Work It
Misty was up before Izzy, allowing herself a few minutes to simply doze next to her, despite the voice in the back of her mind insisting she not waste daylight. Finally, she carefully untangled herself from Izzy's hooves and tried to not make the bed move too much as she climbed out to not disturb her. It swung gently, prompting the other unicorn to stretch and smack her lips, but apparently not wake.
She quietly waited her turn to use the washroom after Pipp, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She felt well-rested, almost to her own surprise, and there was a giddiness that only grew stronger when she reminded herself what she would do today: She would work. Work that she chose for herself.
The giddiness briefly overwhelmed her and she pranced in place with a giggle, giving her bursting energy a little outlet, then quickly interrupted herself and stood straight when Pipp came out of the washroom, before slipping in herself. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror. "You've got this, Misty."
After breakfast, Misty followed Pipp on the way to work, listening attentively as she told her a few things about the business, the performances, and the products they were selling. Occasionally, Pipp trailed off into short anecdotes or started gushing about one of the tinctures or creams, while Misty tried to keep as much information memorised as she could.
Pipp threw open the doors to Mane Melody and beat her wings to float in gracefully. "Good morning!" she sing-songed, her chipper attitude seemingly infecting her employees right away, who responded in their own respective registers. "You guys remember Misty," she said with a casual flourish towards the unicorn awkwardly standing in the entrance way. "She's going to help out part-time. Jazz, would you mind showing her around?"
"Sure thing, boss." Jazz smiled at Misty, the same way she had smiled the day before, while doing her hooves. "Come on, you'll have it down in a flash." Almost on her own, Misty followed Jazz into the back, where she was quickly talked through the tasks and where everything was. Jazz explained more clearly than Pipp did, making sure Misty kept up and didn't have any questions, chatting with her a bit until it was time to open up.
While Pipp, Jazz, and Rocky were serving clients, Misty was keeping inventory, checking the tools and general products, before starting to count and line up the ones for sale. Setting all of them to the front in a neat row, turning them so the labels were perfectly forward, marking off the numbers, it all started to fit into a satisfying rhythm for her, mixing with the rhythm of the music, playing softly for atmosphere most of the time, but every so often starting up into a full number when Pipp got the urge to perform, her voice carrying well into the back and prompting Misty to move her hips.
"Misty, can you give me a bottle of Petal Perfume?" Jazz asked, leaning into the back room.
"Huh? Uh, y-yeah." Misty stiffened, feeling caught, and quickly picked up one of the bottles and levitated it over.
"Thank you," Jazz sung sweetly, heading back. Misty quickly focused on her list again, skipping the next bottle of perfume to keep the count accurate.
Thankfully, Misty used tally marks for every ten items, otherwise she really would have started to lose count after a while. The occasional interruption, to give out products or change out a tool for a spare, didn't bother her, but by the time she was done counting all the tubs and bottles, her head was spinning and the letters on the list were jumbling before her eyes.
With still time left, she simply picked up the broom from the corner and swept through, then continued with dusting the shelves, many of them easier to reach now that she had grouped everything together more neatly, while allowing herself to space out a little, humming along to the music.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been cleaning up when Pipp's voice preceded her into the room. "Misty, it's almost noon, you can-- Oh, wow!" The pegasus stopped in the door, looking over the floor and the shelves. "You got so much done!"
Misty set the duster down, back in its place, while smiling sheepishly. "Oh, yeah, I finished inventory, so I was looking for something else to do."
"Amazing! We should have gotten somepony in for this in a while, this place hasn't looked this good since opening day!" She pranced closer, her eyes running over the perfectly lined-up products. "Oh, don't tell anypony I said that, though. Now, hold out your hoof."
Misty hesitantly raised her hoof, upturned, for Pipp to put a small stack of bills into. "Here's your first paycheck. You're finished for today." Misty looked at the bills with a sudden, swelling feeling in her chest. "You're going to help out Hitch next, right?"
"Oh, yeah." She quickly put the money away and looked at the time on her phone's cracked screen. She still had some time, but better early than late. "I better go. Thank you for letting me help out."
