Read Me, Cherilee
Dear Apple Family,
It's Parent Teacher Night soon, and I would be so happy to talk to one of you about Apple Bloom's progress. She's really come quite far this past year! The date for PTN is May 4th, and it starts at six in the afternoon! Thank you!
Miss Cherilee
Apple Bloom groaned and brought the overly-cheery letter into her home. Miss Cherilee even dots her letters with little hearts. Ick. She thought to herself. She came across Big Mac first, hoping that his laid-back and soft-spoken nature would be the easiest to convince to accompany him to the school on Parent Teacher Night. The big red pony balked at the letter in his sister's teeth. “Err... why don't y'all give that ta Granny, Bloomy?” He half-mumbled.
“Aw, come on, Big Mac! Ah need somepony to go to Parent Teacher night, an' Applejack's in tha' Crystal Empire visitin' Twilight. Ah don' wanna make Granny Smith go!” Apple Bloom whined.
Big Mac sighed. “...Fine...” He relented.
“You'll go?” Apple Bloom asked excitedly.
“...Eeyup.” Big Mac replied, taking the letter and pinning it to the family bulletin board in the kitchen. “Jus' remind me when it is.” He added, casting his eyes to the side.
Apple Bloom nodded. “Hay, it's okay, Big Mac. It's just Parent Teacher Night. Besides, don't y'all wanna say hi ta Miss Cherilee? She asked 'bout you tha' other day, ya know. Ah said y'all were workin' hard an' that yer fine an' dandy.”
Mac chuckled a little. “Did she ask 'bout Granny an' Applejack?”
“Uh.... no, actually. She musta fergot 'bout them.” Apple Bloom shrugged.
Well, Mac was reminded of the date for Parent Teacher Night, and dutifully went, even though he was somewhat dreading it. After the Hearts and Hooves incident from last year, Mac felt a weird sense of social awkwardness around Cherilee. He couldn't quite place the feeling, but it made him start sweating and his heart beat fast, as if he were terrified of the sweet pink teacher pony somehow. It made him even quieter than his usual self around her. Still, he found himself drawn to her sweet smile and her cheery personality. She truly wanted nothing more than to bring knowledge and learning to every colt and filly who walked into her classroom. Her greatest dream was to see them achieve theirs, whatever it may be. He remembered Apple Bloom coming home one night, talking about how Cherilee puts on a party for every child who earns their cutie mark in her class, themed around the cutie mark the little colt or filly received.
When Peppermint Twist got her cutie mark, Cherilee's party involved peppermint candy for everypony and Cherilee even commissioned a new set of candy-striped glasses frames for the nearsighted filly as a gift. Twist, a normally shy little filly with a speech impediment, so often bullied before, felt so special and so loved that day she had burst out into tears of joy.
~~(Exilo's idea edit: It was so good I felt I had to implement it.)~~
As Big Mac meandered down the road with his sister on his back, his ears picked up a high-pitched whimpering sound from an alleyway. The alley was shrouded in darkness, but Mac noticed a small form huddled in the shadows, tiny wings fluttering and buzzing in vain to lift the tiny body off the ground. A spiked mane and tail flailed around in the shadows as the little creature tried to fly away and failed.
"Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked. "Scootaloo, izzat you?"
"Go away!" The tiny form shouted angrily. Yep, it was definitely Scootaloo.
"Scootaloo, now c'mon outta there." Mac said gently. "Why're y'all hidin' out on Parent Teacher Night? Don't ya want yer mama to know how good yer doin' in school?"
Scootaloo began bawling, and her wings stopped buzzing so powerfully. "Go away! I can't go Parent Teacher Night! I hate it! Leave me alone!"
"Scootaloo, quit cryin' an' jus' tell us what's wrong. We can help ya, but ya gotta help us too." Apple Bloom pleaded. "Ah just wanna help ya, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo tried to stop crying, but her next words were still obscured by tearful gasps for air. "I... I can't go to Parent Teacher Night 'cause... 'cause... 'cause I don't have parents!" She cried tearfully.
"Ah dinnit know that." Apple Bloom said. "How come?"
"They died in an accident about five years ago, in Cloudsdale. My mom was the head color spectrum technician in the Rainbow Factory, and there was a meltdown in the Rainbow Reactor Core. My dad rushed in to save her, but neither of them ever came back out. I was a really little filly, but I was old enough that I'll always remember." Scootaloo sniffled.
"Oh mah! Ah had no idea. Ah'm so sorry fer yer loss, Scootaloo. So, lahk... where do y'all live, then? If ya ain't got no ma or pa?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Technically, when the accident happened I was put in foster care. I went through a whole bunch of foster homes. None of them ever worked out." Scootaloo was beginning to calm down, and wiped her tears away with her foreleg. "Then there were no more registered foster homes in Ponyville left. They wanted to send me back to Cloudsdale, but nopony wanted me there because I couldn't fly yet and nopony wanted a whiny little orphan filly who couldn't fly. I was homeless for a while."
