Lunch Break
Cadance tossed Celestia in the back seats, buckled her up, and drove off headed for the greasy food joint down the road. All while Celestia was thoroughly confused on how her life brought her to this moment.
When they left the farm, Cadance turned onto a small 2 lane blacktop road, heading for the Tasty Treat. She looked at Celestia. “So how did you like your first few hours?” Asked Cadance.
“Um…” Said Celestia, she was still trying to process where she was. In the Elf world they had vehicles of all kinds, trucks, sedans, convertibles, and many others. But this car had something she has never heard before. Cars in her world ran on the user's magical power, and depending on the user's power level, determined the range. Celestia shook her head. “Sorry, it’s not what I expected.”
Cadance nodded. “Yeah, your telling me, Spike can be a handful on his own, but if it wasn’t for him, I would be somewhere completely different. So, tell me about yourself.”
Celestia shrugged. “Well I’m 25, I just got my degree last year, I have a little sister who’s still trying to get her degree, her name’s Luna. Aside from that, there’s not much to tell that really tells about me.”
Cadance raised a brow. “Really? I find that hard to believe.”
Celestia shrugged. “Yep, but can I ask you a question?”
Cadance nodded. “Sure.”
“What is this car and what does it run on?” Asked Celestia.
Cadance laughed. “Really that’s what you want to know?” Asked Cadance, Celestia nodded. “Well I guess it’s understandable, I talked to Spike about the worlds, and I’ve seen Scorpan’s journal as well. In the human world, we don’t have magic, so unlike your world we have to produce our own power, most of it created by burning coal in plants to produce steam that turns a turbine in a generator, which produces electricity, but we also have other options like solar power, wind power, hydro power, nuclear power, and geothermal. But the car runs on a thing called gasoline, it’s a processed fuel that comes from oil. When it’s hit with a spark it produces an explosion. Humans designed an engine that is powered by this fuel, which allows us to operate a vehicle.”
Celestia nodded. “Ok, so where are we going?” Asked Celestia.
Cadance smiled. “We’re heading to a roadside diner called the Tasty Treat, it’s run by a father daughter duo from a country on the other side of the world, their names are Cumin and his daughter is Saffron. They’re nice people who work hard to make great food, all while adding their own spin on their cooking.”
Cadance looked down the road. "So, you mentioned a little sister, is she anything like you?" Asked Cadance.
Celestia nodded slightly. "She is now, but she kinda got into a lot of trouble when she was younger, got mixed up with the wrong crowd, that sort of thing."
Cadance nodded. "Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, it's cool."
Celestia smiled but shook her head. "No, its fine, I'm proud of her for dragging herself out of that situation. She's actually the one who inspired me to get my degree in child development."
Cadance cocked an eyebrow. "Really, how so, and remember you only have to tell me as much as you’re comfortable with."
Celestia sighed. "Back when I was still in school, my mother and father were in an accident, I was left all alone with a pre-teen who was devastated. That's when all the trouble first started for us. Luna changed into someone I hardly recognized, and I'm ashamed to say that I let her. I thought that she could process this on her own and left her to her own devices. But then she got arrested one day. That's when I realized that if I was there to help her grieve, all of this might have not happened. But what was I supposed to do, I was just finishing school, and got accepted into a great college. But somehow, I made college and Luna my top priorities, every free moment I had, I was either studying or spending time with her." Said Celestia, she was starting to cry. "Then one day when we were sitting in our home watching the news, Luna, out of nowhere asked me what I actually wanted to do with my life. I couldn't give her an answer, most of my life at that point was school and her, I never really thought about what I wanted to do. She just gave me a not buying it face and asked me again. That's when my true feelings came up, you see back in school my neighbors had a lot of kids, and I needed the cash, so I started babysitting. I changed diapers, fed them, bathed them, read to them, played with them, and every time they smiled at me, nothing felt more pure. In the first week, I knew I wanted to play an important role in the life of children. So, I told her that I wanted to study child development. You know what she told me?"
Cadance shook her head. "No."
Celestia smiled. "She told me to go for it, she wanted me to strive for my dreams instead of being there for her." Celestia laughed. "I wasn't going to let that happen though, so I made her a deal, when I got my degree, and a job, from that moment on she would be in my top priorities again. So that's what we did, when I had to study, she would take care of the house, when I fell asleep at my desk or in the school library, she would come and drag me to my room, she stayed up for hours helping me quiz myself for my tests, and she did it all with a smile on her face. She found a way for us to keep spending time with each other and helping me reach my goals."
Cadance smiled at hearing the story as she was crying a little. She opened her center console and pulled out a box of tissues, she wiped her eyes and handed the box over to Celestia. "You did a great job taking over for your parents, Celestia. They would be proud, and so should you."
Celestia smiled as she took the tissue and cleaned up her face. "Thanks, Cadance, I'm sorry if I brought down the mood for lunch with all of this heavy stuff."
Cadance shook her head. "Hey, you did nothing wrong, I was the one who asked."
Celestia smiled. "Ok, so then can I ask you a simple question, just between us?"
Cadance was unsure of what she was going to ask but nodded. "Sure, what is it?"
"How long have you liked Spike?" Asked Celestia.
The moment Cadance heard this question, she was surprised, so much so that she started to swerve in the road. Thankfully the road was always empty, so nothing was going to happen, nothing aside from the massive blush on Cadance's face telling Celestia all she needed to know. "Oh, so you do like him."
