Applejack was not a pony to drink tea recreationally. Tea parties weren’t really her scene, but she nonetheless took Fluttershy up on her invitation for tea at her cottage today. It would take some time out of her workday, but it wasn’t a harvest season yet so she could make up for it later.
“All the advice ponies seem ta have is about how ta get foals ta be obedient an’ polite,” Applejack said, “But with Green it seems ta be tha opposite problem.”
“So she’s too obedient?” asked Fluttershy, “That’s not a bad problem to have if you ask me.”
Applejack sighed.
“Trying ta get her to admit when something bothers her is like pullin’ teeth.” said Applejack, “If ah ask her ta do somethin’ she’ll just do it, even if it hurts her.”
“Oh my,” Said Fluttershy, “You wouldn’t ask her to do anything dangerous though?”
“Remember, last night when I forgot to give her dinner?” Applejack said
Fluttershy nodded.
“Well, when I got her some food she ate so fast I was worried she would choke,” Applejack explained, “She was too scared to tell me she was hungry after I told her to go to bed.”
“Oh the poor little thing!” exclaimed Fluttershy.
“When ah got up in the morning, Green was already awake, standing to attention in the kitchen - An’ then ah found out Granny had put soap in her mouth!” Applejack vented, “She din’t even complain, she jus’ stood there until ah gave her permission ta be excused.”
“Why would Granny put soap in her mouth?” asked Fluttershy
“Apparently Green used a bad word.” Applejack said, “Ah just don’t know how to convince her that it’s okay to say ‘no’ ta me.”
“It sounds like she’s afraid of your disapproval,” said Fluttershy, “Have you tried explaining why you want her to do things?”
“Well, Ah explained why she had ta go ta school.” said Applejack, “Ah hope she’s doin’ alright. She was so anxious it was making her feel sick.”
“Wait, so she refused to go to school?” Fluttershy asked
“She begged for my permission not ta go ta school.” Applejack explained, “Ah jus’ told her that she didn’t go ta school Ah’d get in trouble an’ then ah wouldn’t be able to look after her anymore. She didn’t fuss anymore after that.”
“Oh no!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “I, er... nevermind.”
“What is it?”
“I mean, I don’t want to worry you,” said Fluttershy meekly, “But I think Green might have taken that in a way you didn’t intend.”
Fluttershy took a sip of her tea and Applejack waited for her to continue.
“Well, it sounds like she finally worked up the courage to tell you she was afraid to do what you asked,” Fluttershy said, “And then you may have, not on purpose, implied that she would be kicked out of her new home if she didn’t do what you say.”
Applejack swallowed as she looked at her own reflection in her cup of tea. It tasted bitter despite the sugar she’d heaped into it.
The bitter taste persisted in her mouth as she arrived at the schoolhouse to see Cheerilee arguing with a clearly distraught Green.
“What’s goin’ on here?” asked Applejack, “Are you alright Sweetpea?”
“I’m fine.” I said, “Let’s just go.”
Cheerilee sighed.
“We should probably talk in my office.” Said Cheeilee, “Green can stay or go if she likes.”
Much as I wanted to go home and take a nap, I had to know what they were saying about me. There had been entirely too many misunderstandings up to this point.
I wordlessly followed Applejack and Cheerilee back to the schoolhouse, my tiny hooves leaden with equal parts fatigue and dread.
Most of the class had left as soon as class was released, but there were still some ponies hanging around, no doubt to see the outcome of the confrontation between student and teacher.
I could imagine them all saying “Oooh, Green’s in trouble!”
They didn’t say it, but I could see it in their expressions.
When we got back to Cheerilee’s office I was leaning against one of Applejack’s forelegs to stay upright. I knew I couldn’t sit down or I would fall asleep. AJ’s coat was soft and warm, even if it was coated in a layer of dirt from working out in the fields. I didn’t have to worry about that anymore since it wouldn’t make my skin itch. Heh.
“Well,” said Cheerilee, “As you may have gathered, Green hasn’t had a good first day.”
