Stuck

by NickyD

First Day On The Job

Tuesday
7:30 A.M

After Rarity dropped off my clothing yesterday, I spent the rest of the day with Vinyl, rehearsing our set. She’s deejaying for most of the party, and about mid way through it, I do my thing, and she’ll do her thing after that.

We really narrowed down our choices more. We’ve selected three songs for me to do with her, and I think it’ll be a blast. Really looking forward to it. Am I nervous? Not in the slightest. Performing is what I live for. If I can perform in a theater that occupies 700 people, I can handle performing in front of a small town.

That night, I talked to a few of my friends in my dreams. They were praying for my safety for the past week and I’m truly grateful for their prayers. I assured them I was fine and, just like the night before, Luna was with me to make things easier.

My friends were more than weirded out at what I have told them, but they came to terms with it relatively easily. They were also very disappointed to hear that I am stuck here in Equestria and that I’m not back home. There’s so much stuff I wanted to do with them back on earth, but I made sure to let them know I am not going to let this whole “stuck in another realm” business hold me back from my ambitions.

So what am I doing now? Well, it’s early in the morning, I grabbed a shower not too long ago, I’m sitting in the kitchen and there’s a plate of half eaten eggs and toast in front of me. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out.

As I’m eating the eggs, Twilight lowers a mug of coffee for me. I told her yesterday that Rarity offered me a job and that I accepted, and she wanted to get up when I did to see me off and get some breakfast ready for me. Really sweet of her to do that.

“Thanks for making me breakfast Twi,” I say with a mouth full of eggs. She chuckles a little at my muffled voice.

“No problem Nick!” Twilight's says warmly as I sip some coffee. She turns back to the stove and cracks two eggs into the pan to make her own food. “Excited for your first day of work?”

“To be honest, I am looking forward to it.” Like what I said, I never really had an actual job, but now that I have one, it’ll be a good experience.

“Good to see you are going in with a positive attitude.” If I didn’t, I’d be in for a crappy day.

I finish my breakfast as Twilight starts hers. I put my plate in the sink and check my watch for the time. It’s only twenty minutes ‘till eight, but maybe I should get ahead of time. If I want to be a good employee, I should be there earlier than expected.

“Twi, I’m going to head over now. I should make sure to get there nice and early.”

“Alright Nick. Good luck on your first day!” She hops out of her chair and gives me a quick hug, which I return. The gesture isn’t really necessary, but it’s greatly appreciated.

We let go and then, I’m off to my new job.

---

I check my watch one more time and it reads seven forty-three. About fifteen minutes early (if you round it). Perfect! I step in the establishment, hearing the little bell chime as I open the door, and scan the room for my employer. So far she is yet to be scene.

“Rarity? You alive? Where are ‘ya?” The second I stop talking, I hear two sets of hooves, clip clopping down the stairs. Must be Rarity and somepony else.

Apparently, the source of the clip clopping is Rarity and Sweetie Belle. I see the younger unicorn with saddlebags on her back. She must be getting ready for school.

“Goodness Nick, you are here nice and early!” Rarity says.

“Just wanna be a good employee,” I tell her. I look down at Sweetie Belle with a smile. “Hey Sweetie Belle.” Before I knew it, she gallops to me, leaps into my arms and gives me a tight hug. She’s got a good jump!

I’m a little confused though. Why is she hugging me? “Everything okay Sweetie Belle?” She nuzzles her muzzle into my chest a little, minding her horn.

“I heard about what happened Saturday night,” she says with her voice sounding somber. “I just want to let you know I’m here for you.” Don’t you dare cry Nick. You are a strong man. But her sweetness is making it so hard.

What I do: I wrap my arms around her and give her a tight squeeze. “Thank you Sweetie Belle,” I say quietly. Her and I’s embrace is warm and comforting. Glad she is by my side. Sweetie Belle and I stay like this for a moment or two until Rarity clears her throat.

“Sweetie Belle, it’s time for you to get to school.” Feeling like it’s time to let go, I let her down gently and get one last look into those green eyes of hers. I flash her a smile that assures her everything will be fine.

Smiling herself, she trots out the door and makes her way to school. God bless that child. Feeling I should get into work mode, I turn to Rarity.

“Alright Rare, it’s my first day on the job and I want to know what to do. Lay it on me.” Nodding, she levitates a clipboard and pencil to me. Attached to the clipboard is a piece of paper, listing threads, fabrics, etc on the left side of it. On the right, there is a set of numbers going down the sheet and the middle is blank.

