//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Whoops // Story: The Grownup Way // by Cold Spike //------------------------------// Samantha was starting to get worried. Her friends hadn’t returned and she could swear they had promised to come back… or did she make that up? She couldn’t remember so she sighed. When being alone she had time to ponder her situation again. “This isn’t fun anymore…” She had no where to go and nothing to do. She also was feeling just a bit shy, she didn’t feel like walking into the town. She wanted to go home now, and she was starting to get really tired of being a pony. It was fun at first, sure, but she liked having hands. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hiding in a near by bush, just near the Crusaders clubhouse. “Why aren’t we just grabbing her?!” Rainbow harshly whispered. “Shush, we wait for Twilights signal and then we walk out and distract her. Nopony’s grabbin’ anypony, got it?” Rainbow pouted but kept quiet. Twilight was inside the Crusaders house, focusing her horn on Samantha. Very small amounts of magic were being purposely leaked out, to be absorbed by the mares body. If this all works out fine, then she won’t change. If not… then Rainbow and Applejack better be ready to subdue her…do changelings have genders? She made a mental note to research it, if she got the chance. Rainbow and Applejack shared a quick glance and then walked out of the bushes. Samantha was busy on her back again, trying to imagine herself somewhere else. “Uh, hey, Samantha.” The mare looked up from her position and spotted the rainbow pegasus, what was her name? I want hair like that! She thought, completely forgetting about her woes from before. She cracked a smile, though she found it odd she hadn’t noticed it before. “Hey, how’d you get your hair all… rainbowy?!” Rainbow backed up, and then was forced to continue backing up as Samantha continued to step forward, her eyes glued to the mares head. Okay, ah’ll admit that is mighty strange behavior. Can’t say for certain if that filly was telling tall tales though… “I… uh, um, was born that way,” Rainbow said and quickly rejoined Applejack. “Oh…” Samantha flopped back onto her back and sighed. “So, what’s up?” Twilight continued to pour more and more magic, but it was a slow process. She needed just enough to get some kind of reaction, Rainbow stole a glance at her and the mare waved her on to keep talking. “Uh, we’re here to show off some stunts for you! Yeah! Right, Applejack?” Applejack caught on and nodded. Ah suppose if she does show off something, then it won’t be lying. Ah’m fine with that. “Stunts? What do you mean?” Applejack nodded to Rainbow and the mare followed quickly by flying into the air and doing a quick single flip. “Wow!” Samantha tried to clap her front hands together, only to quickly remember that she no longer had them and was forced to awkwardly rub together her hooves in frustration. Applejack gave her a queer glance. That is mighty odd, is she… tryin’ to applaud? Rainbow wasn’t sure what she was trying to do, but she was keeping the would be mares attention. She did a few more flips, and then Twilight waved her on to keep going, causing her to keep doing flips. After five minutes she was sure she would pass out. Samantha, however, was fully enthralled with the tricks. “More!” Rainbow face hooved and did just one more stunt. Upon doing so, her right wing gave out and soon she had tumbled onto the ground below. It was in that very moment that Twilight finished and then Samantha’s body began to glow bright green. Rainbow's eyes widened in shock and she pointed her hoof at the mare. “She’s changing! She is one! Catch her, AJ!” Applejack, having no rope with her, decided to shrug and promptly took a seat on the mares chest. “Uh, don’t move.” Samantha looked up fearfully, wondering just why she was glowing green, but also trying to desperately figure out just why someone was sitting on her! Before anypony could respond, including Twilight who was running down yelling frantically, Applejack leaned down and brought both her hooves together on Samantha’s neck. She pinched her and in a split second she was out like a light. Rainbow stood there in shock, her eyes slowly sinking to look at Samantha and then she quickly whipped back to Applejack. “What the…” “Heh, the Apple Neck Pinch, Granny taught me. Never fails.” Applejack’s smug expressiong slowly faded when Twilight reached them. “What did you do?!” Twilight paced around her in a panic. “Oh, we’re going to be in so much trouble! The green energy meant she wasn't’ a changeling! It was her body releasing the magic! Oh Celestia!” Twilight grabbed her head with