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Saturday School Day Special


brianblackberry

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Cheerilee

It was that time of the year again, the Saturday after Winter Wrap Up, the first of a few Saturdays when Ponyville Primary School teacher Cheerilee did her annual conference with each of her students and their guardians. As much as students disliked having to be at the school on a Saturday, even for an hour, these yearly evaluations were very important for the foals' future, for they helped each student better succeed with their education in the school, and just as importantly, help them further figure out where they want to go once they graduate from the little red schoolhouse.

For Cheerilee, sacrificing a few Saturdays for the sake of her students education was well worth it. She felt it was her purpose in life to make sure every foal in Ponyville had the best education possible, armed with the knowledge and the skills to know where they wanted to move onto in the next stage of their lives. It was during their years in her school that just about every filly and colt of Ponyville discovered their special talent after all, giving the mauve earth mare a golden opportunity to help each little pony best utilize their newly discovered talents and help them blaze their own individual path to adulthood.

Cheerilee sat at her hay bale "stool" with her morning coffee and lifted the first of many manila folder onto her rarely uncluttered desk. There was a full day ahead, so an early morning start was necessary. First student on that list was written across the unusually thick folder, "Haywire".

Hopefully the farmer filly will be on time, and just as important, who was she bringing with her?

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9DmcOs.jpgHaywire

4c6Aws.jpgHaymaker

"Aw! I wanted Hayseed ta come with me, not YOU!" Haywire snorted as she walked towards Cheerilee's office with her older sister, the lanky red maned mare called Haymaker.

"Nothin' doin', little sister!" Haymaker neighed, "I'm in charge of the Hay Family and as many times as I've been called in because of yur antics, I should have a permanent chair in yur teacher's office!"

"But I've been good this semester, I even brought mah grades up a little..."

"A little ain't good enough! If ya didn't spend so much time with yur slingshots and treehouse things, you'd be doin' better in school! I hope yur teacher agrees with me, cause if'n she don't.."

"Yur gonna punch her?"

"Yeah.. er.. I mean NO! Of course not! I wouldn't do somethin' like that! What's the matter with you?"

"Well sis, punchin's usually how ya solve most problems."

"Now hush up, we're here!" Haymaker neighed as she knocked on Cheerilee's office door. "Miss Cheerliee, it's Haymaker an' Haywire, may we come in?"

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Cheerilee opened the dossier before her; usually the manila envelopes on each student were pretty thin, often no more than a report card and various notes about the student’s progress, but Haywire’s was thick; thick with weekly, almost daily detention reports, copies of letters sent home, and various receipts from building contractors for repeated minor damages to the schoolhouse from the blond maned filly’s antics.

It wasn’t all detention notices and copies of invoices to repair the school bell, or roof, or windows though, there was the most important paper of them all, Haywire’s grade sheet from the year thus far. As long as Cheerilee has taught the little filly, Haywire had almost always just manage to squeak by with her assignments, doing just enough to maintain a ‘D’ average, but lately her grades have been really improving! This more than anything is what the mauve colored teacher wanted to talk about.

Cheerilee only had a moment to contemplate on this before she heard a knock on her office door, they were here! She trotted over and opened it, giving a large smile of encouragement, “welcome! Glad that you were able to attend! It is nice to see you again Miss Haymaker, it has been… Umm… An entire week, since last Saturday actually.” Little Haywire probably held the record for most Saturday detentions in school history, and it was almost always her older sister who came to pick her up afterwards. At least this time the circumstances were more pleasant. “How are you Haywire? Doing well I hope? I’ll be sure to make this fast so you can enjoy the rest of this beautiful day! I promise this won’t even take an hour!”

The schoolmare sat back behind her desk and held her hoof out, motioning to the chairs on the other side for her guests to sit. “Well we have plenty to discuss. As you know, we do this each year to evaluate each student’s process and help them and their families decide where they want to go after they graduate from the school, although that is a couple years off still for Haywire. Actually what is really interesting is her grades this year! Oh! Did you have any questions before we begin?”

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Haymaker and Haywire entered the office, the red maned mare leading the way. Little Haywire looked very nervous as she took her seat.

"Yeah, a whole week!" Haymaker said with a forced smile as she then turned towards her little sister, "that thar must be some kind of new record, ain't it?"

Haywire frowns at her sister's remarks and then replies to the greeting from her teacher.

"I'm doin' jist fine, Miss Cheerilee."

"We'll see about that," Haymaker said sternly as she turned back towards the teacher pony. "Please Miss Cheerliee, take as much time as ya need! We are discussin' Haywire's future here."

The two sisters listened as Cheerilee continued speaking and then asked for questions.

"Yeah, I have one," Haywire said as she pointed at Haymaker, "does SHE haveta be here fer this?"

"Of course I have to be here! You're gonna have-a great future little sister, even if I haveta grab ya by yur tail and drag ya to it! GOT THAT?"

