All good friends share something, and Roseluck, Daisy and Lily valley were no exception to the rule. What might it have been? Their overdramatic nature, which overshadowed even that of Rarity, some gossiped. Usually, the trio respectfully disagreed, though, and pointed instead to their passion and even talent for growing flowers, as proved by their cutie marks, and to their friendly competition over the best garden. It was quite usual to overhear them boast about their newly blossomed batch, and playfully banter about each other works. Nothing to be worried about; this was completely harmless, even in light of their aforementioned nature, and never scaled out of proportion.
As much as they got complimented about their garden, as much as Mares and Stallions asked their advice and sometimes even bought their flowers, they were well aware of a little known fact, which was enough to keep them humble. It was not as showy as theirs, it was much smaller and it was in the outskirts of Ponyville, much less likely to be seen by many. It was the garden, the three of them agreed, was the most beautiful in town. Be it the luxurious golden daffodils, or the elegant pink roses just nearby, everything seemed to shine brightly, in a unique way. And the Trio couldn't even be jealous of it. The owner was just so modest; sometimes she did even help with useful suggestions or lending an occasion helping hoof. A favour that they rarely had the chance to repay. After all, whenever the mare owning this garden needed any help, she always asked her students first.
"Miss Cheerilee, where do I leave the vases?"
With the summer coming soon, the Teacher was in dire need of help to do some transplants. As the final exam, anticipating the graduation of her class, was also coming soon, she knew that finding volunteers would be a lot more difficult than usual. But she would never have guessed who the volunteer would be. The class representative, no less.
"You can put them there on the side, Diamond Tiara!"
How far had she come, compared to when, just two years prior, she was little more than a bully, disliked by most of her class! She still remembered how, at the time, she did receive no votes (bar her own) for the same election that then won twice in a row. And albeit her temper was sometimes still a problem, she could see how she always tried to help her classmates... Her friends. Cheerilee even thought that she offered herself for this job to give more time to study to her classmates. Noble, although unnecessary: Cheerilee could have asked any of her friends for a helping hoof, if no student was available.
Still, today the behaviour of Diamond Tiara was... Weird. It was the first time she ever volunteered to help Cheerilee (and possibly the first time she did any manual labour), which was extraordinary on its own. She also didn't sport her proud and confident demeanour and was being surprisingly silent. She asked what she had to do and how to do it, just as she needed. Her inexperience was for everyone to see, but at the same time she was putting a lot of effort into every gesture, managing to be actually very helpful. But besides that, her mouth was mostly shut. Every attempt at small talk done by Cheerilee sank inexorably after few rebuttals, leaving her honestly a bit worried.
"Are you ok, Diamond Tiara?" The job at this point was mostly done, and as she was losing focus on her work, it shifted more and more to her student. And she could not bear anymore to see her like this.
"I'm okay." If the pink pony could at least look at her teacher in the eyes, she would probably have been believed. Her staring at the ground and her lowered ears, on the contrary, were bound to raise more questions
"Are you sure? If something, anything, bothers you, you can tell me!" Her words were warm and motherly, and her caring was real. She did care for every single student as if they were her own foals, and that made it easy for them to confide in her. But Diamond Tiara never did, as much as Cheerilee hoped things could change.
"I'm okay. Really. I... I just... I'm sorry!" The voice lost strength at every word, and never had a filly looked at the ground so intently.
"What?" As for Cheerilee, she honestly couldn't hear the last word. Actually, she thought she had heard something, but it couldn't be right. She could count on her own hooves how many times she heard Diamond Tiara pronounce that word. And she would probably spare one or two hooves.
"I..." the filly swallowed hard. After a few moments, she found the courage to look straight in Cheerilee eyes, surprising her with a sense of deep sadness "I'm sorry!"
