--- All That's Golden ---
Two hours.
That was roughly how long the detour to the Carousel Boutique had taken out of Twilight's day. It was half-past two in the afternoon by now, which left plenty of time to spend on the pursuit of employment. And even if that particular task wasn't achieved this day, at least Twilight could walk away knowing that she had grown the small social circle she had managed to amass in this town. Which itself was some kind of victory, considering her plans for settling down here. Rarity herself seemed like a kind and well-balanced individual, and a possible way to check on just how much Canterlot had changed during her absence.
"Well, that was fun!" Pinkie Pie beamed, trotting alongside Twilight's casual stroll as the two reemerged into the bustling country town. "So, what's next?"
"I still need to find a job," Twilight gave a deep exhale after the reply. It wasn't something she wanted to have to do, but it still needed to be done as quickly as possible. Especially since she spent some precious money on what was effectively a fashion statement. Not the greatest financial decision when one has no source of income. "Still not sure what I'm gonna do about that, though..."
Fluttershy hopefully won't mind another night... if it has to come to that. The thought wasn't exactly encouraging, but at least there was the possibility of having a roof over her head for the recent future. There was some form of breathing room, at the very least. But as the alicorn continued on her way, her progress was halted by a sudden pink pony standing directly in her path.
"OH! I know! Let me help! I can be one of your references!" She looked at Twilight with wide sparkling eyes, almost uncomfortably close to the other pony, clearly looking forward to her proposal. "It'll be fun!... Well, as fun as getting a job can be, anyway!"
Skepticism was made plain on Twilight's face as she stared back into the almost pleading eyes. The offer was tempting, having a town resident vouch for her might prove to be beneficial in the search for employment. Yet at the same time Pinkie definitely seemed like the kind of person who would vouch for anybody if they just asked nicely. And that could make Twilight look as if she were manipulating the mare to make herself look better, which could hurt her chances of getting employment.
"And don't even think about saying no," Pinkie continued after returning Twilight's personal space, "Because there's nothing in this world that can stop me from helping a friend! Not even the Queen and her two hearts!"
Well, that saved Twilight the effort in making that decision at the very least. Though the dilemma had been exchanged for a curious glance in the earth pony's direction. It was an oddly specific statement with a rather odd claim, and Twilight wasn't quite sure why Pinkie had even brought it up. And this confusion was only allowed to escape her mind in the form of a single word.
"What?"
"Alicorns have two hearts. I remember hearing that somewhere." Without another word, Pinkie began trotting off. "Now C'mon! We gotta find you a job, and I know a good place to start!"
Twilight wasn't sure what was stranger. The fact that such a rumor even existed in the first place, the fact that Pinkie flaunted it about like common knowledge, or the fact that she didn't know for sure if she had two hearts or not. An urge to place a hoof to her chest had to be actively fought off as she went to follow the earth pony, the vague bit of information rattling about in her head. What if she actually did have two hearts? How would she know without actively checking? It wasn't exactly something one would think about on a regular basis. And if that rumor were true, there wouldn't have been much need for Twilight to have been told about it. Her mind was on other things when she was transformed into this, like the wings that had basically burst from her back.
Shaking the wayward thought from her headspace, Twilight elected that there were more important things to worry about at the moment. In the end, it didn't really matter if she had two hearts or not. The knowledge wouldn't change anything relevant in her lifestyle, so it wasn't worth looking into imminently. For now, she had to worry about where ever Pinkie was taking her.
Of course, Twilight wasn't expecting to be brought back to Golden Oak's Library. Yet here she was, approaching the tree-made-building once more alongside Pinkie Pie. Of course, there was one major difference in the library's appearance from how Twilight remembered it, a white sign hanging from a nail in the door bearing two words that the young alicorn was very happy to see.
Help wanted.
"Was... was that there last time?"
