Chapter 6: Never Surrender
School Daze
by Paleo Prints
Chapter 6: Never Surrender
Cheerilee paced back and forth across the near-empty train platform. She was filled with doubt and uncertainty on the outside, but she smiled as she passed Screwball. The teen filly was confused and nervous, but returned a toothy grin. Her surrogate parent sighed inwardly; despite her crushing depression she found it hard to leave teacher mode.
Screwy walked gingerly to Cheerilee. “Cheerilee leaving Screwy?”
The earth pony put a hoof on the younger pony’s back. “I’m not going anywhere without you. We’ll find somewhere in the next few towns. You’ll have a new school with new friends. Now, go back and watch the cart; I wouldn’t want someone stealing the globe again.”
Screwball nodded and returned to the center bench, leaving Cheerilee at the edge of the platform. With hours remaining until the train arrived, she started watching the Moon and stars. Luna, I’m sorry. Most of all I hate to disappoint you. If only you could have seen me in good times. The former schoolmare lost herself in memories.
“Cheerilee, do you have a blackboard I could borrow?”
The happy fuchsia pony gave a look to the door of the schoolhouse. “Look class, it’s Twilight Sparkle! Let’s all give her a warm welcome!”
Two young fillies snorted at the request. “Miss, does this mean we’re going to the library again? There’s nothing useful there for popular ponies.”
Cheerilee walked over to her nervous friend. “Don’t worry, Twilight. Diamond Tiara didn’t mean that. She will explain exactly how important libraries are to everyone in her essay tonight!” The schoolmare smiled widely as groans came from behind her.
Twilight inched carefully inside the classroom. “That’s not quite what I’m worried about." She walked forward, keeping low to the floor. She flinched as the popping sounds of explosion filled the classroom. The students were all placing mysterious ingredients inside tiny capsules. Whatever the concoction was, it succeeded in launching the capsules far across the classroom in random directions. Twilight’s horn sparked every few seconds as she kept a force field spell ready. “What is going on here?”
“We’re learning about Neighton’s Third Law of motion! Film Reel loaned us film canisters and Granny Smith gave us some denture cleaning tablets. Together with some water they make miniature gas-powered rockets. The children get the idea of actions and opposite reaction quite clearly!”
A film canister speed across Cheerilee’s field of vision. It hit the side of the room, bounced off the wall, and finally rolled underneath Twilight. Cheerilee beamed happily from behind her green safety goggles. “Well, if we’re going to talk, you should put on some safety glasses.”
The small form of a dragon crept in behind Twilight pulling a cart. “That’ll be fun. Rarity will freak out when she sees your goggle mane.” He snorted, slightly raising the ambient temperature.
Cheerilee rolled her eyes, the teacher mask slipping for a second. “Spike, that’s ridiculous. You know this lucky unicorn doesn’t need to do anything to her mane to make it look good.” She gave a fake glare of anger. “I’m jealous.”
As she was speaking a tiny object flew into the air behind her. Hitting the ceiling with a loud sound, it finally came to rest in Cheerilee’s hair. The crashed ‘rocket’ leaked blue liquid, creating a chaotic fourth color in the schoolmare’s hair. She continued to smile.
Twilight gaped at the slight, levitating a nearby paper towel to catch the offending liquid. A bashful voice chirped up from the back of the room. “Sorry, Miss!”
Cheerilee moved to the perpetrator’s desk. “That’s alright, Snails! Remember to fill out the questions on the worksheet though. Oh, good work Twist! Keep on it.”
Spike and Twilight exchanged nervous looks as a panoply of projectiles punched through the air around them. Spike arched an eye. “Is this a class or a war zone?”
Cheerilee walked back to her friends with even more blue liquid dripping in her coat. “So, let’s find you a chalkboard.”
Twilight stared at the schoolmare. A rocket exploded on a hastily-erected force screen; the liquid was quickly wiped off with force windshield wipers.
“Cheeri, how do you do it? This place is a madhouse! Despite that fact you’re always smiling like Pinkie on those noxious energy drinks.”
Spike giggled. “Yeah, Twilight would have already incinerated this place in a demonstrative fireball.” He earned a dirty look with a mix of curiosity. “Hey, I read those vocabulary books you leave in the outhouse sometimes, Twi.”
“Yeah, when I take your comics, that is.”
The schoolmare continued to beam at her friends. “It’s easy. I grant you the class is loud, chaotic, and messy. There’s one thing that saves me from all of that.”
A huge explosion rocked the back of the classroom as a canister embedded itself in the ceiling. Applebloom brandished a hammer in triumph before dropping it on the desk. “Ah told you a crumbly tablet would get a better reaction time, Scoot.”
Cheerilee sighed in contentment. “It works, Twi. I just need to know that it’s working.”
The sound of a distant train whistle broke Cheerilee out of her reverie. I’ll be out of town before you know it, Luna. Hopefully you’ll forgive me.
Red Glare galloped through the streets as the train whistle echoed through the alleyways. He cast a plaintive gaze towards the full moon. Oh, bugger. Lady of the Grand Galaxies, please don’t let me be late.
Elsewhere, the train whistle was barely audible. The halls of a modest home on edge the of New Canterlot echoed with ticking. To the average visitor the diversity of the clocks and watches on the walls would be fascinating. They might comment on the disturbing disharmony of chimes throughout the building, but the visual effect was still stunning. To a visitor who spent a millennium on the lunar surface it was nothing short of magical.
Placeholder walked out of his living room, finding Princess Luna staring at a grandfather clock. Behind her the moon shone down through the open window she had undoubtedly flown in through. “Fair schoolmaster, pardon me if my intrusion upsets thy schedule.”
