//------------------------------// // Adjustments and Learning // Story: Guardian Angel // by Mayhem Darkshadow //------------------------------// Written by: Mayhem Darkshadow Edited by: psychohooves and Avatar of Shadow Chapter 3: Adjustments and Learning "You have all of your books?" Twilight asked Scootaloo as they walked down the main streets of Ponyville towards the Schoolhouse. "Yes," responded Scootaloo halfheartedly. It had only been a few days since Twilight had become Scootaloo's new guardian; however, the daily routines hadn't seemed to change. All the residents of the Ponyville Library were still on the same schedule as before. "What about your lunch?" "I've got it Twilight." "Your homework, pencils, paper?" "Sheesh Twilight," groaned Scootaloo, slightly annoyed. "I've got everything. Stop worrying." Twilight smiled. "Just making sure. I'm not going to be able to bring you anything today if you forget something. Now don't forget you and your friends are going to Sweetie Belle's house after school. Their sisters and I have something we need to take care of today." Scootaloo nodded her head in response. Twilight had given no clue as to what they were doing, but Scootaloo figured it was probably something that didn't concern her. As they got closer to the schoolhouse they could hear the bell ringing. They stopped just short of the entrance and turned to each other. "Well," started Twilight, "Have a fun day of learning and gaining knowledge. Good luck with your test today as well." Scootaloo groaned in protest. She had forgotten completely about the math test. Twilight smiled and ruffled her mane. "You'll do fine. We studied long and hard for this one." Scootaloo gave Twilight a weak smile. Math was her worst subject. "Also try not to get into any trouble today," added Twilight. Scootaloo snickered. "No promises on that one." Twilight chuckled and then sent Scootaloo on her way, watching her until she was inside. As she turned Twilight happened to see Rarity and Applejack walking up the street with their sisters. "Mornin' Twilight," called Applejack. Twilight gave them both a smile and watched them send their sisters off to school. When they were finally inside they began to talk about today's plans. "So do we have everything?" Twilight asked them. "Big Mac is bringing the cart of materials and tools to the library as we speak," replied Applejack. "I have all my books and color pallets in my saddle bags," said Rarity as she patted the bags hanging from her sides, "Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are bringing over everything else I need." Twilight smiled. So far everything was going off without a hitch. "Y'all know this is gonna be real hard ta do in a single day right Twi?" asked Applejack. Twilight nodded. "I know but we need to try. If we need to we can have Rarity's parents watch them a bit longer." "I'm sure they wouldn't mind at all," assured Rarity. Twilight nodded, realizing that she had the best friends in all of Equestria. They all turned and trotted off to the Library. Twilight had already hung up a sign to notify ponies. It read "Closed for Renovations". ********** When Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack got back to the Ponyville Library they realized everypony else were waiting for them. Parked right outside the front door was a cart from Sweet Apple Acres filled to the brim with wood, tools, and other assorted building items. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were all carrying Rarity's sewing equipment as well as many assorted fabrics and materials. "Took your sweet time now didn't ya?" yawned Rainbow Dash loudly. This was very early for her, but when Twilight asked her to help she couldn't say no. "Hi girls," chimed Twilight full of energy, "Is everypony ready to do this?" They all nodded. It had been very last minute but Twilight asked them to help her out with a very big project. She wanted to do some serious renovations to the library, specifically giving Scootaloo her own room. All her friends kindly and enthusiastically volunteered to help. She figured, and hoped, that they would be able to get it done in one day. They got Rarity's parents informed in hope they could keep the girls busy while they worked. "Alright. The only things we are still missing are the bed and the bedside table. That should be here in a few hours," announced Twilight. "Twilight I know y’all are really high hoped on getting’ this all done in a single day, but as I mentioned before that’s a tall task,” Applejack mentioned. Twilight, despite knowing her friend was probably right, kept the energy alive. "I know it's a lot of work girls but I think with the six of us we can get it done. Besides we have magic in our arsenal today." Applejack let out a quiet sigh and shrugged. "Well alrighty then let's get to it y'all. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie y'all are still helping me build shelving and such." Rainbow Dash let out a small groan and followed Applejack over to the cart. She was starting to regret agreeing to this. Pinkie Pie, energetic as ever, bounced gleefully behind Rainbow. "Now Twilight you did remember the type of furniture I asked you buy right?" asked Rarity. Twilight nodded. It wasn't like Rarity had reminded her a dozen times. "Oak wood with a light colored stain." Rarity smiled. "Perfect. May I look at them darling?" "They’re upstairs in my room. The store delivered them late yesterday," Twilight told her. "Excellent. Come Fluttershy dear let's go get a look and start thinking about color schemes." Rarity trotted off with Fluttershy, while Twilight broke out her check list and checked off the first item. "Alright. Time for step two," she said quietly to herself. Twilight had the largest task of the six ponies: physically forming the room. To any other pony this would be a task that alone would take a few weeks. Twilight, however, knew a single spell that would have the whole procedure done in a matter of minutes. ********** "Y'all did a perfect job Twi," congratulated Applejack as she looked at Twilight's handy work, "This room is just perfect fer a filly." "You don't think it's too big or too small?" questioned Twilight. Applejack shook her head, and Twilight smiled. Now that the room itself had been fabricated, they could begin making it into an actual room. Applejack wiped some sweat from her brow. Even though it was getting close to fall it was still quite hot outside. "I'm thinking maybe a break is in order," said Twilight. Applejack agreed. They both turned around and took a step forward, only to be hit by yelling coming from downstairs. "You are not painting her room pink Rarity!" shouted Rainbow Dash at her friend. "Well we certainly aren't using your idea either. Orange. Unacceptable!" retorted Rarity in anger. Applejack and Twilight rushed downstairs and found the two ponies ripping each other a new one. "What's wrong with Orange?" spat Rainbow Dash, voice like venom, "She's got an orange coat. I don't see what wrong with that." "She's a little filly Rainbow Dash. Fillies like pink," replied Rarity rudely. Rainbow facehoofed. "Okay for starters not all fillies like pink. Second you don't know the pipsqueak as well as I do. She’s about as far from girly as it gets." Twilight and Applejack looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and intervened. "Girls stop arguing this isn't helping us make progress," shouted Twilight, "You are both forgetting that I said I'd make the final decision on color. Rainbow, yes Scootaloo has an orange coat, but I don't think she'd like an orange room. Rarity, she may be a filly but trust me. She would not like pink." Rainbow Dash frowned, and Rarity bit her lip. Fluttershy, who had been standing there quietly, spoke up. "Umm...well what about sky blue?" asked Fluttershy quietly. Twilight nodded in approval. "Now that idea I like. Good job Fluttershy. Before we do anymore though let's take a break and calm our nerves." ********** After a quick fifteen minute break they got back to work. Rarity and Fluttershy went to work fabricating some blankets and pillows. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash continued with shelving. This left Twilight, along with Spike, to go out and buy paint and accessories for the room. What Twilight was looking for was mostly school supplies for the desk. She was going to take Scootaloo out later and let her pick out some posters as well as maybe some toys. Twilight was glad she brought Spike because she felt like she may have been ignoring him over Scootaloo. "Excited to have another pony living with us permanently?" she asked him as they were picking out the proper color of paint. Spike shrugged. "I mean I don't feel any different than I did a week ago. You sound concerned Twilight." Twilight rubbed him playfully on the head. "Just want to make sure I'm not ignoring my number one assistant." Spike smiled, glad that he hadn't been forgotten and took the bucket of paint from the hardware store employee. His fingers were immediately crushed between it and the hard ground. He didn't realize how heavy it was going to be. Twilight helped him free his fingers, all while snickering quietly to herself. "How...how much for the paint?" asked Twilight after she got a hold of herself. The employee, who was chuckling quietly, responded. "Let's