‘Princess Twilight Sparkle’. The hottest topic throughout Equestria, especially in Canterlot from the beginning of the day every single newspaper had it on their front page. Naturally it was a contest between newspapers on who would get the most information about the new princess and who wrote the best article. But not only the newspapers were set on a competitive mood, it also affected design companies, and Canterlot Spectrum was no exception.
Mineral and Soul had been spending their coffee break at Eastern Wings kitchen, which was exceptionally empty. Almost every designer had been so thrilled of the news and possibilities it could give that they have actually started sketching things for the new princess without any kind of commissioning.
Soul poured coffee into his cup and took cream from the fridge and added it to his coffee. “Do you think this is the big change our manager and AD talked about a few days ago?”
Mineral was sitting over at the table, already reading the third newspaper which had Princess Twilight on their front page. As she heard Soul’s comment, she turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised, lowering the paper. ”What, a new princess being the big change in Canterlot Spectrum?”
Soul lifted his hooves and shrugged with a nod. “It sounds odd, but just look around you. Everypony here have locked themselves in their rooms and are designing things for her without commissioning. Who knows, a new princess is a big change all over Equestria, so maybe our manager somehow already made a deal with her to design or organize something for her.”
Giving a moment for thought, Mineral eventually gave a shrug back at Soul with a small smile. “Maybe, maybe not. I mean, the newspapers obviously knew about this since yesterday, but our manager and art director...” The mare folded the paper and placed it back at the pile. “I doubt it, sis.”
The white stallion walked over to the table with his coffee and sat down, letting out a soft, relaxed sigh. “True.” He leaned against the table and gently blew on his coffee before continuing, “Though are you sure they said they would announce it today? It’s one o’clock already and excluding all the hype about the princess, there’s been nothing unordinary going on.”
Mineral leaned back on her chair and lifted her espresso. “Except there being food in the cafeteria you like, again,” she noted and gave the stallion a quick chuckle before sipping from her cup.
Soul started rubbing his chin, looking at the ceiling with a grin and his eyebrows furrowed. “Two times in a week. A new princess is nothing compared to this miracle,” he stated and chuckled as his grin crept into a light smile.
Mineral set her coffee on the table and rolled her eyes. “Yes. And speaking of which, I honestly hope our company won’t get jobs from the new princess.”
Soul’s ears twitched and he sat up in his seat, leaning toward Mineral. “What makes you say that?”
Mineral leaned forward crossing her forelegs and placing them on the table. “One word; Competition. Yes, a friendly one is not harmful, but if a company gets a job from royalty, then it will turn into chaos. Greedy ambition conquers a good group spirit and good group spirits holds our company together.”
The stallion nodded. “Words of wisdom I would say.”
A wide smile spread across Minera’s face. “Thanks,” she said and was about to get off her seat, but dropped her flank back immediately as she gasped. Her eyes bulged and she turned to face Soul again. “Oh! How could I forget this!” The mare gave her forehead a smack, bending her neck back. “The meeting with that Faztable pony yesterday! Which one did he choose?” She leaned forward toward Soul, practically holding her breath while waiting for the answer.
“Oh, that.” Soul cleared his throat and put his coffee mug down, starting to rub his neck. “Well, not the one I wished for...”
Mineral slumped back on her chair, closing her eyes then slowly opening them after a moment. “So gold and brown will be the new trade mark colors for Faztable, eh?”
Soul nodded and grabbed one of the newspapers with his magic, and glanced at the front page. He simply shrugged before answering, though it could clearly be seen how a pinch of remorse had appeared upon his face. “Well, customer is always right.”
“But there’s no reason to get gloomy about it, sis!” Mineral quickly sat up straight and put on a big smile, leaning against the table. “It was a fantastic piece of design and like I’ve said, none of them were even close to being bad.”
Soul let out a little laugh and turned to look at Mineral. “Naw, I don’t feel bad or anything, but thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Good, good.” Mineral stood up and chuckled, grabbing her espresso and heading over to the the fridge. “Can’t let a friend be gloomy, now can I?” she chanted with a cheerful tone, glancing at Soul over her shoulder.