"Don't be!" Now she was even more worried, if possible. Something must have been really wrong with her. Especially since she had really nothing to be sorry "You were a lot of help, really! especially since it is your first time!" Cheerilee tried to sound as cheerful as she could, hoping to comfort her a bit. But she didn't lie, she really helped a lot. Cheerilee did most of the work, as usual, but that was to be expected. "And I was really proud, seeing you work so hard! And...-"
"No. It's not about this" With a hoof she pointed at the garden. "It's about..." Diamond Tiara thought she had made her mind long ago about this. She was always a confident speaker, but now everything was so hard today "Me"
Cheerilee frowned a bit. She had no Idea what her student was trying to say. But she was trying really hard to understand and be supportive.
"Uhm..." Diamond Tiara was thinking, and thinking hard, about how to approach the matter. And she had an idea, finally "Miss Cheerilee, you care about all of your students, do you?"
"I sure do!" She answered with a little smile, still wondering about what her student was getting at.
"And..." She lowered her eyes a bit, unable to bear that motherly look, that gentle smile. In any other moment that would have been as comforting as it could be. but now? it was just painful "If someone harmed your students, how would that make you feel?"
Now, that was a surprising question. The smile vanished for a moment from her muzzle, leaving a pensive expression. But after collecting her thoughts for a few seconds, Cheerilee answered quite confidently "A bit angry, but mostly... very sad."
"So... Did I make you sad?" She looked down. the always confident Diamond Tiara seemed on the verge of crying. A sight that Cheerilee could hardly bear. But as soon as she tried to answer, she was quickly cut off by the filly "No, I mean... When I was younger, and I was mean..." Something of which she definitely wasn't proud, something that, as it seems, it was still haunting her even after two whole years "And I used to hurt everyone with my words..."
She looked at her teacher again, trying to to find the words. She had thought ahead of time of the entire speech, but now she didn't remember a word. she was trying to rebuild it piece by piece, struggling with the intricacies of her own feelings "When you lectured me about what I did, you didn't look angry. Just Sad." A deep breath, finally <Every time, just so sad. Just so disappointed. And I kept doing it"
"I didn't want..." Diamond Tiara a long time ago thought she was strong, indestructible, perfect. She had since learned of her own weaknesses, of her vulnerabilities. Still, giving away her feelings so clearly was unbecoming, unworthy of the leader she was. But now? "Sniff" Tears were rolling on her cheeks and she couldn't stop them. And as her breathing became a bit harder to control, so the words became harder to pronounce " I didn't want to make you sad!"
This was why she was here, why she volunteered. She thought that she would manage to tell her what she had bottled up for so long, what her weakness prevented her from telling before. Remembering the old times was something she never did gladly, it was painful. But as her time in Ponyville ran short, she knew she had to. She would never be a better pony until she could really repent for her past mistakes "I'm sorry"
That was it. She did it. The long prepared speech, although with different words thought on the moment, was finally said. Now she only had to wait for forgiveness, and then that chapter of her life would finally be over. Forgiven, certainly. Forgotten, if possible. And while she waited, she tried to make her breathing regular again and to stop her tears. She didn't really have time do so, though, as Cheerilee forearms bolted towards her, wrapping the filly in a warm hug.
"Apologies accepted!" On Cheerilee face there was a huge smile, and two small tears on the verge of falling from her eyes. She was proud, oh so proud of her student. Diamond Tiara was really grown up, in the end. She was the filly Cheerilee had hoped she would become. Able to admit to her mistakes, capable to make amends. And as a teacher, she couldn't ask for anything better!
The end.
Wait, no. Something didn't feel right in diamond Diamond Tiara chest. Her teacher words were painful to her. So was her smile. So was her hug. And especially her pride.
"that's it?"
She was surprised at her own world. Isn't this how things usually go? One makes a mistake, or many mistakes, then sincerely says she is sorry and everything is forgiven. Spread a nasty rumour on someone? Sorry? Forgiven! Enslave a whole city and try to change the past with the risk of destroying the entire Equestria? Sorry? Forgiven! It seemed so easy in her mind. It kind of worked like that after the whole election ordeal, too. She repented, she helped her classmates in the time of need, and she felt better. She thought the only lingering feelings were about her teacher, about how her actions must have hurt her too, but now she realized it wasn't that simple.
"You are just going to forgive me like that? After everything I did?" It was unsatisfying, anticlimactic.
