The Cart After the Ponies - Commission for Flamesofsorrow

Story by Sir Thaikard on SoFurry

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#22 of Commissions

Another commission for Flamesofsorrow. Notable school teacher Cheerilee finds herself in one compromising situation after another at the Applewood Derby. While she tries to help mend the relationship between two siblings will she escape unscathed from her little adventure?


"You still got it girl..." Giggling to herself Cheerilee took a moment to examine herself in the change room mirror before shucking off the skirt of the cheerleader outfit. The cheer team had been short a member and the pony teacher had been "volun-told" to fill the empty spot on short notice.

"Don't think anypony noticed me either, so that's a plus... Imagine if one of my stu-" A door flung open and the pony froze as somepony shouted, their voice echoing off the walls.

"IS ANYPONY THERE?! I NEED HELP?! MY BROTHER IS MISSING! HELLO?!"

A filly, likely somepony who had just finished the derby race, was racing through the locker aisles as fast as she could. Cheerilee didn't recognize the voice but that didn't stop her from blushing as she was caught in such a compromising state of undress.

"YOU! I NEED YOUR HELP! PLEASE! WE HAVE TO HURRY!"

"Um, aren't your parents around? They should be..."

"THERE'S NO TIME. THEY'RE NOT HERE, I HAVE MY BROTHER. HELP."

The filly was sobbing at this point to the point where her speech was becoming unintelligible. She was also becoming more desperate, grabbing onto the teacher's hooves in an attempt to drag them out the door.

"C-can I at least change properly first?" Being seen in a cheerleader outfit was embarrassing, being half dressed in public moreso, but to be both? She'd never hear the end of it from her pupils if any of them caught her.

"THERE'S NO TIME! HE'S IN TROUBLE AND HE'S GOING TO DIE AND IT'LL BE ALL MY FAULT!" She was hysterical now, sloppy tears were running down her cheeks and pooling on the tiled floor. Her fears were genuine and if not it was a spectacular performance.

Cheerilee stood there, torn about what to do. On one hoof, super humiliating if anyone saw and recognized her. On the other, if a colt was harmed because of her inaction would she be able to live with herself?

The choice was clear.

Bursting out of the change rooms Cheerilee did her best to keep pace with filly who charged forth the instant there was confirmation that someone was willing to help save her brother.


The teacher didn't know where they were going and struggled to run and listen to the filly's story simultaneously.

"ANDHEWANTEDTOUSETHISFUELHEFOUNDINTHESWAMPBECAUSEHETHOUGHTITWOULDMAKEUSWINANDIDIDNTTHINKITWASSAFE."

"Sweetie! Please slow down, I can't really understand you!" Also she was tired, you don't do an entire cheer routine without burning a few calories and Cheerilee wasn't as young as she used to be.

And maybe her mind wasn't as young as it once was either. Why did she bring along the pom poms? What possible use could these things have? She berated herself as she continued chasing the filly.

"ANDTHENWHENWELOSTHEBLAMEDMEANDTHENWENTTOPROVETHATTHEFUELWOULDHAVEWORKEDANDHETOOKTHECARTWITHHIM."

Cheerilee was getting a headache just trying to follow along with the story. And it was only when she nearly got slapped in the face by a low-hanging branch that she finally took in their surroundings.

"Um, sweetie, where are we? Is this safe? Where are we going?"

"IKNOWITSNOTSAFEANDTHATSWHYWENEEDTOHURRYORELSEHESGOINGTOHURTHIMSELFANDTHENITLLBEALLMYFAULTFORNOTLISTENINGINTHEFIRSTPLACE."

A plume of flame erupted from the ground while one of Cheerilee's pom poms started to smolder. In one sense perhaps it was a good thing she didn't bring the skirt because wherever they were, it was uncomfortably warm. Her normally sensitive skin felt exceptionally vulnerable amongst all these vents of heat.

"THERE! LOOK! TRACKS! HE'S BEEN HERE! HURRY!"

