Disparate Youth by Santigold

Hey guys, what's cracking? Today, we explore the day of Nightmare Night. You know, before the actual episode and all that jazz. So from this point of the story forward, the chapters are going to be more aligned to the episodes, with a few things sprinkled about here and there. Not much will be changed, except for a few minor details. Like Twilight's costume, which in the show was actually made by Twilight herself, but what I did here made it more convenient for myself. So this story's probably going to be between 30-35 chapters. I've enjoyed all of the 'theories' about Twenty-Three. I'm glad I can keep people intrigued. Speaking of people, thanks are in order. Thank you Vibrant Sound, SoloAcrobat6 (but go fuck yourself too), DragonLord RyuKizoku and Firehart90210. Anyways, let's get this chapter out of the way.

After a few minutes, Twenty-Three got up from his place on the bathroom floor and reached over to turn off the sink. He noticed that water had gotten all over the counter and sighed. Grabbing a towel from the single rack in the bathroom, he laid it on the counter top to soak up the water. When that was done he dried his face, which was still wet. After he had dried most of it, he looked back into his reflection and saw that his pupils had stopped contracting.

After leaving the bathroom, Twenty-Three walked downstairs and made his way to the kitchen. He grabbed some cereal he had bought, only to remember that he didn't buy any milk. He shrugged and grabbed a spoon before eating the cereal straight from the box. It wasn't anything fancy, just normal bran cereal. He put it back after eating about half of the box. He looked down at the spoon in his hoof. Thinking for a moment, he set it down on a table and stared at it intensely. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and began focusing on his magic. He felt the spark. His magic activated and he opened his eyes.

He went back to staring at the spoon intensely. He tried to grasp it, not with his hoof, but with his magic. The spoon had a white flickering glow surround it, but the moment it appeared it would fade out again almost immediately. He focused harder, noticing that the peripherals of his vision were beginning to go fuzzy. The glow surrounding the spoon began solidifying into an aura. It didn't cover the spoon wholly though and would still flicker. He blinked as his vision was almost entirely out of focus. He shook his head, but that didn't help at all. He was about to try to move the spoon, but everything began moving instead. His side crashed onto something. Probably the ground. He drew in a breath, realizing hadn't been breathing at all. He panted as he brought a hoof up to his forehead. He was sweating again. With his other hoof he tried to grasp for something, eventually finding a… chair. He used the chair to bring himself off the ground. He stood on all four hooves, but he was noticeably swaying. He half-walked, half-stumbled to the stairs and climbed them. By the time he reached the top, he had recovered completely. He walked to the window that was next to his bed and stared out towards the streets of Ponyville.

But he wasn't seeing Ponyville, he was seeing the streets of Paris from his quarters. He shook his head, clearing that from his thoughts.

"I need to do something today… didn't Twilight say something about today being… what was it called again? Nightmare Night? I think it was that. Maybe I should join them… I hope I wouldn't be out of place", he said, looking away from the window. He looked around his bedroom, before his gaze fell onto the application. He stared at it a bit, before nodding. He grabbed his brush from his bag and ran it through his mane several times. He put it back before going into the bathroom and brushing his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror. He remembered hearing that ponies who smiled more frequently were more approachable. He stared at his reflection for a bit… it wasn't going to happen today. He fished a scarf out of his travel bag and wrapped it around his neck in a standard Europony loop. He turned away and grabbed his application, tucking it into his scarf, before leaving the house.

Twenty-Three walked through the streets of Ponyville which were beginning to become lively. He walked along the route he had vaguely remembered as he was slowly remembering the layout of the town as each day went by. He looked up to the sky and admired how nice of a day it was. In fact, looking back on his short time here, all of the days were damn near perfect. He remembered once hearing a rumor that Equestrians controlled the weather. He had always dismissed, but now he was reconsidering.

"Loooooook oooouuuuut!" A voice yelled, grabbing Twenty-Three's attention. He turned towards the direction of the voice. His vision turned pink before something slammed into him and he was sent tumbling on the ground. He sat up and clutched his head as it was ringing. He tried to get his bearings, but the world wouldn't stop tilting back and forth. No, wait, the world didn't do that. He shook his head and blinked hard several times. He got up, feeling a slight ache in his left foreleg. He looked around to find what had crashed into him. He saw a pink mare still sitting on the ground, looking like she was still trying to get her bearings straight. He walked towards but paused as he looked her over again. Pink mare, cotton candy mane and tail, balloons. This was Pinkamena Diane Pie, or commonly called Pinkie Pie by Celestia, the Element of… Laughter? He continued his approach and offered a hoof towards the mare who looked up at him after noticing his hoof.

