//------------------------------// // What's my Purpose // Story: Project Accelerator // by Wildcard25 //------------------------------// When Celestia's sun rose over the land, Twilight was up with Spike who was heading into a guest room to fetch Accelerator. Upon entering the room, they saw he was nowhere to be found, "Uh, where is he?" Spike asked. "I don't know," Twilight gasped, "I hope he didn't go off into town early." "What was the last thing he was doing last night?" Spike inquired. "I left him alone in the library to study up on Equestria history," she answered before a thought came to her, "Hold on." she galloped off with Spike following her. They entered the library section of the castle, and saw Accelerator lying down on a pile of books asleep, "He fell asleep here?" Spike asked. "Well, better wake him up." Twilight said, as she nudged him. Accelerator groaned before waking up, "Ugh, what a night." "Good morning, Accelerator." Twilight greeted him. "Morning." he yawned. "How long did you stay up?" Spike asked as he started picking up some books. "One in the morning, I think." he answered. "You stayed up till one in the morning reading all this?!" Twilight gasped seeing he cleared about two shelves worth of books and finished them before one in the morning. "Yeah. My acceleration power doesn't just work on my feet. It works with my mind as well. I cleaned through these books like they were nothing." "And you remember all that's written?" Spike asked in shock. "Yeah, if I didn't have this power I probably would have cleared only one book." he joked. "So I assume you're caught up with present times in Equestria?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, this place has some interesting history," Accelerator said, as he started taking books and re-shelving them in the spots they were originally in fast pace, "So what's on the agenda today?" "Well I have some stuff to look over." Twilight admitted. "And I got my morning chores." Spike added. "So I guess I'm on my own?" Accelerator asked. "For now, but by noon time we're all gathering for a picnic in the park." Twilight explained. "Cool. Well I'm gonna go for a little stroll around town. See you then!" he zipped out of the library and the castle. Accelerator was walking through the town seeing everypony either doing their job, or just strolling around like him. He then looked at Sugarcube Corner, "Wonder what's going on there?" he zipped inside to see Pinkie and Mr. Cake working, while Mrs. Cake was tending to their two foals, "Good morning, everypony." "Well, good morning, Accelerator." Mr. Cake greeted him. "And how are you this morning?" Mrs. Cake asked. "Very well, thank you. How's business around here?" he took a seat at the stool up front. "Couldn't be better." Pinkie answered. "So what can we do for you?" Mr. Cake asked. "I'll take a chocolate shake with extra whipped cream." "Coming up." Pinkie said. Accelerator saw Mrs. Cake tending to her son Pound Cake, who was being fussy, "You and your husband have kids?" he asked having not seen them during his welcome party. "Why, yes. This is Pound and Pumpkin. Sorry if they're being a little nippy for the moment." the baker said. "No trouble at all. In fact, can I see the little one?" he requested. "Well, sure I suppose. It's just hard to keep them calm when they get like this." she said as she offered Pound to him. Accelerator cradled Pound into his arms, as the little foal looked up at him in wonder, as the teen spoke, "Hey there, little guy. It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you," he pat the little one's mane, "You're a cute little one, aren't you?" he tickled his chin, causing the baby pegasus to giggle, "How about I sing you a lullaby?" Pound smiled. So Accelerator started rocking him, while singing a lullaby in a calm and soothing voice. Inchworm, Inchworm, Measuring the marigolds, You and your arithmetic Will probably go far. Inchworm, Inchworm, Measuring the marigolds, Seems to me you'd stop and see How beautiful they are. Pound had giggled, and his sister Pumpkin reached out wanting some attention as well. Accelerator smiled, as he rocked the unicorn foal as well, taking the mother by surprise, "That's amazing. It normally takes a lot of control to calm them down when they're fussy." "I happen to be good with kids. I had two younger siblings that I helped look after." he said, as he held the two. "And that was a