"Well, yes I am," Cheerilee answered quickly, as it was the most natural thing in the world. "I forgave you long ago, actually. When you decided to be a better pony, and managed to never fall back in your bad habits. After all, before you just didn't know better"
"But... I knew what I was doing was wrong" Diamond Tiara tried to distance herself from Cheerilee a bit, to be able to better look at her through her still foggy eyes. But Cheerilee wouldn't yet let go. She knew when a filly was in need of a hug "And I still did it!"
"You didn't know better. Sure, you kind of knew what was right and what was wrong, but you didn't know how to act upon it" Yes, the explanation made sense to the filly, who was finally released from the long hug "Until the cutie mark crusaders showed you how!"
It was a story she heard briefly from Diamond Tiara herself, actually, when Cheerilee first approached her about her change of behaviour, to show the filly how glad she was. A beautiful story of friendship, although Tiara wasn't very generous with the details.
For Diamond Tiara, mentioning the trio (and especially that story) was a bit of a touchy subject. It was maybe the best day of her life, when she finally realized her talent could help people, but it couldn't but remember the filly ow who she used to be, of the old Diamond tiara. "I would still be like that if it weren't for them, wouldn't I?" A bit of melancholy in her voice, thinking back at that bittersweet memory and at her three friends
"I don't know. You still had it in you, after all. Maybe without them it would just have been much more difficult to change?" Cheerilee hypothesized, not wanting to banalize their contribution, but also trying to give Diamond Tiara the recognition she deserved.
Diamond Tiara wasn't sure, though. Thinking of how devastated she was after losing not only the election but also her only friend, she really had a difficult time imagining where could she be without Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Maybe she would still have tried to follow her mother's ways, becoming even more alone, or maybe she would have tried to change by herself, although her pride would have made that difficult. And what if she had ended up doing something... more extreme? She didn't even want to think about that third option
"Also, don't forget that I was hurt because you hurt other people. And then you put an effort into making amends, and they all forgave you. How could I not do the same?" Again, there was a reason for which Cheerilee was the teacher and Diamond Tiara the student. Everything she said made perfect sense in the filly mind. But somehow it wasn't enough And as Cheerilee realized this, she had an idea "You want to know how you could make amends to me, too?"
That could be exactly the kind of catharsis Diamond Tiara needed, so wiping off her tears she answered with a bit of excitement "Yes, please!"
"Do you like this garden?" Cheerilee was talking with a calm and comforting tone, but sported now an enigmatic smile
"I do! it's the prettiest in Ponyville" It was an easy question, even too easy, and it didn't feel related at all to the matter, which made Diamond Tiara raise her brows a little
"It's pretty, but it's not the best in Ponyville" She answered confidently, and it wasn't about being modest (although she wouldn't call it the best in Ponyville anyways, she liked very much those of Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily valley. It was just so hard to decide.) "I grow another garden, and it is much more beautiful!"
Now Diamond Tiara was even more perplexed "Another garden? How comes I've never seen it?"
"You have. It is at our school. And each time a flower blooms, I'm filled with happiness. And when it keeps growing, more beautiful by the day, that's the best feeling in the whole world!" She was smiling from ear to ear, thinking at every time it felt that. Often, actually, as she did care very much for each of her flowers, and put a lot of effort into giving them the chance to grow
"At our school?" there were some flowers there. They were nice; probably Cheerilee herself planted them. But the exposure wasn't ideal, and neither the ground. As much effort as Cheerilee could put in gardening, those flowers couldn't grow as well as the ones that surrounded the two. If she was talking about gardening, that is. Diamond tiara eyes moved to Cheerilee flank. to her cutie mark "Wait... You mean us?"
"I mean you all. And you specifically. If you want to make amends for making me sad then, I think you have to make me happy, don't you?" it sounded fair "And to make me happy, you just have to keep being the best possible you that you can be!"
"That's it?" Diamond Tiara blinked twice, a bit confused. It was a step in the right direction, but it still felt too easy
"It's not easy, you know?" Diamond Diara felt like Cheerilee had read her mind. Even if the filly never really opened much to her, the teacher could understand her quite well "Every day, every time you do something... trying to do the right thing. Making mistakes some times, sure, but then working hard to make amends."