Placeholder chuckled to himself. “My Lady, I doubt that would happen.” He had just been cleaning up his dinner. If she had come on any other day he would still be just cleaning up dinner; dinner began promptly at half past six and ended at eight. Placeholder had just finished his established twelve minutes of tidying, with a variation of two minutes well within his expectations for Tuesday Night Pasta Night. He briefly frowned when considering the implications of the divine interruption; it might stall his clock cleaning by more than an hour.
“My lady, this is an unexpected but pleasant interruption. How can I assist you?”
The Princess furrowed her brow in thought. She continued examining the clocks as she questioned her loyal if impatient subject. “There is disharmony here. Pray tell, why are the clocks running differently? I notice many of them do not run at all.”
Placeholder chuckled. He walked over to the Princess as gestured at a specific clock with his horn. “Did you notice this one, Your Majesty?”
She cheerfully clapped her hooves on the floor. “Indeed, it is a most delightful contraption. I notice it has a wooden mare and stallion that approach each other slowly upon each minute.”
Placeholder nodded. “It’s a Tickcount original. The wooden players have danced their dance for over 50 years. Twenty-four times a day the stallion proposes and the mare joyfully accepts. Giving the recorded time of construction, I calculate it will run for another two years and seventeen days.”
Luna gave a disconcerted glance to the unicorn. “I do not comprehend. Could not the clock be wound further? Surely such a fine clock could be kept so that its run may be doubled?”
Placeholder nodded. “Quite easily so, Your Galactic Magnificence. The lever on the left is the winding mechanism. However, I enjoy watching them wind down.”
Luna gave a start. “That is why the ticking is irregular.”
“Indeed! I find a simple comfort in the ending of the clocks. They were constructed, set in motion, and end on a predictable schedule. Things are running down well here. I appreciate a well-moderated finish. People love endings, after all. If you continue a story too long instead of ending terrible things happen. I walk down this hallway and see things completed, story concluded. Everything ends, after all; there’s no shame in making sure the endings are handled well.”
He chuckled to himself. “Why, I imagine even ponies will end, one day. Perhaps there will come a time when you and your sister will close the door on a silent Equestria and move on to the next carefully selected planet in an orderly fashion. I’m sure the final ponies of that time will appreciate your help in making sure their passing comes easily.”
Luna stood motionless for many moments before Placeholder interrupted her train of thought.
“Your Majesty, was there some issue you wished to discuss?”
Luna’s thoughts returned to the present. “I wished to discuss how we could aid Cheerilee in her teaching endeavors. I have heard she is finding some difficulty.”
Placeholder shook his head. “I can give her some suggestions to make the closing easier. It should come swiftly.”
Luna turned to look the principal in the eye. “And what of succeeding? Could there not be a way for the situation to turn?”
Placeholder gave a patronizing grin to the Princess. “My Lady, you saw my cutie mark before you hired me. We all are bound where our talents lie.”
Luna looked at him askance. “Leave us, Placeholder. We would be alone now.” He happily complied, overjoyed at the end to schedule deviation.
Luna was still at the window for long enough to watch several planets in their path across the sky. No emotion registered on the star-gazing alicorn’s face. Suddenly, a mix of rage and determination crept in as she turned back toward the wall, horn shining brightly.
She wound the clock for the next five hundred years and flew away into the night sky.
For the first time I’m glad I got Dad’s stamina; if I got Mom’s wings I’d probably have had a heart attack by now.
Red filled the empty train station with echoes as he galloped from room to room. New Canterlot didn’t get a lot of train travel. Most Equestrians had no reason to come and most locals were too stubborn to leave. There has to be somepony here, even at this time of night!
He skipped in his tracks as he heard clanking and off-key singing to the side of him. He ducked his head into a hazy room of noisy machines. Various disassembled train parts filled the floor of the room as densely as the few running mechanisms filled the air with smog. An engineer mare was doing a terrible rendition of a pop love song as she worked on the machinery. Red cleared his throat to get her attention; he failed to notice her eyes light up as she turned to him.
Celestia, look at the marks on his lab coat! That handsome pony knows his stuff.
“Evening, sir! Is there anything I can do for you here?” She started idly playing with her mane.
Red nodded. “Looking for an earth pony mare!” Her ears perked up. “She’s kind of a deep red. I think might be mauve. Is that mauve? I never got colors well.” The ears drooped downwards.
Suddenly Red’s eyes caught a welcome sight. He could barely look through the engine smoke to see her out the opposite doorway, pacing back and forth. “There she is! Sorry for bothering you, miss!” He ran through the haze.
The sad-eyed mechanic girl sat on her haunches watching the retreating science teacher. She sniffed once, and then turned her nose to sniff herself. Her eyes nearly bugged out at the perspiration. That’s the last time I use the cheap perfume.
Cheerilee saw the train moving over the mountain passes by the bright moonlight. It couldn’t be more than a few minutes now. She started walking over to Screwball when a scarlet form smashed into her sideways. Pulling her head up she stared into the bashful face of Red.
“Sorry about that. Neighton’s First Law about objects and motion and all that.”
He nervously nickered. She narrowed her eyes. “I know physics, Red. You could still get off me.”
The embarrassed science stallion extricated himself from the pile of limbs. “Sorry terribly! I just needed to…” His voice and determination trailed off into uncertainty.
Cheerilee’s face softened. “Red, I really appreciate the personal send off. I should have said something to the rest of the staff. I guess I was too embarrassed to show my face again.”
Red’s eyes went wide. “Embarrassed? Everypony loves you! The kids talk about you in class. Come on, if I left town every time something went wrong in the class I’d be teaching buffaloes by now.”
She shook her head. “Sometimes in that classroom I feel I’ve got to run away; I’ve got to get away.” Cheerilee started straightening her cart. “I appreciate Globe and Goldy and you. I just don’t feel like I’m accomplishing anything. The parents sure don’t have any faith in me.”
