REMASTERED - Chapter 9 - A New Job
About a week or so later Arc and Applejack set out to make a delivery of Zap Apple Jam to Barnyard Bargains. Arc turns to her as they walk.
“So, Apple Bloom is back to work?”
Applejack nods. “Yup. I took her back to the hospital to be sure, and Doctor Horse gave her a clean bill of health.”
She sighs before continuing.
“At least she didn't have to help on Delivery Day. None of us like it very much.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
Applejack frowns. “It’s the one time we have to deal with our biggest customer, Filthy Rich. He's the wealthiest pony in these here parts. That and he's not above making it known loud and often just how much Sweet Apple Acres needs him.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “One might also look at it this way. Without Sweet Apple Acres his store would be quite barren.”
Applejack groans as she continues down the road pulling the cart. “That may be true, yes. But without his supply lines we could only hope to sell a fraction of this jam.”
“Kinda a necessary evil then, huh?”
As they stop in front of the store Applejack nods. “Pretty much. Well, here we are. Barnyard Bargains.”
Arc looks at the store. “Wal-Mart?”
Applejack pulls a crate from the back of the wagon. “Beg your pardon?”
“It’s nothing.” 
He picks up a crate and follows Applejack inside. It is a rather dreary looking place. Ponies come in, buy what they need, and leave as quickly as possible. The employees around them look no happier to be there than the customers. Applejack and Arc are waved over by the assistant manager sitting behind a desk. Applejack smiles at her as she speaks.
“Hey there, Ocean Breeze.”
Ocean Breeze looks past Applejack toward Arc. “Good morning Applejack. Who's your... um... friend?”
“Oh! This is Arc. Arc this is Ocean Breeze, the Assistant Manager here at Barnyard Bargains. She pretty much runs the place for Filthy Rich. Anyways, we brought your order of Zap Apple Jam.”
She sighs. “Great! It will bring a little color to my otherwise boring existence.”
Arc smiles. “Come now. It can't be that bad.”
“Look around you. Would you want to stare at these walls all day, every day?”
“Touché, ma’am.”
The sound of hoofsteps behind them is quickly followed by a deep baritone voice as a well-dressed stallion approaches the counter.
“Well… well… well…”
He looks down his nose at the pair standing before him.
“Good morning Applejack. I trust everything is in order with my… favorite supplier.”
Applejack sighs. “Yes, we're just bringing over your normal order. No need for us to take up your... valuable time.”
He pats the crates with a hoof and smiles. “No trouble at all. Say, I'd like to double my order this time. Think you could bring another shipment of jam say... tomorrow? I'll expect a quantity discount, of course.”
“Fine. I'll bring another load first thing in the morning.”
Filthy Rich nods curtly as he turns to his office. “Splendid! Give my regards to granny, would you kindly.”
“I will.”
Applejack and Arc wave goodbye to Ocean Breeze and leave the store. Applejack kicks the cart angrily.
“Horse apples! If he wanted twice as much he could have just let us know in advance! Now we got to make a second trip back here!”
Arc looks back toward the building. “Quite the character, that Mr. Rich. I can see why most ponies don't care much for him.”
Applejack sighs. “Well, we should get back to the farm.”
As the pair turns to leave, Arc spots a large bulletin board with many different colored postings nearby.
“Hey, what’s that?”
“Oh, that's the Writ Board.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. Um… what.”
“A writ is an informal agreement to pay for goods or services rendered. If anypony needs an odd job done they post the details on a colored paper, called a writ, along with the amount of compensation. Simple jobs, like moving a heavy piece of furniture or running an errand are green writs. They don't pay a whole lot o' course as they can be done pretty quickly.”
“So one could do a lot of those in a short amount of time.”
“Right. Now then, something a bit more dangerous or time consuming would be a yellow writ. Looking for rare alchemical ingredients in the woods would be a good example. They’re not dangerous or anything, but are often time consuming.”
