Learning Curve

Chapters

Prologue: Welcome Home
Chapter One: First Day on the Job
Chapter Two: Dinner and a Show
Chapter Three: Conference
Chapter Four: Meeting Aura
Chapter Five: Eureka
Chapter Six: Dodgeball
Chapter Seven: House Call
Chapter Eight: Take-Home Test
Chapter Nine: Lunch
Chapter Ten: Board Meeting
Chapter Eleven: Educational Misconception
Chapter Twelve: Positive Reinforcement
Chapter Thirteen: One on One
Chapter Fourteen: A Good Day

Prologue: Welcome Home

Cheerilee took a deep breath and sighed, resting her head against her right hoof and watching the world whiz past through the window. She had long since exhausted her supply of magazines to read during the train ride; tracing the lines of the floral moulding along the ceiling had long since grown boring, and the bag of snacks she had brought along was running close to empty. Stuck with nothing else to do, she sat glumly and watched the trees and fields roll by. The first few times making this journey, she had been content to watch the scenery as the train trundled down the track. But now on the latest of the dozens of trips on the line between Canterlot and Ponyville, she found no interest in the farmland at the base of the Canter mountains.

Though she was bored, she was grateful at the same time. It had been a long ride since she left Fillydelphia before dawn that morning, and the final leg between the layover in Canterlot and her destination of Ponyville was the shortest of the journey. The sun was sinking lower and lower in the western sky, and soon it would be nightfall. The train was running a bit later than usual, and from her best guess, she would disembark in her hometown by dusk.

There was a bit of queasiness in her belly; though she could have easily blamed her unsettled stomach on the constant rocking from the weathered tracks below, she knew that the train was not to blame at all. It wasn’t a sick sort of upset stomach, but rather a nervous one. Ahead in Ponyville lay the source of her nerves: A job.

But it wasn’t just any sort of job. Of course even the most mundane of jobs would carry a bit of first-day anxiety, but this was much more. This was the beginning of what she knew was her career. About a month prior, she had been on the lookout for a job pertaining to her field of study. She found out that her old primary school in Ponyville was hiring a new teacher, and leapt at the chance. She never expected to hear anything back, but a week later, there was a letter in the mail from the Ponyville School Board asking her to come in for an interview. Of course she leapt at the opportunity, and a few days later, another letter came in. This time it explained that she had been the pony chosen out of over two dozen applicants.

And now here she was, moving back to her hometown to begin her career. Despite how sweet the deal was, she could help but feel nervous about what lay ahead. She took another deep breath and sat back in the seat. Everything would be okay, she told herself. It wasn’t like she was unprepared for the position. To take her mind off the worry, she went to rummage through her belongings.

Around her on the floor of the train carriage were two suitcases and her saddlebags, personalized with her cutie mark engraved into the clasp. The saddlebags were mostly empty, having been primarily used for holding food for the trip and now only contained a bag of pretzels and three rolled-up tabloid magazines. The suitcases on the other hoof, were stuffed to the gills. Clothing, tennis balls, a few books, reams of documents, and a few knick-knacks had the two bags stretched to their limit, such that she could swear that a good bump could tear them apart at the seams.

She took yet another deep breath and let it out with a sigh. This time, instead of a bored frown, she closed her eyes and smiled. This was the final time she would be taking this journey for the foreseeable future. All of her things had either come back on previous trips between Fillydelphia and Ponyville or had been shipped by a moving company the week before. The suitcases contained the last few things she had packed up before closing the door to her old apartment for the last time that morning.

Most of her belongings were packed into the overstuffed bags, save for one particular item that she had opted to carry separately. A picture frame sat on her lap, inside of it was a document written in fine, ornate calligraphy and a golden seal. Stuck with nothing else to do, she flipped the frame right side up and read the degree for what must have been the hundredth time.

Bridleway University

Upon recommendation of the Faculty and by the authority of the Equestrian National Board of Education, the Board of Trustees has conferred upon Cheerilee the degree of Bachelor of Elementary Education, with all the rights, privileges, and honors pertaining thereto, in consideration of having fulfilled all the requirements of the four year curriculum.

Cheerilee read over the degree again, her smile widening. After four long years of college, four years away from her home in Ponyville, she was finally returning. This time, however, she was not going to be living at home with her parents. Cheerilee had signed the lease on a small home down the road from Sugarcube Corner a few days prior to beginning her move. It was a modest house, two bedrooms and one bathroom with a proportionally small kitchen and den. Nothing fancy, but plenty for a pony who had lived in a cramped apartment for the last three years.

However nice her new home sounded, the best part of her new arrangement was where she would be working. Her old school. The red, one-room primary schoolhouse that sat near the Apple family’s farm, was conveniently in need of a new teacher after the previous one had retired. In fact, the outgoing teacher was the same one that had taught her years ago. In a stroke of luck rarely seen for a young mare fresh out of the university, Cheerilee had landed the job, and was due to start the fall semester in two days.

While she admired the framed degree, Cheerilee noticed that the train was slowing down. She sighed a third time, this time a sigh of relief. A few other ponies in the car were preparing their own luggage for the upcoming stop. Cheerilee followed suit, tucking the frame into her empty saddlebags before slipping them over her back and tightening the strap. That was the easy part; now came the dilemma of carrying the heavy suitcases without damaging anything inside.

This was going to be tricky.

Cheerilee stepped across the gap between the train and the platform on wobbly hooves. One of the heavy suitcases was draped over her neck, hanging clumsily in front of her chest and knocking back into her forelegs as she walked. The second was precariously balanced in the small of her back, the only things holding it in place were the two saddlebags on her sides that provided a bit of support. She could handle the weight, but the sheer clumsiness of the load made walking a difficulty.

“Would you like some help with your bags, ma’am?” asked a stallion's voice, which she recognized as the conductor who had come through to check tickets early in the ride.

“Thank you,” replied Cheerilee. She felt the weight of the suitcase on her back ease, and with the new freedom that it provided, readjusted the one on her neck to a more manageable position on her side. “You can set it by that bench.” She pointed out where she wanted to go, and crossed the platform with the conductor following close behind. At the bench, she dropped her bag off on the ground and took a seat while the conductor placed his next to hers, albeit more gently than she had.

“Thank you, sir,” Cheerilee said, smiling at the helpful pony.

“Happy to do it, ma’am!” The conductor tipped his hat and returned the gesture. “Have a good day.” With that, he turned and went back to his place at the train door.

The crowd of arriving ponies were already mostly dispersed by the time the conductor called “All aboard!” A few seconds passed as the doors on the train were closed. The conductor gave a wave to the engineer, and the train let out two blasts of the whistle before lurching forward. The locomotive chugged loudly as it accelerated, dampening but not completely overpowering the creaks, groans, and clacks that the rest of the train made as it started rolling. Farther down the platform, Cheerilee noticed a young grey colt galloping alongside the train. She couldn’t hear him at the distance and with the noise of the train, but she could tell that he was having a blast just getting to see the train go by. She couldn’t help but smile.

The train was gone within the minute, having disappeared around a curve farther down the track. The little grey colt had disappeared as soon as the train left, and now the platform was empty except for her.

Dad’s late, what a surprise,she thought. Her father had promised to be there to meet the train with the family’s cart to help haul the luggage to her new house. Even with the train’s lateness, he still managed to arrive after it. It was typical, befitting the pattern of tardiness that she had sworn to never fall into as an adult.

As if on cue, the sound of a wagon skidding to a stop beside the platform to her right caught her attention. “I’m here! I made it!” announced Chisel Point, the stallion pulling it. He was a sandy-coated Earth Pony of average build; a cutie mark of his namesake chisel and a caliper graced his flank, though it was partly covered over by the tool belt that he usually wore for work. He quickly unhitched himself from it and ran up onto the platform, “I’m so sorry I was late! I lost track of time helping your mother pick tomatoes and then Allie started getting in a fight with the neighbor's cat and…”

“Dad!” Cheerilee ran forward and embraced him, nuzzling against his burnt-orange coat and breathing a sigh of relief. He returned the hug, though he added a bit too much pressure as usual. The hug didn’t last for more than a few seconds before they pulled apart.

“How was the trip?” he asked.

“About like always,” Cheerilee answered. This little exchange had become routine in the last few months with her frequent trips back and forth. Her father hummed in understanding while picking up one of the suitcases in his teeth and slinging it up onto his back. “Where’s Mom?”

“She was finishing up harvesting in the garden and probably just started cooking. That reminds me, your mother wants you to come over for dinner tonight.”

Cheerilee smiled through the strap in her teeth while she swung the second suitcase onto her back in the same fashion as her father. “Was I ever going to be allowed to eat on my own tonight, anyway?”

“Nope,” Chisel answered, turning back towards the cart. “But I wouldn’t be one to complain about that.”

Cheerilee giggled, “No, I can’t argue with that.” She followed along behind Chisel, walking down the steps at the end of the platform and turning right to reach the cart. He flipped down the back gate and took the suitcase in his teeth, swinging it up into the bed of the cart with such finesse that it barely disturbed the contents. Cheerilee’s followed a moment after, though hers landed in the wagon with a resounding thunk.

