A New Impetus

by Zykov

9. Bonjour, Mon Ami! Part 1

Sitting on a chair in his kitchen, Noble just stared blankly at a paper he had in front of him, “Lease termination”. The earth pony was shaking in his seat and rubbed his temples, keeping his sight locked on the title.

“So this is what it’s come to after all…” he thought to himself as the title carved it’s way deeper into the canvas of his mind.

In the end, the job search never produced any fruit and Liakada ended up being Noble’s last work place in Canterlot. He was constantly cursing Double Bit in his mind and why the old manager had left. Without Bit, he would most likely still have his job and nothing would be different. But the facts were facts, he was jobless and he wasn’t going to get another one.

Noble finally got his eyes off the paper, turning it upside down and walked over to his bed where he had his safe, giving a deep sigh while rubbing his face. His eyes darted to the safe and he just stared at it for a long moment.

The stallion’s chest was heavy and he brought a hoof to it, he hung his head as he thought to himself, “Well Horseshoe Bay, I guess you are the town I’m destined to be in after all…”

---

The time drew near; the pale stallion sat on a soft chair in Ink’s office. He constantly checked the clock on Ink’s wall while sipping his coffee. Every tick echoed with his very heartbeat, as he placed a hoof to his neck to listen to it’s rhythm.

“Nervous I assume?” Ink spoke as he clapped his hooves together a couple times, before he lifted his glasses and repositioned them upon his face with a magic glow.

Soul gave a small forced laugh and gave Ink a quick look, releasing his neck but maintaining his focus. “Naw, time is just going slow.”

The orange stallion put his hooves together and laid his chin on them. “Whatever you say, but an acute amount of tension is natural. We’re about to set your place of study in stone. And didn’t you say she sounded quite positive? That’s anything but a bad sign.”

Giving a nod and taking another sip of coffee before placing it on the edge of Ink’s desk, Soul took a deep breath and exhaled. “When interviewing you must always be positive, right?”

At that moment, the sound of buzzer they had both waited for finally came. It caused Soul to flinch and for Ink to fix his posture. Ink cleared his throat and gave Soul a final intense look. “I’m afraid we don’t have time to discuss if that is true or not. Now Soul if I were you, I would burry every doubt I have in my mind. That is if you have any.”

Soul nodded and relaxed, his body before he took in a deep breath tensing his body as he closed his eyes, then exhaling slowly as his eyes opened while his body relaxed again. “Done and done.”

Ink rested back in his seat and supported a smile as he nodded, turning to look at the speaker as he pressed the button. “Ink’s office, Ink at your service.”

A cheery, elegant voice greeted the stallions through the speaker, “Pleasant day Ink, it’s Rarity. Could you please be so kind as to allow me in?”

Ink’s lips parted into a smile before giving his response, “Just a minute.” As he was about to contact Flare, he instead turned to look at Soul, he put his hooves together on the table and opened the door with his magic. “Actually, you could go down there and welcome here and lead her here yourself. It will give her a more polite impression that way. She’s also a valuable associate that I would like to keep happy.” Ink said the last phrase under his breath, as not to sound rude.

For a moment Soul’s ears stood up, his eyes became full and his body sat up straighter. Although he was taken aback he almost instantly snapped out of it as he pushed off and stood up on all fours while he gave a nod. “Oh yes, very true. I’m on it.”

“Excellent.” As Ink closed the door behind Soul, he contacted the front desk once more. “Flare, open the front door please and let the mare behind it in. Soul will come to get her.”

Soul tried to make his way to the lounge as quickly as he could while simply walking. His heart had started beating slightlyfaster than it did just a minute ago and a cold sweat had begun to gloss over his forehead. He tried to convince himself that this would be just another client meeting and he should treat it as such, even if in reality it would be a meeting that could lead him down a new path and fulfil his dreams. It helped him to calm down a bit though.