While the filly was making a valiant effort to stay awake, it was clear she was fighting a losing battle. Applejack had been warned that if Green had a magic surge she would be very fatigued, so she wasn’t too worried about Green physically; emotionally though, she had clearly had a very rough first day of school.
Applejack felt somewhat responsible. She’d forced Green to go to school on the understanding that she’d be removed from her care if she didn’t go to school. The farm-pony had said it rather casually, but she hadn’t really considered how deeply Green might be affected by it. Green had immediately changed her tune, but, rather than just understanding the reason Applejack was making her go to school, the filly was probably terrified of being kicked out of her new home.
She looked down to see that Green’s eyes were closed, and her legs were locked; she’d fallen asleep standing up.
“Is she alright?” asked Cheerilee
“She had a magic surge,” asked Applejack softly, “Didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Well they told me if she has a magic surge she’ll be real tired after an’ go straight ta sleep.” Applejack explained.
“You can put her on the sickbed if you like.” Said Cheerilee
While ponies were entirely capable of sleeping standing up, Green would wake up aching all over if Applejack let her sleep like that.
Careful not to wake the sleeping filly, Applejack picked Green up and tucked her into bed. The two adults moved to the other side of the long room before they continued the conversation.
“Green isn’t coping well with a school environment,” Cheerilee explained. “She was too shy to ask to use the bathroom during class, and then after class she was in such a rush she ran into the wrong bathroom - and while that could just be first day jitters, when she realized what she’d done she gave herself a full-blown panic attack.”
“Ah was afraid a’ that,” said Applejack
“As for her academic performance, you’re right, she does seem clever,” said Cheerilee, “She’s very articulate for her age, but emotionally? She’s cynical but without the maturity to accept it stoically, much as she tries. All her cleverness is focused on figuring out how everything is going to go wrong and why any attempt to help is doomed to failure.”
“So how did she end up having a magic surge?” asked Applejack
“It seems one of the other students was bullying her.”
“They what?” The floorboards creaked dangerously as Applejack’s earth pony magic twisted the floor beneath her.
Cheerilee took a step back involuntarily, hooves raised to placate the fuming mare.
“I can assure you I dealt with it as soon as it came to my attention.” said Cheerilee, “Green has obviously had a very negative experience with her previous school. She was absolutely certain that anything I did to try and stop the bullying would only make it worse.”
“And ya just listened ta her?”
“Of course not,” Said Cheerilee, “The first time I just forced her to apologize to Green, but for the second incident there will be consequences.”
“Then why was Green the one ya were hollerin’ at?” Applejack questioned
“She told the filly that was bullying her to jump down a well.”
“And?” said Applejack, “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with tellin’ a jerk ta go soak their head.”
“Green was very clear that she wanted her to die.” explained Cheerilee, “She seemed to think it was the only way to stop her from bullying her and her friends.”
“Her friends?” Asked Applejack, “Wait just a minute, don’t tell me this was Diamond Tiara again.”
Cheerilee sighed. “I don’t think Diamond Tiara is the real problem here.”
“Ya mind running that past me again?”
If she didn’t word her next sentence right Cheerilee was worried that Applejack might leave hoofprints in the hardwood floor.
“Not that Green is the problem!” Cheerilee assured, “I just think Green is projecting the feelings she had for bullies at her old school onto Diamond Tiara.”
“So yer tellin’ me that not only is that filly still bullyin’ ma little sister after ya said you’d deal with it,” Applejack said, “But now she’s bullyin’ Green too on her first day ‘a school?”
“From how the other foals tell it,” said Cheerilee, “Green exploded just because Diamond gave an insincere apology. What Diamond did isn’t right, and I just got done talking to her about it before I went to get Green’s side of the story, but Green clearly has issues that go beyond just what happened today.”
“And what about ma little sister?”
“Applebloom has one group of friends, and Diamond has another.” said Cheerilee, “They don’t interact much anymore. If they start antagonizing each-other I can step in, but I can’t force them to be friends.”
“Ah guess that makes sense.” said Applejack, “So what was Diamond apologizing for?”
“Diamond was making fun of Green for not knowing how many days there were in a year.” said Cheerilee, “I think Green was feeling insecure and she just said a random number as a joke, but it didn’t land. She can be very sarcastic.”