"You were? But yer not now?" Mac asked.
"Not anymore. Miss Cherilee caught me trying to steal food from a vendor cart about two years ago, just before I met you guys. She gave me a big lecture, then asked what I was thinking when I tried to steal that food. I told her that I was just trying to eat, that I didn't have any money but I didn't know when the next time I would get to eat would be. That led to her asking more questions, and eventually Miss Cherilee let me live with her. But I didn't want to live with Miss Cherilee, I wanted my mom and dad back. So I ran away a lot. I still do sometimes, and I sleep in the CMC clubhouse or in you guys's barn. I promise that when I do that, I don't touch things that aren't mine and I promise that I'm not bothering anypony!"
Mac waved his hoof dismissively. "It a'int no thang, Scootaloo. Y'all feel free ta stay when ya feel ya need to. Heck, stay inside tha house with us, where it's warm. Y'all're lahk fam'ly to us anyway."
"Really? Wow, thanks! I feel bad sometimes, but Miss Cherilee is really nice about it. She never comes after me when I run away. She never tries to force me to stay there or punishes me when I run away. She always lets me come back on my own, and she never yells at me or demands to know where I've been. She really tries to take care of me and make me happy. Maybe... Maybe I won't run away so often anymore."
"Ah hope not." Mac said seriously. "With all Miss Cherilee does ta try 'n give y'all a good roof over yer head and good food ta eat, y'all should be real thankful fer her. Ah a'int sayin' y'all should ignore tha skellybones in yer closet, but runnin' away from em' an' bein' cold 'n hungry at night a'int tha answer."
"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't run away from Miss Cherilee anymore. Hey, can you guys give me a lift to the schoolhouse? I wanna talk to Miss Cherilee."
"Climb aboard tha S.S. Big McIntosh, l'il filly." Mac said, smiling softly and kneeling down so Scootaloo could find a spot on his broad shoulders with Apple Bloom.
He walked up to the schoolhouse with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in tow and saw the parents and guardians of all the other little colts and fillies in the school all standing there too. Rarity was there with Sweetie Belle, Filthy Rich had come for Diamond Tiara, and the like. Scootaloo sighed when she saw the other ponies with their parents, but Mac smiled and stroked Scootaloo's mane softly, silently telling her that everything was going to be alright. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead, the same way he did when tucking Apple Bloom in for the night, and how he did with Applejack back when she was still small enough to tuck in at night. Scootaloo smiled and hugged Mac around the legs. "Thanks, Mac. This means a lot to me." Scootaloo darted off into the back entrance of the building to talk to Cherilee.
~~(End of Exilo's edit idea)~~
Rarity noticed Big Mac walk up to the building and let Scootaloo go. “Apple Bloom forced you to go to this dreadful thing?” She asked dully. Big Mac nodded. “Well, it can't be all bad. My letter stated that Sweetie Belle was really coming far, so perhaps this won't be a complete misery. What did your letter say, Big Mac?”
“Uhhhh....” Big Mac stammered. “Well, Ah... Ya see...”
“The same thing, really.” Apple Bloom interrupted quickly. “Ah think she sent the same letter ta everypony.”
Rarity seemed to accept this answer and ended the conversation there, much to Big Mac's relief. “Thanks.” The big crimson stallion said to his sister.
“Yer welcome.”
Miss Cherilee walked outside with an even gait and a smile, and announced that they would be going in reverse alphabetical order, before calling in Truffle Shuffle and his mom. “Aw, man!” Apple Bloom groused. “That means we're last, Big Mac.”
“...Why?” Big Mac blurted.
“'Cause mah name begins with 'A' and 'a' is tha first letter, but Cherilee said she was gonna go backwards, so she started with tha las' letter.” Apple Bloom explained. “So we're gonna be stuck here for a while.”
Big Mac groaned.
Slowly, pony by pony went by (Rarity seemed satisfied with Sweetie's progress, if a little annoyed at the recounting of her antics, and Filthy Rich was absolutely livid with Diamond Tiara, pushing her out of the schoolhouse by force and giving her a glare that sent the bratty little snob running), and finally, Cherilee came out and called for Big Mac and Apple Bloom.
“Oh, hello, Big Mac, it's good to see you again. Honestly, I was expecting Applejack to bring Apple Bloom today.” Cherilee noted.
“Applejack's in tha Crystal Empire visitin' Princess Twilight for a couple days. So Ah asked Big Mac instead.” Apple Bloom shrugged.
