Cheerilee hummed merrily as she trotted down the path towards the schoolhouse. Her left saddlebag held the homework assignments she would be returning to her class that day, as well as the papers and other materials for her student’s next assignment. Her right bag held her lunch: some delicious fresh orchids and roses, purchased from Daisy a few moments ago, and also a large, juicy apples from Applejack’s stand. Now, she thought, she was ready for another exciting day of teaching her little ponies.
“Good morning!”
Cheerilee saw a gray-coated mare approaching her and grinned. “Good morning, Ditzy. How are you doing?”
The mailmare smiled in return as she adjusted her little blue cap. “Very well, thank you!” She increased her pace slightly to catch up with the teacher. “Yourself?”
“Wonderful.” Cheerilee stepped over to the side of the path. “How’s Dinky?”
“She left for school a few minutes ago. She was really excited too.” Ditzy giggled. “You’re teaching them about Neighpon culture today?”
“Yes, and--”
“Watch out!”
Cheerilee squeaked and, along with Ditzy, jumped to the side as an orange-and-purple filly blasted by her on a scooter. Wings flaring, the foal managed to bring the scooter, its trailing wagon, and the two foals in that wagon to a halt. “Woah!” she said.
“Scootaloo!” chided Cheerilee, though she was still smiling nonetheless. “What have I told you about going at high speeds in town?”
Scootaloo hung her head, blushing slightly. “Sorry Miss Cheerilee. I guess I was just in a rush.”
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” asked Ditzy.
“School!” Sweetie Belle's face broke into a big grin. "We're gonna learn all about Neighpon today!"
"We all can't wait," added Apple Bloom.
"Yeah, school's been real awesome lately!" said Scootaloo. "You're the best, Miss Cheerilee!"
Cheerilee's smile grew. There was little she loved more than the sounds of foals who were truly eager to learn. "I'm glad you're so interested in my classes!" she said. "But you still shouldn't go so fast that you might hit somepony. You wouldn't want to hurt anypony, would you?"
The foals shook their heads. "We'll be more careful," promised Scootaloo. "We promise."
"Good!" Cheerilee nodded. “I’m glad to hear it.”
With that, the foals said their goodbyes and departed for the school building, albeit at a more sedate pace. Cheerilee chuckled as she turned back to Ditzy. “I love that they’re so enthusiastic now,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Of course! Dinky’s always telling me what she learned in school, about all the historical places and foreign cultures and everything,” said Ditzy. “She even told me last night that she wished the school day lasted longer so she could spend more time learning with you!” She inclined her head slightly. “I know you were worried about your... physical changes, but it really looks like they were all for the best.”
Cheerilee laughed at that, and carefully adjusted a saddlebag -- she still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of positioning them so that they didn’t pinch her wings. “Oh, yes. I’m not worried at all anymore. As far as I can tell --”
A bell rang in the distance.
Cheerilee blushed. “Sorry, gotta go. Can’t be late for my own class!”
Ditzy laughed as Cheerilee ran off. “Have a good day, Princess!”
***
The foals immediately quieted down as Cheerilee, Princess of Dawn and Dusk, entered the classroom.
“Good morning class!” said Cheerilee, smiling brightly as she set down her saddlebags. She allowed her wings a quick stretch, then used her telekinesis to pick up an eraser and begin cleaning up the remnants of the previous day’s lesson on fractions. With a thought, a stick of chalk floated up to the board, then began writing the first words of that day’s lesson.
“GOOD MORNING, MISS CHEERILEE!” the foals cried out as one.
“Now, today’s lesson is going to be...” continued the teacher, chuckling to herself as she drew it out. A few of the foals were leaning forward, and she could hear Sweetie Belle whispering, “Come on, come on, come on,” as she crossed her two front hooves. Cheerilee couldn’t quite contain her smile at that.
“About the country of Neighpon!” She waited for the cheers to die down, motioning with a hoof that the foals should let her finish, “Specifically, the city of Oatsaka. One of the largest cities in that nation, and home to more than a hundred times the number of ponies in Ponyville, Oatsaka is a fascinating place.”
