The Ponyville clock tower rang through the fridge early morning air, it chimed six times to indicate the hour, and then followed through with a lovely concerto of miniature bells as its grand finale. It was at this early hour, when the light of day was washing away the night sky, that a light gray mare could be seen rushing through the streets at an unprecedented speed. "I cannot be late," she would repeat to herself, as she cut through allies, and leaped over any obstacle in her way. By the time the clock read six fifteen, she had at last arrived at her destination; the Ponyville school house. The old building caught the light of the rising Sun quite beautifully, and for a brief moment the mare thought back to her youth, when she attended this very establishment to learn the basic skills required to function in society; it was funny how destiny brought her full circle to this place.

After taking a moment to recompose herself, the gray mare took a deep breath, and with a sense of nervousness she knocked upon the school house door. As she heard hoof steps approaching from beyond the sealed threshold, the mare suddenly felt a shiver run up her spine, all sorts of negative thoughts bombarded her psyche, and a strong fear of failure took firm hold of her heart. When the door immediately opened, the mare did her best to bury her fears behind a mask of confidence, though this "confidence" was merely an illusion that could easily be dispelled if met with something unexpected. Standing before her, bearing a betwixt expression, was Ponyville's sole teacher, and her new employer; Ms. Cheerilee.

"Good morning, Ditzy Doo?" Cheerilee said, a tad confused to see her new assistant a whole two hours before the latter's scheduled shift.

"Good morning, Ms. Cheerilee," Ditzy Doo said with a smiling grin, as she tried in vain to focus her askew vision, and perhaps depict some level of professionalism. "I hope I'm not too late."

"On the contrary, you are actually rather early," Cheerilee said, casting a sidewards glance at the wall clock mounted above the black board.

"Am I really?" Ditzy Doo said, her illusion of confidence slowly cracking away, and a sudden sense of concern building up inside her. "If that is the case I can come back later, when it is more convenient."

"But you live on the other side of town," Cheerilee retorted.

"It is no trouble at all," Ditzy Doo said, already backing up, and making an impression that she was going to bolt home.

"No, no it is fine, you don't need to go home. I'm just a little surprised to see that somepony would report so early for their shift," Cheerilee said with a light chuckle, as she then stepped aside so Ditzy could enter. "Now, please, come inside, and I'll get you up to speed."

Sensing the sincerity in Cheerilee's words, Ditzy Doo regained some of her composure, and gladly entered the classroom. The classroom was small when Ditzy was a filly, but now, as a fully grown mare, it was tiny, and almost cramp. Gazing about with her unique vision, it didn't take Ditzy long to take in the room, not that much has changed since her youth; the room might has well have been a time capsule, or more accurately a time machine. The two adjacent walls, in respect to the black board, were adorned with a combination of student art work, and assignments, from homework to tests. In front of the chalk stained black board was the teacher's desk, made of hard iron wood an stained to a lovely rosy finish, it was the absolute symbol of knowledge and respect; evident by the five by five rows and columns of smaller desks that pointed at it uniformly.

However, as stagnant as the classroom was, there was one object that caught Ditzy's attention. Beside the teacher's desk was another desk, similar to the teacher's, though half as big, and instead of having a rosy finish it was a darker cherry red. The desk by itself, while clearly a new addition, was not that captivating as to shock Ditzy. No, what really caught her off guard was that on the desk was a name plate, identical to the one on the teacher's desk, with one exception; engraved on the metal plate was her name, Ditzy Doo.

"This is your desk, I hope you like it," Cheerilee said with a warm smile.

"I do, thank you very much," Ditzy Doo said, as she laid her saddle bag on the desk, before turning back to face Cheerilee.

"Think nothing of it. Now, please, have a sit in front of my desk," Cheerilee said, taking her seat, and then placing a manila folder, from her center drawer, on top of her desk; it was Ditzy's portfolio. "I want to discuss something interesting I found while reviewing your portfolio."

Anxiety creeping over Ditzy's body, she nervously took the chair from behind her desk, and then sat down. For a minute or two both mares sat in silence, Cheerilee quietly thumbed through the portfolio, while Ditzy simply trembled uncontrollably and assumed the utter worst.