Soul stretched his neck and turned to look at Mineral with a grin. “You can let them be gloomy, but it’s a different story for if you actually will.”
Drooping her eyes half way down and dropping her smile she looked at Soul, as if to ask if he were serious. “Technically true, but I wouldn’t embrace that philosophy”
The stallion turned around in his chair and let out a slightly forced laugh. “Of course, me neither. It was a joke.”
Giving a nod Mineral replied, “I figured.” Her eyelids and lips rose forming a soft smile as she got up and walked over to the fridge, a magenta hue wrapped around the door handle as Mineral opened the door with her magic. She looked through it for a moment then looked over the door. “Want a cookie?”
Soul rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “Old joke.”
Mineral couldn’t help herself letting out an amused laugh as she closed the door to the fridge, and turned to present her pack of white chocolate cookies. “No, I mean do you literally want a cookie?”
“Oh!” Soul immediately tensed up and put on a forced smile, and rubbed his cheek with the tip of his hoof. “Well, sure.” He put the paper down and stood up from his chair, walking over to Mineral. “White chocolate I see.”
The mare took one herself before offering them to Soul. “Yep! I bought a couple packages for Meadow for her birthday, but she didn’t want any because of her ‘diet’.” She let out a groan and rolled her eyes with a half smile. “So sharing these with fellow designers is the plan B.”
Soul lifted one of the cookies with his magic and took a bite before saying anything. “That sure works for me,” he said with a laugh.
Both ponies walked back to their seats and Soul grabbed the newspaper he had earlier, starting to search for weather section. Though as he browsed through the newspaper and came to the ad spread, something stuck out to him on that page. An advertisement section for the very same mare who was sitting right there on the other side of the table. The stallion raised his head and looked at his friend questioningly and spoke up, “Hey, look what I found.” He placed the paper on the table and pointed at the ad.
Mineral turned her attention instantly toward the stallion, which quickly darted on the newspaper to the spot Soul was pointing at. She immediately leaned against the table as a big, excited smile spread across her face. “Oh gosh, yes! They published it already!” she chimed and bounced up from her chair like a spring, taking a closer look at the ad and making sure everything is exactly as she wanted.
“Eye Dazzling Mineral Art” Soul read the title out loud, while a confusion began to take over, he raised an eyebrow lifting his head up to look at the mare. “You have started your own company?”
The mare shook her head. “No, of course not. I’ve had it for a few years now.”
Soul sat back in his seat and rose a hoof as he spoke. “I’ve always thought you make your mineral art for Canterlot Spectrum.”
Mineral jumped up waving her hooves in the air. “Oh no no no no no, that’s not the case at all.” As she landed back on the ground she lifted a hoof up to explain. “You bet when I started here, I tried to suggest mineral art, but they denied it instantly.”
Soul leaned forward dropping his hooves onto the table. “What? Why? It’s unique--- no wait, very unique form of art. I would think they would be dying to get it to themselves.”
Sulking a bit she lowered her head resting it on the table. “That’s it, it’s too unique and I’m the only mineral artist they know. They want more than one specialist before starting to conquer that section.”
The pale unicorns jaw dropped, after taking a moment he closed his mouth and his eyebrows quickly bowed while he sat up placing his hooves firmly on the table. “That’s stupid. I mean, I don’t have a mind for business, but I think that is stupid.”
Mineral extended a hoof, gently motioning for Soul to keep calm. “Luckily the walls of this company aren’t the limits of our possibilities” She lowered her hoof and folded her forelegs again. “Oh, since we have now wandered to this topic, have you ever seen my mineral artwork?”
The stallion looked down, easing back into his seat, too embarrassed to make eye contact. Once he was sitting again he looked up, cleared his throat and asked, “Yes. Didn’t you once wear those accessories made out of mineral?”