She began to clear out a space in the middle of the room, levitating her big oaken desk to one side. The foals, who knew what was coming by this point, hurried to the open area.
“Now, did everypony read through the four pages I asked you to look at for homework?”
"Yes, Miss Cheerilee!" It seemed that every foal had, even those less inclined to schoolwork such as Scootaloo, Snips, and Snails.
"And do we all have our permission slips from our parents?"
A flurry of papers filled the air.
"Splendid. In that event, let's start learning about Oatsaka!"
And with a flash of her horn, they were gone.
***
The class reappeared with another flash.
Sweetie Belle, as usual, recovered first. "Wow! This beech is beautiful!" she cheered.
"We're at Oatsaka Shores, one thousand years ago!" said Cheerilee as the foals began to explore the shoreline. They were on a large stretch of beach, deserted except for a few huts that stood a short distance back from the shore. Seashells dotted through the sand, and some gulls called to each other up in the sky.
The teacher had been surprised, the first time she had used her newfound alicorn powers to go back in time, to realize how similar the earth and air felt as it did in the modern era. But on the whole, she had to admit that it was a good thing. The familiarity helped stop the foals from getting completely disoriented.
Cheerilee magically enhanced her voice so it could reach all the foals. "As you can see, nopony is here yet, but within a few years, settlers will start to arrive. They'll set up buildings, shops, roads, and everything else to get this city started on its way to becoming a bustling metropolis! And we're going to watch it all, right from this very spot!"
She saw that Snails was getting a bit far away, and Scootaloo was moving too deep into the water. With a gentle magical tug, she guided them back towards her. "Stay close, class. There will be time to explore later. Now -- we've discussed before the key components that make building villages, towns, and even gigantic cities viable. Which of these does this area have?"
"Access for traders!" lisped Twist, one of the more academically skilled students in the class. Twist pointed at the sea. "Cause -- cause boats can get in and out!"
"Yes, exactly! The prospect of trade often induces ponies to erect settlements," said Cheerilee. "Anypony else?"
A few other foals chimed in -- grass growing a short distance back from the beach that could be eaten, open areas for houses and buildings, and so forth.
"Splendid! You're exactly right," said Cheerilee. "Now, we'll fast-forward a hundred years or so..."
And so she brought the foals steadily forward, showing the founding of the city, the erecting of the first structures, the building of the massive castle, the reconstruction of areas damaged by fire and flood, and so forth. Sometimes she let decades zip by in a second or two, while at other times she would slow the years to a span of one every few minutes so that the foals could watch, for instance, the castle being erected. Occasionally she would set the foals back down in time and discuss some cultural point as the residents of the era moved about, unable to see or interact with the visitors.
Finally, after a full morning of watching the city spring up from nothing, Cheerilee decided that it was time for lunch. As it happened, they had just gotten back to the present. "Alright, class," said Cheerilee. "You've all been very well behaved. Perhaps we should visit a local restaurant for lunch?"
"Yay!" cheered all the foals, who were quickly becoming seasoned gourmands.
Cheerilee looked around. She had visited Oatsaka the previous weekend, to come up with an interesting list of sights to see, and was trying to remember the first one. "Now, if I remember correctly, there should be a delicious ramen shop just over here..."
"Miss Cheerilee?" asked Sweetie Belle. "When we're done with lunch, may we please look for souveniers?"
"Please?" begged some of the foals.
"We really really want to!" said Sweetie Belle. "Right, Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom looked at her. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. Souveniers."
Cheerilee frowned to herself, and made a note to determine why Apple Bloom was unusually dour later. For the moment, though, she smiled. "If you're very polite, and you pay attention in my afternoon lesson -- then yes, of course."
The foals cheered again.
Cheerilee's horn glowed as she summoned a large bunch of necklaces. "Remember, you'll only be able to understand and be understood by the locals while you're wearing these, so make sure not to lose them."
