The Tome of Faust

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 4

He had a plan.

As Mouse stepped out of the Keystone Inn, he went straight for the market, striding with purpose. He was going to get a job, he was going to get some money, and he was going to eat food, and sleep on a wonderful bed.

It was going to be easy.

His first stop was with Opal, the mare from the store he had walked into a few days ago. Getting her to agree to hire him should be easy enough. Especially with how the Dark Wood Company had been so eager to take him.

He took a few turns, and strode confidently into Opal’s Emporium, and gave his best smile as she greeted him. “Hello! And welcome to Opal’s Emporium.”

“Hello Opal!” Mouse said. “I would like to work.”

She blinked.

Mouse smiled.

“Um...I’m not hiring…” she said.

And then Mouse blinked. “What?”

“I’m not hiring. I can barely afford this shop, I can’t afford another employee. So no.”

“O-o-oh…” Mouse said. “Um…”

Opal stared at him.

“I...uh...I guess I’ll just go...then…” he said, before he backed out of store.

“Come again!” she answered.

Mouse nodded, and closed the door behind him, letting the sounds of the market echo surround him.

“Well...I have some other ideas!” Mouse told himself. “I’ll be fine!”

Besides, this was Equestria! This wasn’t the dungeons! These were good ponies who cared about each other! He’d find something to do!

A mighty earth pony brought his hammer down on the glowing, red, metal. “Ya want to be what now?”

“I want to work for you,” Mouse said.

The hammer came down again, smashing into the hot metal as he brought it down on the anvil. “A little late for an apprenticeship, isn’t?” he asked.

“Uh…” Mouse began.

What’s an apprenticeship?

“Yeah, but...um...better late than never, right?”

The blacksmith gave Mouse a long look. “Fine...what’s yer mark?”

“Mark?” Mouse repeated.

“Aye, the unfortunately named Cutie Mark,” he said. “What’s yours?”

“Um, well,” Mouse began, and began to turn.

“You ain’t got one?” the blacksmith noticed.

“No, I—”

“Then I don’t have the time to teach you,” the earth pony growled.

“But I—”

“Look, I’ve been working as a blacksmith my whole life. You’re already at least sixteen years behind, if you don’t have the talent for it, I can’t take you.”

The tailor was next on the list.

Mouse found himself staring at a very busy pegasus mare that floated around her shop as she worked with fine, unicornian silks and the cloud-soft cloths of the pegasi. “Can...can I work for you please?” he asked.

The pegasus barely looked up at him, but instead pointed to a jacket that she seemed to be working on. “Sew three buttons on that jacket in one minute. Do that, and the job’s yours.”

Mouse nodded, before he turned to the cloth, and grabbed both cloth, needle, thread and buttons. He quickly threaded the needle, and stabbed the button through the hole, before pulling it through the cloth.

And the thread pulled through.

Mouse blinked in confusion, before a quick look at another working seamstress proved that he needed to knot the end of the thread.

An honest mistake for a pony that had just seen needle for the first time.

He tied the end of the thread, and began again, trying to sew the button to the jacket. He was doing well, until he got to the point where the thread he was sewing got too short to maneuver the needle.

With no other option, he cut the thread. But he had learned, and was now desperately trying to tie a knot.

The thread, however, refused to work with him. It would not make a knot. The end split and when he finally was able to pull it tight, a huge thread hung from the end left over.

He had just enough time to begin a second before the tailor called him over. “Come on, let’s see what you’ve done.”

Mouse didn’t want to show her.

The pegasus held out her hoof. “Come on, dear. I need to save time, not waste it.”

With little choice, he handed her the cloth.

She took one look at it, and popped the button off with a gentle pull. The pegasus shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. If that’s what you call needlework, I simply can’t take you.”

Mouse didn’t blame her.

“Best of luck!” she said, as Mouse made his way out.

The green grocer wasn’t hiring, the leather worker wasn’t impressed with him. Within the following two hours, Mouse had gone through eight different jobs, and none of them would take him. Every single one rejected him outright.

He was coming to the end of his rope. With a little more than 6 silver to his name, he wouldn’t even be able to feed himself the whole day, and even skipping meals, it wouldn’t be enough to keep him long. What's more, there was an odd, terrible feeling that something was working against him. That not only were the ponies refusing him, but that another, almost insidious force was going to keep him poor.

