Chisel Point grunted in relief as he hopped into his side of the bed and kicked off his slippers. He’d been waiting for this moment all evening, and now that it was here…

“Ohh, yeah…” he moaned, letting himself melt into the mattress, his lower back and right leg popping audibly. He could already feel himself decompressing after just a few seconds, the bed creaking and groaning quietly as it assumed his weight. He squirmed around a little as he settled in, but he immediately decided to take it slower when sharp pain shot through his side.

That’s gonna be sore for a few days. Just hope Melody doesn’t notice. It was the last day before the deadline he’d set on the contract for a new desk for the mayor’s office, and he’d been rushing all day long trying to finish the remaining few tasks before he could call the project finished. He’d finalized and installed the hoof-carved trim pieces that he’d been working on for the last week, and he’d gone over the whole thing again with fine-grit sandpaper before he moved on to install the pull-out extension panel that slid out from under the desktop.

Chisel cringed as the sound replayed through his head. It was one of the simpler portions of the project, so he’d left it until the last minute. It was as easy as cutting a board to size, something he’d done so many times that he could practically do it blindfolded. There was nothing wrong with the table saw, and he was absolutely sure of that. All of the guards were in place, and he’d been careful to make sure that his measurements were precise.

But he’d been in a rush all morning, and while he lined up the board for its pass through the blade, his mind wandered. He looked away from it for a fraction of a second, and—

“Oh boy, I’m tired.” The bed rattled and shook Chisel from his thoughts. He turned his head to see his wife, Lilting Melody, climbing into bed clad in her usual yellow robe, a towel still wrapped around her mane. She kicked her slippers off and slid herself under the covers with such graceful precision that he barely felt the movement.

“Rough day, huh?” Chisel asked.

Melody turned around to face Chisel. Her face was dotted with a few patches of her wrinkle-removing cream, which made the room smell lightly of mint. She shifted back and forth a few times, rocking the bed gently as she adjusted her position. “Absolutely. Days like today make me wish I’d never quit music school.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, just a whole bunch of lessons that went nowhere. Those foals don’t seem to realize that when I give them a piece to practice, I actually expect them to practice it.” Melody slapped her head back into the pillow and groaned. “It feels like I’ve been stuck teaching the same progressions over and over for the last month. And there’s so much more to the pieces we’re doing, too! I was really excited to start working on the second movement of Promenade Sentimentale with Cotton Cloudy today, but she didn’t rehearse a bit since last week, and I had to spend all of the hour going over that part again.”

“Sheesh, didn’t any of them practice?” Chisel asked.

“Well, yes. I made some progress in some of the other lessons, but I’d been looking forward to that one ever since I decided to teach it a month ago.” Melody paused for a second and looked over at Chisel, and then rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but that still doesn’t make it any more fun to deal with. So anyway, how was your day?”

“Oh, fine. Just fine,” Chisel said. If there was one thing he wanted to avoid, it was telling her about the mishap in the shop. And knowing her, she’d keep prodding him to go into specifics about his day. “Lily, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” she said.

“Do you have any books you’re not reading that I could borrow?”

The reaction was immediate. Melody propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at him with an eyebrow cocked. “I certainly do, but since when have you ever wanted to read a book?”

“You know how Hondo’s crazy about books, right?” he asked, to which Melody nodded. “Well, I figured maybe I could sit down and talk about a book with him for once. Maybe it’d make for a better conversation than just hoofball or work.”

In an instant, Melody’s quizzical look was replaced by an excited grin. “I never thought in a million years that you’d ask me that question!” She threw the covers off and jumped down to the floor, not even bothering with her slippers as she scurried across to her bookshelf on the far wall. “I’ve got one you’re gonna love here somewhere.” She scanned the shelves for a few seconds, craning her neck to get a look at some of the lower shelves. “Aha!” She pulled a paperback out from the bottom row and quickly ran back to the bed, hopping in much less carefully than she had the first time.

“What’s this one?” Chisel asked as the book was slapped down on his chest.

“That, my dear, is Stone Grey. Please tell me you’ve heard of it.”

Chisel turned the book over and eyed the cover, which was exactly like the title. Grey and plain. “Can’t say that I have.”

