//------------------------------// // Interviews // Story: The Great and Powerful Centaur // by Viper Pit //------------------------------// I was idly sitting by my new wagon. Note to self be sure to repay my parents for covering the cost. While I waited for any potential bodyguards approaching my way, I had spent the last couple days hanging fliers with the location on where and when to meet me at if they want an interview. I set out some snacks that everybody can eat that being brownies. I help myself to one as I wait, and luckily I don't have to wait long as I soon I see a Griffon approach me. She has white feathers on her head and neck and the rest of her is light hazel brown but the feathers on her wings are a darker shade of chocolate brown. "Hello," I say politely. "Are you here for the interview?" I ask just in case they are just tourist. "Duh, while else would I be here?" She response. she sees the brownies and takes a couple. Well she's definitely rude. but being rude doesn't mean protection. Keeping my poker face smile, I politely asked. "Can I get your name, please?" Taking a moment to swallow her brownie she replies "Name's Gilda." "Okay Gilda, why do you want to be my bodyguard." I skipped straight to the point. "I need the bits." I raise an eyebrow. Didn't expect a short blunt answer right away but I guess that's typical for someone with a brash personality like hers. "If I may ask, why do you need the bits?" I asked a prepared question. "I wanna get a home here in Equestria." She explained. "And traveling will get me a good idea of where to settle down at." Again, another unexpected answer. "That is a very good reason, Gilda," I reply as she takes another brownie. "Unfortunately, I can not guarantee you will get the job as I know of a couple of other interviewers and maybe they are better qualified." I pause as I realized I forgot to ask a very important question. "Which reminds me of. What are your qualifications?" Gilda took a deep breath and opened her beak to speak her traits. "Well, I should get the obvious ones out of the way. As you can see I have razor-sharp talons and beak, I went to and graduated junior speedster flight camp with top scores in being awesome and daring, and not to brag about it but I can handle myself in a fight, whether it be a one-on-one or like I dunno, against five or six Minotaurs." I noticed that the last one was an overexaggerated and that there was no statement about calming down a situation before it escalates' but I don't comment on it. "Alright, I think I have what I need... for now. Is there any way to contact you to announce your official employment?" She may not be much but who knows about Griffons. "You can find me staying at the Drunken Boar Inn." She replies before taking off, but not without taking a couple more brownies. "Okay she needs money and wants to scout out a location, but she seems like the type to escalate things unnecessarily and she is staying at a bar." With a heavy sigh, I write down her location and my thoughts on her. I use this bit of free time to replenish the brownies since Gilda took nearly all of them. Just as I finish setting down the brownies as sphinx?! lands nearby before what I assume to be looking at the fliers before looking around some more. I can't tell if its a boy or a girl because it is kinda small a little bigger then my dad if I had to guess. They have sand brown fur with a white underbelly its wings seem to be of similar coloration with white feathers but brown fur where the feathers meet the bone. They soon see me and smile revealing that they are a pure carnivore. "Hello I am Trixie and you are?" I ask once they get close. "Hello, I am Giza." With a voice that deep it is definitely a he. "I was hoping to find you." "Well, here I am" I give him a polite smile. "Are you hear for the bodyguard position?" When he nods I take a second to clear my throat. " First question. What are your Qualification?" "Well I was a bouncer at a local club but I quit when I learned that all the employees were being docked half pay just because the owner wanted to impress some nobles." he scoffed as I nod in understanding. "It was the called the Nile if you are curious." I will have to check in with them to confirm the story, but at least he has experience in the field. I think as I write down the club name. "Alright, why do you this position over a job here in the city?" "I'm would like to stay in the city, to be perfectly honest, but not a lot of creatures are hiring muscle right now." I nod as I write that down. "Alright is there anything else you would like to tell me because if I do hire you-you do realize that we will be on the road a lot." He nods as he says. "I do but desperate times call for desperate measures. Also how much does the job actually pay if I may ask." "You may and you will get 25% of the total profit while I will get 50% with the last 25% goes to expenses such as food, water, and general maintenance of the wagon." I don't even look up towards him as I reply. "Where can I contact you should you get the position." "You can find me at Fairy tale Inn." That name rings up some alarms bells in my head. "Isn't that place always getting destroyed because of fights?" I asked, a little worried since I heard a lot of violent rumors about that place. He gives me a cocky smile as if he knew I was going to ask that specific question as he says this. "Hey, I gotta have fun somehow." with that and a shrug, he leaves. I'm not gonna lie he scares me a little. "Well, he was an interesting fellow." A voice says from behind me, making me jump while holding my chest. I turn around to see an Earth Pony covered in armor and a big sword that looks like it's too big to wield properly. Most likely enchanted "How long have you been there?" I asked as soon as I quickly regained composure. "Around the time that guy said how much I would get paid." A cheeky smirk forms on her face as I just nod and gesture for her to take a seat. She wiped her right forehoof before she reaches for a brownie when I asked. "If you're here for the interview, I guess I have to ask what is your name first?" "Name's Iron Heart and if you heard that name when you got here, then you know that I'm awesome." She replies with her smirk still on her face as she continues to eat through the plate of brownies. I swear she might eat the plate as well. I know Earth Ponies have big appetites after being with the Apple Family for while but her's was beyond insanity that she might give Pinkie's gluttonous stomach a run for its bits. She is certainly confident. I wonder why? I take a moment to let her swallow her food before I ask the next question. "What is with the armor and Sword, if I ask?" "Well, there's a combo set included with my service." She began. "The Armor and Sword are magically connected to each other, the sword will always re-appear on my back if should I ever lose it." She pauses to take a bite of the