Mineral immediately tensed up and bumped a hoof on her chest. “Indeed, but those were nothing compared my other projects,” she chimed and took a long sip, drinking all of her remaining espresso and then dropped the cup to a trash can. “I shall introduce you to my ‘work in progress’ projects.”
Thrown off by Mineral’s sudden boost of excitement, a blank look rose over Soul’s face. He quickly just repeated Mineral’s actions and stood up from his seat and started collecting his things. “You have your personal work here at your workplace?”
Mineral nodded and lifted her white saddlebag with her magic, placing it on her back. “Yes. When I run out of work for a day, I spend the remaining hours, or minutes, working on them.” The mare grabbed the last newspaper she hadn’t read yet and put it into her saddle back, and then walked over to the door. “Coming, sis?” she said and turned to look at the stallion, who was still looking for something.
“Yes, just a second,” Soul responded while searching for something under the newspapers. “I don’t see my I.M. book anywhere.”
Mineral tilted her head while she raised an eyebrow, leaned against the doorframe. “Didn’t you already put it in your pocket?”
At that moment when the words echoed to his ears, Soul stopped digging through the pile and tapped his left chest pocket, and felt an object in there. He let out a little forced laugh and started to scratch his chin. “Yes… I did.”
Mineral lightly shook her head and let out a bright chuckle. She then stood up straight again and tilted her head toward the hallway as a sign for Soul to follow.
The stallion nodded and trotted over to the exit. Soul closed the door behind him and they headed towards Mineral’s office.
As the two walked through the hallway, the always appreciated awkward silence fell upon them. Soul continued staring forward and Mineral kept glancing toward Soul, waiting to see if she would be pleasantly surprised to hear a word from him. But when nothing came out of Soul’s muzzle, Mineral started grinning and cleared her throat before speaking up, “Sooooo, like I said, most of them are still works in progress, but I have a few finished pieces too. There’s this one new thing I’ve been trying out that I really want to show off.”
Soul’s attention turned to Mineral as a sliver of a smile formed upon his lips. “I see, sounds interesting. So you sell them in a store I assume?”
Mineral instantly shook her head. “Nope. Through mail order actually. It’s been more of a hobby to me for a long time.”
“Why just a hobby? It’s your special talent after all.”
Mineral raised her head and glanced up at the ceiling, and swiped her hoof across the air. “Because of this company. When I first started here, I was super positive I would be able to convince them to accept mineral art in their area of expertise and nurture my talent that way.”
“But it didn’t pay off,” Soul spoke slouching a little.
“Precisely. I thought I would leave this company after working here a little while, but I sort of got fond of this place. It wasn’t long till I started my mini-company.” She gave a giggle and smiled looking up at the ceiling again.
“I know what you mean.”
The mare nodded. “Yes. Anyway, that moment with Noble, and seeing his situation got me thinking. I have a special talent, I should embrace it and start taking as much out of it as I possibly can. So, immediately when I got home, stuff started to happen. I designed an ad for the newspaper and woke up at 6am and took it to Daily Equestria.” As she mentioned Noble, she frowned but turned to Soul with a glimmer in her eyes and a small slender smile across her lips when she stated she was inspired.
Soul drew his neck back and his eyes got wide. “Wow, well you sure didn’t waste time.”
Mineral chuckled and grabbed the knob on her door with her magic, though the smile faded as quickly as it came, but still remained on her face. There was a short moment of silence before she spoke up again, “Meeting Noble made me realize what can happen if I don’t nurture my talent. I really hope he can get back to his special talent someday too.”
After finishing, the mare turned the knob and was about to open the door, but as she did, the two heard a soft bump which was followed by a squeak coming from the other side of the door. Mineral’s eyes got wide and she turned to look at a confused Soul. Mineral slowly started opening the door again, and when she did, they saw Meadow holding her muzzle with a messy pile of mail in front of here.
“Meadow!” Mineral exclaimed and trotted over to the mare. “What are you doing here?” Her attention quickly shifted from the whimpering Meadow, to the pile of mail. Mineral drew her neck back while her eyebrows furrowing. “And what in Equestria are you doing with my mail?”