"Yeah sis," Haywire said, looking even more nervous and shaky in her seat.

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Cheerilee smiled awkwardly as the two sisters quipped at each other; it was all too typical, although that didn't make it any less uncomfortable for the school teacher. At least this time it didn't involve the usual unpleasantness revolving around seemingly weekly pickup of Haywire from her Saturday detention. This time Cheerilee actually had some good news!

The mauve earth pony chuckled quietly at Haywire's question, "well it is good thing your sister is here; she is showing that she is supportive of you and cares deeply about your future, and only wants the best for you." It was such a typical teacher answer, but it was accurate. She was sure that behind all the blustering, Haymaker really just wanted Haywire to be a success, the rest was just typical sibling banter. "Haymaker is right, this is all about your future and where you want to go after you graduate from primary school; although that is a few years off yet, we strive to do our best to make sure you will be fully prepared to make that decision to continue regular schooling, specialized schooling, or go into some sort of apprenticeship."

The purple school mare sorted through what seemed like reams of detention notes to finally locate the first paper she was looking for: Haywire's report card. She looked back up at the pair with a very matter-of-fact, flat expression. "Well as you both know, for the first part of the year before the Hearth Warming Break, Haywire had been struggling in most subjects, getting below average marks in all subject areas except the sciences." Cheerilee moved forward a copy of the all too familiar report card for the first half of the year, for the most part it repeatedly sported the letter "D" in bold red next to the subject lines.

She moved out another sheet, this one was much more detailed, with all sorts of notes written next to the names of various assignments for the Spring semester completed thus far. Cheerilee mulled over the sheet for a moment with a serious, almost grim expression before she looked back up at the pair and suddenly gave a warm smile. "Well I am happy to report that Haywire's grades have seen a significant improvement this semester! Did you know Haywire, thus far you have been holding a "C" average in all but two subject areas? That is the best you have done since you started here at Ponyville Primary! There are only two areas were your grade is different, science and composition!"

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Conversation began as the two sisters responded to Cheerilee's statements and questions:

"well it is good thing your sister is here; she is showing that she is supportive of you and cares deeply about your future, and only wants the best for you."

"Reckon ya gotta point thar, Miss Cheerilee," Haywire admitted as Haymaker smiled so wide her teeth glowed.

"Haymaker is right, this is all about your future and where you want to go after you graduate from primary school; although that is a few years off yet, we strive to do our best to make sure you will be fully prepared to make that decision to continue regular schooling, specialized schooling, or go into some sort of apprenticeship."

"Of course I'm right, I'm ALWAYS right!" Haymaker shouted proudly.

"Except when yur wrong," the blank flank filly said with a laugh.

"Mind yur manners, little sister! I'm never wrong!"

"What about the time when ya said that cave by the river was empty? Ya rushed in it an' got stung a buncha times by an angry swarm of hornets!"

"Well, ok, I was wrong about that.."

"And the time ya said that new berry ya found in the woods was safe ta eat. We all ended up in the hospital after ya baked a pie with'm in it and then thar was the time.."

"Hush up now! Yur teacher don't wanna hear 'bout stuff like that!"

"Well as you both know, for the first part of the year before the Hearth Warming Break, Haywire had been struggling in most subjects, getting below average marks in all subject areas except the sciences."

"See thar Haywire? It's like I said, yur not tryin' hard enough!" Haymaker snorted.

"I am tryin', sis! Hear Miss Cheerilee out first, will ya?" Haywire pleaded.

"Well I am happy to report that Haywire's grades have seen a significant improvement this semester! Did you know Haywire, thus far you have been holding a "C" average in all but two subject areas? That is the best you have done since you started here at Ponyville Primary! There are only two areas were your grade is different, science and composition!"

"See sis? I told ya I was doin' better!"

"Better ain't good enough!" Haymaker snorted. "Maybe I orta tear down that thar silly treehouse of yurs! Ya spend too much time thar as it is!"

"But that's where mah lab is and mah telescope fer lookin' up in the sky and mah greenhouse where.."

"Ya mean ya kept all them things that flyin' menace Perfesser Krashkop gived ya? What does that old coot know, besides how ta crash land?"

"He's mah friend an' he says I'm smart!"

"Yur jist a prankster that needs ta stop prankin' and start more book learnin'! I want ya ta be the first Hay family member ta go ta college!"

"But you an' mah brother didn't go ta college and ya turned out purty good, except fer the fact that you yell a lot.."

"I DON'T YELL A LOT!" Haymaker shouted before realizing she had raised her voice. "Oh, sorry bout that, Miss Cheerilee."