her hooves in a panic. “What if Princess Celestia finds out about this? She’ll banish me and then, banish you two and then-- ugh, good night…” Applejack quickly pinched her and the mare quickly past out onto the grass before them. “Applejack! That’s our friend, what the hay?!” Applejack rubbed the back of her head. “Well ah panicked! Plus haven't you ever watched Twi when she gets into those episodes of hers? She grows a blastin’ vein on her head! Ah just didn’t want her to hurt herself… maybe that was a dumb idea.” Rainbow groaned, wondering just how it had all gone so wrong so quickly. She turned around and spotted a red coated stallion off in the distance, not too far away, simply staring at them. “Uh, Big Mac, did you see all of that?” “Eeyup.” “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” “Eeyup.” Rainbow sagged into the grass and sighed, glaring at Applejack who wore a sheepish smile and a blush. “Eeyup.” “Applejack, what were you thinking?!” Applejack stood in the mayor’s office, looking down shamefully wondering just what in fact she was thinking. The mayor, who happened to be a mare, paced around her. “Because of you, Twilight and a new pony to our town is unconscious in our lobby and we have no idea when the will wake up!” The farmer pawed the ground. “Ah’m sorry, Mayor. To be fair it shouldn’t be too long before they wake, it never is.” The mayor stopped pacing and shot her face forward, invading her personal space. “Why did you even do it?” “Well… we thought Samantha was a changeling. We we’re supposed to distract her while Twilight cast her spell. It turns out she isn’t of course, but Rainbow didn’t know that and shocked me and… you know the rest.” “Applejack, how dare you!” Both mares whipped around to find Twilight storming into the room, just after she bucked the doors open. “Well, ah didn’t want ya to have a heart attack! What was I supposed to do?” Twilight scoffed and raised her hoof, animating it all over the place while she spoke. “Anything! Talk me down, reassure me, dump water on my head, anything but pinch me until I faint! How did you even do that?” Applejack took this opportunity to dawn her hat and then flashed a smug smile. “Well, going back generations the Apples have always been able to--” The mayor cleared her throat. “Ladies, where is… oh.” Samantha was trailing behind Twilight, looking down. Looking lost. Twilight gave Applejack one last scowl and turned back to Samantha. “Samantha, we need to ask, do you or do you not have a place to live here in Ponyville?” Applejack took spoke up as well. “And did ya bite… somepony?” “What? No! Ew…” Applejack gazed into her eyes for a moment and then nodded. “Excuse me, ah need to go have a little talk with a certain pegasus filly…darn fibber.” She walked away, but not before apologising. Twilight watched her leave and then turned to face Samantha again. “Well?” “Uh…” She knew she had been found out, they discovered she was actually a kid and she was in big, big trouble. She had no way out. “No?” The mayor stepped forward. “You’re homeless?” “I guess?” She really wasn’t certain what else to say. She did have a home, but it wasn’t in Ponyville. The unicorn sighed and shook her head. “I was afraid you’d say that. Mayor, I think we need to hold a town meeting for Samantha. We can’t let a pony go around without a place to live.” What? She wasn’t caught yet? And they were gonna help her?! “Well now, I don’t believe a full town meeting is necessary. Why not just you and your friends? You simply all have an affinity for helping others… not to mention town meetings are expensive, heh.” Twilight blinked. “I suppose that can work too, all though--” “Splendid! It’s settled then. Have a nice day!” The mayor shoved her out with strength that Twilight did not know she possessed and she and Samantha were soon standing outside, blinking to pass the time. Twilight waited for Samantha to stand up or say something, but when at least four solid minutes of blinking had passed it became quite obvious that she was not going to do a thing. The unicorn levitated her into the air without warning and walked to her tree. “C’mon, we need to talk.” Samantha spent the time floating in the air wondering just why floating in the air wasn’t as fun as she thought it would be. She found herself floating into the library from before and was gently laid down on a couch. “Spike!” “Up here, Twi. What’s up?” They looked up and spotted the drake reading a comic, while perched on a tall shelf. “Spike, I’ve told you not to sit up there. You could hurt your self!” She scolded. “Aw, Twi, I’ll be fine. I-- woah!” Twilight’s horn lit up in a split second, even though she realized a