Rose and Sam
Chapter 11: Ginger Gold
Admiral Biscuit
When I heard the town clock chime, I went inside to make our lunch. It wasn’t my turn to cook, but I knew that if Daisy did it, Lily and I would get into an argument, and Lily would get mad if she was asked, since her flowers needed the most attention.
Despite all of the nice spring air and sunshine, it had been frosty in the garden. It was a pleasant change to be in the kitchen and reflect on the time I’d spent there with Sam instead.
Lily’s words were still echoing in my head. I knew she was wrong, but I didn’t know how to tell her. Didn’t know if I could tell her, or if she’d be stubborn and stay away from Sam and make signs to ward hexes any time she saw her. . . as if those worked. She used to try that around Daisy, too, every time Daisy used her magic for something. And then she just stopped and they mostly got along now. I think that Daisy wasn’t willing to be bullied, and didn’t care what Lily thought, that if she wasn’t going to deal with it she could move out. Or maybe Lily had just gotten used to it, and wasn’t going to lose a friend over something silly.
It wasn’t like we didn’t have unicorn friends. And Lily wasn’t rude to unicorns at market, she was even nice enough to Zecora on the few occasions she’d stopped by our booth.
I thought that once the town really started to come around on Sam’s side, Lily would too.
Where had Sam come from, and why? Why did she want to wear clothes even when she shouldn’t? I couldn’t figure it out, and ‘it was a human thing’ like she’d told me wasn’t much of an answer. I didn’t want to press her too hard, though, that wasn’t polite.
Maybe Berry knew—she might have told him. I turned the idea over in my head as I finished making our lunch. Maybe I could visit him. . . but going into the Everfree was too big a step, even though he must live someplace safe. Ginger would know where, wouldn’t she? Or I could wait until I saw him in town. If he wasn’t too busy I might have a chance to talk to him, to see if he would tell me anything about Sam.
Or I could ask Apple Cider what she knew. I didn’t think it would be much, though. She hadn’t worked with Sam, just seen her around working and heard some gossip, the same as everypony else.
Sam might open up to me in time. That wasn’t my motive in offering to go over and take care of her flowers . . . I hadn’t mentioned that to Lily, and she was going to be mad when she found out, even though it wasn’t any of her business what I did in my free time.
It wouldn’t be polite to change my mind and not go. I’d just have to think of an excuse to leave after dinner, maybe even before dinner. Or I could just tell her and deal with it before I went to Sam’s rather than after I’d come back.
Lily would think I was going off to my doom. I sighed. No matter what, it was going to be another unpleasant conversation and I wished I hadn’t thought of it before eating lunch.
•••
Lily was still frazzled when I called her in. None of us ever looked our best after working in the garden, but she was more unkempt than usual and still missing the flower over her ear.
Daisy looked annoyed as well; her ears were down until she smelled food, then they perked right back up. “Casserole?”
“And a salad. I had some leftovers from yesterday.” I wasn’t going to tell Lily that Sam had eaten some of this casserole, and I didn’t think she’d be able to smell Sam’s scent on it.
How would she react if I told her later?
I didn’t have to. She might have seen my expression or she might have guessed, but she narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not having a casserole a monster made.”
“I made it.”
“For a monster.” Lily pushed her plate away. “I’d rather starve.”
“Fine, if you’re going to be that stubborn.” I leaned down and took a bite of mine. “She didn’t touch the salad, I made that fresh just now. She likes oats and milk, though, so if you’re not willing to touch anything she wanted to eat, you’d better leave those alone.”
“We talked about this,” Daisy said. “And I thought you’d come to an understanding.”
“It’s my house, too, and I deserve to say my piece. You can’t just go and invite anycreature you want into our flowerbeds, into the kitchen and living room and bathroom, not without us agreeing on it. You know how I feel.”
My voice was quiet. “I thought you’d had time to see that Sam wasn’t a monster, that she deserves the same respect as anypony else who lives in town, but instead you’re acting like . . .” Like a filly afraid of a raincloud, I almost said. “She doesn’t have everypony in town under her spell, and if you’d take the time to talk to a sensible pony or two instead of getting your tail in a knot gossiping with skittish ponies.”
“You weren’t so worked up about Spike,” Daisy pointed out.