Arc nods as he looks them over. “But pay better than a green writ.”
“Exactly. And lastly we have red writs. These can either be extremely time consuming or extremely dangerous… or both, I suppose. Pretty much anything that involves entering the Everfree Forest or traveling to another town would constitute a red writ. Oh, and general announcements are on white paper.”
“Sounds interesting. But why are there so many of them?”
Applejack takes her place in front of the wagon and hitches herself up. “Probably because nopony has the time right now to do any of these. We're all too busy getting ready for winter. It’s a rather demanding time for everypony in town.”
Arc nods as he turns to her. “Uh... Applejack... would you be too put off if I took care of some of these writs? I can stick around the farm too if you still need the help.”
“Go right ahead, sugarcube. Some of these writs have been here for months, and they need doing more so than the work at the farm.”
Arc pulls down a writ and puts it in his pocket. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Applejack sighs. “You might have trouble getting anypony to answer the door for you though.”
“Any ideas?”
Applejack puts a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Well… you could have Twilight or somepony else come with you to vouch. It would certainly help you get your hoof in the door, so to speak.”
“I’ll talk it over with Twilight. Maybe we could work out a schedule or something.”
“Shouldn’t take more than a week for word to get around. Then you could do them alone.”
Arc chuckles. “This might be more effective than Pinkie Pie’s party idea.”
For the next few weeks Arc tackles the green writs. Mowing lawns, helping ponies harvest the vegetables from their gardens, minor repair work on homes preparing for winter, and generally making himself useful. One morning Arc and Twilight head for the board with a white slip of paper announcing a shipment of new books on its way to the library. Twilight nods approvingly as she posts the paper to the board with a clop of her hoof and look it over.
“Wow! I don't think I have ever seen the writ board completely devoid of green writs!”
Arc carefully studies the writ board as he responds. “Looks like pretty much all of the easy stuff is caught up. Now what else is there to do...”
As he scans the board Arc notices a fresh red writ has been placed.
“Hello, what’s this?”
Twilight’s eyes grow wide as she sees the red colored paper in Arc’s hand. “Watch out for those red writs! I would hate to see something bad happen to you! What's it for?”
Arc looks over the writ. “Odd... only ten bits. Let's see... oh my... looks like a missing filly!”
He reads the writ aloud.
“Our daughter has gone missing. I have little to offer, but please bring her back to me and my wife.”
Twilight takes the writ as Arc holds it out to her. She reads it carefully and gasps as she sees the names on the bottom.
“The Hammer’s daughter is missing?!”
“You know them?”
“Steel Hammer is Ponyville's blacksmith. There really isn't much work for him here other than the occasional job fixing plows and wagons for our local farmers.”
As Twilight gives him back the paper Arc carefully puts it in his pocket.
“I think I better take this job. This filly's parents must be sick with worry.”
Twilight smiles at him. “Good luck. And she’s probably just fine. I mean… at least it’s not something dangerous. See you back at home later.”
Arc waves as he and Twilight part ways. He quickly walks to the blacksmith's shop on the outskirts of town. Approaching the adjoining house he knocks lightly on the door. A middle-aged mare answers promptly.
“Hello. My name is Arc. I'm here about your writ.”
The Earth Pony mare appears both frazzled and relieved at the same time. “Oh, thank Celestia! We didn't think anypony would come! My name’s Silver Hammer! My husband Steel Hammer and I just got home from searching the town ourselves! Our friends are out looking for our daughter still, but... please won't you come in?!”
She steps aside to allow Arc to enter. Inside an Earth Pony stallion, presumably Steel Hammer, is pacing the floor nervously. Arc approaches him.
“Hello sir. I hope I can be of help.”
Steel Hammer appears downtrodden. “I hope so too.”
“What can you tell me about the disappearance of your daughter?”
Silver Hammer walks over to stand with her husband. “Her name is Platinum Valve. She's a unicorn filly. We put her to bed last night, same as we always do. This morning when I went to wake her up she was gone!”
