//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Momentous News // Story: Rosa // by awf //------------------------------// Rosa was only a tiny bit sleepy after her late-night movie watching. It was nothing she couldn't handle and not even as bad as the few times she had had to study for a test until nearly morning. Today, however, the lesson was part of her Assistant Pony class and by all accounts a difficult one. She was on her way to the classroom when Rosemary caught up to Rosa and fell in step. She briefly bumped her flank against her sleepy friend in greeting. "Hey Rosa," the younger mare greeted. She was her assigned partner for the day's lesson and Rosa had just been thinking about how to find her. "Oh. Hello!" Rosemary gave her a very friendly grin. "So, 'tard wrangling class today?" The word made the older mare gasp. It was very, very discouraged to use it in the School, especially by Assistant Pony trainees, lest it slip out while they were on the job! "Don't say that!" Rosa hissed in a whisper. It just made Rosemary laugh and she tossed her orange mane out of her eyes. "It's okay, Rosa. Humor helps, you'll see." Rosa didn't know what exactly she meant by it, but it was still best to drop the topic and pick another one. "You're almost finished with the program, right?" "Mhm!" the mare answered with a happy nod. "Got my assignment the other week. I'm just helping Instructor Martha until the paperwork is done and then they're flying me away. East Coast." It sounded like she was happy with her placement. "You already know what kind of a child you'll get?" Again Rosemary nodded. "Sure! Twins, Down's. Six years old. Names Lucy and Sally." It wasn't much to go on, but Rosa felt uplifted at the news. She envied Rosemary a little bit. "They sound lovely. I'm happy for you," she say with only a touch of a lie. The other mare was perceptive and caught the words Rosa didn't say. "Don't worry, you'll get a good posting too, I'm sure! Especially after I teach you a few tricks today!" Her envy quickly faded. Rosemary had worked hard to excel in her classes and deserved this chance. "Thanks." They both stopped at the classroom door, but then Rosemary simply pushed it open and went inside. Two humans were already present, Rosa spotted as she followed her classmate. Instructor Martha and a young man Rosa vaguely remembered who taught one of the other Profession programs. The middle of the room was cleared and all the desks and chairs had been pushed to the sides. Their lesson today was a pretty 'physical' one, after all. "Ah, zere you are, right on time!" the Instructor exclaimed and stood up from her desk. "Zis is Lucas, who will be helping us with our practice today." The man inclined his head and Rosa took a moment to mentally place him. "Oh! The Delivery Pony program! It's nice to meet you, sir." She extended a hoof upwards for a shake, but the human laughed good-naturedly and waved it away. "No need to get this formal with me, girl. Not with what we'll be practicing." The memory of what the class entailed made her blush, but Rosa covered it with a grin. Behind her, Rosemary slapped her forehooves together and smiled in expectation. "Okay, let's get this show on the road!" Rosa gulped in an effort to try and calm down her breathing. Luckily, Martha spotted how nervous the mare was and took pity. "Why don't we start with you, Rosemary?" the Instructor suggested. "Show us what you've learned." The mare was happy to obey and stepped forward. Rosa hurriedly moved to the edge of the classroom and watched closely. Lucas started by simply sitting down on the floor. For a moment Rosa thought that would make it too easy, but when Rosemary approached, his hand shot out and slapped her lightly on the muzzle. The young mare giggled at the lucky hit, then darted forward, deftly dodging under Lucas' arm as he tried to push her away. In moments Rosemary was behind the sitting man, but he was already twisting his torso to follow the pony. It was too late - with incredible ease the mare hooked her forelegs under Lucas' shoulders and hugged him from behind. Rosa thought she had already won, but the man didn't give up. He gave a little grunt as he pushed back and tried to dislodge the mare. "Shhh, shhhh," Rosemary cooed to the man, as if he were one of the children from the other day. "It's okay," the mare said softly, "I've got you." He wasn't quite willing to give up, so Lucas flailed his arms to try and land a blow on the mare. Rosa was not afraid he might hurt her, since earth ponies where strong enough to take even a grown man's punch with nothing more than a bruise. "No, no, that's not fair!" Rosemary squeaked as she received a well placed slap on her rump. She quickly shifted her grip and managed to get her hind legs around the guy's waist. Lucas grabbed her hooves on his belly and tried to pry them apart, but that was a big mistake. Almost effortlessly Rosemary shifted her forelegs around and pinned his arms to his body. "Give up?" she asked, breathing heavily. Lucas tried to free his arms for a few moments, visibly straining against the vice-grip of the pony wrapped around him, then he yielded. "Okay, okay, you got me," he said finally. Beside Rosa, Instructor Martha clapped her hands together a few times in applause. "Zat was very well done," she praised. Rosemary released her captive human and gave a slight bow. Both she and Lucas were grinning now and Rosa felt less nervous about her turn. Before he got up, the man