“He’s small, I could kick him into next week.” Lily stamped her hoof on the ground to illustrate her point. “Sam’s big and fast and knows how to swing an axe and can carry bags of flour and wants to hide her cutie mark because it’s a bad mark--”
“She doesn’t have a cutie mark,” both Daisy and I said simultaneously.
“I’m sure your conspiracy newspaper gleefully reported on that,” Daisy added.
“They’re looking for weeds in an empty pot. Only equines can get cutie marks anyway.” But I’d thought she was pony-like enough to have one.
“I don’t care.” Lily looked at her salad bowl and pushed it away, too. “I’m going back outside to tend my flowers, at least they don’t invite monsters in when they’re left alone.”
“And I’m going to weed Sam’s garden, it needs some attention.”
“I hope she gobbles you up.” Lily turned tail and slammed the door behind her as she left.
Daisy watched, wide-eyed, then turned back to me. “You aren’t really--”
“I am. I said I was going to, and I’m a mare of my word. Her garden looks like shit, it needs all the help it can get.”
Daisy pinned her ears and snarled at me. “The two of you both need to calm down, and think before you say something. Nopony benefits when you’re biting at each other’s throats. Next time the two of you are at our market stand together you’re gonna wilt all the flowers if you don’t make up.”
“Sam’s not a monster.”
“I don’t think she is, but you need to consider her views on it.” Daisy took a deep breath. “She was right that you shouldn’t have had Sam into the flowerbeds, even if it meant turning away the only help you were going to get.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re wrong. If you hadn’t just kept pushing her by using magic around her, she’d never have gotten used to you.” Daisy’s ears drooped, and I thought about my next words carefully. “It’s the same thing with Sam.”
“It is not. Lily always knew that I could do horn magic, I just tried not to do it around her until we were comfortable with each other, and in hindsight I think it was still too soon, but I was getting tired of having to do everything the . . . well, you know.”
I nodded. Sometimes I thought she was cheating by using magic, but on another hoof she didn’t have the endurance a proper earth pony did.
“Doesn’t matter, either way. We’d decided to live together, all three of us. But only you decided to invite Sam over, and you didn’t ask either of us how we felt about it.”
“How’s that different than the time that Strawberry Sunrise stopped by and Lily invited her in for tea?”
“We all know her and nopony’s afraid of her . . . you’re not afraid of her, are you?”
I shook my head. “She’s a little weird. Doesn’t like the taste of flowers.” I took another bite of my salad, and it tasted like dirt.
“I don’t think you should invite Sam over again until Lily’s ready,” Daisy advised. “Just to keep peace in the house.”
“Even though she’s quicker to learn than some apprentices we’ve had? Maybe if Lily watches Sam work, she’ll come around.”
“Or else you or Sam are going to have bruises on your barrels when she decides to fight. It’s easier to go at her pace rather than try and force her. She’s as stubborn as a mule when she gets an idea in her head . . . just like you.”
“So what do you suggest?”
Daisy shrugged. “Maybe the two of you should kick it out in the backyard.”
“Fighting doesn’t solve anything.”
“Doesn’t feel like that when somepony gets a good shot at your ribs. Are you really going to clean up Sam’s flowerbeds? You’re not just saying that?”
I nodded.
“And leave me trying to unwind Lily?”
“She might be happier if I’m not around tonight,” I said. “And she might be imagining how Sam’s eating me, that might make her happy.”
Daisy shook her head. “She’ll be worried, deep down. You know it. She only wants what she thinks is best.”
“Well, she’s not always right.”
“Of course not.” Daisy set down her mug and her magic faded. “Are you?”
•••
I hadn’t been kicked out, I’d left of my own accord, but it felt like I’d been kicked out as I walked through town. Sam wasn’t home--I hadn’t expected her to be--and I sniffed around her unhealthy, weed-choked flowerbeds before leaving.
My mind was half on Sam and half on what could be done with her flowers, if it was better to just tear everything up and start again, or try and nurse the ones that were left back into health? Or was I going to wind up wimping out and go back home with my tail between my legs? I didn’t really have a plan for where I was going, I was just wandering around town. It was easier to walk around than to think.
I didn’t think I was wrong, but Daisy wasn’t, either, and that hurt.