"Here we are," Cheerilee said, breaking Ditzy's train of thought, and drawing her full attention. Turning Ditzy's portfolio towards the mare in question, Cheerilee pointed at a particular document that had her ponder Ditzy's initial employment. "Now then, when you first turned over your portfolio to me, I have to say I was mesmerized by its layout, and careful attention to detail. Most high level professionals don't have record keeping this good, but I digress. What really caught my eye was this document, which states that you not only have a perfect four point o, but have a Ph.D. in Reading and Writing, respectively. It just begs the question, why are you seeking employment as a teacher's assistant, and not as a college professor, or at least a high school teacher?"

"Um...Well you see I..." Ditzy's words were unintelligible, she knew what she wanted to say, but her fear of saying the wrong thing turned it all into a train wreck of fragmented sentences. This was not a way to make a good first impression, already Ditzy was afraid that Cheerilee would terminate her employment; after all what good was an assistant who could not convey her thoughts properly. In the end Ditzy suddenly broken down, her cracked mask of confidence finally broken, and her true self laid bear for her employer to see; she felt pathetic, and useless. Cheerilee was stupefied by this display, "Did I say something wrong?" she wondered as Ditzy suddenly got up, and, forgetting her saddle bag, bolted out of the room.

"Ditzy wait! Come back! I'm sorry!" Cheerilee shouted, but she was too late, Ditzy was already half way down the street. "Damn it Cheerilee, what did you say this time?"

Raising from her chair, Cheerilee dashed after the broken pegasi, and dared against fate that she would catch up to her. Ditzy ran and ran as fast as she could, her teary eyes clouded her vision, and her constant whimpering drew the attention of many a passer by, but she didn't care. It wasn't long till she heard a voice cry out to her, it was Cheerilee; "Oh, she must be so angry," Ditzy thought, and she ran even faster. However she failed to mind her surroundings, and ended up tripping on a garden hose, causing her to crash into a pile of crates stacked on the side of the road.

"Ditzy! Ditzy, are you okay?! Can you hear me?!" Cheerilee spastically said, as she watched Ditzy wobble up to her feet.

"I'm so sorry," Ditzy said, tears flowing from her eyes.

"Why are you apologizing? If anypony should apologize it should be me," Cheerilee said as she grabbed hold of Ditzy's left shoulder to steady the pegasi's balance.

"No, this is all my fault. If I just said what was on my mind earlier..."Ditzy said letting out a heavy breath, followed by more tears. "I'm sorry I wasted your time. I'll get my saddle bag, and go home. I promise not to bother you anymore."

"Now you stop that this instant!" Cheerilee sternly said, her expression now harsh and angry. "I don't know where this is coming from, but it stops here and now! You are an intelligent Pony that can be anything she wants to be, and you should never think anything less. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ditzy said, as her eyes quickly dried up, and her fears of incompetence was replaced with a fear of Cheerilee. "I'm so..."

"An stop apologizing, you have done nothing wrong," Cheerilee said, and when Ditzy nodded nervously as a response, Cheerilee adopted her cheery disposition again. "That is better. Now come on, I still have to explain what I need you to do for me during your shift. Oh, and don't worry if you have a hard time formulating your thoughts. Just do what I do, take a deep breath, and then calmly say what comes to mind. It usually works out, sometimes."

"Yes, ma'am" Ditzy Doo responded, but once again she was met with another stern glare.

"That is another thing, don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel old, just call me Cheerilee, or if you must be professional about it Ms. Cheerilee will suffice as well," Cheerilee said, though secretly she hated being called Ms. too, but compromises were a fact of life.

"Okay, Ms. Cheerilee," Ditzy Doo said, this time a glimmer of genuine confidence peaking through the torrent of negativity, and a smile accompanied it; "It is a start," Cheerilee said to herself.

"Right then, back to the school house. Tally ho!" Cheerilee said, as she assumed a silly pose of standing on her two back hooves, with her body facing to the side, her head parallel to her left shoulder, and her left fore hoof pointed out straight at the school house, while her right hoof rested on her right flank.

Ditzy Doo couldn't help but laugh at Cheerilee's ridiculous antics, as she slowly walked by Cheerilee; sort of pretending that she didn't know the silly maroon mare. "That is more like it," Cheerilee said quietly out loud, as she then broke her pose, caught up with Ditzy, and then walked, in silence, back to the school house.