Chapter 5 - Hired
Pitch's House June 23rd 9:00 AM
It was certainly a warm day. Pitch hasn't left the comforts of his bed, and he can feel the dry air outside. Keeping his eyes mostly closed, he glanced over to the clock on the wall. 9 o'clock. Certain that he slept for more than just an hour, he concluded that it was the morning.
Groaning, he slightly flapped his wings to help allow him to arise from his comfort. It also blew slightly cold air around the room, which was always a good thing in the summer. He stretched his back left leg, and then the back right leg. He crouched down and stretched his back and front legs. His back slightly popped, but that was something to be expected.
He looked down at the floor and saw a small strip of sunlight almost right next to him coming from the window. The blinds held back most of the light, but there was a gap that let this small bit of light through. Out of sudden surprise and realization, Pitch jumped back onto his bed, breathing heavily.
After about a minute, he glanced over the side to see he small strip of light still in the exact same spot. He wasn't terrified of light, it just surprised him. Besides, if he touched it, he would miss the opportunity to get his new job. Cautiously, he grabbed his blanket and threw it over himself. He couldn't use his cape because it was in the other room.
For some reason, of the light from the sun touched anything that could be taken on or off, he didn't vanish. Since something could disappear with him, as long as it was smaller or equal to his size, it didn't make much sense. He usually wore the cape for extra protection against the light.
He cautiously walked over to the window where the light was coming in. Once he was close enough, he threw the blanket over the window so that it let no light in whatsoever. He folded the ends of the blanket into the edges of the winds to prevent it front falling.
I hate this, he thought. Why do I have to live like this? Why was I given this power? He trotted over to the door of his room. This isn't a 'power'. This is a curse. A curse that I'm being forced to live with every single day. Why couldn't I have a good curse, like one where I fall asleep faster than you can say hippo, or one where I could warp up to 30 feet away? Actually, wouldn't those be 'powers'? Either way, its better than disappearing every time the sun touches me.
By the time he finished thinking, he had reached the door. After opening it with his right hoof, he stepped through and slowly walked down the steps to the kitchen. What he saw was definitely something he wasn't expecting.
Twilight Sparkle was sitting right at the table talking to a friend of his.
His friend was an earth pony who went to the market and got supplies for the week. Once he got back, Pitch paid him the amount required and they sometimes talked about what was going on in the town. His name was Swift Hoof, and he didn't know about his curse.
"So, why did you want to see Pitch again?" he asked Twilight. Neither of them had noticed him yet.
"I wanted to apologize for something I did to him yesterday," she replied. "I was being selfish when he just wanted to get home and move on with his life."
"When was this?"
"Yesterday at the library."
"Strange," he said.
"Why's that?"
"I never knew him for leaving his house, and you found him at the library yesterday. I always thought he stayed away from everypony during the day."
"Yes, but you never saw me at night," Pitch spoke up.
Both of them turned and saw him standing at the foot of the stairs. "How long have you been standing there?" Twilight asked.
"Not long, but I wish to know why you two are here."
"Dude, it's Thursday. I always come on Thursday mornings to get a list of items that you needed me to buy at the market. She's here because she saw me enter the house and wanted to speak with you."
"Yeah I heard that part."
"Were you really at the library yesterday? I never thought you would ever step outside the house."
"You don't know?" Twilight asked.
"Don't know what?" he asked back.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Pitch.
"I'd rather he not know, Twilight."
"Know what?" Swift asked again.
"Swift, it doesn't concern you."
"Fine then. But I still have a reason to be here."
"Right." Pitch walked over to his fridge and picked up a list with various foods' names written on it. "Here's the list. I'll pay you when you get back, as usual."
"Same as always," Swift said before taking the list. He got up from the chair and went through the front door. "See ya later."
He closed the door, leaving me and Twilight in the room alone.
She spoke up before I could. "I'm sorry," she said.
"For what, exactly?" I asked.
"For ruining your life so quickly like that."
"Twilight, not existing for an entire day has only once ruined my life, and it wasn't when you made me stay in the library."
"Then when was it?"
Pitch was silent for a moment. He turned his head toward the ground. "I was a young colt. My parents had found out about my curse the day I was born. Since then, they had kept me out of range of the sun's light. One day, a fire started in our house. All hate exits were blocked and there was no way out. My parents decided to save me by opening a sun roof in the house and made me disappear. When I came back to reality, the house was completely burned down and fire-ponies were trying to get any information they could on the fire. I told them about the fire, but not about my power. After they were done questioning me, I came to live in Ponyville. I got a job taking care of the library. But you already knew that."
Twilight was speechless. Few words could have escaped her mouth then. "I- I'm..."
"Don't be," Pitch interrupted. "You didn't know."
"So, what are you going to be doing now?" she asked.
"I need to get a new job. You took my old one, and I need some way of getting bits for thru food I need."
"Well," Twilight began, "If you want, you could always help out in the library."
Pitch's ears perked up at that sentence. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that the library is really big, and I need all the help I can get. I'll still pay you, of course."
Pitch thought about that for a moment. Should he accept her offer, or try to get another job at night? Well, there weren't that many things you could do at night.
He smiled and said: "When do I start?"