Applejack looked over at the sleeping filly’s fragile form.
“She was fidgeting a lot during class and not paying attention.” said Cheerilee, “At first I thought she might be a bit hyperactive, but as it turns out she was just trying not to let anypony know she needed to use the restroom. She’s not the first student I’ve had with anxiety issues, though she is on the more extreme end.”
“Well, Ah did warn ya.”
“And Applebloom too I gather,” said Cheerilee, “She spotted that Green was having a panic attack immediately and tried to comfort her. Green kept saying she was fine until I took her back to my office to calm down.”
Applejack felt a swell of pride at her sister’s thoughtfulness, but it was tempered with concern.
“After I spoke with her, she was much calmer in the second class.” said Cheerilee, “Though she still wasn’t paying much attention. She had her eyes closed - I think she was testing to see if I’d react; she seems determined to prove other ponies are out to get her.”
“Ah’m thinking she might not be ready to go to school.” said Applejack, “Ah’ll discuss it with her social worker. She was going to schedule some therapy sessions for Green, but I haven’t heard back about that yet.”
“I don’t entirely disagree,” said Cheerilee, “She definitely needs therapy, and maybe a couple days off, but given time I think she could settle into the class alright. Applebloom and her friends seem to have already taken her in as one of their own.”
Cheerilee breathed a sigh of relief as the farmer finally stepped away from her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just survived an interrogation.
As Applejack approached the cot she noticed, despite the filly’s best efforts to hide it, that Green was awake.
“Do ya really think Green meant what she said about Diamond Tiara?” Asked Applebloom
The crusaders were standing guard outside the schoolhouse waiting for Green to return.
“I mean she did sound a bit psycho.” Scootaloo winced at Applebloom’s glare, “What? She did!”
“She was just scared.” Applebloom insisted
“She didn’t sound scared,” said Sweetie Belle, “Just really, really angry. You don’t think she would actually hurt Diamond Tiara do you?”
“Well it’s not like she wouldn’t deserve it,” said Scootaloo
“We’re not throwing Diamond Tiara in a well,” Applebloom stated in a flat tone.
“I don’t want her to die!” Scootaloo waved her hooves placatingly, “I just - you can’t tell me you’ve never wanted to buck her in the face.”
“Ah guess,” Applebloom admitted, “But Green’s barely met her - and you know Tiara isn’t going to leave her alone now. What’s going to happen next time?”
“Speaking of next time,” Scootaloo mumbled under her breath.
Applebloom turned to see that the pink Filly in question was approaching them with her friend Silver Spoon.
“Haven’t ya done enough?” asked Applebloom
The pink filly grinned. “Once my daddy hears about how that new filly tried to kill me she won’t be allowed at this school anymore.”
“No-pony tried to kill you Diamond.” said Scootaloo, “Just leave us alone.”
“It was very traumatic,” said Diamond Tiara, “I’ll make sure she gets taken away so she doesn’t beat you up again Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo rubbed at her bruise involuntarily.
“It was an accident,” the pegasus bristled, “But if you keep talking I can give you a matching one.”
“Looks like Green isn’t the only one I have to tell daddy about.”
Tiara flicked her hair as she walked away.
“Blank flanks.”
“You awake, Sweetpea?” she asked softly
The filly stretched and yawned. “Unfortunately.”
“It’s time to go.” said Applejack, “Are you up for walking, or would you like me to carry you?”
The filly looked embarrassed. “I’ll walk.”
Despite straining my hearing I could barely make out any of the conversation. My horn hurt, though not quite as bad as it had after my first magic surge. The crusaders had been waiting for us outside the schoolhouse, which I guess meant they really considered me one of them. Which sucked because that meant they would want to include me in all their activities, and I couldn’t turn them down all the time because then they’d think I was rejecting them.
“Are you alright Sweetpea?”
“I’m fine,” I answered automatically
“That was a rough first day.”
“Understatement of the century,” I grumbled
“How ‘bout Ah take all y’all for some icecream.” said Applejack, “Mah treat.”
I wanted to say no, all I wanted was to get back home and crash on my bed, but seeing the excited faces of the other crusaders I just couldn’t ruin that for them.
