//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - "Playing with the Girls" // Story: Confeatheracy of Dunces // by BlueBastard //------------------------------// Confeatheracy of Dunces Chapter 2 - "Playing with the Girls" “You want me to what?!” exclaimed Twilight, shocked at the proposition put before her. “I know it sounds bad, but I’m sure you understand why,” reasoned Cheerilee. “Trust me, I’m not happy about it myself, and I know my brother isn’t going to be happy about it either.” “Do you want me to send a royal carriage to get him? Unless he’s desperately needed, I can issue a royal edict so he’ll be on paid leave while he’s working with you and with the carriage he’ll be here by tomorrow.” “That sounds great!”  After a split-second, Cheerilee added, “Make that two edicts, actually; if what you’ve told me about Rainbow’s learning habits, I’m going to need Dusty’s help as well.” “Consider it done. But the fact is you still want me to give you back the wings. You had them for a week and you went through a mid-life crisis.” Cheerilee nickered. “Yeah, like I could turn the town on its head over a doll like when you had yours.” The alicorn scowled in response. “That wasn’t a mid-life crisis. It was just a…rough patch. Besides, now that I’m the Princess of Friendship, that can’t happen again.  But the last time I gave a pony wings? Rarity’s ego got the better of her and she nearly killed herself and the three most important Wonderbolts!” “You were also still merely a unicorn, too,” pointed out the teacher. “You’re an alicorn now; heck, you did that thing where you turned yourself and the others into Breezies – an entirely different species! – so the idea you can’t turn me back into a pegasus is far less risky.” “I dunno…” Twilight sighed. “Okay, look, give me a day to figure it out, I know you’re supposed to begin this retraining with Rainbow tomorrow, but I can lend you some books on flight theory that I used when I was still getting the hang of my wings; maybe those could help?” “Better than nothing I guess, though I hope my backup plan for exactly this problem doesn’t fail….” “You want me to what?!” exclaimed Swiftsprinter, shocked at the proposition put before her - by her own daughter, no less! “Look, Mom, I don’t really have a choice-“ “Honey, you just told me in no uncertain words you wanted me to help teach you how to fly. After what you ended up telling us from last time, you sound like you’re going right back into that funk about how you couldn’t get that job at Canterlot U. for the longest time. What is this even for, again?” Cheerilee sighed. “Okay, can I come in? You’d best be sitting down for this.” Swift nodded, allowing her daughter to enter the house. “Will this be a long talk? Should I get drinks?” “I’ll get ‘em!” a stallion from inside hollered out. “Thanks, Dad,” replied Cheerilee, before taking her seat. “And yes, Mom, this is probably going to feel like a very long talk.” “Oh? I very much doubt that, dear,” responded Swift as she took a seat across from her daughter. “After all, even if I was inclined to try and teach you for any reason, the fact is that you don’t have wings.” A moment of horrified realization came over Swift, then. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to get them back, are you?” “Um, you see…” “Are you okay, sweetie?” asked Stronghold, carefully walking in with a tray of three glasses filled with iced tea. “This isn’t like you, not at all. What in Equestria makes you want to go back to having to be something you’re not?” His daughter looked at both him and his wife with a flat expression. “Because the government is literally begging me.” Cheerilee’s parents blinked in perfect sync. “C-come again?” ventured Swift. “Okay, you guys remember that big thunderstorm that allegedly was going to be a major disaster if it moved past the Everfree?” They nodded. “Well, I was told that Rainbow Dash was the only casualty-“ “Oh my Celestia, she’s dead?!” exclaimed the pegasus, her wings flaring out as if in emphasis. “No, I think what our daughter means is the other way that word is used,” interpreted the unicorn, putting a foreleg around his wife’s neck. “As in wounded, not killed.” Cheerilee nodded. “Yeah, she got hit by a stray bolt…or rather, she took the bolt after shoving another pony out of the way.” “How badly was she hurt?” questioned Swift, her tone going serious out of habit. She’d had to deal with ponies of all kinds getting hit by stray bolts and this was sounding no different. “She’s actually completely fine, except…” As she trailed off, Cheerilee tapped her forehooves together nervously, “…it appears the lightning strike gave her some kind of planar dystonia. Specifically speaking: She’s as flightless as a chicken.” “Well, er…” stammered Strong, “that still doesn’t explain your role in all of this. Yes, yes, it’s clear enough you want to be the one to teach her how to fly, after your mother somehow does that to you, but you’re not a-“ “Personal trainer? I know. However,  for whatever reason it seems that every single one of Ponyville’s personal trainers are unavailable.” “What about ones outside of Ponyville?” Cheerilee looked at her parents.  “They tried that, too.  Short of the Wonderbolts’ personal on-duty trainer - who’s with the team while they’re on-tour in Bitaly - every single physical trainer in Equestria is overworked, on vacation, or otherwise unavailable.  How do you think I got into this mess?” “But you’re not qualified to be a personal trainer anyway…are you?” Cheerilee shook her head. “The big three requirements for being a personal trainer are something about being a nutritionist, basic paramedical skills, and have a degree in physical education. I’ve only got one of the three, but you both should be able to guess what that is.” “Honey, all that’s telling us is they want you to do a job because…you can be a substitute gym teacher?” Swift looked at her daughter skeptically. “Or did May have something more to do with this?” “She told the town council I could be a pegasus again, and, given the lack of any present physical trainers, apparently they think it would be for the public image if it’s a pegasus teaching Rainbow to fly.” “How in Tartarus did she convince them you were a better possibility for that job than Princess Twilight?” “Because the princess has doctorates and maybe a PhD in a variety of academic subjects, but nothing in terms of a physical education degree like I do. That, and because she’s a princess, she might have royal duties or something necessary to attend to. On the other hoof, I’m not even needed for summer school this year, so I’m the best bet for this.” Stronghold cleared his throat before saying his piece. “I’m sure that makes sense to you – somehow – but isn’t it still cutting corners, possibly illegally, to just have you teaching Rainbow?” Cheerilee shook her head. “No, as long as there’s somepony else who can provide the paramedic skills and whatever it is a nutritionist does, things should be okay.” Swift furrowed her brow. “So…you need me to not only teach you how to fly, despite you not having wings, and also be an on-site paramedic? The fact I still have a job to go to notwithstanding, I’m not qualified to be a nut-“ “No, mom, I don’t need you to use up vacation days for this, I just need you to teach the flying and all.” “But, who is going to be-“ Cheerilee took a very, very, very deep sigh before cutting her mother off. “Silver.” Meanwhile, in a hospital bed, Rainbow lamented the end of days; “MY LIFE IS RUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDD!” “There, there,” comforted Fluttershy, the only one of Rainbow’s friends that had been able to stay this late into the night, as everypony else had things that needed to be done. “Just because you need to learn how to fly again doesn’t mean you need to learn to love it again, right?” “But I suck at learning!” wailed Rainbow, acting more like Rarity in “drama queen” mode than was really necessary for the moment. “And how am I supposed to learn something that I was practically born doing?” “Don’t be so dramatic, even I was able to flap around when I was a month old,” pointed out the soft-spoken mare. “As is true for everypony who is born with wings, it’s natural instinct for pegasi infants to try flying without understanding how to control themselves. You know, the whole ‘latent wellspring’ thing we were taught back at Cloudsdale Elementary?” Dash looked at her lifelong friend with an unamused frown. “Did I not just say I suck at learning? I don’t even know what ‘latent’ is supposed to mean!” “Nevermind,” sighed Fluttershy. “The point is that for somepony who practically is more bird than pony like you, relearning to fly isn’t going to be nearly as bad as you think. Besides, I checked with the doctor and he said your insurance will cover the costs of a physical trainer. Someday in the future we’ll all look back on this as a minor inconvenience and laugh about it.” “You might,” retorted the athlete. “After all, you’re not the one whose dreams of being on a Wonderbolt main squad are so close to happening and yet are now in danger of being destroyed because of something as stupid as a lightning bolt!” “Well, it’s not like you haven’t been through worse, right?” “Excuse me?” questioned Rainbow. “You wanna explain how not being able to fly because I forgot how is not the worst thing to ever happen in the history of Equestria?” Uncharacteristically, Fluttershy’s mouth slightly smirked  as she replied, “So you’re saying that being grounded for a little while is worse than what poison joke did to you a few years back which involved Spike using that old nickname of yours?” Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. “Fine, you have a point there,” she snorted. “I just hope whoever gets the job of teaching me how to be a pegasus again at least knows what they’re doing.” “What are they doing?!” exclaimed Breakfast Club, aghast at what she had just heard. “They let her get that job?!” “Well, she does have that Phys. Ed. degree,” reminded Tough Love. “Guess she’s getting the last laugh on us for once since all that mocking we did of her in getting that useless thing just got thrown in our faces.” “I raise 300 bits,” said Failing Grade, tossing a few plastic chips into the middle of the table. “And I wouldn’t put too much stock into it, girls. Red Tape is kind of a jackass – I should know, given I’m happily married to the son of a bitch after he stole my heart – and he knows we kind of have it in for that “drain on the education budget” or so he calls or mutual annoyance. No way would he approve of such a thing but he’d tell me it happened anyway just to piss us off.” She then sighed dreamily. “Oh Celestia I can’t help but love that stallion for that - keeps me on my hooftips, y’know?” “I call,” said Love, pushing a stack of her own chips into the center of the table. She did so roughly, causing the pile to spill over when she stopped moving it with her hoof. “I’m sure you two have fantastic angry sex, but that’s not the point.” “Fold,” sighed Club, pushing her five-nine offsuit away and writing off her losses from being the big blind. “I agree with Toughie, as much as you wish Tape was the boss of town, he’s still just one pony on the advisory council to the mayor, who as we all know is one of Cheerilee’s closest - if not quite honestly one of her only -friends. What else did he say about what happened?” “Well, Tapie said that in light of there being no available physical therapists,” the unicorn recalled as she dealt out the community card trio, “the fact that Cheerilee had a phys. Ed. degree wasn’t the only reason she was a good substitute, since Rainbow’s pretty much one of the most important ponies in town and is a Wonderbolt reserve member, so the fact that this local teacher who qualifies as a substitute gym teacher was also a pegasus at-“ “Whoa whoa whoa!” interrupted Breakfast Club, her attention snapping back into the conversation full time. “Cheerilee actually got turned into a pegasus that one week I was vacationing in Los Pegasus?” “You still don’t think we were telling the truth about that?” questioned Tough. “Oh, uh, check,” she added, tapping her cards twice. “Check,” answered Grade, flipping the fourth card on the table. “But yeah, we said it back then and we’re telling you now: Cheerilee randomly gained wings for a week and her life was utter hell!” “Bet.” Tough Love pushed 500 bits worth of chips into the pot. “Good thing I got lucky at the roulette tables that week,” groaned Club, “since for whatever reason Princess Luna won’t be merciful on me and stop giving me nightmares of that one night with the four hookers and the tuba, and I honestly can’t believe I ended up living through that crucible instead of watching that upstart harridelee flit about like an idiot.” “Call, and I swear to Celestia on her throne if you talk about that damn tuba one more time,” growled Grade, “I’m gonna make you feel as lightheaded like a pegasus – without wings.” “Fine, but only because I might be able to see her try to teach a pegasus to fly, and they don’t teach earth ponies how to fly at Ponyville Elementary.” “Well, you might get better than even that,” replied the dealer mare with a smirk as she flipped the fifth and final card. “I don’t recall exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of Cheeri being a pegasus wasn’t a one-time thing.” “So are you saying that she’s not only going to be trying to teach Rainbow Dash something she doesn’t know how to teach while serving in a position she legally isn’t qualified for, but she’s going to basically be learning that stuff so she can fly at the same time?” “I don’t know about you, Club,” commented Tough Love as she pushed all her chips into the table, “but this summer might be worth having a stay-cation for that embarrassing spectacle! Oh and All-In, Grade.” “Call, now flip ‘em!” grinned Grade, “and yeah, summer school duty sucks but at least one of us won’t have to deal with that ‘inspirational’ hick who they gave an entire school to for her to run, decrepit old shack or not.” “Yeah, maybe this whole situation might even get her out of our manes for good, y’know?” Breakfast Club laughed lightly, before frowning at the cards on the table. “You went All-In on that, Toughie?” Love scowled, “Hey, I wasn’t going to last three more rounds of blinds, and a pair of 2’s is better than nothing!” Club could only facehoof. “I don’t know what’s more ridiculous: the fact you went all in on a pair of 2’s when none of the five community cards give you anything decent…or the fact you beat Grade’s Ace-King off-suit because she didn’t match anything on the table either!” “You would have done the same thing in my position. Oh, wait, you are in my position, shortstack!” The pseudo-ringleader of the trio looked at the three chip stacks on the table, realizing she was in fact now in possession of the smallest amount as Tough levitated the pot to her end of the table. Then, as if to rub salt in that wound, a timer went off behind her. “Ah, that would