It seemed like an easy task at first, in which it was. We stood there with our pencils in our mouths, (or magic if you were a unicorn) and we were finishing our assignment. The assignment was to solve some simple math equations such as two plus two, or three divided by three, which seemed easy enough. Too easy, to be exact. It was the last day of school before our Hearth's Warming Eve break. Once we were released, I would be home free, and at this very hour tomorrow, I'll be sipping on a juice box. That is…if I make it.
Suddenly, our teacher comes busting through the door. A serious look was on her face. She looked around the room to see if their was anypony who was out of their seat or smiling to happily, and she grinned when she had detected nopony doing that of the sort. She causally closed the door behind her and galloped slowly over to her desk. I watched with beads of sweat forming at my forehead every single move that she did. She took out a huge stack of paper behind her desk, that of which caused my heart to leap in fear.
"Please don't let it be homework, please don't let it be homework." I silently whispered with my hooves crossed.
She placed the stack near the trash can, and I watched in sweet relief as one by one she tossed the papers into the can.
"Whew, whatever that was, I'm glad it's going in there and not on my desk." I whispered to myself.
Suddenly, the teacher had looked in my direction and locked eyes with me. I was afraid to look back down on my paper, for it would make her seem that I was paying attention to her and not to the assignment, but it was already too late.
"Scootaloo, what are you doing?" The teacher asked me.
"Nothing, Miss Cheerilee." I said.
That was a bad choice of words. Cheerilee then galloped slowly over to my desk and gazed at the work I had done. A pleasing look was upon her face.
"You seem to be finished with the assignment. How is everypony else with the assignment?" Cheerilee asked.
"We're good, yeah." Fillies from around me answered with a cough or two.
"Excellent," Ms. Cheerilee said calmly. "Please pass your papers to the front."
I then followed her command as I turned around in my desk and grabbed the papers behind me that were from my fellow classmates and gave them to Ms. Cheerilee. Ms. Cheerilee then grabbed the stack of papers with her mouth and placed them on her desk.
"I hate holding stuff like that." She mumbled as she noticed the wet saliva that came from her mouth and fell on the papers.
I paid no mind to Ms. Cheerile's other comments that she had made to herself. I was just waiting for the bell to ring. Suddenly, I felt a small prod in my right shoulder. I then turned my head and gazed at my friend Applebloom who was tapping her hoof on me.
"What time is it?" She asked in her usual country twang.
"How should I know?" I answered sharply.
"She was just asking, Scootaloo." Sweetie belle's voice spoke up from my left.
"I know that Sweetie belle," I answered as I turned my head to gaze at my unicorn friend, "I'm just tired. Sorry if I sounded a bit rude."
"It's okay, we understand." Applebloom said.
An awkward silence followed soon after that. I stood staring back at Ms. Cheerilee who had a bored expression on her face with her in her desk looking as if she was in a state of somnambulism. I'm not sure what that meant, but I was pretty sure that she was going through it.
Suddenly, she had arose from her state and stared at the clock. She sighed a sigh of exhaustion and then opened up a drawer and pulled out a stack of paper. This made me really nervous. I could tell that we were drawing near the end of the school day, and work at the end of the school day could only mean that we wouldn't get finished in time, and that the stuff we didn't do in class would be for homework!
"Guys, brace yourselves. We might get homework over the brake." I whispered frantically to my friends.
"So? I'm fine with doing work. My sister AJ had stuffed planned for me to begin with." Applebloom answered.
"Your sister is a workaholic, and filly labor is illegal. Plus, the holidays are for relaxing, not working." I replied.
"Hey! Ma sister doesn't force me to work or anything." Apple bloom snapped.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden? You're not acting like yourself, Scootaloo." Sweetie belle said.
"I'm sorry! I am just so nervous right now," I said as I started flapping my wings in a fast paced motion. "I hope Ms. Cheerilee will not assign us any work over the break. The perfect time for her to say that this is for homework is right when the bell rings, so when it does ring, we should run out of her as fast as possible, so that when we get back from break and she asks us if we did the homework assignment we can say that we didn't hear her say it was. It's a fool proof plan!"
"That does sound interesting, but you know Ms. Cheerilee. She doesn't like it when we are liars or something." Applebloom said.
"Hey, come to think of it, Ms. Cheerilee hasn't been acting like herself either recently. She looks like she's in a bit of a sour mood." Sweetie belle informed.
I looked over to where Ms. Cheerilee was standing the last time I had saw her, and now I was seeing her moving up and down the aisles passing the sheets of paper to everypony in my class. I began to shake. She was coming closer to my desk by the second. She then finally reached Sweetie belle's row and passed a paper to her.