Red rolled his eyes. “Lookout is a hardflank. His family hasn’t had the best time of it this year. Oh, speaking of!” Red pulled out a semi-crumpled sheet of paper from his coat. “Wred iht,” he shouted with a full mouth.
Cheerilee pawed the note onto the ground, wiping off a glop of Red’s saliva.
Dear miss Cherrily,
For this assignment I had to wright want I would ask for with a manticor’s paw and I would want to wish for my older sister because. We lost her in a machinery accident and I think about her a lot because I have to work some of her old day shifts because we have to pull out enough shale this season. I miss her because she was funny and she would sneak books to me because my dad doesn’t like me taking my head off of the mine.
I would also want Sledge banished to the moon because class would be better. Those are all the wishes I need. In Conclusion you could have the last one because I like your class.
Screwy walked nervously over to Cheerilee and Red. She noticed her adopted ‘aunt’ was shaking and dropping water out of her face on a piece of paper. “Are you happy, Cheerilee?” The purple teen pensively waited for an answer.
Cheerilee stopped for a second. She proceeded to spin around, grinning in Screwball’s face. “I’m wonderful. Screwy, get the cart over to the ticket office so we can get a refund.” She nodded to herself. “We’ll need the bits to pick up some supplies. I think the Barns and Nobles closes late tonight, so let’s get galloping.”
Red raised his eyebrows in confusion. Cheerilee turned with a genuine smile on her face. “Red, why was Lookout yelling at his son? Come on class, you know the answer.”
The science pony stepped back in confusion. “He hates everything we stand for, along with puppies and rabbits?”
Cheerilee shook her head. “That’s an excellent creative answer!” She stepped forward. “Red, Sluice was ‘supposed’ to be covering his sister’s work schedule. He was at school instead of at the mine.” She beamed. “He was playing hooky by coming to my class.”
She stomped the ground. “Let’s get going! I have to get a test ready for tomorrow.”
Red smiled. “You’re staying then? Welcome back and all that, then?”
Cheerilee nodded. “Absolutely! You told me everything I needed to know, Red.” His confused gaze exploded as she stepped forward and planted a quick nuzzle on his cheek. “Its working, Red. No matter how crazy it seems, it’s still working.” She flashed the first genuine smile Red had seen on her.
Words tried to come out of Red’s mouth, but the syllables refused to work together. As the fuchsia earth mare walked over to the ticket booth a look of determination settled on her features. “I have books to buy, a young writer to reassure, and a geography test to make.” She gave a slight maniacal laugh that turned into a girlish giggle as she approached the ticket booth.
Red Glare’s brain gradually pulled itself together as he started trying out his legs. That…that was the heat of the moment, right?
Cheerilee’s classroom cuckoo was about to sound six on the hour. It puffed its chest out in anticipation, only to come face-to-face with the terrifying visage of Screwball. Her eyes promised violence and her teeth came to a crazy war face. The bird nodded and meekly walked back to his clock.
Screwball let out a long breath. She smiled as she turned to the sleeping adults. Cheerilee had collapsed in front of her desk a few scant hours ago. Red Glare had passed out first. He still lay in front of Cheerilee’s desk, slightly drooling into a pile of Barns and Noble wrappers. Cheerilee’s head lay on his shoulder. Her quill had fallen out of her mouth and emptied out on her right hoof. They both snored in unison in the middle of a pile of mouth-copied tests.
Screwy grinned, silently hopping up and down on one hoof. She placed the piles of test in the cart and started pulling it into the teacher’s room. She gave one last glare promising a painful defeathering to the cuckoo; the bird nodded with energy. Reassured, she pulled the cart into the hallway to make her delivery.
Cheerilee shook the sleep out of her eyes as the seven o’clock chirp sounded; to her ears it sounded strangely muted. She cracked open one eye to looked at a terrified bird hiding behind the clock. As the all-nighter came back to memory her mental soup of syllables coagulated into coherent thought. Ugh. There’s something else I haven’t done since college. We finished, right? She looked at the red pony to her left; he was deeply into a surprisingly realistic chainsaw impression.
"Wake up, Sleepyhead. We’ve got a teacher’s meeting in fifteen minutes.” She pushed off of him and gave a huge yawn. “Let’s get to the breakroom.”
He muttered incoherent sounds as he lifted his head. Red collided dead on with the side of the desk with a loud noise. “Lemme sleep; consciousness hurts.”
The schoolmare shook her head. He’s kind of cute when he’s clumsy. She started shaking Red awake. “Come on, Sleepyhead.”
Red Glare blinked his eyes open to Cheerilee’s wide smile. I could get used to this. He started carefully checking each leg for functionality.
She gave a warm grin. “It’s going to be an awesome day today.”
The earth ponies made their way into the breakroom to greetings from Globe and Goldy. The green unicorn laughed at the sight of the two ponies nearly sprawled out over the table. “You two have a rough night last night?”
Cheerilee nodded as she pulled the coffee jug over. Mr. Trotter’s laughter died out as he checked his in-box.
“What’s this? 'Princess Luna's Official Geography Competency Test'? ‘To be Given Immediately’?” He shook his head. “At least they made it a scanspell test. I tell you guys, standardized testing is ruining this educational system. At least I know the kids will ace this.”
Cheerilee gave a grin that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a super villain from a Mare-Do-Well comic.
Goldy pushed a bag in front of the nearly comatose literature teacher. “Screwball dropped this off for you.” Cheerilee inspected to bag to find a variety of objects not entirely unlike breakfast; first to greet her eyes were a jug of maple syrup and a tube of pancake dough resting on top of a bag of coffee beans. She sighed. At least there’s enough edible things here to tide me over until lunch.