"Nope! Mr. Knox put it up just this morning!" Pinkie responded with glee as she pushed the door open for Twilight. "Which is actually really convenient, if you think about it. The only other idea I had was taking you to Sweet Apple Acres to see if Applejack would give you a job bucking trees. But while we were talking with Rarity, I was left with plenty of time to think about it, and I figured it probably wouldn't end very well. Applejack would probably say something like 'picking apples with magic makes 'em taste bad,'" Pinkie's words were beginning to blend together, faster and faster until they were almost illegible, "And then she'd go on to actually prove that somehow against all known laws of science and magic. Then you'd show that you can actually buck trees because you're a world-class-adventurer and you're probably super swole underneath that cape.
"Then Granny Smith would show up and say you couldn't work there because apple-bucking is an earth pony thing—she's kind of old fashioned when it comes to that sort of thing—and then everyone would be super quiet for a hot minute because of the SUPER uncomfortable undertones of racism that'd be going on. And then Applejack would start trying to back peddle her granny's statement as to not make the family look bad, and Big Mac would be all like 'yup' like he always is. And Apple Bloom would also be there, but I didn't hypothesize what she'd contribute to the conversation. School fillies are basically a different species, and thus are entirely unpredictable.
"But anyway: at some point, you'd just get irritated with the whole thing and just leave to get some peace and quiet. And where to ponies go for peace and quiet?" Pinkie gestured towards the shelves of books surrounding them. "The LIBRARY! And when I thought of that, I remembered the help wanted sign outside. So I decided to cut right to the chase and just bring you here first, skipping all the pointless filler!"
Twilight had absolutely no idea what Pinkie had just said. She had clearly heard the mess of words that had been thrust upon her, but they had yet to fully process. But Twilight wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to understand them in the first place. Regardless, she was at least happy to see that there was a job she was actually qualified for. And her potential employer was someone she already knew, which could actually help her case.
What wouldn't help her case, however, was what Pinkie Pie was about to do. She was taking in a long and deep breath, reeling her head back for dramatic effect. It didn't take a diploma from the Queen's School For Gifted Unicorns to figure out what the earth pony was about to do, and the first occurrence of this action was not one that Twilight wished to have repeated.
As Pinkie whipped her head forward to call out for Ponyville's local librarian, she found herself unable to do more than make a few muffled mumbles. In fact, she couldn't even open her mouth, and it felt like something was holding it shut. Naturally alarmed, she crossed her eyes to look at her snout in order to see whatever was wrong. To her surprise, she could see a feint magenta-hued aura ensnaring her mouth and holding it closed. One that matched the magical glow currently emanating from Twilight's horn.
"Pinkie, please don't. We're in a library. And I think my eardrums would burst if you did that again," Twilight stated plainly, keeping her hold on the pink mare's mouth firm. "I'm going to let you go now. But I need you to promise not to scream. Understand?"
"MmmHmm." That was all Pinkie could do to respond, aside from nodding of course. And then the seal on her lips was released, and the ability to annunciate was returned. "Sorry. Old habits die hard."
With that obstacle taken care of, for now at the very least, the only thing left to do was to find the librarian looking for help. Though unlike last time, he was not to be found snoozing underneath the desk as he was the last time. So without any further ideas, the only place to go was up the stairs to the second floor. Though that plan had to be put on hold for the time being, as three blurs rushed down the steps in a cavalcade of hooves clacking against the wooden floor.
"Scuse us!" The first blur shouted, her only discernable feature being a big pink bow tied up in her mane.
"Sorry about that!" The second dashing filly added, a book levitating close to her in a green aura.
"Hi, Pinkie!" The final, orange colored pony called out as the trio made their swift leave. The three young ponies had only been present for a few short seconds before entirely vanishing, leaving Golden Oak's eerily silent.
"What in the world was that?" Twilight glanced over to Pinkie for some form of wisdom. She was a longtime resident of the town, surely she would know what in the world that was about.
"Oh, just Sweetie Belle and her friends," Pinkie answered while squinting heavily at the door, "Sweetie Belle being Rarity's little sister, that is."
"Oh... small world."
"Indeed it is," Mr. Knox chuckled as he slowly made his way down the steps, "Figured you'd have moved on by now, adventuring and all that. Here to sell me more books?"
Twilight groaned and mumbled under her breath at the insinuation. "I'm... I'm a traveler..."
"Nope, she's here looking for a job!" Pinkie explained with pride, "And you're looking for an employee!"