“Do you suspect foul play?”
Steel Hammer shakes his head sadly. “We don’t, no. There was no sign of anyone breaking in. That and Platinum Valve is too small to reach the door lock so she couldn't have left either. All the windows are still locked from the inside too. No one came in, but there was also no way for her to get out either. It's a complete mystery!”
Arc rubs his chin thoughtfully. “So logically she must still be in the house. Can I assume you both have looked top to bottom?”
Silver Hammer trots nervously in place. “Yes! We’ve checked and rechecked every place she could possibly hide!”
Arc nods. “Hmmm... can I see her room?”
Steel Hammer gestures to the stairs. “Of course! Follow me!”
Both parents lead Arc upstairs to a small bedroom. Arc enters while her parents wait in the doorway.
“Is everything as it should be in here?”
Silver Hammer nods as she appears ready to cry. “Pretty much. I walked in this morning and noticed she wasn't in her bed!”
Arc looks around. There a only a few toys around the room. Most of the walls are covered in what appear to be notes and makeshift blueprints. The small desk in a corner is littered with papers.
“Your daughter is quite the scholar.”
Steel Hammer nods. “Yes, she doesn't go out much. Platinum Valve prefers to learn about magic here in her room. She says she wants to grow up and research new spells and invent things to help make ponies lives easier.”
He gestures to the stacks on the desk and papers on the walls.
“That's what all the papers are. Her pretending to do magical research and draw blueprints.”
Arc picks up one of the papers on the floor and looks it over. “I don't know sir. These look pretty advanced to be just play researching. Have a look?”
Silver Hammer walks over and takes the paper from Arc. “Your right! I have to admit this is far beyond my ability to understand.”
Arc heads toward the door quickly. “I'm going to get Twilight Sparkle to take a look at some of these papers. It may provide some kind of clue.”
The Hammers nod as Arc quickly leaves the house. He returns shortly with Twilight in tow. They watch intently as the pair look over the papers on the walls.
“What do you make of these notes, Twilight?”
“You were right! They are quite advanced! These appear to be notes on an experimental Matter Compacting spell.”
Silver Hammer’s eyes grow wide. “Say what?!”
“A shrinking spell. That and based on these notes it should work.”
Steel Hammer looks at the walls. “Amazing!”
Arc looks over at Silver Hammer. “One more question. Was the bed made when you entered the room?”
The mare thinks for a moment. “Now that you mention it, yes. Is that important?
“Maybe. Can I assume you were absolutely sure she wasn’t in the bed though?”
Silver Hammer nods. “Completely. When I saw she wasn't there I instinctively ripped back the covers though.”
Arc walks over to the bed. “I think I may know what happened. But first we need to run a little experiment.”
He carefully makes the bed then walks over to the desk. Picking up a pencil, Arc carefully removes the top with is an eraser. He then places the eraser on the blanket near the pillow and steps back.
“Silver Hammer, can you do your best to recreate the moment you pulled the covers back, trying to use the same amount of force?”
“Uh, okay.”
She does so. The eraser flies across the room, smacks against the wall, and lands on a small table next to a vase.
Arc looks over at the Hammers. “Alright, here’s my theory on what happened. Last night your daughter wanted to test her spell and chose the mirror across the room to try and shrink. While standing on her bed she cast the spell.”
Holding out a finger, Arc walks over to the mirror and touches it.
“However, it ricocheted off the mirror’s surface and instead hit her.”
Steel Hammer gasps. “Oh no!”
Silver Hammer looks around her carefully. “Nopony move! We could step on her!”
Arc turns to Twilight. “The only think I don’t understand is why she couldn’t have just reversed the spell.”
Twilight sighs. “She may not have had a chance to perfect a counter spell. Which meant she was stuck at that size until somepony found her.”
Steel Hammer’s eyes grow wide. “Then she’s still in this room somewhere!”
