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Epilogue: Reunion591 words

Epilogue: Reunion

The days of that summer passed slowly.

Cheerilee and Sunburst exchanged letters, of course, but various responsibilities or circumstances prevented them from meeting face-to-face. Cheerilee at least took comfort in being able to let him know that she loved him.

Everything felt 'normal' again in Ponyville, for a while--aside from her being brainwashed by King Sombra and being attacked by a cragadile during one of her classes, which by Ponyville standards was pretty 'normal' anyway. Though she was happy to see her students grow and be happy, and, in the case of her oldest class, prepare for the exciting years of middle school, her life still felt somewhat empty without Sunburst around. His thought-provoking conversations were missed, as were his kind blue-green eyes, his jovial laugh, and his embrace in the middle of the night. Cheerilee sometimes tried to imagine he was by her side, often when she was reading, eating, or trying to fall asleep, but her heart still yearned for his presence. There were times she thought of packing up in the night and leaving for the Crystal Empire, but she knew she couldn't leave without doing a major disservice to her pupils, whom she also cared about dearly.

Then, one day in early autumn, there came a knock at the door.

Cheerilee answered it without much thought--after all, she did get visitors occasionally, usually students who needed help with a particular subject, or one of her neighbors needing someone knowledgeable. But instead, to her surprise, there stood her dear orange unicorn in a wizard's cloak. He smiled from behind his spectacles.

"Cheerilee?"

Almost instantly, tears began to roll from her eyes. With nothing but a muffled sob, she flung herself into his embrace, her hooves around his neck, her snout buried against his neck, taking in his scent.

"I've missed you, too..." he said softly, returning her embrace. "I hate to spoil the moment, but I have wonderful news."

"A-And what would that be...?" Cheerilee asked, pulling herself back to look at the face she'd missed so much.

"Well... with Twilight ascending to the throne once Celestia and Luna retire, that means she won't be able to teach at the School of Friendship anymore."

"Okay..."

"And that means Starlight is going to be the new headmare at the school."

"Okay...?"

"Which means she's going to need a new vice headmare... or head stallion..."

Cheerilee's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "You mean?!"

Sunburst drew a school ID badge out of his cloak.

"Looks like I'll be spending a lot more time in Ponyville... and I'm gonna need a place to stay."

Cheerilee burst forth in excited laughter, throwing her forelegs around Sunburst's neck with such force that they both spun in a circle. Happily, Cheerilee planted a kiss on his mouth, and it felt as magical as their first one had.

After getting Sunburst settled in, the two were finally free to be public about their relationship. Twilight remarked that she had had her suspicions by how Cheerilee had acted around him, but was immensely happy for the two of them anyway, as was Starlight; the Cutie Mark Crusaders were so happy at Cheerilee finding her 'special somepony' that they crafted a papier-mâché heart with both their faces that was too big to fit through Cheerilee's front door.

Meanwhile, Cheerilee brought on not one, but two new teaching assistants to help her manage her ever-growing classes and fill in whenever she was absent... which proved especially useful a few years later when she went on her honeymoon.

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