Cheerilee

Miss Cheerilee is a female Earth pony in Ponyville and supporting character in the show. She is a teacher at the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

Development and design
Cheerilee shares her design and name with a Generation 3 Earth pony. She is a unicorn pony in My Little Pony Crystal Princess: The Runaway Rainbow, and her design was combined with Cherry Blossom to create her Core 7 incarnation, which developed into her current appearance. In the Core 7 series, she is the older sister of Scootaloo and her main personality trait is intelligence. In the current Generation 4, Cheerilee has a twin sister named Cherry Blossom but has no indicated familial relationship with Scootaloo.

Season one
Cheerilee's first appearance in the series is as a background pony in Boast Busters. She appears in the background of several more episodes, including Look Before You Sleep, Winter Wrap Up, Green Isn't Your Color, and The Cutie Mark Chronicles. She is a member of both the animal and plant team in the musical number from Winter Wrap Up.

Her first significant role is in Call of the Cutie, in which she teaches her students about cutie marks and explains their purpose. Even though she has a speaking part, her name is not stated on-screen. She shows the students photos of herself as a young child and as a teenager, with no cutie mark. She compassionately tells her class that her cutie mark symbolizes her care for each of her students, and her desire to help them learn and grow. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon interrupt class by passing a note to Apple Bloom, and Cheerilee asks Apple Bloom to show the note to the class; the note is blank, and Diamond Tiara remarks that so is Apple Bloom's flank.

A filly bearing a striking resemblance to Cheerilee appears in the play that Rarity designed costumes for when she was a filly, during the episode The Cutie Mark Chronicles. She is the second filly to the left, wearing a dandelion costume.

"Let's quiet down please, we have a very important lesson to get to, thank you..."

- Cheerilee

In The Show Stoppers, she hosts the school's talent show, advising the Cutie Mark Crusaders to participate in hopes that it will help them discover their special talents. She serves as the show's host, while Spike hands out the awards for her.

Season two
In the opening sequence of The Return of Harmony Part 1, Cheerilee takes her students on a tour of the Canterlot statue gardens, teaching them about the various statues and pointing out the symbolism behind each one. As the class stops in front of a large statue depicting a draconequus, Cheerilee asks for her students' own opinions in regards to the statue's meaning. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, who at the time were arguing among themselves, start a fight over statue's meaning, with Scootaloo claiming it represented "chaos", while Sweetie Belle claimed it was "evil". Cheerilee breaks up the fight, reveals that the draconequus statue is Discord, while telling the three fillies that all of them were right. Nonetheless, she punishes the Cutie Mark Crusaders by making them write an essay about discord. She then prompts them to quit fighting for the remainder of the field trip.

Near the beginning of Lesson Zero, Spike mentions as part of Twilight Sparkle's checklist that they returned a blackboard to Cheerilee; this is the first time on the show that her name is mentioned, though her name and design were used almost a year prior to that, in the January 2011 McDonald's Happy Meal toy sets. Her name is subsequently mentioned in Luna Eclipsed, as Pinkie Pie and her group of fillies went to her house during the Nightmare Night festivities to go trick-or-treating.

Cheerilee appears in The Cutie Pox where she takes a fascination in Apple Bloom's new cutie mark and her "special talent" which was supposedly loopty-hooping, asking for a lesson in how to do it. She is equally fascinated when Apple Bloom gets a second cutie mark whose talent was spinning plates on sticks, assuming it to be a second hidden talent when in reality Apple Bloom cast one of Zecora's spells on herself. This is also the first episode where Cheerilee is addressed by name and in person by the other characters.

Cheerilee also appears in Secret of My Excess, shown walking with her groceries when she accidentally bumps into Spike. While Spike apologizes and helps Cheerilee with her groceries, he tells Cheerilee that it is his birthday. Surprised about this, Cheerilee wishes happy birthday to Spike and gives him a feathered hat as a present.

Cheerilee appears in Family Appreciation Day. She is first seen with Filthy Rich as he makes his Family Appreciation Day speech to her class. Afterwards, she accidentally calls him Mr. Filthy. Later she comes to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Granny Smith. She is briefly deceived by Apple Bloom into thinking Granny cannot speak before the class, but Granny tells her she can, much to Cheerilee's confusion. She is later seen at the back of the class room when Granny Smith tells her story.

Cheerilee gets an episode more centered on her in Hearts and Hooves Day, where she reveals that she lacks a significant other. The Cutie Mark Crusaders then attempted to get Cheerilee a date for Hearts and Hooves Day, finally settling on Apple Bloom's big brother Big McIntosh. When their initial meeting went nowhere, the Cutie Mark Crusaders' devised a love potion to get them hitched under the guise of a simple taste test. However, the reaction proved too strong resulting in Cheerilee and Big Mac becoming obsessed with one another. Since an hour of separation cures the spell, Sweetie Belle took Cheerilee to Carousel Boutique in order to fake picking out a wedding dress in order to keep them apart. However, Big Mac returns to Carousel Boutique soon before the spell wears off and Cheerilee dashes out to greet him, severely damaging Carousel Boutique in the process. Fortunately, the time needed to keep them apart had expired and the two returned to normal, though Cheerilee wondered why she was wearing a wedding veil. The Cutie Mark Crusaders come clean and while Cheerilee expresses appreciation for the effort, she still punishes the Cutie Mark Crusaders by having them do Big McIntosh's work.