As he finally arrived at the lounge, he didn’t spot Rarity immediately but after a bit of searching he just barely spotted the lavender maned pony behind two other mares she seemed to be talking to, both of them wearing overly big hats. As Soul lifted a hoof, about to approach them, Rarity spotted the pale stallion between the mares and immediately pointed at him with a hoof and waved. She closed her eyes giving a pleasant smile as she seemed to conclude the conversation. The mares gave Rarity room to go between them as she now had her eyes locked on Soul as the smile on her face grew wider.

Soul naturally put on a smile too as he brought his hoof down and started to approach Rarity. A small lump had formed to his throat but the tension had not grown unbearable or uncomfortable. He covered his mouth with a clenched hoof as he cleared his throat. Extending his hoof and relaxing his wrist he was about to speak up. but before he got a chance Rarity had already preceded in making her introduction.

“Oh, Wild Soul! It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you in person mon ami,” Rarity chanted as she quickly extended her own hoof and shook hooves with Soul.

For a short moment Soul’s mind was blank as the first introduction was snached from him but he quickly shook it off and put the smile back on again, nodding. “Hello Rarity, it’s a pleasure to me too.” Pulling his hoof back, the stallion let his foreleg glide through the air presenting the room to the artisan. “Welcome to Canterlot Spectrum. Do you want coffee before we head to Ink’s office?”

Rarity raised her leg to her chest while she was looking up and to the side before she spoke up. “Why, I haven’t had time to have any today, so I suppose one cup of latte would feel pleasant.”

After he nodded, Soul gave the mare a smile as he was about to lead her off. “Great, there’s one cafe kiosk just around corner. Let’s not keep Ink waiting.”

Rarity immediately reached toward Soul stopping him, which left him with a blank look on his face. Clearing her throat, Rarity spoke up, “Hold on, one quick thing before we go.” She slowly started walking circles around Soul, scanning over him, looking up and down. “Dark brown mane, white coat… no wait..." She squinted her eyes. "A very light brown coat, red jacket…”

Soul would not allow himself to move his body and simply scrunched his eyebrows together and watched as the mare circled around him. He finally cracked, reached up and rubbed his neck. “Uh… What might this be about?”

Rarity made a final round until she stopped in front of Soul, letting out a short chuckle as she put a hoof on her chest and lifted her head, her eyes closed. “Oh pardon me, I just wanted to take a quick closer look at your style.” Opening her eyes, she pointed at Soul’s jacket. ”Which is very warm if I may say. I can see you like red.”

Soul blinked but a smile quickly crawled back to his face as he relaxed, leaning his weight on his other leg as he glanced down at his jacket himself. “Well, thank you. Red is my favorite color so I guess I naturally prefer warm colors in general too.”

Rarity nodded and spread her lips into a smile while her eyes were still closed. “Indeed, it matches well with your natural colors and red is a splendid color to like. A color of sincerity and passion.”

“And energy,” Soul added raising a hoof and leaning his head inward as he spoke.

“Oh yes, that too.” The artisan opened her eyes then began to turn her body as she had a hoof in the air and paused to speak mid stride. “Anyway, let’s hurry to get that latte and then to Ink. I can’t even remember the last time I saw him. Lead the way, if you may.”

After agreeing, Soul led Rarity to the kiosk and after picking up their coffees, they started heading to headed to Ink’s office. On their walk Rarity told Soul more about her past deals with Ink and how through their business relationship, she has sold more of her designs and how Spectrum has been part of helping her reputation thrive to what it is today. She asked Soul about his time working there and how his experiences have been, being delighted to hear that it is still a heartfelt company.

As they arrived at Ink’s office, they were surprised to see Ink was not there. Though they figured something might have just come up that he had to deal with, which lead them to occupy the couch in Ink’s office.

Rarity peeked over at Soul as if she was still trying to analyze something. Her eyes especially darted between Soul’s mane and his clothing. “Pardon me if I’m wrong, but you weren’t raised in Canterlot, were you?” she inquired with her head tilted and eyebrow raised.