The necklaces distributed, Cheerilee led the foals out into another afternoon of learning and adventure.
***
"Did you have fun, class?"
Sweetie Belle was wearing a big hat that was made of straw and looked like an inverted funnel -- a rice paddy worker's hat. "Yes!" she chirped. "That was amazing! Thank you Miss Cheerilee!"
"Thank you!" all the foals chorused.
The school bell rang, and Cheerilee began to pack up as the foals ran off. She heard Scootaloo in particular saying she was going to zip over to the local music shop; she had fallen in love with the taito drum performance they'd seen and wanted to try some drumming for herself. Sweetie Belle, as usual, chased after her and hopped into the wagon. "You coming, Apple Bloom?" the unicorn foal chirped.
"Go ahead. Ah'll catch up," was the response.
Cheerilee recalled that Apple Bloom had seemed noticeably subdued during the trip to Oatsaka. "Apple Bloom? Could I see you for a moment?"
Apple Bloom slowly wandered back as the other foals exited the classroom. Soon, it was just the two of them. "Yes, Miss Cheerilee?"
"Are you alright?"
Apple Bloom nodded her head. "Uh-huh. Ah'm fine. Why wouldn't Ah be?"
"You just seemed a little down today. Is anything the matter?" Cheerilee smiled warmly. "I'd be happy to lend an ear."
Apple Bloom giggled at the image. "Ah guess ya can probably do that now, bein' an alicorn an' all."
"Er." Cheerilee blinked. "That isn't... um. Anyway. Are you feeling okay, Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom paused, then shook her head, sighed, and sat back at her desk. Cheerilee walked in front of her as the foal began to talk. "Ah was really lookin' forward ta this harvest. We've got a big bumper crop of apples comin' in, an' ma big sister said Ah'd probably be big enough ta help buck 'em this year. But we just had the first few apples get ripe enough ta buck yesterday, an' Ah tried an tried, but Ah couldn't even get a single one down." She looked down. "An' now Big Mac an ma sister have ta do it all themselves again. Ah really wanted ta help."
"Sweetie Belle mentioned that you do a lot of work around the farm," said Cheerilee. "You help tend to the livestock, you stomp grapes, and..."
She trailed off as she saw Apple Bloom shake her head. The foal said, "But we're not a livestock farm or a grape farm! We grow apples, an' Ah want ta help but Ah'm still too little. An' maybe Ah'll be stuck little forever an' never be able to help."
"Apple Bloom, all ponies grow up big." Cheerilee smiled again. "Why, I'll bet your sister and Big Macintosh were once littler than you!"
Apple Bloom tilted her head, considering. "Ah dunno... Big Mac's so big, Ah don't know if he was ever little."
Cheerilee began to see that logic would not win this argument. But I should still be able to do something, she thought. I've taught foals all my life. And besides, I have all this power now. Her horn glowed faintly in response to the thought. Surely I can come up with some way for Apple Bloom to help out...
"Well, I'll tell you what," said Cheerilee. "How about tonight I'll look in some books and see if I can come up with an idea?"
"What like a spell ta make ma big an' strong?"
"I don't know," said Cheerilee. "I'll give it some thought."
Apple Bloom smiled a little. "That'd be awesome. Thanks a lot, Miss Cheerilee. Ya'r the best teacher ever, an' the best princess too." She hugged Cheerilee and scampered out the door.
Cheerilee chuckled again and resumed packing up. She already had a few ideas on what she could do.
***
"Hello again!"
Cheerilee turned to see Ditzy walking up the path to Sweet Apple Acres, trailing her just slightly. The teacher tucked the large box she was carrying under one wing and waved hello to the mailmare. "Hi Ditzy! End of your route?"
"Yes, just Sweet Apple Acres and then I can go home and see Dinky!" Ditzy adjusted the thin mailbag on her left side. "Although I did bump into her in the park earlier. She was scampering about with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom and talking about how she would help them get cutie marks in molding rice balls."
