My name is Aerohead, I've roamed Equestria for most of my adult life. I've seen the blistering cold of the northern mountains near the Crystal Empire. I've wandered the scorching deserts within the lands of the zebra, and I've walked in the dark, beast infested grove called the "Everfree Forest." I was never the kind of pony that stayed in one place for too long and I didn't want to be. Not until recently at least; I had not long ago made the choice that all this wondering, while exciting and fun, wouldn't lead me anywhere later on in my life, so I needed to find a place to settle down, find some work, and eventually start on a career. I once learned of a small town called Ponyville, which seemed like it was a decent place to live, not too much going on, and the princess of friendship lives there so I suppose that crime wouldn't be a big problem.
I wandered into the town half asleep, nearly exhausted from days of walking to the town itself: I had come from Las Pegasus on hoof and had spent all my bits on food and water. As I came into Ponyville I took notice of all the ponies conversing, which seemed a little odd to me, most cities I've been to everypony kept to themselves, Ponyville was much smaller than those cities though and small towns do have the perk where everypony knows each other. I stopped close to the city hall to take a drink of water from my canteen, and with that sip I had used the last of my water. As the canteen emptied itself, the cold refreshing liquid ran down my dry throat. Right away I began to sweat, drinking the remainder of my water wasn't enough, I was still dehydrated. I swore under my breath as I began to look around for a river or a shop I could buy some water from. Roaming through the town I stumbled across a vibrantly colored pegasus, a mare judging by the mane length; maybe she knew of somewhere to get water, or some kind of drink.
"Excuse me miss," I addressed her,though she seemed bit preoccupied laying back on a gray cloud overhead
"Hey! You, up there!" I shouted, but again she didn't respond. My wings were still sore from flying so much while on my travels here, and I wasn't sure if I had the strength to fly up there.
"Damn it," I muttered under my breath. There had to be some way I could get this pony's attention, so I began to look around for something I could use. On the ground I found a strange rock, it seemed bigger than most and the perfect one to use to get this pony to answer me. I had the whole scenario play out in my head, she'd feel the rock hit her head and she'd turn around to see who threw it, and I could ask her where I can get a drink before I pass out. I threw the rock, and like I had planned out, it hit her right in the head. The mare jumped in surprise, and looked around, almost like I had disturbed her from a nap.
"Ow, what the fuck?!" She yelled out, turning where she felt the rock came from, glaring right at me, she was visibly angry,
"Hey, you okay? No brain damage?" I inquired jokingly. She only looked more furious, to the point where I thought she was going to kill me for interrupting her nap. She stared me down for a few minutes before immediately bursting into laughter.
"Nice one kid! I didn't see it coming, not from a mile away!" She laughed and even fell over on her little cloud
"Well now that I have your attention, I'm dehydrated, and I've just run out of water. Do you know anywhere around here where I can get a drink?" She nodded, and pushed the cloud right above me. I tilted my head confused, as she flew back onto the cloud and jumped on it. The single tiny rain cloud pouring on top of me, soaking my mane and coat. None the less I left my mouth wide open, not sure if it would work, which it did. At last the mare came down onto the ground with me.
"Thanks for the drink" I said, wiping my mane out of my eyes, it wasn't the way I was expecting to quench my thirst, but it worked.
"I'm Aerohead, by the way." I told her thinking it was polite to give my name after she had saved me from drought and before asking hers.
"I'm Rainbow Dash, you've probably heard of me. I am the most famous pony in Ponyville after all." She boasted. I was sure she might have had a reputation here in Ponyville, though I hadn't heard of her. I chose to humor her anyway.
"Very nice to meet you Rainbow Dash, What do you do around here?" She looked up at the cloud she used to soak me, which had gone from a deep, dark, grey color, to a pure and bright white.
"I manage the weather with the other pegasi." I looked up into the sky, the single cloud she was resting on was the only cloud in the sky.
"Hey Rainbow, would you happen to know any place for me to stay around here? I just came into town and I was hoping to settle down." She looked around at various buildings and then back to me
"What's your price range?" She asked, as though she was selling me a home. With a smile I replied
"Somewhere around the high end of nothing." She chuckled a little,
"Well buddy, it seems that you need to find yourself a job." We shared a moment of laughter,
"Can you get me a job at the weather factory?"
"Have any skills?" she replied, I felt that was a question that anypony would have to ask if I asked them the same question.
