Chapters Monday morning. Time to start another week of school. The classroom came alive as young first graders filled it up one by one. And sitting behind her desk on the far end of the room was the teacher, Miss Goldenrod.
Goldenrod loved being a teacher. Watching kids grow and learn. Helping them become the best they could be. It was what she lived for. Sure, it was tough sometimes, but she loved her students and they loved her. Most of her students said she was the best teacher they ever had.
Once the clock struck nine and every student was present, Goldenrod got up from her desk to begin the day, greeting the children with a smile. She started role call and then moved on to today's lesson.
"Okay. On Friday, we started talking about the different types of animals," she reminded them. "Now, animals fall into several different groups known as classes. Who can give me the name of an animal class?"
Four students raised their hands. Goldenrod called on a little pegasus colt. "Birds!" he said.
"Right! Birds are a class." She pulled out a black marker and wrote the word Birds on the whiteboard. "Anyone else?"
She pointed to a little earth pony filly. "Mammals?"
"Very good, Toola Roola." She added the word Mammals to the board. "Mammals are warm-blooded creatures who give birth to their young. Ponies are mammals. Who else has one?" She looked around the room, but nopony was raising their hand. "Anyone?"
Then Goldenrod saw one of her students, Coconut Cream, sitting in the back of the room and decided to give her a chance. "How about you, Coconut Cream? Can you name a class of animals?"
The filly seemed to be caught by surprise. She thought hard to come up with an answer. "I don't know. Reptiles?"
"Yes! Reptiles are a class." Goldenrod turned around and wrote Reptiles on the board. "They're cold-blooded, they lay eggs and they usually have scales."
While she was happy that Coconut Cream was able to give her an answer, Goldenrod was also a little worried. Coconut was usually one of her brightest and friendliest students, but it seemed like she'd been having a bit of a hard time lately. She was struggling to answer questions, taking longer to finish tests, and she appeared to be developing a bit of an attitude. Every class she'd ever taught had at least one troublemaker, but she never thought it would be Coconut Cream. She decided she had to do something about it.
The recess bell rang and Goldenrod lead her students outside to the playground. Most of them were released to run off and play, but she asked Coconut Cream to stay behind so she could talk to her.
"What is it, Miss Goldenrod?" the filly asked.
"I couldn't help but notice that you've been acting a little moody lately. And you're kind of starting to fall behind on your school work. I was just wondering, is everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Everything's fine," she insisted.
"Are you sure? You know that if there's anything wrong, you can tell me."
"I said everything's fine!"
Goldenrod recoiled. There was definitely some attitude in that statement. "Okay, okay. I believe you. Just calm down," she said.
Coconut softened her expression. "Sorry, Miss Goldenrod, but don't worry. I promise I'm fine and I'll try to do better in school."
"Alright. If you say so. But remember, my door is always open if you ever wanna talk. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good. Now go play with your friends."
The little filly ran off to join the other kids on the playground. Her teacher, however, was now more sure than ever that something was definitely going on with her. She wanted to help, but if Coconut wouldn't tell her what was bothering her, then there wasn't much she could do.
Goldenrod kept a close eye on Coconut Cream during recess. She watched her play with Toola Roola, who she knew was her best friend. The two of them decided to see who could jump rope the longest. They were jumping almost perfectly in sync with each other until Coconut tripped on the eleventh jump. Toola Roola cheered at her victory and kept going, but then Coconut Cream shouted "Shut up, Toola!" and pushed her down onto the grass.
"Hey!" Goldenrod yelled as she stood up in anger and marched toward the girls. "I saw that, young filly! You know better than to push ponies!" She bent over and helped the crying Toola Roola stand up, then asked her if she was okay.
"Yeah. I think I'm okay," she answered.
"Good. Now, what do you say, Coconut?"
"I'm sorry, Toola Roola."
Goldenrod believed her, but she was still upset. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I think I need to have a serious talk with your parents."
"No! Please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I swear!" the filly begged.
"I'm sorry, Coconut, but you know the rules. You're gonna sit next to me for the rest of recess and as soon as we get back inside, you're going straight to time-out. Understand?"
Coconut hung her head in defeat. "Yes ma'am," she said.
Goldenrod returned to her vantage point on the picnic bench, where she was joined by Coconut Cream. The teacher made sure that her young student stayed put the entire time. She could only sit and watch as her classmates got to run around and play all they wanted. Until the bell rang, signaling that it was time to return to class.
