Cheerilee walked outside of the schoolhouse, gazing up at the sunny afternoon sky. Her mind was racing about all of the revelations that had occurred in the past couple minutes. Her entire world had been turned upside-down.
No, actually, that's not quite correct. It was as if her world had been upside-down the whole time and then one of her laziest students flipped it right-side-up, everything was as it should be, but it still made her confused.
Maybe Ardent's right. Maybe the mare I love will come back to me. I never really thought fate to have such weight in the world, but maybe it is true. Maybe such a relationship would work out. Cheerilee smiled, I need coffee.
She immediately started to head for the coffeehouse in the centre of town. On her way she stopped and looked at the clear area right in front of Town Hall. Her mind placed a stage in front of her, and atop the stage stood a cerulean unicorn, her horn aglow with pink magic.
Cheerilee smiled at the memory. This is the first place I saw her…
Then the mare shook her head to relieve herself of the daze, Come on Cheeri, this is the only place you saw her.
The magenta mare trotted into the coffeehouse. She gazed out the window, simply thinking about what exactly to do now that she had come to such a great realization. She did not realize the barista becoming quite annoyed with her.
“Ma’aaaam. Hellllooo.”
“Hm? Oh, I’m sorry,” Cheerilee flushed in embarrassment, “Umm, I think I’ll just take a pumpkin latte, with a twist of lemon please.”
The barista cocked his head, “Pumpkin and lemon? Are you sure miss, that’s quite an unusual choice.”
“No, it’s fine,” Cheerilee had ordered this combination by accident once, and now she never ordered anything else.
The barista handed her her coffee and she laid her bits on the counter, with a generous tip added.
Cheerilee walked outside of the coffeehouse, but was immediately aware of something very different.
That’s funny, she thought, I thought it was brighter out just a second ago.
Turning her gaze to the heavens she noticed a thick layer of clouds had completely blocked the light from Celestia’s sun, the entire town was cast in it’s great shadow. More peculiar, however, was where the clouds ended. It seemed as if the cloud had been perfectly created to hover just above Ponyville, and nowhere else.
Something’s wrong here, Cheerilee thought. She began to walk toward her home, then quickly grew to a trot, then a canter, a gallop, before she knew it she was sprinting full-speed toward her home at the edge of town.
This isn’t even possible, I don’t think. Clouds like this are usually far more spread out, and even then they don’t spring out of nowhere. And they couldn’t flown in so fast, because there’s no breeze, and furthermo-
CLANG!
Cheerilee suddenly felt a great pain as she collided with some kind of forcefield, head first.
“Owww…” she moaned aloud, “Guess that’s what I get for not looking where I’m running.”
Looking back up, she noticed it wasn’t a forcefield, but rather…glass?
Indeed a giant glass wall that went as far as she could see in either direction, and towered above her until it began to ever so slightly slope back toward town square before disappearing into the clouds.
“But, that’s…That’s not possible, to create a barrier of this caliber would require a unicorn of at least Prince Shining Armor’s power and specialization, and even then, to turn it into a solid object like indestructible glass, it’s unbelievable”
“So, you are impressed the glass dome, huh?”
That voice. She knew it well. It had been playing in her head all day speaking words of somepony hardly known, yet completely adored. Cheerilee turned her head slowly.
“Is…is that-”
She turned her head, and was surprised and delighted to see the mare that she had been unable to remove from her thoughts. This joy though was almost instantaneously replaced, though when she noticed what the mare was riding.
Underneath her was a cushion that looked soft enough to belong to royalty, and big enough to work as somepony’s mattress. The cushion rested on a golden chariot, with a large gold overhang to provide shade, and held in the harness of this colossal vehicle were Snips and Snails, panting and sweating like mad as they attempted to heave the cart, which, Cheerilee noticed, lacked wheels.
“Yes, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie have returned to Ponyville, in order to enact my revenge!”
“Revenge, why whatever for?”
“Do not act like you don’t remember Trixie’s humiliation, the Ursa Minor, how you Ponyvillians ruined Trixie’s career?”
“I do remember some mentioning of an Ursa Minor coming through Ponyville, but I was in my house on the far outskirts of town when it happened, so I didn’t see what happened. Trixie, I assure you, neither I nor anyone here wished to ruin your magic career, please release this barrier,”
“Hmph, the Great and Powerful Trixie will not lift the barrier, for she has earned the rights to this town by way of magic duel, and because a worthless pony like yourself has decided to command Trixie,” the unicorn scowled as her eyes grew a bright red, as did the medallion that hung around her neck, which Cheerilee hadn’t noticed before, “I shall punish you by reducing you to no more than one of the foals you teach,”
A burst of red magic fired from Trixie’s horn like lightning and landed upon Cheerilee, feeling her body shift and change, she fell to the ground moaning.
“Tr...Trixie, please stop thith!” she cried. Wait did I just…?
“Trickthie, pleathe thtop!” But-but, I haven’t had problems like that in years.
Cheerilee finally felt Trixie’s magic release from her and she looked down, her legs were skinnier than she remembered. At the end of each hoof were a series of neon-colored, silicon hoofbands. Around her neck hung a very familiar-looking, checkered neckerchief, with several colorful buttons. Looking over at her mane, she noticed it crimped and zig-zaggy. Her tongue glided over her teeth. The tang of metal was unmistakable.
“Trickthie, change me back, now!” Cheerilee lisped.
The magicianette laughed uncontrollably, “Your ridiculous voice amuses Trixie, she will not be changing you back for a long time.” She looked down at her servants, “Do you expect Trixie to move herself? Start pulling!” The two colts heaved forward, grunting in agony. Cheerilee watched in horror as her students toiled at the hands of this tyrant
“Trickthie, thith ithn’t like you. You’re not evil!”
“Trixie did not allow you to speak! Trixie demands you leave her presence!”
Cheerilee’s eyes began to water.
Why? Why did this happen to me. I’ve tried my whole life to do good, to teach the young. I wasn’t mean to never mean to anypony, ever. And this is my reward, to treated like mere trash by the mare I…the mare I love…
Cheerilee fell to the ground, her legs no longer having the strength to hold her up, she covered her with her forelegs as her tears stained her own fur. She sobbed uncontrollably, her heart broken and her live meaningless. What now was left for her?