“Ahh, I might have mi precious muzzle spoiled! And you are asking about your mail!” Meadow spoke while still rubbing her muzzle gently while laying on the ground.
Mineral let out a sigh and helped Meadow up. “Take it easy, sis. A light bump like that doesn’t do a thing.” She started gathering the mail Meadow had dropped during the hit. “But now, what were you doing with my mail?”
Meadow, in her typical manner, raised her head high and swiped her scarf and legs clean. And again, gave the confused looking stallion a typical split-second glance before answering to Mineral. “I didn’t care about your mail, I was looking for you. But when I saw that one thing on it that can give us one of the most mayor opportunities in historia, of course I would bring it right to you!”
Mineral’s curiosity was ignited like a match, her eyes getting wider and she started searching through the pile she collected, even though she knew Meadow, she couldn’t help but feel a little sceptical. “Biggest opportunities, naye?” she repeated and spotted a paper that stuck out like a stop sign. She walked over to her desk and put the rest of her mail down. As she saw the title, her face scrunched and almost teared up because of the smile that formed upon it. “Oh… my… gosh… A new area of expertise?!”
Soul’s eyes perked up immediately, and he walked over to Mineral. “Wait, you think it’s what we just talked about?”
“If it is, I’m going to run through every corner of this building and scream in joy, even if I will get an asthma attack, I don’t---” Before Mineral even got a chance to finish her cheer, her mood soured. “Oh, nevermind… It’s not that…”
Meadow instantly leaned toward Mineral with her eyes wide open and a huge smile on her face. “Que? What are you talking about?! this is everypony’s dream come true!”
She turned the envelope toward Meadow and pointed with her hoof. “Fashion Designer?”
Soul, who was just listening to the conversation, flinched immediately as he heard the term fashion designer. His eyes widened and heartbeat accelerated. He was about to speak up but Meadow had already opened her mouth.
“Ah, silly Mineral,” Meadow chimed and leaned against the desk. “Because of the new princesa, of course!” The brown mare leaned against her hoof and glanced at the ceiling like a daydreamer. “Just imagine, if I became a fashion designer; there’s no doubt I’d have a huge chance of becoming Princesa Twilight’s royal tailor.” She squeezed as she lifted her hooves right under her chin and bit her lip, her eyes glimmering in excitement. “Just imagine that honor and fame it would bring!”
“A royal tailor, eh?” Meadow let out a deep sigh. “Meadow, I’m by no means trying to bring you down, but you’ve never even made a stitch in your life. “
Meadow quickly grabbed the paper from Mineral with her magic and cleared her throat, starting to read one section out loud, “Canterlot Spectrum will guarantee artisan education for those who truly are interested in fashion design. In order to apply, you have to fill out an application enclosed with this letter and return it to you own Art Director.”
Soul rubbed his chin with his hoof looking off into space as his mind begins to take off. His heart began beating faster, his posture improves while his hooves grew sweaty. Even though there was a smile upon his face a shiver went down his spine as he drifted more and more into his own thoughts.
“Would you look at that…” Mineral let out a disappointed sigh and frowned. “So they are willing to expand to fashion, but not to mineral art.”
Meadow gave a sigh. “There there hermana, your talent is too special.” Meadow walked forward keeping her chin up and placed a hoof on her friends desk leaning her head down to make eye contact and give a nod and a polite smirk. “That was a compliment, obviously.” She started to care her mane and raised her snout up again. “They will see your talent in time and you’ll get to shine probably as brightly as me.”
Mineral huffed, closing her eyes but opened them to see the glimmer and nod from Meadow, she nodded back as a thank you and proceeded to walk over to her chair and dropping her flank in it, turning toward the two unicorns.
Soul blinked and suddenly shook his head rapidly, clearing his head. He cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Well... In my opinion fashion is a valuable thing in culture and all.”