be the signal that the blinds just went up - 200 bits for small blind, 400 for big,” said Grade, placing her ante into the emptied pot. “So pony up, Club, you’re small blind.” “Fine,” snorted Club, tossing her forced tribute to the Sunday Hold’em game she was hosting in her abode, but she quickly cheered up after reminding herself of what she’d just learned. “But at least I’m not like Cheerilee, who is going to be just as blind as the pony she’s teaching.” “And here we are once again,” groaned Dusty as the little innsmouth of Ponyville came into view. “And when we go back home, we know not when!” half-sang her husband Silver. He earned a glare for his trouble. “Okay, sorry, but the rhyme was too easy to make, hon.” “Make it again and it’s the couch you’ll be making when we get back.” “Yes, dear.” “We’ll be landing in about ten minutes, Dr. Sutures and Mrs. Chalkboard,” announced the pegasus guard pulling the chariot. "So I wonder what adventures await us?" Silver said softly, almost as to himself.  In turn, as if almost to answer him, Dusty looked at him with a gentle smile, then at the ground below.  She said a multitude of words in that sole glance, and far more than she would ever voice. A second later, she followed ideas with words: "Whatever it is, at least we'll have time to spend with Cheeri.  I still worry about her after that last time." The grin on Silver's face as the chariot began its descent was one of anticipation.  "Whatever happens next, I'm sure it's going to be grand, love.  I'm sure it will be." Cheerilee rocked from side to side uneasily, knowing she was going to be asking a lot of her brother and sister-in-law…maybe more than she had last time, even. “Well, this time he won’t be involved, right? I just know they’re going to not be happy about having to deal with me switching sub-species again, but the idea of having to handle working with Discord for any reason is probably a no-go for Dusty. She really did not react well to being a unicorn for all of a few hours, if the extensive detail of her headaches in the letters she sent me afterward were any indication.” “Nah, he’s got his plate full. Celestia asked him to be in charge of designing a new Royal Maze Garden that’s gonna be implemented in time for this year’s Nightmare Night.” The teacher raised an eyebrow at that. “Is that really a good idea? I mean, didn’t he do that thing with the gardens way back when he broke out of his stone prison and decided to rewrite existence?” She shuddered at the memory. Like everypony else, she’d been “Discorded” at the time and her behavior influenced to be the complete opposite of her normal self...which horrifyingly ended up meaning she turned into as much of a bitch as Breakfast Club and her compatriots were on a daily basis. There might also have been something going on with everypony’s colors losing all color and shifting to monochrome gray shades, but given Cheerilee didn’t want to think about being like her professional pain in the ass rival, she chalked up any possibility of darker-colored ponies to Discord making it constantly overcast. Which made sense as he had some weird fixation on chocolate rain happening every hour or something, too. “I thought the same thing, but apparently Discord finds the task of designing a maze that doesn’t break the fabric of reality a refreshing challenge, or so he told me,” said the princess as she shrugged. “Apparently, he’s never tried to design a maze that has a linear path to the exit before, at least one that doesn’t involve moving walls that keep blocking it.” Just then, the chariot touched down gently outside the schoolhouse, coming to a stop just short of the building. The unicorn and his wife disembarked, evidently glad to be on solid ground once more. “I trust your trip was pleasant, Dr. Sutures and Mrs. Chalkboard?” asked Twilight. “Well, for a two hour trip in nothing but a carriage, I must say it was very…interesting,” answered Dusty. Having met the princess on their previous trip to Ponyville, neither she nor Silver made to bow – as per Twilight’s request, as she felt it unnecessary when she was not doing princess type work. “First time in the air?” piped up the pegasus still hitched to the cart, noting Dusty being a little shaky, “or are you just not the flying type?” “Both.” “Ah, well, it takes some getting used to. I wouldn’t know of course, since I’m on the other end of this thing, but I’m sure you two can take the train back since chariots aren’t used by civilians unless it’s by royal order, and that’s usually when speed is of the essence.” “Indeed it is,” said Twilight. “After a flight like that, I’m sure you need some rest, so I’ve arranged for you to spend the night at the local garrison before you take the chariot back to Canterlot tomorrow.” “Thank you, your highness,” replied the pegasus, bowing, before he took off with the chariot towards a warm bed and a filling meal. “So, now what’s really going on here?” asked Silver once the guardpony was out of hearing range. “The last time Dusty and I were here, we had to save you from yourself, Cheerilee.” Cheerilee laughed nervously. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” I hope, she added in her thoughts. “Dr. Sutures-“ began Twilight, but he held up a hoof before she could continue. “Please, just ‘Silver’ will be fine, princess.” “Ah, er, okay, Silver. Anyway, I had you and your wife brought back to Ponyville, on Cheerilee’s recommendation, because we are in need of a pony such as yourself with your skills.” “But, I’m a doctor…” “And a health nut,” added Cheerilee with a smirk. “You are still qualified to be a nutritionist, are you not?” "No, I turned in my nutritionist badge ages ago.  Now I subsist on nothing but Burger Princess and Cheetos." “Well, I do make a mean tofu patty,” grinned Dusty. Cheerilee just nickered in response, “Okay, better question:  Silver, the only thing keeping you from being a physical therapist is having a Physical Education degree, right?” Realization struck the doctor unicorn like a sack of bricks. “Cheers, you need me to help you be somepony’s physical therapist?” “Um…yes?” Silver just stood, mouth agape, at the mere idea of what she was suggesting. “Ok, before you tell me whatever else is going on that’s going to make the general idea of this look like a good idea, how in the world did you get Princess Twilight to abuse her-“ “Please, let me explain,” interupted Twilight. “Yes, I am aware that under normal circumstances, this would be seen as a violation of numerous stipulations for both your occupation and Cheerilee’s. However, every possible physical therapist in the realm is unavailable for various reasons, and…” the princess sighed. “It’s Rainbow Dash who needs therapy.” Dusty gasped. “OhmiCelestia…she was the one who got struck when that giant thunderstorm was around here? We heard about it back in Manehattan but a name was never given. Of course, now that we do know, that kind of information would be received…poorly since she’s saved the world countless times with you and the rest of your closest comrades.” The princess nodded solemnly. “Yeah, Rainbow took a lighting bolt when she pushed another pegasus out of the way. She’s actually perfectly fine…except she forgot how to fly.” “Well, it sounds like she needs to simply be retaught, not physically retr-Cheerilee you did NOT!” Cheerilee shook her head, “Nope. I didn’t volunteer myself for this.” “Okay, phew!” The Manehattan mare sighed in relief. “After last time there’s no way you-“ “May pretty much volunteered me instead because of last time.” Silver shook his head in disbelief. “No, don’t go into the specifics; I don’t think I’m hammered enough for whatever the hell May was thinking to be explained to me right now. But how have things even gotten this far? You aren’t a pegasus anymore, sis!” “Not yet, I’m not,” replied the mulberry mare, kicking a forehoof idly back and forth. “But, if I’m going to be teaching Rainbow Dash how to fly again, I pretty much need to know how to fly myself, and there’s only one way to do that.” “And that’s have me teach today, apparently,” suddenly came the voice of an older mare, to which Silver instantly recognized. “Mom!” Silver turned to see the descending form of his mother from on high, landing right next to him and dispensing a nuzzle of welcome. Chuckling nervously,  Silver turned to his sister while his mother went over to give a welcoming hug to her daughter-in-law. “This was just a joke on our part, right? Mom’s gonna be the-“ “Nope. Gotta be Cheeri. Who knew that having that physical education degree was so important to the law in these kinds of matters?” “The idiot who wrote them,” grumbled Cheerilee. “Trust me, folks, I’m not a fan of having to go through Hell Week all over again, but May has been my best friend since Canterlot University and she’s calling in a few favors I still owe her on this one, something about how it would be good for the ‘public image’ or some line of crap she’s feeding the town council. Plus, it’s been set up that I’ll be paid for my services with a personal trainer’s salary, which would be a nice supplement to my salary instead of unpaid volunteer work as a summer school teacher as usual.” “Well, that’s great and all, but…what are we doing here, exactly?” asked Dusty. “I mean, unless Rainbow Dash is coming, which despite it being Monday the lack of wings on you, Cheerilee, suggests…not?” “No, the lesson plan for today is mainly mom just lecturing at me about flight basics. Twilight says she’ll be ready later tonight to…*gulp*…turn me back into a pegasus.” “Meanwhile,” piped up Swift, “you two lovebirds can move your stuff into the guest room at my and your father’s place. At least, what’s still left from your father going ahead and trying to move your stuff in even though I told him not to.” “Oh, yeah, that’s right,” remembered Dusty, “I forgot other pegasi had taken our luggage. But why aren’t Silver and I there, again? We’re not getting ourselves turned into pegasus ponies…right?” “No, I just wanted two you here for