Prologue - The Offer
Nicholas allowed the door to slam behind him as he entered his room, the rucksack hanging off of his shoulder being unslung rather forcefully onto the floor beside his bed. The contours of the bed welcomed him, the sheets doing their job perfectly, hugging him tightly as he sank into the mattress.
His hands were quick to find their place on his face, covering his eyes and only granting the barest traces of light through his fingers. He would be ashamed to admit, even to himself, that he felt the wet touch of tears on his skin. Crying was something reserved for things like loved ones passing away, or finding love unrequited, not failing to get a job. This was nothing. Zip, zelch. So infinitesimally small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things that he shouldn’t even have spared it any thought.
People were turned down all the time. It was something he should have expected. He should have just known, the second he walked into that office, that he wasn’t going to get the job. Why pick the weird, dark-skinned creature, when one could pick from a pool of young, talented, pony candidates? He should have just known.
Why? Because this was not the first time this had happened. This was, in fact, only the most recent failure in a long line of failures to find a job. While the reasonings for why they wouldn’t hire him were always slightly varied, the gist was always the same: We want normal employees who are not going to scare fellow employees or drive away customers. Every time, he had gone in with the highest of hopes and every time, those hopes had been shattered. So much so, that he now found himself crying on his borrowed bed in his borrowed room like a baby.
Whatever happened to helping yourself so others don’t have too? he thought with a self-deprecating frown on his face. Get up, you lazy bastard! We have to keep looking. Why? Because if he didn’t, he would become a freeloader, just like his father. To the tune of that thought, he had only two words in response: Screw. That.
With that invigorating thought to spur him, he dropped his hands from his face and sat up on the bed. He just had to keep looking. That was the key. Massaging his temples with a heavy sigh, he lifted himself from the bed, making sure to straighten out the many creases and shift the slightly tilted lamp on his nightstand back to its correct orientation.
He knew exactly where the problem lay. He didn’t want to stock shelves or push carts or pick apples. He wanted something better, something more. His father had just called it ambition, but he saw it for what it really was: Pickiness. A way in which a part of his father had expressed itself within him. Something that he would firmly deny, but deep down, knew was true.
Shaking his head, a hand did a once-over of his face to confirm that there was no remaining moisture on his face. Once it’s scan was done and all the tears were rounded up and deposited unkindly onto the floor, he did his best to smile and walked out of his room, into the library proper.
The crisp scent of fresh paper hit him, making his body relax slightly. He always did like the smell of books. He stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled down the stairs, in search of his purple, nerdy, unicorn friend and housemate.
He found her lounging on the couch, her hooves tucked neatly under her as she read a scroll which was being levitated only inches from her face. Her ears twitched slightly, but never turned his way. It was the perfect opportunity.
Creeping up behind her, he brought his mouth right up next to her ear. “Hey Twili—” And that was all it took to make her leap, sending her tumbling off the couch, the scroll lazily floating downwards, coming to a rest on her head.
Several moments of silence passed before she finally got back onto her hooves, shaking the scroll off her head. She fixed him with a vicious pout and attacked his ears with adorable whines. “Niki~! Why do you always do that!”
“Because you always have the best reactions,” he chuckled, picking up the scroll and opening it wide, eyes scanning it thoroughly. “Tea prices soar as two-dozen tons of tea are purchased by the Crown? I didn’t know you followed the newspaper, Twilight.”
She huffed, wrenching the scroll from his grasp with a flare of her horn. “I don’t follow the newspaper, I just like to stay informed.”
He raised his hands up defensively with a teasing grin. “Hey, that’s fine. Nothing wrong with keeping up on current events.” Moving around the side of the couch, he crashed onto it where he patted the space next to him, signaling for Twilight to sit next to him. Hesitantly, she crawled up onto the couch, placing the back of her head against his outstretched arm.
Unconsciously, he played with her ears as she kept on reading her newspaper. His mind wandered to his previous breakdown. He felt his cheeks flush slightly at the memory. He really needed to get himself sorted out, he couldn't—wouldn’t be caught in one of his funks, by anyone. His pride wouldn’t allow it. That still led to him having to tell Twilight that he had failed yet again to acquire a job that paid more than minimum wage and that it was back to stocking shelves with him. Not that she would get mad at him—she never had before, but he still felt like he was letting her down in some fashion. She covered practically all of his living expenses besides food, which even still she insisted on paying for at times. Truly, she was a saint and too kind for her own good.
Nicholas felt her head twist under his grasp and suddenly he was looking into her eyes, the look on her face being one of remembrance. “I totally forgot to ask you.” she gasped in embarrassment. “How did your interview go…” Pausing, her gaze dropped when she saw the look in his eyes. “No luck, huh?”
“Not this time,” he said, shaking his head. “Guess being a chef isn’t on my star chart. Maybe I’ll poke around the marketplace, see what I can find.”
Twilight remained silent for a moment, before letting out a breath gazing up into his eyes. “Would it make you mad if I told you I’m glad you didn’t get the job?” Her cheeks lit up from within, coating her lavender fur with a nice shade of violet.