Still sitting, Mineral put her hooves together and rested her chin on them. “Of course it is. I just… Don’t think it’s one of the best ways to express yourself. Or rather, I really, really don’t like how snooty fashion designers think that appearance; horribly thin body and clothes; are the only things make you a good person. I mean that’s just terrible.”
Meadow let out a gasp. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t form any words, lifting up a hoof to interject but still had no ideas and was left simply closing her mouth and pouting with a loud huff.
Soul’s ears folded back and he looked away, looking kind of dissapointed. “Well... yeah, I guess that is true…”
Meadow raised her head once again and brushed her mane with her hoof. “So Mineral, that’s all I had to say for now.” The snooty mare walked over to the door and opened it. “Do whatever you want to. But you shall see how I’ll become Princesa Twilight's new tailor in no time.”
Mineral waved her hoof to Meadow. “Good luck, sis. Don’t forget about me when you are on top of Canterlot,” she stated with a joking tone, allowing a laugh to escape her mouth, though her sentiment was honest. As Meadow left, she left the door open, but Mineral shut it again with her magic.
Soul was scratching his head as he was staring after Meadow. He turned to look at Mineral with his head tilted. “If I may say, you got a very interesting friend there.”
Mineral kept staring at the door, her look slowly turning gloomier and gloomier. “You said it. It’s sad to see what Canterlot has done to her…” She leaned against her hoof and let out a deep sigh, and looked down at his table. “Happens to everypony born and raised here I guess...”
“I figured you’ve known each other a bit longer. You two seem like summer and winter.”
Giving a deep sigh again, Mineral nodded once with her eyes closed, then slowly opened them before beginning, though a small smile crept onto her face. “It’s a long story, but to put it simply, she’s been a family friend since we were fillies, and I guess she’s the overly sophisticated, spoiled by mass sister I never had.”
“I see…” Frowning a bit from the overall mood taking over, Soul reaches up placing a hoof on Mineral’s desk. “So, fashion design is the big new change here.” Thinking over his next sentence carefully he finally spoke up. “You seemed surprisingly negative about it. It’s not like you. Or, at least I don’t think it is.”
Mineral moved her hooves forward and fell over on the table resting her chin between her forelegs. “Naye… I was just a bit disappointed. Getting my hopes up and all. Then again, I’m sure they would’ve talked to me first before expanding to mineral art.” The mare lifted her head up sitting up right in the seat and turning toward a wall of bright orange storage bins. “And speaking of which, I think it would be a good time to finally show---”
Mineral’s speech was cut off mid-sentence when a knock was heard from her door, and a orange unicorn stallion stepped in.
The orange stallion had a an ID card hanging on his neck, which had his title written on it; Art Director. “Mineral, sorry if this is a bad time, but we have a new job assignment for you,” the orange stallion spoke, holding a folder.
Mineral instantly sprung up from her chair, leaning against the table. “Oh, now? I mean, yes of course, Ink.” She turned to look at Soul with soft eyes and an apologetic smile, putting her hooves together and lowering her head.. “I beg your pardon, sis, but sharing my projects must wait.”
Soul quickly raised his hoof and shook his head. “Of course, work comes above all during working hours.” He stood up from his seat and stretched before starting to walk away. “You’ll find me at my room. Come and give me a word when you are done.”
Before Soul managed to exit the room, the art director stopped him. “Soul, I have a job for you too. I will come to see you next.”
“Oh.” Soul nodded and put on a smile. “Gotcha,” he said and gave a final wave to Mineral before leaving the room.
###
Sitting at his desk, Soul had been doing nothing else during the past few minutes beside staring at a paper he had in front of him. An application, The application Soul had filled out. If Soul gave this to his art director, there would be no returning from it. His hesitation was the only thing that is holding him. Nopony in the company has an idea that an interest in fashion has a place in his mind. Mineral’s words especially were running through his head, “I just… Don’t think it’s one of the best ways to express yourself. Or rather, I really, really don’t like how snooty fashion designers think that appearance; horribly thin body and clothes; are the only things make you a good person. I mean that’s just terrible.”
