Starting at a new school, tracking a serial killer, and hiding her thirst for blood is driving Cheerilee crazy. What's a poor undead schoolteacher to do?
The small house was located in a suburb of Fillydelphia. The For Sale signs had recently come down and a young mare had moved in.
The other residents of the street had quickly introduced themselves to the lavender earth pony. Her name was Cheerilee and she taught school in the city. She seemed good-natured and pleasant. It wasn’t long before an invitation to the local homeowner’s association found its way into her mailbox. Had the neighbors realized what the mare was actually doing on their street, they would have probably conducted a torch-and-pitchfork mob instead.
With the blinds shut, very little light made its way inside the house. Cheerilee hadn’t gotten furniture to fill the spaces yet, and the emptiness only made the place feel darker and less welcoming.
The mare’s green eyes didn’t have a problem seeing through the darkness. Cheerilee rested on the floor, looking expectantly at a small mirror in front of her. Contrary to the old stories, vampires did have a reflection. As she watched, her own image distorted and was replaced by that of another.
“Hello Princess,” said Cheerilee.
The dark blue newcomer smiled a greeting. “Are you ready to begin?”
Cheerilee nodded. “I think so, but I’ve never taught at any school other than Ponyville Elementary. It’s a big change.”
Princess Luna laughed. “You’ve come to Fillydelphia to hunt for a serial killer, and you’re most worried about adapting to high school?”
Cheerilee couldn’t hold back laughter of her own. Around the Princess, she didn’t have to hide her fangs. A little more calmly, she said, “I take my job seriously. Both of them.”
Luna nodded, her expression again businesslike. “I trust you to be the best schoolteacher and best agent of the Crown that you can be. As always, you have my support.”
“Thank you, Princess,” said Cheerilee, bowing her head. Luna said goodbye and the mirror once again displayed Cheerilee’s reflection.
The magic mirror was an inconspicuous and secure way to communicate. It had served Cheerilee well in the few years that she’d been working directly for Princess Luna. She pushed it to the side, her thoughts planning out the next day.
Cheerilee hadn’t felt so nervous about the first day of school since she’d been a student herself. Compared to joining a new school, searching for a murderer seemed easy. At least she’d done that before.
Her second career had begun shortly after being turned into a vampire. Twilight Sparkle, protégé of Princess Celestia, had stumbled upon the secret and promised to help Cheerilee. That involved sending a tell-all letter to her mentor.
The Princess was always busy with Equestria’s public affairs, however her younger sister Luna was content to run things behind the scenes. Love and tolerance were preferable, but direct action was occasionally the better option. Princess Luna had accepted the responsibility to do whatever was necessary to protect Equestria and its citizens. Cheerilee had become her weapon of choice.
The schoolteacher glanced out the window. Night was falling, and there was work to be done.
▼▼
“Well, that’s Fillydelphia High. What do you think?” asked Blossom. She was a yellow unicorn with a leaf-green mane. The young mare’s bubbly personality had eased some of Cheerilee’s misgivings about the new school, and she found herself genuinely liking the other teacher.
“It’s different than I’m used to. Canterlot is a much larger school.” Cheerilee’s official story was that she had moved from the capitol, rather than tiny Ponyville. Lying was unfortunately an essential part of her other job.
“I’m sure you’ll manage,” said Blossom.
Cheerilee faked a laugh. “Right. Well, I’ll see you later.” She turned to go into the classroom she had been assigned to.
“Can I meet you for lunch?” asked Blossom.
Cheerilee stopped, frowning. “Sorry, I usually prefer to be alone. I think it’s important to relax in the middle of the day.”
“Oh, no problem.” Blossom turned to go. “I’ll see you later then. Good luck on your first day!”
Cheerilee entered the classroom. Blossom was a good, honest mare with a great personality. That made her a risk for Cheerilee. Letting anypony get too close was something she couldn’t allow. Even a simple lunch would have been bad. Blossom would have eventually asked why Cheerilee wasn’t eating, and the explanation I can’t consume anything that didn’t die a painful death wouldn’t have gone over very well.
Speaking of, she would have to go hunting soon. Cheerilee had been reluctant to kill somepony’s pet, and had gone hungry the previous night. The Everfree Forest near Ponyville had been a good place to stalk wild animals, and Cheerilee was concerned that maybe moving to a big city wasn’t such a good idea.
Those thoughts were brushed aside as the door opened and the first student came in. He was a pale blue earth pony with dark strands of mane falling in his eyes. On his flank was a pad of paper.
“Oh, hi. I’m Note,” he said, glancing at Cheerilee’s name written on the chalkboard.
“It’s nice to meet you,” responded Cheerilee. The young pony took a seat at the back of the classroom. Cheerilee turned to greet other students that began to come through the door.
The first bell of the day rang and all the students found seats. Cheerilee cleared her throat. “Good morning class, and welcome to the first day of a new year. I’m afraid that I don’t know any of you, so why don’t we go around the room and you can each talk a little about yourselves?”
It was an ice-breaking tactic that Cheerilee had used before when meeting new classes. As the students introduced themselves, a little of her nervousness began to fade. Vampire or not, she was a teacher. It was her job to know the students and be comfortable in front of them.
“I’ll tell you a little about me,” said Cheerilee. “I moved here from Canterlot. I wanted to try a change of pace with a different school. I hope we’ll all learn to work together and make this the best school year that any of us has ever had!”
Her enthusiasm was not completely returned by the students, but there was polite applause. Note raised his hoof. “Were you in Canterlot for the Changeling attack a few years ago? What was that like?”
“It was scary,” said Cheerilee, turning towards her desk. Cover story aside, she actually had been there during the battle. What the general public didn’t know was that the Princesses had assembled a small fighting force beforehand to counter the Changeling threat. The effort had been too little too late, and Canterlot had been invaded anyway.
The Changelings had been aided in their infiltration by Prince Blueblood, who was a vampire and had been killed in the caves beneath the castle during the battle. In the chaos and confusion, Cheerilee had been turned.
She’d only been there to protect a couple of her students that had been trying to get cutie marks in monster fighting. The sudden transition from Cheerilee’s old life to her new one left her feeling lost for a while until Princess Luna had offered her a job. After that, she’d become fully committed to her new role. She still didn’t like talking about Changelings, though, the lovesucking freaks.
Cheerilee glanced at the lesson plan on her desk. “Part of the required curriculum is about basic health. Some of you might grow up to be doctors, but it’s good for everypony to know something about how their body works.”
The students dutifully got out their notebooks and Cheerilee lectured on skeletal structure for a while. She had decided to save the other parts of the body for a time when she wasn’t starving.
▼▼
By the end of the day, Cheerilee was actively avoiding looking at anypony for too long. Their heartbeats reminded her of dinner bells and her mouth was practically watering. It had been a stupid idea to come to school hungry.
The mare hurried home, knowing there was little she could do until after dark. Her bare mattress hadn’t yet been installed in a bed frame, but to save her energy Cheerilee fell onto it and lapsed into sleep. She’d noticed that as a vampire she didn’t require so much rest and could fall asleep at will. Twilight, while doing research on vampirism, had said that it was a version of hibernation.
Cheerilee’s eyes slid open shortly after sundown. Her primary mission in Fillydelphia was to find the killer that was on the loose, and she didn’t want to take time to leave the city to find something to eat. She decided to push forward for as long as she could.
The previous night had taken her to a few of the crime scenes. Part of the reason that the public wasn’t on high alert was that most of killings either resembled accidents, or the victims hadn’t been somepony who would be missed. Cheerilee hadn’t asked how the Princess had learned of the serial killer, but suspected that Equestria had a network of ponies that worked in the shadows. She was just the final link in the chain.
The schoolteacher peered out the window at the gathering darkness. It was time to go. She went out the door, pulling a destination from memory. Equestria might not have the same problems with crime that other countries had, but every large city in the world had a place where the locals locked their doors at night in fear for their lives. Fillydelphia was no exception, and that part of the city was where Cheerilee was headed. While there was nopony in Filly that the mare feared, she couldn’t appear too confident. A vampire looked like a pony, and had to act like one, too.
The dark alleys and narrow city blocks kept Cheerilee out of sight for the most part. Ahead was an apartment building where one of the killer’s victims had lived. Unlike most of the other murders, this one had been messy and well-publicized.
Cheerilee was surprised to see all the windows dark and a banner hung over the front door. Renovations by Timber Construction Had the entire building been closed for repair?
A few of the windows had been removed and cloth covered the empty holes. Cheerilee slipped inside through one of them. Tools and construction equipment littered the floor, and the air smelled like sawdust.
