The sound of water tapping on a ceramic tub filled the bathroom. Water tipped and tapped all over my body as I washed my body with excitement and nervousness. With one final rinse over my body, the soap fell to the waiting drain below.
Today was the day. Today was Monday, the day of my interview with the school board at the town hall, and I was making sure I was ready. I had my suit in my room, and other than me finishing everything was ready.
Turning the knob to the shower the water came to a trickle before it stopped. Pulling the shower curtains to the side, I noticed that my towel was on the door. Shrugging my shoulders, I used my magic to pull it to me. I grabbed it and I began to dry my body with it before wrapping it around my waist. Stepping out of the tub, I looked at my straggly hair in the mirror. Looking down, I saw a purple hairbrush. Picking it up, I started to brush and style my hair, straightening it and unknotting it.
Looking at myself in the mirror once again, my hair was no longer straggly and actually looked presentable. Looking at the brush, I picked out the silver strands of hair that had fallen out and threw them away before putting the brush where I had found it.
Looking away from the mirror, I put my towel back on the hanger as I grabbed a pair of underwear and put my legs through the holes before pulling them up. I then grabbed a pair of shorts and did the same as I did not want to walk around in nothing but a towel or my underwear.
Exiting the bathroom, I walked down the hallway into the main room of the library. Twilight was reading another book on myths and legends while lying on a large veneer of a window with a cushion on it. Spike was sweeping the wooden floor and turned to look at me.
"Well, hi Jack. I see you're done with your shower. How do you feel? Are you excited?" Spike asked.
"Hey Little Lizard Man. Yeah, I'm a bit excited, but I'm also very nervous. I want this to go well," I responded as Spike shook his head and Twilight turned to look at us.
A warm smile formed on Twilight's face as she spoke, "You'll do fine, Jack, no reason to be nervous."
Spike closed his eyes as he nodded, "She's right, man."
"I really hope so. But it is a big deal, so I reserve the right to be a bit nervous," I said as I walked past Spike.
"You going to put on your suit?" Twilight asked as she put a bookmark in the book she was reading.
"Yeah, it's the only thing that is missing right now," I responded as I walked toward the basement stairs.
"OH. I can't wait to see how you look in it," Twilight said with a giddy smile.
"I'll be back up in a second," I said as I started to walk down the stairs.
As I started to descend, I could hear the faintness of Twilight speaking to Spike," Spike...grab..."
Shrugging my shoulders, I entered my room and went straight for the bag atop my dresser. I had left the suit inside the bag so as not to get it dirty, so this was going to be my first time seeing how it looked. Taking off my shorts, I began to dig in the bag and pulled out a silk lavender button-up dress shirt. Unbuttoning the shirt, I placed it on my body and buttoned it back up.
Next, I pulled a pair of silver cotton dress pants. Carefully, I stuck my legs through them, making sure that they would not crease or wrinkle. Once the pants were fully up, I tucked the lavender shirt into the pants before reaching into the bag for the final item. Pulling up the silver cotton suit jacket, I unbuttoned the two buttons and placed it above the lavender shirt and turned around to look at myself in the mirror.
Looking at myself, I was impressed with how good I looked. The suit fit like a glove, and the mixture of silver and lavender really did look good. Looking over the suit, I noticed a bunch of small clear gems in the shape of a snowflake on my left chest. Looking a bit closer at the gems, I saw something I didn't expect to see.
"Well, that's two for two," I whispered under my breath.
The gems that were on my chest were the same exact gems that I had placed in the dream version of Stonehenge's core from last week. Looking at it, I ran my finger over them and they even felt the same. I then turned my back away from the mirror and back toward the dresser. On the dresser next to where the bag had been was the ring pulled from my dreams, the 'gift.'
Walking over to the dresser, I looked down at the ring before picking it up, feeling the cold black metal in my hands. Holding it in the palm of my hand, I felt the sudden urge to put it on that I had not felt yet. Resisting the urge, I set the ring back down before I turned around and walked out of my room.