Arc nods as he continues. “She would have gone to sleep after burrowing under the covers to keep warm.”
He looks to Silver Hammer before continuing.
“The next morning you didn't see her, as she was so small. When you flung the covers off of the bed you accidentally threw her across the room. Since she is not anywhere on the table the only other conclusion is that she is in this vase.”
Arc picks up the vase and carefully turns it on its side. A few moments later a tiny filly runs out of its mouth and waves her hooves frantically at them. Her parents cry out in unison.
“Platinum Valve!”
Arc turns to Twilight. “Think you can come up with a counter spell?”
“Let me look over these notes a bit closer.”
Twilight goes back to looking over the papers on the desk. A few minutes pass before she looks up.
“Aha! I've got it!”
Twilight turns her horn toward the tiny filly on the table. A moment later she returns to her normal size and falls to the floor. Her parents run forward to embrace her happily.
“Are you all right, Platinum Valve?!”
“Yes, I'm fine.”
Silver Hammer hugs her tightly. “Are you hungry, dear?”
“Very! I haven’t had breakfast yet.”
Steel Hammer chuckles. “We’ll change that.”
He leads his little family downstairs to the main level as Arc and Twilight follow. Platinum Valve turns to Arc and smiles.
“Thank you sir for figuring all that out for my parents.”
Silver Hammer smiles broadly at Arc and Twilight. “We can't possibly thank you enough for what you did for our family today!”
Steel Hammer approaches Arc with a small bag of bits and drops them in his hand. “Sorry I couldn't offer more for this writ, but this is all we have.”
Arc takes the bag of bits. He looks at it a few moments before setting it on the table. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out the writ, wads it up, and throws it in the fireplace before turning to them.
“I don't remember accepting any writ.”
Silver Hammer looks over at Arc with tears of joy in her eyes. “Thank you ever so much, for everything!”
Steel Hammer walks over and shakes Arc’s hand. “If there's ever anything I can help you with, you know where to find me!”
Arc smiles at the happy family before him. “Happy to help.”
As he and Twilight leave the house together Twilight smiles broadly.
“Well I guess the legends about humans weren't too accurate after all.”
“What do you mean?”
Twilight looks over to Arc with a smile. “Well… when you were in the hospital Lyra let us look over her research on humans. It was thought that humans were violent and greedy creatures who cared little for others. However, you have shown nothing but Kindness and charity since you came here.”
Arc muses over this for a moment before replying. “To that I must ask you two questions.
“Oh?”
“First… are all humans bad?”
Twilight hangs her head as she answers. “Well... to be honest before I met you, I would have answered yes. What's the second question?”
“Are all ponies good?”
Twilight does not immediately respond to the question.
“I believe you’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Arc chuckles and nods. “By the way... any luck on how to send me home?”
Twilight looks over at him and shakes her head. “Sadly, no. I’ve checked all my books and come up with nothing. There may be an answer in the Royal Library's Forbidden Books Wing, of course. But I would need Princess Celestia's permission to gain access.”
Arc sighs. “Well, no rush. I kinda like it here.”
They walk on in silence for a time. Eventually Arc turns back to Twilight.
“Would there be any aversion to me becoming a legal citizen of Equestria?”
Twilight ponders the question for a moment before answering. “Well, I suppose I could ask Princess Luna or Princess Cadance to grant you amnesty the next time I’m in Canterlot. Given the circumstances of your arrival that really shouldn’t be a problem. However as your case is quite… extreme, it would most likely require a royal decree for you to gain citizenship.”
“If you would ask one of the princesses, I would appreciate it.
“I'll look into the legal aspects of the matter when we get back to the library. There may be easier avenues for you to legally reside here.”
Arc chuckles. “No rush there. I can wait.”
Twilight sighs. “Miss your friends back on Earth?”
“Yes. But this place seems a lot more… homely to me. Not sure if that’s actually a word, but it just feels right.”
“I thought you wanted to stay?”