Cheerilee appears briefly near the beginning of A Friend in Deed, in which Pinkie Pie wishes her a happy birthday.

In Ponyville Confidential, Cheerilee appoints Diamond Tiara as the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. She later strips her of her position after Diamond Tiara turns the paper into a gossip tabloid and blackmails the Cutie Mark Crusaders into getting embarrassing stories about other ponies. Cheerilee then appoints Featherweight as the new editor.

Season three
Cheerilee makes brief appearances in the background of One Bad Apple, Sleepless in Ponyville, and Just for Sidekicks, in the last of which she walks with Big McIntosh in a reference to Hearts and Hooves Day.

Season four
Cheerilee appears in Flight to the Finish, where she introduces Ms. Harshwhinny to her class. In Rarity Takes Manehattan, she briefly appears dressed up in Manehattan. In Pinkie Pride, she briefly appears at the pizza party and her filly version appears again in a flashback.

In Filli Vanilli, Cheerilee appears in the audience, swooning at the Pony Tones' performance when Big Mac lip-syncs with "Flutterguy." She also eventually requests them to play a song for her class. She also appears in For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils as a stage director for Sweetie Belle's play, and in Trade Ya!, she appears in the background along with colt Hoops while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash attempt to get an antique chicken for Stellar Eclipse. In Inspiration Manifestation, she appears in the background three times during and after the Foal and Filly Faire along with Truffle. During Equestria Games, Cheerilee is seen twice in the audience right under the royalty box just before Twilight sits down at her seat.

Season five
Cheerilee appears in the beginning of The Cutie Map - Part 1 standing in front of the Castle of Friendship along with Truffle, at Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda's wedding in Slice of Life, and at the friendship party in Party Pooped.

In Crusaders of the Lost Mark, Cheerilee holds an election for student pony president at the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

Cheerilee appears in The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2 in an alternate timeline terrorized by Queen Chrysalis and during Friends Are Always There For You.

Season six
Cheerilee appears in the audience during the dancing recital in On Your Marks and in the audience during Trixie's magic show in No Second Prances. She also appears during Rainbow Dash's first Wonderbolts show on Newbie Dash, during the final Hearth's Warming number in A Hearth's Warming Tail, and at the Ponyville Day Spa in Applejack's "Day" Off.

In The Cart Before the Ponies, Cheerilee teaches her class about physics to prepare them for the upcoming Applewood Derby. She also serves as an announcer and cheerleader during the Derby. In 28 Pranks Later, Rainbow Dash pranks Cheerilee by drawing an embarrassing picture of her on her classroom chalkboard. Cheerilee also pretends to be a zom-pony as part of a revenge prank against Rainbow Dash. In The Fault in Our Cutie Marks, Gabby helps Cheerilee teach her class during Find the Purpose in Your Life. In Where the Apple Lies, Cheerilee appears in flashback wearing her '80s getup, while walking with S05E25 Unnamed Unicorn Mare #3.

Season seven
In A Flurry of Emotions, Cheerilee appears in a Schoolhouse Picture Day photo with her horsey hives-stricken class, and she lends a book to Twilight to read to the sick foals at the hospital.

Depiction in comics
In the IDW comics' series, Cheerilee appears on  pages 17 and 21 in the story The Return of Queen Chrysalis. In the Nightmare Rarity story arc, she appears on page 2 and  page 12. In the story Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair, she appears on page 8 and  pages 16–17. Big McIntosh runs into her at the Summer Wrap-Up Festival and Hoedown, and Big Mac mentally states her to be the former roommate of Lugnut's father's sister's cousin.

In Neigh Anything, Cheerilee appears in a Canterlot Academy yearbook picture on cover A and pages 7 and 13. Appearing as a Canterlot Academy student during a flashback earlier with a sister of a friend of Shining Armor's and later with a young Mayor Mare, Cheerilee later expresses disbelief at the results of her recent apptitude [sic] test. She also appears on pages 11 and 21 and on  cover A.

In, Cheerilee reunites with her twin sister Cherry Blossom, who is a famous professional wrestler. Cheerilee also appears on pages 6 and 8, on  page 10, on  page 18, on  page 7, and on  page 7. In, Cheerilee runs for mayor of Ponyville but loses to Filthy Rich. She also appears on pages 7 and 14,  page 16, and  pages 8-9.

In the, Cheerilee appears on page 2.

In the series, Cheerilee appears on  pages 3, 8, and 20,  page 13,  page 2,  page 15, and  page 19.

Other depictions
Cheerilee's appearances outside of the show often use an alternate cutie mark design: a smiling flower with two smaller flowers and four green leaves, as opposed to three smiling flowers with pink petals.

