pressed the on/off button and turned on the projector, and then turned off the lights. “Okay, all set.”
As Apple Bloom took her seat, the movie played out. During the film, as the students took notes on the film, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sweating. They were worried that their secret would be revealed after the movie. Nevertheless, they took notes on what they were learning about the movie and within thirty minutes, the movie was finished.
“Okay, class,” Sweetie Belle said through the microphone. “Time for the quiz. Scootaloo, can you turn the lights back on?”
“Okay, Miss Cheerilee,” she answered.
Once the lights were back on, Sweetie Belle used her magic to move Cheerilee’s body around, having her get up, pick the quizzes up using her front hoof, and pass out the quizzes to each student. She was then controlled to go back to her seat.
“You all have thirty minutes,” the body said. “Starting now.”
* * * *
When the quiz was over, Sweetie Belle used the body to take the quizzes back.
“Uh, Miss Cheerilee,” Pipsqueak said, as he rose his hoof to the air. “Why are you wearing sunglasses inside?”
Sweetie Belle began to sweat upon hearing the question.
“I just needed to rest my eyes,” she made the body say. “I’m very tired today.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that,” Pipsqueak responded.
All of a sudden, the bell rang and lunch began. As the students ran outside, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stayed inside. All three of them were sweating heavily.
“That was a close one,” Scootaloo said.
“I don’t know how much longer we can keep the sunglasses on our teacher,” Apple Bloom said. “Ponies will start to get suspicious if she keeps on wearing them eventually.” She thought for a moment and then turned to Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, can you make her eyes open and close using the magic coming from your horn?”
“Sure,” she answered.
Using her horn, she used her magic to move the body’s eyes. After a few tries, she was able to make the body blink.
“I think I got it,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Good,” Apple Bloom said. “How about we go eat our lunches and we’ll come back inside five minutes before class resumes. That way, we won’t look suspicious toward our classmates.”
“Good idea,” Sweetie Belle said.
The three fillies walked outside to eat their lunches.
* * * *
Scootaloo looked at her watch and saw that it was 12:40 PM. Class would resume in five minutes.
“Uh, girls,” she said, as she finished her sandwich. “I think it’s time to go back inside.”
“Is it time already?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“It sure is,” Scootaloo answered. “Class resumes in five minutes.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders walked back in the classroom and were relieved to see that nopony was inside yet, with the exception of Cheerilee’s body.
“Phew,” Apple Bloom said in relief. “Let’s get started.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders proceeded to get the body to move. Apple Bloom looked at Cheerilee’s list of lectures to determine what she needed to teach the class; Sweetie Belle charged her horn to make Cheerilee look like she was still alive; and Scootaloo graded the quizzes. Once they set the classroom up, the bell rang. The Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately took their seats upon hearing the bell ring, as the rest of the students walked back inside. Sweetie Belle opened her desk up slightly in order to not look too suspicious once she starts speaking through the microphone inside her desk, as it was connected inside Cheerilee’s mouth. Once the students were all seated, Sweetie Belle spoke through the microphone.
“Okay, class,” the body said. “I will now pass back the quizzes you took involving the movie we saw today. Most of you have done well.”
Sweetie Belle used her horn to make it look like Cheerilee was walking up to her class and used more of her magic to pass the quizzes back to each of the students. Many students showed various reactions—some looked amazed, while others looked upset.
“Okay class,” Sweetie Belle made the body say. “It’s time for grammar class. Now, take your grammar textbooks out and turn to page 70. We will be working on punctuations.”
The class proceeded. Sweetie Belle had pushed her best efforts to make Cheerilee’s body speak and move. Before long, the class moved on to spelling. Eventually, the clock struck three o’clock and the school bell rang.
“Well, that’s all for today,” Cheerilee’s body said. “Have a great weekend.”
The class left, happy to enjoy the weekend. Once all of the other students were out, Sweetie Belle discharged her horn and the body fell to the floor.
“Phew, that was close,” she said, as she rubbed her forehead, which was sweating at that point.
“At least the weekend is here,” Apple Bloom said.
“Come on girls, let’s go,” Scootaloo said, who was preparing to walk out the door.
“Wait a minute,” Apple Bloom responded. “We can’t just leave our teacher here. The janitor will show up in about an hour and will find the body.”
“What should we do with her?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“We bring her back to her house,” Apple Bloom answered.
“But we don’t even know where she lives,” Scootaloo said.
“Actually, Ah do,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah went there one time when Ah forgot to give her an apple on the first day of this school year. Just follow me. Ah’ll lead the way.”
“Hold on,” Sweetie Belle said. “What about bringing the body there? Won’t other ponies notice something wrong?”
Apple Bloom pulled Cheerilee’s sunglasses out of her desk.
“We’ll just have to make her wear these glasses,” Apple Bloom told Sweetie Belle.
“I don’t know about this,” Sweetie Belle said. “I mean, this just doesn’t seem right. It’s our teacher and she’s dead. We should just tell the police. It’s the right thing to do.”