While Chisel went back around the cart to hitch himself up, Cheerilee climbed up into the cart alongside the bags. She lifted the gate and took a seat at the front end, right behind her father. There was some straw piled up at the front end, which was much better than sitting on the unforgiving wooden cart floor. She hadn’t been settled in for more than a few seconds when the cart lurched forward, followed immediately by the four distinct bumps of the railroad crossing.

Both Cheerilee and Chisel Point remained silent during the trip to the new house. The rail line passed through the northern portion of Ponyville, and the house was on the southern end of town; closer to the schoolhouse than her parents’ home, which was near Town Hall in the center of the community.

As the cart trundled through the streets, Cheerilee found herself spending most of her time admiring the houses that lined the road. After spending so long in Fillydelphia—where the buildings are mostly all square and purely designed for function—the unique thatched roofs and antique look of the houses was a breath of fresh air. In fact, the rustic and altogether homey architecture of Ponyville was one of the things she had missed most.

The cart rounded a turn and came out in front of Sugarcube Corner. It had been years since Cheerilee last stopped in to get an order of Mrs. Cake’s lime-frosted cupcakes. She made a mental note to stop by later and pick up a few, and possibly catch up on what the couple were up to. Perhaps she could do that tomorrow.

The cart passed through the little square around Sugarcube corner and ducked down one of the adjoining streets, passing a few houses before slowing and eventually coming to a halt in front of the eighth house on the right side of the street. It wasn’t exceptional compared to any of the other homes on the row; in fact, it was nearly identical to the rest, discernible only by flower boxes under nearly every window and a quite unique green mailbox that was a remnant of the previous tenant.

“Hello!” announced an unexpected, yet unmistakable high-pitched voice from right next to Cheerilee’s right ear. Only one pony in Equestria could appear so suddenly without unicorn magic. Cheerilee turned her head to see the grinning face of none other than Pinkie Pie looking back at her. “Hiya, Cheerilee! I heard you were moving back to town and then you were passing by Sugarcube Corner in a wagon and then I had to come and say hi because it’s been, like, forever since I last saw you and—”

“Hi, Pinkie!” Cheerilee said, pulling Pinkie into a hug. “It’s has been a long time!”

Pinkie returned the hug with forceful enthusiasm, squeezing the air from Cheerilee’s lungs in the process. She hadn’t changed a bit since high school.

“Three years, two months, and twelve days since you moved away to be exact,” Pinkie corrected matter-of-factly. “I brought you a cupcake. Your favorite was lemon, right?”

“That’s the first thing I’ve ever seen her get wrong about anyone,” Cheerille thought to herself. “I love lemon, Pinkie, thank you.”

“Great! So since you’re probably tired from your looooooong train ride from Fillydelphia, I can wait to throw your ‘Welcome back to Ponyville’ party this weekend. You seem like a balloon type of pony, so I’ll use lots of balloons. Of course we need punch, or would you prefer soda? And lemon cupcakes! Lots of lemon cupcakes!”

Cheerilee smiled and shook her head. She knew to expect this, but she was still a bit surprised by how suddenly the whirlwind of pink appeared. Just as with her mother’s invitation to dinner, there was no possible way to decline. It was best to just accept it and have fun, despite how badly she wanted to rest.

“Pinkie, could we change the lemon cupcakes to lime?” Cheerilee asked.

“Sure! It’s your party after all!” Pinkie said, poking a hoof at Cheerilee’s chest.

“Pinkie? Where did you go?!” announced a shout from far behind the cart. Mrs. Cake had come out of Sugarcube Corner, obviously to find out where her helper had gone. She had been a live-in assistant at the store for the past couple of years, though she seemed to have a lot more hours off the clock than on.

“Oh hay, I totally forgot! I was getting a sack of flour for Mrs. Cake and then you went by. Gotta go!” With that, Ponyville’s notorious pink bundle of joy promptly leapt to the back gate, turned around, saluted to Cheerilee with her mouth affixed in determination, and rolled off of the wagon backwards. Cheerilee watched her go bouncing back down the road, waving and saying hello to every pony she passed until she rounded the corner and ducked out of sight.

“I see she found you already,” said Chisel as he walked around the cart to the back end where he flipped the latch and let the tailgate fall open.

“She hasn’t changed a bit.” Cheerilee picked up the first bag in her teeth, carried it to the end of the cart, and placed it on her father’s waiting back.

“Just throw that other one on my back too,” he said, nodding towards the remaining suitcase. Cheerilee complied, retrieving the second bag and placing it alongside the other on his back. With the baggage dealt with, she hopped down from the cart and closed the rear gate behind herself while her father toted the bags to the door. She trotted ahead, unlocked the door, and let her father into the house.

The front door opened into a small foyer, with a staircase on the left side and an open passage to the den on the right. In front of the staircase was another smaller opening that led into the kitchen. Though Cheerilee was moving into the home, it contained surprisingly few boxes. The foyer was empty, and the den wasn’t crowded with boxes either. Granted there were several around the room, but it wasn’t nearly as cluttered as one would expect during a move.

“You can just drop them off behind the door, Dad,” said Cheerilee.

“Sure thing,” Chisel Point replied, lowering his rump and letting the bags slide to the floor against the foyer wall. “Your mother is going to kill us if we aren’t there when she has dinner ready.”

“We’d better get going then!” Cheerilee said, trotting back out towards the cart. Her father let her pass by and followed her out, closing the door behind himself and leaving the house dark and empty once more.

Chapter One: First Day on the Job

Chapter one: First Day on the Job

Thwack!

Cheerilee shut her eyes tightly, biting down harder on the tennis racket’s handle. The return swing was shaky, and she almost lost her grip when the ball made contact, but she managed to hold it together. The lime green ball sailed through the air, returning to her opponent’s side of the court on a different path than she had anticipated. It barely cleared the net and bounced once not far beyond that.

Her opponent rushed to reposition herself for the return stroke, sidestepping quickly to her left to follow the ball on its haywire course. As it bounced back into the air, she met it with a short yet stout swing that sent it on a much straighter path back to Cheerilee’s end of the court.

Thwack!

It was a perfect shot. Cheerilee was offset to the right side of her end, and the next incoming stroke was sailing towards her back left corner. She broke into a dead sprint, pushing herself as hard as she could to meet the ball. It was too little too late, and the ball skipped across the concrete floor and bounced against the back wall. The serve had been game point, and with that final thump, the game ended. Cheerilee had lost.

“Almost had me there, Cheer!” called her opponent, a light cream-coated unicorn mare named Nook. She grinned smugly as she crossed the court to Cheerilee’s side. “I almost thought you were trying that time!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cheerilee muttered in between breaths. “Do I need to remind you of your little wager from junior year?”

“Touché,” Nook replied, her grin melting away. “Up for another match?”

“Why don’t we take a break?” Cheerilee took a deep breath and balanced herself against the wall, the sweat on her brow doubling now that she wasn’t moving around.

“Sure thing.” Nook trotted over to the bench off to the left side of the court where their bags sat. She retrieved two squeeze bottles in her magic, one from each bag, and tossed one to Cheerilee. She caught it in her forehooves and proceeded to spray it on top of her head and neck before gulping down most of the rest.

“Wow,” Cheerilee gasped when she finally took another breath. “I didn’t realize how out of shape I’ve become since spring.”

“It happens,” Nook agreed, taking a few much less desperate drinks than her friend. “Hey I forgot to ask you—” she took another gulp “—what are you gonna do now that you’re back in town?”

"I could swear I already told you this," Cheerilee said, taking another swig of her water. "I'm taking over as teacher for Mrs. Write at the schoolhouse."

"She's retiring?"

"Yes she is. I have to admit that I didn't figure her for one to retire as soon as she was eligible for it," said Cheerilee.

"You know what they say; teaching is one of the toughest jobs out there." Nook took another drink before tossing her bottle back over to the bench.

Cheerilee grimaced a bit at that. "Please, don't remind me."

"Pre-job jitters, huh?"

"Yeah,” said Cheerilee.

“Don’t worry yourself too much. They’re just kids, after all.” Nook gave a small smile.

“I know; I’m just kind of worried. What if they don’t like me?” Cheerilee said.

“Kids not liking you? What happened while you were in Fillydelphia that you aren’t telling me?” Nook took a few steps forward, cocking an eyebrow at Cheerilee.

“I know, I know. It’s silly, but I just can’t stop feeling like something won’t go well,” Cheerilee admitted, her ears flattening against her head.

“Hey,” Nook said, wrapping a hoof around Cheerilee’s shoulders. “I know what it’s like. I was nervous when I started working my job, but it all turned out fine. Everyone at the office liked me from the start, and my cutie mark didn’t have anything to do with the job!” She pointed a hoof at her flank, which featured a simple green leaf. “You’re a shoo-in for it! Hay, you always said that your cutie mark meant that you were gonna be a great teacher someday.”

“I guess,” Cheerilee said. “That still doesn’t make the butterflies in my stomach go away though.”

“Of course it won’t, but do I look like I can work miracles?” Nook joked, giving a goofy smile. “So, ready for another chance to beat the champ?”

“You know if you keep letting your head swell like that you’ll float away, right?” Cheerilee rebutted, smirking as she picked her racket up in her teeth. “My therve.”

