Tricky Talks and Desperate Decisions
I flew through the morning sky, dodging and weaving between the many tall buildings that peppered the skyline. While I would have normally opted for taking the scenic route, today was different. Today was more urgent. It wasn’t life or death urgent, but still urgent. It was the I need to sort this out before the end of the day kind of urgent, which never made for a fun day.
I could already feel a headache coming on, but now wasn’t the time for stress. No, that was only going to be an issue if things didn’t work out here. But they would, these ponies were professionals and I knew they’d get everything sorted out in no time, I just had to keep an open mind and trust that they knew what they were doing.
Catching sight of my target, I dropped out of the sky, coming to a graceful, (though probably frightening for any passerby) landing on the sidewalk out front. A small crowd of ponies jumped back in surprise, but I didn’t stop to apologize or listen to their complaints. I was on a mission.
I trotted into the agency’s lobby and glanced around, taking sight of Office Job in the far corner filing something away. Right off the bat I was approached by the receptionist from the other day, who seemed to pick up on my annoyed demeanor. Probably because of the expression on my face, which was a potent mixture of confusion, annoyance, and even a little curiosity.
Curiosity, weird right? But look at it from my point of view. I was desperate for a job and had started to make peace with the idea that I might just have to bite the bullet and deal with this clerical error for the time being. I didn’t personally want to go with that opinion, but my only other option was working in the sewers and I was not going to resort to that.
“Stardust, right?” He asked, bringing my attention back to the urgent issue at hoof, “Can I help you?”
I nodded, pointing toward Office Job with an outstretched hoof, “I need to talk with them about my job, there was some kind of mixup and I need to get that sorted out as soon as possible.”
He nodded, walking me over toward Office Job’s cubicle, “Alright, just hang out for a minute and I’ll go get this sorted out.”
“Thanks,” I smiled as they trotted away, leaving me alone with my thoughts for a few solitary moments.
I genuinely had no clue if Office Job was going to be able to help me or not, but I had to keep an open mind about the situation. These were professionals… even if they did get my papers all mixed up somewhere along the way. Granted, maybe I should have listened to the few warnings I had gotten, but there wasn’t much I could do now.
“Good morning Stardust, anything I can help you with?” The older stallion asked me, “I’ll take it you got your assignment in the mail?”
“Oh, believe me, I did,” I nodded, reaching for the letter, “That's what you can help me with.”
He arched his brow, “Is there an issue with the assignment?”
“You could say that,” I passed him the letter, giving him a few moments to read through it.
The stallion browsed through the ornately decorated paper and then flashed me an embarrassed look, “I can see why you might be dissatisfied with this…”
“Uh huh… dissatisfied... So, what can you do about it?”
Office Job sat in silence for a few long moments. as the gears turned in his head. He glanced back down to the letter and then up to me, “Do what about what?”
“The mixup!” I unintentionally shouted, “Did you read the letter? Starshine, working as a maid? Doesn’t that seem a little off?”
A look of realization flashed in his eyes as if he realized the severity of what he had done. He opened his mouth but quickly stopped, pausing as if he was trying to find the right words to ease my frustrations, “Your file was accidentally switched with Starshine’s…”
“Right,” I nodded, not wanting to make a bigger scene than I already had out front, “So… can you just, you know, switch them back?”
He shook his head, “I’m afraid I can’t. It’s already been finalized.”
I raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? The letter said I still had until sunset.”
“You still have until sunset, but Miss Starshine started her shift last night.”
“You mean my shift!” I let out a deep breath and calmed myself, “Okay, sorry to get loud, I just really need to make sure this gets fixed. Let’s start over, you said she started my shift last night. So what’s that got to do with anything?”
“The job earmarked for you has been… filled, I’m afraid.”
“Filled,” I flatly replied, “So uhh… can we just call her up and get this sorted out?”
The stallion flashed me an embarrassed look, “I… I’m afraid that isn’t doable. It appears your files were both mixed up, but she still started your job regardless, and we can’t just ask her to leave it.”
“But she’s not leaving it, we’d just be switching so we can both have the jobs we’ve signed up for.”