"My apologies miss, I got lost in the clouds. Are you hurt?" He asked her. She stared at him… for quite a length of time. Suddenly, she gasped and jumped up, startling Twenty-Three. She then galloped away, continuing wherever she had been headed before. "Huh… That was not what I expected her to be like. Celestia made her sound so much more… wild."

With a shrug of his shoulders he went back on his way, quickly double-checking to make sure his application was still tucked into his scarf. He found his way towards Rarity's workplace… or home. He guessed it depended on the reason for visiting the establishment. He walked up to the door and found it unlocked again. He found it strange she left her business/home unlocked so often, especially since her business was closed. He opened the door, causing the light jingle to echo out. Twenty-Three paused as he waited for Rarity to show up.

"I swear, it is the day of Nightmare Night. If anypony actually expects me to make a fabulous costume in time then they are-" Twenty-Three heard Rarity mumble before she appeared on the second story where they met eyes. "Oh, it's you."

"Yes. I filled out the paper that you had wanted me to fill out. Or at least most of it", he replied. She seemed surprised.

"Oh… well, I guess I can take a look at it now", she said, walking down the flight of stairs. She took the paper from his grasp with her magic and began reading it. She only had glanced at it for several seconds before noticing something. "... You've written this all in Prench?"

"Yes, oh... can you not read it?" He asked, now realizing the problem of a possible language barrier.

"No, I can. I was just surprised. So you only speak Equestrian?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"No, I also read it. Just can't write it", he answered. Rarity paused for a moment before turning towards Twenty-Three. She met his gaze and held it for another few moments. He could see clearly that there was confusion in her eyes. Before he could ask, she looked away, looked back and then opened her mouth like she was going to say something but paused. She shook her head and went back to looking at his application.

"So your name is actually Twenty-Three?" She asked him. He hesitated. Well… technically it wasn't. But…

"Yes, my name really is Twenty-Three", he said, even nodding in confirmation. She 'hmm'd in response before reading on. She muttered to herself his responses as she read before stopping at another section.

"You don't have a cutie mark?!" She practically yelled, no, she did yell it. At least that's what the ringing in his ears seemed to tell him.

"No, I don't. Does that present a problem?" He asked. She suddenly gasped and looked horrified.

"Oh no no no no, I didn't mean anything by that! I was just… surprised, is all", she said in a panic while waving her forelegs frantically. Twenty-Three was taken aback. Did she think she… offended him? He just assumed having the mark was beneficial to getting a job since everypony that worked seemed to have one thinking back to what he had seen.

"You're fine. I was just curious", he said, trying to reassure her more than anything. She exhaled and seemed to calm down.

"Sorry dear, I didn't mean to be so insensitive", she said. So she did think that she offended him… the lack of cutie marks must be a sensitive topic. He made a mental note of that for future reference.

"It's fine. Really", he assured. She nodded and went back to looking at his application. It didn't take long though for her find something else that needed to be discussed.

"You put here, that you have no educational history… does that mean that you've never gone to school?" She asked him. He nodded. "N-Not even elementary school?"

"No, you see…" He put a hoof to his chin as he thought of an explanation. "Not everypony in Prance has the opportunity to get a formal education. I was forced to work since a young age and never had the time to go to school. However, I assure you that I can do basic math and I like to think that I can hold an intelligent conversation with another pony."

"I was just asking… Oh my, I can't believe I forgot to ask this, do you know how to sew?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yes, I was often asked to repair things. Usually because I was the closest pony to ask I guess", he said, nodding in confirmation. Rarity brought a hoof to her chin in thought. Suddenly, she had a look like a light bulb had gone off in her head.

"Wait here for but a moment", she said before getting up and walking back upstairs. Twenty-Three took the opportunity to look around her workplace. The interior design was actually very well done and had probably been done by Rarity herself. At least, that's what the color scheme seemed to say. His eyes were distracted by something sparkling in his peripherals. Turning, he saw a chest filled- no, it was practically overflowing with jewels and gems. He walked over to it and picked up a sapphire to inspect it. He confirmed that it was in fact real, as was the emerald he picked up afterwards. Several more tests revealed that all of these were actually real. Twenty-Three tilted his head in an instinctual habit of confusion. With how big the chest was and the varying jewels, he assumed that Rarity had to be one of the wealthiest ponies in Ponyville. Maybe even in Equestria. There certainly weren't many nobles in Prance who had this number of valuable gems sitting around.

His thoughts were broken as he heard hoofsteps. He turned, but briefly glanced back at the chest, and went back to where he had been. Rarity came down with a dress in her magical grip. It was, at least in Twenty-Three's opinion, a pretty casual dress that looked much tamer than the ones he had seen before. Rarity brought it down for herself as she inspected the waist area of the dress before ripping it. The sound caused him to jump a little bit as he saw her study the rip before nodding satisfactorily. She hoofed him the dress.