"Shut up!" Cried Cadance, as she tried to focus on the road.
"Well, I don't blame you, he's cute, smart, strong, caring, kids love him, he can cook, has a great job, witty, playful, and the way he's not afraid to show his support to others is something that I thought had died out in men long ago." Said Celestia.
Cadance sighed. "I know, he's just a goof ball that knows when he needs to be serious but can still be himself while doing it." Said Cadance, then the car went silent for a moment. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
Celestia nodded. "Yep."
Cadance groaned. "Dang it, yes I admit it, I have a crush on Spike, are you happy?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes. Yes I am, so why haven't you asked him out yet?" Asked Celestia.
Cadance sighed. "What would I say, 'Hey boss, I have a huge crush on you, I have for a while, would you like to go on a date with me?', That would never work, I'm not even sure he feels the same about me."
Celestia sighed. 'Maybe I took it to far.' Thought Celestia. "Hey look, this time I really did make this awkward, we can drop it if you want."
Cadance shook her head. "No, it feels good to talk about my feelings to someone besides my diary, I just don't know how to ask him if he likes me."
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." Said Celestia.
"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that I'll still miss."
"No, it doesn't, but it's better to find out than to never know at all."
Cadance groaned. "Ok, where are all the fortune cookies you’re getting these from?"
Celestia giggled. "Down the street by my house, a place called Jade Palace, Ms. Yung was one of the people I babysat for."
Cadance laughed. "Seriously?"
Celestia stuck out her tongue. "Nope, but she was a mother of 3, and taught me some valuable lessons."
Cadance giggled as she noticed the sign for the Tasty Treat. "Cool, we're here." Said Cadance as she pulled into the parking lot of the small diner. "Welcome to the Tasty Treat, the home to the best milkshakes and veggie burgers this side of the world." Said Cadance as she turned off the car and got out. Celestia unbuckled herself and got out as well and looked at the building. It was made of corrugated metal roofing and painted in bright yellow and red. Above the glass door was a little neon sign that said open. Celestia looked at the top of the building and sitting there was a large red neon sign displaying the name of the establishment. 'THE TASTY TREAT'
Cadance grabbed Celestia's arm and started pulling her to the door. "Come on I'm starving." Said Cadance as she licked her lips.
Celestia looked at Cadance. 'Goddess what is she, I weigh 130, and she's dragging me around like I'm a sack of potatoes.' Thought Celestia.
When the two entered the diner, Celestia looked at the choice of decorations, there was a long counter top with bar stools in front of them, she looked to her sides and noticed booths with seats covered in red leather, the floor was brown tile and the walls and the foot well of the counter were in a pattern of white tiles with red ones forming a diamond pattern.
She looked at the far wall and she became shocked to see a large rack of pies and cakes sitting in a display case. There were three things that Celestia loved more than anything else in the world. First was her sister, Luna. Second were kids. Finally, there was her secret love, cakes. Back in school, she was called the princess of cakes for her love of the baked treat, and she wore that title like a badge of honor. But then Celestia allowed her nose to inhale the scent of the diner. She could smell spices, hot fry oil, sizzling meats and roasted vegetables. Celestia couldn't handle it, she started to drool in anticipation of the food.
Cadance giggled at the sight of her new coworker. "Come on, let’s get a seat." Said Cadance, as she walked over to a booth and sat down.
Celestia snapped out of her food dreams and took the seat opposite of Cadance. "So how do we order?" Asked Celestia.
Cadance smiled as she handed Celestia a menu. "You'll see, Saffron should be here in a moment, and don't worry, order anything you want, it's on me today."
Celestia was shocked. "No, I can pay for my own meal." Protested Celestia.
Cadance put on a smug look. "Really, with what money?" Asked Cadance.
Celestia's response died in her throat the moment she realized she didn't know about this world’s currency, and even if she did, there was no way that they would take her marks. The Elf world had five forms of currency, all of which were called marks. Each mark was made out of a different material that determined it's value. The first and lowest denomination were called copper marks, small little coins that were made from copper, for reference a loaf of bread would cost about 2 copper marks. Then came silver marks, each silver mark was worth 10 copper ones. Then there were gold marks, each one of them was worth 10 silver marks, and just for a little help, the Equestrian bit is made from a purer gold than the elf world's gold mark. Next was platinum marks, this is where the big bucks come from, each platinum mark is worth a total of 100 gold marks, 10 of them are enough to buy a middle-class home. Lastly, we come to the largest denomination of the marks, the diamond marks, worth a total of 100 platinum marks, this was a sign of wealth in her world, because if you even owned a hand full of diamond marks, you never had to work again in your life. Celestia slumped in defeat. "Ok, but I'm going to try and order as little as possible."
Cadance sighed. "No, this is a gift, welcoming you to the Little Dragon. If you don't order as much as you want, I will drag you back to the farm and toss you back into the dragon’s lair, for 4 hours, and the kids will not hold back this time."
Celestia gulped. 'That was them holding back?' Thought Celestia. She snatched the menu. "Do they have an everything platter?" Asked Celestia.
"Sorry, unfortunately we don't, but my father can make you feel like you just ate a full 7 course meal." Said a new voice.