The sun had yet to come over the horizon when Cheerilee trotted up the path towards the schoolhouse. It was a still, humid morning; a bit of thin fog had collected in the valleys overnight, and the air felt thick with moisture left over from a shower the previous evening. A typical late-summer morning for Ponyville.

Cheerilee walked with purpose, adding a little extra speed to her usual stride. She needed to be there extra early to make sure that the last of her classroom preparations were made for the incoming class in about two hours. It had taken quite the strong cup of coffee from Sugarcube Corner to get her going so early, but she was also riding on the extra energy provided by heavy anticipation. She had been working towards this day for the better part of a decade, and she was ready for it to happen. She was ready to begin the next chapter of her life.

Ahead loomed the bright red schoolhouse. It was an inviting little building by design, but cozy would be a more effective way of describing it. The little swirl designs etched into the sides and the rail fences that lined the path coupled with the bell atop the roof worked together to create a building that made ponies want to go inside. She had to admit, it certainly had charm. Children wouldn’t hate the idea of coming through those doors to learn.

She reached the porch and took a glance up at the horseshoe insignia on the awning as she climbed the steps below. She nudged the door open and stepped across the threshold, carefully letting it swing closed behind her. The room was dark, and after a bit of fumbling around the wall, she found the light switch.

The lights revealed a mostly undecorated classroom that smelled faintly of paint. The walls were painted in a muted green and cream color scheme, changed from the previous yellow and red design. More etched swirls similar to the outside of the building were scattered about the interior walls, and a trim of horseshoes and silhouettes of ponies lined the border between wall and ceiling. The desks and chairs were stacked along the far wall, and a tarp covered the floor to the right of the door. Her own desk was in its usual place, set off to the far side of the front of the room so that a presentation area was open in front of the doorway.

Cheerilee crossed the presentation area and tossed her saddlebags onto the desk as she passed by it. She went straight to the stacks of desks and began the task of pulling one down. For a unicorn, the task would have been a cinch; however, since she was confined to using her hooves and lacked wings, it would take a fair bit of maneuvering to get the desks from the top of the stack moved.

She placed her hooves on the legs of the top desk, sliding it forward until it was halfway perched on the edge of the desk beneath it. She maneuvered herself underneath it, letting the other half rest on her back. A little bit of wiggling on her part inched the table forward, and she moved to reposition herself for the catch.

She misjudged her movements, and the table slipped free earlier than she anticipated. It squeaked as it slid down and rolled to the left side of her back, pinching her sharply as it fell to the ground with a loud SMACK!

“Ponyfeathers,” Cheerilee muttered, rubbing the spot where the desk had pinched her. She lifted the table back upright and began sliding it across the room. Before she got it into its place in the far corner, she went ahead and picked up the tarp, folding it over several times and placing it in the corner of the room out of the way.

As she walked back across the room to get the next table down, she found herself fixated on her own desk. Ever since she had accepted the position and began her work to transform the classroom, she had made it a point to not sit down in her chair until the first day of school. It was a little symbol that she wanted to save, to mark the occasion of the first day of her career. And now that day had come at long last.

It was as good a time as any to take the plunge, she supposed. She detoured from her original path and crossed the room to the side of her desk. She ran a thoughtful hoof over the tabletop as she came around to the chair. She slid it out from its nook, taking a look at the modestly cushioned seat, and took a deep breath. Slowly, methodically, she turned around and eased herself into the chair. At that moment, all of the buildup of the last decade hit. This was it. The big day; no turning back from here.

Not that she would have wanted to, anyway. She had put far too much into getting herself to this point to even know what doubts were. Nook had done a good job of warming her cold hooves. She looked out across her empty room and smiled. She wasn’t just at her new job.

She was home.

The sun beamed through the windows on the left side of the classroom, bathing the room in golden light. A couple of hours had passed, and Cheerilee had finished her work ahead of schedule. The desks were set up, bookshelves put back in place, and two pictures that she had brought along hung on the back wall; one a line art visage of Princess Celestia, and the other a stylized guard pony. The room was as ready as it was ever going to be.

And the students had arrived on time. All but two of the twelve desks were filled, and the students were doing all sorts of things ranging from showing off their school supplies, to talking, to folding what Cheerilee knew was the beginnings of a paper airplane. She was going to have to get that from the colt before he used it.

She actually recognized several of the foals in the room, though she was sure she would know at least a couple of them. A filly from the apple family— she couldn’t remember her name —was sitting in the front row. A row back and one desk to the right was Rarity’s little sister, Sweetie Belle. Berry Punch’s little sister, Piña Colada, was sitting in the back row. The rest of the children were fresh faces. A few colts were present, though the fillies outnumbered them almost three to one.

Cheerilee stood at the front of the room, giving a warm smile while she waited for the bell on the wall to ring. It was beginning to become a bit awkward, her standing there waiting so that she could begin. She had given each a greeting when they entered the room, but now all she could do was wait.

As if on cue, the bell rang.

If sitting in her teacher’s chair for the first time hadn’t been the big awakening that she had officially begun her adult life, then hearing that bell ring for the first time on her first day would have been what drove it home. Her heart fluttered, and she barely waited for the bell to go silent before she began.

“Good morning, students!” she said in a singsong voice, drawing the attention of the foals. “I hope you all had a good summer, and I'm sure some of you are wondering who I am. Let's begin today with a game." Several excited murmurs came from the students while Cheerilee retrieved a red foam ball from her desk.

"How the game works is that when you get the ball, you stand up and tell us all your name and something about yourself. It can be what you did this summer, your favorite food, anything you want! Since I —"

The door swung open, pulled with attitude. "...and my daddy got me this tiara yesterday, isn't it amazing?" Even before Cheerilee got a look at who the voice came from, she could tell that it meant trouble. The little sneering voice was distinct, like the pony behind it felt that she owned the world and everything in it.

In walked two fillies; the lead one pink with a purple-tinged mane, and the tiara on her head signified that she was the source of the grating voice. Behind her was a gray filly with her hair in a braid, a pair of stylish glasses adorning her nose. It seemed that no school was complete without a pair like this. Entitled, snooty, and dressed up expertly. The divas had arrived, fashionably late.

"Good morning," Cheerilee said, just a bit less enthusiasm in her voice, though she kept her kind facade up. "I suppose I can let it slide since it's the first day, but you two will need to be on time from now on."

"Fine," said the pink filly, turning her nose up and walking to the empty desk in the front of the room. The gray filly took the open seat in the middle row next to Sweetie Belle.

"Now then, where was I? Since it's my first day here, I will start off the game." Cheerilee held the ball up. "My name is Cheerilee, I am your new teacher, and I like to play tennis." She scanned the crowd, looking for a student not paying attention to pick on. The gray filly looked like a prime candidate, and Cheerilee gently tossed the ball her way. It was a good shot, bouncing on her desk and again off of her nose. She gave a startled gasp and looked around, while all the rest of the class laughed.

"What was that?" demanded the filly.

"If you had gotten here on time and paid attention to what was going on, you would know that it's your turn to stand up and tell us your name and something about yourself."

"Ugh, fine," the filly said begrudgingly, standing up. "My name is Silver Spoon and I got a puppy for my birthday." She seemed to relish the chance to brag a bit, but she was obviously the more subdued of the two.

"Nice to meet you, Silver Spoon. Now, pick up the ball and toss it to whoever you want."

The colt in the seat next to her picked up the ball and passed it her way. She took the ball and smirked. "Diamond Tiara, catch!"

The ball sailed over to the pink filly, landing in her waiting hooves. She stood up, looking as if she were preparing to deliver a bold speech. "My name is Diamond Tiara, and my daddy is the owner of Rich's Barnyard Bargains." One muffled sigh of discontent came from the back of the room, but she didn't seem to notice. She tossed the ball to the filly next to her, the red-haired Apple family kid.

“I’m Apple Bloom, and I got to help my family harvest apples this summer!” Though she was young, she was already developing the Apple Family’s trademark drawl. She turned around to face the rest of the class, considered for a moment, and then tossed the ball to a filly in the back of the classroom. “Here, catch!” she exclaimed, taking her seat again immediately after the throw.

The ball reached its target, but the filly in the back corner wasn’t ready for it. It bounced off of one of her outstretched hooves and went straight up in the air. She didn’t see where it went, and it came back down on her desk. She fumbled it again, this time knocking it to the floor where it rolled towards the front of the room.

She smiled awkwardly and blushed a bit, rising from her seat slowly. She was a mauve Earth pony with a turquoise mane, appearing to be about in the second grade. She seemed to shrink back with all eyes in the room on her, shying away from the attention. That would explain why she chosen the furthest corner from the teacher’s desk.

“I’m Aura,” she said quietly, immediately taking her seat.

“Aura?” Cheerilee asked. “Do you want to tell us something about yourself?”

“No,” Aura replied, laying her head on the table and hiding her eyes, which were a slightly different shade of turquoise than her mane.

“Okay then, that’s fine too.” Cheerilee said, hiding her disconcerted frown quickly with a smile. “Who has the ball?”

The game continued on for a few more minutes, each student taking their turn and happily standing up to tell something about themselves. One colt had gone on a trip to Prance with his family, and another filly had gotten her cutie mark over the summer. As the ball traveled around the room, Cheerilee kept glancing back to the back corner of the room. Something about the way Aura had refused to participate didn’t seem right. However, she couldn’t spend too much time figuring out what exactly what it was at the moment. The next student was ready to go.