“I wish it was that easy Stardust, but once a candidate starts their shift it’s out of our hooves. You could go talk with the respective heads at Orange Manor, but outside of that there’s not really much that I can do here.”
I let out a small sigh, “So what you’re saying is that I’m out of a job then?”
“Not necessarily,” He glanced back at the letter, and then over to a file on his desk, “You could always take the sanitation job if you were interested… It’s not ideal, but it’s still open.”
I shook my head, my voice dropping into a desperate whimper, “Anything but that… please!”
He turned his attention back to the letter, “Well, you do still technically have an open opportunity in front of you.”
“What?” My eyes flashed open, “You mean the maid job?” I skeptically replied.
He shrugged, “It’s an option to consider… you said you bussed tables in a restaurant in the past, you wouldn’t be doing anything too terribly different during the night shift if you took that job… just… scaled up a bit.”
I paused, glancing between the letter, the file, and Office Job. Was I seriously going to consider this? I mean I had made peace with the idea on my flight over, but I didn’t actually think that I’d be doing it…
“I… I…” I let out a frustrated sigh, “Do I need to wear the dress if I take the job? Or can I at least keep some of my dignity?”
“If that’s what they sent you for a uniform then that’s what you’d need to wear to the orientation. You’re free to take it up with them once you’re there, but you’d be wearing it for at least a work day.”
I shook my head, letting out a bewildered laugh, “Right. Guess I can check that off my bucket list then.”
“Oh? So you’ll take the job then?”
I nodded, “I’ll take the job.”
The stallion perked up, “Splendid! Be sure to show up right on time, and make sure your uniform is in order. Those ponies are kind and understanding, but they can be sticklers for the rules and they’ll be expecting you to show up dressed accordingly.”
“In a frilly maid’s dress…” I muttered out.
“What was that?” His ears perked up.
“Nothing, I was just saying I can’t wait to start…”
Office Job smiled, “That’s the spirit, Stardust! I know it’s an unorthodox job with an even more unorthodox uniform, but just go into it with an open mind, you might find that you actually enjoy it.”
I nodded along to his sage advice, though I didn’t know how much of it would actually prove to be true. I needed the job though so I’d have to at least try and keep in good spirits.
I can do this, it’s just wearing some frilly dress and hoping you don’t die of embarrassment on the flight to work, once you’re there no pony can bother you or laugh at you or whatever, I tried to convince myself. As they said, fake it until you make it, and if I pretended like I’d enjoy it then maybe I actually would in time.
I knew one thing for certain though, I’d have to spend the rest of the day figuring out how to get dressed for work… and get used to wearing dresses in general…
We’re nearing the peak of the story and only have a few more chapters left. Is anyone interested in seeing this story continue with a follow up at all? And if so what kind of stuff would you like to see Stardust do? Does he stay employed as a maid, does he run off to the wilderness somewhere and become a logger pony out in the frozen north? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
(Also, please feel free to check out my ongoing passion project, it’s a project that I hold very near and dear to my heart. I’ve been trying to get feedback and responses on it, and it would absolutely make my day of anyone could check it out.)
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10503204
It'd be fun to see our MC TRULY embaressed in the next chapter <3
10505445
He’s gotta get dressed first. Then the embarrassment starts!
We all know (and hate) this kind of urgent, don't we?
Since he is an actual bat he is allowed to do this. I think.
(I have to remember that pun.)
Well this is an interesting story, well at least it touches one of my kinks, I can't wait to see how his first work day will go him and how he eventually accept his faith I wonder if the he likes being around other maids with the same outfit as he does. Sense he is going to have a day shift I am guessing that he is going to see seen in public more then he would like. But, I would have thought he would have to live in the manor or at least in the same building as the Orange's sense they live like the middle of Manehatten. Looking forward to see how this shapes out.
I can see how you have so much trouble with 1st to 3rd person, you tend to rely heavily on dialogue to convey more of tour ideas.
10505762
I’m definitely better with third person compared to first. I wanted to keep this story shorter, and first person felt like the better tense to go with this. Hopefully it’s still enjoyable enough :D
10505762
See you following as well lol
This is often how it begins.