Chapter books
In Discord and the Ponyville Players Dramarama, Cheerilee is cast as the female lead alongside Big McIntosh in the Ponyville Players production of The Singing Stallion.

Software
Cheerilee appears with the alternate cutie mark design in the game Adventures in Ponyville. She is also one of the available characters in the Valentine's Day version of the game Card Creator.

Cheerilee is one of the available playable characters in Gameloft's mobile game. Early previews of the game sometimes listed her as Cheerilee Pie instead of Cheerilee.

HubNetwork.com description
''Kind, patient Cheerilee always wanted to be a teacher. Her cutie mark, a trio of flowers, symbolizes how she helps pupils bloom. She's dedicated to teaching little ponies like Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle at the Ponyville Schoolhouse.''

My Little Pony mobile game description
A teacher at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, Cheerilee adores all of her students.

The Elements of Harmony guidebook
CHEERILEE loves being a teacher at the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

Merchandise
Cheerilee is frequently featured in Hasbro's toy line, with her cutie mark almost always using the alternate design on the toys themselves but sometimes using the in-show design on their packaging. Her model for some of toys is sometimes the same model used for Pinkie Pie's toys, and sometimes for Applejack's toys. As noted above, her name was used in the toy line almost a year prior to its first mention in the show.

A Cheerilee mini-figure toy and collector card appear under the number 13 in the second EU wave of mystery packs, respectively using a repaint and recolor of Applejack's Earth pony mold and model. Her colors are mostly the same as in the show, while her cutie mark uses the alternate design. According to the collector card, Cheerilee "is a wonderful teacher!" Another mini-figure of Cheerilee, using a repaint of Pinkie Pie's Earth pony mold and using the in-show cutie mark design, has been displayed at the 2013 New York Toy Fair and is included in the Pony Lesson Set with Twist-a-loo, Silver Spoon, and unnamed Smarty Pants. A November 6, 2013 "vorläufige Abbildung" image for mystery packs depicts Cheerilee as in the show.

Cheerilee, along with a host of characters from the show, appears on the Comic Con 2011 promotional poster.

Cheerilee appears with the alternate cutie mark design in the storybook My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which is based on the episodes Friendship is Magic, part 1 and Friendship is Magic, part 2. Page 11 shows her and Sweetie Belle on a balcony in town hall, seemingly without their tails.

Cheerilee is included in the trading cards. WeLoveFine has made licensed merchandise featuring Cheerilee.

Personality
As a teacher, Cheerilee is portrayed as kind, patient, and determined to shape her students' morals. However, she is also reasonably strict and disciplinary, such as scolding the Cutie Mark Crusaders in The Return of Harmony Part 1 and stripping Diamond Tiara of her editor-in-chief position in Ponyville Confidential. She also has moments of generosity, shown when she spontaneously gives Spike a feathered hat for his birthday in Secret of My Excess.

Quotes
"Today we are going to be talking about cutie marks. [...] You can all see my cutie mark, can't you? Like all ponies, I wasn't born with a cutie mark. My flank was blank. [...] Then one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that a cutie mark had appeared. [...] I had decided to become a teacher, and the flowers symbolized my hope that I could help my future students bloom if I nurture them with knowledge. The smiles represented the cheer I hope to bring to my little ponies while they were learning."

- Call of the Cutie

"All right, my little ponies, time for class!"

- The Cutie Pox

"Everypony should get fun gifts on their birthday!"

- To Spike, Secret of My Excess

"I have lots of good friends and wonderful students who care about me very much. I'm gonna have an absolutely terrific Hearts and Hooves Day."

- Hearts and Hooves Day

"[dryly] That's an apple tree."

- To Cutie Mark Crusaders, Hearts and Hooves Day

"Will you be my very special somepony?"

- To Big McIntosh, Hearts and Hooves Day

"Girls! Can you explain why I look like I'm getting married at the bottom of a pit?"

- To Cutie Mark Crusaders, Hearts and Hooves Day

"Good question, Sweetie Belle. I like those reporters' instincts."

- Ponyville Confidential

"Places! Hello?"

- For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils

"I hope you brought your thinking caps, because today we're going to learn about physics! [...] Specifically, the use of force in energy conversions! In this case, using mechanical work to convert potential energy into kinetic energy!"

- The Cart Before the Ponies

"Well, it isn't every year I get to say this twice, but... Derby racers to the starting line! Derby racers to the starting line! Racers! On your marks, get set... go!"

- The Cart Before the Ponies

"I never noticed how cute he is! I wonder if he has a date for the dance?"

- Referring to Shining Armor, page 7

"Can you believe my apptitude [sic] test said I should be a teacher?! Grody!"

- page 13

"Wrestling can't be much more dangerous than teaching, can it?"

- page 8

"Thank you, Diamond Tiara, that was... nice. I'm not sure that you understand the definition of 'tragic hero' but you certainly are... passionate."

- page 2