Celestia turned to see who was talking. Standing at their booth was a tall woman with large puffy dark brown hair held back by a light-yellow head band, two hooped earrings with topaz gems hung down from her ears. She was dressed in a light cream-colored blouse, an aqua colored floral skirt, and an orange bib with a gold crescent moon design embroidered on it. Celestia looked into the woman's deep lavender eyes and smiled. "Sorry, I'm still trying to decide."
The woman smiled back. "Don't worry, take your time." She looked at Cadance. "Hey C, how you been?" Asked the woman.
Cadance smiled. "Pretty good, we just got a new kid today, she's the most adorable thing, and like always, Spike just brought her in like she's been there from the start. What about you Saffron, how have you and your dad been?"
Saffron shrugged. "Pretty good as well, we had a convoy run by here two days ago, they nearly ate us out of stock, but don't worry we got plenty for our regulars. So, who's the new face?"
Cadance giggled. "Right, sorry. Saffron this is Celestia Solaris, Spike in his infinite wisdom decided to look for a new assistant and here she is. Celestia this is Saffron Masala, she and her father run the joint."
Celestia smiled and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
Saffron took the hand as shook it. "And to you as well, and a little advice, don't try to hit on Spike, she'll get upset."
Celestia giggled. "Don't worry, I'm well aware of that."
Saffron giggled, she looked at Cadance. "So Cadance, you want the usual?"
"Yep, plant on a bun, all the works, extra lick ground sticks, and frozen cow juice in two forms, extra on the second form, but can you make that two, I want to see her reaction."
Saffron nodded. "On it, and your diner speak is getting better." She looked at Celestia as she finished taking Cadance's order. "And what about you Celestia?"
"I'll take a large salad, an order of the chicken tenders, a bowl of the soup of the day. What is it?"
"Vegetable with tomato base." Responded Saffron.
"Oh, make that two then, a large veggie burger, two orders of the mashed potatoes, and a slice of strawberry short cake." Said Celestia.
Cadance interjected. "Celestia, AJ can't be near strawberries, if even a crumb touches her, she could go into shock." Said Cadance.
Celestia shook her head. "Actually, never mind, I'll take the chocolate lava cake instead."
Saffron nodded. "Good call." Said Saffron. "I'll get my dad to start this order right now, it'll be out in a few." Said Saffron as she walked to the kitchen window.
Celestia sighed in relief. "Thanks for the save Cadance. I completely forgot."
Cadance nodded. "Don't worry, but that's why we are super careful about her, she's very tough but she is still vulnerable to something so innocent. I don't want to go through that again anyways."
Celestia noticed the change in her tone. "I'm guessing something happened before with her?"
Cadance nodded. "Yeah, it was her first week, I had just started working there, and this was before we knew about her allergy." Cadance reached into her purse and pulled out an Epi pen. "I'm allergic to bees, it’s not as bad as AJ's reaction but still dangerous. So, one day I decided to bring some fruit salad for us to enjoy as a little snack after we finished with art time, all was going great, but then AJ grabbed a strawberry and ate it. She wasn't breathing three seconds later; her face was swollen, and her throat had closed. Twilight and the others were panicking, but not Spike. He knew exactly what to do. I told him about my allergy when he hired me, and I told him that I always keep an Epi pen with me in my purse. He emptied my purse and grabbed my pen. He shot AJ in her back leg, hoping that it would work on her. Thankfully it did, she was able to breathe again, but the idea of using my pen on her never crossed my mind, all I could do was hold a dying child, hoping for a miracle to save her. It was my fault, I brought the treat, I almost killed her." Said Cadance, she was crying at the memories. "Spike had to call for Pear and Bright Mac to pick her up and take her to a Centaur hospital for treatment, and they determined that it was the Strawberry that caused it. I felt horrible when I found out, that night I didn't sleep at all, all I did was cry. That next day I thought about quitting, right then and there. But Spike refused to let me leave without a two-week notice, it was all a lie, but I didn't know back then, so I stayed there for two weeks and started looking for a new job. AJ couldn't come in for the rest of the week, but when she came in that next week, she just ran up to me and gave me a big hug, like nothing had happened at all. In fact, she thanked me for helping her. She told me that she was so scared when she couldn't breathe, and I tried to calm her down so she wouldn't panic. The doctors told her that if she had panicked, she would have died. I apologized to her and her parents so many times, but they always responded with, 'no one knew about it, no one was to blame, we're just glad to know she's safe'. Spike told me that I could still quit if I wanted to, but then I was tackled to the ground by AJ, she was crying, begging me not to leave. That's when my resolve broke down, no one can say no to a crying AJ. I agreed to stay at the Little Dragon, AJ was given her own Epi pen, and from then on, I haven't had a single thought about leaving again. Still doesn't make the guilt any better though."
Celestia sighed. "And it shouldn't, that pain we feel, shows us that we are still alive and are needed in this world or worlds. It tells us to just give up, but we don't, we ignore it and strive to make ourselves better. You had AJ's incident, and I have my sister, both were in trouble and needed our help, I cannot say that we did everything perfectly, but that only makes us want to reach for that all the more, if we're ever needed again. Also, your lucky numbers are, 78-92-6-43-9-11." Said Celestia.
Cadance laughed, at the joke, but the message was very clear. "Thanks, Celestia, I'm glad to know your around to help." Said Cadance.
Celestia smiled. "Glad enough to let me ask Spike out, I mean I've only known him for a few hours, but I can tell that men like him are almost extinct, no matter the world."