“But we’ll go to jail,” Scootaloo said.
“If we do, it will only be a short time,” Sweetie Belle said. “The morticians will perform an autopsy on her and they’ll figure out that she died of electricution. It will all be fine for us. Besides, she’s our teacher.” She shed a tear. “She was the best.”
“Look,” Apple Bloom said. “It will only be for a short time. Then we’ll get the police involved. Trust me on this.”
“Fine,” Sweetie Belle sighed in defeat.
The three fillies picked up Cheerilee’s body and began dragging her outside using strings. As they walked across town, several ponies waved at Cheerilee.
“Hey, Miss Cheerilee,” Bon Bon said. “How’s everything going?”
“Everything’s great,” Sweetie Belle said, while using the microphone in Cheerilee’s body to make it sound like her own voice.
As they were approaching to Cheerilee’s house, a blue pegasus stallion with a green mane and tail and two purple feathers and a yellow star as a cutie mark was waiting right by the front door.
“Uh-oh,” Apple Bloom whispered in shock. “I have a feeling that this is going to be a rather long day.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at the stallion, who was smiling at Cheerilee.
“I have a date with you tonight, Cheerilee,” he said.
“Who are you?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I’m Open Skies,” he told her. “I work in the Weather Factory. Cheerilee and I are supposed to meet for dinner at her house tonight and the two of us are going out to the Ponyville Café.”
Apple Bloom moved Cheerilee’s body around, while Sweetie Belle used her horn to move her eyelids and mouth and, at the same time, speak through her mouth.
“I remembered that, Open Skies,” Sweetie Belle spoke through the body.
“Then what are those fillies doing with you?” Open Skies asked.
“Oh, I just to needed to get…Scootaloo home. She’s…a bit under the weather.” Scootaloo looked at the other two fillies confused upon hearing Sweetie Belle say that. “I just wanted to remind you that will take about fifteen minutes. Then I’ll be ready.”
“I understand. Take your time. We can meet at the Ponyville Café.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
With the conversation complete, the Cutie Mark Crusaders dragged the body to Scootaloo’s house.
“I can’t believe I have to stay out of this,” Scootaloo said angrily.
“Ah’m sorry, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah didn’t know what to say. Ah was just trying to stall Open Skies. It was all just unexpected.”
“We can’t argue now,” Sweetie Belle said. “We have to keep our word and take you home, Scootaloo. If he sees you, he’ll know that we were lying.”
Scootaloo looked at the ground in disappointment.
“Oh, okay,” she muttered.
Once Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle dropped Scootaloo of at her house, the two of them walked to the Ponyville Café while dragging Cheerilee’s body throughout the trip. Once they arrived, Sweetie Belle got concerned.
“How will we be able to convince Open Skies that Miss Cheerilee is still alive?” Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom.
“We just need to what we did at school,” Apple Bloom answered. “Only this time, we can’t be seen. We’ll have to find a place to hide in the restaurant and control Miss Cheerilee from there.”
“Where are we going to do that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Apple Bloom looked around and saw some plants in pots inside the Ponyville Café.
“We can hide behind the plant pots,” she answered.
“Are you sure nopony will see us?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Ah think so,” Apple Bloom answered.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked to a table and placed Cheerilee’s body on a chair. Apple Bloom then took off Cheerilee’s glasses and made sure that her head was set upright on the chair to make it look like she was still alive. Sweetie Belle then placed the microphone in Cheerilee’s mouth and used her magic from her horn to open and close her eyelids to make it look like she was blinking. Within about a minute, Open Skies showed up.
“Hi Cheerilee,” he said.
“Hi Open Skies,” the body said.
“It’s been a while and I’m glad to see you again. How’s everything going?”
Sweetie Belle began to sweat.
“Nothing, really,” she said through the microphone. “I’m just helping out with the class. What about you?”
“Just working on the clouds,” Open Skies responded. “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s kind of fun.”
“It is? What do you like about it?”
“Just being able to fly all over the place. I like moving the clouds around.”
“You do? Boy, I wish I could do that. It would be fun.”
“Hey, maybe I can show you the weather factory one day.”
“Okay.”
The waiter then walked to the table.
“Are you ready to order?” he asked.
“We sure are,” Open Skies answered.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle began to sweat more. Nevertheless, Sweetie Belle spoke into the tiny microphone.
“I’ll have a hay salad, please,” she made the body say.
“I’ll have a hay burger, please,” Open Skies said.
“Very well, then,” the waiter said. “On the way.”
The waiter left and the two fillies sighed in relief.
“So, what do you think about this restaurant?” Open Skies asked Cheerilee.
“It’s beautiful,” the body said.
“I’m glad you like it. To me, this place is a good resting place after a long day’s work. What do you think?”
“I like it.”
Before long, the food arrived and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were sweating harder.
“Oh no,” Apple Bloom whispered. “She can’t eat. She’s dead.”
“Maybe I can do something about it,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “With a little magic. Observe.”