He had one more chance, though. One more opportunity to find a job and keep his bed.

With nothing else to hold him back, Mouse walked into the tavern of the young city of Canterlot, the Howling Dragon.

“Welcome! Welcome!” The purple earth pony stallion behind the bar greeted. “What can Ole’ Punch do for ya?”

Mouse kept his head low. “I’d...I’d like a job, sir…”

“Alright!” Punch replied, before waving him over to the bar. “So come here and tell me what you can do!”

“I-I’m willing to do anything sir. Even if it’s just cleaning the floors,” Mouse said, his voice a desperate whisper as he hoped beyond hope that this would be his salvation.

“Already got one of those, lad,” Punch said. “But don’t worry, I’ll find something for ya.”

Mouse nodded.

“Can ya cook?” Punch said.

Mouse had already learned that “rat” wasn’t an acceptable answer. “No, sir,” he replied.

“Can ya sing?”

“No.”

“Can ya brew?”

“Never tried it, sir.”

“Hm…” Punch muttered. “You’re not giving me much to work with, son.”

“I don’t have much, sir…” Mouse muttered, his eyes glued to the floor as his will lay shattered.

Punch shook his head. “You’re not doing yerself any favors with that kind of talk, boy. Come on, what can you do?”

Mouse shook his head.

“Oh come on! Ya can serve at least!”

“Please…” Mouse begged.

“Here,” Punch sighed. “Try this,” he said, handing the unicorn a tray.

Mouse took it, terrified and apprehensive. He shook as he gripped the tray. It shook and anyone with eyes could see that any glass set on would be emptied in seconds.

Punch gave the unicorn a look. “You know, lad...by the look of you, you’ve had a tough day.”

Mouse looked up, shaking, fear obvious in his eyes.

“L-look, just come back tomorrow. You’ll be fresh, and ready for a new day and we can try again. Sound fair?”

Mouse sighed. “Y-yeah...that sounds fine…” he muttered.

“There ya go,” Punch said, taking the tray back. “Just come back tomorrow. Besides, it’ll give you time to think about it.”

Mouse nodded. “Y-yes sir…”

Mouse wandered the cold streets of Canterlot.

It was dark out, and the moon hung above the city like a chandelier hanging from a navy blue ceiling.

He had no place to be.

No bed to sleep in.

No roof over his head.

He was cold and alone, with only 6 silver coins to keep him company.

He didn’t return to the Keystone Inn, he didn’t have the money. The only thing he could do was slink out towards the outskirts, and hope to find a place to sleep.

He walked with his head hung low, sighing with every step.

Maybe...maybe he didn’t belong out here. Maybe the freedom of Equestria wasn’t meant for him. This was just the world teaching him that the world couldn’t take his presence here.

“Back! Back to your cell, prisoner!”

Finally, Mouse found a place, a tiny, broken down log shack that moaned in the evening wind.

It took a moment or two, but with a quick spell and the ring of green magic, the old lock popped open, and the old, dusty door swung open on rusty hinges. Sighing, he walked in, before closing the door behind him.

Another glow from his horn, and the lock shut again, locking him inside the old abandoned house.

Rolling up into a ball, Mouse reached into his bag, and pulled out the cloak he had left.

Wrapping it around him, with the star pointed toward him in case anypony came around, he settled in for a night.

It was the best he had.

And a shadow watched him from the corner.

The morning was chilly, but bright.

Mouse was up and ready, hungry, but ready.

He could do it. He would march straight to the Howling Dragon, and he and Punch would talk it over.

He would impress Punch. He would get the job. He would make money. He would get some food, and a place to sleep.

If he did that, then at the very least, at the very least, he would make it out here.

He packed his cloak and blade into the bag at his side, and prepared himself.

He took to the street, stepping outside and locking the door behind him. With a smile he all but ran for the tavern, eager to prove himself to Punch, the stallion that was more than willing to give him a chance.

Even though it was still early, the street was bustling. Mares and stallion walked this way and that, crossing the street as the market stalls opened, with wares displayed proudly. Merchants already began to hawk their wares, showing them off to passers by as they stumbled to their jobs so early in the morning.