"Is that so? Now that's a pleasant surprise!" The nocturnal pony perked up at that. "Truth be told, I wasn't expecting the position to be filled so soon... or at all, really..."
"That's... sad."
Shaking off the momentary discomfort from being mistitled, Twilight returned to the conversation with a smile. "So, when can I start?"
"Hold on there, young mare," Knox waved a leathery wing to slow the conversation down, "I still need to interview you. Make sure you're right for the job and all that."
"Ah, right... sorry."
"Alright, we'll start with some general information. Where are you from?"
"Canterlot. And I'm twenty-one years old if you were going to ask."
Pinkie audibly gasped. "You're younger than me?! I'm twenty-four!"
"Pinkie, please," Mr. Knox addressed firmly, "This is kind of important."
"Oh, right! Job interview!" Pinkie flushed a bright shade of red as she slowly backed towards the entrance. "I'll just... wait outside. Sorry!" And with that, the library was allowed to be silent once more with one last click of the door.
"Now then, Canterlot, hmm? A lot of great schools up there," Mr. Knox continued as he made his way towards the desk. Taking a seat behind the wooden structure, he placed his forehooves atop its surface and looked back to her. "A degree from just about all of them could fetch you quite the nice job in just about any field you were looking for. So, where did you get yours? If you have one, that is."
"The Queen's School for Gifted Unicorns."
If the sarosian had a drink, he'd have spat it out on the spot. He looked at Twilight with wide unblinking eyes for what felt like ages as he processed the weight of the words Twilight had just spoken. "You... you went to school there?"
"Correct. And I have my degree if you want me to prove it." Twilight knew that this was a reasonable reaction, it was the same reaction she always got when she mentioned her place of education. At this point, she was just going through the motions. Sifting through her saddlebags with her magical touch, it wasn't long before she withdrew the framed certification of her graduation. Signed by the school's headmaster and the Queen of Equestria herself, this small slip of paper was irrefutable proof of Twilight's claim. The frame had seen better days, a long and thin crack running from one corner to the other diagonally across the glass surface.
Knox looked down at the degree that had been placed on his desk for a time, eyes still wide with disbelief at what he was actually looking at. At some point, he had even removed his glasses and quickly cleaned them just to make sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him. Which they weren't, which somehow still surprised him. After a few minutes of absolute silence, he finally returned his attention back to Twilight.
"You have a degree from the most renowned school in the country—and you're a homeless traveler who wants to be a librarian in a nothing country town?" The stallion combed through his mane with a hoof as a show of just how baffled he was at Twilight's situation. "If you don't mind me asking, why?"
When it was put that way, it did sound a bit preposterous. Twilight was in a position that many coveted but few actually obtained, and could have used this one piece of paper to set her up for the rest of her life back in Canterlot with just about any career she could ever want. Yet she had chosen the life of a vagrant, traveling the world in search of long dragons with Spike. There were several reasons as to why she had chosen this path for herself, and it had been a very long time since she had put any substantial thought on any of those reasons. But Mr. Knox had asked the question, and he likely wouldn't be satisfied with anything short of an answer.
"I just... wanted to see the world," Twilight half lied with a sigh, "You know, experience life outside of books and magic for a while." The sarosian narrowed his eyes at the disguised alicorn, reading the minor details in her expression as he mused over that answer. Though just as Twilight was starting to get worried about any further prying, he relaxed his face and leaned back into the chair.
"Well, asking you about your qualifications would be redundant at this point. You have just gotten yourself a job," the nocturnal pony yawned loudly before continuing, "How soon can you start?"
"As soon as you need me too," Twilight answered instantaneously, using a tremendous force of willpower to stop herself from wildly celebrating right there on the spot.
"Alright then. Be here tomorrow morning at seven sharp," he pushed himself out of the seat and began walking for the door, "There will be some bureaucratic hoops for you to leap through, forms to sign, and all of that, but it shouldn't take too long." Knox pushed open the door with a hoof, not noticing as Pinkie Pie quickly pulled her ear away from the wooden barricade as he did. "We'll go over the exact duties your job entails in the morning. If you think it just involves running this library, I'm sorry to say that isn't quite true. There's a reason I was looking for help, after all. As for right now, I have my own hoops to leap through to make this all official, and I'll need to lock up while I'm out."
