A New Impetus

by Zykov

13. Jobseeker

Away from the chaos occurring at Rarity’s Boutique, the rest of Ponyville was calm and collected. The late summer winds blew the fragrance of apples and flowers through the town, the pairing of the sun and wind made it a comfortably warm day and a splendid day to be outside. Though one pony isn’t having the easiest time.

As Noble walked out the door back onto the streets of Ponyville, the stallion at the front desk called back to him in a deep raspy voice, “Sorry kid, but we don’t have any need for other workers right now. Good luck with your search.”

“Thank you for your time and consideration.” Noble walked out the door and gave a sigh. He looked around to see what other businesses there were that he had not checked before turning and walking down the street.

Having stopped to look at his surroundings again he lifted a hoof to his forehead and closed his eyes thinking about the ways he has come and the different landmarks he has seen as he continued to try to map out the town in his head.

All around him were seemingly pleasant ponies of all types but the treat for him was all the Earth ponies which made him feel simply at ease with the soft rustle as they all casually went on their lives around him.

Noble dropped his hoof and tilting his head up high as he inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh air and gentle late summer breeze. He slowly exhaled and opened his eyes before beginning to walk forward again.

The stallion had not had any luck yet with his job hunt and had only received some supportive words that helped him stay positive. Already revising his speech in his head he continued on through the streets, taking in the beauty and harmony of this town.

“Ah I love fresh starts. Gentle breezes, fresh air and all new society. Then again it is a little frightening meeting all these new ponies and wondering what they are thinking when they look at me...“ He looked around, biting his bottom lip. “They can probably all tell that I’m new here...” He rubbed the back of his head and looked around more.

In front of the Quill and Sofa shop stood a group of three young mares, that peeked over at Noble and would lean in whispering to one another then look back, after a few more glances and whispers they all turned and waved at the stallion with small smiles on their faces.

Even though Noble turned the edges of his lips up; his eyes contained a soft glimmer of moisture with the outer edges of his eyebrows turned down, a shiver went down his spine and he gave a slow wave back, barely moving his hoof.

All three turned inward and giggled amongst themselves still smiling as they looked over at him.

Noble’s hoof lowered and he slowly drug his hoof through the dirt looking down and hunkering his head down as he began to walk by again. “Darn, for a second I thought those girls may have thought I was cute or something. I guess they could be giggles of interest, but why me? No there had to be something else to it! Ugh I shouldn’t have even waved I’m such an idiot.” The stallion shook his head and looked forward, “Just how many other options do I have here?”

A sudden creak of wood from a barrel behind Noble made his ears twitch, he lifted his head up again and this time turned his head with his hoof stretching his neck and letting a few pops be heard as bent it left and right. As he popped his neck he quickly looked back toward where the sound came from and scanned for anything unusual. He didn’t see anything but had a feeling that he was being followed for a ways now. As long as this didn’t seem like it would end in trouble he didn’t want to cause a scene.

While he continued to walk alongside some shops he continued to look back in as inconspicuous of a way as possible. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something sliding behind another set of barrels. A small tuft of pink hair that seemed to be in a swirl. Noble turned completely around and scratched his head. “Why would a pony be following me? I haven’t done anything wrong have I? I hope this pony doesn’t hate that a newcomer is walking around begging for a job...”

Squinting and raising an eyebrow Noble looked back down the path he had been heading down and then back at the tuft of pink fur. He took a deep breath and spun around lifting his legs up to gallop though as soon as he was looking forward he jumped back.

“Hiya!” Suddenly a pink curly haired mare had appeared right in front of the stallion and casually sat down right in front of him.

Noble stopped himself when he was a second away from running into the pink furred mare. He lept backwards, landing on his back letting out a mild yell. He looked back at the barrels then spun back to the mare, pointing at her while lying on the ground with an open mouth, gasping. “What the! How?!”

“I’m Pinkie Pie! Aaaaand,” Pinkie took a deep breath, “Welcome to Ponyville, I hope it finds you well. Don’t make a frown cause I’m here to make you swell. Welcome to Ponyville! Here here today! Welcome to Ponyville! I hope you’ll stay and say, HIIIP HIP HOORAAAAY!”

