Chapter I

“Alright, my little ponies! I think it’s time for recess.” No sooner had the words left Cheerilee’s mouth, than the uproar of scraping chairs and the excited clamor of young fillies and colts filled her ears. The purple mare smiled as she watched her pupils scurry out of the classroom towards the playground.

Though she loved everything about teaching, nothing in Cheerilee’s profession was a greater reward than seeing her students beam with joy. True pride would come from making her students smile because she taught them something that excited them, but since she had decided to devote the day to mathematics—a subject that only a select few foals were truly enthusiastic about—she was content with the grins that recess brought.

When Cheerilee stepped outside, her eyes had to adjust momentarily to the intense sunlight. It was an exceptionally bright day. The sky was completely cloudless, and a gentle breeze caressed her coat as she blinked to adjust her eyesight from the relatively low light in the classroom. It would be an injustice to call her classroom dark, though. Cheerilee made it a point to keep her windows unblocked. Learning had to be fun, and no young foal wanted to learn in a classroom reminiscent of a dungeon.

Though it isn’t like some don’t consider it prison anyway, Cheerilee thought with a chuckle, her eyes falling on her two goofy students Snips and Snails, who were playing hide and seek with a group of other foals and miserably failing to properly conceal themselves.

The excited cheering and laughter filled the playground as the students went about playing games together. Cheerilee sat down on a bench, closing her eyes to take in all the different sounds. It was then that she began to notice a sound that stood out from the rest. A familiar, high pitched voice was sobbing loudly. The teacher opened her eyes to look for the source, to see a distraught Sweetie Belle running towards her.

“M-miss Cheerilee!,” the filly cried out through her sobs. Without hesitating, the purple mare responded, approaching Sweetie Belle and placing a comforting hoof on the white unicorn’s head, stroking the pink and purple mane in a comforting gesture.

“There, there now Sweetie Belle. It’s alright, I’m here. Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?,” Cheerilee said in a motherly voice, trying to soothe the crying filly, “What happened?”

Sweetie Belle didn’t answer right away, her sobs making it difficult for her to speak. “I-it’s Diamond Tiara and Silver S-Spoon, they tackled me a-and said they were going to g-give me a cutie mark, and then they, they-!” Cheerilee frowned as another set of sobs wracked the little filly’s body. She pulled the unicorn into a hug, when she noticed something on Sweetie Belle’s flank. Cheerilee frowned, tilting her head to get a better look.

The teacher let out a startled gasp as she looked upon the crudely painted, obscene picture that defiled Sweetie Belle. She ran her hoof across the mark to find that the paint had mostly dried. The strong scent of oil penetrated her nose, indicating that the drawing would not easily come off with water and soap.

“Did Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon do this?,” Cheerilee asked with a deep frown. Sweetie Belle only nodded. Carefully the purple mare broke the embrace with the unicorn. She had been aware of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for a while. It was no secret to Cheerilee that the two bullies had it out for blank flanks, as tales of the troublemakers had reached her ears more than once. This was the first time they had committed something this excessive, however.

“Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Get over here now!,” Cheerilee called out to the playground in a stern voice. After a while, the two fillies trotted towards Cheerilee. They looked dirty and bruised, but there was a subtle hint of a smirk plastered on Diamond Tiara’s face. They were followed by Applebloom and Scootaloo, who looked equally roughed up. It wasn’t hard to guess that they had been fighting. Cheerilee figured Sweetie Belle’s two friends must have truly lost their temper after she had been hurt so much. The four fillies began to talk at once.

“Miss Cheerilee, look wha’ they did ta Sweetie Belle!,” Applebloom began.

“What makes you think we did this?,” Silver Spoon sneered back.

“Don’t you lie! We saw you do it! You’ve gone too far this time!,” Scootaloo snarled through hissed teeth, having more difficulty to keep a lid on her fury in front of her teacher than Applebloom.

“Ugh, like, you have any proof-.” Diamond Tiara’s sentence was cut off by a screaming Applebloom.

“Shut yer lyin’ mouth Diamond Tiara!”

“Like, you attacked us first, blank flank!” Diamond Tiara retorted.

“And you deserved-!” Scootaloo was cut off mid-sentence.

“Enough, all of you!,” Cheerilee roared, “I am very, very disappointed in all of you. Applebloom, Scootaloo, I´m going to talk to your parents about this. I will not condone my students solving their problems by fighting amongst themselves.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon grinned smugly. The two Cutiemark Crusaders were about to object, but Cheerilee cut them off. She turned to the two bullies, whose grins immediately faded upon seeing their teachers´ furious expression.