From another part of the building, there came a quiet scraping noise. Cheerilee stood as still as a statue, curtailing her breathing. There was the sound of somepony moving quietly towards the room in which she stood.
Moving to the side of the door, the mare waited. Seconds passed, and a stallion poked his muzzle into the room. Spotting a wood saw propped against the wall, he stepped through the door and made for it.
Cheerilee had already decided that the pony didn’t belong in the building. If he’d been some kind of guard, he wouldn’t be acting so cautious. She cleared her throat.
The stallion spun around, but Cheerilee was already moving. She planted his face on the floor, using leverage gained by pulling one of his front legs backwards. Then she broke it.
The bone in the lower part of the stallion’s leg fractured sharply and tore out through the skin. Cheerilee pressed down harder, muffling his screams against the floor.
“Tell me why you’re here, and I won’t hurt you more.” Cheerilee knew there was a fine line between convincing pain, and torture that would render a victim incapable of speech. She hoped that she hadn’t already crossed it.
“Are you bucking insane?” screeched the pony.
“All you have to do is answer the question,” Cheerilee said patiently. “Are you stealing things?”
“Yes, okay!” The stallion had begun to sweat, anguish clear on his face.
Cheerilee glanced at the blood spurting from his injury. She asked, “What do you know about this construction site?”
“It opened after that murder last month. Their security isn’t very good.” He swallowed hard. “I feel light-headed. I think I’m bleeding to death.”
“You have a few minutes,” Cheerilee told him. “If you make yourself a tourniquet, you may even last long enough to get to a hospital.” With that, she heaved him up and out the window. He hit the ground with a yelp, but got up and began hobbling away as fast as he could on three legs.
Cheerilee took a moment to taste the blood pooled on the floor. It wasn’t filling, but took the edge off her hunger. The room was dark enough that the thief probably didn’t have a clue what she looked like. He definitely wouldn’t be back soon, either. Still, it was probably a good idea to search the building and get out as quickly as possible.
She finished cleaning up the blood and left the room.
Upstairs in the apartment building was the room where the murder had taken place. Cheerilee had seen a few pictures from the investigation report. It was less a killing and more of a slaughter. Blood decorated everything, and the victim had been partially dismembered. Nothing like it had been seen in Fillydelphia, or for that matter in all of Equestria, for quite a long time. The tabloids were still talking about it, close to a month later. There were no suspects, and no reasonable motive.
The door to the apartment hung open. Like the rest of the building, it was in the process of renovation. The stains had been removed, but Cheerilee detected the faint odor of old blood. After so long, however, it was unlikely that she would find anything the investigators had missed. The construction certainly didn’t help.
With a sigh, the schoolteacher made her way back to the window she’d entered through and quietly left the building.
On her way back home, Cheerilee happened across a sickly cat that was nosing around in a garbage can. It did not appear to be housebroken, and certainly wasn’t healthy. While not Cheerilee’s choice for a meal, blood was blood.
The animal did not struggle much. The pony carefully broke the cat’s neck beforehand to minimize any pain suffered.
Morals and vampiric feeding habits often clashed, but Cheerilee had learned to live with herself. It was all about frame of mind. Even now, she was still learning things about her capabilities that she would have never thought possible.
Deciding to take a different route home, Cheerilee glanced at a fire escape that hung one story above street level. She sprang up and landed on the platform silently. The next level was a similar jump, and after a few more leaps she made it onto the roof of the building.
There was a moderate breeze that high up, and Cheerilee glanced at the quarter moon. It wasn’t as dark as she would have prefered, so she would have to move faster to stay out of sight.
Cheerilee took off at a sprint and easily managed to clear the gap to the next building. It was simply a matter of getting the right timing in order to to jump roof-to-roof as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The schoolteacher enjoyed the wind on her face for a moment. While she considered herself cursed, there were a few upsides to her condition, like speed and power. The expense account Princess Luna had authorized didn’t hurt, either.
Still, if given a choice, Cheerilee would rather go back to being just a teacher. It was what she’d gotten her cutie mark for, after all. It would be wonderful to walk into a classroom full of students and not see a buffet.
▼▼
“Any evidence that might have been there was wiped away by the construction,” Cheerilee said, not making eye contact.
From the other side of the mirror, Princess Luna nodded. “You’ve never failed to get results eventually, Cheerilee. Just keep working.”
The schoolteacher nodded. In the past, Luna’s reassurance had turned around her mood more than once. She didn’t know how the Princess maintained her composure so solidly. Perhaps it came with Luna’s millennia of experience. Cheerilee wondered if she would also gain such ability. After all, vampires did not die of old age.
“I know what I want to check next,” said Cheerilee. “I’ll do it tonight.”
Luna smiled. “Very well. Have a good day at school.”
“Thank you, Princess.” Cheerilee bid Luna goodbye and put down the mirror, turning to leave the house. The sun was just over the horizon, and she slipped on a pair of sunglasses for the walk to school.
Note was again the first student to come in in the door. He took his seat quietly and opened a book. Cheerilee remembered that during introductions the day before, the young pony had said that he enjoyed reading.
“What book is that?” Cheerilee asked.
Note glanced up. “Oh, it’s a directory of historic sites in Equestria.”
Cheerilee knew it was not typical reading material for a pony his age. “You like history?”
“Well, maybe not so much, but it gives me ideas.” Note appeared to be opening up a little.
“What sort of ideas?” said Cheerilee, continuing the conversation.
The young stallion suddenly looked like he regretted what he had said. “I, uh, write. Historical fantasy, mostly.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” the teacher reassured him. “You can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it.”
Note nodded, and ducked his head back down to the book, apparently wishing Cheerilee wouldn’t ask him any more questions.
More students entered, and an older stallion poked his head into the room. “Ms. Cheerilee?”
The mare smiled. “Hello Dr. Beat. Please come in.”
The students were unused to visitors in the classroom, and hurried to their seats to see what would happen next. Cheerilee introduced the doctor. “We’re going to continue talking about health, but today we have a guest.”
Dr. Beat somehow managed to summarize the field of cardiology into just a few sentences. He smiled and held up a stethoscope. “I’m sure you’ve all seen one of these before. Does anypony know why it’s important to listen to a heartbeat?”
A mare that Cheerilee remember was named Golden Ring responded. “It’s an easy way to tell if the heart is working right.”
“That’s right.” The doctor turned to Cheerilee. “Could you help me for a moment?”
“Sure,” she responded, unable to think of an excuse quickly enough. Dr. Beat put the tubes of the stethoscope in his ears and applied the receiver to Cheerilee’s chest.
“That’s rather muffled.” The doctor frowned and turned to the class. “That’s what I get for turning my music up when I was a colt.”
The sudents roared with laughter. Dr. Beat turned away, putting away the stethoscope. He was apparently as deaf as he said, because he failed to notice Cheerilee’s heartbeat was artificial.
While Twilight was searching through her library, she’d discovered that vampires were anaerobic, without need for air. With no reason to breathe, there was also no reason to circulate blood. It was only by careful control of certain muscles that Cheerilee could simulate the sound and feel of a beating heart in her chest.
The doctor went on to explain the basics of the cardiovascular system and what was required to keep it functioning well. When he was finished, Cheerilee and the students bid him goodbye and resumed their normal lesson plan. The teacher observed Note talking to Golden Ring about something, but she seemed disinterested.
Blossom stopped by at lunchtime. Cheerilee was sitting quietly at her desk, contemplating the gift basket that had been dropped off a few minutes before. It contained some fruit and sweets, along with a card welcoming her to the school.
“Oh, I remember when I started here and they gave me one of those!” exclaimed Blossom. “It’s all great stuff.” Cheerilee smiled. “I’m sure. I’ll have to hide this or the students will be distracted all afternoon.”
Blossom watched her place the basket in a desk drawer. “A couple of us are having a night on the town Saturday evening. I’d like to invite you.”
Cheerilee thought about it. A single evening’s work could be significant to her hunt for the killer. There was no guarantee of that, though. Also, she might be spending the next few years in Fillydelphia. It wouldn’t do to make everypony think she was a shut-in so quickly after arriving.
“Sure,” she told Blossom. “I’ll come.”
The other teacher’s face lit up. “Great! I’ll see you then!”
Cheerilee sighed as Blossom left. Saturday was tomorrow. She had one day to figure out how to graciously to get out of the invitation without drawing suspicion.
▼▼
Night had fallen and Cheerilee was on the move again. Her destination for the evening was a small house in a nicer part of the city. The previous resident had died suddenly, apparently from a fall.