"Fix it", she basically commanded. "You can use anything you find here in the workshop."

He looked between her and the now torn dress. She dismissively waved.

"Oh don't worry about it. Went out of style a couple of weeks ago, I've just been too busy with orders to toss it", she said. Twenty-Three shrugged nonchalantly and went about looking around the workplace. He found some thread that was very similar in color and a needle. Rarity was surprised when he deftly threaded the needle with his hooves alone. He then spent close to five minutes to stitch the dress. He found scissors to cut the thread and considered his work done. He handed it back to Rarity for her to examine.

"Well… I'm actually rather surprised. You're very skilled and very adept with your hooves. I don't think I saw you use magic once", she noted as she studied the stitching.

"Oh, that's because I can't use magic", he quipped. She promptly dropped the dress and her jaw was agape as she stared at him.

"B-But you're a unicorn!" She finally got out. He nodded.

"That is true", he simply stated. She seemed at a loss for word for several moments before something clicked in her mind.

"Is that why you're taking magic lessons from Twilight?" She asked him.

"Yeah", he answered. Rarity put a hoof to her chin before sighing and dropping it.

"Well, after seeing your work, I honestly don't see a reason not to hire you. Now, how about we discuss your pay. What are looking for?" She asked him.

"Money", he answered confidently.

"N-No, I meant how much. What else would I pay you in?" She asked him, getting her thoughts derailed. Twenty-Three shrugged.

"Bread", he said. Rarity stifled a laugh.

"Oh don't be ridiculous", she said. "Anyways, I can give you a… five percent commission for any help you do for all of my dresses. My dresses usually sell for between 700 and 900 bits but I also do special orders where I once made a 3,500 bit sale. I usually do several dresses a week so you'll be earning about 140 bits a week at the lowest. Does that sound fair to start off with?"

"So you'll be paying me money?" He asked her. She looked at him in surprise.

"... Yes", she responded.

"Then I'll take it", he said, nodding. Rarity hesitated for a bit.

"Well, since I've been doing special Nightmare Night orders for the past few days and I closed the shop, I should be pretty busy with orders for the next couple of weeks. So would you like to start tomorrow?" She asked him. He nodded in reply. "Excellent, dear."

She nodded as well and sat there as he stared at her. They sat in awkward silence for several moments before speaking up.

"Uh… was there anything else you wanted to ask me?" She asked. Twenty-Three brought his hoof to his chin, which was quickly becoming his universal sign for thinking.

"Oh, where are the rest of the Elements gathering tonight? I'd like to meet them", he asked.

"Hm… well, I'm not entirely sure. I was honestly considering tucking in for the night. After working so much I am feeling quite exhausted. Though I believe I remember Applejack is holding an apple bob station. I'm sure Rainbow Dash though will be going around pranking ponies as usual. Pinkie Pie will no doubt be trick-or-treating with kids and Fluttershy probably won't even leave her house tonight, the poor dear. I'm not sure what Twilight plans on doing, but she should let you tag along with her", she explained. Twenty-Three nodded in understanding. He turned around to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow then", he called as he walked out. Rarity sighed once he left. Then she remembered about the dress she was holding. She looked at it and grimaced a little before throwing it into the discard pile she kept. She usually tried to recycle what fabric she could for future projects. She began climbing back up the stairs to go lie down.

"Look at you Rarity, hiring an employee. Making it further, one small step at a time", she said to herself contentedly.

Yeah, I know. I'm barely cutting it with this chapter being on time. Yeah, I know. It's pretty much filler, sorry. Yeah, I know. It's pretty short. I get it, I get it. But I feel like I have plenty of justification for being almost late. I had finals last month so there's that. And before people are like 'but Spring Break', I go to school in a different state so I'm sorry that I spent my break with the friends and family that I literally never see anymore. And in February I wrote 3 whole chapters for 3 different stories despite that I said I'd stick to 2 stories at a time. But understand, 2 of the stories aren't actually mine. I'm basically just writing them for a friend so I don't really count them that much. If you like my style of writing then go to eaod2000's page and check them out if you want… just don't expect an update for either of them soon. Anyways, excuses aside, I'll try to get back to updating early in the month. Um… oh, please leave a review, I'd like to remind that constructive criticism is welcomed. In fact! I have a question that I'd like to be answered. Am I making the actual characters too OOC? Rarity's obviously going to be a fairly relevant character and I want to make sure she isn't super OOC. So please leave a review on what you think. Sorry for the late update and this long ass AN.

~Djsoresupon3 signing out