The gym teacher

        It was six A.M in the morning when I finally arrived at Ponyville. As I stared at the small town through the small window in my cabin, I couldn't help but smile at what I saw. Rural countryside with that good ol' charm to it, and above all else, quiet…

        I inhaled deeply once I left the train station, clean air and the faint scent of freshly picked flowers invaded my nostrils, calming me to no end. I decided not to linger too long and started walking through the streets of this beautiful little town. I quickly found myself in the market, deciding that it was best to ask for directions, I neared one of the stalls. Occupying the stall was a yellow mare with an orange mane, her wares consisted of mostly carrots.

"Good morning, here to buy some carrots?" she chirped happily.

"No, I'm actually looking the address of my new house; do you know where Sunshine Avenue is?" I slightly cringed as the words left my mouth, if my squad mates ever hear about that, I will never hear the end of it.

The yellow mare apparently didn't notice or didn't care that I cringed, she simply pointed her hoof towards a certain direction "It's all the way over there, near the edge of town, you can't miss it."

I thanked her and decided to buy a batch of carrots, I don't have anything to eat, might as well…

I must admit, the quietness this town seems to proud itself with was a godsend, you can never appreciate the quiet too much after being bombarded and shot from every direction. As a soldier, quiet means one of two things, you were either safe for the time being, or you were six feet under, both sound equally tempting after a few months being stationed deep inside Afghanistan.

I stopped my train of thought as I reached my desired destination, my new house. It was old school kind of house, with thatched roof and stone walls with a few planks of wood as decoration and support. It only had one floor with a front and back garden. I saw the truck with all my stuff already parked in front of my house, and a few workers carrying the last few boxes containing my stuff inside. A brown stallion with a vest came to me and asked "Are you Alexander Brindley."

I nodded.

"Good, sign here, here and here please." He said while giving me a pen and paper, I signed on all the places he told me and nodded in approval "Everything seems alright. Enjoy your stay in Ponyville sir." He quickly trotted away.

Once the truck was gone I entered my house and started to pack. I was just about to unpack my bed so I could assemble it in time for sleep. Unfortunately, karma had others things planned for me. I heard the distinctive sound of a conflict, and when I came out, I saw five fillies brawling all over my front lawn, my mail box in ruins.

"Oi clear off you lot!" I stammered. The little fillies continue to fight each other, not even acknowledging my presence. I finally had enough as I proceeded over to them and lifting them up from their necks. Two in one hand and three in the left hand, they tried to hit each other even when I held them firmly in my hands, preventing them from even touching each other.

"Can someone explain to me why were you fighting on my lawn and destroyed my mail box? Because I bloody can't." I pretty much snarled the last part.

Just as one of the fillies was about to say something, a purple mare came running down the street, panting heavily "You… are… in so much… trouble… young fillies…" the mare said between gasps for air, I couldn't help but find this whole scenario quite amusing, I would've have snickered too if it weren't for the death glare the little fillies received from the mare.

"But Miss Cheerilee…" the five fillies said in perfect unison.

"No buts! I had to chase you around town all day, an entire day of learning wasted because of your actions. Go back home now! Tomorrow you will all get grounded, no exceptions!"

Her commanding voice left little to argument, the fillies all nodded, heads held low as I placed them down, letting each go to a separate direction.

"I'm so sorry they bothered you…"the mare turned her attention to me "They get feisty like this once a week and wreak havoc on the town in their wake; I'm willing to pay for the damage."

"Nonsense, you own me nothing." I said quickly, reaching my arm out "Name's Alexander Brindley, just moved here."

The mare reached with her own hoof and I shook it lightly "My name is Cheerilee, I'm the teacher at Ponyville's schoolhouse, the little fillies you encountered before were my students. Again, I'm sorry for what they've done; I just can't seem to get rid of all that excess energy they possess."

"They just need something to wear them out…" I started walking back to my house "Are you coming or not?"

"Who- me! No I can't I have-"

"Just come in already…"

Cheerilee grumbled but complied nonetheless. I held the door open as Cheerilee walked past me, once in, I entered the house myself and closed the door.

I went towards one of my boxes and opened it. It was filled with glasses and a few bottles of Scrumpy Jack. I pulled two glasses, filled them with Scrumpy and handed one to Cheerilee.

"Here, it'll calm your nerves."

"Oh I don't think alcohol is a good idea right now."

"Don't worry, it's Scrumpy, it's like beer." I wiggled the glass in front of her in a taunt-y manner until she finally snatched the glass from my hand and downed the Scrumpy in one go.

"Woah, easy there girl…" I said in a half mock tone. She glared at me and handed me back the glass, I refilled it and handed it back to her, sipping from my own glass.

"So…" Cheerilee took another sip, actually leaving some more for later "Alexander Brindley huh? That's… unusual name… are you from the UK?"

I quirked my eyebrow at that, not a lot of ponies bothered visiting Earth, not as many as humans to Equestria at least, even fewer bothered with actual knowledge. I nodded nonetheless.

"Yes, I'm English. Born and raised in Britain." I said proudly.

"You don't look like English…" she stated, eyeing my body.

"You know, not all English men have monocles, top hats and handlebar moustaches."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you…" she hurried to say.

"None taken, I've been away to the east for a long time; I guess my skin completion gone a little bit bonkers."

"What were you doing in the east?" asked Cheerilee, slowly getting into a touchy subject but I was willing to share… for now.

"Afghanistan. I was stationed there as a soldier. Nasty war I tell you, lost some good friends back there…" I smiled sadly as I remembered some of my squad mates."

"Oh… I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories." She apologized.

"Not your fault, you were none the wiser… I miss Earth…" I took another sip from my glass as I refilled Cheerilee's.

"Then why stay here, can't you go back?"

"Nope, I've been forced to be here… I really don't want to talk about this."

"I understand…"

"…"

"Soooo… You just moved here?"

"Yes..."

"…"

Boy that conversation took an awkward turn quickly; I had to say something to fix that.

"Do you by any chance know where I can find work; I'm kinda unemployed at the moment."

Cheerilee immediately perked up, a small smile creeping to her face "Now that you mention this… I do know what you can do for a living, and I think we'll both find it most beneficial…"

        "Oh… And what pray tell, might that be…"

"Just wait and see, I'll meet you tomorrow morning, six sounds good?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Excellent, then I'll see you soon then, bye." Cheerilee trotted back outside while brushing my thigh with her tail.

"Best of British…" I called, electing a small giggle from the mare…

…

Wait… did I just flirted with her…