patted the young mare on her back. "That was very neat, Rosemary. Good job." She just nodded and returned to sit by Rosa's side. Her pink fur didn't seem any worse for wear, but there was a tangle or two in her mane - nothing serious. Rosa hoped she would look half as good after her turn. "You saw all zat, Rosa?" Martha asked. "Yes, Instructor. Firm, but gentle," Rosa repeated the motto of this particular class. The moves Rosemary had demonstrated were nothing really new, and Rosa had practiced them before, but so far only on a child-sized doll, never on an actual human. "Exactly right. Okay, now you show us." Lucas grinned and winked at her! It threatened to bring the blush back, but Rosa shook her head and put her mind to the task. This time, it looked like he would crouch, no doubt to try and avoid her grip. Rosa approached him slowly. It would take cunning and strength to capture the man without hurting him. Meanwhile, Martha repeated some of the lesson: "Remember Rosa - ze goal is to immobilize a problematic child as quickly as possible. You must not allow for ze furniture to get damaged, or especially for ozer people to get hurt, yes?" "Of course, Instructor," the young mare confirmed. "You must also grab ze child in such a way zat he might be administered medication or food while you hold him." The grip from behind which Rosemary had displayed was a favourite. It put a young human entirely under a mare's control, until an adult could be summoned to take charge of the situation. Sometimes, Assistant Ponies were also expected to gently immobilize their charge until their parents could give them any pills they might need, or wash them, or change their clothes. For some reason, being held by a pony seemed more like a hug, or play-wrestling, than restraint to most of these poor, damaged humans. It caused them a lot less stress than if another human were to try it. It was a minor duty, but an important one. Rosa needed to impress with this. She squared her shoulders and prepared her plan of attack for Lucas. Of course he wouldn't make it easy on her. If he did, Instructor Martha would be angry with both Rosa and him, and rightly so. Before she had a chance to overthink it, Rosa lunged, trusting her instincts to do what needed to be done. After all, it was almost like wrestling... Rosa settled back into the rhythm of school life. The hole where Maribelle should have been, hurt, especially at night, but she kept going with her other friends. Luckily, it didn't seem anyone else was likely to get a cutie mark, so that was a relief. There had been one particular night when Amethyst started crying and Rosa went to comfort her with a nuzzle, then ended up cuddling with her and swapping stories about Maribelle until morning. God, she missed that filly! Rosa pushed her half-eaten bowl of porridge away and sighed. That was fine, she wasn't really hungry and she also had classes in twenty minutes. There was just time enough to go freshen up in her room and say good morning to her roommates. Getting up, Rosa slid the tray on her back and took it to the window in the wall. It took her a moment to recognize the cook who accepted it. "Oh, hi Mrs. Evelyn," the mare greeted politely. "Aw, something's got you down sweetheart?" Rosa shook her head and forced a grin for the kind woman. "It's just early, but thanks for asking!" The woman returned the smile and reached over the window to pat her. Rosa raised her head up to make it easier for her. A good head pat was always welcome, no matter her mood. "Coming to help us for the evening rush tonight?" the cook asked hopefully. Rosa wasn't planning to, but the question made her change her mind. There was a report she had to write and was hoping to get a head start in the evening, but it could wait until the next day. "Actually, I think I will. Maybe it'll take my mind off..." she said, but trailed off as she didn't want to whine. The woman reached somewhere beside her and then looked around if anyone was watching. "Here," she said in a quieter voice and held her hand out to Rosa. It was a sugar lump and the mare's moth chomped down on it almost without her conscious control. That brought a genuine smile back to her muzzle. "Thank you!" Mrs. Evelyn simply chuckled and Rosa bowed her head to her before leaving. As she made her way up the stairs she mused at how strange the world was. Humans could be so understanding and kind, but then there was the mother-and-foal thing, or the cutie mark thing, or the bars on windows and guards at night. Sometimes Rosa got a really bad feeling about the school and she was both afraid and ashamed of her thoughts. She wondered if she should mention them to Martha. The Instructor had probably heard all sorts of things from the ponies under her care, so she might know what it meant or what to do. For some reason, the idea of explaining her fears to the human scared Rosa even more. She shook her head to dislodge the worrisome thought just as she arrived on her floor. There was a very young filly sitting beside her door, but Rosa didn't pay her any mind. Maybe she was waiting for one of her roommates to wake up. It wasn't uncommon for the more diligent ponies to be assigned younger partners to help guide them. "Morning," Rosa said politely. "Oh!" the young thing squeaked, suddenly nervous. She didn't look the older mare in the eye. "Um, miss Rosa?" she asked. "Yes?" Rosa stopped and glanced over at the clock above the window at the end of the hall. Time was