Cheerilee wasn’t sure exactly how she got herself into this situation. Her mind was a blur, and every time she tried to remember, her head pulsed. She felt dizzy, and it certainly didn’t help that there was a certain dark purple unicorn on top of her.
Wait, what?
Cheerilee held in a gasp. She had surely allowed this to happen, but as her mind cleared up more and more, she found herself more and more confused. Tempest, she realized, was not only on top of her but their faces were smushed together in what Cheerilee could only describe as something her classroom of foals would definitely stick their tongues out at.
The worst part was… she wasn’t doing anything about it. Cheerilee felt herself tensing up, which in turn seemed to cause Tempest to slow down. Afraid of what would happen if she stopped, Cheerilee forced herself to relax again. She put a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder and pushed upwards, following through so their faces never broke apart, other than for a quick inhale.
Cheerilee shut her eyes, focusing on the mare that enveloped her. With a newfound sense of confidence, Cheerilee switched their positioning so that she was on top of the larger unicorn. Tempest’s lips quirked into a smile as Cheerilee pushed her down.
She wasn’t sure exactly what she was doing, but whatever it was, Cheerilee liked it. And it seemed that Tempest did too. After a moment, Cheerilee retreated, panting for breath. She gazed down at Tempest, who stared with wide eyes and a heaving chest. Cheerilee giggled and sat back on the couch, allowing Tempest to do the same. The unicorn hesitated before following suit. A quick glance around revealed the open bottle of scotch on the coffee table next to the couch.
Ah, so that’s how we got here, Cheerilee decided. The tips of her ears burned red, though she couldn’t tell if it was from the inebriation or if it was thanks to the… whatever it was that just happened.
Tempest found a spot on the ground to look at as Cheerilee’s gaze fell on her’s. “I… I’d never done that before,” the unicorn whispered shakily.
Despite her large size, Cheerilee thought that Tempest looked rather small. Cheerilee smiled, her embarrassment slowly ebbing away as she realized that it was probably even weirder for the other mare. And, well, if Tempest had never done that, then she wouldn’t know how rusty Cheerilee really was… “Really? It didn’t seem like it,” she found herself teasing.
Tempest’s ears went rigid as she looked up at Cheerilee. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she bit her lip and looked away. “I’m sorry. I know you’re not supposed to do that with somepony who’s drunk.”
Cheerilee would agree, but judging from the empty bottle of scotch, it seemed they were both drunk. Still, it seemed Tempest was still in need of learning a few rules. “You’re right,” she agreed. Tempest’s frown deepened, so Cheerilee reached across and moved Tempest's head so she’d face her. “But I don’t think you were exactly in the right state of being either,” she pointed out.
Tempest smiled and leaned into Cheerilee’s hoof a bit before tensing and sitting up straight. “I…” She sighed and inched backward. “This was a mistake, I shouldn’t have done this.”
As Tempest scrambled to get her hooves on the ground, Cheerilee watched, completely dumbstruck at the complete reversal in Tempest’s mood. Something in her heart twinged. “What?”
Tempest’s slow walk farther away from Cheerilee slowed to a stop. She didn’t turn around to speak. “I’m sorry, I just… This shouldn’t have happened. I can’t…”
Her voice trailed away into nothingness, and before Cheerilee could even process what had just happened, Tempest was already gone. Cheerilee looked helplessly at the bottle on her coffee table and the shot glasses next to it. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for as her gaze landed on the bottle of wine still open on the dining table in the next room.
All she could do was cry.
Cheerilee wasn’t sure where the rest of her weekend had gone. She found herself unsure of a lot of things as of recently. One minute, she was making a new friend, and the next, she was… kissing her. She snorted. How stupid of her. She always found a way to ruin things. Always.
“Um, Miss Cheerilee? Are we going to get our papers back this week?”
Cheerilee snapped her attention back. Right, she was in school. Definitely not a stranger to ‘faking it’, she forced the same everyday smile back on her face. “Yes, Sweetie Belle. I’ve almost finished marking them, I just got a bit… busy this weekend.” She cringed at herself, but the foals seemed none the wiser.