In turn, Melody scoffed. “Oh, I’m sure you have, you’re just not remembering it. This was voted Novel of the Year by Canterlot Enquirer two years ago. Everypony was talking about it!”

“Still doesn’t ring a bell. I don’t think you were talking to the same ponies I was,” said Chisel.

“You really need to get out more,” she said. “I know you’ll love it. It’s a murder mystery that takes place in a mining camp in the Crystal Mountains.”

“I don’t know, I never did care too much for mysteries.”

“That shouldn’t matter because it gets so juicy about halfway through. It starts out like a simple whodunit, but then everything just shifts right there in the middle. It hardly feels like the same book when you get to the end, but it’s just done so well.”

“Might be worth a shot,” said Chisel, sliding the book over to his nightstand, but he quickly found his gaze returning to the far side of the room, to the little shelf sitting there in the corner by the bathroom door. “When are you gonna let me build you a better bookshelf, Lily? That one’s about to collapse on itself.”

“Is not!” she sang back at him.

“Come on, I’m half blind and I can see from here that the center shelf is bowed,” said Chisel.

Melody blinked. “So what? It gives it character.”

Shifting to a more upright position, Chisel scoffed. “It tells me that I didn’t build things right back in the day. You’ve been using that one since our second anniversary.” He waved a hoof in its general direction. “It’s just made out of cheap plywood I had sitting around that day. I could make you one so much better.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, honey. I like this one just fine.” Melody took Chisel’s hoof, drawing his attention over to her. “And you know why?”

“Because you don’t want to impose?” he offered.

She giggled. “No, because it’s you. Every time I look at it, I remember the day you gave it to me. Or, well, the day I found it out in your shop, still wet with stain while you were passed out on the floor next to it.”

A faint blush colored Chisel Point’s cheeks. “I was hoping you’d forget that.”

“Not a chance,” Melody said. “You were so cute, lying there on the floor with your butt in the air, still wearing your tool belt and safety glasses. I just wish I could have gotten a picture of it!”

The blush deepened. “Stop it.” Chisel muttered, averting his eyes.

Melody laughed a little harder, covering her mouth with a hoof. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about! Stallions can be cute, too.”

“You’re not helping,” Chisel deadpanned.

“Anyway,” Melody said, scooting a little closer to Chisel. “Honey, I like that shelf because you did your best to make something for me. You could have gotten me anything like perfume or a necklace, but you worked hard to make me something special. It isn’t big or fancy, but it’s got a piece of you in it. That’s why I like it.” She leaned in and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

The only reaction her kiss evoked from him was a quiet “Huh.” Truth be told, he didn’t even notice it.

“It isn’t big or fancy, but it’s got a piece of you in it. That’s why I like it.” The sentence played over in his head again, burning itself in like one of Mayor Mare’s campaign slogans. His mind immediately turned back to Cheerilee’s bookshelf. The big, flashy bookshelf that she’d only given him a single thank you for, and that she’d still hardly used after having it for a month.

Is that it? Was it too much?

“Uh, Chisel? Is something wrong?” Melody asked, interrupting his train of thought.

“Huh?” He turned back to her, finding her staring at him, eyes wide with both confusion and concern. “Oh no, nothing wrong. Just got lost in a thought. Sorry.” He smiled, and she seemed to accept it, her eyes softening a bit.

“Well, I guess we’d better get some sleep,” said Melody. “You’d better kiss me back this time.” She leaned in again, but instead went for a kiss on the lips. Of course, she was just a little too short to reach, so she put a hoof on his side to push herself up a little higher.

But then he yelped.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Oh, just got a little bruise there. No big deal!” he said quickly, trying to complete the kiss and deflect her. It didn’t work at all, because she had already lifted the covers to look at his side.

“Oh my word, Chisel!” she said, peering in closer at the deep, gnarly bruise plainly visible through his fur. He shifted a bit to try to hide it, but she held him in place. “That is awful. What happened?”

He sighed. “The table saw kicked me today.”

“And that means…” Melody prompted.

“The blade caught on the board I was cutting and threw it back at me.” He grabbed the covers and pulled them back down, cutting off her view of the wound. “It happens sometimes. Not a huge deal.”

“If it can do that to you, I think it’s a big deal, Chisel! Why did it kick back? Were you going too fast?”