Chapter Two: Dinner and a Show

Chapter two: Dinner and a Show

Since it was the first day, there wasn’t any true instruction, and school passed faster than Cheerilee wanted it to. After she went over the class syllabus, the rest of the day was spent doing activities like hoof painting and group reading, all in an effort to get to know the class better. It was safe to say that they were already taking a liking to her, but that could have just been the effect of the fun day. She would have to wait until the next week before she got her answer there.

There wasn’t much to do around the schoolhouse after hours since it was still the first day, so Cheerilee wasn’t far behind the children in leaving when they released in the early afternoon. She had taken advantage of the free time to take a walk around Ponyville. She hadn’t noticed much change when she came in from the train station, but now that she had a chance to look around, it became evident that there were several subtle differences since she had left over three years ago. First of all, the Town Hall had been renovated in that time. Several new homes had sprung up, and there was even a new spa not far from the library.

In addition to seeing the sights around town, she also ran into several ponies that she knew. There was Davenport, still running his Quills and Sofas store. It was a wonder how he stayed in business with such a limited variety of stock, but she couldn’t knock it if he made his living at it. At the marketplace, she stopped and had a short discussion with Applejack, who had taken the reins of the family’s apple stand from Granny Smith about a year before, and was quite skillful at selling the fruit. Cheerilee walked away from the stand with half a dozen apples in her saddlebags. She ran one final errand at the Golden Oak Library and checked out a book called Windfall, a notoriously cheesy romance novel. She had a soft spot for a good mushy love story, and several of her friends back at Bridleway had taken every possible chance to gush over it. She had been putting it off for a long time, so now she was going to see what the buzz was about. If only a few years later. After that, she returned to her house and dropped off her purchases.

It was now getting later in the evening, and her stomach was calling for supper. Once again, her mother had extended an invitation to dinner. Considering that she was living on apples and cheap soup at her house until she was established better, a full meal from her mother’s kitchen wasn’t exactly something she could turn down. After she dropped her things off, she immediately left for her parents' house.

Cheerilee’s parents lived in a house much like any other in Ponyville: a two-story timber frame house with a thatched roof. The only real distinguishing aspect of the home was the large garden out back. That and the tall trellis next to the front door, ablaze with violet flowering Morning Glory vines.

She knocked three times—the exact number her mother insisted on as proper—and waited. She heard a spoon clatter in the kitchen, and the door swung open a few seconds later. In it stood none other than her mother, Lilting Melody, her graying mane tied back in a loose bun and her spectacles perched atop her head to keep them out of the way. Her smile was tense, and her eyes reflected the stress that she often felt when preparing large meals on her own.

“Cheerilee!” exclaimed Melody, throwing her front hooves up in the air and wrapping them around her daughter’s shoulders. “So glad you’re here, I need an extra set of hooves! Come in, quick!” Before Cheerilee could get a word in, she broke the hug and scurried back into the house. Cheerilee followed behind her, crossing through the dining room and into the kitchenette.

The kitchen was alive, it seemed. All four burners on the stove were occupied by steaming pots, the the counters were strewn with mixing bowls and a wide array of utensils. A large cutting board held chopped carrots, squash, zucchini, tomato, and onion. An automatic mixer was churning away at what looked to be chocolate cake batter, and the oven was already in use making a pizza. An instrumental jazz piece could be heard in the background of all the commotion. Amongst the chaos, the main thing that stood out was the smell. The aromas from the stove coupled with the scent of the raw ingredients on the counters created a smell so mouthwatering that it almost made Cheerilee’s knees weak.

“I’m so glad you got here early! I got a little carried away with all this.” She took a spare apron from a cupboard on the far side of the room and tossed it to Cheerilee. “Here, can you take over tending those pots on the stove for me? I need to get the cake going.”

“Sure, mom.” Cheerilee slipped the apron over her head and picked up a wooden spoon in her teeth.

“Thanks a bunch!” Melody chimed, singing the last word. She took a tiny scoop of flour and sprinkled it into a pan already coated with shortening. “I hope you don’t mind, but we have a couple of other guests coming for dinner.”

“‘Ho are ‘hey?” Cheerilee asked, still stirring a pot full of boiled squash.

“Don’t talk when you’re stirring, you’ll spit in the food!” Melody shot Cheerilee a quick glare. “Anyway, Hondo and Cookie just came back from Cervidas last week. You remember them, right?”

Cheerilee dropped the spoon from her teeth and looked over at Melody, who had just taken the bowl out of the mixer. “Rarity’s parents, right?" Melody nodded. "I didn’t know you were friends with them.”

“We got to know them not too long after you left for college. They’ve kind of become our go-to couple recently. Keep an eye on that pasta, it’s almost ready!”

Cheerilee looked back at the pot on the left-rear burner. Sure enough, the noodles were done. “Is the strainer ready to go?”

“It’s called a colander, honey. And yes, it’s already in the sink.”

Cheerilee rolled her eyes at the correction, making sure not to let her mother see it. She picked up the pot in her teeth and carried it across the kitchen to the sink. With a twist of her head, she dumped the noodles into the colander. It had been a while since she made pasta herself, and she forgot the big cloud of steam that came with draining spaghetti. The steam billowed up into her face and she jumped back reflexively, sending the empty pot clattering across the brick floor.

“Careful, that steam will get you,” Melody idly commented, not looking up from pouring the cake batter into the pan.

“Noted,” Cheerilee deadpanned. Before she could pick up the pot, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, that’s them!” Melody placed the empty mixing bowl back on the counter. “I can handle it from here. You go answer the door and show them in, Cheerilee. I’ll call you if I need help.”

“That works for me,” Cheerilee agreed, not bothering to take the apron off. She walked out of the kitchen and crossed the dining room to the front door. She ran a hoof through her mane and pulled the door open.

“Well hey there, Cheerilee! Long time no see!” greeted the loud voice of Hondo Flanks, the moustachioed white unicorn who was never seen without his trademark straw hat.

“Oh, that rhymed!” added Cookie Crumbles, the plump pink mare with a fashion sense almost equally as bad as her husband’s.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it? Come on in!” Cheerilee motioned for them to enter, and the couple stepped into the entryway. Cookie had a plastic tub perched on the small of her back, appearing to contain some kind of rice and vegetable mix.

“I’ll take this back to the kitchen,” Cookie said, turning towards the kitchen door and leaving Cheerilee and Hondo alone in the entryway. An energetic greeting sounded out from around the corner when she walked into the kitchen.

“Is your dad around?” Hondo asked, walking past Cheerilee and into the den.

“I don’t know what he’s doing right now, but he should be around here somewhere.”

“I’ll bet he’s out in the shop. Probably building a cabinet or somethin’,” Hondo stopped in front of the sofa.

“Cheerilee! Will you come here a minute?” called Melody from in the kitchen.

“You better go in there. I’ll go snoop around and see if I can’t find your Dad somewhere.” Cheerilee gave Hondo a quick smile before she trotted off in the direction of the kitchen. Even after several years away from home, she still remembered exactly how much her mother meant when she said “a minute”. With a bit of dread in her stomach, she crossed the threshold into the kitchen.

“Sure mom, what do you need?”

Cheerilee took her seat at the table, feeling more than a bit frazzled. Since her mother had called her into the kitchen, she had been bustling back and forth nonstop for nearly half an hour. Setting the table; helping put the finishing touches on the food; putting away ingredients and utensils; fetching Hondo and Chisel, who had congregated out in the adjoining workshop to have a bottle of cider and talk; and other random little jobs that needed done had kept her plenty busy. As she settled into the chair, she took a moment to fix her mane, which had fallen down into her eyes as a result of the quick work she was doing.

Chisel Point sat at the end of the table nearest to the kitchen doorway. Hondo and Cookie were seated next to each other on the side left of him, and Lilting Melody and Cheerilee sat on his right. The far end seat was empty, its place setting relegated to more space for the serving dishes.

Before them was a feast worthy of Hearth’s Warming Eve. Large bowls filled with pasta, squash, carrots, and zucchini sat steaming, ready to dish up. A raised platter in the center of the table held a pizza topped with black olives, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers. Two loaves of fresh bread and butter sat at each end of the table, and a pitcher of iced tea sat on standby on the far end. In the mix was the dish that Cookie had brought in. Everypony at the table seemed transfixed on the food, eyeing it hungrily.

“Before we start, let’s all take a moment to thank Melody and Cheerilee for preparing this wonderful meal,” said Hondo, suddenly remembering to remove his hat thanks to a nudge from his wife. Everypony said their thanks in a respectful murmur.

“Thank you, Hondo. Now then, no sense letting it get cold. Dig in!” Melody was the first to grab a bowl, her choice being the spaghetti. Hondo went straight for the pizza, as did Chisel. Cookie lit her horn and levitated the bowl of squash to her plate, and Cheerilee chose Cookie’s contribution. Dishes were passed around frequently, and everypony’s plate was full in no time.