“So this will be your first task to do: checking my inventory. And this will be your first task when you come into work each day. The numbers on the right side of the sheet says how much I had at the beginning of the week. The center is left blank for you to write in the current inventory. By the end of the week, I will have all of those papers showing how much material I used and how much I need to order to restock.” Seems simple. Center area is current inventory, right area is inventory at the start of the week. “Just go to the supply closet and take your time with it. This is a simple task, but I need you to double, even triple check your work, so it may take a while. Follow me so far?”

“Yes ma’am,” I say with a bit of enthusiasm.

“There are a few sheets of paper on that clipboard, so you can probably guess I have quite an abundance of supply.” Feeling that I should check, I lift the page from the clipboard and see some more papers with inventory lists. Well, as somepony who makes dresses, she needs to have a lot of supply. “Since it is the beginning of the week, the numbers should be matching.”

“Alright Rarity, I’m ready to start!”

Two Hours Later

Surprisingly, this closet doesn’t get hot or stuffy. Not that bad in here really. I’m going over the last piece of material and triple checking it. “One, two, three, four, five, six,” rolls of this green fabric called “alpaca”. Probably from an alpaca sheep I’m assuming.

I look down at the item and the numbers next to it. Six is what I wrote down and the number Rarity started with is six. Just like what she said, the current stock is the same as the starting stock, with the exception of one or two items. I’ll make sure to bring that to Rarity’s attention.

I flip through the pages on the clipboard and see that everything is accounted for. Feeling like my work in here is done, I get out and see Rarity doing some stitching on a dress that is on a mannequin. Looks like a shiny red cocktail dress that shimmers in the light. It sort of reminds me of Jessica Rabbit's dress but doesn’t have a huge set of tits and it doesn't show as much leg.

“Hey Rare, I just finished with the inventory. Pretty much everything is accounted for except for a couple of things.” The mare in question perks her head up and gives me a glance, and me noticing red glasses resting on the bridge of her snout.

“May I see your clipboard please?” she politely asks. I walk up to her and show her the low inventory items. “Shoot. I knew I forgot to restock those.” She looks away from the clipboard to face me. “No worries darling. I’ll put in an order before the end of the day.”

“Seems like a plan. So where do you want this?” I ask teeter tottering the clipboard with my hand.

“Just on a dresser. I’ll put it away later.” I do what I am told and look back at this dress that she is preparing.

“If I may ask, who’s the pony you’re making this for?”

“Big Mac,” she says casually.

“Ah… Hold up, what?!” Big mac needs a dress? Bruh what?

“I’m just teasing darling. Big Mac in a dress? Ha! That’s ridiculous. The dress is for Roseluck.”

“She needs a dress?”

“Well she told me, her and her sisters are going up to Manehattan next week for an old friend’s birthday. They are going to a distinguished club and the idea for a cocktail dress came to mind. What do you think?” Right now, I’m only looking at it from the side. I should look at it differently. So I circle around the dressed mannequin, slowly, inspecting every little detail about it. It's so sparkly, grips the mannequins barrel nicely, I think Roseluck would look hot in this… wait, what?

“You did a pretty good job Rarity,” I say giving the fashionista a compliment. I want to forget that I thought a cartoon horse would look hot in a cocktail dress. “I like how it shimmers in the light. I think Rose’ll like it.”

“She’s stopping by later today to pick it up, just to let you know.”

“When?” Rarity raises an eyebrow in thought and looks at at a nearby clock hanging from the wall.

“In about half an hour from now. Do you mind moving the mannequin to the stage?” Not having to be told twice, I grab it by the stem that’s under the belly and easily walk it to the stage, placing it down easy in the dead center. I take a step back and feel I should angle it a bit. And I do so.

Presentation is everything to everything. When you are a chef, how you present your food is everything. When you are at a party, how your present yourself if everything. When you have your first performance, wearing something that is you is everything. The same comes to fashion. If you are going to be selling a dress, how you present it will make or break the sale. Heh, I wonder if this is like a Project Runway episode?

“Hey Rare, how can we wow Roseluck with this dress?”

“Leave it to me darling. I have a way with words and presentation.”

---

“Come right this way Roseluck,” I tell the mare, who was surprised to see me both still in Equestria and working here. I just explained to her there were complications, Rarity offered a job and enough said there. She seemed to respect that and we proceed inside the boutique. “I saw the dress Rarity made for ‘ya, I think you’ll really like it.”