The stallion, whom had been watching the door, calmly awaiting his AD’s return turned toward the mare after his ears twitched when she spoke. “Huh? You can tell?”

Rarity nodded and smiled holding her snout up. “I can. It’s the way you dress, it stands out from other Canterlot citizens. Almost wherever you go you see more high-class suits or manes combed and parted or some other smooth coiffure, but you…” Her eyes returned to gaze at the stallion, her eyebrow raised and mouth formed a grin. “You are the type of pony I would imagine seeing in any big city other than Canterlot.”

“That’s quite impressive, you sure know your stuff,” the stallion replied as he pushed back in his seat and crossed his forelegs, his eyes wider now and focused on where the mare’s eyes were looking now. “But yes, I’m not born and raised in Canterlot, I’ve lived here only a couple years. My roots on the other hoof belong to the big apple Manehattan.”

Upon hearing the last word of the stallions statement, Rarity turned to look at Soul with wide open eyes. “Did you just say Manehattan?” The gentle smile on her face instantly crawled all the way up to hear ears as she put a hoof on her cheek, leaning closer to the stallion with her eyes downright glimmering. “Oh my goodness you are from one of the most fabulous cities in all of Equestria! I absolutely love that place! Oh I can’t believe I’m getting an apprentice who is both Canterlotian and Manehattanian.” She let out a high pitched chuckle, shaking her forehooves.

Soul looked at the mare with a rather amused face, giving a tiny half smile while his eyes glistened as he watched her but he couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward since a highly spohisticated pony he doesn’t even know got such a boost of excitement out of the blue.

Rarity seemed like she was drifting away with her thoughts but when her eyes focused on Soul, she immediately fell back to Equestria. She fixed her posture and clearing her throat, she straightened up giving a professional smile as her head rose. “Now that is if no problems arise that prevent me from taking you on since nothing’s been set in stone yet.”

“You will be giving your final judgement soon enough.” As they sat in silence, Soul checked the clock in Ink’s office again. Soul took the last sip of his coffee and threw the mug into trash before rocking in his seat. “I wonder what's taking Ink so long though...”

Rarity nodded then took another sip of her latte, levitating it and setting it on a small table next to the couch. “Ah, I’m not worried, I remember that Ink is a busy stallion and this is the only plan I had actually scheduled for today.”

In a rush the door to the office was opened and Ink galloped in, panting and he reached up to dab the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief he keeps in his right pocket “Pardon me for your wait! I had to run off to fix an issue I thought would only take a few seconds but it seems I couldn’t beat you back.” The stallion ran over to his desk and laid some papers on it, panting like he could’ve just run a marathon.

Rarity shook her head and lifted a hoof. “It seems like you’re still the same busy stallion I remember.” She got up and met Ink at his desk, offering her hoof facing down. “It’s been such a long time, it’s a delight to see you.”

As Ink took her hoof, placing one of his hooves under hers and one on top. “Ah, Rarity. It is such a pleasure to have you here again.”

The mare closed her eyes and smiled, bowing her head and taking her hoof back to curtsy before the director. “The pleasure is all mine, it is wonderful to be back in Canterlot again and I must say that I really appreciate your recommendation of having Soul contact me.”

The art director lowered his hooves and bowed along with the mare. “How could I not recommend one of the most recognized artisans of all time?” As both the stallion and mare rose they chuckled and shared a hug. Once they released one another, Ink pointed to the pillow seats in front of his table.. “Ah, I’m sorry to drag this out like this, please take a seat, both of you. I’m sure Soul would rather not wait.”

The two nodded as they got onto their pillow seats, Rarity set her light blue saddlebag down. “I already got my most important errands done so I am not in a hurry. I need to focus on this after all.”