Sweetie Belle powered her horn more and used it to move Cheerilee’s hoof to the fork, grab it, and take a bite out of her salad.
I should have just said to get a hay burger, Sweetie Belle thought. It would’ve been much easier.
It took a lot of work, but Sweetie Belle managed to have Cheerilee’s body both talk and eat without causing a problem. Once the food was finished, the waiter took the plates and gave both ponies a dessert menu. After dessert was finished, Open Skies got up from his seat.
“It was nice seeing you,” Open Skies said. “Hey, maybe we go to the movies tonight?”
Oh, come on, Sweetie Belle thought. Fine.
“Of course, Open Skies,” she made the body say. “What movie do you have in mind?”
“How about Sea Ponies in the Sky ?” Open Skies answered.
“Sure,” the body said. “Let’s go.”
Sweetie Belle used her magic to manipulate Cheerilee’s body to make her walk along with Open Skies, as all four ponies walked out of the restaurant, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle remaining out of sight of Open Skies.
“Oh no,” Apple Bloom said.
“What’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“We have to make sure that she gets inside without having us be seen by Open Skies. How are we going to do that?”
“I got it. You get the tickets and I’ll keep sight of them. Once they get the tickets, you get them and go as fast as you can. I can’t hold Cheerilee up too far away from my sight. I need to see her the whole way.”
“Ah understand.”
The two fillies hid in the bushes, as Open Skies and Cheerilee’s manipulated body walked to the ticket booth.
“Two tickets to Sea Ponies in the Sky , please,” Open Skies told the stallion in the booth.
“That’ll be six bits, please,” the ticket stallion said, as he printed out two tickets.
“Thanks,” Open Skies said, as he opened his saddlebag and placed six bits on the counter using his wing.
The ticket stallion took the bits and then gave the tickets to Open Skies and Cheerilee’s body.
“Enjoy the movie,” he told them.
As they walked through the glass doors, Sweetie Belle looked through it to be certain that they don’t go out of sight so that she can continue to use her magic to move Cheerilee around.
“Two tickets to Sea Ponies in the Sky , please,” Apple Bloom told the ticket stallion.
“That’ll be six bits, please” the ticket stallion said, as he printed out two tickets.
“Here ya go, thanks,” Apple Bloom said, as she opened her saddlebags, pulled out six bits as fast she could, and then placed them on the counter.
“Enjoy the movie,” the ticket stallion said, as he took the bits and handed over the tickets to Apple Bloom.
“Thanks,” Apple Bloom said, then turned her head toward Sweetie Belle.
“Got it,” she said.
The two of them walked inside right before Cheerilee and Open Skies could go out of sight. They took a seat three rows away from them.
* * * *
Once the movie ended, Sweetie Belle powered up her horn and made Cheerilee stand up. Within a few minutes, the couple was outside, with Open Skies walking Cheerilee back home. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were following them.
“So, did you like the movie?” Open Skies asked Cheerilee.
“I sure did,” Cheerilee’s body responded. “The sea ponies are adorable.”
“Agreed,” Open Skies replied.
After a few minutes passed, the couple made it to Cheerilee’s house.
“It was nice to go out with you,” Open Skies said.
“Thanks,” Cheerilee’s body said. “We should do this again sometime soon.”
“Sure, maybe the next week or two?” Open Skies asked
“Of course,” Cheerilee’s body answered, as her house door opened, thanks to Sweetie Belle’s magic coming from her horn. “See you next time.”
“Bye,” Open Skies said.
The house door then closed and Cheerilee’s body went limp. Once Open Skies was out of sight, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went inside Cheerilee’s house.
“Phew, that was close,” Sweetie Belle said. “I’m so exhausted from having to use my magic to pull that whole date off.”
“Ah must say, you really did pull that off,” Apple Bloom told Sweetie Belle.
“It took every ounce of my strength to do all of that,” Sweetie Belle said. But there’s still one thing we need to do: we can’t leave our teacher on the floor.”
“What are we gonna do?” Apple Bloom asked.
“We could just put her to bed,” Sweetie Belle answered. “That way, if anyone gets into her house, they’ll just assume that she’s asleep.”
“Great idea,” Apple Bloom said.
The two fillies dragged Cheerilee’s body upstairs and placed her in her bed. Apple Bloom then found a night mask on Cheerilee’s nightstand and placed it on Cheerilee’s eyes.
“There, that should do it,” Apple Bloom said.
As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked out of Cheerilee’s house, Sweetie Belle began crying.
“I feel so sad,” Sweetie Belle sobbed. “Our teacher died. I feel guilty that we didn’t just call the police. I’m sure it could’ve been all worked it out.”
“Well, all we can do is hope that all will be worked out,” Apple Bloom said. “Trust me: losing our teacher hurts me just as much as it hurts you.”
“But school starts on Monday,” Sweetie Belle said. “We can’t hold this charade forever, we should just tell.”
“No, not yet,” Apple Bloom said. “I think I might have an idea: we have to get our teacher to school for the next week. Next week is the last week of school.”
