The One (And Only) Chapter
"Hey, come on, Lil' Cheese!" Pinkie Pie called to her son as she (along with her loving husband Cheese Sandwich) all but pushed him out of the front door of Sugarcube Corner. "It's the first day of the new school year. You don't wanna be late, do you?!"
Normally, Lil' Cheese would've probably shared in his female parent's excitement. He'd enjoyed going to school at that old schoolhouse, he'd already made more than a few friends (even if none of them could ever compare to his truly bestest buddy in the entire history of best friends: Big Sugar). However, all of that had been under the careful watch of Miss. Cheerilee, the same Miss. Cheerilee who had taught the Cutie Mark Crusaders when they were fillies and apparently had been teaching for some time since.
Now, however, Miss. Cheerilee had retired. She'd announced her decision at the end of the previous school year, making it perfectly clear that as much as she'd enjoyed helping young ones learn she was ready to hang it all up and move on. So now, somepony completely new was going to be teaching at the schoolhouse. Lil' Cheese had no idea what to expect, and the prospect made him nervous.
"Come on, son!" Cheese Sandwich said to the little colt as he joined his wife in ushering their son forward. He seemed to better sense what the child was feeling even as he too had a big smile upon his face. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm sure you'll get to like your new school teacher just as much as you liked Miss. Cheerilee. And you like making new friends, right?"
Lil' Cheese hesitantly replied. "W-well, yeah... I guess... b-but..."
Pinkie would hear nothing of such objections. "Ah ah, no buts, mister! We talked about this. You have to go to school. Education is important."
"Why can't I just go to the same school Auntie Luster goes to?" The colt questioned his parents. "You know, the one Princess Twilight founded and that Auntie Starlight oversees now? That school sounds way more fun!"
Pinkie just giggled. "That school is for learning about friendship, Lil' Cheese. You're already pretty smart about that, you already have lots of friends. Besides, you're not old enough to enroll even if your father and I wanted to send you there. I don't like it anymore than you do, but rules are rules."
Cheese then looked down to his son and spoke in a reassuring tone of voice. "Just be yourself. Whoever the new teacher is, I'm sure they won't think any differently of you just because of who you are. Who knows? Maybe you'll even become friends with whoever the pony is? Hay, it might not even be a pony who's teaching."
At that Pinkie's eyes lit up like twin stars! "Oh my gosh, it's like you read my mind, Cheese! Ponyville's become a haven for all kinds of creatures nowadays. Just think, Lil' Cheese, your teacher might be a griffon, or a yak, or even a kirin. Just think how cool that would be!"
The colt with the same pink mane and tail as his mother and a coat color somewhat similar to his father replied. "I... never thought about that," But then he gulped and bit a hoof. "But what if it's some nasty, no good creature?!"
Pinkie Pie snorted and laughed. "I'm pretty sure that won't happen. There's hardly a creature left these days who likes nothing more than to cause trouble. And if they did exist, I think they'd be doing things much worse than taking over a school or schoolhouse," She then sweetly pleaded with her son. "Lil' Cheese, I want you to 'Pinkie Promise' that you'll be nice to your new teacher and try your hardest to befriend whoever it is. Okay?"
With a sigh, the earth pony colt nodded. "Okay, I 'Pinkie Promise'," He proceeded to do the chant and repeat the motions just like his mother had taught him. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." He made sure not to accidentally jab himself in the eye with a hoof during the "stick a cupcake in my eye" part. Now he knew was bound to that promise, because a 'Pinkie Promise' was never ever EVER broken. And as his Auntie Applejack would attest, Celestia have mercy on you if you ever did try to break one.
That satisfied the pink party pony, and just in time too as her cornflower blue eyes could see the familiar outline of the old schoolhouse coming into view. "Ah, here we are. And it looks like we're early, too," She knelt down to her son's level and locked eyes with him. "I've got a good feeling about your new teacher, son. I don't know who it is, but my 'Pinkie Sense' is giving me signs that tell me you're absolutely going to love whoever it is. And you know my 'Pinkie Sense' has never been wrong before. Now go ahead and have fun. Your father and I will be back to pick you up later, 'kay?"
