“-so, anyway, while Pinkie and Fluttershy are trainin’ the buckball team, Twilight’s got Rainbow Dash workin’ with the cheerleader,” Applejack said. “‘Course, with three teachers workin’ on the buckball game, that’s left a lot more work fer the rest of us. On that note, Ah sure am grateful y’all offered to substitute a class or two.”
“Hey, it’s my pleasure,” Silver Streak said as she followed Applejack down the hallway of the school. “Standing in for a few lessons isn’t that much different from running a briefing aside from the fact that I’m a lot less likely to need to threaten to toss somecreature out a window.”
“Yeah, we’d really rather y’all not do anythin’ like that,” Applejack replied.
“Relax, Applejack, I’m just kidding. I’d wouldn’t do that to a student,” Silver Streak assured her. “At least not one who couldn’t fly, anyway. Anyway, you said Princess Twilight has Cloudsdale coaching the cheerleading squad? That must be fun to watch.”
“Fun ain’t exactly the word Ah’d use. Truth of the matter is RD seems more interested in watchin’ the buckball team practice than doin’ much of anythin’ with the cheer squad. Fer the life of me, Ah can’t figure out why Twilight put Rainbow in charge of them to begin with,” Applejack said, to which Silver Streak simply shrugged.
“Stealth friendship lesson, maybe? Or, maybe she overheard me calling the Wonderbolts the guard’s cheerleading squad and took it seriously,” Silver Streak suggested.
“Say what now?” Applejack asked in shock.
“The cheerleading thing? That’s kind of a running joke within the guard’s air division. Technically the Wonderbolts are part of the guard, but really they’re just performers who put on a show for the civilians while the actual guards do all the real work. So, a bunch of us started calling the Wonderbolts the guard’s cheerleading squad as a result.” Silver Streak paused as a thought occurred to her. “Do me a favor and don’t mention to the Captain that I told you any of that, alright? He doesn’t really have much of a sense of humor when it comes to stuff like that.”
“Don’t yall worry, mah lips are sealed,” Applejack assured her. “Though Ah hafta wonder if tellin’ Rainbow Dash that might actually improve her attitude a bit. Get her to look at helpin’ the squad in a different light.”
“As long as it doesn’t get back to the Captain then you’re welcome to try,” Silver Streak said. “I’d really rather not get chewed out for ‘promoting interservice conflict’. Again.”
“Can’t say that sounds all that fun. Speakin’ of whom, where the hay has Moonwhisper gotten off to, anyway? Ah haven’t seen much of him ever since he finished up trainin’ Fluttershy’s brother.”
“I think he’s been helping Princess Twilight with something, not really sure what,” Silver Streak replied. “Whatever it is, I’m willing to bet it has something to do with getting Princess Twilight ready to step into Princess Celestia’s horseshoes.”
*********
“Okay, so I’d say Rainbow Dash is fully covered,” Twilight said. “By now she’s probably getting chewed out by the cheer squad for not taking things seriously at all, and that should do the trick to get Rainbow Dash to understand the importance of not dismissing what other creatures care about, even if those things aren’t things she would normally think are important. The only question is which member of the cheer squad is going to be the one to get through to her. Right now, my guess is that it’s going to be Yona, she’s really been impressing me lately.”
“It should be affective, I’ll give you that,” Moonwhisper concluded. “I’m just not entirely certain how I feel about using this methodology to teach friendship lessons. For one thing, it all seems needlessly indirect. Wouldn’t simply explaining the issue be more efficient?”
“Not necessarily. I’ve thought a lot about why Princess Celestia liked to teach this way, and I realized that letting somepony make their own mistakes and then learn from them can be much more effective. If I tried just lecturing Rainbow about this, she’d probably just brush it off and maybe even get upset. But, letting her see firsthoof how her actions can affect other creatures should have much more of an impact.” Twilight paused to think for a moment before continuing. “It’s kind of like the difference between showing somepony a martial arts technique and having them use it in a sparring match.”
Moonwhisper considered what Twilight was saying for a moment before nodding in understanding. “Ah, I suppose that does make sense. So, the idea is to provide a practical example of the issue in a semi-controlled situation.”
“Exactly. Even in the worst-case scenario nocreature is going to be really hurt by this beyond a basic friendship problem. In fact, I’ve already made plans for how to fix any issues caused by things going wrong,” Twilight said proudly as she levitated a several inches thick folder onto the table. “No matter how things turn out, I’m going to be one hundred percent prepared.”
“Impressive,” Moonwhisper said as he looked through the folder. “From the looks of it, you’ve prepared for every eventuality short of Discord spontaneously turning the filed into a vat of cheese sauce during the cheer squad’s performance.”
“Actually, that’s covered in the preventative measures section, item number 236,” Twilight replied with a hint of satisfaction.
“I see, so it is. I do have one other question regarding all this, though,” Moonwhisper said.
“Oh, and what’s that?” Twilight asked.
“Why? More specifically, why the sudden urgency in putting your friends through stealth friendship lessons? I realize you are the Princess of Friendship, but this sudden interest in instilling lessons this way seems a bit out of character for you.” As Moonwhisper spoke, he noticed Twilight was making an active effort to look him in the eye. “You’re worried about taking over for Princess Celestia, aren’t you?”
“Nooo…” Twilight replied in a supremely unconvincing tone, which merely elicited a raised eyebrow from Moonwhisper in response. “Alright, maybe it has a little to do with that. It’s just…Princess Celesita has been ruling Equestria for over a thousand years and she’s always done everything perfectly. If I’m going to really take over for her, then I need to do things every bit as well as she does, so…”
“So you figured adopting her teaching methods could be a stepping stone to getting into her mindset as a ruler. If I could make a suggestion, you may want to consider talking to Princess Celestia about your perception of her as being perfect. I suspect she may have a rather different assessment of herself,” Moonwhisper said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked testily.
“Only that the Princess Celestia you know has already been ruling for over a millennia. That’s a very long time for her to have mastered statecraft, and more than enough for any early mistakes or awkwardness to have been long forgotten. Or swept under the rug,” Moonwhisper added.
“I guess…” Twilight replied, not sounding entirely convinced.
“Think of it this way; when you were first learning magic, you didn’t have the same level of polished mastery that you do now, would that be a fair statement?” Moonwhisper asked.
“Well, I…” Twilight did a quick mental calculation of how long Moonwhisper had known Shining Armor, and how likely it was that he had heard certain stories about her magical experimentation as a filly, before conceding the point. “Okay, you’ve got me there. It’s just a little strange to think of Princess Celestia as ever not being completely perfect.”
“All the more reason to speak to her, then,” Moonwhisper replied. “The sooner you’re able to see her as another pony and not just a princess, the sooner you’ll be properly prepared to take her place.”
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard anypony say ‘just a princess’,” Twilight said with a small laugh. “And I think maybe you’re right. I’ll talk with Princess Celestia about it after the buckball game. Speaking of which, maybe I should check on our new cheer captain to see how she’s doing.”