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Cherrilee momentarily sat there with a stunned expression her face, her eyes wide and pupils dilated as she listened to the siblings go back and forth, regaling embarrassing stories about each other with an enthusiasm that could only come from sibling rivalry. Cheerilee didn’t have any siblings herself, an uncommon circumstance among earth ponies, who trend towards large families traditionally, so she wasn’t used to such displays even though she had always been curious to what it would have been like to grow up with brothers and sisters.

When Haymaker apologized for her loud demeanor, Cheerilee just smiled, “that’s alright. This is all good news actually! I understand that you want to see Haywire’s grades to get even better, so do I. It’s my hope and my job to see that each student gets the most out of their time here. The fact Haywire is now pulling a “C” average is something to celebrate, as it is the best she has ever done in all her time here, but I think we could all agree that she could be even better! Don’t you think so Haywire?”

“As I have mentioned earlier, Haywire, your two exceptions are in the sciences and composition. From your umm… conversation, with your sister here, you sound like you really enjoy science since you have a telescope and a lab! Impressive! So I guess it is no surprise you have an A- in the sciences right now.” She turned to Haymaker, “she is quite the inventive little pony, which is great, although it does get a little out of control sometimes, so we will have to discuss that a little. Still, I would love to keep encouraging her in this area while focusing on channeling her skills in a constructive way, and I believe it would help her greatly if she received similar encouragement at home.”

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"Encourage her? ENCOURAGE HER?" Haymaker neighed. "all she does in that thar lab of hers is invent MISCHIEF!"

"That ain't true!" Haywire shouted. "Didn't I come up with a way ta make elastic bands outta the sap of them trees the Perfesser gived me?"

"Yeah, after ya pertin near blew up yur treehouse mixin' up at stuff ya use in them crazy rockets of yurs!"

"HAY! It wasn't THAT big of an explosion! That's why I had that emergency drop hatch built in so I didn't git hurt!"

"When are ya gonna grow up an' join the real world? Rockets, slingshots and pranks ain't gonna git ya nowhere!"

"You furgot ta mention mah frog an' snake collections. Ya know how hard them critters is ta catch an.."

"An' ya need to give all that up ta do more book learnin'!" Haymaker shouted as she turned towards Cheerilee. "YOU agree with me, don't ya? Tell mah sister ta stop all this nonsense and git ta learnin' more important things!"

"All of mah hobbies are important ta me!" Haywire neighed as her eyes began to fill with tears. "Why can't ya see this, sis? Hayseed thinks .."

"Keep yur brother outta this! He's a goofy dreamer.."

"He's a genius and I wanna be like him! He kin fix anything an' he's good at it!"

Now the two sisters faced each other, staring into each other's eyes with angry looks.

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Cheerilee watched with great consternation and worry, this wasn’t going the way she had hoped; in fact it wasn’t going well at all! She hoped that revealing that Haywire was doing well in the sciences and that the blond filly had an active interest in some academics would be seen as good news, something positive to build upon for an otherwise struggling student. Instead she found that Haywire’s sister was anything but happy, Cheerilee needed to find some sort of compromise solution and quick!

The school mare stood up and walked over in between the two sisters who almost looked like they were going to come to blows, “ponies please! There is no reason to be upset over this. This is a good thing!“ Cheerilee sighed and did her best to give an disarming smile in hopes she can defuse the situation through thoughtful reasoning. “Miss Haymaker, you said before that you hoped that Haywire would be the first in your family to attend a university. Of course when you attend higher learning, you go for a specific major. Haywire here is showing special amplitude for the sciences. When I say encourage, we should be working together, you, I, and Haywire, in discovering what field of science little Haywire is most interested in, if indeed this is her destiny.”

Cheerilee turned to her red coated student, “Your sister is right about one thing, we need to make sure you spend more time and effort in other areas of study. Universities will not allow prospective students in if they don’t show they can be at least proficient in all general subject matter.” Of course university was a very long way off, but if Haywire hoped to at least finish grammar school, her grades needed to at least stay at the level she currently managing.

The purple school mare walked back over to her desk and sat back down, “now I am sure we can find some constructive way for Haywire to explore her interests in a controlled environment, perhaps some extra-curricular activities helping the local science club; their mostly older fillies and colts but there is no reason why Haywire couldn’t participate. What do you both think?”

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The two quarreling sisters stopped their argument when Cheerilee came between them. Both listened intensely to what the teacher mare was saying, causing both of them to think.

"Y'know Miss Cheerilee," Haymaker said in a calmer voice, "that ain't such a bad idear at that! After all, if'n mah sister's gonna do science stuff anyhow, maybe the Science Club will help her do it right!"

"Science Club?" Haywire asked herself as the filly thought. "Ya think them older ponies would want ME ta join'm?"

"Why not!" Haymaker neighed proudly as the lanky red maned mare reached over to hug her younger sister. "Yur jist as good as they are! If'n they give ya a hard time, I'll come over thar and knock some sense inta'm!"

"Er..ok.." Haywire said in an uneasy voice.

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