Cheerilee could not help but laugh at the thought. "Do you know where Apple Bloom is now? I have something for her."
"She was just heading home when I circled back to deliver mail to city hall. She's probably here by now."
"Splendid!"
Ditzy looked at Cheerilee's package. "Are you delivering something? I can take it."
"That's alright. I wanted to give this one personally."
"What is it?"
"It's an apple bucker. It's got spells to kick the trees at the right height, and to catch the apples before they hit the ground and bruise. It's also got a kind of remote-control spell so that Apple Bloom can use it from a distance."
Ditzy blinked. "Apple Bloom wanted one of those? Where did you get it?"
"She said that she really wanted to help out more around the farm, so I popped over to the machinest's union in Manehattan and looked at a few designs. Once I knew the basic schematics, it was easy to craft it." She flashed her horn to demonstrate. "And I added the spells so that it can locate trees, catch apples, move on its own, and so on."
Ditzy said nothing, and Cheerilee grinned. "The princess told me when I first got these powers that I should use them to help my friends. I'm so happy I'm going to be able to help Apple Bloom out like this!"
"Are you sure she'll want it?" asked Ditzy. "It doesn't sound like it's exactly--"
"Hi Miss Doo! Hi Miss Cheerilee!"
The two mares turned to see Apple Bloom. The foal was sitting in an apple tree, hind legs swinging down below the branch. She called, "Ah've been waitin' all day. Ah knew ya'd come through, Miss Cheerilee!"
"Of course!" Cheerilee gently floated Apple Bloom down and opened the box for her. She then took the machine, a bucket mounted on treads with a large horseshoe in the front, out and set it down in front of Apple Bloom. "You just put this on," she said, taking a small headband and helping the foal get it around her head, and you think about what you want the machine to do, and it does it!"
"What can it do?"
"It can buck apples, catch apples, find trees with apples..."
Apple Bloom smiled, then closed her eyes and scrunched up her brow in concentration. The treaded bucket suddenly zipped over to the nearest tree. Apple Bloom opened her eyes just in time to see the boot spring out and connect with the tree, and a dozen or so apples fall, slow, and gently land in the bucket.
"Cool!" said Apple Bloom. "This is awesome! Thanks, Miss Cheerilee!'
"You're welcome, Apple Bloom. See you tomorrow!"
Cheerilee watched the foal run off, then turned back to Ditzy, beaming. "I like being an alicorn!" she said.
Ditzy nodded, though she looked like she was lost in thought.
"Is something wrong?" Cheerilee asked.
"I don't know... probably not." Ditzy shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
Cheerilee bid her friend goodbye, then walked off with a spring in her step. Tomorrow they were studying the stars, and she had spent half her weekend working out the perfect spell to turn the roof of her classroom into the most brilliantly detailed star map in the nation.
***
"Good morning class!"
"GOOD MORNING, MISS CHEERILEE!"
Cheerilee did a quick check of the foals in her class and found that she was short one. "Has anypony seen Apple Bloom this morning?"
"She said she'd be here in a minute. She was buying some candy at Bonbon's," said Sweetie Belle.
"Oh." Cheerilee looked at the clock. Apple Bloom wasn't actually late, but she was getting used to the foals arriving several minutes early in their eagerness to be educated by Cheerilee and her magic. “Well, that’s okay. She still has five minutes.” She turned back to the class.
Nopony said anything for a few moments.
“So!” said Cheerilee. “Which country was everypony’s favorite so far?”
“Neighpon!” cried out Sweetie Belle
“Caneighda!” yelled Snips and Snails together.
The others chimed in. "Mexicolt! Austaila! Dancemark!"
As the students began to debate which country was truly the most fun to learn about, Cheerilee saw Apple Bloom slip in. She frowned -- the foal looked even glummer than she had the previous day. But there was nothing she could do about it, not with class about to start. Maybe she just slept badly? I thought she really liked that tread-bucket contraption I made for her...
"Alright class!" she said, quieting the foals. "Today we're learning about the stars! I'll just dim the lights..."