Ink pushed his glasses higher and grabbed his envelope, giving Rarity a smile. “That you do.” He took the first paper he had and cleared his throat. “So, the first thing we have to look at are the terms of this co-operation and education. Soul of course explained in his mail the most important details but there are a few things I want to point out and make sure you agree.”

Rarity gave the stallion a deep nod and crossed her fore legs, covering them in proper lady like fashion. “Yes, a co-operation deal isn’t that right?”

“Exactly.” Ink put his hooves together and lifted his head slightly. “So as you educate Soul to be an artisan, Canterlot Spectrum will naturally pay his education expenses but on top of that, offers to advertise your business and do co-operation by offering our talent to something robust, like events if you are in need.”

Soul beamed with a grin. “Not many companies offer things like this.”

Rarity shook her head with a grin. “Certainly not! It’s a quite impressive looking deal, but getting an apprentice is what really caught my attention in the first place,” she said with a chuckle and then cleared her throat as she turned to look back at Ink. “So what are the things you wanted to point out?”

The papers glowed with Ink’s magic as he lifted them and placed a few of the papers out on his desk. “Well, the advertising would only last during the time you teach Soul. And the other thing is that we want to convince and ensure you that Spectrum won’t be a threat to your business.” Ink opened a drawer and produced a pen he used to highlight sections that he just mentioned. “We are willing to offer co-operation even after the education process by doing collaboration projects, for example our future artisans helping you execute your designs or vise versa.”

Rarity instantly rose her head and leg as a confident chuckle escaped her mouth, her eyes closed. “Now Ink, I wouldn’t have considered this if I thought your company would be a threat. No offense of course.” She brought her hoof to her chest and opened her eyes halfway. “My boutique may not be the largest one but I have some highly recognized customers nowadays, and that means if some other company tried to take me out of the picture, they wouldn’t have much of an impact on me.”

Soul leaned backwards slightly and gave Rarity a smile. “I’ve taken a look at your work, I was surprised, not to mention impressed by how many important ponies you’ve made clothes for.”

“Under my teachings I’m sure someday you will experience the same honor.” She fluffed her hair, leaning back in her seat and flipped her hoof as she bat her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you have worked on logos and such for big clients yourself too.”

Soul rubbed the back of his head with a tiny smile. “You could say that”

While she turned the mare crossed her hind legs and placed her hooves on the table, looking toward Ink again. “Anyway Ink, I’m not worried about my career and will educate Soul without hesitation.”

With an open tooth grin, Ink clapped his hooves. “That’s good to hear! I expect nothing less from a pony like you.” The director pulled his chair closer to the desk, tapping the papers with his hoof. “Now, there are still some minor details I’m willing to go through”

Ink dug through his papers and for the next half hour they went through almost every detail and protocol for each possibility, like that Soul continues working for Spectrum as a teleworker, and also possibilities, complicated as they may be, for example if Soul wants to stop his studies or if something would happen to Canterlot Spectrum. Luckily nothing came up that made Rarity second guess her decision or worried her about this arrangement. As it was nearing three pm, Ink drew the last paper from his folder and put the others back in it.

Spinning the folder around and slid it over to Rarity so she could read them if she so desired. Ink leaned back, rocking in his desk chair. “Now, I’ve already printed the contract for you ready to sign, but there’s one last thing we need to sort out.” He turned his chair and stretched his legs while he rocked. “And that is Soul’s living arrangement.”

Soul started to rub his neck and scrunched his eyebrows together. “Oh that’s right. That’s something I’ve really been struggling with…”

“You mentioned something about how you haven’t made a decision on that, isn’t that correct?” Rarity tapped her hooves together and extended her eyebrows.

“Why is that?” Ink asked his eyebrow raised as he tapped his chin.

Even though there really are many things to consider, one of the main issues was still Noble but Soul wouldn’t dare say that. He crossed his hooves and began to speak, “You see, I didn’t want to make any decision before I heard a bit of your thoughts too if I should move to Ponyville or stay in Canterlot. There are quite a lot of things I should consider.”