“Your point?”
“We teach the class for Miss Cheerilee next week and then tell once the school year is over.”
“How will we do that?”
“That Ah’ll have to figure out. How about we go home and get some rest. That’ll give me enough time to come up with a plan.”
“Okay, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I hope that about myself, too.”
Both fillies then went their separate ways and walked back home, worrying about what will happen if their plan fails.
Author's Note
Merry Christmas and a Happy Hearth's Warming, everypony. Sorry that this story is taking a while. I've been busy for quite some time, but I'm back now and this story will update a bit faster now.
Bodies Don't Stay Preserved For Long
Monday came and the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked back to their teacher's house.
"I'm scared," Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Ah know how you feel," Apple Bloom said. "Ah'm scared too. But we don't have any choice."
"Really?" Scootaloo responded. "I haven't slept all weekend."
"We just have one week left," Apple Bloom said. "Then we can confess."
"How are we going to do that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Ah'm still not sure," Apple Bloom said. "Now let's go get Miss Cheerilee."
The three fillies walked inside the house to collect Cheerilee's body. Upon entering however, they smelled something horrible inside.
"Bleh!" Scootaloo responded. "What's that horrible smell?"
"Oh no," Apple Bloom answered. "Ah think that's Miss Cheerilee."
The three fillies ran into their teacher's room and saw that the body was starting to rot. It had blisters all over and flies were surrounding it.
"What are we going to do?" Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom.
"If we bring her to school like this, the students will figure out that something is wrong with her," Scootaloo said.
"There's gotta be somethin' in this house that can get rid of the smell," Apple Bloom said.
The three fillies looked all over the house for possible ways to get rid of the smell. After a few minutes, Apple Bloom found a spray can of Lysol. She ran back to the body and sprayed all over it, causing the smell to disappear not long after.
"There we go," Apple Bloom said.
"But she still looks rotten," Scootaloo said. "How about we get some paint?"
"But where will we get paint?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Let's look around for some," Apple Bloom said.
After a few more minutes, Apple Bloom came back with an unopened bucket of magenta paint. As Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came back, Apple Bloom opened the bucket and quickly painted over the blisters until they were all covered up.
"There we go," Apple Bloom said when she was finished.
"Are you sure that will convince the class enough?" Sweetie Belle asked in concern. "It still looks like that it's obvious. The paint doesn't seem to camouflage the blisters completely."
"This is the best that we can do," Apple Bloom responded. "Now come on, let's get her to the classroom. We don't want her to be late. The class will get suspicious."
The three fillies walked outside and dragged their teacher's body throughout the town, hoping that nopony would notice.
"This is so gross!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Keep it down," Apple Bloom whispered. "If somepony hears you, we're done for."
Sweetie Belle sighed as she continued using her horn to move the body around town.
As the three fillies were heading over to class, Rainbow Dash swooped from the sky and accidentally rammed into Cheerilee's body, causing Sweetie Belle to shut off her horn and fall to the ground.
"Oh, Celestia!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Cheerilee! Here, let me help you up."
Not wanting Rainbow Dash to pick up the dead body, Sweetie Belle immediately got up and powered her horn up to pick up the body. Once done, she used her horn to open its eyes and mouth to make it look like that their teacher could still talk and thus, appear to be alive.
"That's okay," Sweetie Belle made the body say. "Accidents happen."
"Thanks for understanding," Rainbow Dash responded. "I was just trying to do a flying stunt and I kind of messed up."
"I understand," Sweetie Belle said using her microphone secretly to transfer the message to the body. "Well then, I must go now. I can't be late to teach class."
"Okay, see ya Miss Cheerilee," Rainbow Dash responded, as she flew off to the sky.
"Phew, that was close," Scootaloo said as she rubbed her hoof on her forehead to get the sweat off of it.
"Okay girls," Apple Bloom said. "Let's keep going."
The girls picked up the body and continued moving it using Sweetie Belle's magic coming out of her horn. As they got close to the schoolhouse, Derpy accidentally crashed into them.
"Ow!" Apple Bloom shouted.
"Whoops, my bad," Derpy said worriedly.
"Just be careful," Scootaloo said.
The girls continued walking to the schoolhouse. Once they made it, they set the body onto her desk chair and took a look at her schedule.
"Hmm..." Apple Bloom said. "Math, Science, History, Recess, Spelling, Language Arts, Lunch, P.E., and Study Period. Man, this is a lot to teach. At least the teacher's manual has the instructions and schedules listed. Ah better take it before anypony sees us."
"Good idea," Sweetie Belle said.
The fillies set the stuff up on the body and afterwards, took their seats and waited for the other students to walk in. Within about ten minutes, the students began walking in and before long, they all took their seats.
"Okay, class," Sweetie Belle said through the microphone that was attached to Cheerilee's body's mouth. "It's time to learn an important lesson today. We will start with Math. Please take out your Math textbooks and turn to page 75. We will work on fractions."