Cadance glared at Celestia. "Don't even think about it, he's mine." Said Cadance with a blush.
"ORDER UP!" Yelled a short, rounded man with brown hair and a moustache.
Cadance smiled at the man. "Hello Coriander Cumin."
Cumin smiled back. "Greetings Cadance."
Saffron grabbed the platter with all the food and brought it over to the table. "Here you go girls, please enjoy it before it gets cold." Said Saffron as she walked away.
Cadance looked at the mountain of food before her and gulped at the mountain range in front of Celestia. "Celestia, are you sure you can eat it all?" Asked Cadance worried that she'll need to rush her to the hospital to get her stomach pumped.
Celestia smiled. "I know, but I don't want to be too full to play with the kids later, so I wanted to have a light lunch."
Cadance dropped her jaw. 'HOW IN THE HECK IS THAT A LIGHT LUNCH?!' Thought Cadance. But by the time she finished that thought, Celestia was already done with her large burger and she was moving onto her large salad. Celestia looked over to her eating companion. "Are you sure you’re going to be ok, that seems like nothing more than a snack?" Asked Celestia. Fun fact, the elf body is a weird thing, on average a full-grown adult elf female can consume over 90000 calories a day. This is because of their bodies unique magic making process. All food eaten by elf's or at least a large portion of it is converted to magical energy that they use in their daily life. The higher your magical capacity, the more you can eat, but after the magical capacity is filled, then the body acts like that of a human, turning all the sugars from the food into fat for later use when needed. But on that note, unlike humans that struggle to lose that extra weight and the possible health problems that come from it. Elves, when they run out of magic, can convert that fat into extra magic, but it comes at a much heftier price. Magical deficiency is a dangerous and possible fatal outcome of using too much magic, and its possible to die before the fat can be converted.
Cadance closed her mouth and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Said Cadance as she started eating her lunch.
Cadance took a large bite of her burger and then she took a drink of her milkshake, but she drank it too fast and got a brain freeze. "Aww." Groaned Cadance. "Brain freeze."
Celestia looked at Cadance confused. "Brain what?" Asked Celestia.
It took a moment for Cadance to respond. "Brain freeze, it’s something that happens when we eat or drink something so cold and it hits the top of our mouths, and it causes our heads to hurt." Said Cadance still trying to relieve the pain.
Celestia shrugged. "Never heard of it." Said Celestia as she downed her whole milkshake in a matter of seconds. She looked at the cup. "Man, that's great." She looked around for Saffron. "Saffron can I get another milkshake?"
"Coming right up." Said Saffron as she started making Celestia another milkshake.
Twenty minutes later, Celestia was polishing off her 10th milkshake, while Cadance was already full from eating her burger. She looked at Celestia. "That's going into the book." Said Cadance as she groaned from her full belly.
Celestia looked at Cadance. "Oh, you poor dear, you hardly ate anything. Maybe you should take the rest of the day off. I'm sure I can handle the girls with Spike."
Cadance looked at Celestia. "Celestia, humans can only eat so much, that was my limit." Said Cadance.
"Well, seeing that Cadance is about to enter her weekly food coma, and mount calorie is gone, I'm guessing it’s time for you two to head back to the daycare?"
"Right in one, Saffron, what's the damage today, aside from my stomach that's about to pop?" Asked Cadance.
Saffron pulled out the tables bill. "It looks like you’re going to be 78.98 in the red this week, and that's not even mentioning all the milkshakes Celestia downed. But don't worry about them, Dad wanted to see if she could even get a brain freeze so there on the house."
Cadance groaned as she pulled out her card. "Use this, or you can just kill me now and save me the suffering."
Saffron giggled. "Sorry Cadance, we only accept suffering on the weekends, but your acting has gotten better."
Cadance sighed as she got up, she was fine. "Thanks, I'm trying to make story time a little better for the kids and acting it out makes it seem more real to them."
Saffron nodded. "Well, just wait and you might be getting a Tony award in your future. I'll give it back in a moment." Said Saffron as she walked off to pay the bill.
Celestia looked at Cadance. "So, I've been wondering something for a while now, how do you and Saffron know each other so well?"
Cadance shrugged. "We're best friends, have been since middle school, we had a lot of the same interests, all the same classes, and we might have gone to our prom together because neither of us could get a date." Said Cadance.
"Cadance tell the truth, we couldn't get a date, because everyone was scared of our fathers." Said Saffron, she looked at Celestia. "The rumor was that my dad would lock you in his soup pot and throw you off a cliff if you did anything to me." Said Saffron.
"And if you crossed my Daddy, he would use all of his connections to make sure you wound up behind bars for the rest of your life." Said Cadance.
"Really, your father had that much sway?" Asked Celestia.
Cadance shook her head. "No, of course not. He was just the police chief in Ponyville before we moved to Crystalton where he became the commissioner of the whole CPD."
Saffron rolled her eyes. "Cadance, Sombra is a great guy, but he always looked like he was angry and wanted to take it out on someone."
Cadance groaned. "That's another reason I haven't asked out Spike, I'm worried that when he meets my dad, he'll get scared off, or at the very least date me so he doesn't die."
Saffron and Celestia giggled. "So, he's free game then?" Asked the two in unison.
Cadance glared at them. "I told you he's mine." Said Cadance.
Celestia stuck out her tongue. "For now." Said Celestia, she was trying to lighten the mood.