"What's on it?" I had asked Sweetie Belle as I leaned over to take a gander.
"It's blank." She replied.
"Blank? Blank?! Is this some kind of sick joke?" I said aloud.
Suddenly, Ms. Cheerile's eyes had made contact with mine. I then slowly began to slump in my desk with a blushed face.
"No…no it is not a sick joke. It's a project." Ms. Cheerilee said.
The word "project" hit me like a tub of bricks. Out of all the synonyms that she could of said, it had to have been that one word. I then gulped one final breath as she placed the blank sheet of paper on my desk. I then waited in silence as I looked at the room and out the window. Snow was apparently beginning to fall outside.
"Alright, everypony. May I have your attention?" Ms. Cheerilee spoke suddenly from the front of the room.
I then looked up from my blank sheet and swallowed my own saliva in fear, waiting for what the words were that would come out of her mouth.
"Class, draw me a snowpony." She said quickly.
A look of confusion comes across my face. A snowpony? Why on earth would she want us to draw a snowpony?
Just then, a young colt had raised his hoof up in the air.
"Yes, Featherweight?" Ms. Cheerilee said to the colt.
"Is this optional? What if we can't draw good?" Featherweight said.
Mumbles of approval arose from the classmates around us, though Ms. Cheerilee's expression had not changed.
"It doesn't matter. Just draw me a snowpony. Oh, and what you don't finish is for homework." Ms. Cheerilee stated.
My hear skipped a beat at the very mention of "home" and "work" combined in its grim manner. I could already feel the bell that would let us out of school coming upon us.
"Quickly, we need to finish this as soon as possible!" I whispered to my friends as I picked up my pencil with my mouth and started scribbling on my paper.
"I think we should take it a bit slower than that." Sweetie belle said as she levitated her pencil and started slowly drawing.
"There's no time for slowness! We got to finish this before school is over!" I said as I finished the body and the appendages of the snowpony.
"Calm down, Scoots!" Applebloom said softly as she patted me on the back.
"Calm down? I can't calm down!" I said as I looked at my quick sketch.
"Why not?" Sweetie belle questioned.
"Because, guys, if we don't get this finished then this will be for homework, and that's not what holidays are about. They are supposed to be about spending time with your friends, relaxing, and playing. Especially if it is the Hearth's Warming Eve break." I said.
"That does make since. So, how's that snowpony coming along for ya?" Applebloom asked.
I looked at my sketch and gazed at the snowpony I had drawn. He had the body of a pony, but his eyes were two black dots, and he had no mane or tail. He looked a bit rough, but Ms. Cheerilee had said that it didn't matter.
"I think I'll go show her mine now." I said confidently.
"Sweet! Me and Applebloom will start on ours while your gone." Sweetie Belle answered.
I nodded in acceptance and picked up my drawing with my mouth. I then trotted happily over to Ms. Cheerilee who had a strange sour expression on her face.
"Umm, I'm done with the assignment." I said softly as I placed the snowpony in front of her.
Ms. Cheerilee stood up tall to get a look at the paper, and started analyzing it. She then took the paper with her hoof and slowly moved it toward me.
"Put a top hat on him." She said calmly.
I stared at her with a confused look on my face. Was she serious? Wasn't this good enough for her? Suddenly, I had felt the presence of the school day drawing even closer to its conclusion.
"Okay then." I said as a quickly picked my pencil up with my mouth then and there and stared quickly drawing the outline of a top hat on the snowpony's head.
"Aren't you going to go back to your desk and do it?" Ms. Cheerilee said gruffly.
"Why do I need to when I'm finished?!" I said in a huff when I dropped down my pencil and showed her the finished work of art.
Ms. Cheerilee gazed at the paper that was in front of her with a sad expression and a sigh of annoyance that of which I did not know the reason why. She then took her hoof and gently moved it toward me in a slow fashion.
"Draw a scarf now, and some snow flakes around him. Also, please go to your desk." Ms. Cheerilee said.
I stood in aghast and sighed a sigh of reluctance. This was unbelievable! I then nodded my head in acceptance and took the drawing and my pencil reluctantly away from her desk and to mine.
"Big Mac, please give me a present this year." Ms. Cheerilee's voice from behind me whispered in a really soft but audible tone.
"What did you say?" I said as I turned my head toward her.
"Scootaloo, please to back to your desk." Ms. Cheerilee commanded sincerely.