beautiful lullaby too." Mrs. Cake added. "Thanks," he looked a tad sorrow, "My mom used to sing that to me when I was a tyke." Mrs. Cake seeing that was very sensitive to him laid a hoof on his shoulder, "I'm sure she'd be glad to see you using it to make other little ones happy." Accelerator returned the smile, and looked down at the happy foals. "Here ya go. Thank you for waiting." Mr. Cake said, as he placed Accelerator's milkshake on the counter. Accelerator sat at the counter and drank his milkshake. When he finished he pulled out a coin bag filled with bits, and paid for his drink, "You know this morning a thought occurred to me." he began. "What was that?" Pinkie asked. "If I'm gonna be here in this world, I'm gonna need to get a job of some sorts. These bits Celestia and Luna have given me won't last forever." "That is a problem." Pinkie admitted. "Another problem is what type of work should a guy like me do?" he asked. "Everypony has something they're good at doing. That's why we have cutie marks of course." Pinkie smiled. "Well, I'm afraid I don't have one of those," he got up, "I'll go for another spin around town. That'll help me think. See you later!" he took off like a shot. He ran around Ponyville, thinking to himself, 'What could a human do for a job in a world of ponies that's easy enough to do, and doable to boot?' As he ran, he stopped and saw he ran right into what the girls called the Everfree Forest, "Whoa! So this is the Everfree Forest? Sure is dark." he said as he lifted his goggles off his eyes. He started walking around cautiously, while hearing all sorts of sounds from all around him. Suddenly a bat flew past him ,making he jump in fright. He quickly shook it off and spoke to himself, "Get a grip on yourself, Accel. You can handle this," he continued walking while trying to ignore all the hoots, growls, and cries coming from all around him, "I'm not afraid!" he announced, before he accidentally bumped into something making him stumble backwards. When the figure turned around, he saw it was wearing a dark cloak with its hood up. He saw through the hood was what looked like a pair of glowing yellow eyes. He screamed in fright before turning to run, but ended up running smack dab into a tree that was right behind him. He fell onto his back, as the figure stood above him, "Have mercy?" he cringed. The figure drew it's hood down to reveal a zebra with a mohawk hairstyle, "Now-now, there is no need for fright. I promise you I do not bite." it spoke in an exotic female voice "A zebra?" Accel asked, as he got off the ground and onto his feet. "I'm sorry for startling you, but I myself did not expect to see something so new." she rhymed. 'Wait a minute, a zebra that rhymes?' he thought to himself, before speaking up, "Pardon me, but would you happen to be Zecora?" he asked, having heard about all those close to Twilight from Ponyville to the forest, and beyond. "You are correct my good sir, and you must be the one the ponies in town call Accelerator." "By name and reputation," he nodded, "Though how do you know who I am? I haven't seen you in Ponyville." "News around Ponyville travels exceptionally fast through the lip. You are of course the latest in their gossip." she explained. "Yeah, I guess I am." he chuckled, before he felt his forehead and groaned. "Oh my, what's this we have here?" Zecora asked, as she saw a bump on his forehead from running right into the tree, "That is quite a bump, my dear." "I normally don't run into things like that." he replied. "Come with me, I will show you around, where you'll be safe and sound." Zecora led the teen off to where she stayed. Inside Zecora's home, Accel was given a bandage placed on the spot where the bump was, "There we go. All better, wouldn't you say so?" "Yeah, Zecora, and thanks," Accelerator said, as he peered around her hut seeing all the trinkets and objects from her homeland, "This is certainly quite a nice place, even when located in a forest such as this." "Though the forest is no place for anypony, it is perfect for one such as me." Zecora explained. "Twilight did tell me that you make remedies and ailments for certain sicknesses and such. Not to mention are knowledgeable about creatures besides ponies." "Twilight tells you the truth about me, but the first time they knew me they always would flee." "Yeah, she mentioned how all of Ponyville was terrified of you. But it was just them being