She closed the bag. “Look Goldy, if Screwball is any trouble I’m sorry.” She forced her eyes to meet the stare of the Pegasus.
Golden Ratio screwed up her face in contemplation, and then laughed. “Not at all! I don’t know what I’d do with her. She spent most of yesterday’s class cleaning! I’ve never had my room in that order by the end of the day. Why, I’m certain fourth block reined themselves in because they were confused at the cleanliness!”
Globe settled into his seat with a floating cup of coffee. “Good girl, that one. She spent the entire class listening to me. I’m talking head on her hooves and eyes staring wide. She never even got to her work. I felt so bad for her I offered her make up work.”
Principal Placeholder walked into the break room whistling. “Good morning everypony. I’ve just had a visit from the Princess, so we must be doing something right. How is the morning treating you?”
Cheerilee slammed both her hooves onto the table and shouted, “Totally radical!” The entire room stared at her. She gave an embarrassed grin and sat back down. And it’s only going to get cooler.
Cheerilee’s Class, 7:57 am, Wednesday
“Good morning to you, Luster! Welcome back, Sledge! Yes, I did mean you. Come on in, Nailkicker!” Cheerilee greeted her students with enthusiasm at the door. They walked by her in confusion. Approaching the class Bomber turned to her friends.
“Do you think she’s gone totally spare? She’s smiling like a shark.”
A dark blue teen with a glimmering shovel for a cutie mark nickered. “She’s just trying to be nice, Bomber. I’d rather have her than the crazy Trotland loony back.”
Bomber shook her head as she approached the door. “Shinesteel, you’ll learn. She ain’t the wonderful miss you think she is.”
As Bomber walked to the door, her teacher waved her hoof emphatically. “Hello Bomber! Nice to see you again. That’s a lovely jacket, by the way.”
Bomber stopped dead in her tracks. Her head stayed still while her eyes grew wide. Shinesteel stepped away from her as most of the now-quiet class turned to stare. They all waited for the violent reaction promised by Bomber’s body language.
The teacher tried to think on her hooves. Okay Cheerilee, improvise. This is the moment; defuse this and she won’t do something she’ll regret. Where would a teen have gotten a leather jacket from?
The schoolmare played her hunch.
“The leather is amazing; it looks like it was perfectly preserved. Someone who cared a lot about you must have given you that gift.”
Bomber stopped breathing heavily. She raised eyes bleary with moisture toward Cheerilee. The young student threw a stare that questioned and challenged her teacher.
Sledge interrupted the silence as he climbed on top of a nearby desk. “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Bomber responded by viciously bucking the desk Sledge was standing on. He clumsily tumbled off as she walked away. The class nickered as the tension defused.
Cheerilee walked over to Sledge. “I hope you aren’t hurt.”
He bit back sarcasm as he saw the concern in her eyes. “Ain’t even touched, miss. No filly gets the hurt on Sledge Rattlerock!” He walked back to his seat, giggling nervously.
Cheerilee walked to the front of the class as the bell rang. With a minimum of stamping she got their attention; she saw a sea of eyes balanced on the edge of imminent boredom. She took a deep breath and smiled as she looked at the pensive and tired form of Sluice. He smiled weakly.
I can do this. It’s working.
“Good morning. Can anyone give me the answer to today’s question?” A flood of hooves shot into the air. “Riversift, what is the Generous Meal?”
“Oh, it’s the bar on main street!” The young mare smiled.
Okay, got to make her feel accomplished instead of stupid. They give up so easily if their answer isn’t ‘right.’ “Good! Can anyone tell me where they got the picture in the sign from?”
“I know it! It’s the first dead guy to get eaten after the cave in!”
Cheerilee nodded. “Next time wait for my attention, Nailkicker. So where does that come from?”
The class was silent.
Cheerilee gestured to the stack of books behind her. “Today we find out!”
There was a collective groan. Even Sluice looked a little downfallen. “We’re reading about a bar, miss?”
Cheerilee laughed dramatically for the class. “We’ve got a new reading book. The author is the one that made up that phrase. I thought since you all knew that term you’d relate to the story.” She flipped a book up onto her hooves. “’Love, Life and Other Mining Accidents by Earnest Findingway. He was a Canterlot reporter who wrote about life in Old Canterlot. Sluice, could you pull my cart around so that everyone could get one?”
As he obediently complied, Bomber cast a sardonic look at Cheerilee. “You got old skinflint Placeholder to buy new books? ‘ow’d you do that when he won’t buy bathroom doors?”
The schoolmare shook her head. “I bought them. I thought you all deserved to read something that applied to your life for once.”
Luster peered closely at the book. “Miss, this must have cost over a hundred bits. Did you really buy all of these?”
Cheerilee nodded. A small rip sounded from the side of the class. Sledge, oblivious to the conversation, was tearing a piece off of one page. Suddenly he heard the rattle of hooves on desks; she saw the entire class staring at him with menace. He guiltily pushed the book to the side of the desk.
His teacher nodded. “Turn to page one; we’re reading a story called ‘Priorities.’ It’s about two gem thieves who hide in a mining tunnel with their loot. We’ll see what happens to them when a cave-in hits.”
Holding the book close to his eyes, Sledge slowly drawled out the final words of the surviving thief. “Naw, you don’t have to go back there. There’s nothin’ important.”
The class was silent. Cheerilee looked at all the faces of her students. Princesses, please let this work.
Luster exploded with enthusiasm. “I bet he went back for the gems!”
Sluice shook his head. “He dropped it down the shaft. They weren’t important, remember?”
Cheerilee grinned. A hoof shot up in the back. “Yes, Bomber?”
The filly looked ambivalent. “I don’t think I liked the story.” She looked embarrassed to speak; she expected to be lectured on ‘not getting it.’ Cheerilee merely nodded and motioned for her to go on. Slightly more relaxed now, the leather-clad pony continued.