moving and she couldn't spend too long chatting with random ponies. "Uh, I'm here-" she began, but thought better of it. "Well, um, Instructor Martha asked me to get you... c-can you go to her office right away?" This was very unusual. Rosa had never experienced being called like that, nor had she ever heard of anyone else being summoned in this manner. She wondered what urgent news the Instructor might have and her breath caught. Maybe it was about Maribelle?! The mare had been in Rosa's thoughts for most of the morning, maybe that was a sign? The filly seemed to be waiting for a response. "Thank you for telling me. I know the way, you can go to your class. Uh, what's your name?" "L-L-Lacey, miss," she squeaked nervously. Rosa made sure to give her a warm smile. "That's a lovely name. What room are you in?" "O-One Bee," came the shaky reply. Rosa did a bit of mental mapping and nodded to herself. She was a floor below Rosa's room, a couple of doors away from being Rosemary's neighbor. "That's nice. Run along now, sweetheart." In the spur of the moment she decided to save her cookies from helping Mrs. Evelyn tonight and bring them to Lacey and her roommates as a treat. After all, Rosa had fond memories of some older mare doing the exact same thing a few times when she was a little filly. As her new friend scurried away, Rosa looked at her dorm room and tried to decide if she should powder her muzzle and put on the scent, but decided against it. If Martha had sent a pony to fetch her, it must be really important. It wouldn't be nice to keep her waiting a minute longer than it was necessary. Rosa turned smartly and trotted back down the stairs and towards the Instructor's office. Instructor Martha opened the door and flashed her a quick smile. "Oh, Rosa. Come in, come in." She seemed a bit uneasy and that made the mare nervous as she followed her into the room. There were two other people present. She recognized Sally Gaeta from the Placement Office and Ian Freely. The thin lady with a friendly face was the human who ultimately decided where each pony went. Beside her was the tall, bearded figure of Mr. Freely, the school headmaster. Rosa was suddenly very aware of her illicit help in the kitchen and her shenanigans with the colts and their iPad. Surely they weren't going to expel her for that, were they? She nearly whimpered in fright and her tail tucked tightly between her hind legs even as her ears folded down. "Come here, sit," Instructor Martha said and pushed a low chair closer to the pony. Just in time, too. Rosa didn't think she could take another step, or remain standing for five more seconds, not with the way her legs had gone all weak. She sat down gratefully and tried her very best not to tremble. She risked a glance at the two faces before her, while the Instructor went back to sit at her desk. They didn't look mad. If anything, Rosa would say Mrs. Gaeta was worried and Mr. Freely was determined. Despite whatever they were going to do to her, there was such a thing as manners. Rosa had been raised to be polite, so she did her best. "Um, h-hello," she managed with a very shaky voice. "Yes, right. Rose-ah," Mr. Freely began. She didn't correct him. The Placement Director Gaeta put her hand on the headmaster's sleeve. "Actually, it's pronounced 'Rosa', Ian." The man inclined his head. "My apologies. Another one of yours, Martha, I see. You really do pick the strangest names." The Instructor just grinned. "A small somezing to remind me of home, headmaster." He had already forgotten about it and was addressing Rosa instead: "Now, Miss Rosa. The reason we asked you here today is to give you some good news." Her muzzle fell open. Good news?! That was surely a joke, or a mistake. She hadn't done anything noteworthy and most of the things she had been up to lately were against school rules. If the man was trying to use humor to ease the punishment he was doing a poor job of it. Rosa still forced her mouth closed and inclined her head. "Yes, H-Headmaster." Sally took it from there. "It seems, Rosa, that a... unique position has opened up. An opportunity, really." The mare glanced from the woman to Instructor Martha, but she couldn't read anything in their faces. "Op-Opportunity?" The bearded Mr. Freely sighed and brought his hands together, crossing his fingers as if he was going to pray. His thumbs began to circle each other. "We don't want to beat about the bush, Rosa. A very important benefactor to this School has specifically requested your services. It's not exactly what you've been training for, but it's a limited duration contract and I think it would be a good learning experience for you." It took a moment for the words to make sense. Rosa was a little afraid of the Headmaster so she addressed her question to Mrs. Gaeta. "I'm being p-placed, ma'am?" she squeaked. The woman smiled, but Rosa could see it was forced. "That's right, Rosa. I know it's a little sudden, but the job is not onerous and you would be well cared for. The assignment is for two years and then you would come back to finish your Assistant Pony training." She leaned a bit closer in her chair and lowered her voice a tiny amount: "If you do well, I'll make sure you have a choice in your next assignment, okay?" Rosa still couldn't make heads or tails about the situation, so she fell back on a certainty she did know: "B-But my t-training isn't done. I still have another y-year..." Her eyes sought out Instructor Martha for support. The woman