“That sounds nice,” I replied
The closer we got to Sugar Cube Corner, the more I felt like something was going to go wrong. I couldn’t nail down exactly what. There was Pinkie Pie of course. I hadn’t seen her since the failed party. The words ‘failed party’, and ‘Pinkie’ being in such close proximity raised the hair on the back of my neck. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her, and what’s worse if she found out I was avoiding her she’d be hurt even more.
There was also that Sugar Cube Corner is one of the places the CMC were ambushed by bullies in the show. If Applejack was there Diamond wouldn’t be able to say anything overt, but that almost made it worse.
Maybe we’d run into Rainbow Dash and she and AJ would argue again because I’d screwed up their friendship.
“Ah said, what flavor did ya want?” asked Applejack
I shook my head to clear it.
“Uh,” I was so tired I couldn’t quite see straight so I didn’t bother reading the flavors, “Vanilla. Thanks.”
The ice cream tasted great, even if it was tricky to hold the cone with my hoof.
I kept an eye out for Pinkie Pie as we sat in the booth, fortunately I didn’t see her since I’m sure she would have noticed me ducking to avoid being noticed. Even with that anxiety though, the force of will keeping me awake was flagging and I ended up resting the side of my face on the table.
When Applejack picked me up and placed me on her back I was too tired to feel embarrassed over it. I just yawned and closed my eyes as the motion of her walking gently rocked me back and forth.
Yeah, AJ might have done an oopsie there
And despite all of this, You still do nothing, and use this fact to deflect responsibility from yourself.
10725405
I disagree... to some degree.
Cheerilee clearly doesn't know how to handle a case like Green. Especially someone like Green. She needs to handle this carefully, otherwise it might make everything worse.
10725405
Yes, after you specifically talked to her, you still consider her acts to be trying to prove something, like, oh I don't know, like you don't trust her or something.
10725405
Its not surprising. Almost every story with child protagonists, in this case, the CMC, tend to have useless adults, because if the adults were competent, the story wouldn't work. You can't have bullies without adults being either gullible or actively ignoring it.
When that kind of story tries to take things more seriously, said adult figures are always going to look really bad. There is a reason why Dumbledore is treated as a villian in so many Harry Potter Fanfictions. For a child hero to exist, given our sociological norms, adults almost always have to fail badly, or at least be useless in some way.
Cheerilee is a useless adult in this situation so as to allow the CMC and DT/SS conflict to exist, and having her being held to the standards of an actual adult is always going to make her look bad.
That isn't to say you can't do it. Animorphs managed it with making sure that nobody else could be trusted, and even if they could, the protagonists were the only ones with superpowers, so it would add risk for minimal benefit. But that took a coincidence, having the random group of teens being empowered instead of adults who were at least mentally prepared to fight a war.
But yes, the behavior shown here is unacceptable given the existing story, but I hope she doesn't get fired or otherwise punished over it, because it almost literally isn't her fault she is a useless adult used as background for child protagonists conflicting with child antagonists.
DT needs to be moved. Her living environment is a huge problem.
For fuck sake... Granny needs a piece of soap in her ass for what she is doing to Green.
Green is like Twilight. Booksmart but needs a lot of mental development.
Nice chapter.
Yup
Pretty much
10725443
I've never seen a teacher deal with bullying well so I'm not sure how to write that.
Good story so far. You've seemed to capture how it would be like to find yourself not only finding yourself in a completely different body belonging to a different species, but also finding yourself involuntarily gender-swapped and in a juvenile body. I know a lot of people complain that Green's reactions come off as a bit edgy, but the reason why we can better handle socially awkward situations, complex emotions and cynicism is because out brains have had time to build up the connections and neural pathways that allow us to better mentally navigate those things. What I'm seeing is an adult mind in a child's brain trying to navigate the difficulties of both and balance out how to use magic. From our perspective it's easy to why Green is having panic attacks, the instinctual part of his brain is triggering fight or flight because he's in a body, world and society he didn't grow up in, meanwhile the logical part of his brain is trying to make sense of it all, with all those signals firing and all those neurochemicals being released, if it were me, they'd have to confine me to a hospital because I'd either have descended into full hysterics or gone fully catatonic.