“Ye feel bad for both of ‘im, ‘cause they’re trapped in the cave. Thing is, they’re both still bad ponies. They stole, they should get caught. One of ‘em got away.”
Cheerilee nodded. “Excellent analysis!”
Bomber squinted incredulously. “Miss, I just said yer story was rubbish.” The rest of the class looked expectantly, prepared for a trick from the teacher.
Cheerilee started pacing back and forth in front of the class. “I don’t like every story in the literature books. Neither do the professors in Canterlot University. You’re doing what they do; you’re breaking down the story and judging it. As long as you understand the story and contribute, you can say it bites hard.”
She grinned as several students gave the inevitable response, Sledge nearly shouting at the top of his lungs. She happily noted that most of the class disagreed. Placeholder suddenly stuck his head in the door. Examining the textbooks, he questioned the teacher. “Miss Cheerilee, did your class just yell that Earnest Findingway…’bites hard’?”
Bomber squirmed in her seat. Here it is. She sells us out now.
The schoolmare nodded proudly. “Absolutely! Not only that, these young literary critics can back it up with textual citations!” The ringing bell sound as Placeholder looked dumbfounded at the ecstatic earth pony. As the students stood up quickly, Cheerilee spoke politely but firmly. “Class?”
Everyone stopped to look at her.
“Your homework is to write about something that is very important to you.” She looked at Sluice. “I expect to be impressed; I’m already getting excellent homework. Dismissed!” Sluice stood unresponsive as Nailkicker gave him a congratulatory shoulder hoof. Cheerilee walked over to him and place his homework in front of him. “Sluice, it was very moving. You get a ‘B+’ for this one. Make the changes in red ink and I’ll raise it to an ‘A.’” She raised her eyebrows challengingly. He smiled as he carefully bit the paper and walked out.
The room was silent. A single grinning schoolmare stood with an exultant smile. She then immediately started jumping in place and flinging her hooves from side to side, eyes tightly closed.
“If I had the chance, I’d ask the world to dance, if I had the dance I’d ask the WORLD TO DAAAAAAANCE!”
Suddenly she stopped. Her legs still crazily akimbo, she opened her eyes to meet the confused gaze of her second block staring at her through her door. Turning a slightly deeper shade of red, she went to open the door. The students giggled at her as she let them in.
This is just the opening band. The main show starts after school.
Golden Ratio was reclining on a cloud. The bell had sounded a few scant minutes ago, yet the white Pegasus was already far away mentally.
‘The suit-dressed diamond dog pointed with flair. “Your honor, if yoke not fit, you must acquit!” The jury suddenly gasped, panting breathlessly. The judge responded by drawing a miniature ballista. “Shut up! I have order in canine court, and I order you to die!”
Her mind gradually detached from her daydream world of courtrooms and crossbows when she made out shouting coming from the yard. Her shoulders tensed as she closed the John Growlssom novel. What did I do now?
She was relieved to see Cheerilee waving her down. Goldy descended slowly, casting her eyes sideways to look for Placeholder. “What’s going on? We don’t have a meeting after school, do we?”
Cheerilee nodded. “Special teacher-only emergency meeting called! Donuts served!” Goldy’s shoulders relaxed as she followed Cheerilee in. “Goldy, are there always low hanging clouds around here?”
The math mare looked proud of herself. “I always kick them into place at the beginning of the day. Maneuvering clouds is all angles and force calculations; I almost became a weather pony. They offered me a manager’s role out of college, actually.”
Cheerilee smiled. Bingo! The last piece falls into place.
They were greeted by the male faculty in the break room. Globe was slumped over a now-cold coffee, staring at a pile of papers dejectedly. He seemed to be hitting the donuts pretty hard. Red gave Cheerilee a knowing glance. I hope she can do this.
As Goldy took her place, Cheerilee bucked the door closed and kicked the lock up. She walked to Placeholder’s traditional place at the table and addressed her co-workers. “So, I suppose you’re all wondering what I called you for here today!” Goldy’s chuckle egged on the fuchsia pony’s ego. “We’re here to start a learning community! It’s time to brainstorm and share new ideas; we’re going to really get this school running.”
She was greeted by stares. Red Glare offered a tentative hoof clap, but Globe’s death-stare silenced him. The social studies unicorn stared at Cheerilee. “How are you going to do that with a social studies teacher that can’t teach?” Gasps came from the other school veterans. Goldy offered a hoof on his shoulder. “According to the test results my students don’t know anything! One of them said that Manehattan was a buffalo city! I bet the cuckoo could score higher than this.”
A disgruntled chirped sounded from above the teachers. They all saw a clock door slam shut.
Cheerilee walked over to Globe. Whew! All those hours of faking a district test worked. Let’s see if question twenty-three worked. “Trotter, you’re not a bad teacher; you’ve just made some bad pedagogical decisions. We’re here to talk about how we all could improve.”
The unicorn snorted. “Improve, you say? I gave out rewards and simple work. I gave them everything they wanted, and they didn’t respond. Nothing else would work; I might as well jump all hour.”
Cheerilee slammed her hoof on the table. A sprinkled donut flew up into the air. Without thinking she leaned forward and chomped it in one gulp, then resumed her stare of determination. The other teachers were quieted by her intensity and dental dexterity.
“Listen carefully! I know what we’re up against! I know how the students think we’re jokes, the parents think we’re babysitters, and the principal thinks we’re a captive audience. I also know there are four excellent teachers in this room that just need a few problems plugged up.” She stood on her back hooves and pointed squarely at Red. “You! Did you know that the catacombs beneath Cheval are five hundred years old?”
The confused earth pony shook his head. Should I have studied for this?