sighed and lowered her gaze. "Zat is true," she confirmed, "but you have been doing exceedingly well in your lessons, Rosa. Besides, zis is not an Assistant Pony position." "What k-kind of a position is it?" Sally answered that one: "This is more like a housemaid. Nothing too hard - dusting, sweeping, washing, laundry..." The way her voice had trailed off told Rosa that there was more, but the woman didn't want to say it. Again, the headmaster seemed to grow impatient: "Damn it woman, just come out and say it. You'll also have to take care of his two children, Rosa. There, that's it. A maid and a nanny, is that so hard to say?" For a moment the mare was stunned. They had said it wasn't an Assistant Pony position. That could only mean... "T-The children do not have Special Needs?" she quavered. "No, nothing like that," Mr. Freely explained. "They're just two normal kids. Besides, they're seven and twelve, so at most you'll have to make them meals and clean up their rooms, nothing onerous. Really, Sally, you're making a bigger deal out of this than it has to be." The people fell silent and waited for Rosa's response. She looked from the headmaster's impatient face, to Sally's uncomfortable grimace and then to Martha's impenetrable stony expression. Still lost, she clung to what she knew. "B-But I'm studying for Assistant P-Pony. Some c-children with Special Needs... um, need me." Sally got up from her chair and came to crouch beside Rosa. She laid a hand in her mane and the mare welcomed the comfort. Sally's face softened and she smiled. "You're a very sweet pony, Rosa. I promise you will get to do that, just - a bit later. We'll make sure no needy child goes wanting while you're on this assignment, okay?" "Jesus, it's not like she has a choice," Mr. Freely said behind Sally and it made Rosa's ears flop down again. He was right. If they gave her this assignment, she would have no choice but to take it. It wasn't what she wanted, but at least there would be two children she would care for. Rosa could be a good pony and help them a little along the way. It would still put the skills she'd learned to good use. Besides, she didn't want to let neither Sally nor Martha down in front of the Headmaster. "I'll be happy to h-help, Mrs. Gaeta," Rosa said with as much of a smile as she could muster. "That's a good girl," the woman praised. "Don't worry, there's still some paperwork to finish. You will start next Monday, so you can go and say goodbye to all your friends." An unwelcome memory of Maribelle crept into Rosa's mind. She hadn't had a chance to say bye. "W-What should I tell them?" "The truth," Sally answered. "It's just an assignment, Rosa. A bit unorthodox because Mr. Boone asked for you specifically, but still just an assignment." Rosa hadn't heard the name yet, but she committed it to memory. Her new boss, Mr. Boone. "Why m-me?" Instructor Martha had the answer to that one. "He came to see your class with ze children a few weeks ago and he was quite impressed by how you handled ze situation." "O-Oh." Sally brushed her mane with her fingers and then leaned in to give Rosa's nose a kiss. "That's it. We're all very proud of your progress, sweetheart. You have my personal guarantee you'll finish your training for Assistant Pony and then..." She looked back at the Headmaster, who shrugged. Sally continued: "It's not exactly customary to let ponies pick their assignments, but we'll make an exception for you, okay?" That would be an amazing boon. Rosa could choose the poor child where she would do the most good. She could make sure it was a young girl, because she thought those needed the most encouragement. She could even pick a family that wasn't well off, so they finally get something nice in their lives. The Assistant Pony program was partially financed by the Government, but most ponies went to wealthy families despite that, which made Rosa a little sad. People who would need her services the most would end up deprived. Except now she could change that! It was already making her heart glow with warmth and the smile she gave Sally was genuine this time. "Thank you, Mrs. Gaeta." She chuckled and bopped the mare on the nose with a finger. "Just Sally, okay?" Then she stood up and returned to her seat. "Great. Thank you for your help, Martha. I'll go and get the paperwork started." "Yeah, you do that," Mr. Freely answered instead of the Instructor. "I'll go call Mr. Boone and tell him." They both filed out of the room and Rosa was left with Martha, who watched her a little strangely. "I know zis is not what you thought would happen, but it is still a good opportunity, Rosa. Make us proud and you'll find your future a lot easier, okay?" Rosa nodded to the Instructor. "Now run along to your class. If zey ask you why you're late, tell zem to speak to me, okay?" Again, the mare bobbed her head, but this time she added her voice so she wouldn't be impolite: "Yes, Instructor. Thank you." Then she slipped from her chair and left the office. Rosa was still dazed from the momentous news she had gotten just then, but she decided she was feeling optimistic. True, the assignment would be easy and unworthy of her training and talents, but that didn't mean she couldn't do a good job. This Mr. Boone was a benefactor for the school, Mr. Freely had said. Perhaps if Rosa really impressed him, he'd donate more money and it would make life better for all the fillies and colts. It was all up to her and Rosa was determined to to a very good job!