“Come on, Soul. Just give the application to Ink. You can’t let her opinion cause doubt,” he said quietly to himself while scratching his right forehoof. The stallion let out a big, deep sigh and fell back on his chair.
Soul looked up at his clock. Half past two. Mineral and Ink should be done about now and soon Ink should be knocking on the door. And speaking of the devil. Just as Soul thought to himself there was the rhythmic knock on his door.
Soul put the paper aside quickly and cleared his throat before speaking up, “Come in.”
The door opened and the art director, Ink, stepped in. “Alrighty there, kid. Let’s take a look at your commission.”
Soul motioned Ink to sit down and then lifted a pastille pack on his desk, and took one. “I’m all ears,” he said as his ears twitched at the same time.
Ink walked over to Soul’s desk while already digging for a folder he had and sat down. “I have a feeling you’re going to like this one. Take a look at this.” He pulled out one of the papers he had in his folder and placed it on the table, turning it around to face Soul. “A banner for an upcoming artistic theater act.”
“A theater act?” Soul repeated as a wide smile spread upon his face. “I haven’t worked on anything high culture related in a long time.”
“That’s why I thought this would be a fitting job for you. I realized I’ve given you way too many logo commissions recently, so a change would do well for you.”
Soul’s gazed at the application he slid aside. “Yes, change.” His view quickly rose and he cleared his throat. “Speaking of change, can I ask something off topic?” he spoke with a quick and nervous peace.
Folding his hooves as he spoke to Wild Soul, Ink retorted, “Let’s look over this commission first, then you may.”
Soul drew his neck back and nodded, sitting up right and clearing his throat again. “Of course.”
Ink dug up another paper from his folder, which included all the wishes and requirements for the poster. There had only been one, that it should be mystical; which was good for Soul since he could of course, bring his own views to it. The deadline was pleasantly long too. After explaining all the details, the last thing Ink did was give Soul his contact details.
Ink gave the last paper to Soul and pointed at the lower right corner. “These ponies apparently don’t use crystal nexus, so sending them n-mail is not an option. You must contact them through Instant Message if needed.”
Soul lifted the paper and his eyes were darting from side to side on it. “I see. They don’t seem to mention anything about scale here. I have to ask about that.”
“Yes. But that’s everything we have about this.” Ink leaned back and placed his crossed hooves in his lap, he then gave a smile. “Now, what did you want to ask me about, kid?”
“Oh, yes.” Soul put the commission down and took the application into his hooves. His heart started to beat faster. “Well, what kind of ponies are fashion designers?”
Ink lifted a hoof spinning it in circles. “Fashion designers? Well, to put it simply, they are like us. Creative designers.” He lifted his other hoof and brought them together, tilting them toward Soul. He tilted his head down making his glasses slide down his nose slightly as he looked up at Soul over them. “Are you asking for the reason I think you are asking?”
Soul nodded and cleared his throat, since his voice was getting raspier from his nervousness. He raised his head and slid the application over to his art director. “Well, I’m planning to apply.”
Ink immediately lifted the paper with his magic and adjusted his glasses with his hoof. It took only a second for him to read before a smile molded upon his face and he turned to look at Soul. “Would you look at this! What a pleasant surprise you just handed to me.” He put the application down and leaned against the desk. “Kid, I can sign my agreement immediately if you want.” Ink started to already dig for his pencil.
“Hold on a bit,” Soul quickly spoke and raised his hooves. “I still have my doubts.”
Ink let out a little laugh. “Those doubts must be pretty minor if you have already filled the application out.”
Soul started scratching his chin and looked elsewhere. “My main doubt is that the kind of community and way of thinking fashion designers have.” He turned his attention to his pile of mail, which had a designers magazine on top of it. “I… don’t really want to get the ‘only appearance matters in person’ -reputation if I get myself into this.”
The AD leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes and rubbed his hoof over his hair. “I must admit that at least half of the fashion designers I have met have attitudes like that.” He raised his head and looked out of the window behind Soul. “And obviously, appearance matters when it comes to clothes, if you know what I mean.”