I'd like to see Diamond Tiara get some actual comeuppance in this story, instead of just being completely forgiven when it's time for her redemption when the CMC get their marks.
She shouldn't need to get injured, but the well thing could actually work. Imagine if she got stuck in a well, or in a tree or on a rooftop, yelling at her classmates to help her get out, but not a single foal helps her because she's been such a turd to them all.
Imagine her having to spend an entire night alone on a rooftop before she's found because she can't safely get down without help, just stuck with her own thoughts about why no one helped her, asking herself if she was really that bad.
would it be not a nice path for the story and a litle funy and satisfaing, when the sozialworker gets wind of this and investigates the rich famaly why dimond is such a bully
10725462
Amen to that!
10725462
yea there arent alot of storys i have come across that do solve bullying problems with parental and teacher intervention. if worse comes to worse you could just let dimond continue untill green flares worse and scares dimond strait though that might just make greens mental state worse.
10725405
Cheerilee's response is, unfortunately, typical of how most teachers react to bullying incidents.
10725443
Cheerilee is dealing with the bullying much better than any of the real teachers I had ever did. Sure, she fell into the 'punish the victim for getting mad' trap but that's kind of a given.
10725443
I'd like to know how you think Cheerilee could put an end to the bullying without moving one group or the other to a different school. If you are so convinced she is just being a useless adult I'd like to hear your take on what she should have done. From what I've seen this is a 100% accurate representation of how bullying is really handled in schools, and how futile trying to eliminate bullying is.
(So surprise surprise, the bully isn't going to back down and is going to attempt to escalate. Why? Because she's never suffered any real consequences for her actions, and likely never will. And she knows it, and so doesn't fear getting 'in trouble' because it's not real trouble, and if anypony lays a hoof on her she can just run off to 'daddy'... I to, desire her to fall down a well. I despised bullies at every moment of my life...
As for the situation... yes, Miss Cheerilee has utterly failed to resolve the bullying situation in a satisfactory manner. It is beyond her powers and/or abilities to do so. Applejack's response is reasonable here, and I'm rather glad that Fluttershy was the one to point out- 'You know how you're worried about her not being able to address concerns with you? The one time she did you essentially threatened the loss of the home for her.' Yeah, thanks for driving that home Fluttershy... hoping Applejack takes it to heart. Nobody expects her to be perfect, but she definitely needs to recognize when she's miss-stepped.
As for the Crusaders, good on them, especially Scootaloo... Green might have some major problems adapting, but, initial hurdles aside, having people in your corner is invaluable for surviving the madness that is life... I hope even in the midst of their issues, they can accept that. And also eventually learn how to get an introvert's peace in the midst of people's attempts to be social.)
10725462
OMG I don't know when or where, but I must find an excuse to quote you on that.
I wonder what it would be like if Green lived with Fluttershy instead. I suppose it would be so much better it wouldn't have enough conflict to tell a story though.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
My my, something has really gotten those creative writing juices flowing since the start of 2021. That, and according to chapter statics of the burst of chapters from the past months. My day has been brightened at this.
If Diamond Tiara does carry out her threat to go to her daddy, then there's going to be one hell of a shouting match between Filthy Rich and Applejack. and considering how the social workers perceive Green, it'll probably end up with Diamond in the wrong, even with Green telling Diamond to go die in a well.
Edit: Also great chapter as always, this is one of my favorite stories, so keep doing what you're doing.
Edit2: Since you recommend the story ill go check it out and have high expectations.
It's interesting to see your take on an adult mentality in a children's body. Children tend to jump to conclusions and are much more sensitive then adults. That's playing havoc when combined with his 'expect the worst that way I wont get hurt as much' attitude.
Thing is, if you push someone far enough, something clicks. If all of a sudden Green gets quiet when Diamond is harassing her, Diamond should legitimately fear for her life. It is a dangerous game Diamond is playing.
10725600
>All the other foals with the pumped up soles
🎵
I already started reading that other story. Both are good, but so far I like this one better. It feels more real and more solid... more organic.
