Cheerilee loved almost everything about teaching; she loved every single one of her students as if they were her own, and cherished the moments when her flowers learned something new. She didn't even mind grading papers, if she was to be honest. There was something placid and calming about checking off numbers and circling problems upon her small desk as the clock ticked rhythmically. She always made sure to leave an encouraging comment or smiley face. But the only thing she despised was getting up in the wee hours to open the schoolhouse. She was a morning pony, but not even an early riser like herself was accustomed to going to work beneath an icy, dreary sky, with her breath clouding around her muzzle.
It was during one of those wintery mornings on her way to school, fighting back a coffee-scented yawn, that Cheerilee noticed something odd. It looked like her new student, Asser, a dark-coated donkey from Fillydephia. He was definitely an strange child—one quiet and awkward—but he couldn't be crazy enough to be at school this early, especially with such awful weather.
Cheerilee stepped closer towards the young donkey in greeting, who flinched, sidestepping around her.
"Morning, Asser!" Cheerilee said with a smile. Seeing a student, no matter who they were, always put her in a good mood.
"Hi," Asser replied in a whisper, seeming as if he was trying to be invisible.
Cheerilee tilted her head to the side, offering another smile that was not returned. Hopefully, he would open up more as the year progressed. It was then that she noticed he wasn't wearing a coat, fur open to the biting wind. "Dear goddess, where is your coat?"
The donkey jumped up, eyes wide. "I...uh...I... lost it!"
Cheerilee clicked her tonuge, ushering Asser closer to the door. "I certainly hope you find it, young man," she said, looking down upon him with careful warmth.
Asser's ears pressed back, gaze darting to the ground. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he whispered.
Cheerilee unlocked the door, nodding along at him. "No reason to apologies, hon, though please do call me Miss Cheerilee."
"Okay," came the mumbled response. Cheerliee hummed, stepped inside the blessedly warm room, holding open the door for him.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that for me," Asser said, scuffing his hoof at the ground.
Cheerilee unwrapped her scarf from her neck, doing her best to hold back a laugh. This was indeed a special flower. "Honey, of course I should have; it's the polite thing to do."
She sat down at her desk, pulling out papers as she began to go over her lesson plan. "Figures and angles, long division, fractions and decimals..." she muttered beneath her breath, startling when she heard the sound of a desk being moved. She had forgotten a student was here!
"Asser?"
He looked up from his desk, placing his hooves behind his back.
"May I ask why you came so early?"
"I just wanted to work on homework, that's all," Asser said quietly, pulling out his books. His head soon disappeared behind them.
Cheerliee stared for a moment, pen tapping on the wood. "Well, alright. But just holler if you need help!"
"Mmhhm."
The rest of the school day continued as usual, although she made sure to keep a exta eye on her new student, trying to figure him out. He didn't do very well on tests or participate in class discussions. He simply sat in his chair with a permanent frown, never speaking a word.
Cheerliee sighed as she watched Asser fiddle with his papers, not once looking up at the equations on the board. The bell rang, snapping her out of her stupor. "Lunch time, every pony!" she called. "We will be inside today due to the weather ponies preparing for a storm." A chorus of groans followed her words.
Every pony but Asser grabbed their lunch bags from their cubbies. Sweetie Belle, paper bag held up in her magic, noticed Asser hanging back at his desk.
She trotted up to him. "Did you forget your lunch, again?" The foal gave a timid nod.
Sweetie sighed, though she lightly placed her lunch on his desk. "Here, take this daisy sandwich," she said, hastily adding, "I don't even like it that much," at his bewildered expression.
"It's fine," he protested, pushing back the bag with a grimace.
"No, take it!" Sweetie insisted, her voice cracking. "I really want you to. Rarity always said that helping others is worth a sacrifice."
Asser grabbed the sandwich, and without a word, went back to his work. Sweetie rolled her eyes, but as she walked away she heard him inhaling the food.