The trio went silent, but then they erupted into a laughing fit.
Once the laughter died down, it was time for Cadance and Celestia to go back to work. They got up from the booth. Cadance pulled Saffron into a hug, which was instantly reciprocated. "Saffron, I'll see you next week."
"Sure thing Candy. But when are you going to invite me to see this mythical daycare that may or may not exist?" Asked Saffron.
Cadance chuckled. "Trust me, I'll tell you when I think you can handle it."
"One day I will see the elusive Little Dragon Daycare." Said Saffron.
The two giggled. Cadance turned to the window to the kitchen. "Thanks Mr. Cumin, it was as great as ever."
"Not a problem Sweetie, tell your father I said hi when you go home tonight."
"Will do." Said Cadance. She pulled Saffron into one more hug, but this time she pulled Celestia in as well. In the short lunch break, Cadance thought of Celestia as a great friend. "Thanks for everything today guys."
"I'll pay next time if you ask Spike out today." Said Celestia.
"I'll pay the week after that." Said Saffron.
"He's a great guy, Sombra would like him, so if you ask him out, you can eat here for free for a month." Said Cumin.
Cadance groaned. "FINE! I'll ask him out before we close for the night, now can we drop it, please?" Asked Cadance.
"Dibs on maid of honor." Said Saffron.
"Brides maid." Said Celestia.
"Catering." Said Cumin.
Cadance groaned. "I hate you all so much."
"Love you too Candy." Said Saffron.
Cadance sighed as she dragged Celestia back to her car. "It was lovely to meet you both." Said Celestia as she was dragged outside of the establishment.
Saffron and Cumin smiled. "So, Celestia wasn't human right, no one can drink that many milkshakes and not get a single brain freeze?" Asked Cumin.
Saffron sighed. "Come on dad, what would she be if she wasn't human, we need to get ready for the convoy heading out of town, get ready to cook." Said Saffron as she started cleaning the table. She found the receipt resting on the table, it had a 30% tip and a small note on it.
I like pink and baby blue, start planning for the big day, Ms. Maid of Honor, I'm not going to lose him. Love Candy. PS. I'll talk with Spike about a visit, tell you next week if you get the green light.
Saffron smiled as she watched Cadance's Honda drive back down the road. "Go get him Candy."
When Cadance and Celestia got back to the farm, they noticed Spike and the girls were all heading back inside. They walked over to Spike. "So, did she like the Tasty Treat?" Asked Spike.
Cadance nodded. "You have no idea, turns out she has never had a milkshake before."
Spike laughed. "Really, how did Saffron take that bit of news?"
Cadence sighed. "Celestia drained the machine, also add this to the book, Elf's can't get brain freeze, or at least not from downing 10 milkshakes."
Spike chuckled as he nodded, he looked to Celestia. "I'm glad you liked it, right now its arts and crafts time, but we still need to talk about a few things, so let’s head into the back office."
Celestia nodded as she muffled a small burp. "Excuse me. But what about you, when do you get to eat?" Asked Celestia. Cadence told her during lunch that Spike didn't eat dinner or breakfast this morning, and she saw him only eat a sandwich, a few bites of fruit salad, and a spoon of soup.
Spike shrugged. "I'm going to eat right now, I'm not artistic, that's more Cadance's area of expertise. I should get Silvia back into her cage and take her home for the day, so instead of using the back office, lets head to my apartment?"
Celestia nodded. "Ok."
The group walked into the little building and closed the door.
Inside of the daycare, Spike and Celestia were making their way to the back room so Spike could grab Silvia, but he was stopped by Cadance. "Hey, Spike can I talk to you when you get back?" Asked Cadance, she was blushing so hard, she thought she was going to pass out.
Spike smiled. "Sure, but it'll have to wait until we're locking up for the night. DUCK!" Yelled Spike. Cadance ducked and Spike caught a crayon missile flying straight towards Cadance. Spike looked at the group of kids. "Who did that?" asked Spike.
"That's on me Spike, I thought I could catch it, but I missed." Said Rainbow.
Spike sighed as he handed the crayon back to Rainbow. "It's fine Rainbow, but remember not everything has to be as show of how awesome you are, you got to leave at least some awesome for the rest of us. Now let’s see Rainbow the awesome artist instead of Rainbow the awesome catcher, ok?" Asked Spike.
Rainbow nodded and started drawing a picture. Spike sighed as he helped Cadance back to her feet. "You good Cadance?" Asked Spike.
She nodded. "Good, I would hate to lose you to a crayon missile, who else could stand my lame jokes?"
Cadance rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't you have a ferret to take home or something?"
Spike laughed. "Yep, but she doesn't get half of them." Said Spike. He looked at Celestia. "Ok, lets head over to my place, I should still have some marks in the safe and the conversion chart so we can discuss your pay."
Celestia nodded as she and Spike walked to the back door, Spike pulled out his key and unlocked the back office to grab Silvia's cage. Spike closed the door and turned the key to take him to his home. He opened the door and let Celestia go first. "After you." Said Spike.
Celestia giggled. "Why thank you Spike." Said Celestia as she walked into Spike's apartment.
But before Spike walked in, he looked at the girls and Cadance. "Girls, listen to Cadance, and if you feel like it, turn her into something like a hen if you want." Said Spike as he closed the door.
Cadance sighed. 'He's such a great guy.' Thought Cadance, she was blushing hard. But she had to take care of the girls for a half an hour. "Ok girls, lets draw our dreams today, how does that sound?"