“Knowing Rarity, I have a feeling she did a good job.” She and I approach the stage and the curtain has been drawn around it, hiding the dress from Roseluck. Time to show her what waits behind the curtain.

“Alright Rarity! Show her what ya got!” In one swift motion the curtain is drawn, with Rarity next to the dressed mannequin. With a quick zap of her horn, the lights are dimmed and a single spot light shines down on the dress, it shimmering a bit brighter than earlier.

“Wow…” I hear Roseluck whisper.

“So Roseluck, I have designed this dress to fit you and only you,” Rarity starts off. “I feel this shade of red compliments your fur and is a close match to your hair. The color also does bring out the green in your eyes. A girl's best feature is their eyes. Plus, with the shimmering this dress provides will make you the gem of the club. So, what do you think?” Jesus, this is Project Runway isn’t it?

Roseluck climbs onto the stage and gets a closer look at what Rarity made. She looks at it from almost every angle from any distance. She keeps at this for a few moments until Rarity suggests:

“Why don’t you give it a try on, darling?” How else would she know if she wanted to get it? Suddenly, all the lights turn back on and Roseluck, with Rarity’s help, take the dress off the mannequin. The unicorn guides Rose to the changing screen and we leave her alone for a few moments for privacy.

It doesn’t take long for her to get in the dress. When she emerges from the screen, let me say, this dress looks really well on her. Everything is what Rarity imagined it could be on her. The fashionista, using her magic, slides a mirror in front of Roseluck. She takes some turns, viewing it from every angle, all while smiling.

“I love it,” she says. We made a sale! “It’s absolutely perfect!”

“So glad you like it darling. Come with me and we’ll work on payment.” Rarity moves her attention from the customer to me. “Nick, do you mind putting the mannequin away?”

“Where do you want it?” I ask.

“Just put it in the closet for now.” Following orders, I get on the mini stage and grab the mannequin the same way I did earlier and I walk it to the closet. After opening the closet and setting it down with a light thud, I leave the small storage room, closing the door behind me and head back to Rarity to see what else needs to be done.

1:00 P.M

“Alright darling,” Rarity calls over to me. “That’s it for your first day.”

“Alrighty,” I call out. I finish putting the file away and walk to my employer. She asked me to make sure orders and invoices were in order and everything seemed to be right where it should be.

I head up to her and see a brown sack about the size of a softball with a threat tied around the top, levitating next to her.

“Pay for the day, darling.” She levitates the bag to towards me and I take hold of it. I loosen the thread and see the sack is filled with bits. “Your pay is fifteen bits per hour-” SAY WHAT?! “-and since you worked four hours today, your pay is sixty bits. Since we’re closing early today, your pay tomorrow will be seventy-five bits.” Okay, so seventy five bits a day, assuming this place is open during the week and not on weekends, that’ll be.... somewhere around three or four hundred bits per week. I need a calculator.

“Wow, Rarity that's-”

“Up bup bup.” She raises her hoof and cuts me off. “Darling, I’m worth it.” Still feeling the need to thank her, I lower myself and give her a tight hug. She seems a little surprised because she let out a light ‘oh’ but she returns the hug in an equal amount of strength.

We hold on to each other for a couple more moments until Rarity says: “Okay Nick, I have a block party to decorate for.” Seeing she is needed soon, she and I let go. “Will you be attending?” More than that.

“Yeah, absolutely.”

“Good. I think it’ll be good to socialize a bit more.” She and I head outside and we see some ponies already getting a head start on some things. A few are getting some decorations up, booths for games are are in the middle of being set up, concessions are being made, I even see Vinyl setting up the sound systems on the stage. “Well, take care darling. See you later.” And with that being said, she trots off to where she needs to be.

I should go to Vinyl and ask her if she needs help with anything. Maybe if we’re done early, we can get one more rehearsal in.

Well, let’s rock this thing out!

Comments

[ADFX-NightRaven414]

Nice!

[DrD1msum]

I bet Twilight got that coffee from StarBits Coffee! Also I could see a little bit of shipping fuel leaking out of Nick's mouth when he was talking about Roseluck. Also Rarity is ballin'

[NickyD]

7523101 nope. no shipping, That was just to get a laugh

[Zulu 625]

Bravo well done.

[NickyD]

7776020 I appreciate the honesty. I am going through the story and I am re writing and re editing things that are not working out. Right now, I have up to chapter 14 fixed up and I do plan on fixing plenty more in due time.