"Why did you give it to him?" Scootloo asked as her friend joined her at their table.
"I felt bad for him, and he seems kind of lonely and... hungry," Sweetie said, gratefully accepting an apple from Apple Bloom. Scootaloo snickered.
"How do you know?"
"A'h gotta side with Sweetie," Apple Bloom interrupted, taking a huge bit of her fritter. "That kid is skinnier than a pencil."
"Maybe I'll ask Miss Cheerilee if that was okay?" Sweetie got up and trotted over to Cheerliee's desk where she sat reading as she picked though a salad.
"Miss Cheerilee?"
"Yes, Sweetie?" Cheerilee glanced up idly, flipping though to the next page.
"Um... I gave the new kid my sandwich. Is that alright?"
Cheerilee stopped reading, her fork dangling above the salad. Again? "Of course it is, as long as you your friends share some food, too," she replied slowly. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. I just find it weird that he forgot his lunch again!"
Cheerilee put down the book, her brow creasing. "No, you did the right thing."
"Good!" Sweetie said with a beam as she cantered back to her eager friends.
Cheerliee held her face in her hooves. Could the little guy be abused? Wait, don't jump to conclusions! He could just be forgetful. She chewed on her lip, lifting her head up to watch him closely. When Asser moved his foreleg, she caught a glimpse of a mark on his hoof. Cheerliee drew in a sharp breath. Certainly it wasn't what it looked like.
As the day went on Cheerliee tried to put that thought out of her mind, but it always found a way back.
"Have a good night, Pip!" Cheerliee waved as her last student left with his mum. She turned, expecting an empty classroom, but instead found Asser in front of her.
"C-could I say here?" he asked quietly.
Cheerliee froze. "Why, dear?"
"Because I like it here!"
Cheerliee was silent for a moment, starting to connect the dots. "Sure, sweetie," she replied, patting his shoulder. "Why don't you sit next to me and keep me company while we wait for your parents?"
Assar nodded quickly, and very sat close to her. Cheerliee didn't move away, hoping to show him that it was alright. He was safe.
Taking a chance, Cheeliee cleared her throat. "Asser, what happened to your hoof? It looks like it hurt a lot!"
Asser froze, eyes wide, before moving his hoof out of sight. "Nothing, Miss Cheerilee," he said quickly, chewing on his lip. "It was just an accident!"
Cheerliee opened her mouth to say something—anything—perhaps to ask if he wanted a bandage, but was cut off by the sound of an opening door.
A lilac-coated mare entered, her dark brown hair swept up into a messy bun, small eyes pinched. "Let's go, Asser! Get up, Mommy's very late!" she snapped, hardly even sparing a glance at her son. She stomped her hoof hard on the ground until Asser leapt up, darting to her side.
She gave a curt nod at Cheerilee as she shooed Asser closer to the door. "Thanks for keeping him out of trouble," she said, her voice cold. Her eyes followed the clock. "I know he can be such a foolish pain."
Cheerilee wrinkled her nose, tilting her head as she stared back at the older mare. "Oh, not at all, ma'am. Your child is a truly wonderful foal!" She tightened her jaw, daring the mother to say something back.
"Oh," was all she said in response. One disinterested word, about one uninteresting son. Cheerilee sighed as watched them leave, waving goodbye to Asser.
Cheerliee couldn't stop worrying about the little guy throughout the rest of the day. Her heart sank just thinking that anyone would hurt such a child. Conflicted, with the sky darkening overhead, she decided to turn to Ponyville's princess for advice.
Cheerliee knocked tentatively on the castle door, only to be greeted instead by Starlight Glimmer.
"Oh, good evening, Starlight," Cheerilee greeted, offering a smile. "Would Twilight mind if I asked her a question? Do you know if she's busy?"
Starlight shook her head, stepping back to allow Cheerilee inside. "Naw, I don't think she'll mind. Rarity's having tea with her right now, but I bet she'd be willing to help you."