see you have the premium with primer already added. You have a five gallon bucket. The total will come to one hundred and twenty bits ma'am." Twilight felt this was an acceptable price and paid it. She let Spike carry the desk supplies while she used magic to carry the bucket of paint. "I hope she likes this color," she said with a bit of worry in her voice. "I'm sure she is going to love it Twilight," responded Spike, "The fact that she's getting her own room is going to be enough of a surprise." Spike had a point and Twilight let the thought go. They picked up the pace so they could get to the library quickly. School was already out and they didn't want to burden Rarity's parents with the girls for too long. ********** Twilight and the rest of her friends could not contemplate how they had managed to fabricate a room from nothing in just a day. They had literally done the impossible. In the end it was probably the magic that helped them finish. As they cleaned up the mess they all shared their thoughts on how Scootaloo was going to react. "I think she's gonna flip," said Rainbow Dash as they were picking up the last of the mess. "Or she could act like a civilized pony and thank Twilight in a kind matter," added Rarity. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "You really need to get to know her better Rarity. That filly is pretty much a mini version of me." Twilight stopped them before the bickering worsened because the front door had just opened. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom walked in the door. "Twilight I'm...oh I didn't realize everypony was still here," said Scootaloo when she realized they were all there. Everypony except for Twilight made a bee-line for the door. Twilight asked them to stay but they had all decided ahead of time to let Twilight and Scootaloo have this moment alone. "Did...did I do something wrong?" asked a very confused Scootaloo. Twilight, a bit confused as well, responded. "Of course not I'm just as lost as you are. Anyway I have a surprise for you." Scootaloo's eyes widened in excitement, though she was still confused. "A surprise? For me?" Twilight nodded. "Close your eyes and I'll take you to it." Scootaloo did as she was told, and Twilight levitated her onto her back. "Keep them shut tight," she mentioned to the filly on her back. Making sure Scootaloo wasn't peeking Twilight headed upstairs to her new room. Scootaloo could tell they were going upstairs and was still trying to figure out what the surprise was. Once they were inside Twilight set Scootaloo on the ground. "You can open your eyes now," she told her. Scootaloo opened and realized she was standing in a room she hadn't been in before. It had a very large bed positioned at the back and a desk near the front. There was shelving spaced out along the walls and a bedside table to match the bed and the desk. It even had a closet. The whole room was painted a calming sky blue and it smelled like freshly shaved wood. "Welcome to your new room," announced Twilight happily. Scootaloo was struck speechless. She was too awestruck to comprehend what laid before her eyes. "I figured it was about time you got your own little slice of privacy. It's not quite complete yet. Some windows still need to be put in and you need to pick out some toys or posters or whatever you wish to make it feel more at home," Twilight told her. Scootaloo was still silent as she tried to take it all in. Twilight was starting to think maybe Rarity had been right about her reaction. "This...this is really all mine?" she mumbled quietly. Twilight nodded. Scootaloo, no longer able to contain herself, responded similarly to Rainbow Dash's predictions. She ran straight to the bed and started jumping on it. "This...is...the...best...surprise...ever!" she shouted out of pure joy. She jumped straight off the bed and wrapped herself around Twilight's leg. "Thank you Twilight. You have no idea how much this means to me." Twilight patted her head softly. "I'm thrilled that you like it so much." Scootaloo let go of Twilight and looked around the room some more. She could believe how much her life had changed in just a few short weeks. "Well I'll just let you have a moment to yourself if you want," Twilight told her. Scootaloo nodded, and Twilight went back downstairs to get dinner started. Once she was sure Twilight was gone Scootaloo started crying -- tears of joy of course. Never had anypony ever been so kind to her as to build her a room in just a day. It was more than she ever could have asked for. If there was an award for best pony in all of Equestria Twilight was the only pony who deserved it. ********** Scootaloo