Twilight nodded as she exited the library as asked, choosing to ignore Pinkie's eavesdropping antics. "Thank you so much, Mr. Knox. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"I could say the same to you," the elder pony chuckled as he locked the door behind him, "This job can be surprisingly taxing. I'll be seeing you in the morning then, Miss Sparkle. Remember, seven sharp!" Twilight confirmed that she remembered before she and Pinkie said their goodbyes to the nocturnal pony, leaving the two of them alone in front of Golden Oak's Library.
"So you got the job!" Pinkie bellowed in obviously faked surprise, "That's fantastic! Congratulations, Twilight! Now you just need to find a house!" She swiftly draped a forelimb over Twilight's shoulders, using its twin to gesture on towards the town. "Come on, I know just where to—"
"Actually... With all due respect, Pinkie, I think I'll take a rain check on that one," Twilight interrupted as she wormed away from the unwanted physical contact, "I had... other things I needed to take care of. Private things." Indeed she did. Now that her employment was all but finalized, she needed to get back to Fluttershy's cottage to check up on Spike. She was sure he was fine, but after the week she's had the alicorn preferred not to leave anything up to chance.
"Ah. I see." Pinkie spoke dejectedly, taking a few steps back to return her friend's personal space. The disheartened facade was quickly discarded in favor of the pink pony's normal outlook. "That's fine! Canterlot wasn't built in a day, after all, see ya later!" And with that, she was gone. Skipping off back into town with a spring in her step, humming the familiar catchy tune to herself as she did.
She is something else, Twilight mused to herself as she made her way back to her current base of operations, At least she'll keep things around here lively.
--- — ---
Fluttershy's cabin was exactly as Twilight had remembered it. Quaint, quiet, and filled with just about every animal one could find in this region of the world. The only thing that betrayed her memory was the lack of the yellow pegasus who owned the abode and the absence of a particular reptilian being who had been left in her care for the day. Of course, Twilight had only just walked in the door, and it was possible that they were simply somewhere else in the woodland home.
"Spike?" Twilight asked loud enough for her voice to carry throughout the home, but not loud enough as to be considered a shout. Aside from the various sounds of the various animals rummaging about and minding their own business, there was no response. "Fluttershy? Anyone?" Still nothing.
Alright, Twilight, don't panic, the alicorn told herself as she made her way to the stairs, Spike's probably just taking a nap or something. Fluttershy likely stepped out to go get something. Nothing to be worried about.
Twilight walked lightly through the home of her host, scanning for any sign of the two she sought. The first stop was logically the room in which she and Spike had been given use of, but this led to no meaningful development in the search much to her frustration. Taking a brief pause to set down her heavy saddlebags, Twilight returned to her quest with much vigilance. And while Spike was her top priority, she was still a guest in this home and did not wish to overstep any boundaries, keeping her search to rooms with opened doors. As for doors that were closed, she resorted to knocking and asking if anyone was within. There were no answers aside from the calls of the critters who inhabited this place, but it was still worth a try.
It's fine, it's fine, it's fine, Twilight chanted internally as she continued, doing her best to remain calm, Nothing bad happened. I'd know if something bad happened. I'd feel it. This did very little to ease her anxieties, but it did keep the external facade alive for a short while longer. It was about now that Twilight recalled Fluttershy mentioning a basement in passing, and redirected her search towards the lower end of the house. At least, that was the plan. But upon returning to the ground floor and starting the search for the basement entrance, something rather peculiar caught her eye. Something that couldn't just be ignored, something that demanded some kind of acknowledgment.
The item in question sat in a rather nice looking glass display case, the bottom lined by a velvet cushion made to delicately cradle the contents of the case. But held within the glass barricade was just a simple white wood twig. Likely from some species of birch, if Twilight were to take a guess, clearly not from any tree around this area for sure. Though the strangest thing wasn't the fact that this seemingly insignificant item had been put proudly on display in such a profound way, the fact that Twilight had seen this small piece of wood before. Yesterday, sticking out from behind Fluttershy's ear like an accessory.