Sweetie Belle put her hoof down and smiled eagerly. “Okay! I just want Rarity to know I’m doing well so she would stop being mad at me for spilling paint all over her fabric.”
Although she was unsure of what that had to do with an assignment, Cheerilee nodded in agreement. Sometimes, it was best to just go along with things. Especially when the universe seemed to be against you and made no sense.
She felt the hair on her back rising, so Cheerilee took a deep breath just like her old therapist once taught her. She was doing better, so she decided to stop going. But sometimes… sometimes she wished she hadn’t.
With a sigh, Cheerilee turned back to the blackboard and rubbed a hoof on her temple. It was so sunny outside. Definitely not good for a headache. Maybe she shouldn’t have finished the rest of the wine. Maybe she shouldn’t have popped open her celebratory bottle of bourbon. There was nothing to celebrate, after all.
In any case, she had a job to do. She looked at the blackboard and smirked in amusement at the lesson from Friday she had left up. Patience. She shook her head and rubbed the chalk off. A quick glance at her lesson plan reminded her with a guilty twinge of what her new lesson would be. A rather new addition to the curriculum, Princess Twilight suggested that friendship be added as an extensive part of the school foal’s learning plan. That day’s lesson was like salt on a fresh wound.
“Today’s class will be a continuation of our studies of friendship! Who can tell me what else makes friendship so great?”
As expected, all three Cutie Mark Crusaders were the first to raise their hooves. Cheerilee waited for a moment to see if anypony else would raise a hoof, but instead, every foal turned to look at the three excitable fillies. Cheerilee smiled and nodded. “Yes, Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
Scootaloo stood up, followed by Sweetie Belle, and finally Apple Bloom. Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Well, you see, Miss Cheerilee, friendship is great because when you have friends, you always have somepony to fall back on!”
“Somepony to laugh with!” Sweetie Belle added.
“And somepony to keep ya smart,” Apple Bloom spoke. “That’s what my sister always told me, at least.”
After a three-way hoof bump, the three fillies sat down. Nopony in the class was the least bit taken aback, especially not Cheerilee. She simply nodded. “Yes, those are all great points, girls. A friend will always be there for you – for the good and the bad,” she explained. “Now, I’m sure all you little ponies already know that. I’ve seen the amazing friendships blooming right here in this very classroom! But did you know that even true friends have disagreements?”
Everypony slowly nodded. Of course, they’d know that, it must have happened to them at some point. Shrugging that off, Cheerilee continued. “But how many of you have ever gotten into an argument with somepony and then allowed it to get in the way of your friendship?”
Again, as expected, hooves started slowly rising in the air, with a few embarrassed smiles and giggles to match. Diamond Tiara was the last to raise her hoof, but after a glance around she did so slowly, with a blush to match her meek expression. Cheerilee nodded slowly.
“That’s right. Since we’re all very different ponies, we can’t stop all disagreements from happening. That doesn’t mean we can’t work hard to keep our friendships intact though,” Cheerilee pointed out with a wince. “How can we do that?”
Pipsqueak raised a hoof. “Oh, I know Miss Cheerilee!” He waved his hoof in the air, begging to be picked.
Cheerilee clicked her tongue amicably. “Oh alright, Pip. What do you think?”
Pipsqueak smiled eagerly and put his hoof back down. “Well, whenever I’m feeling upset at my friends, I always talk to them about it. I think that’s what we should do!”
Cheerilee certainly had to give her class credit. They were a lot more knowledgeable than most of her previous classes. She once again nodded. “That’s right Pip! And that idea of talking out our problems is something known as communication,” she revealed with a twitching smile. Cheerilee sighed inwardly and picked up a piece of chalk in her mouth, ignoring the dusty taste of it. For the first time in her adult life, she found herself wishing she had magic as she wrote the word on the chalkboard.
“Who here thinks they should be better at communicating their feelings?” When nopony raised their hand and instead looked around warily, Cheerilee raised her own hoof. “I know I sure do.” The class was silent for a moment before hooves reached into the air. Cheerilee breathed deeply. Maybe we can learn together.