"Of course! I'll let you know when we need help again." Pipp hovered and squeezed her briefly. "I'll see you back at the Brighthouse. And don't overwork yourself."
"Thank you. See you later." She returned the embrace and then left the backroom in a cheerful canter, to pass through the shop floor on the way out.
"Hey, Misty, clocking out?" Rocky asked aside, while working on somepony's mane.
"Mm-hmm. Thanks for having me," she answered quickly, returning Jazz' short wave and nearly forgetting to open the door before heading outside, falling into a light gallop as she headed down towards the sheriff's office, a smile on her face.
More paper. Stacks of it. Misty was already getting slightly dizzy looking at the same list for her shift in the salon, but having to continuously absorb the information on all the forms and reference books made her head spin. Hitch had sat her down and given her a quick crash course on how to work through and sort the many reports and requests, before leaving for his patrols.
The silence stretched and stretched until it was tense, interrupted only by the scratching of pen on paper and the ticking of the clock. Finally, Misty pushed the chair back and got up with a heavy sigh, starting to pace, only for accusatory chittering to reach her from the corner of the room.
"I'm just stretching my legs, Kenneth!" she argued. She didn't understand the bird the way Hitch did, not literally, but his tone was pretty straightforward. "I finished almost half of them, I can afford a little break."
Kenneth crossed his wings disapprovingly but backed off. Maybe. At least he wasn't vocally complaining anymore. Misty walked over to the coffee machine, considering for the second time to try one. She hadn't had coffee before and she knew it was supposed to be bitter, but also that it was supposed to help with focus. Maybe that was her mistake, not using it to begin with.
She put a mug underneath the nozzle and hesitantly pressed the button, flinching back when it started whirring loudly. She wondered for a panicky little moment whether she had done it wrong, before it stopped and deposited the dark liquid into the mug. Misty levitated it carefully and sniffed at it. It smelled nice, at least. She blew on the steaming surface and carefully set her lips to the edge, taking a small sip.
"Eugh!" She shook herself and stuck out her burning tongue. She quickly put the mug down and levitated some of the sugar cubes into it, hesitating after two before adding a third. She took it back to the desk and sat down again, sighing when she picked the pen back up. She furrowed her brow and focused, managing to get through a few more forms, taking careful sips every now and again, until she heard the door creak open.
"Sheriff?" a small voice asked. Misty leaned over the desk to see a small earth pony colt, barely sticking his head into the office.
"Oh, uh... Sheriff Hitch is out right now." She trotted around the desk. "Can I help you?"
The colt hesitantly came in the rest of the way, letting the door shut. He looked at the ground before quietly making his admission. "I got lost. I... don't know how to get home."
"Oh." Of course, this was the sort of thing Hitch usually did. "W-well, the sheriff should be back soon, so..." She saw the colt's expression drop even further, tears at the corners of his eyes. "s-so, I'm free to help you! Don't worry! Um, what's your name?"
"Scamp." He sat down when Misty pulled out the visitor's chair for him and accepted the candy she levitated over to him from the bowl on the desk.
"Okay, Scamp, um..." She hesitated again, but her attention was drawn by a short, sharp whistle. She looked back towards Kenneth, who pointed his wing at the wall beside him. "Oh!" She trotted up to the town map put up on the wall and hummed as she quickly found the office on it. "Do you know what street your house is on, Scamp?"
"Um, I think... Ever... something?" He cast his eyes down again. "I'm sorry."
"No, no, that's okay. We'll figure it out." She smiled at him before looking at the map again, going over the legend of street names. There were three to start with 'Ever-', but they were all in different directions from the office. "Is your house near the beach?"
"No, mom says not to go to the beach by myself, because it's too far."
So likely not Eversun Beach. She followed the path towards the other two with her eyes. "Is your house near the edge of town or somewhere in the middle?"
"Um... I don't know?" He put the candy in his mouth and started chewing.
"Well... is there a lot of grass around it? Or is there another pony's house right next to it?"
"Oh! We don't have a garden at all, we go to the park to play!"
Misty smiled confidently and put her hoof on the map. "Then it must be Everbloom Road. That's easy enough from here."