the lecture so you’re just as on top of what Cheerilee’s trying to teach herself. In case anything goes wrong and I’m off at work, of course, so Silver knows what parts are going to inevitably get sprained, and so you can try to help keep Silver and everypony else sane during all of this.” “Indeed,” agreed Twilight, “and on that note we probably should get started.” Later that night, Cheerilee was finally starting to realize just what challenges she was going to have to face in learning to do something earth ponies were not meant to do. “Come on, once you get going, it’s easy to get the hang of!” comforted Twilight. Following Swift’s excessively detailed lecture on Flight Basics 101, the fine degree of motor control required had made Cheerilee’s stomach get tied up in knots just thinking about it. As the only pony of the group who even remotely had been in a similar position as Cheerilee, Twilight had brought her back to Golden Oaks for reassurance and, hopefully, getting the ball rolling on Cheerilee truly knowing how to fly. “I know, I know! But I hadn’t even managed to get my wings fully under control last time before Discord came around to restore me to having four limbs!” exclaimed Cheerilee, clearly stressing out. “ I’m supposed to master something that looks insanely harder in less than a day so I can at least prove I know what I’m talking about! Even you couldn’t get the hang of flying when you first got your wings and you’re an alicorn!” “Yeah, I don’t disagree on the difficulty,” admitted the princess, rubbing the back of her head with a foreleg. In truth, she would have argued she’d at least had a better start on flying education from at least understanding how to ride air currents, plus alicorn wings were a completely different structure compared to normal pegasus wings (and she didn’t even want to get started on how changeling wings couldn’t possibly work with magic due to the forces and her limited understanding of how bumblebees could fly), but Cheerilee was already suffering from information overload. “But it’s not like you’re trying to teach, um….” “Scootaloo?” Cheerilee’s eyes widened as that can of worms became a possibility. “Oh, Celestia, she’s going to see me trying to teach Rainbow Dash to fly, so she’ll want me to teach her how to fly, but if those medical records-oh! Forget I said that, I’m not supposed to disclose that kind of information without consent!” “I was going to say Fluttershy, since she tends to get vertigo in varying degrees of severity and has extremely weak wingpower output anyway,” said Twilight. “Plus, I already know why Scootaloo can’t fly. Believe me, I already tried looking into that and she seemed a little too eager to explain when I suggested I try some strengthening magic on her. Plus, between you and Rainbow Dash, she’d rather learn from Dash since you’re normally her teacher for everything else, while Rainbow is her big sister figure.” “Oh, y-yeah, you have a point there.” The alicorn just shook her head. “Anyway, I know you’re not at all eager to do this, but…I’m ready to work my magic whenever you are.” “O-okay, just give me one s-second…” replied the schoolteacher, taking a very deep breath to calm her nerves. It’s not going to be that bad! She thought, because even though the last time this happened it sucked horribly, in the end it helped you be more reassured with yourself as a pony – an earth pony. Besides, if the worst comes to bear, there’s always the cider reserve hidden behind the medicine cabinet, or in the secret panel under the couch, or in the stash concealed up in the attic crawlspace, or- “Cheerilee, you okay?” asked Twilight, concerned at the sudden silence from the previously shaking mare. “Wha-?” she quickly replied, as if snapping out of a daze. “Uh, yeah, okay, let’s do this!” “If you say so. Now, just hold still, and relax…” Twilight charged her horn, illuminating it in a bright violet glow. Cheerilee caught her breath, more than slightly intimidated, but she forced herself to moderate her breathing lest she start hyperventilating. Closing her eyes, she thought of the ultimate reward that awaited her once this was all over. There is booze waiting for you, Cheerilee, just hang in there. It will be over before you know it… Five minutes later, the tingling sensation stopped, but Cheerilee only was gifted when it came to typical academics and not the finer details of magic that changed a pony’s subspecies, so she didn’t dare move – much less open her eyes - until Twilight said so. “Okay, Cheerilee, you can open your ey~eeeep!” came the voice the teacher had been waiting for, but the high pitched squeak at the end was not promising. Cautiously, almost exactly like she’d done that morning a while back, she opened her eyes and looked to where her wings should now have been. On the left side, the plumed appendage looked as if it had never gone away in the first place. But on the right… “Twilight…” ventured Cheerilee, the horror slowly building in her voice, “...this isn’t a pegasus wing!”