The mare nodded as she kept her body posture open as she listened to the pale stallion’s plan. “You have a point. Please continue.”

“Well first, if I stayed in Canterlot it would be an easier choice since I wouldn’t have to move, but the price of a train ticket back and forth is just ridiculous. And considering I would have to pay for it for a year and a half, I would be out of money in no time.” Soul turned to look at Ink and laid his hooves on the table. “So, I wondered if Canterlot Spectrum would be the one who pays for my trips back and forth too?”

Ink suddenly went surprisingly silent as he nervously started tapping his hoof against the table, closing his eyes and frowning. Rarity was about to ask about what’s wrong but Ink opened his mouth to speak before she got the chance, “That’s… unfortunately not possible. All travel and living expenses are your own responsibility, didn’t you read that on the application?”

Soul’s eyes grew wide. “What? I… No, I must’ve missed that part somehow..." His voice became high pitched and frantic.

He sighed with his eyes closed while sitting up straight and opened them slowly, staring into Soul’s very core. “Well I’m sorry kid but if you don’t have a way to expense your tickets, then I’m afraid that your only option is to move to Ponyville.”

Soul started to rub his neck as the last hope of staying in Canterlot faded away. The stallion tried to keep the smile on his face but found doing so a struggle. “Dang… that’s too bad…”

A bright smile grew to Rarity’s face as she leaned towards the stallion her leg raised. “Don’t worry Soul, Ponyville is a lovely place to live and I’m sure you will eventually adapt there!” She turned and leaned toward the glum steed, extending a hoof.

As the hoof touched the glum stallion’s shoulder he shivered and slightly jumped, leaning away from the mare. He felt how a lumb started growing in his throat when he realized how rude that must've seemed like.

When he shivered at her touching his shoulder, Rarity frowned but tried helping with her words. “Besides, it’s nothing permanent, you will only be there for a year and a half. You can come back to Canterlot eventually and nothing prevents you from visiting this divine city.”

“She’s got a point,” Ink chimed in with his forelegs crossed. “I’m sure your friends here in Canterlot could understand you wanting to expand your horizon and while you are away you can see the piece and wonders that a quaint little town has to offer.”

Soul’s ears flopped down and he scowled, as his voice grew louder. “Well, it’s like I have done research on Ponyville and it seems like a fine place, but---”

“Perfect!” Rarity exclaimed without letting Soul finish and ignited her horn, opening her saddleback and digging out a thin pile of papers. She placed the pile on the desk right in front of Soul. “Now, I have gathered all kind of different ads of available apartments in Ponyville. Just in case and you must be thrilled that I did?” She raised her eyebrow and chuckled.

Soul tried to interrupt Rarity a few times but it was no use, the mare was too thrilled with her own speech. Seeing the pile Soul’s eyes widened again. “She sure seemed to want an apprentice,” Soul thought and scratched his chin as he lifted the pile and started browsing through it. “You… wow you sure haven’t wasted any time with this...”

Rarity raised her head and smiled, batting her eyes. “I tried to take everything I could possibly think of into account.”

A smile began to emerge on Soul’s face as he was was scratching his cheek. “Impressive.... Though what if I haven’t managed to get an apartment when I start my studies?”

Rarity’s smile grew even wider, it was like she was hoping for that question to come. “Oh I can promise that there will be an apartment waiting for you by then.” She put a hoof on her chest. ”I happen to have a contact who has asked me to find a pony to do a ‘little’ branding job for her. Instead of paying in bits, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I suggested an alternative of granting you an apartment that’s rent is equivalent to the price she would pay.

The white stallion’s eye grew wider as he put the papers down, turning to look at Rarity and raised his hoof. “Wait, just in case let me get this straight… You know a pony I could do a job for, and in return I get an apartment I don’t have to pay rent for…?”