“Oh, how exciting! Well, I wish her well. Now, let's talk about Apple Bloom's grades. They're coming up from last term, but they could still use some serious improvement.” Cherilee explained, showing Big Mac a transcript of Apple Bloom's grades.
“Uh, why don't Ah take that, Miss Cherilee. So I know where mah weaknesses ahr, yeah?” Apple Bloom said nervously, taking the transcript for herself.
“Um, well, okay, but I figured Big Mac might be able to help you in school if he looked at your grades--”
“Ah appreciate tha thought, Miss Cherilee, but Big Mac works hard in the fields and don't got a lotta time to help me. Ah don't mind it and all, but Ah wouldn't worry Mac with it. Ah'll show it to Applejack when she gets home.”
Meanwhile, Big Mac's already red cheeks were burning. He sat silently, watching as his baby sister made pathetic excuses on his behalf. After all, how was Mac supposed to explain the real reason he was unable to help Apple Bloom with her homework? Mac realized that the situation wasn't going to get any better unless he came clean to the teacher pony now, instead of the entire situation getting worse while Apple Bloom tangled them both deeper into a sticky web of fragile lies?
“Bloomy, stahp.” Mac interrupted, holding his hoof to her chest to silence her. “Miss Cherilee, Ah got a confession ta make here. Ah'm afraid mah sister 'n' Ah a'int been entirely honest with y'all.”
“Um... okay.” Cherilee replied.
Big Mac sighed. He cast his eyes to the ground in sadness. “Apple Bloom's got a point when she says Ah work too much ta help her. She a'int lyin' there. That's not tha real reason she's makin' excuses though. Tha real reason Ah can't help her is 'cause... well... when our Pa died, Ah had to take the fields in his place, and Ah had ta drop outta school ta do it. Ah never learned how to read too good. Ah'm sorry, Miss Cherilee, but Apple Bloom took her grades from ya 'cause Ah can't make heads 'r tails o' the letters on the page.” His cheeks were burning, and his jaw was set tight.
“Oh. I see. I understand now. That's perfectly alright, Big Mac. Being unable to read isn't anything to be ashamed of, though I can understand why you personally would be. In fact, why don't I try to help you out? I'll come by maybe a couple of times a week and we can work on reading together? Are you okay with that?” Cherilee offered.
“Ah am more than okay with that. Ah've been feelin' like a big foal mah whole life 'bout it.” Big Mac accepted.
“Alright then? How about tomorrow to start?”
“Sounds like a plan.” Big Mac agreed.
“Good! Now, let me try to explain better how Apple Bloom's grades can improve.”
The rest of the meeting went fairly well, and Big Mac got a better understanding of how he could help his sister improve, especially in areas like math, which Big Mac surprisingly understood quite well. He couldn't read letters to save his life, but he knew numbers and he knew them well. After all, he was the one who managed the day-to-day finances of Sweet Apple Acres.
The next afternoon, after Apple Bloom had come home from school, dropped off her things, and then promptly had gone out with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, Cherilee came over to start Mac's lesson. She had a saddlebag full of children's books, the type with thick chewable pages and shiny stickers on the covers. Looking at them made Big Mac feel awful. He was an adult stallion, and here he was with his baby sister's primary school teacher, soon to be struggling through ABC's With Silver Bell.
Cherilee sat down next to Mac on the living room sofa and pulled out one of the books. “Since you mentioned you couldn't make sense of Apple Bloom's letter grades, I'm going to assume you don't even know your letters very well. Am I right?”
“Ah know a few of 'em, but ah get stumped by some of 'em.” Big Mac replied. He looked at the toddler's learning book with a critical eye.
“Well, let's go through all of them together. One step at a time, right?”
Mac sighed.
“Oh, Mac. I understand your feelings. But it isn't your fault. It's not like you don't have the brain to be able to read, because I know you do. You just never had the opportunity to learn.” Cherilee said brightly, placing her hoof on his foreleg reassuringly. “But together, I'm sure we can turn all that around!”
“Y'all bein' mighty kind ta me, Cherilee, an' mighty patient at that.” Mac said graciously. “Considerin' we're prolly close ta tha same age 'n' all.”
“Oh, don't worry about your age. Anypony at any age can learn to do anything. All it takes is a little motivation. Let's start with the alphabet, shall we?”
Soon after the lesson began, Apple Bloom burst back home in a cloud of laughter, followed shortly by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Oh, hi, Cherilee. I know I said I'd come home, but can I just have a couple more days? I just need a little more time to think." Scootaloo said apologetically, her eyes cast down at her hooves as she kicked at the floor, a little downtrodden.
“I completely understand, Scootaloo. Feel free to come home whenever you feel like it. You know my door is always open for you.” Cherilee responded sweetly.