"OK!" Said all the girls.
Spike sighed as he cracked his neck, taking care of the girls for so long leaves a person sore. He looked at Celestia. "Celestia why don't you take a seat on the couch, while I go to the home office and grab the stuff I need?" Asked Spike as he walked to his home office.
Celestia nodded. "Ok Spike. You have a lovely home."
"Thanks, it used to belong to my Grandfather, Scorpan. But when he died, he gave it to me, and I've lived here ever since." Said Spike as he walked into a simple little office in the apartment, this was Scorpan's old trophy room, the walls were covered in old pictures of Scorpan traveling the worlds with all of his friends that he met there.
Spike smiled at all the photos, but he still needed to work some stuff out with Celestia. Spike walked over to a large bookcase and moved it to the side. Behind it was a large industrial sized vault. Spike opened the vault with his key. Aside from working on the doors, the vault and key were linked as well, when it is inserted into the vault the key changes shape to match the pins and grooves of the lock. Spike opened the vault and walked inside of it. This vault was to store all of the treasure Scorpan had gathered in his time exploring along with the funds that he had been given by the governments of each of the worlds to explore. A huge pile of gemstones he had found while exploring the depths of the slime world, a mountain of bits from Equestria, that he was given to explore a place called the badlands. A few thousand Diamond Marks, for helping the Elven council settle trade disagreements and to scout new routes for trade, and over time Scorpan used these and gathered a few of the other types of marks. Even with all the money Spike had, he never used it unless it was to pay for Cadance's and now Celestia's wages. He used all of his own money to pay for the daycare, all the equipment, all the food, and making deals with each worlds creatures to help where they could instead of money payments.
But there were also things that Spike treasured in here, his diploma, a picture of his grandfather when he was 6, his mother's wedding dress, which she told him to keep with him for when he found that special someone, and the most important thing of all, sitting on a little pedestal was Scorpan's journal, it held every piece of information Scorpan learned from his time in the worlds. Granted there were a lot of omissions about the children of the worlds that would of been helpful, but it takes more than 60 years to learn about the world, multiply that by 15, and there was no way someone could do it. Spike picked up the book, and scooped up a few gold marks laying on the floor, he placed them in a little leather sack near the pile. There was only one more thing that he needed but it wasn't in the vault, it was sitting on the desk in the home office. Spike walked out of the vault and closed the door, he moved the book case to cover the vault. Spike walked over to the desk and opened a drawer. Spike pulled out a small electric scale and placed it on the journal.
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss, but are you talking about Scorpan the Explorer?"
"Yep, the one and only. He spent over 60 years of his life exploring, I thought he was talking about my world, but as it turns out he was talking about all of the worlds, when he told me his stories." Said Spike as he walked into the living room carrying a scale, a large leather-bound book, and a small leather sack. Spike placed all the items on the coffee table.
He looked at Celestia. "Ok, so my grandfather was having trouble dealing with each worlds currency, so to make it simple we base it off the Equestrian bit, a one-ounce, 98% pure gold coin, that is valued at around 1550 of our local currency, the Dollar. Using that I can convert it into your worlds currency, marks. First, I've read that the elves have a gold unit of currency already, do you have one on you? I need to check if they have changed the amount in them from one I have in the sack."
Celestia nodded. "I do, let me grab it." Said Celestia as she reached into her purse and pulled out her only gold mark. She handed it to Spike. "The treasury say it’s around 75% gold, but I don't want to cheat you out of your money."
Spike smiled. "Thanks." Said Spike, he placed the mark and bit on the scale, and after calculating the mass of the mark, and accounting for the weight of the gold itself. Spike did the same to the older mark that his grandfather had left, Spike determined that they had changed it slightly but not too much. "Ok so the bad news is, they have been lying to you for a while, its only 73% gold, but the good news is, its just a simple conversion to match it up. That means that every gold mark is worth 1131.5 dollars. I'll update the chart right now." Said Spike as he changed the conversion chart. "Ok, Ms. Solaris, I'm telling you this now, we're not in the position to offer any benefits like health, dental, or vision, so all of that will have to come out of pocket, but I pay generously enough to compensate for it. Is that acceptable?" Asked Spike.
"It is, the elf world has health care that covers basic stuff like teeth cleanings, and checkups. But more expensive things are only half covered, the rest is paid by us." Said Celestia.
Spike nodded. "Ok, that shouldn't be a problem. I will be taking a small portion of your pay this week to cover all the expense hiring you entails, getting a key made, the uniform, and upon request a spare if you deem it necessary to have one. Is that acceptable to you?" Asked Spike.
Celestia nodded. "It is, and yes, I would love a spare uniform, you never know when a mess happens."
Spike laughed. "With this place, you’re lucky to walk out with six stains on your person by the end of the day, but I'll go grab that right now." Said Spike as he walked back to the office to grab a spare uniform in Celestia's size, thankfully Spike remembered it from before so finding it was easy. "Here you go Celestia." Said Spike as he handed Celestia a spare uniform. He sat back down to continue. "Ok, I expect you here every day including weekends. Monday through Friday are 8am to 6 pm, where your job will be just like earlier, helping take care of the kids. But Saturday and Sunday, we are open, from 8 to 2 just in case something comes up. But normally we are told about it before hand, knowing that, we use those two days to restock and repair any and all necessary items. I'm normally in charge of shopping and repair, Cadence is cleaning and transportation, once I found the key, I normally store my car in the parking garage here and just use the door. Is there anything that you think you can help with?"