Rarity nodded and pulled a paper up from the stack, pushing it toward the stallions. “For a couple months at most, but still. Just do the job for the pony and you will get an apartment. Oh and the pony you would perform this job for is the mayor herself,” her voice chimed and caused the stallions to both grin.

“The mayor?” Soul repeated as his eyes widened, putting a hoof onto his head. “You sure weren’t kidding when you said you have big contacts.”

The mare flipped her mane and put on a pleasant grin. “Never underestimate a true ladie’s skills. All I have to do is pay the mayor a little visit, tell her about you, your situation and your qualification and the apartment is guaranteed.”

“If that’s the case these is nothing to worry about.” Soul’s tone was beginning to brighten and he leaned in listening and looking over all the apartments and the note that explained more about the mayor’s needs for the branding job.

Tapping his desk to get the ponies attention Ink sat his forelegs on the table and bent them, resting his head on them while he spoke. “That is actually an excellent and smart deal. I remeber Mineral doing a similar thing when she was off planning a long event in Baltimare.”

Perking up to his normal self the pale stallion clenched his hoof and bent it at the wrist. “Oh, I see. Well if it worked for her I don’t see a reason why it would fail for me.”

“Soo…” Ink spoke up as he lifted the original contract. “Are we ready to bring this meeting to an end?”

The artisan leaned forward taking a pen with her magic leaning in ready to sign. “With a pleasure, right Soul?”

Soul glared her eyes while a smile was on his face and he nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Excellent, all I need is your signatures and... “ he paused, lifting his head and tapping his hooves together. “Oh wait, the starting day of Soul’s studies.”

Placing the pen down the mare spoke up, tilting to look at Soul. “Would it be acceptable to you to start in three weeks?”

“Three weeks? I….” He scrunched his mouth and looked down at the floor thinking. “I don’t see why not... Can you arrange things that quickly because I thought I would take at least a month?”

She gave a nod with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. “I could arrange this in a week, but you need time to settle things here in Canterlot.”

Soul nodded in return and sparked his horn lifting the pen slowly. “If you say so, then it’s settled, Three weeks it is.” The thoughts of Noble and Mineral were still in the back of his mind, but the adrenaline in his veins and the thought that confirming this only depends on his signature slightly blurred those thoughts momentarily.

That said, Rarity levitated the pen again, following it with her signature. She put the pen down in a cup on the desk and slid the paper to Soul. The white unicorn was still waiting with his pen, still having a lump in his throat but without minding that he quickly wrote his signature. It was settled, it was finally settled and set in stone. Soul was now officially Rarity’s apprentice. Even though Soul typically didn’t show any sign of excitement, his heart was pounding fast and he felt the enthusiasm pouring inside him.

Ink drew the contract back to himself and stamped it, which was the final confirmation. The orange stallion drummed his hoofs against the desk and put them together, giving both ponies a big smile. “Congratulations, you two have a deal now!”

“Magnifique!” Rarity exclaimed as she sat up straight with a big smile, looking at the stallion next to her. “I promise to educate you and make you one of the finest artisans, Soul.”

“I’m really looking forward to that. This means a great deal to me.” The smile on the stallion's face said it all. His eyes were closed and he slowly exhaled putting his worries aside and returning to the situation at hand before he spoke again. “As it’s probably clear at this point already.”

Ink stood up from his seat and headed to his door. “I still need to make a copy of this for you two. After that you are free to go.”

Soul and Rarity stood up too, Rarity picking up her saddlebag and they exited the room. Ink told them to wait near his room until he brought back the copies.

As he went, Rarity sat down on a bench near the door and let out a small pleased sigh. “Thank you very much for the meeting, Soul. I’m simply thrilled that I get to share my knowledge with somepony who has the determination to take it in.”

A wide smile had spread upon Soul’s face and he gave Rarity a nod. “Thank you, Rarity. I’m honored to be the one who you are willing to share your skills with.” The stallion turned his eyes and tilted his head up. “Can you excuse me for a bit? I’ll quickly go get my stuff from my room and come back to get the contract. You then get to go back doing your errands.”