having her own room now was a big adjustment for both her and Twilight. Scootaloo embraced this new feeling of independence and was nothing but thrilled. Twilight, meanwhile, found it different because she no longer had a little filly curled up beside her every night. It didn't take long for Twilight to normalize to this though, and she still got to tuck Scootaloo in every night per her request. This was only one change though. There were many still to come. ********** Scootaloo raced home in the biggest hurry of her life. It was a Friday, and she and her friends had some big plans for the weekend. The weather was starting to turn to fall, and today they wanted to get one last swim in before it was too cold to do so. They were planning to meet up in an hour which gave Scootaloo just enough to time to get her scooter and wagon, have a snack, talk to Twilight about her day, and then go and have some fun. When she got closer to the library she was glad the door was open. She ran inside and nearly knocked Twilight and Spike over. "Where's the fire?" growled Spike as he dropped the stack of books he was carrying. Scootaloo didn't answer him and dropped her saddle bags before bolting upstairs to her room. Twilight laughed and then went into Scootaloo's bag. The latest test had been graded and returned to them. Twilight was curious to see how well the studying had paid off. After digging through Scootaloo's saddlebags she managed to find the manila envelope with the papers. Alright let's see how she did. She opened the folder and pulled out the stack of five papers. The first one was the Biology quiz. A-, very good. Following that was the Geography test. B+. It's not an A but it's still good. Then the History quiz. B+. The studying seemed to pay off. The next one made Twilight very proud. One hundred percent on the spelling test. I'm going to have to buy her a treat for doing so well. Twilight smiled and knew the last paper had to be the math test. She and Scootaloo had worked real hard on this one. Scootaloo, from what Twilight could tell just by working with her, was not very good at math. Her eyes fell out of her head when she saw the grade on the paper. F? She got an F?!? How, after all that work, did she manage to get an F? Twilight sighed and looked through each individual test question. Scootaloo didn't get the full points on a single question. In fact, for the most part, she didn't get any points on a lot of the questions. Twilight flipped to the last page and saw there was a note for her from Ms. Cheerilee. Twilight, I was a little shocked after grading Scootaloo's test to find that she had failed. I'm starting to worry that nothing is clicking in for her. She does so well in all the other subjects yet struggles severely in this one. I'm not afraid to state that her grade was the lowest in the class by almost twenty points. I had to give her extra time to finish as well. I am requesting that she stays after school an extra hour on Tuesday and Thursday so I can work with her one on one. I'm sure you will also be reviewing quite a bit more with her now. Luckily it's early in the year and the scores on her homework are helping balance out the tests. She is an extremely smart filly and I know she has the potential to do well. Cheerilee Twilight put the paper down, and let out a huge sigh. It was not going to be fun talking to Scootaloo about this. She gathered her thoughts on how to go about this. When she heard the clopping of hooves coming down the stairs, she called Scootaloo over. "Scootaloo. We need to talk before you go anywhere," Twilight called at the filly. Scootaloo frowned. Her friends were waiting for her. "Can we do it later? The girls and I want to go swimming before it starts to get cold." Twilight remained solid. "We're going to talk now Scootaloo." Scootaloo pouted and sat in the chair across from the couch. "What do you want?" she said in a rather cool tone. Twilight held her temper and showed the math test to Scootaloo. "You failed your math test. We did all that studying and you still failed the test." Scootaloo shrugged. "What's the big deal? It's just a stupid math test." Twilight took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "The big deal is that Ms. Cheerilee is concerned. She's worried that you don’t understand the material. You do well in every other subject except math." Scootaloo frowned and started whining. "Math is hard compared to spelling or history. All the numbers and stuff get confusing." Twilight figured this might be the problem and pressed the subject. "You find the numbers confusing?" "I find the whole subject confusing," complained Scootaloo. "Well that's