•••
I found myself by the Ginger’s woodlot. She was in the middle of the yard, splitting wood, and Berry Black was nowhere to be seen.
I hadn’t wanted to interrupt her, but she saw me and came over to the fence. “You need more cordwood already?”
“Just wandering,” I said. “We’ve got lots of wood.” Then, since I was there and she was at the fence already, “Were you worried about Sam helping you chop wood?”
Ginger shrugged. “Berry said she knew how, said she was a hard worker.”
“And you trusted him?”
“Yeah.”
“Even though he’s a donkey?”
I saw a frown cross her face, and she shifted her hind legs. “What business is it of yours, anyway?”
“I hired her to help in the garden yesterday.”
“And did she do what she said she was going to?”
I nodded.
“Were you worried about Sam helping you with your flowers?”
“I didn’t think she’d know how, but she’s a quick learner, and everypony says she’s a hard worker.”
Ginger relaxed and let out a snort, almost a laugh. “If Berry had come up to me one day and just said he’d found a creature in the woods and thought it could chop wood, I wouldn’t have given him the time of day. He was bringing in more wood, just when I needed it the most, too, so I knew he had somebody helping him. I thought maybe it was a cousin or something, lotta donkeys just wander around and take odd jobs, then I remembered hearing about the so-called monster in the Everfree and asked him if that was who was helping. He didn’t say, so I knew it was.
“It was a little scary to see her up close the first time, but I thought she deserved a chance. Maybe if more ponies saw her working, more ponies would want to hire her.” She sighed. “Even if it means I’m not going to get a surplus of wood next winter.”
“I think it’s going to take a while for her to fit in,” I said, “based on how some ponies are reacting.”
I'm confused, what's all this about Daisy having unicorn magic?
11197079
S1 had an animation error with her lifting a tree branch with magic. As an Earth Pony.
Damn... Lily and Sam should just yell at each other really really loudly; that mare needs to grow up, she's acting like a foal.
Excuse me, I gotta go slap the fool out of Lily. Won't be but a minute.
sad to say heard mentality if one runs they all run.
i so hate spell checker and having a bade keyboard.
11197079
It’s canon!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/13/121462.gif
As 11197122 points out, it’s a S1 animation error. Still, we know from the Cakes that ponies can produce offspring that are a different tribe than the parents, and do some skills potentially transfer over? If Daisy is part unicorn, can she do some horn magic even without a horn? Tempest Shadow further proved that a unicorn doesn’t need a full horn to do horn magic.
It’s also been mentioned both earlier in this story, and in other Sam and Rose stories (I think) as well as in other stories of mine with the Flower Trio.
11197150
Or just go in the yard and kick it out of their systems like Daisy suggested. That’s maybe not the best way to settle it, but it’s a way.
11197222
I promised I’d update in March and I actually managed to keep that promise. Fact is a bunch of IRL stuff came up, as it sometimes does.
They do, maybe sit down over a drink or else just go out and have a proper fight to get all the emotions out.
11197277
Your intentions are good, but I think it’ll take more than a minute to slap the fool out of her.
And to be honest, with the number of monster attacks that Ponyville seems to endure, Lily might actually be the wiser one of the pair. Sure, she’s wrong this time, but if her general assumption is that unknown creature = monster, she might be right more often than not.
11197290
Yeah, you’re not wrong. On the flipside, though, once enough of the herd accepts Sam, the rest of them likely will by default.
I wonder if Lily would listen to one of the Princesses? If someone she trust in power would explain things to her I hope she would listen.
11197397
I dunno, If Lily is so paranoid about anything not "solid dependable earth pony" do you think she would trust a winged unicorn? Oh she might not openly badmouth Celestia or Luna, she's not THAT crazy, but privately?
As you've noted, is it really paranoia when you live next to the Everfree, where they really are out to get you? Still, Lily is grasping at straws at this point and she knows it. But the only thing worse than losing a friend to a monster is admitting how much of a silly pony you've been, and it'll take a while yet before Lily's willing to make that sacrifice.
Do it Rose, kick her ass, sometimes a good clean fight between good friends is needed to let the frustration out. XD
11197397
She might, although it’s hard to say. Ponies tend to defer to their leaders, but not always. And even if Princess Celestia says that Sam isn’t a monster, that doesn’t mean that Lily has to like her or accept her, just that it’s not legal to deal with her in whatever manner ponies tend to deal with monsters.