Wonder how long it will take for AJ to realize that the trip at the end is more of the same.
10725462
Cheers to mutual experience.
10725692
I'm not sure what you mean?
10725705
True, but while in a survival situation, easy isn't really part of the equation.
I'm with Green, throw Diamond Tiara down a well and let her drown... while mocking her from the surface as you cap the well over. Then again, you might make DT Samara that way... maybe that's not such a good idea. Drown her at sea, that's a better solution.
10725708
Fair.
It would be funny if Gabriel and green got together and sang the sex offender shuffle to REALLY freak out the adults. That is the first thing that popped into my head upon reading ‘what a strange little colt’.
In a fortunately unfortunate reversal, Green got to eat an ice cream in peace.
...yay...?
This was a good chapter. The escalating tension is really starting to shine, and I'm morbidly looking forward to Green snapping back at DT with explicit threats using medical knowledge. I'm also glad to see the subtlety growing relationship between AJ and Green. I hope we see AJ eventually have an "I'm finished with this shite" moment and watch her go off on Filthy and Spoiled; giving them a tongue lashing over their daughter bullying the physiologically pained, and believed to be physically and sexually abused, filly.
10725743
I don't even get why people are disliking this, it's freaking hilarious!
10725405
What is she supposed to do? Magic thirty strangers in her class into unthinking obedience and mutual cooperation?
Yeah, Cheerilee's supposed to be relatively responsible, but Green's pretty much an emotional basketcase. There's really only so much that she can do to ameliorate the situation. Green needs a therapist; she can't go to class if she goes insane at, basically, any amount of emotional prodding.
Like I see alot of shit being slewn at Cheerilee, but what is she realistically supposed to be *responsible* for in this situation? She's just a teacher, not a mind reading omnipotent social worker. She can't do thought policing for an entire classroom of children.
Great chapter! Glad to see it so soon, too! And I'm really looking forward to seeing Green and Flutter's second meeting now, too.
Also, thanks for posting that omake from SB! Sorry I didn't say anything earlier.
is the latest chapter a reference to "what a strange little colt" in the box now? perhaps they referenced you? perhaps it is a coincidence. the readers may never know.
edit: I feel really dumb getting to the end of the latest chapter for the answer to be waiting right there for eme lol. yay.
And what should we expect should Princess Luna catch wind of this incident?
10725790
...
....
So, in your magnanimous opinion, if a teacher's job isn't to teach children, then what is it?
I'm sure Diamonds parents will be pissed. Also Cherilee got caught lying to a... well not a parent. Still a child's gaurdian. Bad move.
If you would like to have Cherilee do something, but dont know what would be possible... (though if you want to wrote her as an antagonist or apathetic by all means do so.) =)
I'm entry level at the education stuff. Let's see what Cherliee can and, or should be doing...
Cherliee actually should be watching them constantly at this age. Assuming this is some kind of primary school analogue.
Letting then outside to play without supervision is a gigantic liability risk on top of being pretty braindead.
Children that young need to be watched constantly. They can, and likely will get themselves hurt easily.
Go! Run into the Everfree children! Try to come back in thirty minutes! DT should be glad Twilight didnt go to the police after what happened with Spike.
Shes supposed to be watching them during recess, and she should in fact go over and separate them if she sees Diamond Tiara even staring too long at apple blooms group. And vice versa. She knows this is a problem. She should have at the very least tried to cover her own ass.
If this means she doesnt get to eat lunch tough shit. Eat when class let's out. Your here to protect the kids. Same thing with planning period. Kids learning things doesn't matter at fucking all compared to not putting them in harm's way.
Teachers are supposed to show up an hour early every day and most of em stay an extra half hour after the kids leave. Usually this is food time.
Still. Cannon is cannon. Let's assume shes suffering an ancient Voodoo curse that forbids her from supervising children for more than three and a half hours at a time.
Now let's talk about complaining.
Cherilee is a bureaucrat, her first response to any question, problem, or complaint should be "cant do anything about it." when that fails her response should be "I'll make a note and tell my boss."