"That's it!" Scamp stood up on the chair, though his excitement dropped again, looking down and scraping his hoof. "Um... can you walk me there?"
Misty looked at him, then at the stacks of paper still on the desk. Kenneth made a warning chirp, but she just shot him a short look. "Of course."
Some of Maretime Bay's streets and alleys were winding, curving in subtle ways that could make one lose track of the direction one was facing. Misty certainly didn't blame a foal for getting lost. Her first trip into town, with no map or even a real destination, had seen her hopelessly lost too, walking for hours until she finally managed to find her way out and run back home to Opaline. And that had been two months ago.
Now, though, she had a pretty good idea about how all the streets connected. Not by name or direction, but by visual memory, from a lot of time spent creeping through alleyways and shadowing ponies. Though today she was using her knowledge of the streets to help somepony else.
Scamp finally recognised the neighbourhood again when they had almost reached Everbloom Road and excitedly skipped ahead to his house. Misty quietly stood by as his mother welcomed him home, relief clear in her voice and expression, despite the small scolding he got for wandering too far on his own. She sheepishly accepted both of their thanks and got dragged into a small conversation by Scamp's mother, before she started to make her way back to the office.
There you are, Misty. Took you long enough.
That's right, Opaline had never been that relieved to see her back unharmed. Even when she did come back scraped-up, she barely even took note of it. And never once had she embraced her like Scamp's mother did him. Just sent her to clean up and then go to her room to eat.
The anger and emptiness that had started to build suddenly deflated at the thought of food and the quiet growl her stomach made. Breakfast had been a while and she'd been working for quite a few hours now already. She slowed down and looked over at some of the food carts that lined the wider street, realising again that she actually had some money to spend now. She hesitated, but a more whining growl from her stomach sent her trotting over to the first one nearby.
She made the rest of her way back while slowly eating a fried treat, humming and sighing quietly at the crunchy outside and soft, chewy middle, the warm taste as it dissolved in her mouth. Who knew that guilt-free food would taste this good?
She was done eating when she made it back to the office, trotting back inside to continue with the paperwork, only to stop short in the door, seeing the desk already occupied.
"Welcome back, deputy." Hitch looked up, just as he moved another form into the corresponding file.
"Hitch! I, uh..." She quickly wiped the crumbs from her muzzle. This had to look bad. She was supposed to stay and work.
Slacking off again, Misty!?
Get to work already!
Do you even take this seriously!?
You ungrateful little--!
"I wasn't slacking off, I promise! There was a lost foal and, uh, he was scared to go back home alone, so-"
"Misty, calm down." He got up and walked around the desk, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Kenneth already told me everything. You did good."
She shrunk back a little from his touch and looked up at him past her mane. "I did?"
"Of course. Helping ponies is what we're here for. Why do you think this work piles up so much?" He gestured at the desk with a wry smile. "But, I need you to do one thing." He moved an empty form onto the desk from a drawer. "You had to leave while on duty, so I need you to fill out this report."
Misty sighed in relief and sat down to write down what happened for the files. And yet... Anxiety, that's what Posey called it. It didn't leave her again for the rest of her shift, despite Hitch assuring her she did nothing wrong. She was glad, though, that he continued with the paperwork, because she wasn't sure if she could concentrate on any more. She instead started cleaning the office a little and entertained Sparky, managing to feed him without getting anything on her coat.
She left with a tired smile when the time was up, heading slowly down to Mane Street. Sunny was up next, and then she could call it a day. Just delivering some smoothies, no big deal. She'd get to move around town and enjoy the fresh air, meet ponies with a decent excuse for interacting with them, and no longer look at stacks of paper until the letters started melding together. This one would be easy.
Rain pounded heavily onto the canopy under which she came to a stop, shaking her mane and pulling the small cart under it with her before detaching it from her waist harness. The weather had turned awfully quickly once she had set out with the smoothies and the list of addresses. It was a small list, not many chose to order rather than come up to the stand, but they were spread far through town, so she still had a lot of ground to cover.
Misty had followed her phone here, which knew the streets by name much better than she did, and then had skirted around the front garden to the small house's side entrance, to take cover on the porch rather than stand in the pouring rain at the front door. Hopefully whoever she was delivering to wouldn't mind that.
