A New, New Friend

by applejackofalltrades

Schedule Change

Perhaps ‘strange’ would be the most fitting word for this mare. Yes, Cheerilee knew that had to be it. Strange. It rolled off her tongue nicely, the syllables finding their way around her mouth. It went from the front of her mouth by her teeth, to the back of her throat, and back to her teeth again. Strange.

Standing in front of her was a large mare. She was almost as tall as Princess Luna, which made Cheerilee a bit uneasy, but she smiled nonetheless. Something that she had always been so insistent on teaching her classroom of foals was the importance of patience.

And by golly, was she running short of it.

“Tempest, was it?” Cheerilee asked. She wasn’t sure why she asked, though. She couldn’t ever forget her sudden arrival at the Festival of Friendship. No, it wasn’t really an arrival, was it? More of an interruption. An interjection. An invasion? She chided herself for even thinking of it that way, even if it was true.

Tempest nodded. She looked rather… well, strange, Cheerilee thought. Once, the schoolteacher would have thought the larger mare imposing, and certainly threatening, but now? Now she seemed like an awkward school filly.

Cheerilee held back a snicker. Instead, she kept on her ‘teacher face’, as she often called it. “Well, err, Tempest, I do wonder what brings you to the school at this time. I was just finishing up marking, but you’re welcome to ask me anything once I’m done, just give me a moment, okay?”

“Uh, okay,” Tempest muttered.

Cheerilee gave her a weak smile then looked down at the paper on her desk. It was Scootaloo’s. Funnily enough, she had chosen to write about the patience she learned from being friends with Sweetie Belle. Cheerilee smirked, knowing that Scootaloo could be more of a hoofful than Sweetie Belle most of the time. But really, those three – The Cutie Mark Crusaders, as they called themselves – were really something…

“Special?” Tempest offered.

Cheerilee nodded, then blinked and looked up. Did… did Tempest just read her mind. “What?”

Tempest chuckled curtly. “You were talking to yourself. I take it you’re not used to having company?”

Ouch. Cheerilee coughed and shrugged. She couldn’t deny it. “I guess not,” she admitted. “I usually stay late after school here, then I go home and drink some wine.” Cheerilee laughed. It was a short laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. “Maybe I’ll go on some date with a stallion on the weekend, but clearly that never works out.”

Tempest stared at her. Cheerilee winced, noting that she had just rambled on and on to somepony who didn’t ask for it. That and they didn’t really know each other. Cheerilee was just so stupid sometimes.

“I’ve never even been on a date,” Tempest muttered, although it wasn’t a sad mutter. “World domination doesn’t really leave time for that, right?”

Cheerilee giggled at Tempest’s comment. When Tempest looked at her with a puzzled look, though, Cheerilee turned her giggle into a forced cough that sounded more like a choke in hindsight.

“Right, uh…” Tempest trailed off. It was then that Cheerilee noticed that the mare had been looking over her shoulder. “Patience is spelled wrong here.” The dark warm purple shadow pointed at the page. “It’s spelt ‘pait-ence’ instead of ‘pa-tience.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice.” Cheerilee blinked at the page and picked up a pen in her mouth. She circled the word swiftly and set the pen down. Her mind was fuzzy. She could always mark tomorrow – after all, it was Friday. “You know, I think Scootaloo might be dyslexic. She always makes these kinds of errors, and I know she’s smarter than that.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Cheerilee responded. “I’ll have to speak to her about it. In the meantime, I think I’m done for the night.” She stacked the papers neatly in a pile, leaving Scootaloo’s on the top. “So what is it that you wanted, Tempest?”

Tempest shuffled her hooves and stood up. “Well, I was having trouble adjusting on my travels, I mean, so much has changed since I’ve been gone with… him.” Tempest cringed and looked down. “So I came back to ask Princess Twilight for advice.”

Cheerilee turned to Tempest and frowned. “What did she say?”

Tempest took a step back, leaving room for Cheerilee to make her way to the other side of her desk. “She actually told me to come to you. Said something about how you’re good at making everypony feel welcome, and that you could teach me something.”

Teach her something? “Like history?” Cheerilee grimaced. It’s not that she didn’t like teaching other ponies, but she would have preferred to keep her free time to herself just this once.

The tall unicorn looked away. “I guess? She didn’t tell me how you could help. She just mentioned that you could.”

After some thought—and a sudden need to leave the cramped schoolhouse—Cheerilee turned to Tempest. Perhaps she was too quick to judge. Perhaps Tempest could even be a good friend. The poor mare needed one, at least. “Are you free right now? My date cancelled on me yesterday, so I’ve got the rest of the evening free. I can start your lessons then,” she suggested.