"Okay, Mom." Lil' Cheese agreed as he hesitantly let go of her hoof and trotted off towards the schoolhouse.
Cheese Sandwich, for his part, commented. "Funny you mentioned your 'Pinkie Sense', dear. My 'Cheesie Sense' didn't go off at all," And he questioned with an arched brow. "Are you sure you weren't just making that up for our son's sake?"
Pinkie Pie only vaguely replied with a wink. "Maybe I did and maybe I didn't. That's for me to know and you to find out." Then she trotted away while nuzzling into her husband's embrace.
Cheese simply shrugged his hooves. His wife could be weird sometimes, but that was just what he loved about her. Besides, he could be pretty strange too when he wanted to be.
Lil' Cheese arrived at the schoolhouse just in time for the bell to ring, which signaled to all students that they had better get inside and take their seats. Class would begin very shortly.
Yet although the students took to their usual seats (from the end of the previous school year, anyway. They were all certain the new teacher would see fit to have the seating arrangements redone at some point) and sat up straight, eyes fixed to the front of the classroom, they saw no signs of anypony or anycreature already waiting for them. That was odd. Why would their new teacher not already have come to the schoolhouse in order to get ready?
Minutes passed and the bell rang again, signaling for class to begin. But still, the new teacher hadn't appeared. What was taking him or her so long? Miss. Cheerilee had never been preceded in arrival by her students in a single day of her long illustrious teaching career. Even when she was sick, she'd always send advance word ahead of time so her students would know to expect a substitute. Was that what was going on? Had the new teacher fallen ill and had hastily sent another to take their place?
However, just a moment or so after the bell stopped ringing, the knob to the classroom door turned. The door slowly swung open, and in trotted an earth pony mare of medium build, perhaps only slightly smaller than Miss. Cheerilee had been. Her coat was a lovely magenta in color, and her cutie mark proudly displayed a diamond tiara (similar to the one currently resting proudly atop the mare's head). She had a beautifully styled curly mane and tail that consisted of light grayish-violet locks with white streaks shining throughout. Finally, her eyes were a shade of cornflower blue that looked vibrant and full of life.
Lil' Cheese had to resist the urge to let out a gasp! He had seen this mare before: Instantly, a series of memories from about a year or so ago came flooding back to him, reminding him of an entire day he'd spent in the mare's care when she had been his foalsitter. "No way! It's her?!" He thought! This had to be a dream, it just had to be! There was absolutely no way that the same pony who'd once sat for him (and probably his favorite sitter to hoof) was now his new teacher. He proceeded to pinch himself just to be sure. He felt the pain, that meant he wasn't dreaming. This was indeed happening.
If the mare at all recognized Lil' Cheese as her eyes scanned over the classroom, she didn't say anything outright to confirm it. Instead, she just swung the classroom door shut behind her and hastily dashed to the teacher's desk up front. As she did so, a hot pink saddlebag overflowing with things like rulers, pencils, calculators and various other school supplies clattered loudly against her side. It looked as if its contents might spill out at any second.
Still, the mare managed to keep her composure as she plopped the saddlebag down on the desk. Not a hair remained out of place on either her mane or her tail. And that diamond tiara she was wearing balanced perfectly and precisely in the middle of her mane. "Sorry, everypony! I didn't mean to be late!" She sincerely apologized as she then trotted up to the blackboard, grabbed a piece of chalk and quickly wrote out her name in a somewhat shaky hoofwriting. "I'm your new school teacher: Mrs. Diamond Tiara. Or you can call me Mrs. Diamond, or Mrs. Tiara. Whichever you prefer."
A few ponies began chattering amongst themselves. It seemed like the name was one that many of the young ones were at least vaguely aware of.