With the full selection of food from her mother’s she had tasted many times before, Cheerilee was far more eager to try the interesting new dish. She scooped up a bit of it on her fork and took a bite, some of the rice-like food spilling back onto her plate as she did so. It was an interesting taste for sure; she detected a lot of lemon juice and vinegar, but under the tartness of the dressings was the… rice? It looked like rice, but it didn’t quite taste like any rice she knew of. Parsley, mint, garlic, and a faint hint of tomato rounded out the potent flavor. It wasn’t the best thing she had ever eaten, but it was no doubt good!

“Mmm, Cookie. What is this that you brought with you?” Cheerilee asked.

“It’s a kind of salad we tried while we were over in Cervidas, it’s called tabouli. Do you like it?”

“It’s really good!” Cheerilee replied, taking another bite of the tabouli.

“Oh thanks! Those deer down there just can’t get enough of it. This nice doe I met named Thicket taught me how to make it. It’s easy enough that even I can’t burn it!” Cookie smiled widely.

Melody giggled from the other side of the table. “She must’ve been a miracle worker. Try as I might, my cooking lessons never seemed to work for you.”

“I’ll tell ya, it’s nice having something that isn’t crispy come out of our kitchen for once,” added Hondo, earning a playful elbow from Cookie.

“How was the rest of the trip?” asked Melody.

“It was great!” said Hondo, taking a bite of his pizza.

“I loved going to Concordia the most. There’s just so much neat stuff at the marketplace there, I’ll have to show you all of what we got next time you come over!”

“There’s a bunch of neat history down there,” added Hondo. “That museum was great, but I liked the countryside down there. Their forests are unbelievable!”

“Maybe we’ll go sometime,” Chisel mused, finally breaking into the conversation after having concentrated on his food the entire time.

“We should go together!” Cookie suggested with a grin, “I’d love to go back sometime.”

“Oh, tell 'em the story about the mouse,” said Hondo, nudging Cookie with his elbow and grinning smugly.

“I’d rather not,” Cookie replied, chuckling. It was easy to tell that she was only half-joking.

“Okay,” replied Hondo as he leaned back in his chair, getting ready to tell just a portion of there grand adventure. “So we went on a hike in this little forested area near Equadoe. Real pretty woods, lots of neat little critters running around all over the place. There was this little rest stop at a place where the trail crossed a road— Ow!” Hondo jumped as he was elbowed in the ribs, eliciting laughs from Chisel and Cheerilee.

“Don’t do it, bucko,” Cookie warned, cocking her elbow back again. Again she was only half-serious, but the threat still carried some weight.

“So this rest stop…” Hondo continued, ignoring Cookie’s bluff. “...there’s a little restroom there and she has us stop at it. While she’s in there, I went off to this little scenic overlook they have set up. I’m gone a few minutes, and when I come back, I hear some big ruckus coming from inside. She’s screaming like a little schoolfilly who saw a ghost— Ow!”

Hondo was cut off again by an elbow from Cookie. Her face was steadily turning redder under her pink fur, her blue eyes alight with playful loathing. He responded by scooting his chair a bit to the right, away from her. “So I go in there, not knowing what I’m gonna find. For all I know, someone just waltzed in there with her, so I’m ready to do what I have to do. What I find is her, standing on top of the toilet, looking like she was ready to faint—” he looked at her, his grin widening “—What was it that that was scaring you so bad, again?”

Cookie shot him a glare so intensely icy that she could have brought on winter with a little more work. “A mouse,” she spat, not taking her eyes off of her husband, who was sniggering quietly in an attempt to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

“A mouse, that’s r— that’s right!” He was fighting to keep himself from losing it, but it was quickly becoming a losing battle. Everypony else at the table was in stitches to some degree by this point. He swallowed hard, suppressing his mirth a bit so he could continue. “Anyway, it gets better when I get in there. That mouse saw me come in and he went right straight for the first place he could see to hide: right under the throne Cookie was perched on!”

“I tell ya, you’ve never seen a pony jump until you’ve seen her running from a mouse. And since she was too worried about where the mouse went, she wasn’t really looking out where she was jumping. I didn’t have more than a second before she landed square on my back. I went down, all the wind knocked out of me like I just got tackled by a quarterback, and she comes down on top of me.” Cheerilee and Melody were both giggling, while Chisel was about to choke on the bite of squash he had just taken. “So, we’re laying there in a pile on the restroom floor, I’m gasping for breath and she’s just trying to get the heck outta there…” Hondo couldn’t continue through his hysterics, but quickly caught his composure.

“Touchdown,” Cookie added, taking a sip of her water. While it didn’t have as much of an effect on Cheerilee’s family, that one-liner was enough to send Hondo into a fit of laughter. Even Cookie couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene, despite the fact that she was the butt of the whole anecdote. Most of the laughs at the table were aided by the mustachioed stallion’s mirth, which took quite a while to subside. When they finally started coming down, Melody was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry, Cookie. That was a good story though,” she said, dabbing at her eyes with her napkin before placing her glasses back on the bridge of her muzzle.

“Oh it’s fine,” said Cookie, a cool smile appearing on her face.

“Oh boy, I know that look,” Hondo shifted uneasily in his chair. “She’s planning something to get me back.”

“Oh? I wouldn’t think of such a thing,” Cookie said, retaining her nonchalant posture.

Hondo looked to Chisel and Melody. “I’m toast.”

“So,” Cookie said, looking to Cheerilee. “Enough about us. How was your first day of teaching today, Cheerilee?”

“Mmm!” Cheerilee hummed, swallowing the bite of food in her mouth. “It was wonderful!”

“How’s Sweetie Belle been treating you?” asked Hondo.

“Is she behaving herself?”

“She’s a sweetheart,” Cheerilee answered with a smile. “I haven’t seen her since she was just a toddler, so I didn’t know what to expect when she came to class.”

“She can be a hoofful, just to warn you,” said Cookie.

“At this age, what foal isn’t a hoofful? Cheerilee pointed out, earning a nod of agreement from everypony in the room. “Are you two going to come out to the parent-teacher conferences next week?”

“Well since you asked…” Hondo started, a dubious frown crossing his muzzle as he looked down and away. Cheerilee deflated a bit at his words, but quickly relaxed when she saw him look back up with his usual grin. “I’m kidding. Of course we’ll be there.”

“Great! I should be better acquainted with her by then, so I should be able to tell you better about how she’s doing.” Cheerilee took a bite of the tabouli, followed by a generous drink of tea.

“Oh! I have another great story to tell you guys…” Hondo began, changing the subject as he launched into another tale of their travels. As he went on with his yarn—this time about one of their adventures in the capital city of Cervidas—Cheerilee let herself slowly lose focus. It wasn’t that it was a boring story, but rather she wanted a moment to think to herself. When Cookie mentioned that Sweetie Belle could be hard to handle at times, it kicked loose a series of thoughts.

Would any of the students turn out to behave differently than they had on the first day? Would they be better or worse in that case? A certain mauve filly came to mind; Aura, wasn’t it?

With another bite of her mother’s homemade bread, those thoughts faded. She wasn’t here to worry about what lay ahead; there was plenty of time for that later. She was here to enjoy herself and celebrate. With that, Cheerilee let her thoughts escape her mind, and she tuned herself back into the conversation. The rest of the dinner party was sure to be a blast.

With a soft click, Cheerilee closed the front door of her house. Dinner had been… exhausting to say the least. Coupled with the stress of her first day on the job, sleep was the only thing on her mind. Several large containers of leftovers were perched on her back, the stack wobbling precariously as she walked. Before she could go upstairs, she needed to go to the kitchen and drop off the containers. She placed them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, which was completely empty. In fact, the only items contained inside were a carton of milk and a half of a watermelon.

With a bump from her rump, she closed the fridge door and exited the kitchen, clicking the light off as she left. Hanging a right, she slipped through the narrow opening in the boxes to the stairs, trotting up them with as much speed as she dared use with her mind as foggy as it was. At the top of the staircase, she turned left and entered the first door on that side: the bathroom.

Her bathroom was still largely barren, as with most of the rest of the house. The entire room was plain white, from the tile floor to the fixtures. The only real source of color in the room was a faded floral-print shower curtain over the tub, and that was meager at best. However, now wasn’t the time to worry about the decorations. Her mind was on a set track: Brush teeth, then go to bed.

She didn’t go into as much detail with her brushing as usual, just getting her teeth passably clean before sticking her head under the faucet to rinse. She exited the bathroom and made for her bedroom door across the landing. As she put her hoof to the door to push it open, she stopped.

Water. Even though she wasn’t thirsty at the moment, it was a small comfort to have a glass of water on the nightstand. Instead of diving straight into her waiting bed like she so desperately wanted to do, she turned and went down the stairs to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with ice from the freezer, making sure to flip the lights off once she had her drink. On her way back through the foyer, she bumped into one of the stacks of boxes. The top one fell to the floor and spilled out across the room.

“Oh ponyfeathers,” Cheerilee muttered, setting her glass down on the first stair. She picked the box up and placed it back on top of the stack. The box had been mostly filled with books, so there wasn't a huge mess to clean up. A small pile of them were right in front of where the box fell, and she went for those four first. She didn’t bother to neatly stack them like they had been before, instead just throwing them back in without thought. A textbook about music theory had gone a bit further than the first four books, which brought back memories of the class it came from.