The pictures from the incident showed a lot of blood. The old mare that had lived there had certainly gone out in dramatic fashion. The report showed that she’d hit her head on the sharp corner of a kitchen counter - or perhaps had been pushed.
The house was dark as Cheerilee approached. She circled slowly, looking for an entrance. There were several windows open on the second floor. She bent her legs carefully and explosively leaped to the porch roof, landing lightly.
The closest window was on the sheer side of the house. Cheerilee jumped up to the next part of the roof. She set her hooves on the edge of the shingles and swung down through the open window.
It was a bedroom. There were several boxes stacked around as if somepony was in the process of moving in or out. There was also a foal sleeping under the bedsheets.
Cheerilee froze, thankful for the thick carpet that muffled her entrance. It was hard to believe a family would move in so quickly after a gruesome death.
Moving carefully, Cheerilee left the room. The floor outside was hardwood. She had the patience to move slowly enough to negate any sound. Checking the other rooms, she discovered another young pony and two parents.
While the stallion and the mare slept, Cheerilee stealthily went through their drawers. They turned out to be Mr. and Mrs. Handy. They operated a hardware store a few blocks away.
Leaving the two sleeping ponies, the schoolteacher crept downstairs to inspect the kitchen. The smell of cleaning supplies was strong, but there was a faint scent of blood still left.
Cheerilee didn’t want to doubt the Princess’ information, but an unfortunate fall onto a sharp surface could have been the explanation for the incident. However, the wound the victim had sustained was massive, and something about it made her feel that an accident was not responsible.
After a moment’s thought, Cheerilee unlocked a downstairs window and slipped out, closing it behind her. She had a plan, but needed to pick up a few things first.
Back at her house, the mare collected a sponge, a bucket, and soap. The Handys might notice if she used their cleaning supplies. She also took Princess Luna’s mirror.
Arriving in the early morning, Cheerilee squeezed her way under a bush in the Handys’ backyard. It was a tight, scratchy fit, but she needed to be able to watch the house.
For several hours, nothing happened. The sun slowly rose, and along the street ponies began to wake up. Cheerilee heard the small noises as they got ready for Saturday.
The mare wasn’t carrying a timepiece, but she estimated that at about eight o’clock the Handy family exited the house. The husband and wife kissed and went their separate ways, the children going with the mother. It was exactly what Cheerilee had been hoping for.
She pulled herself out from under the bush and approached the house. The window she’d exited earlier was still unlocked and it was easy to get inside.
In the kitchen, Cheerilee set her supplies down. She carefully examined the corner where the previous owner of the house had impacted. Judging the angles, the mare got into position and let herself fall.
The skin on the back of her head tore, but the skull held its shape. Cheerilee slid to the floor, clenching her teeth against the pain. She turned to look at the mirror. Even to an old mare, it would not have been a fatal injury. Sighing, she picked herself up. The damaged flesh and tissue began to knit itself back together.
For her next attempt, Cheerilee kicked out her feet, as if slipping. It produced a harder impact. On inspection, however, she had only received a mild skull fracture.
Cheerilee grimaced and pushed the mirror away. She could keep going as long as her body kept healing itself, but that didn’t make her task any less pleasant.
She tried falling from a chair and a flying leap, both activities that seemed unlikely for an elderly pony to have performed, but produced a more damaging injury. The method that came the closest, however, was when she simply slammed her head against the corner as if cracking a walnut.
Cheerilee dragged herself to the mirror. The wound certainly looked close to what she’d seen in the pictures, complete with shards of bone and exposed brain material. She put her face down on the floor for a moment, resting.
When it felt like she could stand again, Cheerilee slowly got up. The experiment had been a success, but the results were troubling. Whoever the murder was, they’d used a lot of force on the victim. Cheerilee wasn’t sure if that indicated a crime of anger or sadism.
She was able to mop up the obvious gore with her tongue. The cleaning supplies helped sanitize the rest. The corner looked somewhat worse for wear, but that was too bad.
Cheerilee let herself out and headed home to prepare for meeting with Blossom and her friends. The schoolteacher groaned. She’d rather have her skull cracked open.
After running a brush through her mane and making sure there were no residual traces of blood around her mouth, Cheerilee stepped out the door. The sun was beginning its downward arc, and the mare slipped her shades on. Her lavender coat protected her skin, but her eyes were sensitive to the harsh light.
The restaurant was downtown, and it looked like a fancy place. Cheerilee was wondering if she should have dressed up, when she spotted Blossom. The other teacher waved her over.
There were a few more that had come with Blossom. The group greeted Cheerilee warmly and they went into the restaurant together.
Smells from the kitchen made Cheerilee’s mouth water. From previous experience, however, she knew she wouldn’t be able to eat anything. Any time she had tried, the results had not been pleasant.
“Is this a good table?” asked Blossom.
“It looks fine,” answered Cheerilee.
“It’s always nice to meet someone new,” said one of the others, named Dancer. Cheerilee remembered that she coached the school’s ballet team.
“What brought you to Fillydelphia?” asked Fern, the biology teacher.
Cheerilee repeated the same story about moving from Canterlot that she’d told her class. Fortunately, she was not asked about the Changelings this time.
A waiter came and everypony ordered. Cheerilee selected a pasta dish that sounded good, although she wasn’t going to taste a bite.
The conversation around the table continued for a while, and Cheerilee realized that she was enjoying herself. It was always nice to make friends, even if you were about to deceive them.
When the food came, Cheerilee put her plan into action. A single drop of blood rolled out of her nose and fell into the plate of pasta. She clapped her hooves to her face.
“Oh my gosh, do you have a nosebleed?” asked Blossom. Cheerilee nodded, a little blood leaking past her hooves for effect. She got up and made for the washroom.
Once the door was closed, the mare faced the mirror. Cheerilee watched the crimson drops run backwards up her face. She’d discovered an ability to exert control over her own blood, and it was as fascinating as it was creepy. After taking a moment to put on a face that appeared nauseous, she went back to the table. “I’m sorry ladies, the sight of blood puts me off my appetite.”
The other mares nodded sympathetically. Blossom asked, “Do you think you’ll be okay?”
“I’m not sure.” Cheerilee sighed. “I wouldn’t want to ruin the evening for the rest of you. Maybe I should go home and rest.”
There was general agreement, and Cheerilee left money to cover her uneaten meal. After exiting the restaurant, she headed in the direction of her house for a block before turning a different way. It was still early, and she had a murderer to catch.
▼▼
The office building was mostly dark. One or two lights were on, and Cheerilee saw the silhouette of a patrolling security pony. She could imagine why. When a company executive was murdered while working late, it only make sense to hire guards.
Cheerilee was still searching for a pattern in the deaths. The first two murders appeared to have no connection, and now she had been led to an investment company headquarters that looked like another dead end. It was a disturbing thought that they might be random killings, because anypony could be the next target. She doubted that, however. Every murder appeared to have been planned, not carried out on a whim.
The building was rather short and squat, made of solid stone and brick. Cheerilee contemplated it for a moment from the shadows across the street. Her goal was to get inside undetected and have a look at the scene.
Creeping to the front door, the mare found it locked. Cheerilee sighed. She’d have to do things the hard way. After backing off and checking to make sure nopony was looking, she dashed across the street and straight up the side of the building.
She got to the second floor window without a problem and used the sill as a place to propel herself upwards. The sill of the third floor presented itself and she clamped her mouth on it. Her fangs scratched two little white marks in the stone. After hanging for a moment to make sure her perch was secure, Cheerilee reached up and stabbed a hoof through the glass.
The sound of the breaking window brought the guard running. Cheerilee hauled herself into the office amid the shards of glass. She took a moment to prop the desk chair against the door, blockading herself inside.
There was still some police tape and other things scattered around. In the center of the floor, a large bloodstain had soaked into the carpet. The victim’s throat had been cut from behind. Cheerilee couldn’t help but notice that every murder in the series had involved bloodshed. No poisonings, strangulations, or anything else.
With the security pony pounding on the door, the schoolteacher paused a moment to drop some bits on the desk to pay for the broken window. Cheerilee searched around, but nothing appeared suspicious at first glance. She glanced at the trash can and spotted a familiar logo on a partially crumpled piece of paper. It was a letter from the Timber Construction Company, the same outfit that was working on the apartment building she'd visited the first night.
The security guard had stopped trying to get in. Cheerilee, staying to the shadows beside the window, peeped out at the street below. She saw him down there, watching the broken window for her to come out. Off in the distance was the sound of a police siren.