If only she was a few years younger maybe the pony could have kept pace with the panicking filly. Watching her leap over geysers of ash and fire with fearless abandon and ease was not helping Cheerilee's nerves.

"Slow down! This isn't safe! How can we help your brother if we get hurt?!"

That seemed to work, if just barely. The filly paused, just stopping from leaping over another crater full of molten rock. The teacher visibly exhaled in relief and cautiously approached, gingerly stepping over some noxious vents.

"Much better. And you were in such a hurry I didn't even get your name, or your brother's."

But the filly shook her head. "My name isn't important right now! And we have to hurry or else Turbo is going to get hurt!"

"Turbo? Is that your brother's name?" That made sense. What didn't make sense was the smell of burning hair. Cheerilee looked back and then quickly suppressed a scream. So much for being careful.

The pony had been so relaxed when the filly finally calmed down that she didn't notice how close her butt was to a growing puddle. Fortunately she managed to swish her tail casually enough to blow out the embers that had tackled her hindquarters.

"Yes! That's his name, TurboThrust. Now let's get going! We've wasted enough time!"

And just like that, she was off again.

There, another good reason to not have brought the skirt along. Her butt could get better, but how would she have explained the charred article of clothing? With that being said, they probably would not want these sooty pom poms back.

She dropped the dirtiest one into one of the pits and it sizzled before disintegrating into a puff of smoke. The teacher made a mental note to be even more cautious moving forward. Also because it stung to move her hindlegs too quickly.

Hobbling along Cheerilee followed the tracks and fresh hoofprints made in the smoldering earth. Turbo couldn't be far now, it was clear that the cart had made several erratic pitstops and dodging maneuvers. The colt was talented if nothing else.

And then the shrieking. At first, she was worried that one or both had fallen in and was now burning to death. But as the pony cleared a hill she sighed in relief, they were just bickering like siblings do.

Not that Cheerilee could make out what exactly they were bickering about. The brother was capable of the same rapidfire speech as his sister and when overlaid on top of each other it was completely incomprehensible.

"Excuse me? Children? Children." Nothing. If anything it caused the two to argue even louder to drown out the teacher.

"CHILDREN THAT'S ENOUGH."

The siblings froze in place as the pony skidded down the slope as gracefully as she could stopping right in front of them.

"Tally... Who's this...?" The colt was trying to subtly whisper to his sister, "Did you...Did you find a stripper to help you...?"

"Excuse me?" Cheerilee was looming over the young colt as he withered from her glare. "Where did you learn that language? What would your Father say if he could hear you?"

"Who cares what the old fart thinks! He abandoned us!" Oops, the teacher winced as she noticed the tears welling in the eyes of the colt. Not her finest or most sensitive moment. The filly walked over to begin comforting her brother.

"It's fine, what does Dad have to do with any of this?" Turbo ignored his sister as he brushed her aside to resume examining their derby cart.

It looked like an ordinary cart, with the exception of what was cobbled together at the back of it. A hodgepodge of mechanical contraptions slapped together. It was honestly impressive that the entire thing hadn't collapsed on itself based on weight alone.

"How much do you want to bet that if we had won, he might have come back?" Turbo trotted over to the other side and tinkered with a panel, "And not just won, but won in style. Won by obliterating the competition. Won in a way that no one ever has in the history of the derby!"

They watched as the colt made several adjustments to a component jutting out. "See? Look!" He produced a small jar filled with something sticky. Cheerilee immediately recognized it as the bubbling liquid from the fire swamps.

"Wait! Stop! That's dangerous!" But the teacher was too late as Turbo unended the contents of the jar into a funnel.

And nothing happened.

They stood, staring at the derby cart when a quiet rumble began emanating from it. And then it grew in volume as the cart began to violently quiver. The colt jumped into the driver seat as the cacophony reached its peak and Cheerilee could only watch in horror as the entire rear portion of the vehicle erupted into flame.