Diamond Tiara smiled as she turned around to face her new students. "I know what you're all thinking, and the answer is yes: I'm the same Diamond Tiara you've probably seen around Barnyard Bargains. Long story short, I felt inspired to get into teaching. And both my father and my husband were more than happy to support me in such an endeavor," She then trotted over to her desk. "As for what I'm doing teaching here and not at Princess Twilight's School of Friendship, the EEA specifically informed me that there was a vacancy in this school that they wished for me to fill. Your previous teacher, Miss. Cheerilee, gave me her blessing to take over. So here I am."
Lil' Cheese found himself completely speechless. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine one of his foalsitters becoming his new teacher. In the back of his mind, he recalled overhearing how Diamond had once been a student of Miss. Cheerilee. Did that mean Diamond Tiara had a student of her own now that she was tutoring/mentoring/whatever you called it on the side?
Diamond waited for the chatter among her new young pupils to quiet down. She seemed to be in no hurry to assert her authority over the classroom. Like Miss. Cheerilee before her, it seemed she was intent to conquer the classroom with kindness: With a velvet glove instead of an iron hoof. Once silence had fallen over the room, however, she cleared her throat and started speaking again. "Now then, let's start class the way it always begins: With the taking of attendance. I'm sure you all know the drill," She picked up a clipboard resting on her desk and instructed. "When I call your name, simply raise your hoof or say 'Here'. No talking out of turn here, please."
So it was that attendance was taken, and Mrs. Diamond quickly made up for lost time while doing so. It probably helped that the class was a fair bit smaller than usual; a few of the students from the previous class had either graduated or transferred. She happily checked off each name as everypony raised their hoof and spoke up one by one as they were called. When she got to Lil' Cheese, however, and took one look at him, she just flashed a knowing wink. Soon afterward, attendance was complete and the lesson planning could begin.
Before commencing with the lesson, however, Mrs. Diamond spoke up. "Lil' Cheese?"
The colt somewhat hesitantly answered. "Yes?"
Without changing her expression in the slightest, the teacher told him. "See me after school, please. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble." But she refused to elaborate any further.
The school day came and went without further incident after that. As it was only the first day of a new school year after all, so there was no homework that had to be given out and no tests or pop quizzes to make students nervous (plus, it was only half a day).
When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, all the colts and fillies happily filed out of the classroom one by one. And all of them were eager to tell their parents, older siblings or other legal guardians about their new, well-knowm school teacher.
Lil' Cheese, however, had to wait. Mrs. Diamond had specifically requested to meet with him, and he knew it wouldn't be very nice if he tried to get out of the situation. Sure, he hadn't 'Pinkie Promised' or even regular promised, but that didn't mean he had permission to disobey the request. So it was that he reluctantly stayed in the classroom after everypony but him and the teacher had already left. The empty classroom did nothing to steady his nerves.
Diamond, for her part, seemed cheerful, upbeat and full of life. Whatever the reason was for her requesting Lil' Cheese to meet with her alone, it didn't seem to be affecting her mood at all. "Bet you're surprised to see me here, huh, Lil' Cheese?" She said with a slight wink as she swished her tail. "Well, I've been looking forward to seeing you again. When I heard from Miss. Cheerilee that you were one of her students, I knew I made the right decision in taking over from her."
"I thought you said the EEA requested you to come and teach here?" Lil' Cheese blinked his green eyes in confusion.
The pink earth pony mare and now off-duty teacher flashed an innocent and cheerful smile at the colt. "That's only half true. The EEA did notify me there was a vacancy here in Ponyville, but they also said they already had somepony lined up if I didn't want to take the assignment. That's the EEA for you, they're always prepared for any possible contingency. It's okay if you don't know what that means, yet. I'm looking forward to teaching you about such complicated words someday."