As she sang Pinkie darted around Noble, making his head turn quickly to look at her while he got back onto his hooves. Through the song Noble hunkered down trying to look for an opening. He looked around the street at ponies staring on, he bit his lip and began to sweat. “...What, huh? H-How do you know I’m new here?”

Once the song was over and the energetic mare sat down again she extended a hoof. “I know every single pony in this town and I know I haven’t seen you before, so that was your welcome to Ponyville song. I’m here to be your bestest friend!” She looked on with a smile.

Noble looked to the sides then slowly extended his hoof and shook, still trying to hunker down. “... Umm… thank you, Pinkie Pie? I will try to remember your name. Don’t you think you are a little ahead of yourself; saying that we will be “bestest friends” when we don’t know one another? I don’t mind chatting and becoming friends. Just, another time. And, without this much attention.” The stallion’s face was bright red by now.

“Oh? Do you have more errands to run? You’ve been going into every store.” Pinkie leaned in, putting her hoof to the side of her mouth and whispered, “Are you on some kind of top secret mission?” She brought her hoof down leaping up. “Oh oh, wait! Are you getting furniture for your new home in Ponyville? Or do you need the grand tour?” She ran off and shot back in a flash with a tropical button up shirt and hat along with a camera around her neck.”

Noble’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes grew wide, the sweat on his brow thickened. “Wha.. nooo! No no no. I am just looking for a job--- Wait… how long have you been following me and how can you tell I’m staying here?”

“I knew because that’s just the feeling I had in my mane!” She smiled again and looked upward toward her mane, shaking her body making her mane shake.

“Your mane?” The stallion took a step back and watched on, raising an eyebrow.

Pinkie wrapped her hoof around Noble and tapped her lips, looking down. “So, a job is what you need?”

“Y-Yes?” He looked toward her out of the corner of his eyes and tried to gently back away to no avail. “Wow if I’m this uncomfortable with her being this touchy this quick, Soul probably would have a heart attack, die, get revived and then die again if he meets this mare...”

The mare released her grip and stretched her hoof up to the sky. “I may have just the solution for your institution! Come with me.” She lept up, beaming from ear to ear and began bouncing down the street.

“What, she has a job to offer me?” The tan stallion stood up a little more, shook himself off and focused on the mare, his lips slowly turned upward, though it quickly changed into mild frown. “Remember, don’t put too much faith in this job.”

The pink mare called back to him, bouncing in place. “Well are you coming?”

A wide smile crossed his lips as he looked down at the ground and began to move forward. “Oh, yes right behind you Truffle!”

Pinkie’s stopped jumping and looked at him with an open mouth and raised brow. “Huh?”

Noble winced and shook his head. “I mean Pinkie Pie, sorry.”

Shrugging it off Pinkie turned and continued to prance down the street with Noble in tow. “Alrighty artichokie.”

---

The two arrived at a large shop that was decorated to look like it was made out of giant sweets. Pinkie Pie pranced to the door and opened it, holding it open for Noble. “I’m back with the ingredients!” she yelled upstairs.

As Noble walked through the door he gave the pink mare a nod of gratitude but his smile had already begun to fade. From the moment he had seen the building Pinkie was heading for a knot had formed in his stomach and as he walked through the door and saw the counter with cakes and pastries inside he lifted his head. “Pinkie, may I ask what kind of job this would be?”

Flinging the bottom half of the door closed before she replied the pink mare shot behind the counter and put her hooves down. “Well, I’m not entirely sure. You could be a baker, or a delivery pony, or you can always help at the register like me. I will need to talk to the Cakes; this is their business and I’m just an employee but I'm sure we could use an extra set of hooves."

The tan stallion took in the information and paused for a brief moment, his eyebrows lowered, he began to open his mouth but closed it before he could speak.

"Oh something wrong?" Pinkie inquired, lifting her head up and raising an eyebrow.

Noble grinned, tucking his head down as he rubbed the back of his mane. "Well the thing is... I'm not really a baker. There are too many variables that go into those dishes. Then after they are in the oven you can no longer change them. Then the issue is finding the right temperature and the right amount of time."