The rest of the day went by pretty normally. Goldenrod avoided calling on Coconut Cream to answer anymore questions, which she didn't seem to mind. Plus, she managed not to have anymore incidents like the one with Toola Roola. In fact, she didn't really talk to Toola Roola much at all.
Goldenrod hated to see one her students so miserable. If Coconut wouldn't tell her what the problem was herself, then maybe her parents could.
After school was over, Goldenrod went to the gym like she did everyday. She found it was a good way to unwind after a long day of teaching and she figured maybe a good workout would help her clear her head. She kept her gym bag in the car so she'd have her workout clothes ready when she got there. Once she had changed in the locker room, she hopped straight onto one of the ellipticals.
Goldie could feel all the lustful stares from some of the guys around her. It happened so often that she was used to it by now. Goldie was pretty good at tuning out her surroundings, especially once she had gotten in the zone. It let her focus on the real problem at hand. What was she going to do about Coconut Cream?
She figured the first thing she should do was call the filly's parents and have a chat with them. Maybe they could shed some light on what this new attitude of hers was all about. Then, if she would allow it, the two of them could figure out a solution together.
Goldie stayed on the elliptical for about twelve minutes before she decided to take a break. She went to the water fountain for a drink when a brawny stallion approached her.
"Hi," he said.
"Hey," she said back with a smile. She was being polite even though she knew too well where this was going.
"I saw you on that elliptical. You were really killing it."
"Save your energy, dude. My boyfriend could literally roast you alive with one breath." She left the guy behind feeling very surprised and confused and continued her workout on the bow-flex.
When her workout was done, Goldie grabbed a quick shower, changed back into her regular clothes and headed home. It was almost sunset by the time she got there. As she approached the door, she could smell something coming from inside. It smelled like stir-fry and it was delicious. She opened the door, set her things down and headed for the kitchen.
She was greeted by her boyfriend Spike, who was just putting the finishing touches on a very tasty-looking stir-fry. She certainly hadn't expected to come home to this. Usually, they made dinner together, but she wasn't complaining. Spike filled too plates with his stir-fry and walked them into the dining room, giving Goldie a kiss on the cheek as he passed by.
"What's all this for?" she giggled.
"No reason," he answered. "I just thought it'd be nice if I took care of dinner by myself for a change."
"It is really nice. Thank you." She rewarded him with a cheek kiss of her own and sat down across from him at the table.
One bite of the stir-fry and Goldie found herself on a rocket ship to planet flavor. It made her want to savor it forever. "Mm! Spike, this is absolutely amazing," she said.
"Anything for you, babe," he responded.
"I'm serious. After the day I've had, this was exactly what I needed."
"Why? What happened?"
Goldie put down her fork and sighed. "It's just one of my students has been acting out lately. She's obviously having problems and I wanna help her, but she won't talk to me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Have you tried talking to her parents?"
"Oh, I'm definitely gonna do that. Do you know, today, she pushed another kid on the playground? Her best friend, no less."
Spike cringed. "Ouch. Were they okay?"
"Yeah, she was fine, but obviously I had to take away the other one's recess for the day. I'm really worried, Spike. I've never seen Coconut Cream act like that before."
Spike wished there was some way he could help Goldie resolve this. For now, though, all he could do was put his hand on hers and give her a smile to try and comfort her. "Don't worry," he said softly. "She'll talk to you as soon as she's ready. I'm sure of it. I don't think there's a teacher in that whole school that kids trust more than you."
That got Goldie to smile again, which he was very happy to see. There was something he wanted to ask her, but now he wasn't sure if it was the best time.
"Listen, Goldie. I know you've got a lot on your mind right now, but..."
He was going to ask her, but as he looked at her face again, he could see the deep worry in her eyes and decided against it. "Nevermind. It's not important," he sighed. "Let's just... try to have some fun tonight, okay?"
"Good idea," Goldie said. "How about I get the blanket out and we watch a movie?"
"Sounds great. I'll get the snacks," Spike replied.
"You're the best," she praised, giving him another cheek kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
As he watched Goldie go to the closet to grab the blanket, Spike's hand slipped into his pocket as he felt what was inside. He decided that he would have to wait until after this whole ordeal with her student was over to make his move. It was okay. After all, he had waited this long.