The colt with the same color mane and tail as his mom was still confused and uncertain. "So, you chose to take over from Miss. Cheerilee?" Upon receiving a nod he asked. "Does that mean you're the reason why Miss. Cheerilee isn't coming back?"
Diamond immediately saw fit to dispel any such fanciful notions taking hold in Lil' Cheese's mind. "No. I would never do such a thing to anypony! Miss. Cheerilee chose of her own free will to give up teaching, much like Celestia and Luna chose to retire and pass the responsibility of ruling Equestria to Princess Twilight. Eventually, there comes a point in everypony's life where they must step down or step back from doing what they're doing," She then added with a knowing wink. "Besides, she's not going to be 'Miss' Cheerilee for much longer. I don't know who her special somepony is, I just know she's going to be getting married soon. And I couldn't be happier for her."
"So, if Miss. Cheerilee left teaching because she wanted to, did you know that she was my teacher when you agreed to be her replacement?" The colt with a cheesy yellow coat inquired. He seemed to be slowly piecing together the whole story.
Mrs. Diamond firmly nodded again. "I did. You were very much a part of the reason why I agreed in the end. Since you no longer need somepony to foalsit you all the time, I figured this way I could still see you whenever I wanted to and see the kind of pony you're turning into. In fact, me foalsitting you back then was a very big part of why I decided to become a teacher," She sweetly explained. "Getting to know you made me realize how much I wanted to take a part in shaping young minds and helping them grow. Giving them a chance to make new friends and learn new things."
Lil' Cheese had to fight back a blush. "Aw, shucks, you didn't have to do all of that just because of me. Really. I'm just glad I didn't drive you away like I did all my other foalsitters. Even Mr. Pound and Miss. Pumpkin said I was too much for them, and yet they've known my mom apparently since they were foals. So if even they found me kinda crazy, well," He looked down at the ground for a moment. "What did that say about ponies who already found my parents weird? What did that say about ponies who had no idea at all what I was like? I'm just glad you were different. You were really nice, and a lot of fun to hang out with."
Diamond responded by trotting forward, giving Lil' Cheese a pat on the head. "I'm glad you felt that way, and I'm glad I got to know you when I did. You actually remind me a lot of myself when I was about your age."
"Really?!" Lil' Cheese asked as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Of course," The off-duty teacher explained as her tone of voice became a tad more serious. She briefly shut her eyes, picturing memories that were still crystal clear in her mind despite how long ago they had taken place. "I had a lot of uncertainty after I got my cutie mark. And unlike you, I didn't really have a supportive family to help me figure it out. My father was too busy running the family business to really spend much time with me. And my mother," She shuddered ever so slightly. "Well, the less said about her, the better. She... wasn't a very nice pony, and unfortunately I spent way too much trying to be like her in the hopes it would impress her," With a guilty look in her eyes as she opened them she stated. "It didn't, to cut a long story short."
Lil' Cheese spoke up. "Well, you're not that pony anymore, right? Everypony says you're so sweet and caring now."
The somber, serious look in Diamond's eyes faded ever so slowly as she sighed. "Yes, that's true. Luckily, I was able to realize the folly of my actions before it was too late. I won't say that everything was peachy keen afterward, because it wasn't. It took a long time for me to truly make amends for the things I'd said and did, and for someponies it was a long time before they'd even speak to me again, let alone trust me. But it made me realize that life's a learning experience. And you're never too old to stop learning: Especially about yourself. If you put your mind to it, you'll be surprised at what you're capable of."
Lil' Cheese didn't respond with words. Instead, the colt trotted over and gave his teacher a big hug. "You really didn't have to tell me all this, but I'm glad you did. You're a lot like Miss. Cheerilee already. She always made it a habit to try to get to know us personally, to know what was going on in our lives and how she might be able to help us. She too always liked to say that there was always something new we could learn everyday," Looking up at the mare he gazed into her cornflower blue eyes as he said to her. "I thought that I was lucky getting to have you for a teacher, and I still think I am."
