Teach Me, Miss Cheerilee!

by Little Jackie Papercut

Thunder 1

Cheerilee checked the clock again. In just a few minutes, Rumble would show up for his lesson. As promised, she had prepared a lesson for today on the properties of electricity, mostly designed to impress upon him the importance of proper safety practices when working on a thunderstorm.

Actually teaching him those practices would be more difficult, and she was still considering how she might approach the task. All in all, she only knew about pegasus magic and weatherworking because she had researched the subject in the past, specifically because she knew it would help her pegasus students. Not being a pegasus herself meant she had no practical knowledge of technique, and no way to teach it even if she did.

She supposed she would get another instructor involved when it came time. For now, though, she simply went about tidying her desk. The empty room shared the moment with her, listening to the ticking of the clock.

The knock came, somewhat louder than she was expecting. It wasn't usual for Rumble to be quite so impatient. Cheerilee cleared her throat. "Come in," she called.

The door swung open, but instead of the gray colt, in walked a black stallion with an electric blue mane. He had a rather solid build for a pegasus, owing no doubt to the frequency with which he was assigned to oversee the toughest storms, but his present stance, seemingly uncertain and questioning, made him look a bit more frail.

"Thunderlane?" Cheerilee quirked an eyebrow at him. "What brings you here?"

"I, uh, heard there was kind of a mix-up with my brother," he replied, a hoof rubbing the back of his neck.

She nodded, resisting the urge to giggle at the embarassment written on the stallion's face.

"Yeah, so I just wanted to apologize for that. And pay you for your time." He reached into a bit pouch he was wearing around his neck.

"It's not necessary," the teacher assured him. "I mean, I appreciate the thought, but Rumble needed the extra lessons, so giving them to him was just my duty. It's not like he's—"

She was cut off as the pegasus set his hoof down on her desk. It lingered there for a moment, seemingly because Thunderlane was a bit distracted by something. Cheerilee glanced around, but couldn't figure out what it might be. Before she could ask, however, the hoof lifted again, and Cheerilee's eyes widened.

"Uh, Thunderlane," she remarked, pointing, "I think you got something mixed up. That's a platinum bit. I'm not even sure why you're carrying it around. You don't get paid in platinum. I don't get paid in platinum. That coin could buy a pony dinner every night for three months."

Thunderlane seemed to start at that statement. Blushing, he retrieved the coin and returned it to its pouch. "Oh, uh, oops," he said. "Thought it was a silver. Let me just..." He looked through the pouch, slowly frowning. "I guess I didn't bring any silver bits."

Cheerilee shook her head. "Oh, well. Like I was saying, it's my job, and I love teaching. You don't have to pay me extra to do my job."

"But it's kinda my fault you got stuck doing it," he insisted. "Tell you what. Maybe I can take you out to dinner to make up for it?"

Now she was beginning to understand the whole situation a bit better.

"Dinner, you say?" she asked. "I wonder. Is this how it went when you took Clockwork out?"

Thunderlane backed up a step, looking shocked. "What? Clockwork was—"

"And Flitter, Lotus, and Blossomforth, I suppose. I take it you were actually planning to ask a certain other mare out today, had Rumble gotten the address right."

The pegasus was silent, giving no answer other than the twitching of his eye.

With a sigh, the teacher stood up. "You know somepony would have figured it out sooner or later. And I take it you won't be trying the same method again, because trust me, it won't work if you do. So, where are we going to go?"

Finally, he wrenched himself back to reality. "What, seriously? After all that, you're gonna accept?"

The mare shrugged. "I do like the idea of dinner on you, Platinum Bit." She poked the coins to emphasize the statement. "Besides, maybe now that you know I'm onto you, you'll be better company."

The weatherpony winced at the new name, but nodded. "Alright, I think I can manage not to be a slimeball," he agreed. "And, hey, I might as well go all out, since I've got that much more to apologize for. Chez Snooty?"

Cheerilee smirked. "Now you're speaking my language."