The subject then changed to why Cherilee was sitting at Apple Bloom's coffee table in the living room with Big Mac with a bunch of little kid books strewn about.
Big Mac looked mortified, and begged his sister with his eyes to please take her overly-curious little friends away. Or at least to shut them up a little bit. It's not that he didn't love Apple Bloom's friends dearly, Celestia knows he did, but they did have a tendency to stick their hooves where they didn't belong.
“'Cause, uh... they're seein' which books we can give away. Ya know, if they're in good condition 'n' whatnot. We had 'em for a long time, an' they're just takin' up space, so Miss Cherilee offer'd ta bring 'em to tha charity drive place fer us. Right, Miss Cherilee?” Apple Bloom said a little too loudly, a little too quickly.
“What? Oh, um, yes! We're going to give some underprivileged fillies and colts some new books to read! But we want to give them good books, not old tattered ones, right, Big Mac?” Cherilee replied with the same fake enthusiasm, nudging Mac in the side with her hoof. Mac caught on quickly.
“Uh, Eeyup!” Mac, Cherilee, and Apple Bloom got the same wide, fake smiles plastered on their faces. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were not entirely convinced, but they let the issue slide. Unfortunately, Granny Smith chose that time to wander through the room and take notice of the teacher, and the books, and Big Mac with a toddler's book held carefully in his hooves.
~~(Another Exilo Edit Implement Strategy Here)~~
“Finally gettin' sum book-learnin' in ya big red apple-buckin' noggin, are yeh? 'Bout time y'all stopped needin' Applejack readin' tha paper to yeh every mornin'. Imagine, mah grandson, grown stallion, bigger'n Ah am, can't even read 'is own name. Still, Ah'm glad yer finally gettin' a handle on it 'n takin' the initiative. Doin' yer papa proud every day. ” She blurted lovingly before wandering away into a different room, completely unaware of the unadulterated shame she had just caused her grandson.
~~(Exilo Edit End)~~
Big Mac hid his face in the throw pillows. The shuddering of his body made it apparent he had actually started to cry in embarrassment, and Cherilee tried to calm him down by rubbing his back soothingly with her hoof.
“Big Mac can't read?” Sweetie Belle asked. Hearing the words out of Sweetie's mouth made Mac just try to sink himself deeper into the sofa, as if he could blend into the upholstery and make it all go away. A strange high-pitched whine made its way out of Mac's throat, muffled by the couch and Cherilee's left flank, which he was currently trying to melt into in a futile attempt to disappear.
Apple Bloom sighed deeply and glared in the direction Granny had just meandered off into. Her expression softened as she regarded her brother and Cherilee on the couch, the pink teacher pony trying her best to get Mac to come out from trying in vain to melt himself into the fabric of the couch. “No, he can't.” Apple Bloom admitted softly. “...And he didn't want y'all knowin', but Granny just wrecked that. Ah'm sorry, Big Mac. Ah didn't know she was awake from her nap or Ah'da stopped her.”
Big Mac mumbled something, muffled through the throw pillows. It sounded as though he were saying that he didn't blame Apple Bloom, that she didn't know Granny was awake and that it was okay.
“Hey, we don't care if he can't read. He's still your brother, and he's still our friend. It's not like he's suddenly somepony different just because he can't read. If he really wants us not to though, we won't tell anypony.” Scootaloo said. “Though I don't see why it's such a big deal. I mean, I'm a Pegasus, and I can't even fly. That's embarrassing too, but everypony knows about that.”
“I'm a unicorn, and I can barely do any magic. How dumb is that?” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
Apple Bloom stared at her friends with a deadpan expression. “Ya know, I love y'all two dearly, Ah do, but yer both kinda makin' me feel bad ta be an Earth pony.”
“Sorry, Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Now come on, let's get more Crusadin' done and let mah brother alone with Cherilee to get some book-learnin' done. He ain't never gonna learn if we're here makin' a nuisance of ourselves.” Apple Bloom ushered her friends out of the room and out of the house. Finally, Mac brought his head up from under the cushions. He sniffled a little.
“Ah've felt like a big, dumb lunk fer as long as Ah can remember.” Mac said, his voice soft and sad. “Applejack's gotta read tha paper to me every mornin', and she reads to me which bills are which every month. Ah mean, Ah can pay the bills from there mahself, Ah just need ta know which bag o' bits is goin' ta who. Innit that strange? Ah can count and read numbers and do fancy math-a-maticks like nopony y'all ever seen, but Ah can't even read mah own name on a piece o' paper. It's jus' always been that way, but it always left me feelin' like sumthin' was missin'. Like there was sumthin' wrong with me. Ah always regretted never stayin' in school, but Ah didn't have a choice in tha matter. Pa died just b'fore Bloomy was born, and Mama passed on by havin' Bloomy. After mahself and Applejack, Ah guess her body had just 'bout had it with a third foal. We were left alone, and Granny was too old to work the fields anymore. So, Ah put on mah yoke and did the right thang ta keep mah family goin'.” Mac explained, staring off into space, unwilling to look Cherilee in the eye, lest he start crying again. “But Ah always wondered where Ah'd be if Ah had stayed in school and got mahself an edjacation.”