Something in the back of her brain told her this was exceedingly dangerous. Was it possible to get PTSD from the small burn from earlier? Her singed buttocks were twitching a bit but when his sister didn't so much as flinch the pony's fear turned to curiosity. With a roar the cart accelerated and flew. Literally.

With as much force as a gunshot the cart launched itself over multiple pits as Turbo guided it speeding around charred trees, jets of molten dirt, and then circled Tally and Cheerilee several times before shuddering to a stop.

He looked proud of himself, but instead of the applause he was expected he received more shrieking from the filly.

"Are you serious?!"

"What?"

"It's still unstable! You didn't bolt down the feeder like I asked! And how many times did you filter the fuel?!"

"Three...?"

"You're supposed to do it at least five times! Now the tubes are going to be clogged with residue! This is why you shouldn't have done this without me!"

"You were scared of using it!"

"I'm scared that it's not ready! We're not ready! And you're going to get hurt and then I'm going to lose you too!"

No pony was expecting that. And there was this awkward silence as Turbo looked shocked and Tally slapped a hoof to her mouth, embarrassed by her little outburst.

"Now now." Cheerilee stepped forward between the two of them, "It has become clear to me that both of you care very much for one another. Even if neither of you are very adept at showing it in healthy ways." Both siblings stared sheepishly at the ground.

"Turbo, I think you want to bring your family back together. But hasn't Tally made it clear that she's happy with what she has already? There isn't a need to push yourself so hard." The colt blushed as he tapped the steering wheel uncomfortably.

"And Tally, look at how hard Turbo is trying to make you happy. Support your brother, you two are stronger together." The filly opened and closed her mouth but didn't say anything. "You need to stick with him, he needs you just as much as you need him."

And then the teacher stepped back, her job done. Slowly the two met each other's eyes and came closer.

"I'm sorry, I just got so worried. You didn't need to push yourself so hard you know..."

"I just wanted to do something nice for you... Things have been tough and losing didn't make it any easier."

"You're so silly..."

Turbo hopped out and embraced his sister while Cheerilee discretely sighed in relief. All in a day's work.

"Hey, thanks Ms. Stripper. I appreciate it."

"Turbo!"

The teacher cringed as Tally smacked her brother in the head. Well, she supposed they both deserved that. What self-respecting pony would go around dressed like this.

"Come on, help me dismantle this stuff." The filly undid a hoofful of buckles as the modifications groaned, threatening to topple over at a moment's notice.

"You can't be serious! How are we going to haul it back? You can't seriously be thinking of just leaving all this here! After all the work we've done on it!" Turbo hustled over to stop her but it was clear that Tally was indeed serious.

"This was just a prototype. We have the blueprints at home, we have an entire year to make it more reliable. Come on." Reluctantly the colt started removing portions and dropped them on the sizzling ground.

"You know, there's nothing stopping you from coming back at a later time with an adult and grabbing it."

"Ms. Voyeur has a point!" Ugh, this time even Tally didn't object. Thank goodness neither of them were in her class.

The last of the boosters were removed and the cart surprisingly looked like any other one in the race earlier that day. They started to get in when they both suddenly looked at Cheerilee.

"Yo... there's barely enough room for us let alone her..."

"Well we can't just leave her here. She did help me find you..."

"You find the weirdest help Tally..."

"Children, I can squat in the back, just drive slowly and we can all make it back safely together."

"Ms. Bottomless has a good point." Cheerilee just gave up fighting the nicknames and awkwardly seated herself on a tiny shelf in the back. It wobbled slightly under her weight.

Gradually they navigated their way through the fire swamp but the pony would be lying if she wasn't feeling antsy everytime they hit a bump or drove too close to any of the open pits of acrid fluid.

And then suddenly they stopped.

"I-is everything alright?" The teacher partially sat up as her platform jiggled dangerously to the side. Of all the places they could stop why here? They were literally surrounded by pools of open flame and she could already feel the ash settled on her mane.

"Tally, would you, do you want to drive?"

Well this was unexpected. Certainly sweet but of all the times and places to be sweet and unexpected why here when it was the most dangerous of all?! Cheerilee bit her lip as she watched the filly's face go from one of confusion, to delight, and then to uncertainty.