It was hard to understand and she never seemed to hear the same thing that the professor wanted her to; she barely squeaked by with a C average in that class. With that book back in the box, she moved over closer to the door where a small book with her cutie mark on the cover and a magenta ribbon bookmark had landed. It was her diary.

Oh, right, she thought. The last entry had been the day before she made her move, and she had been meaning to make an entry after her first day of teaching. As much as she wanted to put off making the entry, she knew that it would be best to do it now, while the thoughts were still fresh. She looked at the few books still scattered about, and instead picked up the diary and headed for the stairs.

Up in her room, she dropped the diary on the bed and found a quill and ink in the nightstand drawer. Since she didn’t have a desk yet, she would have to make do. With her supplies, she hopped into the bed, making sure to leave the ink jar on the nightstand in case it spilled. She opened the diary to the correct page, dipped the quill in the ink, and carefully touched it to the page.

Dear Diary,

This last week has been a blur! I went from having an apartment in the big city to renting a house back in my hometown, all in just seven days. I must say, it is a nice little place. More than enough for a single mare to make use of. I still need to turn it from a house to a home, but for now it serves fine as a roof over my head. I can’t complain one bit!

Also, today I started my first day of teaching class at the Ponyville schoolhouse! All this week, I’ve been a nervous wreck with worry about how I will adjust to the new job, but Nook was right. It looks like I’m going to do just fine. The students are wonderful, and they all seem to like me from the start! There was one little filly named Aura who didn’t seem to like me so well, but I’m sure I can win her over in time.

After class, I went for a walkaround Ponyville. Everything is just so different from when I was here last. Theres a bunch of new stores and things around town and I still need to go see them Maybe tomor~

Before she finished her sentence, her head sank back to meet the pillow in a lazy slump. She was fast asleep in seconds.

Chapter Three: Conference

Chapter three: Conference

“Time to clean up your workspaces!” Cheerilee announced, clicking the timer on her desk off. On cue, the entire class mobilized, putting away colored pencils, paintbrushes, and watercolor packs as quickly as they could manage. They loaded all of their supplies into the boxes that they came in, and rushed over to the cabinets on the wall with boxes in tow. A small crowd began to form around it quickly, each foal trying to get in first.

“Everypony stop! Remember how we line up?” Cheerilee rose from her seat and made her way across the presentation area to the cabinet. “Everypony sit back down and then come back up here in a line.” A few groans of irritation came from the class as they all returned to their seats. Once all of them were back at their desks, they rose up in unison and formed a more-or-less single file line to the cubby.

“That’s better,” Cheerilee said, motioning for the children to go ahead and put their things away. She returned to her desk at the front while they put their supplies away. Apple Bloom was the last in line, and she shut the cabinet door when she got her turn. When everyone was back in their seats, Cheerilee addressed them once more.

“Now, I know it’s almost the end of the day and you all want to go home, so I won’t be long. When you leave, place your projects on the end of my desk. Tonight is the first parent-teacher conference of the year, and I hope to see everypony come out tonight at eight o’clock! I already gave you the handouts, so remember to give those to your parents.” The bell rang, and the foals began to get up from their seats with eager grins on their faces. “Remember your math homework tonight! We have the first spelling quiz on Friday! See you tomorrow!”

Art projects piled up on her desk as the children exited, all of them in a rush to get out the door into the late-summer afternoon.

Cheerilee wiped a hoof across her brow and leaned back in her chair. Today had been a bit of a doozy, mostly because of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon constantly disrupting class. That coupled with an incident that involved Rumble taking a spill from the swings during recess had taken quite a toll on her energy. More than anything, she wanted to sit back in her comfortable chair and take a quick nap.

Fifteen minutes couldn’t hurt, right? She shifted a bit, slouching back into the cushion on the chair, which made it roll backwards a couple of inches. As she began to descend into slumber, the birds outside in the playground’s trees began singing their songs. Even by Equestria’s standards, it was an especially beautiful chorus of chirps and whistles. It seemed to ride elegantly on the air to soothe her fatigued mind, the lilting melody washing her worries—

Lilting Melody. Through the hectic day, she had forgotten that her mother was expecting to meet her immediately after class dismissed to prepare for conference night!

With as much energy as she could muster, she hoisted herself from the chair and grabbed her saddlebags from the bottom desk drawer. She considered running to town at a full gallop for a moment, but a passing glance at the clock told her that a leisurely trot would do the job just fine. She pulled the door closed on her way out, but didn’t bother locking it before she started down the earthen path back to town.

If she couldn’t spare the time for a nap, then she could at least stop at Sugarcube Corner for a large coffee.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Filt— Mr. Rich,” said Cheerilee, shaking the tan businesspony's hoof politely.

“Likewise. Come on, Diamond. Randolph should have dinner waiting.” Filthy Rich rose from his seat in front of Cheerilee’s desk, alongside his daughter. They both turned to leave, though not before Diamond Tiara could sneak a dirty look in Cheerilee’s direction.

During the meeting, Cheerilee had noticed several things. Filthy Rich had been a very keen listener when she talked about Diamond’s academic performance, but when the conversation shifted to the filly’s disciplinary record, he went through a drastic shift. He interrupted frequently, began fidgeting in his chair, and became dismissive of nearly every point that was brought against his daughter despite the fact that there was a near daily record of problems. From what she remembered of Mr. Rich, she knew to expect it. He was the type of father to see his daughter as a perfect angel who does no wrong.

Now that they were gone, she took out her pencil and scratched off Diamond Tiara’s name. So far, seven of the twelve students had come in. Sweetie Belle had been first to come in with Hondo and Cookie, as promised, followed by the Apples. Granny Smith had brought Apple Bloom in with Applejack and Big Macintosh in tow. It had been years since she had seen the entire Apple clan together in one room, and they were just as much of a joy to meet with as she remembered. A skinny little colt named Featherweight and his ironically heavyset mother were next, and not long after them came Snips and Snails together with both of their respective parents at the same time. Rumble and Thunderlane showed up a little while later.

Rumble brought his brother to the conference despite the fact that he needed his parents to attend. Things went a bit farther south when she caught Thunderlane staring at her more than once. It was flattering, but nonetheless unwelcome at a parent-teacher conference.

Cheerliee shook her head to clear her mind of the memory and looked down at the list again. At least Diamond Tiara had come in, but her partner in crime Silver Spoon was a no-show. Surprisingly, Twist had also skipped, but it must have been conflicting schedules if she knew anything about her. The rest of the no-shows included Scootaloo, Piña Colada, and Aura.

Aura.

Cheerilee had been meaning to find a chance to speak with the little mauve filly, but she was always out of the classroom faster than she could blink. In the past few days, she had noticed a few more things that struck her as peculiar. Of all the foals in the class, she had far and away the worst mouthwriting, which was a bit unusual since fillies were often naturally better at penmanship, but not totally unexpected either.

The clock on the wall chimed as it struck ten, and Cheerilee practically leapt from her seat at the signal that she could go home for the day. She raised her forelegs over her head in a stretch, a quiet yawn escaping as she released the tension in her back. It had been a long day, and there were still four more to go before the the weekend rolled around. A good night’s sleep was in order, lest she be in bad shape for class tomorrow.

In much the same fashion as when she left the room at the end of the school day, Cheerilee retrieved her saddlebags from the bottom right-hoof drawer of the desk. She sauntered across the front of the room, stifling yet another yawn as she pulled the door open. As she stepped through the doorway, she stopped and turned to click the lights off. Before she flipped the switch, she took a look around the room. The two chairs that had been pulled over for the conferences would need to be moved in the morning, but aside from that, everything was spic and span. The art projects were still there, and the foals would be finishing those in the morning. Satisfied, she turned out the lights and grabbed the doorknob, only to hesitate.

Despite the fact that the art projects were unfinished, Cheerilee was curious as to what the foals were drawing. She hadn’t looked at any of them besides the one on top of the stack, and that was just in passing since it was visible. She had been planning to read another chapter from Windfall before bed, but looking over the artworks was a more non-committal and appealing choice. The book had lengthy chapters anyway, so this would be quicker and she could go to bed a little earlier. She didn’t bother powering up the lights again, since the enchantment-powered fixtures took a few seconds to warm up to full brightness. She took the stack in her teeth carefully and slid them down into her waiting saddlebag. With a gentle tug, she fastened the cover and again made for the door. This time, she pushed it closed and locked it from the outside before trotting back down the earthen path to Ponyville, this time headed home.

Cheerilee settled into her bed and pulled the covers over herself. Her room was slowly coming along, but it was still quite plain as with the rest of the house. A throw rug now lay between the bed and the door, and a couple of picture frames were now hanging on the wall to her right; one a photo of her and two of her friends from Bridleway, the other a hoof-stitched cloth bearing her mother’s favorite quote: “In all things, give thanks.”

Leaning over, she fished the stack of papers out of her saddlebags, which were propped against the bed on the floor. Since she hadn’t remembered to go to the store for construction paper, the projects were done on ordinary white sheets of letter paper. It hadn’t been a big deal, but Cheerilee bit her lip in annoyance at her slip-up.

The assignment had been to draw something that was special; nothing too difficult, it was mainly an effort on her part to get a little bit more information on the students’ personalities. The top of the stack was Apple Bloom’s, and her work was nothing unexpected. Two little caricatures of trees with red dots signifying apples sat near the center of the page, and a stick figure in orange crayon with the back legs bucked out on one of the trees signified Applejack. She pulled that one out from the stack and placed it off to one side, this time revealing Twist’s work.