"I... I can do it!" Her confidence was coming back, and so a timid smile appeared on her face "I will do it!"
"I know you can. You have been doing for two whole years, after all..." She made mistakes still, many of them. But as said, she always tried her best "And if things get difficult, you can always confide in me. Not as a teacher, but as a friend."
After all, soon the school year would come to an end. A new class will be given to Cheerilee. But she wouldn't forgive of the seeds she planted and had helped bloom. They would always her students. More than her students, her friends. Almost her foals, although it seemed a bit pretentious to her.
"I won't" Diamond Tiara smiled, though. She was happy hearing those words "Not because I wouldn't like to, but..." Again, there was a reason she decided to talk to her now. She knew she wouldn't have many more chances "I won't be in Ponyville for a while!"
This surprised Cheerilee a bit. She did know the plans of most of her students, what job would they take after their graduation. But Diamond Tiara was a mystery. She assumed she would help with her father businesses, but she might have been wrong "Why is that?" Honest curiosity in her voice, which was soon to be satisfied.
"I'll be travelling with my father this summer. She wants to explore a few business ventures, and introduce me to some of his business partners" Chherilee thought her student was going to help her father, which didn't surprise her. Until... "Then I will stay in Canterlot, at Celestia school for Public policy."
"Really?" That's what surprising. She did never doubt Diamond Tiara leadership potential, but she didn't certainly didn't expect her to try pushing that far, though "I heard it's a very selective school" Mayor Mare tried to get in it many years ago, and failed. It was not necessary to go through it to become a mayor, as there are good alternatives in Manehattan and Fillydelphia, but for those aspiring to higher offices, it was extremely useful. It was not a coincidence that most of its students came from the nobility, and were prepared for years by their families to try the entrance exam.
"My grades are good, aren't they? And I did well in the test, too." her mother also wanted to help with some generous donations to the school, just to have a little more leverage, but Diamond Tiara was strongly against the idea. She wanted to make it with her own strength. It was the first step to be able to help one day not only her classmates... but the whole Equestria. "I hope to do well there, too..." As confident as she was, she realized how competitive the place could be. Some of the greatest young minds of Equestria would study there. As she didn't aim to the more bureaucratic positions, being at the top of the class wasn't necessary. But to aim to the chamber of representatives, she couldn't afford to fail, either.
"I'm sure you will. Your heart is in the right place, now!" Easy? It wouldn't be. But Cheerilee could see how well motivated her student was. And she knew that the proud Diamond Tiara wouldn't let some hardships stop her
The sun was starting to approach the horizon, after the long discussion they had, and it was time to wrap up both the conversation and the work they were doing before. "I hope you feel better, now, Tiara..."
"I do!" The filly answered with a smile, although it didn't last long. She lowered her ears a bit, before continuing "But I still feel very sorry for what I did..."
"That's normal, you know?" She understood what she meant, and answered with a wide, reassuring smile "I made my mistakes, and I remember them well. Sometimes they hurt, too, but they remind me every day what I'm supposed to do!"
"I guess so..." That made sense. As much as those old memories pained her, she wouldn't want to forget them after all. They were part of who she was, they too made her the Mare she was today. And those memories would help her grow more and more, maybe becoming the flower her teacher would like to see
"Now, help me clean the tools. If we are fast, we can manage to visit Sugarcube corner before sunset" A friendly and playful wink accompanied her words, and Diamond Tiara couldn't help but smile. The two started walking toward Cheerilee's cottage, leaving the second most beautiful garden in Ponyville behind them. The first was inside them, after all, still growing more beautiful by the day. And who knows how much more it could become.
"Thank you miss Cheerilee, for everything!"
"Thank you, Diamond Tiara. I'm glad you could confide in me!"
"I would have liked to do it a long time ago..."
"But you did, today. I know it isn't easy, but you can still come to me whenever you want. Even from Canterlot, you can just write me a letter."
"I think I will."