"Uh, Miss Cheerilee, what's a one slash two mean?" Snails asked.
"It means one-half," Sweetie Belle said on the microphone, trying to not get annoyed about how easy that answer was.
As the day went on, Sweetie Belle was getting exhausted due to how much magic she was using on her horn. By the time the History period began, she didn't know how to answer certain questions that were asked by the other students.
"Uh, Miss Cheerilee," Silver Spoon called out. "How did the dragon lands originate?"
Sweetie Belle flipped the pages through her History textbook and then answered.
"They originated because the Empress of Equestria, Queen Faust, had given life to them," she answered.
"Oh, thanks, Miss Cheerilee."
"You're welcome, Silver Spoon. You have every right to ask."
By the time class was over, Sweetie Belle could barely keep her head up. Nevertheless, she managed to hang on until the last student, besides her, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, had left for the day. Once she was sure that all of the students were out of sight, she released her magic from her horn, causing her teacher's body to collapse on the ground.
"That was close," she said in relief. "Let's take her home."
The three fillies walked out of the classroom and throughout town. At that point, Sweetie Belle's magic began to drop due to how much exhaustion that she was going through.
"I need some rest," she yawned. "Can we stop at that bench?"
Apple Bloom sighed.
"Okay," she said in annoyance as they placed the body on the bench and sat down. "But we need ta continue movin' within five minutes. We need ta--"
Apple Bloom stopped what she was saying when she heard snoring. She turned to Sweetie Belle and saw that she had fallen asleep on the bench.
"Oh, come on!" Scootaloo shouted in annoyance.
"Just let'er rest," Apple Bloom said. "She deserves it."
After about a half hour had passed, a green mare with a harpsichord cutie mark walked up to them.
"Hi girls," she said. "Can I sit down?"
"Of course, Lyra," Apple Bloom responded. "There's room for you."
"Thanks," Lyra said as she took a seat on the bench.
"Apple Bloom, what are you doing?" Scootaloo whispered. "We can't have her find out."
"Don't worried," Apple Bloom whispered. "Ah won't let that happen."
"So, how's everything going?" Lyra asked.
"Nothin' much," Apple Bloom answered.
"What's Cheerilee doing with you three?"
"She and Sweetie Belle were tired. So we decided to stop to get some rest."
"Oh, okay. I just wanted to tell you that Twilight asked if Cheerilee can participate in the Friendship School graduation coming this coming weekend."
"Well actually, she--" Scootaloo began.
"Of course," Apple Bloom interrupted. "She would be happy to do that. We'll tell her that when she wakes up."
"Thanks, girls," Lyra said cheerfully as she got up from the bench. "Now then, I got to get going. My friend, Bon Bon, needs help with something."
"See ya," Apple Bloom said.
Once Lyra Heartstrings was out of sight, Scootaloo glared at Apple Bloom.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Scootaloo shouted. "If she attends the graduation, we're toast!"
"Quiet down, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said angrily. "Ah did that because this the Princess of Friendship that she was talking about. We can't let Twilight down."
"I know," Scootaloo sighed. "But if we get caught, we'll be in big trouble."
"Ah know that," Apple Bloom said. "But what choice do we have?"
"You're right," Scootaloo said defeatedly. "Let's just hope that this works."
All of a sudden, Sweetie Belle woke up.
"Sorry about that," she yawned.
"That's okay," Scootaloo sighed.
"Let's get'er home," Apple Bloom said.
The three fillies got up, put the sunglasses on their teacher, and dragged her throughout the village, hoping to not get caught. As they reached their teacher's house, however, a piece of Cheerilee's skin fell off.
"Gross!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"Quiet, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom whispered. "Do you want us to get caught?"
"Sorry," Sweetie Belle whispered as she picked up the piece of skin off the ground.
"I'm gonna be sick," Scootaloo whispered as her face turned green.
"Never mind about that," Apple Bloom said as she unlocked the front door of the house and the three fillies walked inside. "We need to get superglue to glue the skin back on."
"Where are we going to find that type of glue?" Sweetie Belle asked, as she closed the front door using her magic coming from her horn.
"We have to search around her house," Apple Bloom answered.
The three fillies looked all over the place. After about five minutes, Scootaloo found some in a storage closet. She then walked back to her friends.
"I got some," Scootaloo said.
"Quick, put some on the skin," Sweetie Belle said, still holding the piece of skin on her hoof.
"This is so gross!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she took the skin from Sweetie Belle and glued it back on Cheerilee's wound to cover it up.
"Ah got the paint," Apple Bloom said as she took a paint brush, dipped it into the magenta-colored paint, and painted it over the now glued-back-on skin. "Ah think that's as good as it can get."
"Alright, let's put her to bed," Scootaloo said as the three fillies picked up their teacher, put the body in the bed, placed the blankets over her body, and placed the night mask over her eyes to make it look like she was asleep.
"Okay, let's get out of here," Sweetie Belle said.
The three fillies walked out of the house and Apple Bloom locked the door.