Celestia hummed in thought. "Well, I can't help with transportation, I can't get my car here, but I can clean and help with the shopping, but repairs are beyond me, I might make a bigger hole."
"Don't worry about that, Cadance is the same way. I asked her to drill a little hole in a stud, and I ended up having to replace the wall." Said Spike. "Ok, so you know a small portion of the creatures we take care of, but there are a few that can be difficult. Dragons are the worst to deal with, watch out for their claws, teeth and fire breath. all three are dangerous. But young dragons are prone to Greed Growth, when that happens there are two options, you need to show dominance to them and force them to give up their hoard, or you use the dart gun in the back room. Next are ghosts, we have two of them here with us, their twins, one is named Sunshine Smiles and the other is Moonlight Raven. They are both sweet girls, but they have a bad habit of accidently possessing others. It happens a lot actually, since they are both transparent, I normally don’t allow them to roam around in their spectral forms. So I asked a friend of Starswirl’s to make me some filly sized dolls that they can possess so they can play with the rest of the kids. But just in case something goes wrong, like they possess a child, I had some exorcism tags made to ward spirits from a host. I give them three strikes, the first strike they are allowed to stay in their dolls, the second strike is I add a sealing tag to their dolls so they can’t leave it until I remove it and that’s only when their parents come to pick them up. But a third strike, means that I call their parents and they get suspended for the next day they are scheduled. The parents must pay extra for the day they missed. Thankfully this hasn't happened yet, but I made these conditions very clear to their parents, Sunlight and Eclipse. But accidents will happen, sometimes a tag is made improperly or the doll gets damaged and they leave it, so every time something does, I ask to be told what happened. Normally, it's one of them didn't look where they were going and accidently possessed someone, they leave right away and the worst that happens is the host gets a slight chill. I'm fine with that, but if it happens more than once somethings not right. Lastly there is our wolf girl, Sunset Shimmer, she is a little feisty at first, but once she learns your scent, she will open to you. But she is also very protective of her belly region, you cannot pick her up from there or she will try and bite you. I talked to her parents about it and they say that she has a scar there from when she was a pup, she hides it from others using her fur, and she can’t stand it when anyone other than her or her parents touch it. I don't blame her; I have some scars I don't like showing either. But I have informed all the parents of this as well as the kids, they all know not to touch her there, and aside from her biting me her first day she hasn't had an incident since."
Celestia was surprised. "Wow, that's a lot to take in. But you mentioned that you had scars?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah, a few, when I was 10, I broke my collar bone trying to climb a fence, I have one on my left leg when I fell off my bike and broke it, and one on my chest." Said Spike.
"What about that one?" Asked Celestia.
Spike sighed. "That one was just a stupid mistake, I got mugged during college, he had a knife and wanted my wallet. I refused and for that I got a coin slot in my gut. The knife hit an artery and I almost died, all for 40 dollars and a cheap wallet." Spike laughed. "But that doesn't matter right now, I'm here, I got a place to live, a business that I love, and people that love me back."
'Wow, he really is something else.' Thought Celestia. "Well, I'm glad your here." Said Celestia.
Spike laughed. "Already trying to butter me up for a raise I see. Sorry to tell you, you need to show me that you deserve one." Said Spike. "Aside from everything I told you earlier, and what you know now, are you still interested in the position?" Asked Spike.
Celestia giggled. "And what, just walk out on all those little girls, I think I'm safer staying here with them, than going and Twilight tracking me down."
Spike smiled. "Great answer. Lastly sometimes parents ask us to help maintain the health of the kids, brushing hair, filing talons or claws, and waxing their bodies. The last one deals with only two kids, Sandbar and Yona. Sandbar is a turtle that is about 3 feet tall, he's from a underwater world with some dry land, he is able to change out his flippers for hands and feet at will, but his shell stays. The other one, Yona, is a stone golem that is mainly marble, she is a sweet little pebble, the only problem is to her world she is tiny, to use she is a wrecking ball. So she needs to behave or things get broken, thankfully she and Sandbar are great friends. I mainly do all of that, you and Cadance will be occupying the others. You good with that?" Asked Spike.
Celestia nodded. "Not a problem, I'll do my best."
Spike smiled at the answer. "So, let me do some conversions real quick and I'll tell you your weekly pay. Ok, carry the two, multiply it by that, subtract the chicken made of custard and there we go. So, accounting for your skills, healthcare, and hazard pay, it looks like you should be getting around 200 gold marks a month, does that sound fair?" Asked Spike.
Celestia dropped her jaw at the number. 'That's two platinum, a month, how can he afford all of that?' Spike sighed. "Fine, your too good to lose, I'll make it 250 gold a month. Deal?"
Celestia closed her mouth and grabbed Spike's hand. "When do I start?" Asked Celestia.
"Well tomorrow like we agreed upon earlier works fine with me." Said Spike. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'm starting to picture my couch as a sandwich, meaning it’s been way to long since I last ate." Said Spike as he got to his feet and walked Celestia to the door, he used his key to open the door to the front room. "I'll be back in twenty minutes, also if Cadance is a hen or something make sure to take a picture for me." Said Spike.