"Okay! I'm going." I said quickly as I turned around and headed toward my desk.
"How did it go for ya?" Applebloom asked as I finally sat my rump in my desk and stared at my paper.
"Horrible. I have to draw a scarf and some snow now." I sighed.
"Well that isn't so bad. Look what we made while you were gone." Sweetie belle spoke up as she lifted her's and Applebloom's up in the air with her magic and placed them on my desk. I picked up the drawings with my hooves and quickly did an overview of the two drawings. They were well detailed, and the snowponies had a scarf, a top hat, some snow around them, and a bubble pipe as well!
"I need to use these for a second." I said as I picked up my pencil and began to sketch upon my snowpony with my friends' drawings as references.
"Okay, but you better hurry up. The bell is about to ring." Applebloom said.
"Applebloom, may I see you at my desk? Bring your work with you too." Ms. Cheerilee's voice spoke up from the front of the room.
"Uh, sure thing, ma'am. Sorry about that, Scoots." Apple bloom said as she took her paper away from my desk.
"It's alright," I said in a rushed tone as I started scribbling quickly over my paper. I still have Sweetie Belle's drawi…"
Suddenly, the ring of the bell went off in the classroom, causing the fillies around me to shout in victory. I however was drowning in my own sweat.
"Sorry Scootaloo, but I have to go now. Rarity's waiting for me outside." Sweetie belle said as she picked up her paper and placed it on Ms.Cheerilee's desk.
Ms. Cheerilee gave a quick overview of Sweetie Belle's paper and nodded in acceptance, giving Sweetie Belle a grin of gladness upon her muzzle.
"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said as she trotted happily out the door.
"I hope it is." I replied as I waved goodbye to my friend and looked at my paper in annoyance. I had already drawing the scarf and the snow. The only detail that would probably get this accepted by Ms. Cheerilee would be the bubble pipe. I then picked up my pencil and began to draw a quick outline. Just a small square and two lines connecting to his mouth, and a few bubbles coming up from the square. A decent bubble pipe!
"Ms. Cheerilee, I'm finished with the assignment!" I said happily as I picked up my paper and trotted quickly over to the desk.
"Really? He said that?!" Ms. Cheerilee's voice spoke in sudden elation.
"Yep! It's wrapped up in a nice bow and everything!" Applebloom's voice answered.
"What are you two talking about?" I asked as I finally reached the desk.
"Oh, nothing important." Ms. Cheerilee giggled awkwardly, "Scootaloo, is that your drawing?"
"Yes ma'am. Do you like it?" I said nervously as I showed her the drawing.
"Like it? I love it! Oh, it is so beautiful! You are a very talented artist. I shall hang onto yours, Applebloom's, and Sweetie Belle's till we get back. Until then, have a blessed and happy Hearth's Warming Eve you two!" Ms. Cheerilee said happily as she gave us pats on the head.
"Umm…thank you, ma'am." Applebloom said.
"Yeah, thank you, ma'am." I said sheepishly.
"Go on and enjoy your Hearth's Warming Eve, gals!" Ms. Cheerilee said awkwardly with a blushed face.
"Yes ma'am! Come on, Scootaloo! Let's go!" Applebloom said as she began galloping to the door.
"Coming!" I said happily as I galloped along with her.
The sweet essence of the winter wind brushed against my mane as fresh snowflakes fell upon me as Applebloom and I galloped outside. We saw our friend Sweetie Belle with her sister Rarity waving at us. We then picked up our pace and met up with them at the edge of the school grounds.
"Rarity says that she'll make some gingerbread for us at the Carousel Boutique!" Sweetie Belle said happily.
"I only ordered the finest ginger hoof-packed and delivered from Canterlot's finest bakery. All of our friends shall be there as well to join us in this glorious occasion to celebrate the start of the holidays." Rarity said.
"Sounds like a great idea! Let's go!" I said in elation as we began trotting toward Ponyville, "Wait, one more thing. Applebloom, what exactly were you and Cheerilee talking about?"
"Oh, we were talking about…Cheerilee expects a lot from Big Mac likes he's Filthy Rich. Let's leave it at that." Applebloom stated.
I stared at Applebloom with a serious look, trying to comprehend what exactly Ms. Cheerilee had wanted from him.
"Meh, okay then." I said as I finally gave up on trying to comprehend.
And with that said, me and my friends started galloping quickly to Rarity's house, for once we left the grounds of this school, are vacation would begin, and it would truly be a vacation with no homework, no assignments, and just friends, family, and a happy Hearth's Warming Eve.