Cheerilee slammed the desk again. “I do! I do because Globe told me a story about an ex-girlfriend and him running through them hiding from the constables. I can completely list the architectural features he described hiding behind.” She smiled at Globe. “And yet this amazing storyteller only lectures in class about his cousin Merv Spudcake and the knish factory! I bet that the question about the Manehattan potato crop was the only one every student got right!” Globe was smiling back. He was nodding to himself.
She threw the accusing hoof at Red. “What is the only part of your class that students pay attention to?”
Red gulped as his mental wall crumbled and uncomfortable truths poured in. I thought she’d go easy on me. “The moment I set off the demonstrations, Miss Cheerilee.” Red bounced his hoof on the table in anxiety.
Cheerilee placed a hoof around his shoulder. “So why don’t you have labs instead? Why aren’t the students doing science themselves?”
Red nickered. “The kids aren’t interested in science enough.”
The exasperated Ponyville girl gestured wildly with her hooves while shouting. “And why aren’t they interested in science enough?”
Red opened his mouth wide enough to swallow a Canterlot whale blimp. His lips moved silently. Goldy leaned over to him with a smile. “Is it because you aren’t doing labs?”
As Red blinked to himself with revelation, Goldy turned to Cheerilee. “I’m a great math teacher. I just don’t have any control. Do you have an idea for that?” The earth pony nodded. A look of anticipation crossed the face of the pegasus.
Globe stood up. “This is a rousing speech, but do you have any proof that you can actually reach these kids?”
Cheerilee nodded proudly. Time to hit them with my best shot. “I graded a homework assignment last night.”
The staff gave incredulous gasps. Goldy jumped in from of the boys to question Cheerilee. “Where is it? I want to see it!”
Cheerilee grinned. Fire away! “I had to give it back; the student wanted to make corrections.”
The faculty was stunned. A tear streamed down Goldy’s face. “I used to think that the day would never come.”
Cheerilee reared back and pointed dramatically at the co-workers. “My cutie mark is for inspiring students. I have ideas for all of your classes. Listen to me and we’ll turn this place around. Ladies and gentlecolts,” Cheerilee paused as she placed dark glasses on her eyes. “The future’s so bright we’ll have to wear shades.”
Globe looked thoughtful. “Lady, if you can do this you’re my own personal Celestia. How do we start?”
Cheerilee grinned.
And now, dear readers, let me suggest a course of action. I know how Cheerilee thinks and sees the world; it is no coincidence that I became her chronicler. If you wish to see the story as Cheerilee would in her head, or perhaps as it would be in her favorite 80’s play, follow this instruction. You’ll shortly access this magic music link and open it in a new tab or window. The epic struggle that follows has no dialogue and is meant to be read to the music. Our heroic schoolmare would agree; every radical story needs a tubular montage! Get ready now, dear reader. Hey, ho; let’s go!
Globe Trotter stands in front of his class. Smiling, he shows a picture of the Eyefull Tower. The class yawns. Globe frowns. Cheerilee shakes her head from the doorway. Globe shows a picture of himself levitating a pretty smiling mare off the tower’s top. The class turns to him. Cheerilee nods. Globe smiles.
Goldy’s class is tearing the pages out of workbooks. Sledge winds up his limb and throws a paper ball at the teacher’s desk. He and the ball are blown against the wall by gale force winds. The entire class drops their paper as Goldy stands with her front hooves crossed, flanked by two storm clouds. She lightly taps one and burns a paper on the floor with a lightning bolt. Sledge starts sweating.
Cheerilee looks at Red expectantly. He pulls out a box of baking soda. She shakes her head. He pulls out a volcano model. She shakes her head harder. He walks into the closet; many boxes tumble out. Cheerilee looks in nervously; Red is surrounded by fallen junk and holds an opened box. Cheerilee’s eyes go wide as she looks inside.
Placeholder sticks his head in Globe’s room. Globe reads from a book while dressed as a Hayrabian warrior. Placeholder raises a hoof to interrupt; the entire class turns and shushes him. Placeholder nervously walks out backwards.
Goldy’s class pick up their workbooks. They looked nonplussed. The books are flung out of their hooves by a strong wind. Goldy stands in front of two piles of books; one is marked ‘Jewelry and Gems’ and the other is marked ‘Racecarts and Rims Monthly.’ The board reads ‘You have a 200 bit budget per month. Plan the year. ’ The students run to grab the catalogs.
Cheerilee rests her head on the pile of work on her apartment floor. Screwy pulls a blanket over her and pats her head. She looks at the cuckoo and draws her hoof across her throat slowly. He salutes.
Red passes blank lab reports around his class. They roll their eyes dramatically. Luster yawns and gossips to her friends. Red then places a rocket launcher in front of the class. The rocket is made from soda bottles. The launcher is a modified bicycle pump. Bomber sits straight up and covers Lusters mouth with her hoof. Her crazy smile is wide.
The class follows Goldy into the courtyard. She stops at three boxes. She passes protractors, compasses, and rulers out from the first. They look askance at her. She pulls out abacuses from the next box. They look bored. She opens the third box and starts passing out kites. Screwball starts jumping in anticipation. She looks at Quest. Quest nervously joins in.
Red walks past groups of students launching rockets and writing lab reports. Sluice’s rocket is streamlined and lean. Red nods. Luster’s is a glittering rod of costume gems and streamers. He shakes his head with a smirk. Bomber’s is a giant, spiky ten-foot death projectile on a modified steam-powered launcher. He faints with a smile.
The entire class is enjoying Sluice’s story as he stand in front of the class and reads. No one notices the smiling form of Cheerilee is yawning at her desk. She downs a coffee and listens happily.