"Okay... she likes twigs..." Twilight pondered aloud, examining the stick from every possible angle she could without opening the case itself. "Is anyone in this town normal?"
That question would never be answered, as the loud and abrupt crash of a door being flung open interrupted the alicorn's train of thought, this sound accompanied by the outcry of a rather upset sounding bear. Immediately on guard, Twilight turned towards the source just in time to see Harry the bear stomp right past her without a moment's notice, angrily grumbling and growling to himself as he made his way into the back yard. Following close behind, but actually taking the time to stop and acknowledge Twilight, was Spike. The missing dragon doing his best to walk on only three legs. His expression lit up brighter than the sun when he noticed that Twilight was back.
"Twilight!" Spike yelled enthusiastically, pushing himself off of the ground with a mighty push from his one good forelimb directly into Twilight, in an act that could be described as a very haphazard hug. "I just beat a bear twenty-eight times at chess! In a row! It was great!"
"Wait, what?" The prideful claim was lost on the magical pony, who was still trying to process exactly what had happened just now. Angry bear, then happy Spike, there was a bit of whiplash to be had.
"Spike and Harry spent the day playing chess," Fluttershy explained quietly, "And he's... scarily good at chess..." She sounded almost intimidated by the long dragon's strategical aptitude.
He'd better be, with how much we used to play, Twilight kept her own boastful claim to herself as her personal space was returned. Back when the two had lived in Canterlot, there had been many a day where they passed the time by playing the game of kings. And Twilight had taken a great deal of effort to teach Spike exactly how to play the game, just so he could provide some kind of challenge to her. And it seems the little guy had come a long way from trying to eat the pieces, and that made Twilight proud.
"So, how did the job hunt go?" Spike asked enthusiastically, his tail wagging almost uncontrollably behind him. Some things never change it seemed, the dragon's behavior upon being reunited with Twilight being a clear example of that statement. He never did like spending prolonged periods of time apart from her, he was rather clingy to put a word to it.
"Well, luckily enough. The local library was looking for a set of extra hooves to help out."
"Oh... so you'll be working with Mr. Knox?" Fluttershy shrank into herself at Twilight's report, shuttering slightly at the mention of the library. The slightest twinge of dread present in her tone, which was immediately noticed by Twilight.
The horned pony raised a brow towards the pegasus. "Is something wrong with that?"
"N-no! Not at all!" The yellow pony practically panicked, waving a hoof rapidly in the air as if to dismiss her own claim. "I didn't mean it like that! He's a perfectly fine stallion, I petsit his cat a lot of the time! It's just," Fluttershy shivered again at the thought, "He's a little... odd..."
"Who's Mr. Knox?" Spike asked blankly, currently feeling rather lost in the conversation.
Twilight ignored the dragon's query, more so focused on the yellow mare's statement. "Odd how?"
"I-i-it's nothing, really," Fluttershy deflected while making her way towards the kitchen, "I c-can just be a bit paranoid at times... I'm sure you've noticed..."
Twilight couldn't argue with that. Fluttershy was one bad day away from the grandmare of psychological meltdowns, based on what she knew about her. She had all the signs of a socially awkward introvert who wasn't exactly the best in any given social situation. In fact, if it weren't for Spike's injury, the disguised alicorn was certain that the mare wouldn't have welcomed Twilight into her home as suddenly as she did. In fact, Twilight knew for a fact that the two would've never even met if not for that injury. Though even still, her reaction to just the implication of Ponyvile's resident sarosian was a bit much. It was more than just simple paranoia, there was a reason for that behavior. But continuing to push the issue clearly wasn't the way in which to find those reasons.
"W-were you able to find a place to stay?" Fluttershy changed the topic, stopping at the threshold of the kitchen to face Twilight. "Or did you want to stay another night?"
"... If it isn't too much trouble," Twilight did well in hiding her current suspicious while speaking, "Pinkie offered to help me with house hunting tomorrow."
"Ah. Alright then. Well, the guest room is still yours to use. For however long you need it." It took a moment, but the nervous look that Fluttershy wore was soon overtaken by her small but kind smile. "If you need anything else, I'll be out back trying to calm Harry down."