“Well, first of all, though you're not able to read, you're very well-spoken.” Cherilee tried to point out. “I mean, accent and dialect aside, you have a very good understanding of grammar and syntax.”
“Mighty kind o' y'all, but Ah don't even know what 'syntax' even means.”
“It means the way a sentence is structured. Think of a sentence like a sandwich. You need the beginning, the middle, and the end, or, the bread and all the fillings. You have a very good working knowledge of how you say certain words together. The way you speak is very well-structured, like a properly-made sandwich of words.”
“Y'all can thank Applejack fer that. When she started hangin' out with Twilight Sparkle, she came home talkin' more like a readin' pony every night. Ah guess Ah jus' picked it up after a while.” Mac shrugged.
“And that's an admirable thing, Mac. It means that you're able to learn by observation. You saw and heard Applejack's speech pattern and learned to speak that way yourself. It's a very good thing. Now all that's left is to take the words you hear in your head, and learn to construct them on paper.” Cherilee said. “Here, let's start with 'A'.”
“That one Ah know!” Mac blurted excitedly, his eyes lighting up. “'A' is fer 'Apple', like 'Applejack' an' 'Sweet Apple Acres'.” Mac smiled as another realization hit him. “Hey Cherilee, does 'Acres' start with 'A' too? Kinda makes the same sound when ya say it.”
“Excellent job, Big Mac! You're absolutely right, the word 'Acres' also begins with the letter 'A', just like the word 'Apple'.”
As the sessions went on, day after day, Big Mac slowly got better and better at recognizing letters. He wasn't at all perfect yet, but he could at least read a few things that were completely foreign to him before. He no longer needed Applejack to read him the bills, but he still required her help with the morning paper a bit.
He started to hoard books in his room, showing up to Twilight's library more and more after she returned from the Crystal Empire. Pretty soon, the purple Alicorn princess just handed him a library card and let him actually check books out of the library, as, if she didn't send him home before she went to bed, she'd wake up the next morning to find that the big red stallion had fallen asleep on his stack of books, still sitting up with his nose pressed in-between the pages. And truth be told, she hardly ever wanted to send him home, because she was so glad to see the big red pony finding such utter childlike joy in something as simple as opening a book and reading the words on the page. It didn't even matter to Mac that he couldn't even make sense of some of it as a whole; the fact that he was able to recognize the letters and put them together into words was enough for him. He couldn't read “See Spot Run”, but he could read “See”, and “Spot”, and “Run”, and just that was enough to make him smile so brightly, it rivaled even Celestia's sweet summer sun.
Applejack noticed a huge improvement in her brother's mood. Before, he was clearly content, even a little bored with his job on the farm, but now he had an extra skip in his step and an extra pep to his canter. His apple-bucking almost became a rhythmic dance as he sang and hummed to himself with joy. Applejack was very happy to see that her brother seemed to be so happy. Every time Miss Cherilee came over with a slightly more challenging book for Mac to read, his eyes lit up like Hearth's Warming Eve lights and he went barreling for the door, eager to get his hooves on something he could look at, read, and actually understand. More than once he'd nearly crushed Cherilee's ribs in a grateful hug, thanking her profusely for the new book.
One day, a day Miss Cherilee was not scheduled to come over to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack came across the teacher in the marketplace while she was out buying a few groceries. “Howdy, Miss Cherilee! How are y'all doin' this fine day?” She asked.
“Oh, hello, Applejack! How are you?”
“Oh, Ah'm fine 'n' dandy. Say, Ah just wanted to say a l'il sumthin'. Mah brother is so happy to be learnin' ta read. Givin' him tha gift yer givin' him has made him prolly tha happiest stallion in all Equestria. B'fore, he was okay with livin' life tha way he was livin' it, but now, he's jus' pleased as peaches 'n cream.”
“Oh, good! I'm glad to see that I brought such joy to somepony else.” Cherilee smiled brightly. “Bringing the joy of learning to other ponies is always something I've driven myself to do.”