"Ah think we all need to get some rest," Apple Bloom said. "We still have four more days of school left."
The three fillies then walked back home, hoping that all would go well for the rest of the week.
After an entire long week of keeping the class going and no one realizing that Miss Cheerilee died, the last day of school had come. The Cutie Mark Crusaders once again brought the body of their teacher early that day. All three of them had black circles below their eyes because they had barely slept over the past several nights. Nevertheless, they were able to keep their teacher's death a secret the entire time and were relieved to make it to the final day.
By the time the school bell rang, most of the students had arrived in class. Once every student arrived, they turned in their last homework assignments.
"Well done, students," Sweetie Belle spoke through the microphone in the body. "All right, as I promised, it's time for the end of the year party!"
The entire class cheered in celebration, happy that they made it through the entire school year.
* * * *
The students celebrated with some rock music playing and ice cream. At the same time, the Cutie Mark Crusaders did whatever they could to convince them that their teacher was still alive by using Sweetie Belle's magic to make her body dance, albeit crudely.
"Are you okay, Miss Cheerilee?" Button Mash asked, noticing her awkward dancing.
"Why, yes I am," Sweetie Belle said through the microphone in the body, hiding behind a potted plant.
"Um, okay," Button Mash said nervously.
As time passed, a student started to smell something off.
"What's that smell?" Silver Spoon asked.
Realizing that the body was starting to smell again, Sweetie Belle controlled the body to walk outside.
"I'll be right back," she said.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders sprayed Lysol on the body once it was out of sight of the students. A minute afterwards, they brought the body back into the classroom.
"Sorry about that," Sweetie Belle spoke through the microphone.
With that, the party continued until three o'clock when it was time for everyone to go home.
"Thanks for coming!" Sweetie Belle said as the students left the classroom. Once they were all gone, she powered her horn down, causing the body to fall to the floor. "Phew! I don't know how much more I can take this!"
"Well, we did it," Scootaloo said. "I guess it's time to--"
All of a sudden, she was interrupted by Diamond Tiara, her former foe. Upon seeing her, Sweetie Belle powered her horn up and Cheerilee's body sprang back to life.
"Hey Cutie Mark Crusaders!" she called out. "Guess what? I'm throwing a party at my house and I'm inviting you all to come. I'm also inviting you, Miss Cheerilee. You're a great teacher and I want to show my appreciation for helping me become a better friend towards others!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were nervous. After all of that and there was still more to come. They wanted to stop, but they didn't want to disappoint their friend. Apple Bloom sighed.
"Sure," she said. "We'll come."
"What about you, Miss Cheerilee?" Diamond asked.
"Of course," Sweetie Belle said through the microphone in her teacher's body. "I would be happy to come."
"Oh, thanks so much!" Diamond said excitedly. "This is going to be so fun!"
As she left, the Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned in annoyance.
"Seriously?!" Scootaloo cried.
"When is this going to end?!" Sweetie Belle responded in annoyance.
"I know how y'all feel," Apple Bloom said. "But we can't disappoint our friend. Plus, Twilight is expecting her to speak in the School of Friendship."
"Then we're pretty much stuck doing all of this?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Her body is falling apart and my magic can only work so much."
"Just two more tasks and we're done," Apple Bloom said.
"But how are we going to convince others that Cheerilee died of electrocution when we've been using her body to do things?" Scootaloo asked.
"We'll tell them we were scared and didn't know what to do," Apple Bloom responded. "Besides, we're three fillies. Ah'm sure the authorities will go easy on us."
"And if they don't?" Scootaloo asked.
"They will!" Apple Bloom responded. "Just trust me!"
Scootaloo sighed in annoyance.
"Fine," she said. "I'll go with what you're saying."
"Let's head over to Diamond Tiara's house," Apple Bloom said as Sweetie Belle powered up her horn to control Cheerilee's body to stand.
The fillies worked together to keep the body moving. After ten minutes of walking, they arrived at Diamond Tiara's mansion.
"Well, here we are," Scootaloo said.
"Let's just get this over with," Apple Bloom said in annoyance.
The three fillies walked to the front door and Apple Bloom rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Diamond Tiara opened the door.
"Hey, you made it!" she said in excitement.
"We're sure happy to come," Apple Bloom responded with false happiness.
"Yep, I'm glad to be here, too," Sweetie Belle said secretly through her teacher's body.
"I see Miss Cheerilee came, too!" Diamond exclaimed. "Well, come on in, all of you!"
"You bet," Apple Bloom said as she and her friends entered while Sweetie Belle was using her magic to control the body to walk and blink.
As the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked to the living room, Sweetie Belle grew exhausted and her horn stopped glowing, causing the body to fall to the floor.
"Miss Cheerilee, are you okay?" Diamond asked worriedly.
Sweetie Belle quickly powered her horn up and reanimated the body.
"Oh sorry, Diamond Tiara," she told her using the miniature microphone that was connected to the body.
"Oh, okay," Diamond said as she continued leading them to her pool.