If you want her to be competent, or at least self interested. She should be filling an incident report everytime Diamond Tiara (or anypony) does something like this. Which would be copied and sent off to her superior. Whomever that is. You can raise this chain of negligence as high as you want to go, Celestias director of education is apparently a pony supremacist so all bets are off.
As for what Cherilee can actually do herself. And what I would recommend if you want her to actually try and improve the situation. Get help.
She should already have an instructional assistant (usually someone retired from another job who volunteered or an adult student trying to learn about education) at her class size. These people can be paid, but literally every education job requires you to spend over a hundred hours Volunteering for this. And anyone who can pass a background check can.
But bureaucracies are bureaucracies, and it can take over six months to get someone assigned somewhere.
Assuming it happens at all for classrooms that dont have special interest.
That's just assuming green was a regular troubled filly.
Shes not. Shes a suspected victim of child trafficking, has severe mental issues, and is Lunas fucking student. Or at least took a personal interest in her case to the point of offering to adopt her.
If Cherliee has been sending these reports, and they have been being ignored by her superiors actually charged with the ability and responsibility to do something about it...
It is impossible to get fired from a bureaucracy. This is how you get fired from a bureaucracy.
The chief executive having their attention drawn to the corruption in a bureaucracy is how bureaucracies die.
But if the education is a lost cause, so let's talk about what Social services could do.
Given given staggering breadth of her issues and the amount of attention she has garnered. What should have happened immediately is that social services would send an adult to sit in class just to help Green. This called a PCA or Personal Care Assistant. They would be there to help her deal with panic attacks. Assist her with her classwork, and keep her eyes on her for the entire duration of her stay time at school.
So yeah that's my rant over. Maybe some of it will be helpful. And of course... well.
Many of you have had shit experiences. I did too. These things happen even with the best intentions, and not all teachers necessarily have the best intentions.
Still. This whole things getting set up into a real liability clusterfuck. Which will get even worse if any of the kids actually get injured.
DT need to have the spears laid in to her hide.
If Twilight somehow ends up tutoring Green until she is judged "ready" to go back to class I can see things getting tense.
Imagine, Luna, who wants to have a student of her own, Green in particular, sees Green "becoming Twilight's student?"
She express her displeasure at perceived "student poaching." Celestia's Faithful Student getting the filly she intends to have as her student? Maybe not quite a "The Moon stays up!" thing, but perhaps an interesting breakfast for the Royal servants.
Of course this would only lead to more suffering for poor Green. That is her lot in this.
10725881
Terrible, terrible things.
10725885
Errr. In which universe are teachers certified for the care of the mentally unwell? Green has issues, Cheerilee has to deal with not one kid, but thirty of them. Nor are, as far as I know, teachers supposed to be qualified for full impromptu therapy; which is what Green basically requires in order to even function. And she's supposed to be constantly helicoptering all these buggers just in case Green loses her shit at her perceiving someone to be attacking her?
You raise a mighty high bar for "just teaching" if that's what you think teachers are trained for.
Green needs an entire social service team, not "those durned teachers just need to do their jerbs better controlling their band of insane midgets".
There's a reasonable expectation for Cheerilee to watch over the children, but in no universe is it reasonable for a hospital to lease (as far as they know) an almost rape victim cum homeless waif who the hospital staff *knows* has panic attacks and ridiculously delicate triggers to a random ordinary school teacher with a completely ordinary class of children in a hamlety rural-lite small-town classroom.
Teachers aren't therapists. They're also not fucking magicians. The instant Green was put in that class without a personal minder a trainwreck was inevitable.
In your condescending opinion, why do you think therapists exist if all we needed to do was throw teachers at the emotionally troubled and have the teachers cure them all by the dozens?
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Their boos mean nothing. I’ve seen what makes them cheer.
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I agree that if this were IRL Green would definitely have a personal care assistant. It is by far the best solution to her problems that a bureaucracy could and would come up with.
Gaming
Nice chapter and nice title reference.
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It’s exactly as AJ was worrying earlier that Green hesitates to say no, so I was wondering if she will realize that even with this gesture it kind of backfired.
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Luna may see this as a reason to claim her potential student.