Custodian Cleansweep sees that Globe’s class is empty. The board reads ‘Battle of Haystings Simulation today.’ He looks out the north window as a screaming Sledge in cardboard armor runs from foam arrows. Going to a west hallway window he sees Goldy’s students are measuring the angles of their kites. At the south side of the courtyard Red’s class is launching chemical-powered rockets hundreds of feet into the mountain. He walks into the last classroom. Cheerilee is asleep surrounded by stacks of papers. He smiles, then picks up a drawing left on a desk and whistles. He drops his broom and kicks back in a desk to enjoy the artwork.
The music stopped as a sickly yellow magic aura pulls the needle off the record.
“I never thought of you as a music fan, Placeholder,” commented a voice dripping with sardonic menace.
The portly unicorn swallowed. “Not usually, sir. I do admit that. Miss Cheerilee never stops singing when she thinks everyone’s out of earshot. Thinks being the operative word in this case. She serenades the school, and no one has the heart to stop her. Wonderful singing voice, after all. Her ditties certainly do get stuck in one’s head.” He offers the nervous propitiating smile minions usually give to homicidal efficiency-minded demigods.
The dark figure settled onto the office cushion. “Ah, the little girl from Cherry Lawn. How did she get so bold? I thought I had trimmed that particular over-caffeinated weed, but apparently the heart of rock and roll is still beating.”
Placeholder timidly passed paperwork through the air to the intimidating official. “Our scores are up across the board. We’ll be ending as one of the most effective schools in the district.” He chuckled. “The staff seemed to believe we won’t actually be closing.”
The shadowy lord of paperwork stood. “That would be the influence of Little Miss Sunshine-Lollipops-and-Collateral-Damage. I think dear Madame Don’t Stop Believing has a rude awakening awaiting her.”
Prunecrop smiled the grin of a Quarry Eel as he leaned in to grin at the nervous Placeholder. “You don’t actually think she’ll win, do you?”
Next Chapter: Cheerilee takes to the airwaves to save the school with the Spirit of Radio! Can two famous broadcasters help her? Can they at least agree if Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle is the best pony? The mystery of Bomber's jacket revealed! Finally, a certain Draconequus stops by for a parent conference…
Stats
Page generated in 0.096 seconds
Total duration
981 users online
418,461 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You totally did not have to spoil the Discord bit, it would have been a fun surprise!
Honestly, the song was winding down as I finished reading your montage. Dun\\
Ahh, good story, I love it Mr
53178
Spoiled? I've been hinting at it for many chapters while you guys picked apart the foreshadowing.
I've been trying really hard not to notice
schweet, new chapter. Love to see what discord'll have to say about screwy.
I loved this chapter. :D
Except for this bit: "He drops his broom and kicks back in a desk to enjoy the artwork."
That phrase has disturbing connotations to my mind . . .
Can you please add chapter numbers to the titles? It's making it hell to read on my kindle (filename of text file = filename on kindle, and you can't rename...), especially when I'm enjoying the story so much.
Keep it up! :-)
53242 you are a sick person
At first I was like
, then I was all 
, and then the montage hit and I was like 
, sometimes I was like 
, but most of the time I was all 
, and in the end I 
. Good Job!
OBTW GREAT CHAPTER!!!!!! I LOVE THE STORY!
I love this fanfiction. Its reminding me of one of my teachers from high school =) Keep writing!
I loved this chapter. And the provided montage music fit perfectly! I could see everything happening in my head, which made the story 100 times better. YES! I can't wait to read more.
Fucking amazing
Where the crap is Chapter 7 at, people.
I just read an amazing Ch. 6 and want moar.
AWWWWW YEAH.
I hope with the radio stations coming up, there'll be a whole lotta jokes, from Ditty Stardust to Luna's Preist. Cause this scool was built built on rocks and stones.
*Holy frag that's a lot of puns. BRB drawing Red as a combo of the Engie and Solly. I just need to know why he switches between being a unicorn and earth pony.
I didn't want to stop the montage!
53417
Crud. Is there a scene where Red has a horn? I'll need to edit that out.
That was truly magnificent! I love your taste in music, but that 80's montage took it to a whole new level! I could not stop grinning throughout this entire chapter. Just when you think the chasm walls crumble underneath you, leading to your untimely demise; BAM!! Someone grabs your arm and hoists you to new heights! I can hardly contain, nor express my excitement at the development of this story! Absolutely wonderful! Though I possess a wide array of words and phrases in my arsenal of praise, no variation of letters can convey a message powerful enough to grace your story with a proper description. If pictures are worth a thousand words, than I would require a movie to describe how utterly fantastic this story is so far! I happily await your next chapter!
-A Very Impressed M.A.D. Man
Go Cheerilee, you're awesome, oh yeah!
And really, the music DOES add tons to the effect of the montage, which was great by itself.
So there's an ass behind Placeholder's mule, eh? Figures...
Hope the 'Parent conference' doesn't mean anything bad for Screwy...should be interesting though.
You had me laughing all 6 chapters I read. Beautiful. Here and there, I found spelling and formating mistakes. They did break the flow of the narrative for me, but!
I continued reading. Glad I did. When you stopped the story, I was at first very confused... but then you sent me to this song and I just couldn't help it. I laughed, hard, and listened while you did your little montage. Throughly entertained. And, as someone who's on his way to being a teacher, it leaves me with that little happy feeling inside.
I will work harder on the formatting! Promise! And thanks everyone for the praise.
MONTAGE!
YES
DISCORD!? AT A PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE!?javascript:smilie('
');
');
This I gotta read! Moar!javascript:smilie('
53505
I think there are a few in earlier chapters.
Also, me thinks Discord is going to be a major ally for Cheerilee. Because joining up with the school board makes sense.
That, and school would cause more chaos than no school.
Oh god I love this Fic!