***
"Apple Bloom, what's wrong?"
Neither the morning's lesson about the stars, or the afternoon's lesson about pirates had cheered Apple Bloom up any. At the end of the day, she was as sad as ever. And so, when all the foals ran out, Cheerilee once again asked Apple Bloom to stay behind.
"Nothin'."
"Is the machine I made for you broken?"
"No, it's fine. Bucked twenty trees real well,” she said. “Applejack said Ah helped out a lot.”
Cheerilee looked at the foal. “Apple Bloom... is something wrong? If it’s with the present I gave you, you can tell me. I won’t be upset. I promise.” She smiled.
“It’s just... it ain’t ma doin’ the buckin’!” said Apple Bloom, looking down. “It’s all ya’r magic! An’ it’s real good magic, but Ah’m still no good at buckin’ trees. Ah just babysit the little gizmo.”
“Oh. But I thought...” began Cheerilee.
"Ah wanna be helpful, even though Ah'm little. Applejack an' Big Mac work real hard, an' Ah want ta lend a hoof. But Ah can't, not unless Ah just borrow all the awesome stuff ya can do."
"Apple Bloom, you know that's not true," said Cheerilee. "You have so much energy and drive that I just know you can help--"
"But Ah can't. Ah tried everythin'. But... but thanks for tryin' ta help. Ah appreciate it, Miss Cheerilee." She got up and began to slowly elave the room. "Maybe if Ah just work a lot harder an' exercise a lot more..."
Cheerilee watched her go, not knowing what to say.
***
"Ditzy? Can I come in?"
The mailmare smiled and opened her door wide. "Always happy to host a friend!"
Ditzy's apartment above the post office was small, but comfortable. The mailmare helped Cheerilee remove her light windbreaker and made some tea for her.
“Hello Miss Cheerilee!” said Dinky, trotting in from the bedroom. She had a large box of breadcrumbs balanced on her head. “Momma, may I go out with Miss Fluttershy to feed the ducks?”
“Of course, dear. Be back by six,” said Ditzy, taking a moment to nuzzle Dinky. “And could you please thank Miss Fluttershy for me for that lovely set of flowers she gave me last week?”
“Of course! Bye Momma!” And Dinky was gone.
Cheerilee grinned. “Your daughter is very friendly, Ditzy. I bet she’ll befriend every foal in town before long.”
“I’d be surprised if she hasn’t already,” said Ditzy. “How are you doing?”
“Good, good. Today I showed the students pirates and star systems. They seemed to like it.”
“I loved pirates as a foal,” said Ditzy. “I dreamed sometimes that I would run away from home and join a fierce pirate crew! And then nopony could make me eat my vegetables or go to bed at a certain hour, and of course we’d find treasure chests and ancient maps and all those other things.” She chuckled. “What did the pirates you saw do?”
“We watched them scouting out an island. It was a good opportunity to teach the foals some basic botany and geography as well.”
Ditzy passed Cheerilee a plate of cookies. “And your powers? Everything okay there?”
Cheerilee made a show of examining her wings and horn. “Yep. All shipshape.”
“That’s not what I mean,” said Ditzy, though she laughed. “We agreed, when this... happened to you, that I’d keep an eye on you and make sure it didn’t go to your head or anything. Is it?”
“No,” said Cheerilee. “I mean, I still love teaching as much as I ever did. I was worried I might start seeing myself as better than everypony, but I don’t. Or at least, I don’t think I do...”
Ditzy paused. “Is something wrong?”
Cheerilee explained about Apple Bloom’s depression. “I don’t know. I tried to help her, but now she’s sadder than ever. And I’m not sure what to do next.”
“Hmm.” Ditzy sat on a cushion across the table from Cheerilee. “You know, when my Dinky started learning magic, I wondered how involved I should get. I mean, I know that some families get private tutors for their foals, and magic wands and catalysts and all those things... we couldn’t afford all that, but I could probably have paid for lessons once a week, maybe a basic wand or something like that.”