“Aww come on, baking isn’t really that hard! You sound like you have a good idea of it,” she said while she raised her forelegs into the air, standing on her hind legs. “I know, we could start with some simple things like cookies and cupcakes. Do you know how to bake them?”

The stallion gritted his teeth which turned to a frown looking away. “Well… I really want a job, but I don’t want to burden the business. I’ve only been able to bake when I have a detailed list of the instructions listing how to make the dough along with the temperature and amount of time to cook it for.”

Pinkie sat for a moment and tapped her face with her hoof, as she rested her elbows on the counter. “What? Is that all?! That’s not a problem at all, nope nope! I can teach you and help you get started, but it’s really all up to you!”

Noble narrowed his lips and looked around the shop before turning back to the mare. “When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound bad. But don’t you think you should ask your employers first? I mean if they are fine with me learning as I go and need the help I’ll gladly take the job.”

“Well we’re here to find out!” Pinkie instantly bolted upstairs but only a second later peeked her head back around the corner. “Oh by the way! I never caught your name.”

Noble jumped a little and raised his head speaking up loud and clear, a light sweat forming on his forehead again. “It’s Noble Poet.”

The mare winked with a grin. “Gotcha!” That said she dodged her head back up the stairs.

Five good minutes passed before Pinkie returned, her tail was drooping behind her a little lower than before. She looked at the stallion then around the room at the sweets. “Oh golly gosh I forgot that I wanted to give you a welcome to Ponyville present!” She flew around the room, snagging multiple treats around the room and disappeared behind the counter.

Waving his hooves in the air in front of him as he leaned back Noble deterred, “Oh please, you are far too kind. Between the job, offering to teach me and the song. Well you have done far too much already,” he said and tilted his head. “What did they say by the way?”

“This is no trouble at all, they said I could give you some and I thought I’d pay for some others. Though, aboooooooout the job…” She slowed to a stop and rose from behind the counter, looking down. “Well we don’t seem to have any openings right now... So I may have spoken too soon.” Pinkie let out a faint chuckle, her head lowered toward her shoulders and met the stallion’s eyes.

Noble sighed and looked up. “Oh, well even so. I knew this was a possibility. Who knows, maybe it’s for the best for your company. Thank you for the offer and putting so much effort into this. I'll just keep looking from somewhere else.”

The mare beamed and brought out a large basket, almost overflowing with sweets and presented it on the counter. “That’s the spirit! And your gift basket is ready! Don’t worry, I can go around town with you looking for--”

At that instant the bottom half of the door to Sugarcube Corner flung open and a yellow furred filly ran in, grimacing with wide eyes. “Emergency, emergency!!! Quick, I need lots of ice and bandages!”

Pinkie immediately started moving her hooves like she was about to run. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh ice coming right up!” She bolted into the kitchen though almost instantly peeked back into the lounge. “Why do we need ice again?”

“It’s Applejack! There’s no time to explain but she injured her hoof and needs help!” The filly cried out and stomped her hooves as she ran in place. “Quick quick! Where is that darn ice?”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes grew wide and she gasped. “Applejack’s in trouble?! I’m on it!!!” In a flash the doors to the back room began swinging as Pinkie rushed through them again.

Noble who had trotted over to a window looked out and in less than a second he spotted the mare the young filly was talking about. “Is that your sister over there?” The sight caused him to frown. “What is she doing...?”

Applebloom looked past Noble out the window in the direction he was pointing. “Yeah, that’s her alright! Even with a twisted ankle she’s still tryin’ ta pull that big carriage.”

Noble looked at the filly, with his eyes a little wider and a twitch of his ears. “What? Doesn’t she know that if she tries to do that she’ll just exacerbate her injury?“

"She doesn't care."

Once again the back doors flung open and Pinkie rushed through them in a white coat, with a first aid kit. “Doctor Pinkie on the case!” Hurrying to the stairs Pinkie called up, “Mr. and Mrs. Cake; I need to go out for a minute. Emergency case!”