Celestia nodded. "Sure thing, boss man." Said Celestia giving Spike as salute.
Spike chuckled. "Cool, see you in twenty." Said Spike as he closed his door to start his lunch break. Celestia walked into the main area of the day care and found Cadance looking at some drawings the girls made.
Celestia walked over to Cadance and looked at the pictures. Cadance noticed Celestia and explained what she was looking at. "This one's AJ's, she wants to be just like her mother and father, helping on their farm as a family." Cadance went to the next one. "This ones Twilight's and Moondancer’s, Twi as always loved books and from what I can tell she wants to run a library and learn as much about magic as she can along with Moondancer." Then to the next one. "This one's by our very own Lone Flutters, saving a bunch of baby bunnies from getting hurt." Pinkie’s was next. "Pinkie's is self-explanatory if you've talked to her for more than a minute, she wants to throw the greatest party in the world, then one up even that." Rainbows was easy to tell. "This ones from Rainbow, Harpies have a legend in their world, call the Sonic Rainboom, but it has never been done, she wants to be the first one to do it." Cadance then sighed. "And lastly we have Rarity's." Said Cadance showing an older Rarity dressed in a red wedding dress with Spike as her husband. "Why am I getting jealous of a 4-year-old, it’s not like that will happen?" Asked Cadance.
Celestia giggled. "I think your jealous that she can say what she's feeling about him, and you can't."
Cadance huffed. "When did you become a therapist?"
"Never, but I just finalized everything with Spike. Cadance, I know you should never ask this, but how much are you getting paid, because either we're getting really over paid or we're underworked?"
Cadance shrugged. "I get 150 bits a month from him, why?"
"I'm getting 250 gold marks from him, that's a quarter of a house in my world, a month."
Cadance nodded. "What's your point, Spike's loaded, he just works because he wants to."
"When you mean loaded, what do you mean?" Asked Celestia.
"Last time I saw into the safe, there were around 1000 diamond marks from what the book told me, a mountain of gems like diamonds, and over 100000 bits." Said Cadance.
Celestia dropped her jaw and her mind. 'He could own the world with all that money.' Thought Celestia. She looked at Cadance. "Then why does he do all this?" Asked Celestia.
Cadance smiled as she pointed at the girls, they were talking, drawing, and having fun together, not as creatures from different worlds, but as good friends. "That's why." Said Cadance.
Celestia looked at the group of girls and instantly understood Spike's reason. "Ok, I get it now."
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Man, is it wrong I want to work here?
10021576
Dude most of the pay is hazard pay, with all of that, it’s hard.
10021620
Foster care is the same way. I took care of five kids, and they were terrors. I could live with doin this just fine. But I get what you were saying.
10021642
Dude props for doing that, my 2nd cousin grew up in foster care, I have mad respect for anyone who does it.
10021655
Thank you, and it wasnt total he'll. I had lots of fun with it, which is why I would want to work here.
10021668
Totally understand now.
Is Luna gonna work at the Daycare too and also will it be a Spike harem story with Cadence Celestia and Luna, or just Spike x Cadence
10021903
Spike and Cadance, Luna will come by for a visit
nice chapter.
and after reading this story I make a new bookshelf titled "something cute" for stories for when this biserker needs a rage detox
number of stories:2
other story is "Onii-chan's interesting life"
Absolutely love the story cant wait for more. I was almost late for work just to read the whole chapter
10022912
Thanks, but dude, priorities. Look up a video called spawn killing battlefield friends.
Oh, wow! This chapter not only gave a lot of context to Spike, Cadence, and Celestia, but also showed us a bit of love tension as Cadence is being flanked by Celestia and Rarity to go on a date.
The pay is high but so is the amount of effort needed to do what they are doing. This is certainly quite the establishment and the way you keep track of all the details is simply astounding! There is just so much to keep in mind to keep a complex tale like this going but you do it and you do it well.
I liked the discussion of various currencies and how Spike handles them. I also like how we get to see how Spike genuinely misses his grandfather. We also notice more of what drives Spike to do what he does as, like Celestia said, he wouldn't need to work at all but does it because it is something he genuinely loves and believes in doing.
There is also the interesting degree of research you see that Spike has done. He's certainly quite scholarly. He also has some serious mad skills as he intercepted that wayward crayon.
The discussion between Cadence and Celestia was also quite great. I like how you took a very fresh approach to King Sombra and Nightmare Moon.
It shall be fun seeing Rarity's reaction to Cadence asking Spike out. Though, if she does it when they close, Rarity should not find out. I also have a good inkling that Spike and Cadence will 'try' to hide it but Rarity will see that there is much to be suspicious of.
What is admirable is how humble the characters are despite having all the money they do. Cadence is making epic pay and could be living quite lavishly beyond driving a little Honda. Though perhaps spike has wore off on her and she is stowing away her earnings for a rainy day?
There is a lot of room for development in so many directions. You could spin-off plots like crazy with all you have established. So I very much applaud you for the amount of attention to detail you've given this story.
This is one of those stories that, once you do finish it, I would encourage you to make a physical copy of through a publisher, like Lulu.com. This is the sort of work that should not solely exist in digital form.
10023723
Dude, seriously, thanks for the support, but it's not that good in my opinion. It's just a story that I write in my free time.
Wow Tad, you really know how to make Spike popular with the girls. I'm impressed.
10023833
Dude, I'll by a hard copy in a heart beat.