“Oh, it's just wunnerful seein' him so deh-lighted with life. He's like a colt at tha candy store with all them books in his room. Why, he even calls Rainbow Dash down from tha clouds to read Darin' Do novels with her. They'll read to each other and then talk 'bout what they jus' read fer hours. He's startin' ta open up more ta other ponies besides jus' his family, an' he's finally makin' some real good friends, and it's all thanks ta you, Cherilee. Y'all such a good friend, and such a great pony, Ah wanted ta invite y'all ta dinner with us Apples tanight, as a thank you fer all tha hard work y'all been puttin' in teachin' mah big brother that he's not useless, and that he does actually have some brains in that big ol' red head o' his.”
“Oh, my goodness! Thank you so much! Of course I'll join you for dinner tonight. I knew Mac was happy, but I had no idea I had made such an impact on him.”
“Miss Cherilee, believe me when Ah say it's a wunner he a'int tried ta kiss you yet. He jus' goes on 'n on 'bout you, and how nice y'all are, and how much yer help means to 'im, and how wunnerful y'all are. He's really so happy, and Ah think he may have just a smidgeon of a crush on ya. Don' tell 'im Ah told ya, though, he's a shy thing 'round tha mares.” Applejack giggled.
“Oh! How sweet. Well, just between you and me, Big Mac is one of the sweetest and most gentlemanly stallions I've ever met. He tries so hard to be a good student, just to make me happy, and that in itself is enough to make me the happiest teacher in all of Equestria. He's able to make me smile just by being himself, and maybe that means I return his affection, but maybe it just means his smile is contagious.” Cherilee confessed.
“Well, maybe y'all'll find out at dinner tanight. Personally, Ah wouldn't be opposed to tha idea if y'all two decided to give it a chance. Apple Bloom might be a skosh worried at first, but she'll come 'round. Sensible girl, her, 'cept when she's thinkin' up harebrained schemes with her friends 'bout gettin' their cutie marks that usually end with the three of 'em wanderin' home covered in tree sap 'n pahn needles.” Applejack said.
“Oh, goodness, when Scootaloo comes home covered in mud and bandages, it always gives me a fright. I really wish she'd finally realize her true talent. It's abundantly clear to the rest of us.”
“Fillies will be fillies. Well, see ya tanight, Miss Cherilee!” Applejack walked off, satisfied.
That night, as Cherilee came up to Sweet Apple Acres, she witnessed for herself Applejack's account of Big Mac and Rainbow Dash reading Daring Do novels to each other, Mac's spoken prose a little more halted and broken than Rainbow's, but altogether so wonderful for the teacher pony to hear. Rainbow Dash even gently corrected some of Mac's mistakes.
“'Wit' tha evil of tha'... Am...Amer... Amareithorn...”
“Amethyst, Mac.”
“Right... uh... 'Amethyst Am-yew-let locked away in hidin' forever-more, Darin' Do finally returned home, waitin' fer her next journey inta tha un..unkahnown'?”
“Unknown. The 'k' is silent in the word. You don't say it. Trust me, that one stumped me for a while too.” Rainbow smiled.
“Unknown. Got it. Thanks a bunch, Rainbow.”
“Hey, it's good to find a friend who likes Daring Do as much as me! Same time, next week?”
“Y'all know it!” Mac agreed excitedly. Rainbow darted off with her book, and Mac finally looked up to notice Cherilee, who was nearly in tears.
“Well, hullo, Cherilee. Is sumthin' wrong? Y'all're cryin'.” Mac stood up from where he was previously laying down with the novel open in front of him.
“I... I'm just... I'm so happy. I thought Applejack was exaggerating when she told me how happy you were to be reading.... I had no idea she was really telling the truth.”
Big Mac blushed. “Well, they do call mah sister tha Element o' Honesty fer a reason.” He chuckled.
Cherilee barreled forward into Mac's hooves and cried. “Bringing the joy of learning to other ponies was always my destiny...” She sobbed, “I knew it from when I was just a filly.... But I never knew it could make me so happy to bring such a skill to another pony... Mac, you're one of the sweetest, most wonderful students I've ever had. You've given me... even more than I could ever give you. Thank you.” She cried into his shoulder. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for showing me that my destiny is not in vain. Thank you for showing me that there is somepony, anypony, who truly benefits from the lessons I try to teach. Seeing you reading that book with Rainbow Dash was so wonderful.... It made me realize that I had truly made another pony happy, and that made me so happy to know... I just... Oh, Mac!”
Mac stood there silently, with a serene smile, and let Cherilee cry all the tears she was going to cry. His head on hers, nuzzling her softly, eventually soothed her sobbing.
Mac pulled back and pulled a scroll of parchment out of his saddlebag, which was on the ground next to his book. “Cherilee, Ah want y'all ta read this. Ah wrote it mahself. Well, actually, Ah told Apple Bloom's friend Sweetie Belle what ta write, and she used her magic ta move tha quill fer me. But all the words 'r mahn, and Ah want all of Equestria ta know the happiness y'all've brought ta me.”