“And you two!,” Cheerilee continued, “You two will be staying in detention after school for the coming week! You have gone way out of line, both of you! I am going to have a serious talk with your parents about this. Never, ever in my entire career have I seen two fillies your age do something so despicable. Now, you will apologize to Sweetie Belle and then you will find your seats in class. I don’t want to hear any sound from the both of you for the rest of the day! Am I understood?”

“Ugh, like, detention? But I’m busy, I have-,” Diamond Tiara started before being cut off.

“I want to hear nothing of it! Inside, now.” Cheerilee fumed, stomping her hoof on the ground to emphasize her point.

“But-,” Diamond Tiara tried to protest once more.

“Now!”

It was quiet for a while. Though Silver Spoon was looking at the ground remorsefully, Diamond Tiara still had a glint of defiance in her eyes. Nevertheless, both of them turned to Sweetie Belle, made their apologies and trotted inside the classroom. Cheerilee let out a heavy sigh. She hated having to fall out against her students, even when it was entirely deserved. She looked up when she began to notice the lack of sound around her, to see every foal on the playground staring at her in open mouthed silence.

Cheerilee motioned with her head towards the entrance of the classroom. “Recess is over.”

The only sounds that were audible inside the classroom were the soft ticking of a clock, the scribbling of pencils on paper and the rustling of leaves outside the window. Cheerilee busied herself by grading biology tests, occasionally looking up from her work to look at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

The two fillies sat at a pair of desks that were placed directly in front of Cheerilee, so she could keep an eye on them while they wrote an essay about what they did wrong. Silver Spoon was writing quickly, bowed low over her paper. Cheerilee could just make out that she was on the verge of crying by the trembling lower lip, moist eyes and the occasional sniff that came from the filly.

She seems to be remorseful at least, Cheerilee thought. She felt a pang of sentiment for Silver Spoon. She will learn her lesson. I might even let her off the hook early.

Diamond Tiara was a different story, however. She had been moping throughout her entire detention, a look of annoyance and anger on her face. Glancing down at the essay, Cheerilee could make out that she had barely made any progress, and was drawing random pictures instead. The teacher frowned.

Suddenly the silence in the room was broken by Diamond Tiara. “Can we go yet?”

“I told you that you can go when I say you can. I also told you that I did not want to hear you, so go back to work,” Cheerilee responded sternly, but calmly. Though she had far from forgiven the fillies in front of her, much of the anger had ebbed away over the course of the day.

“But we’ve been sitting here for hours.” Diamond Tiara moaned. Cheerilee gave her a stern glare in return.
“And you will be sitting here for several more if you do not get back to your essay, young lady.”

At this, Diamond Tiara grudgingly got back to her writing. In truth, only three quarters of an hour had passed since the detention started, and they had only fifteen more minutes to go. If Cheerilee had her way, she would have kept them for another hour. Instead she decided to wait until she had properly spoken to their parents, to ensure they would not be worried about the whereabouts of their children.

Silence returned to the classroom, and Cheerilee returned her focus to the tests in front of her. Moments after the silence was once again broken by Diamond Tiara.

“I’ll make you regret this.”

Cheerilee briefly looked up from the papers in front of her. “I believe I told you to be quiet, Diamond Tiara.”

“I’ll really make you regret this.” Diamond Tiara said again, louder this time, looking up at her teacher defiantly. Silver Spoon gave her friend an incredulous gaze. Cheerilee frowned in return.

“Watch your language, young lady,” she replied, “and I believe your essay would benefit more from your writing than your attempts at threatening me.”

“My father will hear of this!” Diamond Tiara nearly shouted.

“I should hope so. I intend to have a long talk with him about your behavior. Now get back to your essay, and I do not want to hear you again.”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes shot venom at Cheerilee, who simply returned her an unimpressed raised eyebrow. The filly huffed with disdain, before getting back to her work.

Despite being upset with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, she had decided to wave them goodbye with a smile. She was fond of all her students after all, even if they were a little wayward. By now the anger that she had felt at the two fillies had been replaced by a sense of worry. She was concerned about what had driven her students to such an act, and what this would mean for them in the future.