As I started to climb the stairs, I heard faint whispers in the main room. As I took a step, the floor creaked, and the whispers stopped when I reached the top of the stairs. As I entered the main room, I was instantly blinded by a bright flash of light. I closed my eyes and started rubbing them before slightly opening them to see Twilight and Spike looking at me with smiles as Twilight held an old-timey camera in her magic.
"My eyes," I said as I continued to rub them.
"Oh… my… Celestia. Jack, you look… amazing," Twilight said as she walked up to me looking closer at the suit. "Wow Rarity really outdid herself."
"Of course she did, it's Rarity," Spike said with a lovesick smile as Twilight placed the camera in his claws.
"You're really going to knock some horseshoes off looking like this," Twilight said as she continued to circle me.
"I hope so, I really need to impress the school board," I said as I adjusted the cuffs of my suit.
"And you will. You've done a good job at doing it with everypony around you," Twilight said as she finished circling me.
"Really?" I asked as I cocked my head to the side slightly.
"Of course you have. But we'd best get going, you always want to be a bit early for meetings like this," Twilight said as she trotted over to the door.
"Yeah, you're right," I said as I walked over to the door.
"Spike, we'll be back in a bit. Do you want to look at the returns while we're gone?" Twilight asked as she pulled open the door with her magic.
"Sure, Twi, I'll have it done by the time you guys get back," Spike responded as he started to walk over to the returns box.
Closing the door behind me, I stepped outside into the cold air under the cloud-covered sky. Turning, I saw Stonehenge and gave him a wave, which he slowly returned and gave a thumbs up. Turning to Twilight, I took a deep breath allowing mist to pour out of my mouth as we both started to walk down the dirt road. As we walked, I kept an eye on the sky for any possible out of control rainbows.
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked as she looked up at the sky as well.
"She's two for two. I want to give myself the best chance to dodge her," I responded watching the grey sky.
"Who are you… oh. Rainbow Dash is a good flyer... for the most part," Twilight said as she stopped looking up.
"Yeah, but this is the one day I need to be watching out for her," I responded.
"Put your head down, you're more likely to walk into somepony and knock yourself down than Rainbow Dash crashing into you that way," Twilight said in a stern tone.
"Fine but I still don't trust it," I said as I lowered my head.
"Yes, well, you're going to have to trust me. She's probably too busy with the other pegasus getting the weather just right for the first snowfall," Twilight said before making an excited and giddy smile. "Ohhh I can't wait to see that first fresh coat of snow on the ground."
"Personally, I can," I said with a halfhearted smile. "Plus, you got to see snow last week."
"Hey, that was in your room, so that doesn't count. And I did get rid of it really quickly," Twilight responded with a sigh.
We turned a corner and walked into the outskirts of the town square with the town market in the distance. A small crowd filled the market, with ponies going every which way, some with items, and some just browsing the stalls.
"You want to walk through the market?" Twilight asked, pausing for a moment.
"I mean it's a straight shot to the town hall, right?" I asked Twilight who nodded in response. "It will save us a bit of time then."
Twilight and I started to walk again, entering the town market, as ponies bustled around us. As we walked, a few ponies stopped to gawk at me and my suit while most just went about their normal days. We continued to walk before coming upon a familiar stall with a familiar apple pony.
As we walked closer, Applejack was selling a basket of apples to a mint green unicorn with extremely light green hair, with a streak of white down the middle. As the green unicorn took the basket and started to walk away, Applejack seemed to take notice of us.
"Howdy, Twilight and…," Applejack said before doing a double take at me before continuing. "Jack! Wow, you sure are lookin fancy. Rarity really did a good job."
"Thank you," I said giving a big smile at Applejack's compliment.
"Hey Applejack, sorry but we can't talk a whole lot right now," Twilight said.
"You two on your way to the town hall for that interview? Well good luck to ya, Jack. Not that you need it," Applejack said as a pony walked up to buy apples.
Giving her a wave, Twilight and I continued on our way, exiting out of the marketplace and near the front of the town hall. In front of the tallish building, patrolled a few guards in golden armor that I didn't recognize. Walking to the building, we entered a semi-large room with an earth pony receptionist sitting, her hoof in her cheek looking slightly bored.