Mac held the top of the scroll in his teeth and let the rest of it drop, opening the letter to Cherilee's eyes. And what she read brought her nearly to tears once more.
Dear Princess Celestia,
You may know my little sister Applejack, and all the lessons she's learned this far in her adventures with Princess Twilight as the Element of Honesty and all. Well, I wanted to send you a letter about a huge lesson I've learned in my life too. I learned how to read.
See, my daddy, Empire Apple, died when I was just a schoolcolt, and my mama, Red Gala Apple, died not long after. I took up work on the farm in their place, and had to stop going to school to do it, as one little colt can't do the work of two adult ponies and still make time for book-learning. I always regretted not knowing how to read, and it always held me back. I could always read numbers like a champ, but letters had me stumped beyond stumped. I couldn't even read my own name, let alone the morning newspaper or even the days of the week.
I finally mustered up the courage to ask my sister Apple Bloom's teacher, a wonderful and kind pony named Cherilee, for help, and with the help of Miss Cherilee I can now read. It's changed my life so much, and in such a mighty powerful way. I'm finally happy with who I am as a pony. I don't need my sister to read the morning news to me anymore, and I can help my other sister with her homework now. Her grades have gone up 'cause I'm able to help her now. It makes me feel so happy to have and use this skill that other ponies around me seem to take for granted.
I learned from this experience that no matter how old a pony is, no matter who he is or what he does for a living, a pony can always learn something that will give them a better look on the life they live. Sometimes all it takes is help from a friend. A pony should never be embarrassed or ashamed of something they can't do that other ponies can. All it takes is the courage to ask for help, and the determination to “get 'er done.” And sometimes learning something new can open up your life to new experiences, new friends, and even a new look on things that can't just be read, like love.
I hope you read this letter and give Miss Cherilee here in Ponyville a big hug and something for her troubles from me. She really is a real special pony. She's one of the best friends a big apple-bucking farm colt like me could ever ask for, and I dare say I love her more than anypony else, more than I ever thought I could love anypony. Thank you mightily for taking the time out of your day to read a letter from a stallion who couldn't even read his own name a few months ago.
Your loyal, happy, book-reading subject,
Big McIntosh Apple
Cherilee smiled so widely, Big Mac thought her face would break in half. She launched forward and kissed him full on the mouth. Mac was certainly surprised at first, but he wasn't at all unwilling. The scroll dropped as his mouth became otherwise occupied.
The clopping of victorious hooves broke them apart, and looking over Mac's shoulder revealed Applejack, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle stomping their hooves on the ground in applause. Cherilee blushed and giggled.
As if on cue, Princess Twilight Sparkle came quietly up, followed by Spike and Scootaloo. Twilight's wings were pressed to her sides, and her crown was not on her head. She also wasn't wearing that silly bright pink dress or gold shoes she was wearing at her coronation. (Big Mac was no Rarity, but he could still tell that Twilight-Purple and That-Dress-Pink looked pretty silly together.) She was taller than her friends now, due to her elevated status as an Alicorn, but she was still at least a head-and-a-half shorter than Big Mac.
“Hello, Big Mac. Hi, everypony. Scootaloo told us you had a letter you wanted to send?”
“Ah sure as sugar do. Spahk, y'all think y'all could do a pony a mighty favor and send this off to tha Princess lickety split?” Mac asked, picking his scroll back up from the ground where it had fallen.
“Of course.” Spike smiled and took the letter from Mac with a smile, and in a burst of green fire, the document was sent off to Celestia.
Celestia was in the middle of a little bit of boring royal paperwork when the scroll popped into being next to her head and fell open on top of the parchment she was already writing on. Just the first paragraph made her heart swell with pride, and reading on from there only made the warmth and happiness she felt grow stronger. She took the letter and went to go find her sister, who was sleeping in her room, it being the middle of the afternoon.
“Luna! Luna, wake up. You simply must see this.” Celestia shook her sister gently, and the sleeping alicorn's eyes fluttered open.
“Mmm... What is it, sister? What must We see that is so important it could not wait until We were roused of Our own accord?” Princess Luna groused a bit. She then raised her head and took the scroll that Celestia gave to her. Luna's eyes sparkled with tears at reading the letter. She had seen Big Mac's dreams, as was her duty as Princess of the Night, and they always concerned two subjects, apple-bucking and a certain magenta pony with a pink-and-white mane. The dreams were always as innocent as could be, with Big Mac and Cherilee never doing more than enjoying each other's company in his mind, but Luna could tell how much he loved her. Not only that, but Big Mac was so genuinely happy to learn a skill that yes, Luna agreed, other ponies often took very much for granted.