Cheerilee removed the chair from the door and checked the hallway. After picking up the letter from the trash, she darted across to the next office. The mare dropped a few more bits, and crashed through the window.
The three story drop was staggering, but Cheerilee picked herself up and took off at a lightning gallop, shards of glass working themselves out of her skin. She slowed down a few blocks later, well away from the place the police would begin looking.
Cheerilee considered the letter. It could be her first real clue. She might have to go visit Timber Construction. How convenient - the address was on the paper.
▼▼
A sliver of glass had managed to find its way under one of Cheerilee’s eyelids. She managed to stand the irritation until arriving back home. Working carefully with tweezers and Luna’s mirror, she began the delicate process of extracting the shard.
The mare gasped in surprise as the Princess appeared, breaking her concentration.
Luna raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry, Cheerilee. I can see you’re...in the middle of something.”
“It’s no trouble, Princess.” The schoolteacher blinked away bloody tears and did her best to appear unconcerned. “I found something interesting tonight.”
Luna motioned for her to talk, and Cheerilee explained about the letter. Timber Construction had been writing to turn down a contracting job because the company didn’t believe it was a good business deal. It wasn’t much, but now there was a connection to another murder.
“I’ll be investigating the company as soon as I can,” Cheerilee finished.
The Princess nodded. “Very well. In the future, though, take a moment to clean yourself up if you need it. I’ll understand.”
Cheerilee ducked her head, wiping away blood. “Yes, Princess. I’m getting better at blocking out pain, and I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”
“The mind is a powerful thing,” said Luna. “Often, it’s not the physical barriers that hold us back, but mental ones.”
Few ponies knew that better than the Princess. She had not been the same since her separation from Nightmare Moon. The damage done was not to her body. Since coming to work for Luna, Cheerilee had begun to see a lot of similarities between the two of them. Perhaps that was why the royal pony was so intent on mentoring the vampire.
After saying goodbye to Princess Luna, Cheerilee began making plans to visit the construction company the next night.. One way or another, she’d find out if they had anything to do with the murders.
▼▼
The night was quiet. Most ponies had gone to bed early in preparation for the coming workday. Cheerilee watched the Timber Construction building. It was a utilitarian brick structure with offices in the front and a warehouse area in the rear. Nopony appeared to be around, but the small number of windows made it difficult to tell.
It had taken a while to decide on an entry point. From her position on the ground, Cheerilee was able to tell that the building had a skylight by observing a few flying bugs that were highlighted by the glow from within.
There was very little around that Cheerilee could use to scale the side of the building. She looked at the corner of the brickwork near the back of the structure. The only way to grip the surface was to use a lot of force to generate the required friction.
With the point of the corner at her nose, and her hooves pressing against the bricks on either side, Cheerilee started up. Getting a grip required even more pressure than she thought. The mare eventually climbed out on top the building, hooves sore and scratched deeply by the rough bricks.
The skylight Cheerilee had guessed at turned out to be a perfect way in. It was propped open slightly to act as a vent. She carefully examined the interior of the building, noting a few dim lights on for security, but no ponies around. After opening the skylight wider, she dropped down inside, silent as a shadow.
It seemed like there would be more incriminating evidence in the office spaces, so Cheerilee headed in that direction. There was a marked difference between the two sections of the building. While the warehouse had a high ceiling, the office was instead two floors high. The more civilized spaces had clean tile floors and tasteful decoration.
Cheerilee tread carefully in the office, although there didn’t appear to be any security around. She hadn’t encountered any problems yet, and was aware that things could sometimes be too easy.
She discovered her first challenge almost immediately. There were far too many filing cabinets and other records to sort through in one night. Cheerilee hadn’t gone up to the second floor yet, but there were bound to be more there.
Sighing in frustration, the mare moved forward to begin her search but stopped suddenly as she sensed something. Cheerilee couldn’t tell what exactly she had noticed, but it made her cautious. She wasn’t used to her senses missing things.
For perhaps a minute, the schoolteacher stood as still as a statue, not moving, not breathing. She slowly turned her head to look this way and that, managing to hear the soft compression of the cartilage disks between the vertebrae in her neck. If she could hear that, then certainly she could hear anything else that moved in the building.
Cheerilee still felt a prickle of apprehension, and couldn’t figure out why. She took one step back in the direction she’d come in.
As her hoof came down, there was a simultaneous noise from behind. Cheerilee jerked her head around, but only caught sight of a blur of motion before she was knocked off her feet with an impact harder than any she’d ever felt before.
Cheerilee twisted in mid-air, throwing her front legs forward instinctively as the office wall came rushing up to meet her. She punched a mare-sized hole in the brick wall and tumbled out onto the street, the bones in her forelegs shattered.
Struggling to get up, Cheerilee was in a panic. Whoever - or whatever - had attacked was clearly dangerous, even to somepony with her abilities. Without any information about her assailant, the smart move would be to recover and try another approach. Some might call it running away.
Cheerilee glanced over her shoulder at the building. The schoolteacher managed to elevate her body to balance on just her back legs. It was awkward and slow, but she was at least moving again. There was not a sound from the Timber Construction building as she hobbled away.
▼▼
At school in the morning, Cheerilee saw that Note was not the first student to arrive. The young pony seemed to always be early, and she wondered why today was different. He came in just before the bell and seemed to be more introverted than usual.
Cheerilee did her best to stay focused. She’d never allowed one of her jobs to affect the other, and despite her worry about what had happened the previous night, there were young minds to teach.
Lunch period, however, the teacher had to herself. She sat quietly at her desk, thinking about what had happened. The only sound was that of ponies in other parts of the school and her heartbeat. Cheerilee had fallen into the habit of keeping her heart moving, thinking it added a nice touch to her illusion of being a normal pony.
She still had no idea what had happened the night before. Despite Cheerilee’s state of alert, she had been surprised and overwhelmed. It was very troubling that there might be something out there more dangerous than her.
Students began coming back in, and Cheerilee’s mind turned back to school. Again, Note was one of the last ones to enter, still keeping his head down. He didn't even try to strike up a conversation with the mare beside him, Golden Ring. Concerned, the teacher kept her eye on him for the rest of the day. He occasionally caught her looking, and quickly averted his gaze.
Note appeared to slowly grow even more anxious, and at the end of the day he practically sprinted out the door. Cheerilee packed up her work, intending to take the class’ quizzes home with her to grade. She noticed that Note had forgotten his bookbag in his haste to leave.
Lost items happened from time to time, and Cheerilee usually took it upon herself to return them. She retrieved a file of contact information from her desk and looked up Note’s home address. His bag would have to be returned later. The teacher had other business to attend to first.
The Timber Construction building had a crew of ponies standing around outside when Cheerilee showed up in the late afternoon. Their focus was on a pony-shaped hole in the wall. A few of them were chipping away broken bricks in order to square the hole off so it could be repaired.
“Who’re you?” one of the workers asked.
“I’m Smiley Cheer from the Fillydelphia Daily News,” explained the mare. “There have been reports of vandalism in the area, and by the look of things it must be a serious problem.”
Note’s bookbag was plain black, and it looked like something a reporter might carry. Cheerilee had carefully crafted her cover story on the way to the place she’d been the previous night.
The work pony shrugged. “If you want to talk to the boss about it, he’s inside.”
Cheerilee thanked him and headed in, through the front door this time. After asking the secretary, she was directed to a tan unicorn stallion.
Crosscut stared forlornly at the inside of the hole in the bricks. He was fit, and kept his brown mane cut short in utilitarian style. Cheerilee got the impression that he had worked his way up from a simple laborer to be head of the company.
“Sorry to bother you,” said Cheerilee, raising her voice over the noise of the workers chipping at the bricks. “I’m from the newspaper. I was hoping I could have a few words with you.
“Yeah, sure,” said the stallion.
“Has this happened before?” Cheerilee asked. “Who could have done such a thing?”
Crosscut stared at her incredulously. “Do you have any idea how much effort this must have taken? I build and repair buildings for a living and I’ve never seen unexplained damage like this.”
Cheerilee nodded. “Was it a break-in?”
“That’s the strange thing,” said Crosscut. “All the debris and broken bricks ended up on the other side. If anything, it was a break-out.”
“What do the police think? Have they been here?” asked Cheerilee.
“Nothing was taken,” explained Crosscut. “But they don’t even have a suspect.”
“Well, I wish you the best of luck in figuring this out.” Cheerilee almost meant it.
Crosscut sighed. "Thanks."