“I…” Chisel paused to think it over for a second. He knew exactly why it had kicked back on him. He’d been in a rush and was distracted by thinking about the ordeal with Cheerilee’s bookcase.

But he couldn’t just up and say that. Celestia knows she’d never let me hear the end of that one. No, he couldn’t do that. He had to be careful. One wrong word and she’d see right through it, twist his hoof until he told the truth, and then he’d be both a klutz and a liar.

“I sneezed and that twisted the board, so the blade caught. It happens sometimes. Just this time I wasn’t lucky and it tagged me.”

That was alright. A nice, believable alibi. Now all that remained was how she took it.

“Well, blow your nose next time you’re about to use that saw. That shop is the dustiest place I’ve ever been in.” She gave him a slight smile before she turned over and settled back into bed.

Success.

“I’ll do that. Thanks for the tip,” he said, scooting down and settling into his own side of the bed. He clicked his lamp off, and hers followed a few seconds after his. “Goodnight, Lily,” he said.

“Nighty night, sleep tight,” said Melody, yawning. She shifted around a bit more before the room fell totally still, ceding to the gentle rhythm of their alarm clocks ticking on the nightstands.

But Chisel hadn’t closed his eyes just yet. He watched the window on the far side of the room with a fixated glare, trying to gather as much of the faint trickle of moonlight flowing in as he could.

I overdid it. Cheerilee doesn’t like the bookshelf because it’s too much. It all made sense now. Cheerilee was a simple, plainclothes sort of mare, just like her mom. Heck, she hadn’t even hinted that she needed a shelf. Of course it would be overwhelming to her to get surprised with such a big gift.

If she needs me, she’ll ask. Right?

The door closed with a quiet click, the last of the foals’ excited chatter fading quickly after, and only then did Cheerilee allow her shoulders to drop. With all of the emotion and sophistication of a teenager grounded on a Friday night, she groaned and slumped back into her chair.

It had been a difficult week, to say the least. Three tests in spelling, math, and geography, on three consecutive days. And homework on top of that. The night before had seen her grading papers until her eyes were ready to fall out of her head, and there was still a sizeable stack of them sitting on the desk in front of her. School may have been out for the week, but she still had plenty of work to keep her busy over the weekend.

And that hadn’t even covered the general malice that the students seemed to have towards her. They had become increasingly lethargic as the week wore on, no doubt due to the hefty workload she’d put on them. With every passing lecture, fewer and fewer ponies showed interest in what she had to say, with the exception of Twist, but even she seemed to look worn down by the end of the week.

That was probably the worst thing about it all. She’d been through college. She knew what it was like to work hard. But up until now, she’d at least been able to keep the attention of the majority of her students. Standing there at the front of the room, preaching to a deaf congregation that couldn’t care less about what she had to say for hours on end wasn’t fun.

“Note to self: Don’t schedule all the tests in one week next time,” she muttered under her breath. With a deep breath, she pulled herself up from her slouch and made quick work of gathering her things. Papers went into binder, binder into saddlebags, and bags onto her back. Something in the back of her mind told her that she was forgetting something, but it didn’t matter. If she did, it was only a five-minute walk away. With that, she turned to the door and—

“Good afternoon.”

Cheerilee nearly jumped out of her skin, letting out a small yelp as she recoiled a few steps back. She shot a quick glance at the door, which was swinging closed behind none other than the pointy-nosed form of Spoiled Rich herself.

“Oh gosh! I didn’t hear you come in,” Cheerilee said, laughing a faintly nervous laugh punctuated with a snort. “Sorry, you just caught me on the way out for the day.”

Spoiled, for her part, didn’t seem amused by the little display in the least, but it was worth noticing that at least her usual disapproving scowl felt a little softer this time. “That’s quite alright. I don’t require much of your time.”

How considerate. Cheerilee made sure not to let her thoughts permeate through to her expressions. The scowls that ponies like Spoiled Rich always wore were infectious, like black holes determined to suck the life out of every room they entered. It took conscious effort to maintain a pleasant facade around her, but it was necessary. After all, Spoiled was kind-of-sort-of her boss.

“What’s going on?” Cheerilee asked.

Spoiled didn’t answer right away. Instead, she took a slow walk to the back of the classroom, inspecting various bits of the room as she went, and paused near one of the windows. “There is too much dust here on the windowsills. We cannot have allergens in the classroom disrupting the performance of our students.”