11197564
I think that Lily trusts Princess Celestia at least, at least in the general sense. But even if Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville and tells everypony that Sam’s cool and not a monster, that doesn’t mean that Lily (or anypony else) will suddenly like her or get along with her.
And I could also see some ponies grumbling about edicts from the Princess. “What does she know, she’s never lived in Ponyville, this is the way we’ve always done it,” etc.
11197636
I’m afraid there won’t be a physical fight scene. Even though that might quickly resolve things. I think Lily would lose, I think she’s more of a talker than a doer, but the case could be made that it would be Rose who backed down.
Funnily enough, not that long ago I was watching a video where two horses were introduced. IIRC, one of them is a high-spirited Arabian, who thinks she’s tough. She immediately challenged the other horse and promptly got kicked and then ran off because she’s not actually so tough after all.
11197735
This is a good point and one that a lot of people overlook. Especially in Ponyville (but other places as well), assuming ‘monster’ until proven otherwise is a rational view on things.
Sometimes when ponies—or people—get into an argument, pride takes over and relationships suffer. And it is difficult, especially in the heat of the moment, for either party to admit that they were wrong . . . Rose isn’t exactly faultless in this argument; she does know how Lily feels about Sam, after all.
11197803
Who’s to say that Rose is gonna be the one to win the fight?
11198186
It's Roseluck so I do. XD
Lilly has so many issues. We saw the future with many sapient species living in Ponyville. I can imagine her moving to a less accepting community. Idaho has many white Californians who left California to get away from the nonwhites. Maybe, Lily will move to the Idaho of Equestria.
I have a rule about following only 10 stories at a time (before I had that rule, I tried following hundreds of stories, which did not work). I shall read Destination Unknown next. Personally, went on a train-adventure to DisneyLand. on AmTrak, recently.
Some day, maybe, Rose and Lily will get along again.
11198630
Okay, that’s fair
11199879
It’s also possible she could learn from this, grow and develop as a pony.
That’s a good rule, and I think you’ll like Destination Unknown.
Ooh, that sounds like fun! I’m hoping to be able to take the Empire Builder out to Seattle later this year. I rode it once many decades ago and it was a fun trip.
11200011
They will, eventually.
That’s a great picture!
11200308 Yeah, they're super cute together in that pic.
you forgot the end quote
I'm finally caught up. love your work but it took me a while to realize this was here.
Nice story. Added to my read list.
11197311
Maybe it's just a very short horn that doesn't stick through her mane?
11201545
Fixed, thank you!
Did you miss the update, or that the story was posted at all?
11202569
Thank you!
11206872
In one of the other stories in this series, when explaining her magic to Sam, Daisy says “I had some magic surges when I was a filly, and most of the time it was making plants grow and stuff, but sometimes I did horn magic, so my Mom sort of helped teach me and encourage me to use telekinesis. Since almost everypony else in my family could, I didn’t think it was that odd, even though I didn’t have a horn. I do sort of have a little knot on my forehead, though.”
11207262
that it was posted. I don't often check anything other then my tracking bookshelf.
11207774
Fair enough! I got kind of knocked off-schedule on this one in terms of doing updates. Does it not show that a story updated if it’s in tracking only? Or are you using a specific bookshelf instead of clicking on FimFic’s tracking function?
11207852
I have a tracking bookshelf I manually add stuff to. So it can’t track something I don’t add to it. I have to either check your stories page or get recommended it on another story. Which I did the latter here.
So to answer your question. I basically didn’t know it existed until I did, then I binged it.
11208214
Gotcha!
11197311
I guess her hair is bushy enough to hide a small horn in
11209645
She mentions in another Sam and Rose story having a small knot on her forehead (which is covered by her mane).
11197313
...and Sam can officiate from the other side of a neighbor's fence!
Loving these Rose and Sam stories! I'm hoping the saga continues into the future a little more! I want to see Sam continue to adapt to her new reality, it seems very healthy for her.
For this chapter, though, I'm a little confused by the timing. Two chapters ago, Lily and Daisy arrived just after the clock struck noon and Rose was making lunch. It then seemed like Lily was in the garden for quite a long time, they argued inside, and all went out to work. Then this chapter stars with them eating lunch when the town clock chimes again.