"Sweetie Belle, what are you doing?" Apple Bloom asked in a whisper, worried that their cover was nearly blown.
"Sorry, Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle said out of breath. "I'm just warn out from using that much magic throughout the day."
"Just hang in there," Apple Bloom said. "We can keep Miss Cheerilee sitting on a chair at times so you can recharge."
"Thanks," Sweetie Belle said.
The group walked to Diamond's backyard and saw lots of foals, a pool, lounge chairs, a swing set, and a platform with a huge stereo.
"Welcome to the party," Diamond announced.
"Wow!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"This is amazing!" Apple Bloom chimed in.
"How did you get it to be so amazing?" Sweetie Belle asked in excitement, using the mic to make it look like Cheerilee was saying that.
"My dad and butler and, well, my mother...really put a lot of effort," Diamond stated. "I also made sure that everyone from school was invited. Ever since you showed me a brighter future, I really wanted to do as much as I could to make it up to everypony."
"Hey, you three!" Silver Spoon called out. "I'm glad you can make it!"
"Thanks, Silver Spoon!" Apple Bloom responded.
"Come on, let's dance!" Diamond said in excitement.
The foals were dancing to the music playing, with Sweetie Belle using her magic to make Cheerilee look like she's also doing so. As the night wore on, the foals were doing various activities including swimming, playing games, and talking about their various secrets. All this time, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were doing the best they could to make it look like Cheerilee was talking as normally as possible.
"What about you, Cheerilee?" Diamond asked. "Do you have any secrets?"
"Well, um, I've been going on various dates," Sweetie Belle responded through the microphone voice enhancer inside her teacher's mouth.
"Really, who?" Silver Spoon asked.
"I went out with...Open Skies...recently," Sweetie Belle responded nervously. "We...had a great date! Yes! I hope we stay together.
"Oh, wow!" Silver Spoon responded.
"Are you okay, Cheerilee?" Diamond asked in concern, unaware that Sweetie Belle was speaking for Cheerilee. "You seem a bit nervous."
"Oh, sorry," Sweetie Belle said nervously. "I just...get concerned about...revealing my secrets towards others."
"Oh, sorry if I pushed you," Diamond responded.
"It's okay," Sweetie Belle responded.
The night continued and eventually, the party ended. After saying goodbye to Diamond Tiara, the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked their teacher's body back home.
"That was a close one," Scootaloo said in relief.
"How much more of this do we have to do?" Sweetie Belle asked worrisome.
"We just have the School of Friendship graduation ceremony and then we can confess," Apple Bloom answered.
"But how will we confess?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What will we tell them?"
"We pretty much desecrated a body by dragging her to places," Scootaloo said in worry. "We may be innocent of any murder, but what we did was still a felony."
"Ah don't know, Crusaders," Apple Bloom said worrisome. "Ah don't know."
The next morning, the three fillies walked to Miss Cheerilee's house. They all breathed nervously, as they knew what was about to happen.
"Okay, Crusaders," Apple Bloom said nervously. "It's time."
"I know," Sweetie Belle responded, feeling depressed that they have to continue with the charade.
"I know," Scootaloo responded, feeling broken about what she and her friends were about to do.
"Just one more time," Apple Bloom said as she opened the door.
"I got the stetson," Sweetie Belle said.
"I got the vinegar," Scootaloo said.
The three fillies walked inside, used the stetson and vinegar to rid the smell of the body, and then picked up their dead teacher and walked outside. While heading to the School of Friendship, some ponies looked at the fillies in concern, but Sweetie Belle kept her horn powered up, making Cheerilee look like she's moving on her own.
"My horn hurts," Sweetie Belle complained.
The group continued walking, but out of nowhere, a mare ran towards them.
"I got to hurry!" she exclaimed.
She bumped into Sweetie Belle, causing her to lose control of her magic and accidentally knocked the body of her teacher off a cliff and onto a sandy beach.
"Miss Cheerilee!" Apple Bloom shouted.
The body landed near a small colt with a shovel and a plastic bucket.
"Oh cool," he said. "A pony to bury in the sand."
"Oh no!" Scootaloo called out.
The group ran down the stairs of the cliff to retrieve the teacher, only to find their teacher buried waist down.
"Hey!" Apple Bloom shouted. "That's our teacher you're burying!"
"Wait, what?" the colt said as he stopped burying Cheerilee.
"You're burying our teacher!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"That's your teacher?" the colt asked confusedly. "I thought it was just a mare sunbathing."
"Why would you bury anyone without asking?!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"I don't know," the colt said. "I just wanted to. It's fun to be buried. I didn't mean any harm. She's not going to suffocate. Haystack wouldn't hurt her. That's my name, by the way."
"How old are you, kid?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Five," Haystack answered.
"Well, that makes sense," Apple Bloom responded.
"We're just going to take our teacher back," Sweetie Belle said, pulling the body out of the sand using her horn. "Bye."
"Hey!" Haystack shouted. "You can't take her away! I'm telling Mommy!"