Despite the fact that the little curly-maned filly was the egghead of the class, her sketch was much harder to make out than Apple Bloom’s. If it weren’t for the red and white coloring, she wouldn’t have been able to tell that the drawing was of peppermint candies. Again, she set that page aside, forming a new stack of pictures on top of the comforter.

She made her way through the stack fairly quickly, taking note of the many different things each student drew. Sweetie Belle seemed to have drawn herself singing, through her art skills made that difficult to discern. Snips, Snails, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Piña Colada, Scootaloo, and Featherweight all seemed to be coming along fine as well, though with varying degrees of success in their depictions. As she set aside Featherweight’s work, she settled her gaze on the next one.

On reflex, her jaw dropped. In her hooves sat a crayon-and-pencil drawing, as with all of the others before it. It showed a little pony sitting at an easel with a paintbrush in her mouth, but that wasn’t the shocking part about it.

It was the detail.

It was only half finished, but it was still every bit as stunning to see the amount of technique being used by such a young filly. The filly within was fully drawn, even with several flaws. The easel was comprised of straight, even lines. A window in the background showed that there was going to be a wall there tomorrow, and there were even a few sloppy attempts at shading on both of the figures. In addition to that, the viewpoint was at least decently consistent. It was by far the best picture from the entire class, and it was much better than anything Cheerilee could have done herself. And amidst all that, the real surprise lurked unassumingly in the bottom right-hoof corner. In extremely sloppy mouthwriting, the artist’s name identified the picture’s owner.

Aura.

Cheerilee sat still, unblinking with her mouth hanging open for a long minute, trying to process what she had just seen. The filly who never seemed to pay attention in class; the filly who sat in the back of the room but was always the first to leave in the afternoon; the filly who could hardly write legibly; was responsible for the best piece of artwork she had ever seen out of a primary school classroom. When she finally recovered from the shock, she had to check the project again just to make sure that she had seen it right in her tired state.

It wasn’t a mistake. She carefully lowered the page, sliding it and the final paper that she still hadn’t seen into the stack on the bed. This was… interesting news, to say the least. She had been meaning to talk to Aura since the first day of school, but now she needed to do it as soon as possible. While she felt a sense of elation that her student was so gifted at something, something didn’t seem right. While she would have loved to try to figure out exactly what made her gut instinct cry foul, her heavy eyelids commanded that she let sleeping dogs—or rather sleeping ponies in her case—lie until morning. She picked up the stack of papers and slipped them back into her bag before she turned the bedside lamp out. Sleep did not come as swiftly as it should have, but it didn’t take long for her to fall into slumber.

The next day, class was rather uneventful. Diamond Tiara had noticeably toned her attitude down, but still couldn’t help but cause a few disruptions out of habit. Her father must have given her quite the lecture last night— either that or she was trying to fly under the radar for a bit. Silver Spoon was also quieter, but that was likely because of Diamond’s behavioral shift.

It was fifteen minutes past three, and class would dismiss for the day in fifteen more. As with the day before, the last bit of class had been reserved for the art projects. This time, Cheerilee was keeping a very close eye on Aura as she worked. Now that she focused more on it, she noticed that the filly would occasionally pause to blink hard and look down at the desk for a moment, a dazed expression in her eyes. In every single lesson beforehand, she had barely paid attention and worked even less than that, a bored frown on her face the entire day. However, now she was drawing with fervor, easily working with twice the devotion of the rest of the class. Through Aura was clutching the crayon in her teeth, it was easy to tell that there was a happy little smile there.

Cheerilee, on the other hoof, looked on with an inquisitive frown. There was something about Aura that didn’t quite add up, but she couldn’t tell exactly what. Other than her poor classroom habits, she looked like a completely normal filly. Then again, she had no idea of what Aura was like outside of the classroom, so that wasn’t exactly a solid conclusion. Ten minutes remained, and Cheerilee rose from her desk and walked out into the presentation area.

She cleared her throat, earning attention from several students. “Ten minutes left, everypony! Make your final touches on the drawings and start putting things away so we can leave on time!”

Some quiet commotion followed quickly after Cheerilee finished speaking as some of the foals began to pack up their supplies. While they were finishing, she made a quick loop around the room to get a sneak peek at the foals’ creations, and to whisper something at a certain filly in the back corner desk.

She took the long way around, taking a few passing glances at the students’ desks mainly to not draw too much attention to Aura being asked to stay afterwards. It was a little courtesy she afforded her based on personal experience, memories of how an elementary school class typically reacts to such a thing came to mind first and foremost. Aura didn’t even look up at her as Cheerilee rounded the turn behind her desk, still too lost in her work to notice. Cheerilee tapped a hoof at her shoulder, which made her jump before she looked up at her teacher.

“Would you please stay after class for a few minutes? I need to talk to you,” Cheerilee whispered before she immediately walked back to the front of the room.

Fortunately, none of the other students seemed to notice, and they went about putting things away as if nothing happened. Cleanup went much more smoothly than the previous day, and it didn't take long before the room was tidied up and the foals were sitting in their seats, anxiously awaiting the clock to strike three-thirty. After a few more minutes of silence that seemed to drag on like hours, the bell finally announced the end of class. The foals jumped up and grabbed their art projects, rushing towards Cheerilee’s desk to turn them in in a frenzy.

“Have a good day, everypony! See you tomorrow!” Cheerilee called after the rush of eager students. In seconds, the classroom was empty, save for one seat in the back corner where a little mauve filly with a teal mane sat tensely, looking straight ahead like she had been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar.

Here goes nothing.

Chapter Four: Meeting Aura

“Am I in trouble?” Aura looked up from her desk sheepishly, barely making eye contact with her teacher before looking back down.

“No,” said Cheerilee, rising from her chair and walking towards the back of the classroom. “I just wanted to ask you something.” She took a seat in the desk immediately in front of Aura’s, straddling the seat backwards and hugging the backrest with her forelegs.

Aura seemed to be hiding behind her mane, or at least attempting to so to the best of her ability. “Did I do something bad?”

“No, Aura. You’re not in trouble.” Cheerilee smiled warmly, which in turn brought Aura’s face out from behind her mane. “I wanted to talk with your parents at the conference last night, but you guys didn’t show up.”

“We were busy,” said Aura, her eyes darting to the clock before returning to her teacher.

“Well, I can certainly understand that.” Cheerilee could tell one of two things from the way the filly barely made eye contact: That she was either very shy, or that she was not telling the truth. “But I really must speak with your parents. Is there any way I could meet them today?”

“Nope,” Aura replied. “I don’t think they’ll come at all.”

Cheerilee frowned. It was definitely the latter. “Young filly, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying!” Aura finally made eye contact again, and sun above, she was working the puppy dog eye factor hard. “My Daddy’s busy all the time at work!”

“Is your Mother available?”

“She’s always busy with my little brother!” Aura sank deeper into the chair, her lip quivering faintly.

Hmm. Foals rarely had the acting ability to pull off lies so convincingly. Perhaps there was a third possibility that her parents were actually too busy to attend. Even so, there was surely a way to get a moment of their time.

“Where does your Dad work? I could probably find a way to talk with him on my own.” Cheerilee watched Aura closely. She didn’t squirm or show any sign that she didn’t want her parents to meet with her teacher. It looked like she was telling the truth after all.

“He writes for the newspaper. He’s always busy, so you won’t see him.” There was a bit of acid in the filly’s tone.

“The Ponyville Express? What does he do there?”

“He the addition pony or something. I don’t remember.” Aura shrugged and looked over towards the window.

“The editor,” Cheerilee clarified.

“Yeah, that.”

“Well, I guess you can run along no—” Cheerilee couldn’t finish her sentence before the chair shot back and Aura was on her way towards the door. “Remember to do your homework!” The call went unanswered, and the filly didn’t look back as she bolted out into the hazy afternoon sunshine.

“That was interesting,” Cheerilee said to herself. She rose from the chair and walked to her desk, slipping her saddlebags on and making for the door as well.

Before she walked out, she froze in place. What was it that she was forgetting? She had everything in her saddlebags, the art projects were… Aura’s art project. How could I forget that?

It was going to come in handy later.

Cheerilee had spent the better part of fifteen minutes in search of The Ponyville Express. Being a local newspaper with a small readership, it didn’t have the need for a large building to operate out of. As such, it occupied a squat, nondescript structure near Town Hall. The only things identifying it was the large overhead door on the side of the building and the faded sign of the namesake paper painted above the front door. From the outside, it looked just like a normal house.

A wave of relief washed over Cheerilee when she finally spotted the faded stenciling, and she trotted over to the door in a hasty jog. As she entered, the bell over the door jingled.

“I’ll be there in a second!” came a voice from the back of the room. The entire first floor of the building looked like one large room. A large printing press near the doorway was humming loudly as it spat out newspaper after newspaper. The conveyor belt taking the papers to another machine which rolled them up and tied them with a rubber band before spitting them out into a waiting wagon near the overhead door.