paranoid because you look different. I personally have no problem with those who're different." Zecora smiled, "You have such a kind heart for a bipedal creature. I feel that is your best feature." Accel blushed at her compliment, but shook it off as he watched her mix some ingredients, "Whatcha making there?" "I am mixing some herbs for a new ailment you see. When finished it will be perfect to cure acne." she explained. Accel whistled, "I could use something like that. I am after all at that age where zits can be a problem." "The remedy is almost complete, but there is one last item on my check sheet." she looked at a sheet she had listing items and what thy looked like. "Let me see." Accel looked and saw items marked off, except for one. It was an exotic looking flower, "Wait a minute, I think I saw one of those as we were walking to your place. How about I go and get one for you?" "You would do that?" Accel nodded, "Be back in a flash!" he zipped out the door, and a second later came back holding the flower in perfect condition, "Here ya go." "Thank you so much, Accelerator. Now I shall add the flower to the mix, and stir." she said as she added the final ingredient and mixed it all together. Accelerator smiled that she was able to finish her remedy thanks to him, and suddenly remembered how helpful he was to that one pony whose produce spilled over, until he quickly got them all back before they could spoil, and how he managed to help the Apple family load some bushels of apples into their barn house. He thought to himself, 'Maybe that's what I'm meant to do. Help others.' Soon Accel and Zecora exited the tree, as the human spoke, "Thanks for tending to this bump, Zecora. And for this map as to where to get out of this forest." "My deepest pleasure my friend. I hope to see you around here again." she replied. "You can count on it," he put his goggled over his eyes, "Well, see ya later!" he took off running out of the forest. When he reached the end of the forest and was back in Ponyville, he smiled to see he was out of harms way. He then remembered, "Whoa, better get to the park and see the girls." he zipped off. Meanwhile in Ponyville park, The ponies and Spike were sitting on a blanket, or Rarity on her couch, as they were about to enjoy lunch, until Accelerator came to a halt, "Hey, everypony." he lifted his goggles up. "Accel, where were you?" Rainbow asked. "We were thinking ya weren't gonna show." Applejack added. Fluttershy noticed the bandage on his forehead and flew up to his eyes level, "Oh my gosh, did you get hurt?" "I'm fine, Fluttershy. Really, I am," he answered, "I just ran into a little trouble." "What kind of trouble?" Rarity asked. "I kinda ran into the Everfree Forest and got lost." he answered sheepishly. "You what?!" they called. "But luckily I made a friend who helped me out. Zecora." "Oh, thank Celestia." Twilight sighed in relief. "And while I was talking with her I discovered what I can do for a living here." "And what's that?" Pinkie asked. He smiled, "I'm gonna help ponies around here. Like an odd job type of work." "Really?" Spike asked. "Yeah, I mean what else is there really for me to do here? With this speed ability of mine I can get a lot of jobs done and earn a good pay to boot." "Hmm," Twilight pondered, "That does sound like a good idea. We can even help you make flyers." "Thanks, Twi. But for now let's enjoy this picnic." he sat down beside Rainbow Dash and Spike. "I'm with ya." Rainbow agreed, as they started enjoying the picnic they prepared. Later that day, the girls helped Accelerator make up a number of flyers advertising his service for hire. The flyer contained contact information for him as he stayed at Twilight's castle, how much he'd charge depending on how big and small the job was, business hours, and a pamphlet for the customer to fill out and send to him. Accelerator looked at the stacks they made out and spoke, "Good job girls. Now while I hang up some of these around town you'll be sure to give some to any pony you see." "Right." Rainbow nodded. "And I'll ask Princess Celestia have somepony distribute some of these around Canterlot." Twilight added. "Well then let's get to work!" Accelerator sped off into town with his stack of flyers. "Something tells me, he's gonna be busy here." Applejack stated. "Whatever it takes to make him feel useful." Twilight replied, as they all headed off to distribute some flyers.