what Ms. Cheerilee thinks and that's why on Tuesdays and Thursdays you’re going to stay after school with her and work on it," Twilight told her. Scootaloo was getting close to a tantrum. "That's not fair at all!" "You and I will also be spending time working on math as well," continued Twilight. This was the straw that broke the ponies back. "Why would you do that to me? Just because I don't understand the stupid bucking subject you’re going to make me do extra work. Well I'd rather fail than do all that extra work!" shouted Scootaloo at the top of her lungs, "You wouldn't be doing this if you were cool." Twilight didn't say a word. She got off the couch and walked angrily upstairs. Scootaloo realized what she did and tried to apologize. "Twilight I'm..." She flinched as she heard the door slam to Twilight's room. "Nice." Scootaloo flipped around as saw spike standing in the corner munching on an apple. "It's not funny Spike," she snapped, "I think I hurt her feelings with that last comment." "Maybe, but I doubt it. I think you just got her flustered. Move over to the couch and let's have a talk," he told her. Scootaloo frowned. Not another talk. She, however, did as she was asked so as to not make another resident of the library angry at her. "You need to cut Twilight some slack," started Spike. "But I don't..." interrupted Scootaloo. "Let me finish," snapped Spike. Scootaloo shut her mouth and kept listening. "You're going to need to learn that Twilight's life revolves around learning and school work. She prides herself in her intellect. I've never met another pony as smart as she is. I've seen her prove ponies with doctorate degrees wrong. She's only doing this to help you. She may be forcing you to do something you do want to do but she's doing it for your benefit." Scootaloo thought long and hard about what Spike has just told her. She felt bad for yelling at Twilight. Sliding off the couch she slowly made her way upstairs. ********** Twilight sat on her bed. She wasn't crying or anything. She was thinking about was Scootaloo had said. Maybe I treated her too harshly. Twilight heard a knock on the door. She turned around and faced it. "Come in," she called. There was no response as the door opened to the room. Scootaloo slowly walked into the room. Twilight didn't give her a smile or a frown, she just looked at her. Scootaloo walked over the bed, climbed up on it, and sat across from Twilight. After about thirty seconds of silence Scootaloo finally spoke. "I'm...I'm sorry Twilight for how I acted," she croaked quietly. "No I'm sorry. I acted too harshly over something silly," responded Twilight. Scootaloo looked into Twilight's eyes. Twilight saw that they were sparkling with tears. "I didn't mean to say you weren’t cool. I just got frustrated," sobbed Scootaloo. She buried her head into the sheets and started crying hard. Twilight lifted Scootaloo up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Hey its okay it was a simple mistake Scootaloo," cooed Twilight, "I was the one who over reacted. I should have treated the situation differently." Scootaloo wiped the tears from her eyes. Twilight ruffled her mane and let her go. "We can talk about this later. It's a Friday so go have fun with your friends," Twilight told her. Scootaloo's mood went from regretful to excited in an instant. She wrapped her hooves around Twilight's neck. "Thanks Twilight," she said before jumping off the bed and running off to her friends. Twilight smiled and shook her head. She then began to think about the even that had just occurred and how she maybe could have gone about it differently. I suppose I was a bit pushy about the subject. She obviously doesn't like learning as much as I do. I suppose nopony likes learning as much as I do. Still she needs to get her grades set straight and tutoring is the only way to do that. Twilight was puzzled as how to go about this. She didn't want to have another shouting match with Scootaloo for the sake of either of them saying something they would regret. After a few minutes of deep thinking Twilight came up with some possible ideas. It was a long shot but if they helped Scootaloo out it would be worth it ******** Twilight decided not to wait to start working with Scootaloo. Just a few days after they had their first argument they both found themselves sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by math books. Scootaloo was not thrilled. Earlier today she spent an hour working with Ms. Cheerilee. She did, however, remember what she and Spike talked about and kept her mouth shut. Twilight finished setting up her portable whiteboard and then turned and faced Scootaloo. "I know you don't want to do this Scootaloo but it's going to pay off in the end," mentioned Twilight as she sat down at the table. Scootaloo held back a sigh and prepared for more lecturing. Twilight, however, just asked Scootaloo a simple question. "Rather than lecture you Scootaloo I just want you to tell me what about math you find hard?" asked Twilight curiously. Scootaloo looked at Twilight. "You aren't just going to lecture me?