“Umm,” he cleared his throat and retracted his arm, to scratch behind his neck. “Well, it doesn’t make me feel like sunshine and rainbows, if that’s what you're asking. Do you mind if I ask you why?”
She sheepishly pawed at the couch with a hoof. “Well, I saw how little success you were having in finding a job you enjoyed, and I noticed how unhappy it was making you, so I might have asked Princess Celestia if there was an open position at the Castle…?”
He felt his breath hitch for a second. A job working in the Canterlot Castle, where the Princess Celestia resided? That sounded… great, actually. He turned to her. “And what did she say?” He asked with baited breath. Maybe he would score in as the royal chef or the court jester or something along those lines. Or at least, that is what he hoped for, however unlikely that was to occur.
“She said you’d be working as her royal advisor, following her around to meetings and standing with her during court, helping her make decisions towards the betterment of the country,” Twilight said. “And in case you have any doubts about anything, she noted that all costs of living would be covered under the Crown Budget.”
Nicholas took a moment to ponder before responding with a smile, pulling Twilight into a hug.
“Where do I sign up?”
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Sorry for any confusion, it was not supposed to be complete
Well, it appears life isn't always ideal on Equestria eitheir...
It is a good start - lad, you may have bitten way more than you could chew. Can you deal with the nobles, the VIP, the movers and shakers of Canterlot?
We shall see!
Are you sure you're not Cackling Moron, only posting under a new screen name and having knowledge of how to add an image to the story?
10430206
As far I know, Cackling Moron do mostly Slice of Life with much random-sillyness.....
Good start, no grammar issues. Let's see where this takes us.
10430206
I am the alt created before the original.
Moar pls
Pretty well-written thus far, nice start. Looking forward to more.
nice start
In one paragraph it is stated:
I think the following paragraph bed should be couch:
Overall off to a good start, will track and see how the story develops.
10430551
Fixed, thank you!
Interesting start so far, really looking forward to seeing more!!
I'm in! good set up so far, a little rushed BUT... just a prologue. so I'm in !
Nice little prologue. I'm in
10430206
Nah, it couldn't be him, this guy knows how to use the romance tag.
10430206
10430904
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/480/280/138.jpg
Also this is laying the groundwork for my idea of a good time!
Not that I have any particular favourites.
10430559
This is very nice, can’t wait to see where this goes
I see greatness in your story, keep it up.
Excellent! Perfect hook to keep the reader interested, great grammar and sentence structure as well for an easy and pleasant read. Keep it up!
WHEN WILL THERE BE MORE!
Wholesome romance is my guilty pleasure, comes with being a sad loner I guess.
Ohh a story with a black main character, dont see many of those here, now I am interested.
I am the Ersatz Hardonirac!
No
But I'll likely enjoy this story, I mean I already like it so far
10432491
Not a bad start. You've definitely shown you know how to write. Do keep going!
10432645
I'm trying to finalize some of my other stories at the moment, but as soon as everything is taken care of, I can guarantee you will be seeing more of this story!
10431617
You know I'm right, you no romance tagging goblin!
I'm intrigued so far...
I'm liking this thus far!
That hook in the prologue, my goodness it's so GOOD! Absolutely everything about this looks fantastic and I have a strong feeling that this going further down the line is simply going to make it even more fantastic! Hope ya didn't mind, but I just needed to make a reading on the prologue!
Audio Linky!: https://youtu.be/5tBo4I4rbLA
(I don't mean to offend anyone with this comment in any way!)
10434102
No way! You are simply the best person ever. Thank you so much!
Oooh, this looks promising.
Best of luck with this, I'll definitely stick around.
I'm into this.
Can’t wait for more!!
I like that we are introduced to the characters and setting after whatever event or circumstance brought a human into Equestria, and that we see him already established and somewhat accepted. Too many of these types of stories lose me in the first chapter when the human lands in Equestria because my eyes glaze over when an attempt is made to normalize the shock such a situation would create within the first chapter.
The hook was nicely relatable and it looks like you’re off to a good start. I’m looking forward to seeing where this leads.
Hope you update this story soon :)
It's quite rare to find a story about Celestia and the local human
I'm quite excited to see what you pull off!
Sorry folks, one more day before update. Just making sure I'm not releasing you people complete shite for a chapter!
10462656
Found this in the also liked, piqued my interest, hope it's good!! ^^
I like I so far!... Kinda hits hard considering I've felt the same way as the main character.
pog
The chapter felt very short, but it was well managed, although I would have liked it to be longer, the introduction was good, a perfect fit in information and good writing quality did the trick.
That's... kinda pathetic
Kinda reminds me of Charlie Young from the West Wing. He just wanted a messenger job and instead became personal aid to the President of the United States.
I didn’t know that was possible.
Is Crown the name of a character?
10486884
Well, you just saw it done, so now you know that it is, in fact, possible.
The Crown is in direct reference to Celestia, so I assumed it was supposed to be capitalized.
This needs a lot of chapters
If you quit this story or possibly start a cancellation on this story which most authors do and I honestly find it infuriating. Anyway quitting this story will be a shame and people will realize you only create short chapters therefore no one is going to have the enthusiasm to read your new “Fanfic” story because they probably are coming too the conclusion that it will be only a 2-3 chapter Fanfic.