With a loud whine, the whole operation began slowing. The press was first to turn off, and the belt soon carried its last edition down to the tying machine. With a few more loud electrical noises, the system shut down and went quiet. Some hoofsteps could be heard coming from behind the press in the newfound silence, and from there emerged an ink-smattered unicorn, his jet black mane slicked down with either hair gel or sweat.

“Can I help you?” he asked, wiping at an ink spot with an old rag.

“Uh, yes. I’m looking for the newspaper’s editor, Pencil Pusher. Is he around?”

“In the flesh,” Pencil Pusher replied, discarding the rag. “What can I do you for?”

“You’re the editor? I didn’t think you would be the one running the press.” Cheerilee cringed at her comment as soon as the words left her lips. Maybe he wouldn’t take notice of it.

“It’s a small operation. The guy that usually runs this thing, Ink Jet, got the feather flu. I’m filling in for him when I can.” He didn’t notice, thank Celestia.

“All by yourself? I— Oh drat, I could stand here and pester you with questions about the newspaper all day, couldn’t I?” Pencil chuckled alongside her at the quip. “Anyway, my name is Cheerilee, and I’m the teacher at the Ponyville Elementary school. I came to talk to you about your daughter, Aura.”

“Sure,” said Pencil. “We can go on up to the office to talk if you want.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to take up any more of your time than I need to. We can just do this right here.” Pencil nodded, giving Cheerilee the go-ahead. “I wanted to bring this up with you at the parent-teacher conference last night, but you didn’t show up. It’s about Aura’s classroom performance.”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” said Pencil.

“I sent home several notes about it. Did Aura not give them to you?”

“I guess not,” Pencil replied with a frown. “I’ll be sure to bring that up with her tonight. Is she misbehaving in class?”

“No, actually. Aside from this, she’s actually very well-behaved in class. I’m more concerned about her academic performance. In the last week, she hasn’t shown much interest in class. She just sits there and looks on most of the day without ever truly participating.” She paused for a moment, reading Pencil’s expression. He was looking on with genuine concern. “Her daily grades are suffering for it, too. She’s in the bottom of the class right now, and to be frank, I don’t think that she’s taking much interest in learning.”

Pencil remained silent. “However, there is something peculiar about her. One of our assignments from this week was an art project, and I just want to show it to you,” Cheerilee said, reaching back into her saddlebags to retrieve Aura's project. She passed it to Pencil, who took it in his magic. “Take a look at this.”

Pencil Pusher’s eyebrows raised in surprise, his golden eyes scanning the paper fervently. He whistled in awe before he looked back to Cheerilee. “That’s really something,” he commented, passing it back to her.

“It’s the best one in the entire class, hooves down. She has an uncanny knack for art, but she can barely write her own name on a paper.”

Pencil cocked an eyebrow. “That’s news to me. We’ve never had any complaints about that before.”

“Really? That’s peculiar,” said Cheerilee.

“Well, what can we do?” Pencil asked, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

“It’s still awfully early on in the year, so I’m not entirely sure at this point. Perhaps you could help her with her study habits at home?”

“I can try, but my job doesn’t give me a lot of time to see my kids at the moment, as you can see.”

“In any case, it’s a start. It could be something as simple as not getting back in the swing of things from summertime, but it could also be warning signs of a learning disability—”

“Let’s not go there,” Pencil interrupted. “My daughter is just fine. I can make the time to help her. Now, I really need to get back to the press, so I’m afraid that we have to cut this short. Thanks for stopping by!”

“Anytime,” Cheerilee said, turning and making for the door. “I’ll let you know what’s going on soon!”

“Thank you,” said Pencil, turning his own way and trotting back off towards the press. Cheerilee stepped back out into the warm afternoon, and as soon as the door shut, she looked back quizzically.

What was that all about?

“What can I get you to drink?” asked the waiter, a lanky young stallion wearing an apron. He looked to Nook first.

“Hmm…” Nook scratched at her muzzle thoughtfully. “I’ll take a root beer.”

“I’ll have water,” said Cheerilee.

“Alright! Are you two ready to order now or do you need a minute?”

“I’m ready now. How about you, Cheers?”

“I’m ready. I’ll just have the small garden salad with creamy Bitalian dressing. Oh, and can you put sunflower seeds on there?”

“Sure! And you, ma’am?”

Nook flipped her menu closed. “Gimme a pasta salad with diced cucumbers and toasted croutons. Vinaigrette dressing, please.” She floated their menus to the waiter, who took them under his wing.

“Thank you, ladies. I’ll be right back with those drinks.” With that, the waiter went on his way, disappearing back into the café.

With the waiter gone, Cheerilee took a few glances around at the restaurant. A small wrought iron fence surrounded the outdoor dining area, and six or seven wooden tables covered with red and white umbrellas filled the small patio. Only one other table was open at the moment, and a dull roar of chatter punctuated by the occasional clink of silverware on a plate floated in the air.

“Gee whiz, thanks Cheerilee.” Nook’s voice brought her attention back from the surroundings.

“What?”

“The way you’re ordering, it makes me feel fat. Are you trying to diet or something?” Nook had a tell when she was being less than half serious. The left corner of her mouth would involuntarily turn up slightly, just enough to give her a smirk. The upturn was there, so Cheerilee let her guard down.

“I’m just not all that hungry. Might as well eat light if I don’t feel the need to eat, you know?”

“Alright then.” The unicorn let out a yawn and stretched out her forelegs. “Wow, I had a rough day. You know that new mare I was telling you about yesterday?”

“The one you called ‘plump’, right?” Cheerilee asked, cocking an eyebrow and a smirk of her own.

“Geez, when you say it like that, you make me sound mean.” Cheerilee didn’t lower her eyebrow. “Oh, shut up. Anyway, I’m the one who got assigned to train her, and she doesn’t seem to learn anything I teach her! I asked her to organize the file cabinet today, and she actually managed to make that mess harder to understand! We were playing catch-up all day long after we got that whole mess sorted out.”

“The way you’re talking about her, it sounds like you think she’s an idiot.” Cheerilee immediately bit her tongue, and the look of shock on Nook’s face confirmed her fears.

“Alright, that’s it. Who are you and what have you done with the real Cheerilee?”

“Sorry,” Cheerilee said, averting her eyes. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind today, that’s all.”

“That explains why you’re barely eating.” Nook leaned forward, resting her head on her hooves and staring forward with enough intensity that it seemed like she was trying to look directly into Cheerilee’s soul. “Spit it out, sister.”

“I’m not really sure that I want to discuss it right now.”

“Not buying it. Give me the details.” Nook wasn’t going to back down, as Cheerilee knew from experience. Better to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. I—”

“Alright, here’s your drinks!” The waiter interrupted, much to Nook’s chagrin. From what Cheerilee could tell, it was taking an impressive amount of self-control for her to not shoot him a glare. “Root beer for you and water for you.” He was balancing the glasses on his wingtips, and he expertly slid them forward onto the table, not spilling a drop during the process. “Your salads should only be a couple more minutes, hang tight.” In an instant, he had disappeared amongst the other tables.

“Go on,” said Nook, taking a sip of her drink.

“It’s work trouble for me too. There’s this filly in the class who never pays attention at all. Bless her heart, she can barely write her own name legibly.”

“A slow learner? I kinda figured that was part of being a teacher.”

“Let me finish,” Cheerilee chided. “The thing is, I can tell that she’s smart. She can barely write and math is a total impossibility for her, but she can draw. For her age, she is the most talented artist I’ve ever seen. Here,” Cherilee dug into her saddlebag, which was perched on the ground below her chair, and produced Aura’s project for the second time that day. She passed it across to Nook, who took it and whistled in awe.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” asked Cheerilee.

“It sure beats anything I can do.” Nook didn’t look up from the paper, still taking in the details of the drawing.

“That’s almost exactly what I said. I tracked down her father today since they didn’t show up at the conferences, and he was mostly helpful.”

“Mostly?” Nook asked, finally tearing herself from the sketch.

“Yes, mostly. He promised to try to work with his daughter, but he seemed a bit testy.”

“Sounds to me like he thinks that his daughter’s bad habits reflect on him as a parent.” Nook took another sip of her drink.

“There’s your psychology class coming out again,” Cheerilee mocked.

“Hey, it happens. Keep talking, girl.”

“Well, there’s not much else to say. I’m really glad that she has talent, but it raises questions. Why does she write so poorly when her artistic skill is so developed? How has she not gotten help with this before now? Why did her dad get so short with me when I mentioned—” Cheerilee stopped abruptly. In effect, she had just answered her own question. “Oh. When I mentioned learning disabilities.”

“That makes a lot of sense, really. I’ve heard of kids being really smart in one thing but they’re completely clueless in everything else.” Nook flipped a hoof through her mane, making the curly mass of hair bounce a bit.

“Uh-huh.” Cheerilee looked down at the table thoughtfully, tracing her gaze along the wood grain. Could the answer really be so simple? “I think I need to do a bit of research tomorrow when the library opens.”

“Hey, here comes the waiter!” Nook bounced in her chair a bit, her eyes brightening.

Suddenly, the knot that had been plaguing Cheerilee’s stomach all afternoon was gone. The swirl of questions and uncertainty had gone by the wayside, replaced with one single thought:

That she desperately wished she had gotten a bigger salad.

Chapter Five: Eureka