Soul clenched his teeth together and rubbed his neck. “Dang, well that’s encouraging,” his voice wavered showing his sarcasm.
Ink laid his hooves on the table. “But I don’t think you should worry about that half too much. There are fashion designers who keep their minds purely on the clothes appearance.”
“I see. Well... what school you would recommend for me then?”
Ink fixed his posture and clapped his hooves together. “That’s actually the interesting part. Instead of schools, we’re directing our applicants to private tuition. We want our folk to have all the attention during the education.”
Soul’s eyes slightly bulged and he tilted his head while scratching his chin, a smile widening on his lips. “Really? That’s interesting. Though isn’t that going to be hard getting fashion designers to agree? I mean, Canterlot Spectrum is going to be their rival, right?”
Ink lifted two pencils on Soul’s desk and held them to resemble a V, putting on a grin. “Two words, kid: money and co-operation. Canterlot Spectrum will pay them your education, and will offer co-operation, like collaboration projects, advertisment et cetera. If you have both of those and you do your part it will lead to victory,” Upon saying ‘victory’ Ink lifted up the V once more. He then put the pencils down and leaned back on his chair. “You must of course mention these things when you contact ponies.”
“Alright, so applicants must contact the fashion designer themselves…” Soul’s voice rose as he started thinking about how he’d find a suitable teacher. He was glad that Ink wasn’t presenting any questions that why he wanted to apply, or that since when he’s been interested in fashion. He probably just wanted as many ponies to apply without causing any pressure.
Ink nodded. “Yes, that’s right.” He once again leaned against the table and looked at the white unicorn with a determined look in his eyes. “I’m telling you Soul, this is a great opportunity for you, and you’ll be taking a big leap closer to becoming an appreciated art director like me. You still want to be an art director, right kid?”
Soul nodded immediately. “Absolutely, no changes there,” he said with a strong tone in his voice.
“That’s what I thought.” Ink let out a little chuckle and finally dug up his pen with his magic and placed the tip on the signature line. “Shall I finally sign this so we could get things rolling for you?”
Soul still gave a final moment of silence as he thought. Weighing all the ups and downs, benefits and risks. Seeing his two, only friends much less often if he got a place out of town. But deep in his mind, Soul had already made the decision. If this really is a big leap toward becoming an art director, the answer was obvious. A grin spread across Soul’s face and he finally spoke up, “Go right ahead.”
In a flash, Ink’s pen slid from left to right as he christened the document with his signature. He tapped his hooves on the desk and drummed a little success beat. “Congratulations to our first applicant!” he announced and slid the paper into his folder.
Soul pulled his foreleg down bending it at the elbow. “Score for me then.” Giving a smile shaking his head down a bit from how unprofessional that may have been he inquired, “So, what next?”
Ink stood up from his seat. “Next, I’m going to make you a letter of recommendation and then list down all the possible places you could contact.”
“If you could list places from Manehattan on top, that would be great,” Soul quickly said and leaned forward.
Ink’s ears perked up at the request. “Homesick?” he asked with question look on his face.
Soul gave a shrug. “Born and raised there, so it would be an easy place adapt to.”
“Sure thing! I’ll look for a place from there first. To be honest, I wasn’t going to recommend Canterlot at all myself.” He let out a laugh and walked over to the door, opening it. “I’ll bring you the list and my recommendation ASAP.”
Ink spun around and took a big leap backwards, exiting the room, though he almost bumped into Mineral who was just a few millimeters from hitting him. Ink simply gave an awkward smile and apologized before trotting off.
Mineral simply scrunched her forehead then relaxed and grinned. She then walked toward the entrance and leaned against the door frame, locking her eyes on Soul as she tilted her head with an eyebrow raised and head tilted up. “List and recommendation, eh? Did you just do what I think you did…? ”
The stallion gave a wide corny smile and slowly slid down in his seat and under his desk without saying a single word.