The mare thanked him for his time and left the building, her expression changing to disappointment once outside. The detour to Timber Construction hadn’t yielded much.
Note’s family lived on a idyllic tree-lined street. Cheerilee looked around appreciatively. It seemed like a good place for a young pony to grow up. She knocked on the door.
“Can I help you?” asked the mare who answered the door.
“Hi, I’m Note’s teacher,” said Cheerilee. “He left his backpack at school today.”
“Oh, thank you,” said the pony. Turning her head towards the rest of the house, she said, “Son! Come to the front door for a moment.”
Note appeared, looking confused. When he saw Cheerilee with his bookbag, something like fear flashed across his face.
“I found this and thought you might want it,” explained the teacher. She smiled.
Note took the bag. “Thanks.”
Cheerilee had no idea why her presence was antagonizing the young pony, but decided to leave without pushing the issue. She said goodbye and stepped away from the front door. Curiosity made her pause for a moment on the corner. If Note was having issues, that was his business. Cheerilee wanted to help him, but wasn’t sure how far she could push without violating his privacy.
After wrestling with the choice for a while, the schoolteacher decided that if she could break into innocent ponies’ homes to recreate murder scenes in their kitchen, taking a closer look at one of her students was a relatively minor thing. She turned back and approached the house again.
Near the fence that separated property lines, there was a thick maple that rose along side the house. Cheerilee looked around to make sure she wasn’t being observed and shot up the tree, taking refuge from the evening sun in the mass of leaves.
When his mother had called him, Cheerilee heard where Note’s steps had originated. His bedroom was conviently placed to give her a good view.
Hoping that her green eyes would offer some camouflage among the leaves, Cheerilee moved until she could see Note. The pony was frantically tearing through the contents of his bookbag. There was a file of papers that he checked, seemingly searching for something missing.
After a few minutes, Note seemed to relax after finding nothing unusual with his bookbag. Perhaps he had been searching for evidence that Cheerilee had looked through his things while the bag was in her care.
The papers Note had taken from the bag lay on his desk. Cheerilee was unpleasantly surprised to discover that they were employment records for six different Canterlot schools. The student was checking up on his teacher.
Cheerilee slid down the tree and headed for home. Note either suspected her history was false, or worse, had already found evidence of it. She had no idea how he might have gotten his hooves on school records.
All the way back to her house, Cheerilee worried about the situation. She felt that beneath her present thoughts, there was something else she was missing. It was frustrating, but there was nothing to do but grit her teeth and focus on what she could.
At home, Cheerilee grabbed her mirror. Luna showed up, wearing a tiny pair of reading glasses perched on her nose. They made the Night Princess look rather silly, but the schoolteacher had no time to comment.
Cheerilee quickly explained about the school documents. Luna frowned. “I handled those personally. While it would be impossible to covertly insert perfect records of employment, we were able to get you a job in Fillydelphia without much trouble.”
Reassured, Cheerilee nodded. “There is another problem, though. When I visited Timber Construction last night, there was a fight. A very short fight. I, um, got my hindquarters handed to me.”
Luna frowned, both at Cheerilee’s report and the language she’d used to deliver it. “You lost? To who?”
Cheerilee looked away. “I didn’t see. It happened too fast.”
The Princess was silent for a moment. When she continued, her voice was softer. “Cheerilee, in the relatively short time that I’ve known you, you’ve come a long way. I’ve watched you push yourself harder and harder, yet you haven’t discovered your limits yet. Don’t take it too hard. We all get beat sometimes.”
Cheerille nodded. I’ll be better next time.
Luna glanced down through her glasses at something past the frame of the mirror. “I’m afraid you’ve caught me in the middle of some paperwork.” She sighed. “I don’t know how you find it so relaxing.”
The schoolteacher laughed. “It’s all about frame of mind. When I’m grading papers, I’m away from the rush of the rest of the day.”
The blue pony smiled. “That’s a good way to think of it. Have a good night.”
Cheerilee said goodbye and turned to the window as the last rays of sun dissapeared from the horizon. Princess Luna must have found a break in her paperwork, because the moon began to rise shortly after twilight had faded.
▼▼
Note was again almost late to class. Something in his manner was different, however. He seemed determined, confident. Cheerilee wondered what might have changed his attitude so quickly. She decided that the two of them needed to talk.
The schoolteacher got her chance that afternoon. The class began packing up as the last bell rang. Cheerilee pulled Note aside. “I have something I want to ask you.”
He nodded. “There’s something I want to ask you, too.”
Both of them waited until the last of the students filed out of the room. Cheerilee asked, “You’ve been acting differently lately. Is something wrong?”
“I think so,” said Note. “You aren’t from Canterlot like you said. The schools there have no record of you.”
Cheerilee frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’ve seen documentation from all six schools.” The young pony’s voice rose angrily. “You’re a liar.”
“There are eight schools in Canterlot,” said Cheerilee sternly.
Note’s mouth dropped open and sweat broke out on his forehead.
“And just where did you get these records?” demanded the teacher.
“They were...uh...” All of his previous confidence gone, Note stuttered, wilting under Cheerilee’s stare.
The schoolteacher backed off her harsh expression. “Note, what’s going on?”
Taking a step backwards, a spark of the student’s boldness briefly returned. “Meet me at the stone arch in the park tonight at midnight.”
Note turned and ran from the room. Cheerilee stared after him, confusion and concern running through her mind. Why would the young pony want to talk somewhere else?
Worried, and not for herself, Cheerilee collected her things and left the school. She debated going to Note’s house and talking to his parents, but decided to wait and see what would happen that night. If necessary, she could drag him home and let his parents take over from there.
Cheerilee was only vaguely familiar with the Fillydelphia City Park, and went by there on her way home. The stone arch Note had referred to had been built by a local geometry club, of all things. It was a tall symmetrical half-circle made of precisely cut blocks that each weighed much more than any pony. It was so finely made that it stood without any supporting structure or mortar.
The schoolteacher thought the arch was rather beautiful, but wasn’t able to appreciate it in her current situation. There was a lot on her mind, and it irritated Cheerilee that she couldn’t seem to make sense of it.
She’d lied to Note. There really were only six schools in Canterlot. The fact that he didn’t know that, but had the records meant that maybe he hadn’t gotten the information on his own.
Cheerilee shook her head. Going to the meeting still seemed to be her best shot at finding out what was really going on. Then maybe she could get back to searching for a killer.
▼▼
There were no more mice in Cheerilee’s house. Nor were there any squirrels in her trees or rabbits in her bushes. Her house, lawn, and garden were somewhat worse for wear. Now that all the easy wildlife had been taken, she would have to start hunting in other areas. Unless there was some other way to get blood, living in the city was not going to work out for her.
Cheerilee looked at a few holes in the drywall. The mice had been worth it, but the homeowner’s association would not be pleased.
The mare checked the time and decided to get going. She walked slowly, hoping for something new to come to her. “Show up at the arch and play it by ear” was not a very good plan. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had any better ideas even with several hours of thinking. There were just too many unknowns.
Note was waiting when his teacher arrived. His eyes were wide, and he appeared even less composed than he had in the classroom. He looked like he wanted to go home.
“What’s so important that you wanted to meet me here?” Cheerilee asked. Note twitched like he was going to run as she came closer, but held his ground. “What’s wrong, Note?”
A new arrival stepped out from behind the arch. “I told him what you are, vampire.”
Crosscut stepped up beside Note, holding a wooden stake within the grasp of his magic. He stared down Cheerilee confidently. The schoolteacher rolled her eyes and sighed dismissively. “I suppose you also told him that I’m not from Canterlot.”
“I think that’s relatively minor compared your status as a blood drinking monster.” Crosscut frowned in annoyance. Apparently Cheerilee was not taking things as seriously as he had hoped.
“Vampirism? That’s a little hard to prove, don’t you think?” Glancing at Note, Cheerilee said, “Have I ever done anything to make you think that I’m, ah, a blood drinking monster?”
Note opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of anything to say. He looked back and forth between the mare and the stallion as they glared at each other. The young pony finally managed, “I don’t know.”
“You want proof?” said Crosscut. “How about this?”
Cheerilee smacked the stake away as it thrust towards her heart. The point grazed her side, but she was already leaping at her attacker. She shouted, “Run, Note!”
The student eyes couldn’t get any wider with surprise and fear. He could at least listen, however, and turned to escape.
Cheerilee suddenly remembered the nagging sensation she'd had since visiting Timber Construction the second time. The noise, or lack thereof, that troubled her had been covered by the workers chipping at bricks. Crosscut didn't have a heartbeat.