Do you smell that?
*sniff* *sniff* Yep, it smells like a montage.
I thought so, I love a good montage
Fanfics need more montages or time music with events more often, I already soundtrack fics in my head according to the mood as I read. I think that more writers should help the moods that they are setting. Well done on the montage my man.
The pic for Discord has been up for your fic the entire time.
53185
I agree, it was kind of obvious; I even picked up on the Dr. Ocsid's chocolate milk service thing right away (which, of course, is discord spelled backwards >;D )
Dat montage is sexular, dude.
6/5
Wait, no...
ALL MY STARS
I really like the story and the very well done 80's references! Please hurry up and post some more :D
I love your sense of humor. All of the one-shots are great. They sad-eyed mechanic girl was perfect; the janitor "enjoying the artwork" was hilarious, too. I'd been waiting for that to happen! I can't wait for the next chapter!
Just a couple of funny things...
What you wrote: New Canterlot didn’t get a lot of train travel. Most Equestrians had no reason to come and most locals were too stubborn to learn.
What I think you meant: Old Canterlot didn’t get a lot of train travel. Most Equestrians had no reason to come and most locals were too stubborn to leave.
But maybe I was misunderstanding all of that...
“Come one, Sleepyhead.” vs “Come on, Sleepyhead.”
There were a couple of others, too. Those are just the ones I remember. They really didn't detract too much from the story, though. This really is a fun chapter!
Someone has to animate that montage, starting from Cheerilee grinning to the record stopping with that music, because in my head, I see nothing but AWESOME! If the animation is well-edited and lengthened to allow more time, like adding in some extra, yet minor, scenes or something like that, since visual media tends to be quicker than literary media, it might fit the entire song from beginning to end.
Two famous radio personalities arguing over who is best pony, Twilight or Dashie? I'm sensing an Apple Cider / Chef Sandy cameo here.
And that, like the rest of the story, is awesome. Next Monday can't come quickly enough.
There are so many Pony comments on "The Monster Squad" now.
Oh God, I love Ponies so much it hurts.
This is so awesome. I love your writing style easy to overlook the spelling errors.
Wow. Just wow. I absolutely love this fiction. You almost wrung a tear out of me when Luna regarded the clock. Can't wait for more of this!
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. That montage was a really cool idea, and most importantly, it felt like a montage. As per usual, it was a really engaging read - I think you've single-handedly placed Cheerilee in my top five ponies. Well done!
Also:
> Two famous broadcasters
OH DEAR GOD I HAVE THE FEELING I'M GOING TO ENJOY THIS.
Superb! I want more!!!
At first I
but then I 
5/5, FLAWLESS VICTORY
Agh, this fic is too awesome. Keep up the good work!
HNNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!!! just as it was getting good i ran out of chapters!
oooh this one was a doozy!
"The schoolmare smiled widely as groans can from behind her." Came?
"“That’s not quite what I’m worried about. She walked forward" Missed a " there.
"Twilight’s horn sparked ever few seconds as she kept a force field spell ready." Every?
"The halls of a modest home echoed on edge of New Canterlot echoed with ticking." Too much echo.
"Twenty-four times a day the stallion proposal and the mare joyfully accepts." Proposed?
"...will appreciate your help in making sure things their passing comes easily."
"He skipped in his tracks are he heard clanking and off-key singing to the side of him" Was that supposed to be an "as" ?
“Come one, Sleepyhead.” On?
"As least I know the kids will ace this." At?
"Listen to me and we’ll turn this place around. Ladies and gentlemen..." Not sure if this one can be classified as a grammar mistake, but wouldn't "gentlecolts" sound better?
That's all the mistakes I've noticed, and now that that is out of the picture all I can say is - another great chapter!
The montage + song move really caught me off guard. So unique and well-executed!
Keep it up! This story keeps getting better and better.
I'm serious animating that montage, someone needs to do that...RIGHT NOW...
Oh lordie, please tell me you are going to do something for that poor mare at the train station...
Hey, not to be a douche, but you confused bomber's gender for a bit
"Bomber responded by viciously bucking the desk he was standing on. He clumsily tumbled off as she walked away. The class nickered as the tension defused."
54356
She kicked out the desk Sledge was on, but you have a point; I need to clarify that scene.
Okay. Chapters labelled, mistakes checked, sentences clarified. I really do appreciate all the help.
I thought of a whole buncha names before I fell asleep last night.
David Bow-wowie (Yes it's a Labyrinth joke. Do I feel ashamed? NOPE.avi. Infact, more pun! Labradorinth.)
Flewy Lewis and the Nest.
Van Scalen/Van Haylen
ManeOwaR
Trotley Crue
HISS
Venom(Not Much you can do to this name)
Trotzareth
Rockbitch(While not changed in any way, it still makes a pretty good Diamond Dog pun.)
Z-Z Trot(A goat, because no horse can grow such an awesome beard. Not even Celestia.)
Microphone Moontrotter(Because I can't think of any puns that evoke the word Jackson. For the lulz, he's an Abada. http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs51/i/2009/282/a/0/A_is_for_Abada_African_Unicorn_by_TurtleShelltered.jpg)
Dairyschinghis Khan(Moooskau, Moooskau, lalalalalalalalalala, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Daft Buck
Preen(Because a Freddie Megriffy pun is too good to pass on.)
Bray Nicker Jr. (I ain't 'fraid o' no jokes.)
And
A-Caw
54485
This is a thing of beauty.
And again the High School High reference.
I love your song references in these im proud of myself for noticing every last one of them
. I especially liked the dancing with myself reference in this one and i am really loving this story.
Dear me! Either I'm a slow reader (an incredibly slow reader) or you have a very astute sense of timing. I managed to listen through the entire song during the montage and finished it at the very last second...