Much to Cheerilee’s surprise, Tempest actually looked shocked. And perhaps a bit nervous as she nodded weakly. Really, she wasn’t that scary. At least, not anymore. “Sure, I don’t have anything going on anyway,” Tempest agreed.

Cheerilee smiled a genuine smile and packed up her saddlebag. She made sure to slide a history book that Twilight had given her many months ago in it and slid it over her neck. “We can head back to my place if you want. It’s not too far from here, and it’s quiet.” She was hoping to spend her evening doing something else at her place but plans changed. That was alright, though. She was actually starting to look forward to it. “It’s a bit too dark to read outside unless you’d rather head to somewhere more public.”

Tempest followed along as Cheerilee trotted to the entrance of the schoolhouse. “Not at all, I don’t mind. Whatever is best for you is great,” she assured her. “And thank you. I know you must be busy with your job, so it means a lot to me to make a new… err... Friend?”

She sounded unsure, which made Cheerilee giggle. She definitely was a strange mare. But she was glad that Tempest could become a new friend. After some patience—which seemed to be the word of the day—Tempest seemed rather… decent. “Of course! It really is my pleasure to help you out. We can make this a weekly thing if you’d like.”

Cheerilee closed the door behind her and locked it with a key. Tempest squeaked and bounced slightly. “That would be great if it’s not a problem for you.”

Yes, she was definitely strange. With a warm grin, Cheerilee started on the path back to her house. “Not at all. I look forward to it.”

Tempest followed Cheerilee in step. The unicorn looked around Ponyville as they walked. Cheerilee noticed her attempt at remaining expressionless, but after years of teaching foals of all ages, she knew how to spot the hints of excitement on Tempest’s face. Her eyes almost seemed to sparkle as she eyed the hints of nightlife in Ponyville.

Cheerilee took the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of her own hometown as well. She had always taken it for granted, but through new eyes, it must be lovely to look at. And it was; the lights slowly turning on to contrast the increasingly dark sky, the colours of the twilight, the faint chatter of ponies getting ready for a weekend of fun. It was quite beautiful, she had to admit.

“So, have you always lived here?”

Tempest’s question admittedly caught Cheerilee off guard. She guessed she had gotten busy reminiscing as she gazed at the ever-familiar rooftops of Ponyville. “Yes,” she murmured dreamily before clearing her throat and speaking up. “Ponyvillian born and raised. I’ve only ever traveled outside of Ponyville, but not long enough to consider moving away.”

Tempest nodded. Her gait faltered for a moment before she took an awkward long step to keep in pace with Cheerilee. “I used to live in a little town like this, too.” She paused, and Cheerilee considered that she might have not wanted to continue. Before she could offer a segue to a seemingly less uncomfortable conversation, Tempest sighed and looked at Cheerilee. “I left because everypony thought I was too scary after I was attacked by an Ursa Minor.”

Cheerilee grimaced. Her ears lay flat on her head. Flashbacks of the havoc an Ursa Minor wreaked on Ponyville just a few years ago entered her mind. The destruction, the risk. She shivered. Tempest got that first-hoof. “I’m so sorry,” she offered. What else could she say?

“It’s okay. It doesn’t really… matter anymore.”

Tempest’s hesitation led Cheerilee to believe that wasn’t entirely true. After all, she had avoided making any new friends for most of her life. Cheerilee knew from experience that when foals were ostracized, they tended to recluse if they were bothered by it. But Tempest wasn’t a foal. She shook her head at herself and offered Tempest a smile. “It’s okay to still feel bad about it. Often, things that happen to us when we’re young stick with us for the rest of our lives. But what’s important is that you’re moving past it and attempting to get better.”

Silence. Cheerilee blinked and looked away. She had told herself that Tempest wasn’t a foal, but there she was treating her like one. Cheerilee kept walking until she noticed the sound of her own hoofsteps were the only ones echoing off the house exteriors. With a frown, she stopped and turned around. Tempest stood a few hoof lengths behind her with an expression that Cheerilee couldn’t quite read.

Then, Tempest’s lips turned up into a smile. “You’re right,” she whispered. “I never thought I needed to hear that but… Well, it’s silly, but I think I did. Thank you.”

A slack-jawed Cheerilee watched as Tempest began walking back to her. She swallowed dryly and bit her lip. “Y-you’re welcome.”

They had somehow arrived right at the doorstep of her home. How strange.