As Pinkie ran toward the door and Applebloom headed after her, followed by Noble, who jolted forward and reached out toward the filly. “Wait! May I come too? I have some experience with ankle injuries and could be of some help.”

Applebloom looked back with eyes widened. “You do? There’s nothing stopping ya so come on!” She turned and jumped through the doorway followed by the stallion.

When the trio trotted down the block to where an orange mare was trying to pull a large carriage, they noticed she was gritting her teeth and had her eyes closed as she pulled.

The filly ran over to her sister with a glare. “Applejack, I brought help. Don’t try to put any more stress on it!”

Applejack gave the filly a glare with a scowl though with a wince from her left eye everypony could see she was in pain. “Applebloom! A-Ah told ya that I don’t need any first aid, I will be alright in a minute--- ” When she stepped down with her right foreleg and put pressure on it, a stabbing pain crashed through it which caused her to clench her teeth again and fall. “Ah, darn it!!”

Pinkie quickly opened up her first aid kit next to Applejack. “Applejack! Don’t worry Doctor Pinkie Pie is here now.” She reached down and lifted the mare’s right foreleg and gently poked down it. “Tell me how this is.”

As soon as the poke struck Applejack’s ankle she let out a holler. “Dagnabit Pinkie that,” she bit her tongue and tried to shake it off, “Doesn’t hurt!” She ripped her foreleg away from the balloon flanked pony and lifted herself to her legs, wobbling greatly as she did. “I just need ta walk it off. That’s all.” The mare put her right hoof down again and as she leaned forward she fell over again with a groan.

“Sis!” Applebloom leapt in front of her sister, blocking her way. “You can’t do anything with that hoof like that, can’t ya see?”

Scanning over the situation Noble closed his eyes for a moment then opened them, stepping forward and tapping Pinkie on the shoulder. “Pinkie, may I take a look?”

Pinkie nodded and slid to the side, giving Noble room to walk. The stallion sat down in front of the orange mare.

Applejack scrunched her eyebrows at the stallion beside her. “W-Wait, who are you?” She drew her hoof in and tucked it beside her. “Doesn’t matter... Look fella, there ain’t nothin to look at. I just need a minute ta get back on my feet again,” Applejack scoffed.

“Please, stop moving or you are going to hurt it more.” The stallion wrenched her leg closer to him and as he held the leg tight, put a little pressure on the ankle.

Applejack twisted her body, closing her eyes and tried to pull her hoof away. “Oww oww oww! Ok, yes it hurts alright!”

Applebloom quickly lept up and hit the stallion in the side with her front hooves. “What da ya think yer doin hurtin my sister like that?”

Giving a jostle from the kick, Noble eased his grip. “I’m sorry. I just needed you to stop resisting and let us help you.” His grip became gentle and tender, his movements were slow but fluid.

That said Applebloom dropped back to all fours and slowly backed away and gave the stallion a nod but continued to watch him, squinting.

“...Fine then.” Applejack sighed and let herself relax, looking up at the stallion as she eased her body and allowed him to support her leg.

Noble eased his grip to gently support the mare’s leg as he called out materials to Pinkie, asking for two pieces of wood, wrap and the ice. He ran his hoof lightly over the ankle, looking toward the mare’s face. After running his hoof all the way over her ankle he sat for a second, which seemed to have froze as his eyes fell over her blond flowing hair, down to her closed eyes and soft freckled cheek to her lips; slightly parted with slow breaths which moved the grass in front of them.

The silence was broken as Applejack winced, clenching her teeth and called out, “R-Right where yer hoof ran over was the sore spot, partner.”

Snapping out of it he quickly shook his head and rubbed her ankle with the ice bag for a few minutes then placed the pieces of wood on either side of her ankle having Pinkie hold them and the hoof in place as he wrapped over the area making it snug above and below but not overly tight. He finished by wrapping the ice bag around her ankle, securing it with bandages. “There, it’s all done now. Just take the ice pack off when it gets too cold or when you get back home. How does that feel?”