She opened the cart to retrieve the right order after ringing the bell, double-checking the list to make sure. When she turned back to the door, she barely had to wait for it to open. She had nearly started worrying over whether her polite smile was believable, but it spread into a genuine one at the sight of her customer. "Oh! Hello, Posey."
Posey's annoyed glance softened right away. "Misty? You're running deliveries?"
"Mm-hmm, starting today! Here's your smoothie and your salad!" Posey set them both aside after taking them out of Misty's magic grasp and handed over payment. Misty checked over the bills, stopping short. "Oh, you gave me two bits too many."
"It's your tip," Posey said flatly. "What, did Sunny not explain this to you?"
"Um, she was kind of in a hurry." Misty smiled apologetically.
Posey sighed. "You might get more than what the delivery costs. The rest is for you to keep. It's good manners to tip delivery ponies, especially in this weather." She frowned. "Did nopony else tip you?"
"Oh, you're the first on my list, actually."
"Really? You look dead tired already. Whatever, just don't catch a cold." She took her smoothie and salad and closed the door.
"Bye, Posey," Misty got in just before the lock fell closed. She looked down at the money with a smile and put it in the delivery wallet. Sunny would sort it out later.
By the time Sunny and Misty made it back to the Brighthouse, the sun was starting to go down. The rain had weakened but was still coming down, leaving Sunny a bit wet and Misty drenched. Her legs ached, her eyes barely wanted to stay open, and yet the exhaustion was strangely satisfying, knowing she had done something useful, and all the money she brought home, in wages and tips, was hers and hers alone, earned through genuine effort.
"Maybe we really should have waited until tomorrow," Sunny said hesitantly. "You worked so much today and I had no idea it was going to rain so heavily again."
"I'm okay," Misty said quietly, smiling to herself. "But I really feel like sleeping."
Sunny giggled. "Just let me get a towel and then you can use the shower. Make sure to dry your whole coat and wrap up warm, okay? You can get a cold much easier when you're exhausted like this."
Misty hummed her agreement and left her phone and her money on the coffee table before making her way up to the washroom. The warm water from the shower was a much more comforting sort than the cold rainwater that had clung to her all the way home. She stood in the stream just a little longer than necessary before stepping out and thoroughly drying herself off with a towel and the hairdryer, another luxury she didn't have before.
She stifled a yawn as she came back out, already hearing the chatter of her friends' voices down by the kitchen area. She slowly wandered down to them, attracted by a different kind of warmth.
"Hey, Misty," Zipp greeted her, nudging her again when she came close. "How do you feel after your first work day?"
"Good. But... so tired." She sighed and rested her head on the table, sniffing the air for what was cooking. "Is it always this exhausting?"
"Well, when you're not used to the work," Pipp shrugged.
"And you're working for twelve hours," Zipp added. "Seriously, you didn't need to do it all at once."
"Yeah, how about taking it one shift per day from now on?" Sunny suggested, over from the stove. "I could offer more direct delivery on certain days, so you could do that two or three times a week?"
"And Mane Melody could maybe use a look-over once a week or so?"
Misty hummed in thought, sitting up so she wouldn't fall asleep at the table again. "Okay, but not Wednesday. I already promised I'd foalsit Scamp."
"Who?" the three of them asked in near unison.
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Misty's happier then most people I know who work multiple jobs.
It's so cute that Posey was already getting mad at Misty not being potentially tipped.
Boy first day on the job and a grueling twelve hour shift! Boy I know how they feel! Misty gonna be a little sore the next day!
First off, where is she storing the money, second when did she get a phone?
I'm sure Hitch will understand Kenneth.
See, nothing to worry about.
At least she wasn't 100% rude this time.
I'm glad that misty did so well on her jobs.
11652086
She's had a phone in the show for a while, actually.
As for the money, honestly, no idea.
It's a difficulty of the medium that this kind of thing is a lot more obviously strange in writing than it is in animation.
Where are the ponies keeping their phones and other stuff half the time?
In this case I figured it wasn't important enough to draw attention to.
11652399
Oh... I must've forgotten or something, had a busy and stressful week lately.