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I'd rather know what you find difficult. If you want me to just lecture you though I can do that." Scootaloo quickly shook her head. "No, no that's okay." Twilight chuckled. "I'm only messing with you." Scootaloo laughed nervously. "Well...I just find everything about math confusing. I mean simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division I'm fine with. It's...it's everything else that I find difficult." Twilight smiled and then opened Scootaloo's math book to the current chapter they were on. "So let's look at what Ms. Cheerilee is lecturing about right now. Can you explain PEMDAS to me at all?" Twilight asked Scootaloo. Scootaloo scratched her head. Ms. Cheerilee just went over this today with her and she already forgot about it. "Umm...it's the order of operations right?" Twilight nodded. "Yes it is. Can you tell me what each letter means?" Scootaloo tried hard to remember. "Umm...umm P is for parentheses. E is for...it's for..." "E is for exponent," said Twilight calmly. Scootaloo swallowed nervously and kept going. "M is for multiplication. D is for division. A is for addition. S is for subtraction." "Take a deep breath and relax Scootaloo," said Twilight, "I think I see the problem. Do you get nervous whenever you take a math test? Or if Ms. Cheerilee asks you to answer a question?" Scootaloo sniffed and nodded her head. Twilight now understood the cause of everything. "I see. So this only happens with math? It doesn't happen with any other subjects? Scootaloo nodded again. "I've never been nervous with anything else. Math has been the only subject. I don't know why. It's never made sense since day one." Scootaloo slammed her head on the table and moped. She felt Twilight pat her head. "That's okay we all get nervous sometimes. Now that we have found the root cause I'm going to give you a problem. I want you to use the order of operations and solve it. But before you do that I want you to take a deep breath and clear you head. You are a very smart filly and I know you can do it." Twilight passed Scootaloo the piece of paper she just wrote on. Scootaloo looked at the equation. (4x6)+(13/13). Scootaloo's heart rate started to rise, and she felt herself start to sweat. She felt Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "Deep breath," Twilight told her. Scootaloo inhaled and then looked at the problem again. She thought about everything she knew on the order of operations and everything Ms. Cheerilee lectured her on. Taking a pencil she began working out the math. After about thirty seconds she came up with the answer. "Is the answer 25?" asked Scootaloo confidently. Twilight nodded. "See you can do it you just need to believe in yourself. Let's try another one." Twilight took the paper and scrawled down another problem. When she was done she passed it back to Scootaloo. Scootaloo took another deep breath and glanced over the question. (4+3+1)x 2. "Sixteen," responded Scootaloo after looking at the problem for a few seconds and doing some scratch work. Twilight smiled. "See I told you that you could do it. Just take a deep breath whenever you get nervous." Scootaloo smiled. "Thanks Twilight." Twilight ruffled her mane. "You’re welcome Scootaloo. Alright now let's try some slightly harder problems." They continued to work until it was Scootaloo's bedtime. Twilight hadn't actually realized that Scootaloo had fallen asleep during one of her lectures. Twilight smiled and levitated Scootaloo onto her back before taking her upstairs. Not wanting to wake her up Twilight zapped Scootaloo's teeth clean before tucking her into bed. As Twilight tucked Scootaloo in the little filly mumbled something before cracking a smile. "Sweet dreams Scootaloo," Twilight whispered in Scootaloo's ear. Scootaloo smiled again and moved around. Twilight giggled slightly before giving Scootaloo a kiss on the forehead. "Good night sweet little filly." Twilight shut the lights off and left the room. She gave a lot of thought about the last few days. There had been some adjustments, and they had also learned a bit about each other’s personalities. Twilight thought it was a great experience and hoped there would be more in the future.