"No, I'm the lucky one, Lil' Cheese," Mrs. Diamond insisted as she returned the hug, not even flinching or wincing as she felt herself feel just a little bit "sticky" for lack of a better term (like she was coated in honey, tree sap and pine needles. Oh well, it was nothing a nice, hot bath couldn't fix later). "Since I was little I thought I'd grow up to take over from my father and run the family business like his father before him. Or that I'd end up like my mother, marrying into wealth and power and using that only to benefit myself. But meeting you helped me remember the most important thing the Cutie Mark Crusaders taught me: We don't have to be defined by who we were or who we think we're going to be."
"That's what Mom and Dad always say," Lil' Cheese nodded back. "They always say that I don't have to grow up to be party ponies like them. But I really do want to be one! They make their jobs sound like the most awesome jobs in the world!"
Diamond's smile grew brighter. "If that's what you decide you want to do, I'm sure you'll be a fantastic party pony one day. But you've got your whole life ahead of you. You're still young, and as they say: You're only young once. You should enjoy the time you have now to just be yourself, to make friends and play without worrying about grown-up things. So can you promise me that you'll take that lesson to heart? That you'll live each day trying to be better than who you were the day before?"
The colt flashed his trademark toothy smile as he leaped back and bounced on his tail! "Sure! In fact, I'll 'Pinkie Promise', because a 'Pinkie Promise' is never EVER broken!" He proceeded to chant and make a series of motions with his hooves. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
The earth pony mare couldn't help but clap her hooves along. "Wonderful, just wonderful," She spoke with sincere praise. Then she turned to the classroom door. "Well, I think I've held you up long enough, Lil' Cheese. No need to keep your parents waiting. I'm already looking forward to meeting with them again for parent/teacher conferences in the future. Now go on, go to them. And I'll see you here first thing tomorrow for the first full day of class."
Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich were indeed waiting for Lil' Cheese when he finally exited the schoolhouse and came running up to them, happily leaping into the warm embrace of their waiting hooves!
Pinkie Pie immediately smiled as she hugged her son tightly. "Looks to me like somepony had an excellent first day with their new teacher."
Lil' Cheese eagerly replied. "I sure did! You'll never guess who it was, either! It was Diamond Tiara! You know, the same pony who foalsat for me that one time?"
Cheese Sandwich exchanged the most unusual glance with his wife before looking down to his son. "Really now? Diamond Tiara? Never would've imagined her to become a teacher."
"Guess that would explain why we hadn't seen her in a long time," Pinkie realized. "Oh, I wish I'd have known. I would've happily thrown her a party to celebrate her becoming a teacher. Maybe I can still do that if I start planning now. Her birthday is coming up, after all. And this gives me the perfect excuse to update her file in my secret party planning cave."
Cheese giggled at his wife's display of enthusiasm. "Don't get ahead of yourself, honey," He cautioned. "Let's hold off on the big party plans until after we meet with Diamond for parent/teacher conferences next week."
Pinkie playfully pouted at her husband. "Oh, you're no fun!"
"Hey, you're not the only party pony in the family," Cheese pointed out. "With me by your side, party planning is twice as fast and twice as fun. Plus, I have a feeling that junior here," He gestured a hoof to Lil' Cheese. "Might wanna get in on the party planning too. From what I can tell, it sounds like he's found a new favorite teacher already."
Lil' Cheese nodded. "Yeah! I didn't think anypony could possibly be cooler than Miss. Cheerilee, but Mrs. Diamond Tiara is loads more fun and just as sweet! I never would've imagined I'd inspire her so much. Guess I'm just magical like that." He said that last line with a cheeky wink.
Author's Note
Hey, if no one else is going to do anything with these characters, I'm happy to fill the void. Besides, I kind of have aspirations to be a teacher someday (hopefully), so making grown-up Diamond Tiara a teacher doesn't seem outside the realm of pluasibility for me.
