The Singing Heart: Chapter 5-Fluttershy finds a new job
"Discord as a king?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah we know!" Shining Armor replied. Candance and Spike snorted with laughter.
"If Discord were a king, he'd bring chaos to Equestria like last time!" Twilight said, looking not amused.
"Relax sis, Discord would create his own chaos only in his own kingdom-if he were a king," Shining politely disagreed.
"If you say so, bro," Twilight grumbled.
"What happens next? What happens to Fluttershy?" Spike inquired, eagerly.
"Okay, Spike," Twilight giggled, rolling her eyes playfully. She turned the page.
Back in Canterlot, Fluttershy rose from her slumber. She yawned and stretched her hind legs. Fluttershy felt refreshed from having a good sleep. She still hoped that a visit to Queen Celestia would fix things. If there is any mare that Fluttershy (and any pony) could go to for advice, it is the Queen. Now, she has to prepare for the day. Fluttershy woke Angel up, who also seemed to be refreshed. Thankfully, his hangover went away. In fact, the bunny looked as if he never had a hangover!
After getting ready for the day, Fluttershy and Angel checked out of the hotel. (Fluttershy still hid Angel in her suitcase). They trotted up to a beautiful and majestic castle. The little Pegasus flew up toward the gates. Fluttershy shivered slightly when she saw two guards in front of the gate.
"Halt!" One of the guards spoke. "Who goes there?"
"I-I like to s-speak with the Queen," Fluttershy stuttered. She knew they were strict, but the guards' emotionless faces still unnerved her.
"Do you have an appointment with the Queen?" The other guard challenged.
"N-No," Fluttershy mumbled. Her voice was quiet but still loud enough for the guard to hear her. The guards narrowed thier eyebrows.
"Then, you cannot see the Queen!"
"Oh please it's important!" Fluttershy begged. "I need to speak with the Queen immediately!" Angel could barely hear what was going on but he figured that some guard was being unfair to Fluttershy. If Angel was not still in his owner's suitcase, he would have kicked the guards' faces with his feet. The guards sighed. They told Fluttershy that if she still wants to see the Queen, she'll have to wait in the waiting lounge until the Queen was finished. Fluttershy walked inside the grand castle. Fluttershy saw a line of ponies in the throne room. Each pony had come to see Queen Celestia to tell her about their problems, in hopes that she could fix them. Fluttershy sighed, wondering if maybe she should come back some other day. No! She thought. I did not come all this way just to leave without seeing Queen Celestia! She trotted to the waiting lounge room and sat on one of the soft purple leather chairs. The room had pink walls, and two white lamps, hanging on each side of the room. There was a coffee table, that displayed a bowl full of mint chocolates. Fluttershy took a mint chocolate and ate it in a delicate manner. Her pet bunny, hopped out of the suitcase. Angel took the perfect opportunity to stretch his hind legs and fluff his tail. Fluttershy still sat in her chair, contemplating about something. She knew that Queen Celestia has Royal tasks to do, but Fluttershy hoped that Queen Celestia could help her. Hopefully, she can see the Queen before midnight.
Inside the throne room, Queen Celestia recently bid goodbye to the last pony of the day. A farm stallion had voiced his concerns about his family not receiving his amount of fair bits from two earth yellow stallions who worked as salestallions. The Queen had advised him to talk things through with his partners. If they still refused to split money, then the farm stallion should stop doing business with them. Satisfied, the farm stallion thanked the Queen and headed home. A guard appeared and notified the Queen that a young yellow pegasus wanted to see her.
"Send the young pegasus in," Queen Celestia commanded. The guard left the throne room. Two minutes later, the guard brought Fluttershy before the Queen. Fluttershy bowed down gracefully.
"Arise Fluttershy," Queen Celestia, smiled kindly. Fluttershy lifted her eyes up and faced the Queen. "What brings you here, my child?"
"I lost my job, your majesty," Fluttershy mumbled, shamefully. She hid her face behind her side of her mane. Celestia's face filled with worry and sadness for the young mare,
"Would you like to tell me how it happened, Fluttershy?" She inquired, softly. Fluttershy blushed, still feeling ashamed. She took a deep breath and with tears, told Celestia everything! From her tardiness, to the dress, to Angel's sickness, to Madame losing her sale, to her termination. The Queen listened attentively and patiently. Queen Celestia bestowed Fluttershy a hanker chief. Fluttershy took it and dabbed tears from her eyes. She felt a bit embarassed for shedding tears, in front of the Queen but Celestia did not mind.
