“You’re flowery.”
“I prefer ‘elevated’,” Mayor snipes back.
“She really left that day,” Pinkie mumbles in defeat, scratching her drooping shoulders as she shuffles back and forth, unable to shake her discomfort. “She left us behind.”
A single tear rolls down Pinkie’s cheek. Many follow.
“It just… happened," Mayor Mare says, "like many other things in town.” She waves her hoof before Pinkie's face, snapping her out of her reverie. “Are you okay?”
Pinkie takes in the overbearing cleanliness of her surroundings and wipes her face. As she does, a quick smile overtakes her sadness.
“You said half-assed,” she snorts. “I didn’t know you could swear.”
Mayor rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Pinkie would never let her live that down for sure. First age, now her cracked mayoral façade… She’d buck that poor pony to town for pointing out her flaws. If she ever could. Which she couldn't. Pinkie is Pinkie, and everypony learns to live with her antics — worth more than a broken ego. As a smile breaks Mayor’s lips apart, she leans towards Pinkie and gives her a warm hug.
“You mentioned Timeturner’s shop, right?”
“You really can’t let us have a moment, can you?” Mayor mutters at the meddling stallion, not even looking. Pinkie’s mane is too warm to not take in its candy and ashy smell.
“Not really.”
“Fine. Yes,” Mayor Mare says, and Pinkie corroborates with a single nod. “Lots of things started breaking after the Wall appeared. Weather went awry. Rainbow Dash's team couldn’t do anything. Plants died. Farm animals fled. And for Timeturner… It’s hard to explain.”
“I have all the time in the world.”
“Well, after the Wall appeared, every single clock... broke down, I guess.” Mayor clears her throat and exchanges a smile with Pinkie. “Not broke down as in broke down, I mean. Clocks didn’t work right. They lost hours every day.”
“I see. Do you have any idea as to why?”
“How would I know?” Mayor shrugs. “I’m just an Earth Pony mare, not Twilight. All that nonsense flies way above my head.”
“What about the Wall? You mentioned Roseluck saw ponies touch it, am I right?” A tinge of hesitation catches the interrogator in his tracks, “What about Miss Fluttershy, did she–”
“Discord caught her in time,” Pinkie answers, wiping her runny muzzle in her elbow.
“It’s okay,” Mayor consoles, gently rocking Pinkie’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
“How many?”
“Too many,” a throaty voice interrupts from back in the room.
She doesn't need to look. Mayor Mare springs out of her chair. Metal crashing against concrete covers the old mare’s heaving. In a single long stride, she’s already by the teacher’s side. It doesn’t matter if the massive bruise on her side explodes with white-hot pain. Nothing else matters but her.
“May’," Cheerilee whispers, reaching to Mayor Mare to prop her out of bed and into a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Cheerilee coughs, looking past Mayor Mare, her eyes riveted at the room in all its intimidating darkness. “Where are we?”
“We did it,” Mayor whispers, only to frown. “Don’t you remember coming in here?”
“Did what?” Cheerilee asks, her face pointed with a painful squint.
Mayor grips Cheerilee’s shoulders and gives her a long, hard look. “Don’t you remember?”
Silence. Hesitation. Another squint. Cheerilee blinks and her eyes wander, lost in her thoughts. A grunt follows, and she rubs her temples, pain rushing over. She sinks in Mayor Mare’s embrace.
Cheerilee relishes the touch, the support. The recent events couldn’t leave a dent in her feelings for Mayor. The touch of her cold fur and the warm skin underneath leaves her smiling.
"It's still fresh," she breathes. "It's just hard to wrap my head around it."
“Too many, you said?” the stallion ponders. “You remember what happened?”
“I would rather have not,” Cheerilee says after a moment of hesitation.
With Mayor’s help, Cheerilee stumble to her own chair, brushing her mane behind her ears to let the ceiling light warm her coat. The teacher’s pale face groans at the sudden clarity and she turns away, meeting Pinkie Pie and her closed-lipped smile. As she returns the favour, Pinkie stands from her seat and walks to offer a gentle and kind hug.
"I'm still a bit fuzzy," Cheerilee swallows the knot holding her breath, “but I… I clearly remember Carousel Boutique.”