Cherilee awoke to a ray of sunlight shining on her eyes. "Damnit," she mumbled. "Did I leave the window open again?" With a groan, she rolled out of bed, and immediately fell to the floor.

"What the?" She pushed herself up to look at the bed. Only, it was actually the couch. "What on Earth—"

"Sorry about that."

Cherilee gasped and whirled around. Standing in her kitchen doorway was a woman that looked exactly like her. In that instant, everything came back to her: the night at the bar after the fight, and then the sudden appearance of her twin. Sweetie Belle had told her of a woman like her, but seeing it didn't make it less impossible to believe.

"What are you doing in my house!?" she blurted.

Other-Cherilee scratched the back of her head, and then flung it back onto the wall. "Being bipedal is harder than I would've imagined," she said with a chuckle. "See, when we met last night—"

"Where did you come from?"

"From Equestria."

"What?"

"It'll take some time to explain," Other-Cherilee said calmly. "Anyway, after I found you in the bar, and we met, you screamed and immediately passed out. Do you have any sugar cubes? I'm dying for a sugar cube right about now."

Cherilee stammered. [i]This lady's crazy![/i] "How did you find me?"

Now Other-Cherilee's countenance hardened. "Right, I suppose I should explain that. It's the reason I'm here, after all." 

Other-Cherilee staggered into the living room waving her arms around to keep her balance. Human-Cherilee watched, stunned, as the other woman fell forward onto her arms and knees. She was about to help the other woman up, but Other-Cherilee's crawled onto the couch.  With a sigh, she set the coffee onto the table and sat down next to Other-Cherilee.

[i]Definitely nuts.[/i]

"So?"

"Right." Other-Cherilee sat up straight, like a proper woman. It made her feel uncomfortable. "My students at Ponyville Elementary (this prompted an eyeroll from Human-Cherilee) have somehow managed to become pen pals with some students from your school."

"Hah! Leave it to those three to get into something they shouldn't."

"I think it's sweet. Trans-dimensional communication could open up a whole new field of education, and help us all make some new friends! Doesn't that excite you?"

"Yeah, right. Trans-dimensional nonsense. So somehow those girls got a hold of you. Did you dress up as me just to impersonate me?"

"...I take it you don't believe me."

"Not at all."

"Well, that's not relevant." Other-Cherilee shook her head. "What is relevant is that they've been talking about how miserable you are."

Cherilee scoffed. "Me, miserable? Well, I will have a talk with those girls once I get to Canterlot High!" She looked over at her living-room clock. "Speaking of which, I must be getting ready, so [b]excuse me[/b]."

Other-Cherilee didn't falter, or even look insulted; instead, her eyes softened. "Cherilee, your students—"

"I don't have students! I'm a teacher's assistant."

"Okay, fine. Those girls have been telling me that you're very harsh on them." Cherilee walked away, but Other-Cherilee continued talking. "You berate them for trying out new things—"

"That's because they're not very good at them." Cherilee slammed the door behind her; Other-Cherilee hadn't followed. "They should be focusing on their education, not on stupid music videos and that junk."

"They say you smoke whenever you're feeling down.

"So?" That reminded her to reach for her cigarette box on her dresser. "It's a free country."

"They say that you don't like spending time with other staff members."

"They're all [b]old[/b]."

"Or other students."

"Yeah, well, they ask a lot of stupid questions, and do stupid things, and think too long!"

"They're learning," Other-Cherilee said emphatically. "They're students. Do you want them not to think?"

"Waiting for them is hard!"

"Being a teacher is hard. You can't change that—"

"Will you just shut up!" Cherilee finally snapped. "Just get out of my house!"

And then it was quiet. A shutting door signaled peace, for now. [i]The nerve of that woman, coming into my house, telling me how to live my life! 'Teaching is hard!' Well, eveyrthing shouldn't be so...[/i]

Her anger stopped her mouth, and only the cigarette smoke could calm her. A restraining order would have to be filed. And then she could go back to her normal life.

She sighed bitterly. [hr]
Outside, Pony-Cherilee rubbed her temples.

"Dear me," she said under her breath. "The poor thing. We've got a lot of work to do."