Cheerilees_Garden

Every garden has its weeds, and to ensure that the flowers can grow properly, those weeds need to be snuffed out... Sweet Miss Cheerilee did just that...

Once a beloved schoolteacher, Cheerilee saw her class as one big garden, and hoped that one day each and every one of her students would bloom and blossom into intelligent and productive ponies from her teachings. That was until the Ponyville school board decided to put her in charge of a class of students that needed some "special attention"... Since then, the job that she loved doing turned into a grueling nightmare. No matter what Cheerilee did, they just wouldn't behave!

Cheerilee would lay awake for nights on end, wondering where she went wrong and whether her Cutie Mark of three blooming flowers was mistaken. Then, one night, she looked out her window to find that her garden was full of nasty weeds that were suffocating the budding flowers she had planted some time ago. It was then that Cheerilee saw the truth; it wasn't her fault that she couldn't get her students to behave. They were all simply horrid, wicked weeds that needed to be cut down! Only then could her brightest flowers shine through...

Immediately, Cheerilee set to work to purify her garden. She brought all the weeds together by convincing them that she intended to put on a play based on the great thief and con artist, Reginald the Sly. The play, however, was an elaborate setup, during which Cheerilee got each and every one of the little weeds in her garden alone and helpless and proceeded to cut them down one by one...

Scootaloo...

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara...

Snails...

Sweetie Belle...

Snips...

Apple Bloom...

These poor fillies, who had lived so carefree and oblivious to the pain that they had caused their teacher for eight months, met their ends that night... But that wasn't the end of the chaos... When Cheerilee went to burn the bodies, she ended up setting the theater on fire, thereby making it look like the fillies perished in the ensuing blaze... At the memorial service held a few days later, Cheerilee wept tears of joy, her garden purified, her plans a success... She soon vowed never to let another weed ruin her garden again...

Her trials did not end there. An investigation into the theater fire had labeled her and Twilight Sparkle--whose attempt to put out the fire with a surge of water destroyed what was left of the building--as potential suspects for arson. In danger of being found out, Cheerilee had to cover her tracks. She started with Twist, who she found was working with Twilight on her own investigation. When Twist came to Cheerilee about her suspicions, she knocked her out and dragged her to an old fortress, where she tortured and killed her.

Twilight soon learned Twist had gone missing, and set out with her friends and Spike the dragon to retrieve her. One by one, Cheerilee lured the Elements away from each other and killed them all, saving Twilight for last... Unfortunately, Cheerilee hadn't counted on Twilight using the power of the Element of Magic to save herself, and upon her return to Ponyville to celebrate her success was assaulted by an enraged Twilight, who snapped Cheerilee's neck with her magic.

In the physical world, Cheerilee was dead, but her spirit found its way to a strange plane of existence she had never known before. It was known as the Nexus, and it served not only as a connection point between dimensions, but as a realm for spirits to take up residence in after death. Cheerilee has lived in the Nexus for some time now, discovering its secrets and appetites as well. She has no idea that in her universe Twilight Sparkle has been framed for the murders she committed and sentenced to death... She has no idea that Celestia herself fought to save Twilight, not knowing she was innocent, but doing it out of love... And she has no idea that since all of Equestria was so quick to condemn Twilight, Celestia has vowed to remake it into a new Solar Empire...

But Cheerilee doesn't care about all that anymore. She's found a new garden to call home, and as we all know, every garden has its weeds...

(If you haven't already guessed, this is based on the legendary grimdark fic, Cheerilee's Garden, and its sequel, Scarlet Harvest... Read them, if you dare...)

UPDATE: Cheerilee happened upon a young filly who at first seemed like a regular troublemaker, but after finding out about the tragic past of Kimmy_Doom, she concluded that the filly was not a weed, but instead a withered flower in need of nourishment; it's Kimmy's parents who are weeds, since they abandoned her and left her without any hope. Cheerilee decided to take young Kimmy under her wing as her adopted daughter and protege, helping her grow and blossom while at the same time allowing her to help with cutting out other weeds and carrying on Cheerilee's legacy.

Cheerilee and Kimmy are the founding members of Cheerilees_Flowers, a group designed to carry on Cheerilee's legacy of cutting out weeds...