It has to be the same day, since I'm pretty sure Rose said she would tend Sam's garden the day after she worked for her. So, did Rose just postpone her lunch for a couple of hours? I feel like a sentence is missing to help clarify the time here.
11212509
Sam: “Are you sure?”
Daisy: “It’s the pony way to resolve conflicts, trust me.”
Also related, one horse channel I watch that does rescues (I think), he’s got an Arabian mare named Gracie who thinks she’s tough. One of their videos, she met a new horse for the first time, they commenced to kick it out, and Gracie lost. A few minutes later, the guy walks over to her, looks her in the eye, and is like, “You lost again, huh? Not as tough as you think you are.”
11213958
Thank you! After this there’s certainly one more I sorta got planned, and then after that, I don’t know. I tend to write them when the mood strikes me--it’s a nice place to return to.
That may be a mistake on my part; they were supposed to have arrived before lunch but I might have messed that up. I’ll have to check and fix it if I got it wrong.
11200307
Speaking about the Idaho of Equestria, the White-Supremicists of Idaho-Earth are at it again:
Dozens of White Supremacists Arrested in Idaho
11270397
Yeah . . . I guess U-Hauls are the favored vehicle of domestic terrorists now?
11271296
Perhaps. Perhaps, we should repeal the 2nd Amendment:
For the 1st few decades, we could not afford a standing military. We had a mothballed navy, we could reactivate quickly and could raise an army in short order, but, if attacked for the 1st month or 2 the nation depended on volunteer militias. Those times are gone. All private militias do now is terrorism and attempting to overthrow the government for blond-haired oompa loompas. Some of these terrorists believe that they can bare the arms even without a militia.
11272999
I don’t support an entire repeal, but rather sensible laws. I don’t know what form those laws would take; I’m a mechanic not a lawyer, but other nations have managed to allow their citizens the right to bear arms and don’t have frequent mass shootings. Maybe something modeled after what some of those nations do could work.
11279393
The 2nd Amendment states that citizens can form private militias (after the Revolution, the USA could not afford a standing army, so depended on private militias, but after the War of 1812, the USA could afford a standing army, dso did not disbanded its army). If one went back to the late 18th Century and asked a random American whether lunatics and criminals should have access to firearms, the American would say "No.".
In the mid 20th Century, some municipalities passed laws against easily concealable handguns. Those with handguns, latched onto the 2nd Amendment, completely ignoring the part about militias. If it would not be for these extremists, it is likely that lawabiding citizens who are sane, with no criminal record, who passed a firearmtraining course could own double-barrel shotguns and rifles for hunting and defense, with handguns and assaultrifles being limited to the police and military, in the alternate 2022.
11279468
Your alternate reality sure would be nice, but I don’t see us figuring that out anytime soon. Sigh.
11284967
Interestingly, enough, the 2nd Amendment probably would been after the Civil War if Congress would not have been distracted by the antics of President Johnson:
After the Civil War, we passed a slew of Amendments. Next probably would have been the repeal of the 2nd Amendment:
After the War of 1812, the USA found that it could afford a Standing Army, thus eliminating the need for the private militias allowed by the 2nd Amendment. In 1861, the Civil War started. The Confederacy started with no military. It took a few months to raise an Army. During the 1st few months, the Confederacy depended on private militias. If not for the private militias, the Civil War would have been the Insurrection of the Spring of 1861 and would be a footnote in HistoryBooks.
During the Election of 1864, President Lincoln decided to switch Vice Presidents. He chose Andrew Johnson, a slaveholder supporting the Union to send a message that it is not worth destroying the Union for slavery. After the assassination of Linon, Johnson was very easy on those in the Confederate Military and Government. He believed that the Klu Klux Klan terrorizing and disenfranchising freed slaves was great. Congress had to impeach him. When the Senate tried him, he remained in office by just 1 vote.
If we would have repealed the 2nd Amendment after the Civil War, Right-Wing Militias, terrorizing dark-skinned people and attempting to overthrow the Government in coups would be unconstitutional, and civillians could own dobble-barred rifles and shotguns for hunting and defense, but assaultrifles and handguns would be limited to lawenforcement and the military.
11285063
...
To wit