split second later that it was unnecessary. As Spike had only wobbled a bit, though he soon wore a bashful smile. “Heh, I’ll come down now.” “Good, I need you to gather my friends. We have a sort of issue that needs solving,” she said, watching him descent a latter. “Okay, I’ll try. Though I think they’re starting to get a bit evasive to these meetings you keep holding. I don’t think they like being interrupted at work, or when doing other stuff. They don’t mean anything by it or anything… but...” Spike trailed off, nervously tapping his claws together. “I know, I know. Everypony needs breaks, even if they like helping out.” Spike nodded. “I’ve tried to put together town meetings so more ponies are helping out with town issues, and not just us six. Believe me, I know how tiring this is  getting. But the mayor hasn’t really listened all that much. She thinks meetings are too expensive.” Spike crossed his arms. “A broken town is kind of expensive.” “Yep.” Samantha watched the two argue back and forth, after a bit she spoke up. “I don’t get it.” “My friends and myself tend to help out when the town is in trouble, sometimes small things like organizing town events, or other times huge things. It’s typically us seven, my best friends, that tend to help out the most. I think they are getting a bit tired of others not joining into assist. It get’s a bit routine for us, but also tiring, you know?” “No…” Twilight frowned and turned away from her. “Just, please go gather as many of them as you can. If they are busy then tell them it’s fine.” Spike saluted and walked off, leaving the two mares alone. Twilight took a deep breath and then spoke. “Okay, so you do not have a house? And… I take it no job, correct?” “I guess, no.” She’s had jobs before though, at least her parents called them jobs... “You guess… okay.” Twilight rubbed circles around her temples a few times. I can’t get too personal here. This is a sensitive subject. “Do you, perhaps, know of any skills you have? Something you enjoy doing?” Going home- No! Out of no where she felt a new rise, a new strong feeling of happiness. This could still be fun! How often did you get to be a grown up? That was an odd question, she decided, but didn’t care. What kind of skills would a grownup have? She desperately tried to think of something, she at least knew what the word skill meant. “Uh… running?” Twilight’s face scrunched up to a pained expression and a false smile. How did she even get by… No, Twilight, treat this sensitively and help her. Twilight nodded. “Can you think of anything you’ve done before? Like tasks? Helping other ponies perhaps?” “S-sure, that sounds like f- something I could do,” She said unconvincingly, ending her sentence with a nervous smile. This can still be fun! All though she wasn’t so sure of herself anymore. Didn’t fun need to end at some point? But then the promise of play and new enjoyment based activities and adventures seemed far stronger. Essentially she was conflicted, but only slightly. Fun was going to happen whether she liked it or not! “Alright… hmm…” Twilight pondered it and figured that if Samantha was simply given manual labor oriented tasks (while getting paid for doing so) she could at least afford a place to stay and possibly discover her true special talent along the way. It certainly wasn’t the worst idea she had ever come up with, she just wasn’t so sure if the mare was up to it. “Okay, Samantha we could--” Just then the front door slammed open, startling both of them. It was Rainbow Dash, she flew in looking uncharistically passive. “Yeah, what do you need?” “Well, um…” Twilight quickly looked back to Samantha who had suddenly found the floor to be rather interesting. “Uh, first off did you apologize to her?” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh, no?” Twilight glared. “Well you were in on the idea too!” Twilight remained calm and smiled. “Yes, and I am helping her by finding her a job. Would you like to help her too?” Rainbow chewed on her lip and looked over to Samantha. “Samantha, I’m sorry about before. Can you forgive me?” Twilight could sense that Rainbow was doing her best to be sensciere, however she was clearly faking it. Oh Rainbow, you really don’t like apologizing, do you? Twilight thought and shook her head. “That’s okay.” Samantha figured she did seem sorry. Rainbow brightened up immediately. “Great! So, what do you need, Twi?” Twilight smiled, it was the kind of smile where you just knew someone wanted something done for them. Rainbow was a loyal friend and most of the time Twilight’s requests or favors were not too stressful, sometimes they could even be fun, or adventurous! Rainbow really hoped