"Thank you," Cheerilee said as trotted the big castle. Goodness, was she doing the right thing?
She entered the kitchen (after quite a few turns) to find Twilight Sparkle sitting at a glass table across from a familiar white unicorn.
The princess looked up, teacup raised to her lips. "Cheerilee? What are you doing here?" she asked, though not harshly.
Cheerliee bit her lip at Twilight's owlish expression. "Princess, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I have a rather... important problem that I thought you maybe able to help me with."
Twilight nodded eagerly, her eyes bright. "Of course!"
Turning to Rarity, Cheerliee said, "I hope you don't mind...?"
Rarity waved her hoof in the air with a small huff. "Oh, not at all! In fact, I suppose I might be able to help as well!"
Cheerliee sighed in relief, pulling up an extra chair by the table.
"So Cheerliee," Twilight began. "Is your problem friendship related?"
Cheerilee frowned. "Not exactly..." she said slowly.
The princess didn't seem too put off by that, only taking a sip of tea with an affirmative nod.
"Well, I have this new student named Asser," Cheerliee explained. She glanced up at Rarity who made a tisk sound.
"Is that the young donkey that keeps on 'forgetting' his lunch? Sweetie told me about him," Rarity said.
"Yes," Cheerilee replied firmly, "But I think he's lying."
"Ha, so he is mooching off of my sister. I knew it!" Rarity declared, thumping her hoof on the table. "I cannot stand moochers!"
"Rarity, let her finish!" Twilight admonished, shooting her friend a glare.
Rarity winced. "Of course. Go on, darling," she said to Cheerilee.
"You see, I'm starting to to think the reason he is so skittish and forgets his lunch all the time is because he's..." she paused, taking a deep breath.
"He's what?"
"Abused by his mother," Cheerliee finished.
The room fell dead silent. Rarity went scarlet.
Twilight was the first to speak. "Are you sure?"
"Honestly, I can't be completely sure. But he fits everything that an abused child would. Like how he said he forgot his coat when a storm was going on. He had a bruise on his hoof, and his mother was downright awful when she picked him up. The poor foal seemed even afraid to go home!"
Rarity covered her mouth in shock. "That sounds terrible! I'll have Sweetie pack extra food for him, and perhaps a jacket, too," she said.
"His mother would just throw it away and he would be too embarrassed to take the food," Twilight explained."You should report his mom to the authorities, Cheerilee. It's that simple."
Cheerilee buried her face in her hooves. "What if it's all a big misunderstanding?" she moaned. "What if I'm only hurting Asser more?"
Twilight wrapped her wing around her, lifting her back up. "This will only get worse if you don't, and if it makes you feel any better, I can ask Luna to keep an eye on him though his dreams."
"Thank you," Cheerliee managed. "Thank you so much. I'll report this to the police as soon as I leave."
"And I'll make sure he gets a nice, warm coat," Rarity added.
The next day she had trouble teaching she was worried about the little foal. When she came home there was a carriage outside her door, and the very donkey himself standing beside a mare.
"Miss Cheerilee!" He shouted, running up and giving her a hug. "Are you my new mama?"
Cheerilee blinked fast, trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry, honey, but I'm not." She hugged him tight.
“But what if my new mama is mean like the old one?” he cried.
“Sweetie, I promise you will get a mama or papa that will love you so very much.”
“We need to be heading to Canterlot Asser,” the mare called from behind them.
"Goodbye, Miss Cheerilee. I love you," Asser whispered, sniffing. "Thank you for being my teacher."
Cheerilee felt her heart shatter. “Thank you for being my student, even for a short time. I love you too."
They were about to leave when Cheerilee startled, running up to catch Asser. "Oh goodness, I almost forgot! Sweetie's sister made you this.” Cheerilee held out a box to him.
He opened a box to find a blue jacket and a hat. Asser mouth dropped open. "Wow, for me?" he asked in disbelief.
“Of course!” she smiled. She have never seen a foal so happy to see clothes in her life.