Arc shrugs. “Honestly, yes. But I would like to return to Earth to say my goodbyes.”
Twilight giggles. “Maybe they could come back with you.”
Arc shakes his head. “I don’t think they’d want to move to Equestria. They all have their lives to live back there.”
Twilight appears confused. “Then why…?”
“I just don’t want them to have to live out the rest of their lives wondering what happened to me.”
“I’ll do my best to make that happen for you. No promises though.”
Arc nods as they continue on their way. “That’s all I can ask.”
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So... uh, just a question to twilight moral why is she leaving Arc to work? I mean she did bring him here. He did get her helping them. And now she's leaving him to work for himself? I mean isn't he now her responsibility? I mean it would be hard to suddenly wake in a new world get hurt and end up in a hospital. And then go straight to work? I mean even Twilight should have thought about that... unless... unless I'm onto something... I won't start brainstorming on it yet but from a basic standpoint it would seem like Applejack might have been hiding something. Anyways isn't that a bit cruel for Twilight to do?
I know I'm going probably overthink everything but hey if my sleep schedule is going down so is my brainpower from over thinking.
Edit: it seems Like I missed out on the paragraph of AJ offering the job the last paragraph so likely no hidden secret here...
Arc is an extremely hard worker as you'll see in later chapters, so it stands to reason that he volunteered to get a job. Enough time has passed that his wounds have healed and he's fully capable of doing physical labor again. For the moment Twilight is letting him live with her and Spike rent-free while she works on the problem.
He's not one to sit around doing nothing and freeload.
You would think Apple Bloom would be a little more welcoming and curious over Arc. But then again, humans do have a tendency of being rather intimidating even to the fiercest beasts that roam the land. Still, maybe it wasn't a warm greeting between Arc and Apple Bloom, but hopefully they find a means to form a bond while he's around. At least he's making an honest day's work with ponies who do appreciate his valuable services. It all goes to show if given an opportunity to prove themselves, you'd be amazed what a person can do when put to the task.
10218509
Humans, while mythical, have a rather nasty reputation in Equestria. The ponies have only heard the negative aspect of humanity. Humans are viewed as greedy, vile, self-absorbed, proud, and every other negative word you could think of. Why is this? As I say at the end of every volume's Preface...
"Time will tell. Sooner or later... time will tell."
I mean... humans look more like diseased minotaurs than a monster proper, but then again, some ponies in Ponyville apparently think Iron Will was a monster so... fair enough I guess? Clearly he needs to acquire a tie to wear. Ties are clearly a sign of civilized behavior and therefor can't be a monster. "MONST-- oh wait is that a tie? Nevermind."
Quite.
Moral lesson is that not everyone/pony will get used to you. Just keepy your distance away from, them until they feel as if they are able to trust you as a friend.
10181649
I agree, seems like this should happen a little later in the story as Arc would most likely become sick of Twilight paying for his needs. In an attempt to “pay his way” Arc would then apply for employment from Applejack.
Still like the story, but events going a bit quick and relationship development between Arc and mane six should be the focus of beginning chapters. I am of purse judging the overall narrative at this stage of the story as that would be rather unfair this early in the story.
The clarification of this story’s interpretation of a writ is appreciated.
Otherwise I would have been left with the single option of using my personal knowledge of what a writ would be, and its implications on a My Little Pony related narrative:
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/726b8298-630f-4524-9986-e1273924477e/daxq445-a9a85083-a8a1-4123-8e47-12c4caa45aae.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzcyNmI4Mjk4LTYzMGYtNDUyNC05OTg2LWUxMjczOTI0NDc3ZVwvZGF4cTQ0NS1hOWE4NTA4My1hOGExLTQxMjMtOGU0Ny0xMmM0Y2FhNDVhYWUucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0._TFVKOk8r8sTnGXjhxomuxFHVf8h-IgDwgGMFDCTcoM
11780121
They're kinda like quests. I took the word from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind though. Just without the honorable killing, that is.