baked goods. "And past that the Armor, when activated, it gives me the strength of a Rhino and the Speed of a Cheetah, the Sword can also absorb elemental attacks such as Fire from a Dragon, or Lightning from a Thunderstorm. Also, they make me look, sound, and feel awesome." "Well, you certainly are prepared aren't you?" I must admit the enchantments that she mentioned were not be cheap to attach on a sword and armor. "Indeed I am." She munched the last brownie. I guess I'll have to refill that with cookies... maybe after she leaves. "Okay, where can I find you should you get the job?" She pulls out some sort of golden card with a sword and a shield on it and hands it over to me "Press on the shield if you want to contact me for a talk, press on the sword and I'll be teleported over in battle mode should you be ambushed" With that she leaves and I pocket the card. Possibly lying through her teeth about the enchantments and has a higher appetite than Pinkie. I wrote down on my notes. "Good lord these interviews are taking a lot out of me but I know I got at least two more to go over and then the hard part of picking one. Well, I could pick more than one but they might not like that and I may not make enough money to pay two of them." I end up waiting for the better part of an hour before I decide to call it a day and to grab something sweet to eat that isn't brownies. Thunk "Looks like dinner is going to have to wait." With a heavy sigh, I go and observe at what made the sound. I go to the other side of my trailer and I see a Thestral with one of my mangoes in her mouth. "Excuse me?!" I exclaimed, grabbing her attention. "Mello." She replies her mouth full of the fruit. She has big blue eyes, light grey fur, purple mane, and tail, her cutie mark is that of some flower with a sword over top of it, and lastly, her wings are surprisingly not dark blue or black like normal but they are a light purple. To complete the set she has a rapier on my right. So she left. "Why are you eating my food?" I asked, my voice sounded like it had no patience left in it. She thankfully swallows before replying. At last, she has manners. "I was looking for the interview for a bodyguard in the area and I got a little lost but then I smelled these amazing fruits before I knew what was happening I was already eating them." She says with a smile on her face before she seems to remember something if the look on her face is anything to go by. "Do you know where that interview place is being held at by any chance?" Sighing again at this newcomer I say. "Well, your first impressions needs some work and show up on time would also be good to do." She puts on an apologetic smile. " Well let's get this over with." I use my magic to pull her out or my wagon. Once she's out, we head over to the interview area. "First question what is your name and why do you wanna be my bodyguard?" "Well, my name is Nightslash and I just really need job experience before I can start teaching the way of the rapier." To make her point she pulls out the rapier and gives it a couple of quick thrusts. "The Biggest reason is I love stage magic it's always more entertaining than regular magic that I see during fights. To me, at least." I write down her answer along with my thoughts on her. She certainly is eager to help with my acts at least so that is good... or maybe she is brown nosing me to gain a higher chance of getting the job. I look up to make sure she isn't going to eat any more of my food. After confirming she is still there I ask the next question. "Why do you need experience if you are just gonna end up teaching?" "Well, you can only learn so much with wooden dummies and rookie sparring partners. you know?" I give a slight nod. "And as a bonus, it gives me more credibility if I have stories to tell future sword-wielders and possibly scars to temper up my skills." I quickly write down. Possibly has a lack of self-preservation. "Is there anything else I should know about?" "Well I do have a slight allergy to peanuts but nothing too serious." She informs me. I wrote that allergy in my notes as remind myself if she did get the job. "Alright, thank you for the information I just need a way to contact you in case you get the job. " I swear I heard a 'Squee' sound as she smiles. Is she Pinkie in disguise or maybe her cousins? "I am currently staying at this really weird place run by a human mare that has this massive wooden plus sign on it" Well she will be the easiest to find at least. "Oh, and sorry about the mangos I just couldn't resist it, since been so long since I had one." With that, she takes her to leave and I get something to eat from my trailer. When I get back from my meal, I can see a minotaur born centaur waiting outside. He has two massive horns, white skin on his upper half and brown for his bottom, muttonchops or sideburns as someponies might call them and a tattoo of a snake head on his left arm. I will be honest, he looks very familiar in a bad way but if he is here for the interview, I gotta at least be polite but quick about it. "Hello, are you here for the interview?" I say in the most polite voice I can muster. "Oh, it's you." His voice his a lot more formal then one would expect and I remember that voice well. "Chiron, what are you doing here?" I make no attempt to hide my anger in my voice. A little backstory Chiron and I used to take way back in high school but after I refused to give myself to him he tried to force himself and I swiftly left him. "I was looking for a job as a bodyguard but seeing as how you're the employer I will admit I am curious as to why YOU of all creatures need a bodyguard." A smile forms on his face. "Oh that's I remember you have a heart condition." "Why should I even give the job. " I huff in annoyance. A smile forms on his face as he walks over to my Trailer and lifts it with one hand. I am not impressed. "After what you tried to do to me it will take a lot more than that to even think about hiring your ass." "I suppose that's fair given our history." He sets my trailer down and then lights his horns and cast a powerful beam spell up in the sky. "What about that?" I'm done with this guy already. "Why do you even want the job in the first place?" "While the bits would be nice I was hoping to find a good breeding mare to have fun with." He actually wiggles his eyebrows at me. "But in all honesty, I am just looking for someone worthy to fight and while I do find you just as attractive as back in high school I know your mother would skin me alive if I so much as laid a finger on you." "Well, that concludes the interview now leave." He gives me a bow before taking his leave in a casual manner as if he succeeded. I summon my notes and I write down. Is his Power worth it? Probably not. I go inside my trailer to make sure his little display didn't mess everything up and thankfully he didn't do to much damage. " I really hope I make the right choice with this."