She moved quickly, reaching for the steed’s foreleg. “Hold on just a moment, I didn’t plan for our ways to part this soon.”

Soul stopped and turned to look at the mare with eyebrows raised, pulling his foreleg slowly away so he wouldn’t seem too rude. “What do you mean?”

She dropped her hoof and stepped toward Soul. “Well I am willing to get to know my apprentice better. I was about to ask if you aren’t busy, to come with me to run my errands. You would see what kind of stores I get some of my materials from and I can introduce you to my current project a bit.”

“Oh, you mean like… creating a base for this education?” His ears perked up and he turned his body back towards her.

“Something like that, yes.”

“Well…” Soul tapped his chin for a moment but eventually a smile formed on his face and he nodded. “I suppose getting to know my tutor is anything but a bad thing.”

“Oh far from it.” The mare fluffed her hair and turned her head showing her good side before the stallion spoke again

Soul started walking away again. “I’ll just grab my stuff and come back to take the copy. It won’t take long.”

As Soul left, it didn’t take long before Ink came back from a printing room with two copies. Rarity stood up from her seat and walked over to the stallion with her eyebrow raised.. “We should definitely meet up before I leave Canterlot today. I’m eager to know how are you nowadays.”

“Good idea! I’m free after 4pm so message me when you can.” Ink spun his head around noticing Soul was gone. “Where did the kid run off?”

“Oh he went to pack his things in his office. I can give his copy to him,” Rarity replied and took both of the papers, surrounding them in blue light, sliding them into her saddleback. After she did, she looked behind her and then leaned towards Ink, clearing her throat and whispering, “Though now that he’s not here, I have to ask; Is he always that… reserved?”

A blank look flushed over Ink’s face, though he quickly gave Rarity a nod as he walked to his door, opening it. “That’s the Soul I see everyday, no differences. He doesn’t usually get more energetic than that, well at least not around me. “

“I understand…” Her tone was dreary and her shoulder drooped a bit.

“No worries though, that stallion literally gets along with everypony.” He pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time. “Anyway, I really have to work on a few things now but I’ll message you at some point.”

“Yes, I certainly will. Au revoir, mon ami,” Rarity chanted raising her head and twirled her hoof as she gave a curtsey.

Ink followed the example and smiled at the mare and bowed then rose, closing his door behind him. As he did, Rarity sat back down on the bench and started lightly rubbing her chin, lowering her eyes and few times looking at the direction Soul headed, just thinking of his behavior. She didn’t have too much time to think about it when the white stallion came around the corner, now with a black and white saddleback.

Rarity brushed her hair with her hoof quickly before standing up and walking over to him, digging up the contract Ink just gave her. “Ink just happened to get back and returned to his work I’m afraid, so...” She presented the paper and smiled, sliding it into Soul’s bag. “Here you are.”

“Oh.” Soul blinked at Rarity and he then peered at the paper. He quickly shrugged and grabbed the paper, nodding. “Alrighty then. Thank you.” The stallion fixed his saddleback to draw Rarity’s attention to it. “Well, I’m all set. Can’t wait to see what you have in mind.”

The corners of Rarity’s lips crawled upwards as she was already taking steps towards the stairs. “I have a feeling this will be very rewarding for both of us.”

Soul held the door to the stairwell for Rarity and allowed her to take the lead, following behind her. His hooves were heavy as he looked out the windows following down the stairs wondering when he could tell Noble that he will be gone in just three short weeks.

Author's Note:

Phew! We had more issues than normally with this chapter, but in the end i'm quite satisfacted how it turned out

The reason we call this "part 1" is because of the scene with Noble at the beginning, which will have "redemption" in the part 2.

Comments

[Zykov]

6389592

Oh! Thanks for pointing that out! I have no idea how that got there ^^;