“...Right. I can take care of that in the morning,” said Cheerilee.

Spoiled Rich turned away from the window and began slowly making her way back towards the front of the room. She snapped a hoof out, pointing at one of the desks on the far wall. “And here, there’s some leftover scribbling and eraser shavings on the desk. These need to be cleaned every night before you leave.”

“Alright, I’ll do that,” said Cheerilee, fighting to keep her words from sounding venomous. “With all due respect, are you just here to talk to me about how clean I’m keeping the classroom, or is there something else?”

“I think you know,” Spoiled said flatly, shooting a glance at Cheerilee, who answered with a slight shake of her head. “The emergency board meeting.”

“Oh, right!” said Cheerilee. “Is something the matter?”

She didn’t respond immediately, first grabbing a chair from the front row and dragging it over towards Cheerilee’s desk. “Have a seat.”

Cheerilee complied, returning to her chair while Spoiled sat down across from her.

“Potential,” said Spoiled, her gaze off somewhere on the far wall. She smiled a little half smile, laughing quietly to herself. “When you started talking about the filly’s potential during the meeting, I have to admit, it brought back memories that I haven’t thought about in a long time.”

“Uh…”

“Let me tell you a story, Cheerilee. I’ve only lived here in Ponyville for a few years, so you wouldn’t have known me before you left for school. But once upon a time, I was in more or less the same horseshoes you’re in right now.”

“Wait, you were—”

“Yes,” she interrupted. “Back before I met my husband, I was a schoolteacher just like you. Bright-eyed, full of pep and ready to go out and make a difference in the world.” Spoiled paused, shifting in her seat and crossing her legs over the other way. “My first day teaching was one of the best days of my life. It was just like I imagined it would be. My students were great, I was knocking the lectures out of the park, I’m sure you know the feeling.”

Cheerilee smiled. “Yes, that first day was pretty great.”

“Indeed. I don’t claim to know how things are going in this class—every single one is different— but it didn’t take long before the romance with my job wore off. Every day, it seemed a little more of that magic that I had on my first day went away. The foals seemed to care less and less about what I had to say, and it didn’t take long before the class averages fell. By the end of the first semester, I felt like I was teaching multiplication tables to a brick wall.

“But that’s just how it goes. I was at a school in the middle of Baltimare, so of course the kids there are going to be more of a challenge than they would be in a place like this.” For the first time during the story, Spoiled looked Cheerilee in the eye. “But in my years of education, I learned one thing that’s true for any classroom anywhere.” She paused, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

“What was that?” Cheerilee asked.

“No matter where you are, no matter what you do, there isn’t a thing you can do to get these students to give a flying feather about you. It’s not a pleasant truth about teaching, but it’s just the territory that mares like us have to deal with. Or, at least I did for a time. I lucked out and married a stallion with money, so I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Cheerilee looked on at the mare with a blank stare, her mind tripping over itself to try and process what she’d just heard. With every try, every time she ran those words through her mind, she felt the pressure at the base of her skull build a little bit more. More than anything, she wanted to just get up and smack the smug grin right off of Spoiled Rich’s pointy-nosed face.

“I know it’s hard to swallow, what with all of that rhetoric they pump you full of in college, but I’ve seen too many mares like you learn this the hard way. It might crush your spirit a bit now, but it’ll be better than finding out the hard way later.”

Maybe Spoiled was expecting her to be beaten down by what she said, but all Cheerilee felt in response it was anger. How dare you! You don’t get to come in here and try to put me in my place! The urge to punch Spoiled right in the jaw was stronger, but then the rational part of her mind spoke up. If she showed emotion, whether it be resignation, anger, whatever it may be, any emotion at all would just let Spoiled win.

“I’ll take that under advisement,” said Cheerilee, fighting to keep her tone as neutral as possible. “But I don’t see what that has to do with the board meeting, the reason you said you came out here to speak with me?”

Spoiled nodded, “Yes, that was a bit of a tangent, and I’ve already kept you here long enough. I’ll be brief.” She produced a note from the front pocket of the pantsuit she was wearing, passing it over to Cheerilee. “After the meeting, I decided to do a little digging on this filly. Well, not so much digging. All I did was read over her files carefully, and I noted something that must be addressed. The filly—”

“Aura,” Cheerilee interjected. Just like Amethyst Star had done at the meeting, Cheerilee decided to use the classic quick correction against Spoiled.