“Did you?”
Ditzy shook her head. “Dinky really wanted to do as much of it on her own as she could. She loved watching that magic show... you know, before the Ursa and all that... and she always wants to watch unicorns using their magic. One day, she told me that she wanted to do it too. I felt like I’d be taking something away from her if I just bought her a bunch of tools.”
“What did you do?” asked Cheerilee.
“I took her to the library and I showed her where the tutorials on magic are. When Dinky wants to buy a wand or something, I come up with household jobs she can help out with for a few extra bits. And Fluttershy pays her to help with her animals too, of course.” Ditzy smiled. “When Dinky learned her first spell, she was so happy she was jumping up and down. And she said that she’d finally done it, that she’d learned a spell all on her own.” The gray mare leaned back. “Maybe Apple Bloom’s the same way. She doesn’t just want the apples bucked to help out her sister, she wants to do it herself and be useful.”
Cheerilee thought. “I could come up with a spell to buff her up, I guess, but I’m not sure her family would approve.”
“I think that has the same problem. It would still be your magic.” Ditzy leaned forward. “What would you have done before you became an alicorn?”
“Probably just talked to her sister. But I feel like I can do more now.” Cheerilee gestured at her own horn. “I mean, I have so much power now. If I can’t use it to help out my friends and their families, why did I get it in the first place?”
“I don’t know.” Ditzy smiled. “I never finished that philosophy degree.”
Cheerilee laughed. “I mean, I’d recommend some books for her, but she’s probably already thought of that...” And what kind of books, she wondered, Would help her anyway? Books to build a machine to help her produce more force? She doesn’t know how...
She paused, her thoughts suddenly going off in a new direction.
“FIgure something out?” asked Ditzy.
“Maybe.” Cheerilee rose. “Sorry to leave so soon, but I need to get to the library. I have some ideas.”
“Always happy to help,” said Ditzy. “Good luck!”
Cheerilee stretched her wings, deciding that it might be fun to fly to the library. “Thanks. I’ll tell you tomorrow how things go!”
***
The next day, Cheerilee stopped Apple Bloom just before she entered the schoolroom. “If you still want to learn how to buck apples yourself,” she said, “I think I can help.” And her eyes twinkled.
Apple Bloom blinked a few times. Hope and despair warred in her face. “Really?”
“Yes. But I should warn you -- it will be a fair amount of work. You’ll need to study and--”
“Ah’ll do it!” said Apple Bloom. “Oh, thanks Miss Cheerilee. Ya’r the best teacher in Equestria!”
Cheerilee grinned. “I try.”
***
The next day, Cheerilee went over to Sweet Apple Acres with a few books on mechanics and a collection of wood blocks, metal springs, and some gears.
“The problem,” she said, once Applejack had served them all a variety of delicious apple-based products, “Is that you aren’t producing enough force to make the apples fall out of the tree, right?”
Apple Bloom nodded.
“These are some books on how to createmechanical advantage. That just means, you apply a certain amount of force, and the system increases that force by a certain proportion,” said Cheerilee.
“Er... huh?”
“You can use a machine to help you kick stronger.”
“Oh!” Apple Bloom grabbed the first book, which Cheerilee had set up with a few bookmarks at useful pages. “So what do Ah do?”
“Well...” said Cheerilee. “I could give you a schematic, but I bet you want to design it yourself, right?”
Apple Bloom grinned.
“I’ll be around if you have any questions, or if you want me to check your design,” said Cheerilee. “How about, every day after school, we’ll meet and we can discuss your progress?”
“Sounds like a plan!” cheered the foal.
***
The first few days, Apple Bloom just asked Cheerilee questions about things like ‘gear ratios’ and ‘compression constants’ and why springs had to be made of metal and not, say, taffy. Cheerilee helped her discover the answers in the books, and noted with cheer that the foal had never been so engaged in her studies -- not even when Cheerilee had taken the class to a zoo in Austaila and shown them all some of the cutest koalas in existance.