it was the last one. “Rainbow, you’re going to help me help Samantha find a job!” Or it could be something that not only sounded boring, but she had no experience in. “Twilight, I’ve never even had to search for a job before! How could I possibly help in anyway?” Twilight shook her head. “How did you find your job then?” Rainbow blew out some air, making a ‘pfft’ noise and waved her hoof. “My dad got me it! Knew most of the ponies who worked in Ponyville Weather, and pretty soon I became their captain.” Twilight’s ears dropped down upon hearing this, it meant Rainbow probably wasn’t the best pony to ask for advice from. “How about you? How’d you get this job?” “Uh, heh. Princess Celestia kind of appointed me the town librarian… well, I guess the mayor did. I didn’t really look for the job.” Twilight sighed. This isn’t going so well… Spike cleared his throat. “Twi, why don’t you just ask around town? See if anypony needs extra help?” The drake offered. Twilight smiled and was about to agree when he spoke again. “Or you could always check the job board, why didn’t we just check that in the first place.” Twilight nodded and opened her mouth to speak again, but he spoke up again. “Actually, I think they added a second job board since the other one kept getting full…” Twilight sighed. “Is that all?” “Yep.” “Right, let’s go find her a job then.” Spike, Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Samantha studied the job board for a few minutes.  “Let’s see, the first on the list is Roseluck. She needs extra help at her shop, gardening, “ Spike said. Rainbow smirked. “Great! Let’s-” “Hold it!” Twilight called out, causing Rainbow to freeze in mid air, some how without flapping… much. “Samantha, have you done any gardening work before?” “Uh… I grew a flower once. Does that count?” Rainbow grabbed both mares, and the dragon with her hooves. “Sounds like it counts to me, let’s go.” In about ten seconds flat, Samantha decided that she hated flying. Watching it was okay, but actually doing it frightened her to death. It only took them around twenty seconds to land, not that Samantha knew this. No. The poor ‘mare’ was too busy shaking in fear, still perched on Rainbow’s back. “Rainbow, maybe give us a warning the next time you're gonna do something like that!” Twilight chided. Rainbow groaned and poked Samantha, who instantly stopped shaking and looked up in confusion. “She’s fine,” Rainbow said, waving Twilight off who grunted in anger. Not waiting for Samantha to get up, the pegasus walked over to the flower shops door and knocked a few times. “Hey! Roseluck! Open up!” The door opened slowly, revealing a rather basic flower shop and a confused Earth Pony mare. “Yes?” Rainbow smiled. “You need an extra employee?” Roseluck slowly nodded. “There you go.” She pointed behind her to Samantha. Roseluck walked past both mares and dragon. Spike took a look at her, never noticing her in town before. Well, he had simply never bothered to get to know her. Comic Books didn’t read themselves. She had a very light cream colored coat, along with twin colors of red, different shades for her tail and mane. Her cutie mark was, of course, pegged on both sides, along with both sides of her store, a rose. Roseluck sized her up, walking around Samantha in a few circles. “Can you cut flowers, water them and speak to customers in a friendly manner?” “Yes?” The mare studied Samantha some more, never cracking a smile of her own. “Uh huh, are you in touch with your Earth Pony magic?” Samantha knew she couldn’t lie out of that one, she didn’t even know she was supposed to have magic! “No…” “That’s fine. You’re an Earth Pony though…” “Yes?” Samantha repeated. Twilight smacked her hoof to her head in frustration. “I suppose I’ll give you a shot. You start tomorrow, show up at 8 sharp. Samantha was it?” “Yeah, it is!” Roseluck wasn’t sure why the response was so enthusiastic, but she shrugged it off. Perhaps she was just excited to get the job. Then again the mare had acted odd at her own party, which was, of course, where she knew her from.  “Right, I’m Roseluck by the way. See you tomorrow.” With that the front door closed gently. Rainbow flew high into the air and did a mock bow to Twilight. “See ya!” Twilight smirked. “That went better than expected…” She muttered to herself, hoping it stayed to only herself. “Okay, so you should probably get home soon and get some re… you don’t have a place to sleep…” Twilight trailed off, trying to think up a quick solution to the issue at hand. “No?” Twilight groaned, realizing that she did have a spare guest room. “Spike, do you mind preparing the guest room?” “Sure thing, Twi.” The dragon saluted and ran off.