Wednesday, March 16, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Don't get cocky when things go your way. It's easier to lose everything than you can begin to imagine.

Morning

At the beginning of homeroom, Mr. Turner instructs us all to log into Canterbook for a live streaming announcement from Principal Celestia.

"Good morning, students. As many of you know, Ms. Lobster, our Family Planning teacher and tennis team coach, chose to leave our Canterlot High family last week. We are still searching for a permanent replacement to take over her Family Planning classes, so those of you taking that elective will have a series of substitute teachers for the foreseeable future.

"As for the tennis team, as of this morning, I am pleased to welcome a new member of our faculty, Ms. Chrysalis, who will be assuming coaching duties effective immediately. It may take a while for her to learn the ropes, but I'm confident that our tennis team members will help her in every way they can while we all adjust to this change.

"Additionally, our esteemed Economics teacher, Mrs. Penny Pincher, informed me recently that she is retiring after this school year. Beginning this fall, Ms. Chrysalis will replace her."

Celestia steps aside, and Chrysalis steps in front of the camera, smiling.

"Hello, students and teachers! I'm excited about this new opportunity, and I'm looking forward to being part of Canterlot High's wonderful faculty! I look forward to meeting the tennis team this afternoon!"

Celestia makes a couple other announcements about parking permits and some issues with littering, then ends the stream. There's a few minutes of gossip, then Mr. Turner calls us all to attention and begins the lecture.

Lunch

Papillon, Cricket, and Katydid join us for lunch. I introduce them to my friends, who introduce themselves.

"So, these girls are Ms. Chrysalis' kids?" Twilight asks. She shifts awkwardly. "Umm...I just want you to know, I don't think what happened to your mother was entirely fair."

Papillon snorts. "We're not like, talking about that. Ever."

"Besides, Papillon doesn't know enough about what happened to talk about it," Katydid says with a smirk.

"But we're super-glad she's coming to work here!" Pinkie says. "I'm on the tennis team and I can't wait to meet her!"

"Yeah, talk about a lucky break," Cricket says. "So what happened with your old tennis coach, anyway?"

"Really bad breakup," I say.

"Yeah, she had a pretty bad meltdown," Pinkie agrees.

"Of course, the breakup wasn't the only thing, but...none of us really know what else was going on in her personal life. The only one who really knows is Coco Pommel. She's the tennis team captain."

"Oh hey, I think she's in some of our classes!" Katydid says. "Short hair, looks younger than she is?"

"That's her," I say.

"Wow, she's the team captain? But she's a sophomore!"

"Oh, she took over as team captain after she beat the old captain in a tennis match," Pinkie says. She grins. "It was just like a TV drama!"

Chrysalis' daughters look at each other, bemused. "What kind of cuckoo school is this?" Papillon asks.

I cough. "So...your mom's gonna be teaching Economics this fall?"

"Yeah," Katydid says. "She's gonna start working on earning a teaching certificate right away. With her background, she's way overqualified, so...yeah."

"It's less a job and more something to do with herself," Cricket says. "I mean, we're not hurting for money even after...what happened, as long as we're careful."

For the rest of lunch, we make smalltalk, getting to know Chrysalis' daughters.

After School

Everyone's early for tennis practice today. We find Chrysalis waiting on the court, wearing a short-sleeved white polo shirt, khakis, and tennis shoes. She has a tablet computer and stylus in hand, and a whistle hanging around her neck. Coco is standing beside her, watching us all arrive and talking to her.

"Everyone's here? Good," Chrysalis says. "Good afternoon, everyone! My name is Chrysalis, and I'm your new tennis coach. I've heard good things about this group, and I'm told your girls' team is already undefeated this season!"

Applause rings out.

"Today I'm just going to observe and get a sense of this team's rhythm," Chrysalis says. "Your captain will direct today's practice."

"Alright, everyone!" Coco shouts. "Girls, we need to work on doubles! We're up against Crystal Prep this weekend and that's their strong suit! Boys, five laps, then start on serving drills! After twenty minutes, switch to return drills against the machines until I call time!"

Practice proceeds as normal, with Chrysalis observing and taking notes. Coco has to get after some of the boys for slacking off a couple of times, but for the most part we're all determined to make a good impression on our new coach.

After practice, I shower and change; I come out to find Chrysalis helping Derpy put away the equipment. I decide to give them a hand. Chrysalis smiles at me. "Well, if it isn't the young man I have to thank for this," she says. "According to Principal Celestia, you're quite the problem solver!"

I shrug. "I have good ideas sometimes," I say. "It's really other people who make them work."

Chrysalis raises an eyebrow. "Don't sell yourself short," she says. "Here I was, sitting at home on Monday, thinking about going after a job in real estate, which I have absolutely no interest in, and then out of nowhere, I get this call from the principal, and then my own daughters bring it up. All because you remembered my interest in tennis from a five-minute conversation at a cafe. I've known CEOs with less initiative." She smiles and stretches. "Anyway, I have a feeling this might actually be fun...I'm glad you set this into motion."

"I'm just glad it worked out," I say.

"Well, I'll see you Friday," Chrysalis says. "We're playing Crystal Prep on Saturday, right?" She grins. "That's my alma mater. This should be interesting..."

After stopping off to get a soda, I head back to the dorm.

Evening

I've just set foot in the dorm when Rarity asks me to help with dinner. We make something I wouldn't have expected from Rarity: teriyaki beef stir-fry with bean sprouts, snow peas, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots, as well as fried wontons and shrimp egg rolls. Making enough of all this for the whole dorm takes some time; by the time we're done, everybody's hungry and waiting.

"So," Celestia asks, "how was your first day with Coach Chrysalis?"

"Awesome!" Pinkie says. "I think she'll work out just fine!"

"She sure seemed to enjoy herself," I say.

"I'm glad," Celestia says.

After dinner, I do my homework, get in a little guitar practice, and head for bed.

All in all, today was a good day...