“Right,” said Spoiled. Not quite as satisfying as screaming at her or punching her would have been, but it was a little victory that Cheerilee could take satisfaction in. “A quick look at Aura’s file showed me that she is dangerously behind in nearly all subjects. A grade-point average of 1.01 is remarkably low and is definitely below the standards we hold our students to here in the Ponyville Independent School District.

“We cannot allow students to slip through our school without meeting our standards. Unless she turns herself around in a hurry, I’m afraid we will have no choice but to recommend alternative options for her education.”

Cheerilee’s stomach dropped a few inches. “Those being?”

“There’s a boarding school for troubled fillies in Reinsburg that would do well to straighten her out. Either that, or we release her from our district and allow her parents to decide the best course of action.”

“Reinsburg Academy? A-are you serious?” Cheerilee stammered.

“Indeed I am.”

A bit of her frustration managed to slip through the crack. “Of all the possible options we could surely find, you decide to send her to Reinsburg Academy? Have you not heard the horror stories about that place?”

Spoiled Rich shook her head. “This is a serious case that we’re dealing with here, Cheerilee. I know you probably think I’m heartless for it, but drastic measures need to be taken to ensure that this filly catches back up to where she needs to be. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but Reinsburg is an institution that specializes in cases like this. They’re a bit unorthodox, but they get results.”

“And fillies come out of that school traumatized!” Cheerilee retorted. “There has to be another way.”

“Considering how bad Aura’s problems are, and then factoring in the severe lack of funding that we have in this district, I’m afraid there’s not much else we can do for her.”

Cheerilee slumped back in her chair and let out a sigh. “So, what happens now?”

“We will give her an examination to determine her ability, and if she doesn’t pass that exam, she will have to go to another school that can help her. Simple as that.”

“And what if she passes?” Cheerilee asked.

“It looks unlikely that she will, given her current state. There’s a lot of things for her to catch up on in order to pass that exam. Learning to read above a first-grade level would be a good place to start,” said Spoiled.

While Spoiled talked, Cheerilee found herself studying her hooves, half paying attention while she mulled over a thought in her own head. Aura isn’t dumb. She’s just as smart as any of the other foals in the class, but she’s being held back just because she can’t read normally.

If I can find a way to get her over that hurdle, I can get her ready for that test.

“I don’t like this any more than you do, Cheerilee, but it’s for the best.” Spoiled rose from her seat, dragging her chair back to its place.

“And what if I can get her ready in time for that exam?” Cheerilee asked, a bit more fire in her voice than she wanted to let on.

Spoiled Rich looked over at her, her expression flat and unamused. “Then she can stay. Like I said, I’m not evil. I want Aura to succeed, but unlike you, Cheerilee, I am a realist. If you want to try to help this filly, then I wish you the best of luck. But I want you to remember one thing.”

“That being?”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” With that, Spoiled promptly walked out of the classroom, leaving Cheerilee alone once more.

With the room empty, Cheerilee could finally do what she’d wanted to do for the better part of the last twenty minutes. She hopped down from her chair and immediately kicked her desk as hard as she could. Being that it was a sturdy, hardwood desk, there was no give, and she immediately regretted her decision. She yelped in pain, her hoof stinging and burning enough to make her eyes water.

But despite the pain in her leg, she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. “I cannot stand that mare!” she said aloud, rubbing her aching hoof gingerly. The pain subsided a bit after a few more seconds, and then she set about gathering her things so she could leave.

When she finally left the schoolhouse, the shadows were growing long. As she looked down the dirt path towards Ponyville, the town spread out before her and bathed in the orangey glow of the late afternoon sun, one thought ran through her mind:

I’m gonna prove you wrong, Spoiled Rich.

Author's Notes:

Welcoming a fresh face to the editing crew, my good friend MissytheAngle helped out with whipping this one into shape. Thanks to her and Kestrel for their help.

And yes, I'm sorry it took over a year to get this one out. I've got a little bit of gas in the tank now, so I should be doing a little work here and there in between assignments. It'll happen soon, no worries! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you at the next one!