"Uh-oh!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she lifted Cheerilee up in air. "Let's get out of here before we get in trouble."
The three fillies made a run back up the stairs of the cliff and back on the road.
"That was close one," Apple Bloom said.
The three fillies walked to the entrance of the School of Friendship with not too many interruptions other than occasionally dropping the body as a result of exhaustion. Once they arrived, Apple Bloom rang the doorbell. Within a few seconds, Twilight answered the door.
"Oh, hi Cheerilee," Twilight said. "Glad you can make it. Thanks you three for bringing your teacher to the graduation ceremony."
Sweetie Belle powered her horn up.
"Of course, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Sweetie Belle spoke through the body while making it move its mouth, eyes, and legs.
Sweetie Belle made the body walk with Twilight to the stage. There, several students were waiting while wearing graduation outfits. Unlike after what had happened with Cozy Glow, the Student Six were also graduating, this time for real.
Some fanfare music played for a few minutes. Everyone was preparing for the big event. They were excited that after all the hard work, they managed to make it to the end.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders waited in the audience, with Sweetie Belle still powering her horn to make it look like Cheerilee was moving on her own. The body was shaking others' hooves and then stood by one of the lecterns. Twilight stood by the other one.
"Good afternoon, every creature," Twilight announced. "Thank you all for your patience. We will have a speaker announce the proceedings."
Sweetie Belle cleared her throat and spoke through her miniature microphone to send the message to Cheerilee's body.
"Welcome every creature," she said. "I am proud to present to you all...our graduates."
The students walked on the stage, happy that they'll soon receive their diplomas. The crowd cheered.
"Way to go, Smolder!" Spike called out from the audience.
Smolder smiled, happy to see her friend cheering her on.
Sweetie Belle got nervous, as she didn't know what else to say.
"I don't know what to say," she whispered to Apple Bloom, away from the microphone.
"Here," Apple Bloom responded as she gave her a piece of paper, showing what Cheerilee was supposed to say.
"What's this?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Just read through it," Apple Bloom said. "It's supposed to be for Cheerilee's speech."
"Where did you get that?" Sweetie Belle asked worrisome.
"Ah had to go through Cheerilee's mail to find it," Apple Bloom explained.
Sweetie Belle glared at her friend.
"You what?!" she whispered angrily.
"Ah had to find the speech," Apple Bloom said in fear while looking at her friend, who was still fuming. "Hey, we're already breakin' the law by draggin' a body around. We may as well break one more to avoid blowing our cover."
Sweetie Belle calmed down.
"You're right," she said as she accepted the document.
Sweetie Belle looked through the speech, took a deep breath, and started reading it.
"I would like to congratulate you all for all your hard work," Sweetie Belle said in the microphone. "You all showed your best effort. Your friendship and heroism have shaped Equestria's view of others. From keeping the School of Friendship open to stopping Cozy Glow from taking over Equestria to stopping her, Lord Tirek, and Queen Chrysalis from trying to take over Equestria again, you have helped out a lot during your experiences. I commend you all for working together. You should all be proud of your accomplishments. Without further ado, I will turn the mic over to Starlight Glimmer to pass out the diplomas. Thank you all very much!"
The crowd cheered as Sweetie Belle sighed in relief.
"We did it," she said with the mic off.
Cheerilee's body was controlled to walk away from the lectern, allowing Starlight Glimmer to take over.
"Thanks so much, Cheerilee," she told her.
"Of course, Starlight Glimmer," Sweetie Belle responded.
The two shook hooves, but as they did, Cheerilee's foreleg suddenly fell off. Starlight Glimmer looked in shock at the dismembered foreleg, but her shock quickly escalated to horror when she saw fur and skin peeling off the body and before long, the rest of Cheerilee's legs and her head fell apart. At that point, everyone saw the sight in horror. Within a few seconds, several of the graduates and audience members began screaming in panic.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were shocked to see what had just happened. Sweetie Belle quickly powered down her horn.
"I think we need to get out of here," Scootaloo said in worry.
"Good idea," Apple Bloom responded.
The three fillies ran away from the sight. However, Twilight looked at the audience and saw the filly with her horn ignited and then running off with the other two. Realizing what had happened, she quickly teleported herself to the exit of the auditorium, stopping them from escaping.
"Alright you three," she said strictly. "I want a full explanation about what had happened!"
"Uh...I..." Sweetie Belle stammered. "You see...we..."
"It's no use, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom said in defeat. "It's time we come clean."
"Let's go to my office," Twilight ordered. "Spike, call the police."
"Will do, Twilight," the little dragon answered.
Twilight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked towards Twilight's office.
"It's over..." Scootaloo said sadly. "We're all going to jail for this."
"I hope the food's not too bad there," Sweetie Belle said.
"Are you kiddin' me?" Apple Bloom responded. "Mah sister told me there's nothin' good about jail."
The three fillies all had their heads down as they were getting close to Princess Twilight's office. All they could think about was whatever happened next wouldn't matter. It was going to be bad, regardless.