Not much was known about Miss Cheerilee.
Well, there was the obvious. She was a dark purple earth pony with a fluffy two-tone pink mane and three smiling flowers for her cutie mark. “Symbolizes the joy I get watching my students grow,” she said with a smile whenever asked about it. She lived with the town drunk, the absurdly well-off Berry Punch, and most ponies assumed they were sisters. There were some nasty rumors that the educational mare was a foalfondler, too. However, not many believed them, and nopony could think of anypony who’d have the nerve to start such slanderous rumors against such a kind pony. She was known to be good friends with Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, and maintained a good friendship with the Element of Honesty’s brother, Big Macintosh, despite the mishap related to a love poison concocted by the red stallion’s little sister and her friends.
But all this was merely of her life after arriving in Ponyville only a few weeks prior to the disgruntled purple unicorn who would thrice become the savior of Equestria, and several years after the end of the War. Whenever questioned about her life before Ponyville, or what she had done during the War, she would reply with a stock line about how she’d gotten her education in Canterlot and taught in Manehattan until recently, then quickly change the subject. Several ponies thought of this as suspicious, but none thought beyond that she didn’t really want to talk about her past, assuming some embarrassing memories or war stories she didn’t want to, or perhaps even couldn’t, remember.
They were only half right.
***
The day began like any other in Equestria. The royal Princess of the Sun brought her celestial orb above the horizon, gently waking any ponies who chose not to use alarm clocks from their slumber. Miss Cheerilee, however, was not one of these ponies. She was up well before dawn, preparing herself for the latest day with the children. Oh, how she loved the little foals that came to her class five days a week. They were all so cute, most of them very eager to learn, and of them, most were far more intelligent than they seemed from the outside. There were a couple, somewhat slower foals, but Cheerilee didn’t mind that. She’d spend time outside of class giving them tutoring sessions, taking time out of her personal life to make sure not one of her students got left behind.
She drained the last of her coffee and set the mug on the table, calling out to her sister that she’d be back at the end of the day. The expected inebriated groan of acknowledgement floated in from the living room, and Cheerilee giggled to herself as the front door to her shared home closed behind her. Taking in a breath of the fresh morning air, Cheerilee began to trot down the street, towards the schoolhouse. She greeted her friends along the way – Bon Bon and her marefriend Lyra were opening their candy shop for the day, Roseluck and her sisters were preparing their flower stand, even Davenport of the Quills and Sofas shop. She chuckled to herself. She had always thought it was amusing how specific his special talent was, but then again, cutie marks work in mysterious ways. Her own was rather nice, she thought. It symbolized her love of watching foals learn and blossom into talented and intelligent young ponies. Well, that’s what it looked like to everypony, anyway, and what she told them. She shook her head and sighed.
“It’s such a shame I can’t tell them who I really am…” Cheerilee thought aloud.
“Whaddya mean, Miss Cheerilee?”
Cheerilee’s eyes widened in momentary shock before regaining her composure, and she turned around to locate the source of the voice. It had come from Rumble. The little Pegasus colt was the younger brother of Thunderlane, a rather crass stallion who hit on Cheerilee practically every chance he had. His younger brother, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He was respectful, kind, and genuinely caring towards his fellow students, and unlike his brother, actually kind of cute. She’d always liked the way his dark, gray-blue mane spiked up and rolled back over his head, kind of like the ocean under a storm. He was still a blank flank, but given his writing skill, she wouldn’t be surprised if something related to that turned up sooner or later. At the present though, she was faced with a problem. Cheerilee was a kind and honest mare. Lying did not come easily to her, and when she did force a fib, it was rather obvious. How she had managed to keep this life of hers a secret for two whole years was a mystery and a miracle, and here she was almost blowing it all to a colt younger than the Peace.
“I… didn't say anything, Rumble,” Cheerilee stated, her green eyes darting left and right, avoiding eye contact with the colt, and immediately changed the subject. “Would you mind telling me why you’re here so early?”
“My brother had to get up extra early for ‘weather duty.’ Or so he said. He never actually goes to that. I think he’s just going to his marefriend’s house again,” Rumble replied, glancing at the ground, “He practically spends more time there than at home. At least her sister is nice and comes over when Thunderlane is spending the night at their house. Cloud Chaser’s so nice. She’s real pretty, too…” he trailed off, a dreamy look in his eyes and a mild blush on his cheeks.
“Really,” Cheerilee corrected.
“Huh?” Rumble was thrust back into reality.
“I think you mean ‘She’s really pretty,’” the teacher said with a giggle.
“Oh, yeah, you’re right! Thanks, Miss Cheerilee!”
“It’s what I’m here for,” she said with a smile. School-age crushes were always so adorable, so innocent. Looking up, she noticed that some of the other fillies and colts had arrived for the school day, and called for them to head inside. As the class settled into their seats, she noticed three conspicuously empty chairs, and shook her head with a dismissive sigh. She’d have to talk to their siblings again. Well, for Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, at least. She really didn’t know what the situation was with Scootaloo’s home life.
“Ok, class, did you all do the reading for today?”
A chorus of “Yep’s” and “Mhmm’s” met her ears.
“Good. Well, then, as you know, today’s lesson is a history lesson. However, it is much more recent history than we typically learn about. Today, we will be discussing the War of Pony Ascension…”
***
The bell rang, and the foals scurried from the room like mice from a lantern. Their eagerness to leave didn’t displease Cheerilee, as it was always matched by their eagerness to return the following day. She decided against visiting the families of the Cutie Mark Crusaders yet again, as they had arrived only a few minutes late and covered in significantly less tree sap than usual. Those fillies… when will they learn? They can’t force a cutie mark to appear. It will only come when naturally revealed, or when necessary to survive… She glanced back at her own flank, frowning at the memories it brought. Oh, right, I forgot I had that covered. It’s a shame, really, that this isn’t what I’m really meant to do. I love teaching so very much…
Cheerilee packed her things and put the students’ homework in her saddlebags to grade later. Exiting the schoolhouse, she took another deep breath. She loved the outside air. It was so wonderful when there were no pervading scents of death and horror around her. She banished the thought, and began the walk home.
Upon arriving and opening the door, she found the number of empty bottles on the counter an indication that her sister had started surprisingly late today. She placed her saddlebags on the table and drew up a chair. Just as she started to grade the papers, a knock on the door brought her back to her hooves. She opened the door, and was surprised to find the smiling face of Rumble. While she wasn’t opposed to the idea, students rarely visited her at home.
“Oh, hello Miss Cheerilee! I… I was writing a story, and I was wondering if you could give me some tips on making it bet…” the young colt trailed off, eyes drawn to a peculiar sight on his teacher’s flank. Cheerilee was about to scold him for his wandering eyes when he spoke up again.
“Um, Miss Cheerilee? What’s wrong with your cutie mark?” Cheerilee followed his eyes to her right flank, where she noticed the carefully placed, custom-printed vinyl sticker was beginning to peel off.
Oh, horseapples.