"Travel and navigation." I answered proudly
"Well that does qualify you for one position," she said raising a forehoof, "but we only have one mop." she fell over laughing at her own joke, finding it hard to breathe for a moment. I found the joke amusing but she was right. I didn't have any skills that would land me a job anywhere in town. I sighed,
"Very funny. Is there anyplace in town hiring, that has more than one mop?" Rainbow stopped laughing finally and answered
"I'm sure there's at least one place that'll let you do some work for them, just keep looking,. Ponies are always hiring around here." I smiled and nodded, grateful for her advice. I walked past her and started heading toward the northern section of town. Before I made it too far, Rainbow caught up with me yelling out
"Hey uhh... Aerohead! Wait a sec!" She came flying up to me as if she needed to tell me something important.
"Whoa, slow down there Rainbow, where's the fire?" I replied
"I forgot to tell you, there are two places I know might be looking for some extra work!" This came to me as good news, though having heard sooner would have been preferable, I suppose it's my fault for not asking.
"Really? Where?" I asked excitedly thinking she practically saved me the trouble of having to look all over town .
"My friend Applejack runs an apple farm just outside of town, I'm sure she'll be glad to pay you in exchange for some chores. She might even let you stay with her, at least until you find an affordable place of your own." Farm work was never really my forte but I was more than willing to give it a shot.
"And what's the other place?" I asked.
"Another friend of mine, Pinkie Pie, lives above a bakery called Sugar Cube Corner. I think they need an extra set of hooves to help out. Help carry orders, deliver, take a few orders, y'know? That kinda thing." that seemed likes something I could do, it would help me get to know the lay of the town and meet these ponies. Besides all my travels make travel on hoof and by flight easy I could make those deliveries in time.
"Do you think you could take me to meet this Pinkie Pie?" I asked, not too keen on wandering around aimlessly.
"Sure thing, just follow-" she was cut short by a sudden cotton-candy colored pony. As if from nowhere she jumped in front of us and started talking a mile a minute,
"HiI'mPinkiepieandIheardthatyouwerelookingforajobatSugecubeCorneranditjustsohappensIlivethereandIknowthattheCakeshavebeenreallybusyand-" the onslaught was intrupted By Rainbow shoveing her hoof in her mouth.
"Pinkie, remember when we talked about how ponies can't understand you when you do that?" The hyperactive pink pony nodded and replied with a "Mhmm" Rainbow approached her, getting up in her space, though pinkie didn't seem to mind.
"Aerohead probably didn't understand a single word you said. So for the sake of not melting our brains, take a deep breath and talk normally. Capishe?" Again, she responded with a muffled "Mhmm" Slowly, the mare took her hoof away from the pink pony's face.
"Hey Dash, I think you stepped in something!" She tasted around in her mouth for a bit
"Oh, you definitely stepped in something!" she exclaimed. With a sigh Rainbow looked at her hoof and grunted. The pink pony turned to me, getting uncomfortably close.
"Hi!" She said briefly.
"Uh... Hello?" I replied back to her. I took a step back so that she wasn't in my face.
"My name is Pinkie Pie! What's yours?" she leaned forward slightly, a wide grin glued permanently on her face. I cleared my throat in an attempt to gather my thoughts and respond to her fast paced conversation.
"I am Aerohead, I just came into town and was hoping to settle down." She giggled and poked my chest
"You just made a rhyme!"
"Uhh... thanks, I guess? A-anyway, I was hoping to settle down, but in order to do that, I'm gonna need a job. According to Rainbow Dash you are hiring over at the bakery, correct?" I asked her, hoping that she would pay enough attention to answer my question.
"Yeah! The Cakes have been so busy lately since the summer started! We've been looking for somepony to help us!" She exclaimed. She was overly happy and excited and seemed a little too friendly to meet a stranger.
"I'll help!" I retorted hoping she'll let me work for her and the baker's she lives with.
"OH MY GOSH!" She yelled as though she had just realized something very important.
"What? what is it?" I asked in a panic.
"Two pages ago, you said that you're new here, and I need to welcome you to Ponyville the Pinkie Pie way!" I tried to wrap my brain around what she had said, and had no clue what she was talking about
"Wait, two... pages ago?" I shook my head bringing my thoughts back into reality. I figured she must have overheard me when I mentioned it before. I cleared my throat,
"Nah you don't have to do that, just working for you and the Cake's will be welcome enough. Besides, no pony would come to a party welcoming a stranger like me, no pony here knows me... well, except for you and Rainbow Dash."
"Everypony loves a party! We'll throw a Welcome-to-The-Sugar-Cube-Corner-Employment party!" She shouted. I wondered to myself why she was so intent on throwing a party in my honor, I hadn't even done anything other than ask for a job. But before I knew it Pinkie Pie whisked me away, she even managed to carry me all the way to her bakery. She zoomed through the town, taking me through a marketplace, and past a very elegant and circular building, it almost seemed like a carousel, though Pinkie was going far too fast for me too see what it actually was. Finally we arrived, and judging by the amount of turns Pinkie took and from where I started from, she had taken me to the western part of the town. The Bakery was fairly large, and seemed like somepony could definitely live in its second story. The mare walked into the store with her front left leg wrapped around me.
