Divine Entertainment

by Orthoros


26. Job Hunt - Crimson

Crimson took off into the air after separating from his friends. They had made good time arriving at the Crystal Kingdom’s city’s outskirts shortly after noon. After they had decided on an easy to find place to reunite, they went their own ways.

While they did have some money to stay at a hotel, securing a regular income was at the top of their priority list.

He skimmed the rooftops of several buildings while heading towards the eastern part of the huge town. Compared to the houses built in High Rock and the surrounding earth pony tribe settlements, the unicorns built much sturdier and functional houses. Seeing as they first and foremost pursued knowledge, it wasn’t surprising that they would be able to build more advanced things than the other tribes.

The streets below him bristled with life, unicorns moved about, minding their daily business. A few looked up when they noticed his shadow passing, and when they noticed him they smiled and waved.

After staying in High Rock for a while, it was a rather refreshing experience for him. Silver Wood’s words seemed to hold true, and the unicorns were a much more accommodating tribe.

After flying eastwards for a good half hour, he started to lookout for the telltale purple and gold of a guard's armor. He wasn’t able to spot anything that would give the weather factory away, like fresh clouds gathering above it or random rainbows, so he decided to just ask somepony.

It didn’t take him long to find a pair of guards below him, so he swooped down and softly landed in front of them.

“Pardon me, I’m new in town and looking for the weather factory.” Crimson greeted them. “I was told it would be somewhere around here.”

“Greetings pegasus.” The left guard answered him. “First off, let me welcome you to our great city! Thank you for coming to support us, any help is appreciated.” Both guards smiled broadly at him. “Just follow this street until you get to the main street, really broad one, can’t miss it. Then follow it east and you’ll be there before you know it.”

“Thanks a lot guys!” Having gathered new information, Crimson thanked the pair and took off again.

He found the main street shortly after, and followed it like instructed. Five minutes later a big building came into view. Smoke was rising from several chimneys, which Crimson recognized as cloud dispensers, although they seemed to be inactive at the moment.

The building was constructed like a giant ring, the center was left without a roof and contained various weather making machinery. Crimson could see a few pegasi flying around the apparitions operating them. The design allowed for easy access for the pegasi working their stations, while the actual building served for other facilities, such as offices.

Crimson touched down in front of the main entrance, and seeing that the door was open, trotted right in.

He was greeted by a rather small entrance hall, a pair of open doors in front of him led into the central area, as well as both sides of the ring. To his left, a few chairs were placed along the walls for waiting visitors, though all of them were currently unoccupied. To his right was a desk, and behind it sat a bright yellow pegasus mare with a blue mane and tail.

She noticed Crimson as soon as he walked in. “Welcome to the weather factory, what can I do for you?” She asked him cheerfully.

Crimson trotted over to her while answering her question. “Hi there. I just arrived in the city, and as I’m going to be settling down for a while I’m looking for a place to work.” He told her. “I was told my best chances would be here.”

“Ohh, that's wonderful.” The mare said, her face adopting a big smile. “We are constantly understaffed here, so any pegasus who wants to join is greatly appreciated. Don’t you worry, we’ll find something for you to do!” She reached out her hoof towards Crimson who gladly shook it.

“I’m Starlight Breeze, pleased to meet you!”

“Crimson. Likewise.”

“Let me just get the boss for you, I’m sure he’ll be interested in talking with you.” Starlight said. “Please feel free to take a seat over there while you wait.”

Crimson simply nodded, and made his way over to the chairs. While he was waiting he looked outside, observing the unicorns passing by. A great number of them passed by the entrance, and when he thought about how big the city was, the number of ponies living in the Kingdom had to be enormous.

Just like Atlas had mentioned, the fact that they were somehow able to sustain the entirety of the populace was an amazing feat.

He was brought out of his musings by a voice near him. “Hello.” It said.

Crimson turned his head to look at the speaker. Starlight Breeze seemed to have returned to her position behind her desk, and a blue pegasus appeared before him. He had a two toned mane, the left side was colored white, and the right side a light blue. On his flank rested the picture of a raincloud.

“I’m Sapphire Current, the current head of this facility.” He introduced himself. “I was told you’re interested in working here?”