The vampire stallion moved quicker than anypony Cheerilee had ever seen before, including herself. Despite that, he couldn’t back up fast enough to get out of her way. Her hooves slammed into his chest and the unicorn impacted the base of the arch with enough force to dislodge the delicately placed stones.
Cheerilee ducked out of the way as one of the chunks of rock landed where she had been standing. One fell directly on top of Crosscut, but he deflected it with a combination of strength and magic. Cheerilee’s eyes tracked the stone as it flew through the air, realizing with horror that it was headed directly for the running Note. She started in his direction, but not even her speed would be enough. The young pony was crushed to the ground with a sickening noise.
Cheerilee was there an instant later, rolling the rock off him. Note’s lower body was broken and misshapen. From his chest up hadn’t been touched, but he had suffered such a trauma that there wasn’t a thing in the world that would save him. Well, maybe one thing.
The schoolteacher gritted her teeth, feeling the tips of her fangs resting against her lower gums. She glanced up. Crosscut was gone. She was alone with the dying student.
Note was trying to breathe. His eyes showed that he was aware of his dire situation. He gazed at Cheerilee with a pleading look.
She stayed with him until his heart stopped beating.
The school was quieter than usual. There had been no announcement made. Newspapers hadn’t picked up the story yet. Everypony saw the empty seat in the classroom, though. The rumors started first, but by the afternoon the truth had taken over.
Note had apparently been the victim of a terrible accident in the park. The stone arch had fallen on him. It was unknown what he was doing there at such a late hour.
Cheerilee kept her mouth shut. Not only was she not supposed to know anything about the incident, but if she joined the discussion she might fall into an even deeper pit of guilt than she was already in.
She should have gone to Note’s parents instead of agreeing to meet him. She should have never showed up at the park. She should have done more to protect her student. It was very easy to accept the whole blame by herself.
Even Princess Luna was not much help in convincing Cheerilee that there was nothing she could have done.
“Suppose you didn’t show up and Crosscut killed Note for failing to get you to meet him?” said the Princess. “Suppose you convinced Note’s parents that he had a problem and Crosscut killed the entire family?”
“Pleasant thoughts,” muttered Cheerilee.
“You can’t let his death hold you back,” advised Luna. “What would Note want you to do?”
“He’d want me to go after Crosscut,” answered the schoolteacher. She sighed. “I suppose that would bring me some closure, too.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’,” said Luna.
Cheerilee didn’t meet the Princess’ look. “I don’t think I can do this. Not only is Crosscut a stallion, he’s a unicorn. On top of that, I did some checking of old public business records. He's hidden his trail, but I think he might be upwards of two hundred and fifty years old. It feels like pure luck that he decided to leave after the arch came down instead of fighting.”
Luna was silent for a moment. Finally, she said, “I trust your judgement, Cheerilee. If you don’t think it’s possible, we’ll have to come up with another way of handling him. I’ll contact Shining Armor and see if he can get a team put together.”
Cheerilee had worked with the Royal Guard before. While they were more than competent, they didn’t have anything like her capabilities. In battle with an experienced unicorn vampire, some of them would probably die.
“You’ve done a good job, Cheerilee,” said Luna. “Without you, we wouldn’t have discovered the culprit behind the murders.”
“Thank you, Princess,” replied the schoolteacher, listlessly.
Luna, realizing her attempt at reassurance had failed, tried a different approach. “Now that you’re finished, would you like a different assignment? It’s not essential that you stay in Fillydelphia.”
“I’ll think about it,” said Cheerilee. “I need a few days to take stock of things.”
“Take as much time as you need,” replied Luna. She said goodbye.
Cheerilee put her head down. She wanted to cry. It had been so long since she’d actually bawled over something, that she wasn’t sure if she remembered how.
Having a good cry was supposed to help with emotions, though. Could she somehow force it? Cheerilee tried. As her eyes moistened, it seemed like it was working. Then she realized that it was blood coming out of her tear ducts. After that, she really wanted to cry.
▼▼
There was talk of a memorial ceremony at school. Note’s parents were understandably devastated, and were holding the funeral as quickly as possible, probably to speed the grief process. Cheerilee felt terrible for them, although her perspective of his death was decidedly different.
Services for Note would be the next day. Cheerilee had already made plans to attend. Her presence would be relatively meaningless to most, but she felt compelled to go.
The students were fairly docile after the death of a classmate, and Cheerilee was able to remain almost detached from her teaching that day. She knew spending time alone with her current thoughts wasn’t good for her mental health, but could find no way to pull herself out of it. Her students were not supposed to be involved with her other job in any way. Alone at home that evening, Cheerilee looked at the holes she’d punched in the walls looking for mice. Now that the killer was identified, she could take time to go hunting properly. Maybe Princess Luna would put her on dangerous animal control duty, something she could actually handle.
Cheerilee snorted, angry with herself. She hadn’t been careful enough, and Crosscut found out who she was, using one of her students against her. She hadn’t been strong or fast enough to fight him or save Note.
The mare stormed out the door as the sun set. It might take all night, but she was hungry and something was going to die.
▼▼
At school, Cheerilee noticed that the young mare named Golden Ring hadn’t come to class. The teacher hadn’t been provided with any notice of absence. Perhaps the student’s parents had forgotten to contact the school.
Cheerilee didn't think that Golden was romantically involved with Note, as she never seemed interested when he tried to talk to her. Maybe she'd been wrong and the female student had taken a day off in the wake of Note's passing.
Any hope for a reasonable explanation went out the window when Blossom visited Cheerilee at lunchtime. The other mare looked shaken up, and she stammered slightly as she told Cheerilee the news. “They found Golden. She’s dead.”
“That’s terrible! What happened?” Cheerilee had a sinking feeling.
“They said it looked like an animal attack, something with sharp teeth.” Blossom gasped. “Can you imagine? Here in the city?”
While Cheerilee knew there were a few wild animals that fit the description - including the pack of stray dogs she had demolished in her anger the previous night - there was only one suspect in her mind. She shuddered at the thought that Crosscut might be picking off her students one by one.
“Are you okay?” asked Blossom. “You look a little...intense.”
“It’s, um, the injustice of it,” replied Cheerilee. “Two young victims of circumstance in only a few days.”
“Well, mind over matter, I suppose,” said Blossom. “It’s all we can do.”
Cheerilee nodded and the other teacher left. The lavender mare put her head down on her desk. There were no excuses now. She had to stop Crosscut before another student died.
The schoolteacher was still unsure of her abilities, and knew that finding the vampire wouldn’t be easy. The situation was desperate, however, and she would somehow have to find a way. Never in her life had she ever felt such dread.
In the afternoon, Cheerilee composed herself and went to Note’s funeral. The mare she recognized as his mother looked as if she had been crying nonstop for the past few days. His father looked stoic, but Cheerilee sensed his expression was as fragile as eggshells. The schoolteacher introduced herself. She told the two grieving ponies that their son had been a good student, which was true. She told them that she couldn’t imagine what they must be going through, which was not.
Cheerilee moved along with the crowd of visitors. The polished wood coffin at the head of the room was closed, and for good reason. The memory of Note’s broken body was still fresh enough in Cheerilee’s mind.
The lavender mare returned home that evening with a growing sense of hopelessness. She had no idea where to start looking for Crosscut, and there was also no way to protect all of her students at once. She was glad that the Royal Guard was coming, but much could happen before they arrived.
Well, there was nothing to do with a hard task except get started. Cheerilee stepped out into the growing darkness. With no real idea where to begin, she started off at Timber Construction. The building was closed and no lights showed. The mare stood out front for a while.
“Come out here!” she shouted. There was no response.
Cheerilee wasn’t about to go inside after Crosscut, if he was even in the building. When her challenge went unanswered, she turned to go.
The rest of Cheerilee’s night was spent wandering the streets aimlessly. She hoped to run across a common criminal, somepony she could actually defeat. None presented themselves, however.
As the moon dipped low and the sun made ready to rise, Cheerilee found herself at the cemetery where Note had been buried only hours before. She walked through the gates, head swiveling to look for his headstone.
The piece of marble in front of a new grave was highly polished, but conservative. The time between birth and death dates would forever be painfully short. Cheerilee noticed the fresh earth in front of the stone was rather lumpy. She used a hoof to in an attempt to smooth it out. The first scoop of dirt upturned a sliver of wood with varnish on one side.
The mare paused a moment in surprise, and then began to dig in earnest. Throwing out more pieces of debris, she finally reached the bottom of the hole. The coffin was splintered and broken, and Note was nowhere to be found.