As Applejack lifted herself to her feet she put a little pressure on her right leg again and although shaky she could take a step forward. She couldn’t hold back a mild smile. “Ah gotta admit, you sure got some serious first aid skills fella... This is much better.” She rubbed her hoof over the ground only giving a slight wince.

While Applejack felt out how well the makeshift brace supported her Pinkie erupted, leaping up into the air. “Wowza! That was amazing Noble! You really knew what you were doing.”

After she finished testing her new brace, Applejack took a few steps toward her carriage. “Now what in Equestria am I gonna do with my stand…? I can’t just leave it here, I need ta haul it back to the farm no matter what. If I just push myself a little bit I’m sure I can-”

Noble blocked her way with a leg. “W-With all due respect miss… You really shouldn’t put any stress on that hoof, even with that brace you can still exacerbate your injury.”

Pinkie pie, who had put everything back in the first aid kit walked over and stood next to Applejack though a smile never left her face. “He’s right Applejack, you should take it easy for the rest of the day to let your ankle heal, then you can work after a few days.”

Applejack first glared at Pinkie. “I appreciate you trying ta look out for me but you know how important my work on the farm is.” She turned her attention toward Noble and stepped forward, poking the stallion in the chest with her bandaged hoof, giving only a wince. “Lookie here buddy, I’m very thankful for your help, I really am. But I got a farm ta take care of and I’m the only one capable of taking care of it right now.”

“You were,” Applebloom said looking at Applejack’s bandaged ankle then looking away.

Applejack scrunched her eyebrows and gave her little sister a short glare but turned back towards Noble shaking her head again. “Anyway, unless you want to pull this load all the way to our farm, I’m not going to lay off my duties.”

Noble’s eyes widened and he looked at Applejack’s face then down at her ankle giving a smile as he stood up straight and puffed out his chest a tad. “Oh, well why didn’t you say so? A stallion should always help a pony in need.”

Applejack’s eyes widened and she tilted her head forward and to the side. “What? Seriously, ya would do that?”

“Of course, why not? I’m new here, so this would be a good chance to see more of Ponyville. I can imagine how that leg feels right now, I’ve been there, I couldn’t just stand by and let anypony hurt like that when I can easily do something about it.” The stallion gave a bow in front of the gold haired mare with a wide smile across his face, sweating slightly.

“Well I’ll be darned,” exclaimed Applejack as she nudged her hat up raising her head.

Applebloom looked at the waggon and then at her sister, taking a step forward and turning her head to the side opening an eye wider. “Yer not gonna deny his help again, are ya?”

Pinkie pressed her nose against Applejack’s with eyes wide open. “Yes, are ya?!”

Applejack took a step back and shook her head.“Well as long as the carriage ‘ll get back to the farm, I’m not gonna complain. Besides,” She walked around and sat down next to the stallion and wrapped her hoof around Noble’s neck with a big grin, “I get a chance to find out what kind of pony has moseyed into our town. Noble’s the name, right fella?”

Noble turned his head and got goosebumps as the mare draped her leg over him. “Umm, umm, yes. Noble, Noble Poet b-but you can call me whatever you’d like.” He gave a chuckle that was low and trailed off as he looked away, lowering his head. “I’m sorry, what was your name again, Sunshine?”

Applejack turned down an eyebrow with a forced grin. “Applejack, fella. Applejack.” She took her leg off of Noble and as she put weight on it shifted her weight back to her other legs and gave it a shake.

Nodding the poet stepped forward slowly and tried to stay standing tall with a forced grin. “Oh that sounds like a wonderful name. I’m sure you are as sweet as an apple yourself.” After the phrase came out of his mouth his eyes darted away from the mare’s and he had a chill throughout his body. That sounded so bad he wanted to slap himself.

Applejack immediately put a hoof on Noble’s mouth, furrowing her eyebrows with a grin. “Look buddy if yer trying to be flirty or something, how ‘bout ya stop it before you even start. It makes my skin crawl worse than gophers in the garden fields. ”

That made Noble’s mind scream. “Just when I thought it was going so well!” The smile Noble had been wearing vanished as quickly as it appeared and his body drooped a bit. “Oh… I’m sorry I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”

Applejack held up the injured hoof, silencing Noble. “Now now, no harm done. I just didn’t want you gettin too outa hoof with that. Would you still be willin ta help me with this cart?”