"And when I tried to find work, I was turned away just because I'm a mare!" Fluttershy finished, feeling very annoyed. "Oh your majesty, what should I do?" Queen Celestia flew down from her throne and put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.
"Well, the only thing I can tell you to do is to keep on trying. It just takes time and patience to find a job that is truly the right fit for you," Queen Celestia commented. Thinking back to Fluttershy's story, she asked the young pegasus one question. "Tell me, what do you do in your spare of time?"
"Singing in the hills," Fluttershy replied. "Every morning, I go to the hills from Canterlot and spend time singing and caring for the animals." She beamed, remembering the time when she had helped a lost baby bird find its mama and papa. The baby bird was so happy when it found its parents and had been friends with Fluttershy since then!
"And these adventures to the hills are why you were always late to Madame DeRange's shop?" Queen Celestia quizzed. Fluttershy's smile was replaced with an frown.
"Oh I did not mean to be late!" Fluttershy cried, a bit too quickly. "I know I was not allowed to be out of my dorm and go far off, but I could not resist going to the hills! It is where I had lived since I was little filly! When I see the hills, I feel like I wanted to be there, running and singing! It is so much better than being trapped in the dusty dorm room all day long! Besides, the hills were the only place where I do not have to worry about ponies staring at me, while singing! And I would not have to worry about Madame shouting at me to stop!" She looked at the Queen who reached for a pile of job advertisements and letters. "Why do you ask, your majesty?"
"I believed that I can find you a job based on your interests and passions," Celestia countered. "That way, you would not have to worry about being so bored that you would sneak out of the hills!" She added, with a twinkle in her eye. "You are not the type that likes to stay in one place, you are the one who likes to be active and move around," Celestia commented. She went through her pile of job offers and applications.
"Did you have a job for me that is about caring for animals or singing?" Fluttershy requested, excitedly.
"I am afraid I do not have jobs that require singing or working with animals." Celestia responded. Fluttershy's ears drooped a little but was still not disappointed.
"It's all right, are there any other job openings I can do?" She asked, hopefully.
"I am afraid not," Queen Celestia shook her head, still looking. "There are not many jobs open for anypony, especially for a mare." Fluttershy's smile turned upside down. It seemed like her chances of finding a new job were were very slim.
"However," the Queen continued, "I believe I have a job that is suitable for you." She pulled out a letter from a pile, which was given to her this morning. "The Kingdom of Draconia is looking for somepony to be a nanny to its five young princesses." Fluttershy's eyes widened.
"Five fillies!?" The pegasus gasped.
"Do you like children, Fluttershy?" The Queen chuckled.
"Yes, but five!?" Fluttershy remarked, still surprised. It was rare for families to have children that are more than 2 or 3. "All due with respect, your majesty, but maybe this job is not for me," She murmured, sadly. Caring for children is something that Fluttershy had not much experience. True, she had done some foal sitting but that was five years ago when she was still a filly. Besides, she had never foal sat that many amount of children before! The Queen could see that Fluttershy was hesitant to accept the job.
"It is up to you if you want to take this offer," Celestia explained. "But I still highly recommend that you accept it because this job is the only honorable job that is available for a mare. Other options would be servitude, but even that is not available. So what do you choose?"
Fluttershy's thoughts ran throughout her head. Should she take the job? Could she handle the princesses? Could she handle that many children? The pegasus understood what the Queen meant about the only honorable job left available. Lately, she had heard about mares who could not find good jobs, either turn to servitude or worse, prostitution! Fluttershy shuddered, not wanting to do the latter job. If she does not accept the job, where would Fluttershy go, then? Fluttershy sighed as she made her decision.
"All right, your majesty, I'll take the job offer," She reported. Queen Celestia smiled.
"Splendid, child!" She nodded, pulling out a parchment and a feather pen. "I'll send a message to Discord, right away!" She started to write down on her parchment.
"Um, Discord?" Fluttershy blinked. The name sounded weird on her tongue. "Who is he?"
"He is the King of Draconia and the father to the five princesses. He is a strange but a fine and bright creature." Queen Celesetia explained, as she finished writing a letter to the King. Her horn glowed and her magic caused the letter to poor away. Soon the letter would reach King Discord. "I understand he has trouble keeping a nanny since his wife passed away."
"Why?" Fluttershy asked.
"Who knows," Celestia shrugged. "Well, what do you know? It looks like some mare has found a job!"
Fluttershy beamed brighter than a Christmas tree on Hearth's Warming Eve.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, so much your grace!" She chirped. The Pegasus bowed to the Queen. "I promise to be the best nanny ever!"
"I know you will!" Queen Celestia laughed.