Cheerilee arrived home early that morning, shaken up after finding Note's empty grave. The Princess needed to know about this, and Cheerilee was going to have to work extra hard to track the young pony down. She had no idea what might have happened to him, but it certainly seemed that Note had climbed out of the coffin under his own power.
Most ponies would have thought such a thing impossible. Cheerilee considered that. Note was dead, she'd been there when it happened. The mare decided that as soon as she found him, she'd ask about it.
Opening her front door, Cheerilee noticed something was wrong. There was a faint smell in the air of soil and dried blood, and a more pervasive chemical odor. She stood still, listening hard. Somepony shifted quietly in the next room.
Cheerilee carefully walked forward, searching each room. She found Note lying on the floor in front of Luna’s mirror, examining his teeth. Pearly white fangs protruded from his upper jaw with faint traces of blood around the gums. He'd washed off since exiting his grave, but apparently hadn't had soap to use. Faint traces of dirt still clung to his coat.
In as calm a voice as she could muster, the schoolteacher asked, “Why are you in my house?”
“I wanted to ask you to join us,” explained the young pony. “Mr. Crosscut probably won’t approve, but I don’t want you two fighting.”
“I was trying to stop him from killing any more ponies,” said Cheerilee, fighting to keep emotion out of her voice. "I'm not going to make friends with him."
“Yeah, he wasn’t happy with you interfering with his business.” Note got up, pushing the mirror away.
“His business is ponycide?” This time Cheerilee couldn’t keep a straight face.
Note looked annoyed. “Crosscut’s business is opportunity. Lately, his focus has been on real estate. If there’s a prospective deal, he’ll find a way to make it work.”
“By killing whoever owns a piece of property if they refuse to sell?” asked Cheerilee. That explained why each murder always seemed to coincide with a sudden change of ownership or status.
Note shrugged. “Some ponies need more persuasion than others.”
“None of this seems wrong to you?” demanded the mare. “You’re suddenly okay with murder?”
The young pony seemed to falter a little. “Well, what else are vampires supposed to do? I can’t exactly go back to my old life. Not that I’d want to. I was a nopony without any friends.”
“And you think hiding your identity in the shadows is going to give you more of a social life?” questioned Cheerilee. She shook her head. “Note, you really don’t know the can of spaghetti you’ve opened.”
“That’s what I have Crosscut for,” said the colt defensively.
“How did you come to know him, anyway?” asked Cheerilee. “How long?”
“About a week,” admitted Note. “He came up to me one day and asked for help uncovering you. He told me you were a fraud and gave me the school records to prove it. Later, he told me what you were. After you abandoned me in the park, he came back and was able to change me before brain death set in.”
So that was it. Cheerilee had never considered putting another pony through her ordeal, and therefore had never thought much about the process involved to create a new vampire. She asked, "So you just waited out the funeral from inside the coffin?"
Note made a face. "The worst part was embalming. I had to just play dead. Crosscut says the formaldehyde should work its way out of my system soon."
Well, that explained the unpleasant chemical smell. Note had been prepared just like a dead body, which technically he was.
“You did all this for Crosscut?” asked Cheerilee. “None of it seemed strange? I would have thought a random stranger asking you to help take down your high school teacher would be suspicious.”
“Unlike you, he's never lied to me!” Note shot back.
Cheerilee shrugged. “Unlike him, I’ve never killed anypony who was innocent.”
The two of them stared at each other for several seconds before Note turned away. “I should go.”
As he started to walk away, Cheerilee called, “I assume you heard about Golden Ring. Tell Crosscut that I won't let him kill my whole class."
Note stopped. “Crosscut didn’t kill her.”
Cheerilee waited a beat. “You?”
“I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to talk to her. She always thought I was such a geek. I thought maybe she would think I was cool now. She got scared, though, and I tried to stop her from screaming and running away.” Still not facing Cheerilee, Note shrugged and took another step towards the door.
“Note...come back.” At Cheerilee’s words, the young pony turned around.
“What?” he said.
Cheerilee’s head hung low. Her voice was almost a whisper, but her words were clear. “You’ve murdered somepony, Note. It’s not something that you can take back. You didn’t kill her for any good reason. You aren’t sorry about it, and you’ll probably do it again."
Note snorted. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? What vampire feels bad about drinking blood?"
The schoolteacher raised her head and locked eyes with her former student. "You're looking at one. I do what I have to do, but I don't kill needlessly. Nothing says you have to be a monster, Note."
The young stallion sneered. "I'm not. I'm the top of the food chain and you're just a teacher who is too scared to embrace what she really is. I'm going to go find a nice dinner. It's going to be nice and bloody, and you'll join me if you have the guts."
Cheerilee took a step forward, glaring at him. Her lips pulled back automatically to reveal her fangs. "I'm not going to let you do that."
Note threw himself at Cheerilee. She sidestepped his rush and whirled to face him. The colt changed direction and jumped forward again, sharp teeth leading his attack.
This time, Cheerilee didn't get out of the way. She threw a hoof forward, catching Note directly in the mouth. Her body twisted, coiling like a spring as she soaked up his momentum. Then she snapped forward and slammed him to the floor.
"Note, why?" asked the teacher quietly. The young pony could not reply, his fangs buried in her hoof. Cheerilee began easing pressure off him in an attempt to free his mouth. Note swung a free hoof at her head.
Cheerilee crushed his shoulder with a stomp and the colt jerked reflexively, his attacking leg falling limp. He gasped in pain after she finished pulling her hoof out of his bite. The mare rolled him onto his front and continued to force him down.
"I am trying to help you." A little anger crept into Cheerilee's voice. "Everypony makes mistakes, and yours were absolutely huge. I'm trying to keep that from happening again."
"This is what I want!" screamed Note. "I don't want to be a boring high school nothing. I don't want to get pushed around. I like this."
Cheerilee bore down on him a little harder, causing a creaking sound from the young pony's back. "That's the wrong answer. You need to control yourself."
Note began to struggle, but it wasn't very effective. The mare fought to keep him down. His attempts began to slack off. After one last try to get free he went limp, his chest heaving up and down. It took Cheerilee a moment to realize he was sobbing. "I...c-can't help it."
The mare relaxed her hold just a little. "You need to try. You have to want it, and you have to believe in yourself. I know. I've been through this."
"I'm such a screwup," muttered the colt. "There's no way this is going to work."
"Don't say that," advised Cheerilee. She took her hooves off Note. "I'll help you any way I can."
The young pony got up, glancing over his shoulder at her. He hesitated, thinking about something... Cheerilee saw the look in his eyes and hoped she was wrong. The mare started to move, but wasn't fast enough. Both Note's hind legs kicked out, driving her backwards and head over heels.
"I can't do this!" shouted Note. He spun, aiming for the window.
A jagged scrap of wood from when Cheerilee ripped the house walls apart was nearby. She grabbed it and slung it at the colt. It stabbed into his back before he reached the window and brought him down, piercing his heart. The schoolteacher closed her eyes.
A vampire’s death was dramatic and gory. It was somewhat similar to an explosion. Blood flew everywhere, coating the walls. It was messy, but convenient for disposing of a body.
Cheerilee looked around. Everything, including her, was drenched with gore. Along with the damaged walls, the house would have practically zero resale value. That was not what was on her mind, however.
The mare sat for a moment, ignoring the blood pooled around her. She’d felt bad about ending lives in the past, but never before had one of them been a student of hers. Granted, Note wasn’t without guilt, but could he have been rehabilitated? Could any of the ponies she’d killed? Cheerilee sighed. It wasn’t her job to make the decision. She knew that she wasn’t judge or jury, just executioner.
Cheerilee got up. Despite her nature, she didn't enjoy being crusted with blood, espeically with whose it was. The schoolteacher made her way to the bathroom, leaving crimson hoofprints behind. She spent several minutes in the shower, cleaning her coat and clearing her mind.
Self-loathing was not a new emotion to Cheerilee. The things she had done and the things she was capable of were terrifying, maybe even evil. The mare closed her eyes and silently fought for control of her emotions. The water continued to pour indifferently on her head.
Cheerilee quietly breathed in and out, the hot steam of the shower somewhat soothing. While the mare wasn't quite sure the exact definitions of good and evil, she knew that Crosscut fell much further towards the wrong end of the spectrum than she. That was encouraging, but it didn't solve the problem. She needed to do something.