Silver Spoon, who was no longer able to keep her tears, gave Cheerilee a wave and a hesitant smile in return. Diamond Tiara never bothered to face the teacher, merely huffing in anger and spitting on the ground as she walked away from the schoolhouse. The teacher waited until the two were out of sight before she slumped against the doorframe and hung her head.

I hope I never have to do something like that again, Cheerilee thought. She felt exhausted. Teaching was never easy, and she always felt a little heavy lidded at the end of each school day. Today she felt exceptionally drained, however. The rewarding happy glow that came from the enjoyment of her work was missing, leaving her feeling cold and empty, like she had been standing in the middle of a downpour. She deadpanned as she began to feel raindrops on her nose.

You just had to jinx it, didn’t you. Cheerilee locked the schoolhouse behind her, swiftly making her way home. She was thankful that she lived close to her work, making it just inside her house as the clouds began to shower in earnest. She silently cursed the weather Pegasi and their strange weather schedules as the door fell shut behind her and she was enveloped in the comforting warmth of her house.

Cheerilee didn’t exactly live like royalty. Her house was on the small size, and modestly decorated. It had a cozy feel to it, though, that made the purple mare unwilling to trade it for anything. She was happy where she was, doing what she did. Teaching was her special purpose, represented in the cutie mark on her flank. She had a loving family and good friends. She was particularly fond of the academic unicorn Twilight Sparkle, who lived in the library. The studious mare always knew to point her in the direction of a good book. She didn’t have a special somepony, but that didn’t matter to her.

For a moment Cheerilee thought about the time when the Cutiemark Crusaders had tried to match her to Big Macintosh on Hearts and Hooves day with a love potion. She smiled slightly at the memory as she chewed on the dandelion sandwich she had made for herself. Her smile faded when her thoughts inevitably brought her to Sweetie Belle and her new decoration. Poor dear, I hope she’s alright.

Cheerilee found herself staring a little too long at the plate in front of her, her eyes falling shut on their own accord as the pitter-patter of rain on the window mesmerized her. She suddenly remembered how much the day had worn her out. Deciding that a quick afternoon nap couldn’t hurt, she moved towards her couch and dropped herself on it. She let her eyes fall shut, and sleep overtook her.

When Cheerilee woke up, it was not because she was rested. Groggily she opened her eyes as she heared the sound of a heavy hoof knocking roughly on her door. She could still hear the rain clattering against the window, though it had vastly diminished in intensity from the afternoon.

“Who could that be?,” she asked nopony in particular. Once again, the hoof pounded on her front door. A look at the clock revealed it was half past nine. Though it was already dark out, Cheerilee noticed flashes of blue light, and the murmur of a crowd of people. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” she called out.

Cheerilee stretched her limbs before moving to open the door. The moment she did, she came face to face with a bulky, gray stallion sporting a thick moustache and a blue jacket and cap. The stallion roughly pulled her outwards, after which another placed cuffs connecting her front and rear hooves together. When she registered what was happening, Cheerilee began to panic.

“What is the meaning of this?!,” the purple mare called out. She looked around to see that a crowd of shocked onlookers had gathered around her house. There was a carriage that had the letters ‘P.P.D.’ printed on it. Questions spun through her mind, though she was unable to voice them in her shock.

“Miss Cheerilee, you are under arrest for sexual harassment of a foal below the legal age of consent,” the stallion with the moustache spoke, “you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.”

The rest of the stallion’s words did not register in Cheerilee’s mind as she was escorted to the police carriage, the source of the flashing lights. She looked around the crowd, noticing the expressions of horror and disgust. She saw some acquaintances in the crowd, including her friend Twilight Sparkle, who looked at her in a mix of disgust and disappointment. Cheerilee tried to call out, but no words would leave her throat. She felt like she was being choked, the air itself tying itself around her neck like a noose.

Two ponies stood out from the crowd. Filthy Rich was talking to a female police officer, pointing his hoof at Cheerilee.

“That’s her,” the teacher could see him mouth. Next to Filthy Rich stood his daughter, Diamond Tiara. She locked eyes with the little filly. Somewhere she had expected to see a smug grin and an evil glint in her student’s eyes. She did not. All that Cheerilee could see in Diamond Tiara’s eyes and face was horror. The contact was broken when she reached the police carriage, and was roughly shoved inside. She felt the carriage begin to move, and the din of the crowd faded away. Only now did the situation begin to dawn on Cheerilee, and tears began to stream from her eyes as she wept.

Author's Note

Chapter one. Since I'm new at this, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!