"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Where the best sweets in Equestria are sold!" I struggled for second to try and break free from her constricting grasp, but to no avail. She pulled me to a table and showed me around the room
"This is the main dining area, where ponies eat their treats if they don't want to take them home, but who can blame them? I'd live here if I could!" I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Oh wait..." She paused for a moment, something I thought to be impossible. Then almost immediately she whisked me away again to the back behind the counter where two earth ponies were preparing some pastries and other confectioneries.
"This is the kitchen, where we bake all delicious sweets and treats." She brought me closer to a skinnier yellow stallion
"That's Mr. Cake!" She pointed to a chubbier light blue mare
"And that's ." The two ponies waved hello, and before I could react she quickly brought me to a back room, with a massive taffy stretcher
"And this is where we make the taffy! Careful not to get your tail caught in there, you'll be stretched along with the taffy!" I didn't even try to say anything as I knew what was to come next. The mare again pulled me out of the back room and up a flight of stairs and right in front of a closed door she 'shushed' me and whispered
"That's where the babies are sleeping, Pound and Pumpkin Cake. So be quiet." Still in her grasp she tiptoed to another closed door, her voice still in a whisper she said
"This is Mr. and Mrs. Cake's room, I'm not even allowed to go in." I was starting to get bored and tired of this, so I attempted to interject and ask when I could start. However I was interrupted by her shoving her hoof in my mouth, similar to how Rainbow Dash did before.
"Shhhh, don't wake the babies up." She tiptoed to the other side of the hall and opened a closed door, very slowly. Finally when it was opened she threw me into the room, sending me crashing onto a large armoire. She quickly shut the door, hearing if the crash had woken the toddlers. After a brief moment Pinkie sighed a breath of relief.
"Good thing the babies aren't light sleepers! Seriously they could sleep through a hurricane!" Annoyed that she went through the trouble to not make a noise in the hallway I asked her
"Then why did we have to stay so silent?" She responded with a giggle and a noogie
"Cause I like messing with other ponies! It's all in good fun!" I sighed realizing that she really meant no harm. At last when she let me go I had a chance to ask her.
"So Pinkie, when can I start?" With a grin she pulled me into a tight hug, practically squeezing my insides.
"You start today silly! and once your shift is over we're going to throw you a welcoming party!" She dropped me and said
"Follow me, we need to get your uniform and your paperwork out of the way." Pinkie trotted out of her room, as I followed her not far behind, She came to the staircase and slid down the banister. As we slid down she let out a high pitched "WHEEEE," as she landed at the bottom of the stairs she called up to me
"C'mon Aero, slide down the banister! It's fun!" I had never slid down anything like this before and was worried I'd smash into something if I did, but to please the mare I chose to do it anyway. As I climbed onto the banister slowly, to start sliding down, I called out to Pinkie
"Like this?" Before I knew what was going on I was heading down the stairs at a phenomenal speed. I was facing away from Pinkie, and had no idea how close I was to the ground floor. Eventually I felt my hooves reach the ground as I came to a halt. I turned to Pinkie who smiled at me.
"Not bad, but I think you missed the landing." She held up a sign that had a large number five on it. Not even bothering to question where she got that sign from I cleared my throat and replied.
"Thank you, now I believe we need to talk to the Cakes about my employment." I started to make my way to the kitchen hoping to talk with them for a bit. I entered the kitchen and tapped 's shoulder
"Pardon me sir, I believe Pinkie Pie told me that you were the one to talk to about the job."
"Yes, that's me, I assume she told you what your duties will be?" He was covered in flour and some pieces of dough covering his face.
"I was told that I would be making some deliveries, and taking a few orders, working around here, things like that." He nodded as he listened to my answer.
"Have you had any experience in making deliveries before?" He asked me, I felt as though this was the interview starting on the spot.
"Well, I used to be a nomad, and I did carry a few messages for a few caravans, I suppose you could call that making deliveries." He smiled as I told him about my past. He nodded and asked me
"And how often did you make the deliveries on time?"
"Almost always." I replied. He eyed me warily before he stuck out his hoof and smiled warmly at me and declared
"Welcome aboard young colt, You'll be starting first thing tomorrow morning!" I smiled and shook his hoof
"Thank you sir I look forward to working for you." I politely responded. I left the building grinning ear to ear as I flew up into the sky, performing a small flip, finding a soft cloud to rest on.
"A few more nights and I won't have to be sleeping on clouds anymore!" I exclaimed to myself.