Lessons In The Dark (My Ending)

by RulesOfRarity

Chapter XIV

Cheerilee stumbled through the streets of Manehatten, the adrenaline of the night’s events wearing off and the weight of Diamond Tiara on her back making getting back to her shonty apartment difficult despite her immense strength. A fair amount of smoke inhalation probably hadn’t helped much.

She fumbled with the complex lock on her door, silently cursing herself for turning her apartment into a maximum security prison. Once she got her front hooves through the doorframe, Cheerilee dumped Diamond Tiara on the floor next to her and slammed the door shut. The little brat deserved nothing better. Although, observing closer, the mare noticed Diamond Tiara wasn’t so little anymore. Cheerilee took off her mask to get a better look.

She was a few inches taller than Cheerilee herself, although she was certainly lacking the muscle that lined the mare’s legs. Her hair, although a wreck from the escape and being haphazardly carrier around town, was pulled back into a reasonable (albeit dusty and destroyed) ponytail, a stark contrast from the gaudy curls Diamond Tiara had sported so many years ago. Celestia, how old was she now? She must be around twenty, maybe older. The most noticeable difference, though, was the lack of her namesake and most prized possession: her Tiara.

Cheerilee sniffed. It had probably just come off in the fire. She smiled at the idea of the bully’s much loved sign of wealth melting down into no more than a twisted hunk of silver and gems in the huge apartment. What was she doing there, anyways? Diamond Tiara was by no means talented or dedicated enough to make enough bits to afford the apartment on her own. It was no doubt paid for by her equally snobbish father.

Cheerilee had originally planned on waiting for Diamond Tiara to wake up on her own, but found that with each passing second she grew more and more nervous. She could feel her heartbeat in her hooves and knew that she needed to do this now or her rapidly-deteriorating courage would leave her before she could confront he situation.

The former teacher crossed the room to the tiny kitchen and filled a jug with tap water. She stomped back over to Diamond Tiara, putting on a steely face, and dumped the water out over her dirty head.

Diamond Tiara gasped and shot up, sputtering with her eyes wide. The sight made a smirk cross Cheerilee’s face, which she had no intention of pushing down.

Diamond Tiara stayed on the floor, staring silently into Cheerilee’s tired eyes, her mouth opening and closing silently, and that paired with her bulging eyes gave off the impression of a fish out of water. Which, Cheerilee supposed she was.

The former teacher said nothing, waiting until Diamond Tiara finally found her voice.
Looking around, she hesitantly asked, “Where—where am I? And why does it look like a prison?”

Cheerilee snorted. Of course, just rescued from a burning building and the first thing to come out of the filly’s mouth was an insult to her home. “My house,” the mare spat out, keeping her voice low and hard. She had been nice long enough, and now it was her turn to intimidate and dominate. Damn, she should trademark that.

Diamond Tiara certainly looked scared. Then again, who wouldn’t be if they found them self in the barred home of the mysterious mare who had just saved them from a deadly fire? “Why?” She asked, the seriousness of the situation seeming to finally sink in.

Cheerilee huffed. “Because you and I have some unfinished business,” she told the sniveling bully in front of her, the suit giving her huge bursts of confidence.

“Bus—business?” Diamond Tiara stuttered leaning on her forelegs while the rest of her was still splayed out on the wooden floor. “What business? And—and who are you?”

Ah, there it was. The question Cheerilee has been both anticipating and dreading since she had first picked up the unconscious pony. She thought it best to let her figure it out on her own. “You tell me, Diamond,” Cheerilee spat out, taking a single, menacing step towards the pathetic mess on her floor.

The mess let her eyes flit around the mare’s face, desperation soon being replaced with horror and recognition. Diamond clapped a hoof over her mouth and shuffled back as best she could with only one free leg. “Cheerilee...” she whispered.

Cheerilee whipped around. “That’s Miss Cheerilee to you, you snot-nosed brat!” She snapped, letting the insult fly more freely than she ever would have ten years ago.

Diamond scrambled to her hooves, looking down at her former superior with so much guilt in her eyes Cheerilee almost faltered. “Miss Cheerilee, I’m so—“ she started.

“Save it!” Cheerilee yelled. Sweet Celestia, she wanted nothing more than to rip into the little bitch in front of her. “You took everything from me, my teaching, my life, you dont tell even a scrap of the truth, and you have the gall to apologize?! To live it up in some lavish building with celebrities on every hall while I rot in this cage I call home?” Diamond seemed taken aback, to say the least, but Cheerilee still wasn’t done. All the rage that had built inside of her, fighting tooth and nail to claw its way out while Cheerilee put all of her energy into shoving it down was finally being set free.

“I bet you thought you had done so well, huh? That you’d finally gotten rid of that drag of a teacher? Well guess what?” Diamond, understandably, gave no response. Cheerilee continued. “I’m still here, dumbass. I’ve been building strength for ten years, and if I hadn’t just worked so hard saving your sorry ass I’d kill you in a second.” There was no truth in that statement at all, but the sheer ferocity in Cheerilee’s words was certainly convincing.

“You knew the truth, you and your sniveling little friend, and neither of you cared enough to say a thing!” Cheerilee, overwhelmed by the storm of negative emotions raging by inside of her, growing stronger with every word she spoke, raised one hoof and struck Diamond Tiara across the cheek as hard as she could. Diamond Tiara cried out and crumpled to the floor, cradling her injured face.

Cheerilee stood absolutely still. In all her years, she had never another hurt a pony out of malice, much less a student. Yet for some reason, despite the tendrils of guilt that were already working their ways through her, she felt...better. Relieved, even.

She would never let Diamond Tiara know that, though. She sniffed and continued on.“Where is your little servant, anyways? Still calling on butlers for every tiny obstacle?”

This time, Diamond knew the question wasn’t rhetorical. She wiped at the tears that had been begun cascade down her face, but they were soon replaced anyways. “She’s...” Diamond trailed off.

“She’s what?” Demanded Cheerilee.

“She’s—She’s teaching at the Ponyville Schoolhouse!” She rattled off, scrunching her eyes shut as she prepared for another strike.

Cheerilee’s anger returned at full force then. She ripped off her belt and threw it across the room hard enough to dent the wall. “Goddammit!” She yelled, more to herself than Diamond. “The little shit wasn’t satisfied, was she, she had to take my job, too!”

Diamond’s tears were flowing freely now as she tried to explain through her sobs. “N-no! Silver Spoon—she felt bad!”

“The hell do you mean she felt bad?”

“She wanted to—to honor you afterwards! She wanted to do something to help like you had!”

Well. Cheerilee certainly wasn’t expecting that one.

She also wasn’t expecting to hear a knock on her door, or see a familiar white unicorn through the peephole.

Author's Note:

Well, that’s all for the first chapter! Please, let me know if anything strays from the original story