“We must reward this Cherilee somehow.” Celestia stated. “Giving somepony such a wonderful gift out of the goodness of her heart is something everypony should admire and emulate. I'm not even talking about the gift of reading, but just the gift of his newfound happiness.”
“We agree with thee, sister.” Luna got up out of bed fully, and she and Celestia started on their task.
The next morning, Cherilee walked into her schoolhouse to find that everything was different. Brand-new, high-quality chalkboards, chalk, erasers, and the like graced the wall, new art supplies covered the brand-new back table, and brand-new desks sparkled with unscratched and squeaky-clean varnish. The smell of fresh wallpaper glue hung in the air, and Cherilee almost fainted from shock. Everything was new! Everything had been replaced with higher-quality materials. Her old books were replaced with new, author-signed editions. Her ratty old textbooks were replaced with shiny hardcovers bearing the latest edition's symbol. Everything gleamed with pristine beauty, untouched by pony hooves.
Princesses Celestia and Luna walked in behind her. “Dost thou enjoyeth Our gift?” Luna asked, making Cherilee jump and squeal. The teacher turned around.
“Princesses? I... what... who...what is all this?” Cherilee stammered.
“It's our little thank-you for bringing such joy and happiness to another. We saw how much you truly loved teaching, and we figured this was the least we could do to assist you in your efforts to teach all the little fillies and colts of Ponyville everything you can. We had everything re-done last night, while you were sleeping contently in the hooves of the stallion you gave such joy to.” Celestia answered, her smile sweet and pure.
“My goodness... I.... I don't know what to say. Thank you so much, Princess. This is too much, though. How can I possibly accept such a thing?”
“With pride, my little pony. Take this gift with pride, and use our gifts to give the gift of knowledge to all the little ponies you can. You know what they say: If you do what you love for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.” Celestia chuckled.
“I will, Princess, I promise. I will use your gifts to bring learning to all the little ponies I possibly can!” Cherilee cried excitedly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“Oh, and we have one more gift for you, requested in particular by Big McIntosh himself.” Celestia stepped forward and wrapped her wings around the smaller mare in a comforting embrace. Cherilee blushed madly at being hugged by a Princess, but managed to keep her squeal to herself. Celestia stepped back, and folded her wings to her sides once more. “Farewell, Miss Cherilee, and may all your students succeed in life, and you along with them.”
“Th-thank you, Princess. I'll do my best to make you proud!”
With that, Celestia and Luna boarded their chariot and the Pegasus guards flew them away, leaving just Big Mac behind, hiding behind the chariot. “So... ya like it all?” He asked. “Ah mean, Ah did ask the Princesses ta give y'all sumthin' fer all yer hard work.”
“Like it?” Cherilee's expression was unreadable. “No, Big McIntosh, I don't 'like it'.”
Big Mac's heart fell into his stomach, and he felt almost sick.
“I love it!”
With that, Mac's spirit was lifted, and he joined Cherilee in a playful canter around the new building, exploring everything there was to explore with Cherilee's love and friendship by his side. He kissed her sweetly in the classroom, and she kissed him with as much love and fire as she could.
“Big McIntosh, I love you more than I've ever loved anypony.”
“Cherilee, Ah love yew more than Ah thought Ah ever could love anypony. And Ah dare say, all jokes an' memories aside, that Ah am cheery as Sunday mornin' to announce that you ahr mah very special somepony.”
“And you're mine.”
Students began filing into the classroom and marveling at everything new that graced the building.
“Wow, is this real pine wood?”
“Oh my gosh, new paints!”
“When did all this happen?”
Cherilee beamed as her students arrived with bright faces, eager to learn. Mac kissed her on the cheek once more and let her get to work. Apples didn't buck themselves, after all, and children didn't teach themselves.
On the way out, he stopped to look at a certificate that had passed unnoticed by Cherilee before. He read the certificate and smiled brightly, before finally walking away and repeating in his head the words he was able to recognize.
This certificate signifies that, by the order of the Solar Princess Celestia and Lunar Princess Luna, witnessed by Big McIntosh Apple and Princess Twilight Sparkle, that Cherilee Daisy is hereby crowned Best Teacher in Equestria.
Author's Note
D'awwwww, a'int that cute. I needed a cutesy fluff piece to keep me sane. I'm still working on Reformed Romanticism, don't you worry about that, but this popped into my head after rewatching Hearts and Hooves Day and... I just... D'AWWWWWWW. I love these two as a pairing, and there's just not enough of it on the internet ANYWHERE. Believe you me, I tried. I even read some of the weird, kinky ones trying to find one that was sweet. There needs to be more adorable ones.
I edited this fic after getting extensive comments and reviews, and one reviewer in particular gave me an idea or two I felt I HAD to implement to give the fic more meaning.