If Crosscut wanted to take another life, Cheerilee was currently the only thing standing in his way. Outmatched or not, she couldn't stand by and let that happen. Whether she help it or not, she had failed Note on several levels. The schoolteacher promised herself that she would make sure his death would be followed by the vampire who turned him.
There was still the problem of ability. Cheerilee might have the will, but Crosscut certainly wouldn't just lie down and die. He could be the most dangerous enemy she'd ever faced.
Cheerilee knew she was going to need focus and confidence. If she needed to grieve more for Note later, she could. Now she needed to prepare for the most difficult fight of her life.
Author note: Don't worry, I'm planning another story where Cheerilee actually does have a young sidekick.
All her preparation for battle was damped somewhat as Cheerilee stepped out the door. She still didn’t know where to find Crosscut. There was no room for second-guessing, however, and she set off. Luna’s moon was rising as Cheerilee searched the city. She glanced up at it. I’m not going to let you down, Princess. Or you, Note.
The Timber Construction building sat as before. Cheerilee stopped out front, staring at the seemingly vacant windows. This time, she didn’t call for Crosscut or sneak in through a skylight. She kicked the door off its hinges and charged inside.
The warehouse was empty. The security lights illuminated it plainly enough. The rest of the building was dark, however. Cheerilee stepped into the office, senses tuned to respond to anything.
At first glance, the lower floor of the office space looked empty. Cheerilee stepped carefully, alert to everything. The first warning she got was a faint stirring in the air.
The mare sidestepped just before Crosscut buried his horn in her chest. Instead, the stallion slammed into the filing cabinet behind her, sticking through the thin metal. Cheerilee kicked at one of his back legs, hearing bones crunch. She dodged out of the way before he could extricate himself.
A burst of magic nearly disintegrated the filing cabinet. Crosscut whirled around, his mobility restricted by his injured leg, but still deadly fast. His horn glowed and Cheerilee felt something heavy hit her in the back of the head, probably a large finance ledger from a nearby desk. She didn’t have time to wonder if her skull had been fractured, instead going with the impact and using the momentum to launch herself at the stallion. She caught him square in the chest, trying to smack his head against the floor as she knocked him down.
Blood from her head injury began to mat Cheerilee’s mane. She ignored the pain and set up for another attack. Crosscut was fast enough to get off the floor before she could hit him again. He shook his leg out, showing that it was already mostly healed.
Cheerilee dropped low to duck a magic bolt that nearly decapitated her, and braced herself as the unicorn rushed forward. She barely managed to avoid being knocked over, but was forced backwards, her hooves cutting grooves in the floor.
Neither pony seemed to be able to grapple the other into a more favorable position. Crosscut tried to line up to hit the schoolteacher with a blast from his horn. Cheerilee let her rear legs collapse and rolled onto her back, hooves stabbing forward towards Crosscut’s belly. He’d planned for the mare's move, however, and gouged her just as badly.
Cheerilee bit off the tip of her tongue and spat it at Crosscut’s face along with a mouthful of blood. Temporarily blinded, the stallion was easier to buck off. The schoolteacher struggled out of his reach and ran for the stairs to the second floor.
Dodging a jet of powerful magic, Cheerilee took a bite from the inside of her shoulder, where the large arteries ran. Mounting the stairs, her heart pumped hard, squirting blood on the landing. Crosscut was right behind her, and lost traction in the puddle, slamming into the wall. Cheerilee was on him in an instant, biting the back of his neck.
Crosscut managed to get a hold of the leg that Cheerilee had mangled herself and tried to use it to pull her off. She refused to budge, however, holding onto anything she could reach. Weakened by her bite, the shoulder joint reached its limit, and Crosscut tore her leg off.
Fighting through the pain, Cheerilee kicked off the wall with her back legs, sending the two of them tumbling back down the stairs. She managed to adjust her three remaining legs to grip Crosscut’s body tightly. His head whipped around, trying to bash her face in with his horn.
Timing her move carefully, Cheerilee lunged her head forward and locked her jaws on Crosscut’s flailing horn. The stallion felt the pressure, and doubled his efforts to try and get her off him.
Cheerilee could feel her teeth beginning to reach their limit, but clamped down harder, twisting her head for leverage. Crosscut’s horn splintered, snapping the mare’s jaws shut. She spit out pieces of broken teeth and horn while the stallion screamed in pain.
Crosscut managed to throw his assailant off, but there was a different look in his eyes now. He circled, searching for an opening. Cheerilee limped on three legs, turning slowly in place. Her fangs had been reduced to jagged stubs and blood coated her face, but now she had her opponent off balance and wary.
The stallion thought he had found an opening and rushed forwards. Cheerilee crouched on her hind legs, driving her remaining front hoof forwards. Crosscut’s lower jaw took the brunt of the punch.
Crosscut stumbled backwards. Cheerilee took a few steps in his direction, still balancing on two legs alone. Her previous visit to Timber Construction had taught her that she was able to keep the stance for a reasonable period of time. She kept her front leg out, both to guard and to attack.
Crosscut looked as if he’d never seen anypony attempt to fight that way. Cheerilee stepped forward, not giving him time to think about it. As she prepared to step over his broken horn lying on the floor, Crosscut charged.
Cheerilee stomped on the end of the horn, flipping the point up. She met the stallion head-on and let herself go to the floor. Crosscut arched his back in an attempt to avoid impaling himself on his own horn, but Cheerilee kicked with her back leg, driving it into his heart.
The mare didn’t manage to get her eyes closed before the stallion’s entire body violently atomized, splashing everything in the room with blood. Cheerilee blinked, slowly clearing her vision.
She lay at rest for a couple of minutes before crawling over to the stairs to look for her severed limb. It took a few more minutes before the schoolteacher thought she was able to move easily. She’d just taken the worst beating of her life, but had survived.
Cheerilee stumbled out of the building, not bothering to clean up the mess. Now that her task was complete, she felt a little tired. While she didn’t require much sleep, the mare couldn’t remember the last time she’d had any. It startled her to realize that she’d been pushing herself so hard. The schoolteacher hadn’t been aware that her mind was able to make her body do such things.
The mare reflected on the fight she’d just had. She’d had the ability, she just had to find it in herself to use it. Cheerilee decided to write that thought down when she got home. The class would be starting a lesson on self-confidence soon.
▼▼
"You're only going to spend one year with us?" Blossom seemed a little confused. She stood in Cheerilee's classroom. It was the afternoon of the last day of school, and all the students had just departed for summer break.
"I guess Fillydelphia just isn't for me." Cheerilee shrugged. "Maybe I'll be back someday. Until then, I just think another place would be better."
The other teacher nodded. "I suppose I can understand. As soon as you showed up here, two students died. That would leave a bad impression on anypony."
That's putting it mildly. Cheerilee smiled. "Well, a lot of things have gotten better since then. For example, I heard that in the last year, the murder rate in Filly dropped to basically nothing."
Blossom nodded. "I'm grateful, but I don't know how that happened so quickly.”
"Hard work by a few dedicated individuals," replied the lavender mare.
"Their mental resilience must be amazing," said Blossom. "I don't know what it must be like to be a police officer."
Cheerilee nodded, noncommittally. “Well, I should be packing up now.” She opened a few drawers in her desk. One of them contained a gift basket that had been there ever since Blossom had given it to her at the beginning of the school year.
“Is that…? Blossom stared at the rotting fruit. The smell, previously masked by the closed drawer, began to waft around the room.
Cheerilee was embarrassed, and had to force blood into her face in order to simulate a blush. “Sorry, those first few days when Note and Golden Ring left us were a little hectic. I must have forgotten.”
Blossom nodded sympathetically. "It can be difficult to keep our wits when something like that happens."
"You're right," agreed Cheerilee. "I have real respect for the ponies that deal with that kind of thing on a regular basis."
"Well, good luck wherever you end up next." Blossom gave Cheerilee a hug. The two of them had become better friends during the school year. The vampire knew she would never see the other teacher again, but it had been nice to have a friend in the meantime.
"Thanks a lot." Cheerilee tossed the ruined gift basket in the trash and the two of them walked towards the exit.
"Do you know where you're going next?" asked Blossom.
"Not really," admitted Cheerilee. "I've got the summer to find another school."
"I couldn't imagine not having a plan." The other mare frowned. "It must be difficult."
"You have to remain optimistic," advised Cheerilee. "It's all in the mind."
Author note: That's all folks. Truthfully, I didn't like this story - it wasn't funny at all. I think it's important, however, because it sets up lots of important foundation for future stories. I'm planning at least two more right now. Check out the whole Vampire Cheerilee Series