Crimson nodded his head. “Yes sir. Due to my friends circumstances I just moved here, and I need work.”

“Marvelous!” Sapphire exclaimed. “If you’re up for it, I can show you around right now, and if you’re still interested you can start here as early as tomorrow. We can use all the hooves we can get around here!”

“Sure, lead the way.” Crimson agreed.

The next hour was spent showing Crimson the various offices and other facilities of the factory, as well as introducing him to a couple of the higher ranked employees. At the end of the tour, Sapphire lead Crimson to his office.

The office was furnished rather simple, drawers lined the walls, while a big desk took up most of the room. Various diplomas and personal pictures hung on the walls, giving the room a lived in feeling.

Sapphire took a seat on a comfy looking chair behind the desk, gesturing for Crimson to take a seat as well.

“So have you worked in any weather related jobs before?” He asked Crimson.

“No sir.” Crimson replied while taking a seat. “I was a long distance flier for the couriers, and after that I joined a trading caravan for several years.”

“I take it you're a good flier then?” Sapphire inquired.

“Yes, I’m very confident in my flying, my special talent is endurance flights.” Crimson responded proudly.

A thoughtful hum escaped Sapphire after having asked all of his questions. “Well, seeing as you have no experience in the crafting arts, I’d say we assign you to the distribution team.” Sapphire proposed. “You’d help with getting the weather to where it needs to be, as well as activating rain clouds and similar tasks. Seeing as your talent is long flights, you’d be ideal for it since the Kingdom is quite big.” He explained further. “What do you say? You up for it?”

With a smile on his face, Crimson agreed.

“Marvellous!” Sapphire exclaimed once again. He used the word quite often while he showed Crimson around, Crimson assumed it to be his favourite word or something.

“Our distributors always work in teams, be sure to learn from your partner, and listen to their instructions alright?” Sapphire eyed Crimson for an answer.

“Understood, I’ll make sure to cause you no trouble.” Crimson said earnestly.

“Marvellous, let’s see who will be your partner!” Sapphire exclaimed happily.

He opened one of his drawers and pulled out a sheet of paper. On it were listed several names of ponies, as well as who they were partnered with.

“A-ha!” Sapphire put his hoof down next to a crossed out name. “Seems like you’ll be taking over the position of Cloud Chaser. Fella was getting too old for this and retired.” He told Crimson, his eyes reflecting fond memories of the pegasus in question.

“Would you please wait here a second? I think I saw your new partner in the break room when we passed it. I’ll just get her real quick to introduce you.” After receiving Crimsons consent, Sapphire left the room.

It didn’t take long for him to return, and this time he was accompanied by a pegasus mare. Her coat was a similar blue to Sapphire Current’s while her mane was a light blue, a teal stripe following the hairline. Her cutie mark was a cumulus cloud with a pair of purple wings attached to it. Her rose eyes were studying Crimson, as he got down from his seat to greet her.

“Hi, my name’s Crimson, guess I’ll be your new partner.” He said while stretching his hoof out in a greeting.

“Hi, I’m Blue Current, pleased to meet you.” She replied with a sweet voice, lightly bumping Crimsons hoof while sporting a big smile. “So glad to have a partner again, the workload was getting kinda harsh without ol’ Cloud Chaser around.”

“Incidentally, she’s my daughter, so don’t get any ideas lad.” Sapphire threw in from the side.

“Dad!” Blue Current said annoyed. “Don’t worry about him, he always get’s like this.” She assured a slightly worried Crimson. “I heard you just got here today? Do you already find a place to stay?”

“I’ll be meeting up with my friends later on, and we’ll look for a hotel, until we can afford a place.” Crimson told her.

“That’s good to know. Well I’m looking forward to working with you, and hope we can be good friends.” Blue Current said. “But I really need to go back to work now, see you tomorrow!”

As Blue Current left the room, Sapphire once again addressed Crimson.

“We usually start our work at around ten. Seeing as it’s your first day, I’d appreciate it if you could show up an hour early. That way we can get you the necessary equipment and do some paperwork before you start.”

“No problem, I’ll be here, Sir.” Crimson replied, shaking the stallion's hoof once again.

“By the way I wasn’t joking. Don’t try anything with my daughter.”