On the fourth day, Apple Bloom began bringing Cheerilee designs.
“I don’t think that would produce enough force,” she said about the first one. “If you look at the equations we talked about yesterday, you’ll see this would only increase your force by about 2%.”
“That one looks unstable,” she said about the second one. “I think it might fall apart if you gave it a solid kick.”
The next few came in quick succession. “Those springs might get tangled in each other.” “I think you’re still a little light on force.” “Using livestock is probably a... inelegant approach.” Cheerilee worried that Apple Bloom might despair, but the foal just kept working on it as harvest week drew nearer.
“This is a great project, Miss Cheerilee,” said Apple Bloom, as they looked at one of her latest designs. “Thanks for all the help!”
“It's no trouble at all, Apple Bloom. I’m glad you’re having fun!”
And then, one day, Apple Bloom brought Cheerilee a design the teacher thought could work. It would involve the foal pedaling on a set of bicycle pedals connected to a gear. The gear would rotate other gears in a chain, increasing the amount of force, which could compress a spring until it snapped into place. When the spring was released, it would launch a paddle forward three times stronger than Apple Bloom could kick on her own.
"Wonderful job!" said Cheerilee. "I really think this one could do it!"
Apple Bloom nodded. "Ah guess now Ah can see if anypony in town could make it for ma."
"Actually, Apple Bloom, I think you might be able to make it yourself."
And the foal beamed again.
***
"Fillies an' gentlecolts! Feast yar eyes on ma amazin' invention! The Apple Whacker 5000!"
Cheerilee, Ditzy, and Applejack stomped their hooves in polite applause. The gathered foals were a lot louder, cheering wildly as Apple Bloom bit down on the cloth covering her invention and whipped it off.
"Ah designed an' built it all maself!" she said. "Well, Miss Cheerilee helped with the sawin'." Cheerilee had offered to cast a spell making Apple Bloom's skin and coat saw-proof so that she could use the tools herself, but Applejack had been somewat reluctant. "Ain't it awesome?"
It looked very much like the schematics. A set of pedals were connected around a bicycle wheel frame to the gears, which compressed a spring. Apple Bloom pedaled for several seconds, and the foals 'oohed' as the spring was slowly forced down and into its locked position. "Now," said Apple Bloom, "Ah just buck this switch here..."
She kicked the spring, releasing it from its position. It shot forwards, thrusting a big horseshoe. The horseshoe struck the tree with a heavy thunk.
Several apples rained down.
Cheerilee grinned. "Congratulations!" she said, her voice joining the cheering crowd. "Congratu--"
And then an apple fell off the tree and speared itself on her horn. She chuckled and levitated it off. "Good job," she finished.
Apple Bloom looked like she might burst with pride. "Thank ya! Thank ya! Ah'm gonna buck so many apples this harvest, Ah think ma hooves might fall off! Ah'm--"
"Look!" squeaked Sweetie Belle. "Apple Bloom, your flank!"
Apple Bloom twisted -- and grinned. On her flank was now a picture, an apple perched atop of a hammer and saw. "Ah -- Ah don't believe it!" the foal stammered
"You got your cutie mark!" the foals cheered.
The resultant partying and fun went on for hours.
***
"Thank you for your help," said Cheerilee to Ditzy, without preamble.
Ditzy smiled. "I heard that Apple Bloom got her cutie mark."
"Yes. She said I was the best teacher that ever lived." Cheerilee beamed. "Of course, I couldn't have done it without you..."
Ditzy blushed. "It was nothing. I was just trying to help a friend."
"Well, you gave me some good advice," said Cheerilee. "I owe you a favor."
Ditzy's eyes twinkled. "I have an idea as to what I might want..."
"Let me guess -- another banana-nut muffin that's bigger than you?"
Ditzy grinned and nodded.
Cheerilee laughed as her horn began to glow with vast magical power. And, as she began to prepare the incantations that would craft a massive and marvelous dessert out of the very air and ether, she said, "I think I can manage that."