"Are, are you sure Turbo? I mean, you were always the designated driver for a reason."

"Yeah but we're not racing anymore are we? Like you said we have a year until the next race. So if you want, now's the perfect time to drive around yourself."

The pony was at a crossroads again. Here was a perfect opportunity for sibling bonding, they were opening up to each other and again, it was so sweet and considerate of him. But was it worth the potential risk to her own physical safety?

"You should do it Tally, go on." Was what Cheerilee said, but mentally she was screaming in fear knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

Tally was squealing with glee as they switched spots and she made herself comfortable. It was immediately clear that she had no idea what she was doing as the cart lurched forwards and began its ascent up a mound of smouldering dirt.

Wait, upwards?

"I thought derby carts operated via gravity?"

"Yep, that's right."

"Then, how are we going "up"? We're literally defying gravity."

"Gravity is for normal derby carts. We modified ours obviously." They laughed, as if it was obvious to everyone. They had finally reached the top of the mound and the vehicle precariously lurched forward.

"But didn't you literally disassemble a huge hunk of machinery back there?" The teacher clenched her jaw as they skidded dangerously close to another heat vent.

"Oh that was just the secondary boosters."

"W-what do you mean secondary?"

"We got some stuff in the guts. Makes it driveable. But this is our secret weapon." Turbo pried a panel off the side revealing any angry red looking button.

"Yeah, this is what it does!"

"WAIT N-"

But it was too late. Tally had already leaned forward and depressed it. Bracing for impact, Cheerilee hugged her little shelf for dear life only to get laughed at when nothing happened.

"You know, for a cheerleader you're not really confident or outgoing!"

"That's weird though, do you think something's broken?"

They continued chugging along when suddenly the cart came to a dead stop. And then the cart started to vibrate.

And then the cart was gone.

Well, not entirely accurate. One second it was there and the next second it was disappearing off into the distance over the treeline. Cheerilee was completely thrown off and she watched in horror as it started to plummet back to Earth only for a parachute to conveniently deploy at the last second.

Phew, at least the children were safe. Now to get backohmygodsomethingisburning.

In her panic she didn't realize that she had not only landed rump first into a pool of scorching liquid, but it had also coated her entire backside. A different sense of panic spread through as she immediately got up, trying to wipe away the stinging fluid that clung to her skin.

"Get off! Get off!" She ripped off her cheerleader top and slapped her butt with it only for the fabric to stick to the fluid. It was burning like water that was uncomfortably hot and spread just as easily. Now it was all over her vagina and the liquid was creeping ever closer.

Waddling out her eyes desperately scanned the area for something to wash the offensive substance off. But perhaps if she was paying attention she would have seen the flame geyser before it went off right into her hindquarters.

And so finally free of having to act like an adult the teacher was now able to behave as "unteacher-like" as she pleased. Screaming, she raced around the swamp for anything that could provide for her now flaming hindquarters.

A waterfall in the middle of a swamp didn't make sense but she didn't care. Diving straight in she embraced the freezing water which not only soothed her burnt butt, but also extinguished the fire and washed off the remaining fluid.

"That, that could have gone a lot worse..." Her genitals were mostly unscathed but everytime she moved her hindlegs she winced at the pain emanating from the posterior. Bits of soggy fabric floated around her and she really hoped that no one would be asking for that top back anytime soon.

"Shame, I could have maybe turned it into a bandage or something..." The pony sighed and allowed herself a moment to relax. The children were safe, she wasn't too badly injured, she helped bring a family together. Net positive.

Now she just needed to worry about getting back home. By hoof. While injured. Through a blazing fire swamp.

And that's when she noticed that she was at the edge of the swamp. Meaning Ponyville was all the way on the other side. She sat there feeling like an idiot as the freezing water sloshed in-between her sore buttocks.

Cheerilee gulped and decided to relax just a little longer to delay the inevitable unpleasant trip.