Lunch time in the cafeteria. One of the few times during the school day that kids and teachers alike had to relax and socialize for a little while. Once Goldie's whole class was at their tables, she started heading towards the other end of the room to sit down with the other teachers.
As she walked around the rows of tables to get to the teachers' table, she received a lot of friendly greetings from kids in other grades. A lot of fifth grade colts were looking at her especially hard.
"Hi, Miss Goldenrod," they said.
"Hello!" she greeted back with a smile. She knew the reason they were looking at her like that and being so friendly and, honestly, she thought it was kind of cute. It was just a natural part of children growing up. She suppressed a giggle as she thought about it.
She remembered her own first crush when she was that age. She and most of the other fillies in her school had been attracted to the janitor. It was always so tantalizing watching him mop up the floors with his big strong arms. And whenever he smiled at them with his rugged chiseled face, she would completely lose all feeling in her legs. Of course, she had totally outgrown those old feelings years ago, especially now that she had Spike. It was pretty flattering knowing that she was now the gorgeous teacher that everyone had a crush on.
Although, she did make it a point not to indulge them too much. Even though, as a teacher, she tried her best to treat each student with kindness and understanding, she knew that there had to be certain limits, especially knowing full well the effect she had on the older kids. That was partly why Goldenrod was happy to teach first graders. They were so young that she never seemed to have that particular problem with any of her own students.
Goldie made it to her table and took a seat with three other teachers who were already there. "Well, you sure are popular, aren't you?" one of them observed. She was a pink unicorn mare in a red blouse.
"Can I help it if I'm such an amazing teacher?" Goldie responded with a chuckle as she pulled her lunch out of her bag. The unicorn, Raspberry Drizzle, looked at the other two teachers with a rather judgmental expression.
"Uh-huh," she said sarcastically. "Say, Goldie, have you ever thought about maybe getting... you know... reduction surgery?" Ms. Drizzle pointed to Goldie's chest.
"Ha! Are you kidding? And get rid of my babies? Not a chance."
One of the other teachers, a green unicorn stallion named Emerald Isle, spoke up. "It's just that, well, it's clearly very distracting to some of the older students." He gestured behind Goldie, who turned around and caught several older kids staring at her just before they turned away and buried their heads in their tables. Goldie still wasn't convinced and was now starting to take offense at what her colleagues were saying.
"Well, they're not my students, are they?" she challenged.
"Well, no, but-"
"Maybe instead of telling me to change my natural body shape, you should be teaching your students about things like self-discipline and a little something that you guys obviously lack called sensitivity ."
"Goldie calm down!" Ms. Drizzle said before she hung her head and sighed. "You're right. That was... that was a stupid thing to say and I'm sorry. It's not your fault."
"It's okay. I'm sorry I got so worked up. I just get so annoyed when ponies come down on me just because of my body. Like, I'm sorry you have such a problem with my boob size, lady, but that's your hang-up. Not mine. I mean, it's not like I'm actively flirting with kids or trying to turn them on by wearing tight clothes. You try having a figure like this and finding clothes that don't squeeze."
"Yeah. I can see how that would be frustrating," Raspberry agreed.
Now that Goldenrod was finished venting, she decided to change the subject. "Say, can I get you guys' input on something important?" she asked. "It's about one of my students." She went on to tell them about the troubling case with Coconut Cream, though she didn't use the filly's exact name. She told them about how she was struggling in class, the incident on the playground and how she had scheduled a meeting after school with the filly's parents. "It seemed like she really didn't want them getting involved, but if she won't tell me what's wrong herself, then I don't really have a choice, do I?"
The third teacher, a beige-colored earth pony stallion named Sunny Stanza, answered first. "Don't worry, Goldie. I think you did the right thing."
"Really?" she said.
"Sure. Sometimes helping students can be a challenge. Even if we don't know what's bothering them, odds are more likely that their parents will."
"Trust us," Emerald assured. "Sometimes children need a bit of tough love to help them resolve their issues. She may be a bit scared at first, but she'll thank you for it in the end."
"You really think so?"
"Absolutely," said Raspberry.
Goldie started to feel more at ease about her decision. If her fellow teachers really thought it was the best thing to do, then that was good enough for her. "Thanks, you guys. I feel a lot better now."
"Any time, Goldie," said Raspberry.