Noble shook his head up and down letting out a sigh through his nose and lifting himself up a little. He walked over to the wagon and slid underneath it, looking around at the buckles and gently fiddling with them.

Applebloom rushed toward the side of the wagon with a smile. “Here I’ll help ya. You don’t need to be that gentle with it,”

Pinkie began waving goodbye to the trio but suddenly froze, mid wave and her eyes sprung open. “Wait!!! The gift basket! I almost completely forgot about the gift basket!”

“Wait, Pinkie, you don’t have---” Noble’s voice trailed off as the pink blur fired off in a cloud of smoke.

Applejack smiled and shook her head. “Welcome to Ponyville, pal. That’s Pinkie Pie for ya.”

A moment later Pinkie trotted back to the carriage with Noble’s gift basket and placed it on top of all the other stuff. “There we go! Cookies, cupcakes, muffins, donuts and eclairs, all there!” Pinkie Pie looked around doing a final scan. She was nodding approvingly as she saw Applejack’s leg was patched up and Noble was now strapped into the carriage. “Well guys, I need to bounce back to work but we will become better friends later Noble, don’t worry! I’ve already added you to my ‘Become Bestest Friends With These Ponies’ list! Bye Applejack and Applebloom, get better soon.”

Noble looked at the basket of sweets and a slow tender smile formed on his lips, his body felt a little lighter and he waved to Pinkie, whom had already started walking back to the shop, her curly mane and tail bouncing along as she went. He put a hoof beside his mouth and shouted to her, “Thank you Pinkie! Thank you for all the help!”

The pink mare turned around from the doorway and waved, her smile still visible before she disappeared into the shop.

“Here sis, lemme help you too,” Applebloom said as she crawled under Applejack’s leg, lifting it to her shoulder.

“Thanks sugarcube.” Applejack shifted her attention back to Noble and turned up her lips in a small grin. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to Pinkie. That pony doesn’t leave anypony alone before making friends with ‘em.”

“I’ve noticed.” Noble gave a slow sigh but smiled at the end and turned to look at Applejack. “Though, that’s not it. It’s so different here from Canterlot or anyplace I’ve been to before. People here are so open and relaxed.”

“Yer Canterlot folk, huh?” Applejack inquired as she tilted her hat back. “Well how about that. You don’t seem like a high class pony in my eyes. No offense.”

“Non-taken.” Noble was about to open his mouth to speak again but paused and tapped his cheek as he thought for a moment, forming his sentence fully before he spoke. “Or, well I was. Such a grand and reclusive city like that is too big for a simple earth pony like me.”

“You can say that again. I wouldn’t live in that place at any cost.” The orange pony shook her head then lifted her head up, and closed her eyes while she hunkered down a bit. “Um, no offense of course, again.”

The stallion waved a hoof dismissively. “Non taken, I don’t care for that place that much either.”

Applebloom tapped a hoof on the ground and quickly caught herself, lifting her sister’s leg up again. “AJ, can we go already? Your ice pack is pretty cold and I don’t want to hold your hoof all day.”

Applejack lifted her hoof up and gave Applebloom’s back a break for a moment. “Ah, sorry little sis. Well there’s no point standing here either. Let’s get moving Noble.” She gently placed her hoof back on her sister’s back and began walking slowly so her and Applebloom could get an in sync walking speed.

Noble bowed. “Of course.” Watching the sisters shaky start before they took the lead. The stallion leaned forward and gently pulled the waggon forward, not wanting to get too fast of a start.

Walking along behind the sisters Noble couldn’t help but look back at the gift basket then forward at the sisters. He took deeper breaths as he walked gingerly, smelling the sweet country air and feeling the warm breeze on his coat. “Even if it is early, the ponies here sure are nicer than most of the ones in Canterlot.”

Comments

[Zykov]

6458987
Yes, it's weird they haven't :D And thank you, our intension when writing this story is trying to stay loyal to the characters personalities from the show but also show new sides of them.