Classes had already let out for the day at the Ponyville schoolhouse and normally Cheerilee would have already packed up and headed, likely to work on the lesson plan for the next day and grade whatever assignments she hadn't already graded.
Today was different. The now off duty teacher had something else on her schedule. So the earth pony mare made sure her work space was neat and tidy, she was expecting company after all. Not just any company but a very important mare for a very important conversation. There were no stacks of papers on her desk, the chalkboard had been erased, everything was as it should be.
"Any minute now she'll be here." Cheerilee thought to herself. She wasn't nervous, the impending conversation had been her idea after all. It was no secret that her former love interest Big Macintosh had moved on. It was said that he'd never been happier, and if he was happy Cheerilee was happy. Now she just hoped she could convince a certain unicorn of the same.
A rather nervous knock reached Cheerilee's ears as she rose from her desk. She knew who it was. With a smile on her face the earth pony trotted to the door and opened it. On the other side of the door stood a unicorn mare with the most beautiful light pink coat Cheerilee had ever seen. The mare had her moderate magenta mane and tail done up in a lovely set of curls to compliment her light purple eyes. And of course there was her cutie mark, a cherry topped cupcake and four jelly beans.
Despite her best efforts Cheerilee couldn't help but feel just a little bit jealous of the mare. It was easy to see why Big Macintosh was attracted to her, the unicorn was certainly a looker. But looks weren't the only thing this mare had going for her and Cheerilee knew it. The jealous feeling faded after only a moment. "You must be Sugar Belle," Cheerilee greeted with a smile. "So nice to finally meet you."
Sugar Belle nervously nodded her head. "Um, thanks. And uh... the feeling's mutual, Miss. Cheerilee."
"Please, just Cheerilee will do," Cheerilee cheerfully insisted as she gestured a hoof. "Come on in, Sugar Belle. There's something we need to discuss."
Against her better judgement Sugar Belle waddled inside, forcing herself to swallow a lump in her throat. Her anxiety didn't fade even as Cheerilee shut the classroom door behind her, leaving the two mares to themselves. "If this is about Big Mac..." The baker began, not realizing that maybe it wasn't good to jump right into the thick of things with such a delicate conversation.
Cheerilee wasn't phased. "I already know, Sugar Belle. It's not exactly a secret. Just about everypony in town already knows about you two."
Sugar Belle felt her cheeks flush red. "Y-you mean, you even know that we're... a couple?" The last part of the sentence was spoken in a delicate whisper.
The earth pony nodded her head. "Of course. And I want you to know that I'm not jealous."
Said statement did nothing to reassure Sugar Belle. "You're not? I don't want you to lie to me, Cheerilee. I... don't want you to feel like I'm stealing him from you. I know you two dated for a while."
"Yes, but it was never anything serious," Cheerilee insisted. "The first time it was only because we wanted to teach a few of my students a lesson about meddling in other ponies love lives," Now it was her turn to blush as she quickly added. "Long story, you had to be there."
The unicorn didn't bother to answer, she'd heard the story from Big Macintosh already and wisely decided against bringing it up. "So, you just dated once and that was it?"
"Sort of," Cheerilee answered as she seemed to fondly recall. "We dated a couple of times after that, for a little while we thought it might be something more. But eventually we decided it just wasn't working out, so we agreed to see other ponies. It all happened long before he started going out to that village just to see you, so you don't have to worry about you having anything to do with the two of us breaking up."
Sugar Belle sighed in relief. "That's good. I never would've wanted that to happen."
Cheerilee paused only briefly to stroll over to her desk and sat down as she motioned for Sugar Belle to sit in one of the desks near the front of the classroom. "Well, who do you think encouraged Big Mac to even go back there in the first place? He was so shy around so many ponies, and he couldn't be sure of what he felt the first time he saw you."
"Wait? You mean you knew he had a crush on me even before he did?!" Sugar Belle blinked in surprise! "How is that even possible?"
The teacher seemed to grin. "Big Mac is hardly the first pony I gave thought to a relationship with. I've been on more than a few dates, and when you've been on as many as I have you learn how to pick up on things that other ponies don't notice," She was quick to add. "I'm not really into dating anymore, though. I'm in no rush. My teaching job keeps me busy and it seems there's always something going on here in Ponyville."
The baker nodded. "Yeah. You wouldn't believe all the crazy stuff I've witnessed since I started taking lessons from Mrs. Cake. Though you can't much crazier than an entire village of no cutie marks. Never would've imagined I'd end up coming to the same town Starlight moved to."
"She's been a fine addition to town, and you'll be too. It seems like lately you're here more than you've ever been at that old village," Cheerilee commented. "I should probably go see it someday. You think maybe you could show me around?"
"I'll think about it," Sugar Belle remarked. "I'm just glad that you're okay with me being with Big Mac. From the way other ponies talked about it, it really sounded like you two were close."
"All I want for him now is to be happy with his special somepony," Cheerilee declared as she got up and trotted over to Sugar Belle. "He says you remind him a lot of his mom, and from what I've been able to find out about her she was a really sweet pony."
"Yeah, he talks about her a lot," Sugar Belle agreed. "And thanks for the talk. You have no idea how much of a load off it is to know that you're not jealous."
The teacher simply grinned and giggled. "I couldn't be jealous even if I wanted to. I'd say Big Mac is lucky to have a mare like you. But I do have one request, if it's not too much to ask."
"What is it?" Sugar Belle reluctantly inquired even as a thousand terrible thoughts suddenly flooded her mind.
"If someday it all works out and you two get married," Cheerilee told Sugar Belle as she whispered into the mare's ear. "Be sure to make me the best mare for the wedding. Or I'll settle for the role of chief bridesmaid if you already had somepony else in mind."
The unicorn stuttered as she nearly jumped. "W-well, it's kind of early to be thinking about marriage. B-but I'll... try to keep your proposal in mind," And she added. "I thought you were going to say something about if we ever had foals."
Cheerilee snickered. "I think that's more family talk. Though if you do have foals I hope I'll be around to teach them. Who knows? Maybe by that time I'll have foals of my own."
The redness in Sugar Belle's face returned with a vengeance. "That's a big if. For right now I think I'm just content not to have to worry about a jealous ex-marefriend."
Cheerilee simply waved a hoof. "That's why I arranged this meeting, Sugar Belle. I'm glad we understand each other," She trotted to the door to open it. "I'm sure you had other plans for today, though. So I won't keep you. Run along now. And if you see Big Mac, be sure to tell him I said 'hello.'"