Mouse let all this pass by without a second glance, he was a stallion on a mission. He was going straight to the Howling Dragon, and he was going to talk directly to Punch, nopony else.

A figure, a short, young stallion, suddenly shot across Mouse’s path, and the two ponies collided.

Mouse stumbled, before getting his hooves under him.

“Oh!” the smaller one said, gripping Mouse as the two nearly pitched over. “Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s okay,” Mouse said, pushing himself away. “I have to go.”

“Good luck!” the smaller pony said, before he ducked away.

Mouse ignored him, returning to his purpose.

Go to the Howling Dragon, talk with Punch, get the job, enjoy freedom. Go to the Howling Dragon, talk with Punch, get the job, enjoy freedom.Go to the Howling Dragon, talk with Punch, get the job, enjoy freedom.

He repeated the mantra over and over again, whispering to himself as though it were some kind of spell. With every repetition, he felt his spirit rise, climbing from the pits it had wallowed in just a few hours ago.

He was going to make it.

He was going to get the job.

He was going to—

Why was the Howling Dragon on fire?

Punch sat in front of the burning Tavern as a bucket line splashed water onto the flames as they quickly spread across the wooden building.

A bell began to sound, ringing frantically.

Yells and screams began to grow from behind him, and Mouse saw other ponies rush to the tavern, with a handful of unicorns throwing icy spells at the growing flames.

And Punch simply sat there, staring as his livelihood went up in flames.

Mouse walked up, blinking as he watched his only hope of a job burn.

A small explosion, the result of one the beautiful kegs Punch had kept lighting under compression, sent the flames higher.

“They’ll never stop it in time…” Punch muttered. “The best they can do is keep the other buildings from going up…”

Mouse shook his head. How did this happen? Why? Why would someone burn down the tavern?

And then he saw it.

He didn’t catch it at first, the flames were hiding the writing that had been scrawled on the wall, but there it was. Written in bubbling, black paint, right next to the door, were the words “Go Home Mudblood.”

Mouse said nothing.

He had nothing to say.

Instead, he sat.

Because it was the only thing he could do.

Mouse sighed and resigned himself to returning to the abandoned shack, not that there were many places to go.

Of all the taverns, of all the possible employers, it had to be Punch's place that burned to the ground. That was a stroke of bad luck that Mouse had not seen in a long, long time. In fact, if he were honest, the only thing that could have been on par with it was the circumstance of his own birth.

He hated his luck sometimes.

Still, things could be worse, he supposed. He could have had everything he held dear go up in smoke. The look on Punch's face as he watched the Howling Dragon burn was filled with such despair that for a brief time, Mouse forgot his own problems. In fact, the unicorn had felt so bad for his would-be employer, that he offered his meager six silver for a meal.

Ole’ Punch, in return, told him to keep it. “You might need it more than me…”

Mouse sighed again.

He bought some lunch, and sat by the street, waiting for night to come. Guards ran past him, but Mouse didn’t care anymore.

He had no other options.

He sat there by the street, back to a building, watching as the world went on around him. Ponies walked this way and that, moving on with their lives, and he sat here, with barely enough coin to buy one more meal.

A passing mare threw a copper piece at him.

It seemed to mock him.

By the time the sun had set, Mouse was a whole three copper richer, and had no pride left to spare.

He picked the lock to his shack and walked into the old, drafty home.

With a sigh, he pulled out his cloak, and wrapped himself in it’s soft, silk embrace. Another day of freedom, and it was already throwing him out. Was there even a point? Or was this just the terrible price of living in the sun?

With nothing else to do, He went to sleep, hoping that maybe tomorrow would save him.

Mouse sighed as he stirred.

He didn’t want to wake up.

He didn’t want to face the harshness of the morning.

His stomach growled.

Groaning, Mouse stood, already tired.

And then his eyes opened, and they caught the golden gleam of the bit at his hooves.

His mouth dropped at the sight of the single, golden coin that shone on the floor.

Mouse had heard of the gods before. Yet it wasn’t until then, right then, as he stared at the single golden coin, that he ever thought of believing in them.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

If the main characters were voiced, what would they sound like?

[DungeonMiner]

8076963 That's a good question...one that I don't actually know the answer to...