As we walked up, the receptionist took notice of us and perked up a bit, "Good morning. My name is Paper Jam. How can I help you today?"
"Hello Miss Jam. I am here to have a meeting with the Ponyville school board," I responded, stepping closer to the desk.
"Can I have your name, please?" Paper Jam asked as she held a clipboard up.
"Um… Jack Marrow," I replied.
"Jack Marrow… Jack Marrow. Hmm," Paper Jam said to herself as her eyes went down the clipboard before coming to a stop. "Ah yes, Jack Marrow, meeting with the Ponyville school board on the second floor meeting room three."
"Where is meeting room three?" Twilight asked as she stepped to my side.
"Follow me, I can take you," Paper Jam said as she stepped from behind the desk.
Twilight and I followed Paper Jam to a set of open double doors with a stairway leading to the second floor. Climbing the stairs, we came up to the doors to the second floor, but there were more stairs leading to a third floor.
"What's up there?" I asked as I pointed to the third floor.
"Oh, that leads to the Ponyville archive. It's messy up there but you don't have to worry about that. You won't be going up there," Paper jam responded.
We exited into a waiting area before walking past it. As we walked, we passed a few cubicles with ponies filing paperwork while being too busy to notice us walk by. It wasn't long before we arrived at a room with the sign 'Meeting room 3.'
"Okay, this is the room. You can enter now if you would like, the school board will arrive shortly," Paper Jam said before turning around and walking away.
"Thank you," Twilight, and I both said in unison before Twilight turned to look at me.
"Do you want me to go in with you? Just in case," Twilight asked as she held the door open for me.
"Thank you, Twilight, but I should be fine on my own," I responded as I stepped through the open door.
"Okay. I'll be waiting in that little waiting area we walked by. See you in a little bit," Twilight said as she closed the door leaving me all alone.
Turning around, I started to look around and take in my surroundings. The room was a bit bland for the most part with white walls, a few potted plants, a window, and a large table in the middle with four seats. Of the four seats, three sat next to each other on one side while a single seat was left across the rest.
I walked over to the single seat and sat in it, figuring that this was where they wanted me to sit considering the other seats were next to each other. As I waited, I could hear the silence of the room before I felt a welling in my chest starting to form.
I placed my hand on my chest as the pressure started to build more and more. I knew this familiar feeling from last week. As the pressure came to its apex, I could hear and feel a loud thud came from my heart as a wave of tingles and energy washed over my body. As I finally lowered my hand from my chest the knob to the door twisted open as three ponies stepped inside.
One by one, the three walked in. One was a light orange unicorn mare with cotton candy pink hair, with large-framed glasses. Next was an incredibly skinny white stallion with a black mane. Lastly, there was a teal pegasus mare with a lime green mane and yellow frosted tips. The three ponies watched me as they took their seats across from me in the order they came in from left to right.
There was a bit of awkward silence before the stallion cleared his throat. "Hello, Mr. Marrow. It is a pleasure to be speaking with you today. Before we start on the matter at hand, we would like to introduce ourselves to you," the stallion said in a nasally voice as he pointed to himself. "My name is Chalkboard."
The green pegasus brought her hoof to her chest as she spoke, "I am Bright Future."
"And I'm Sweet Orange," Sweet Orange said as she used her magic to adjust her glasses.
"And we three make up the Ponyville school board. Now let us get down to business, Mr. Marrow," Chalkboard said as he pulled out my letter from a tan envelope. "We received your letter last week and I speak for all of us here when we say that it was certainly a surprise to have a human requesting a meeting on becoming a teacher. First, we would like to go over education and proof of knowledge. Please state your qualifications."
I placed my hands on the table as I started speaking, "Well, like I said in my letter, I have over 650 hours of being a student teacher, along with most of the necessary credits required, 119 to be exact. Along with other qualifications not required, like CPR and first aid."
"We saw, and I must say, my goodness, why do you have so many credits for your schooling. Most that are required in Ponyville are ninety with four hundred hours of student teaching. If what you are saying is true, you have more learning than is required, why is this?" Sweet Orange asked.
"Well, that was the requirement set in by my place of education with 600 hours of student learning and 120 credits," I responded as I fidgeted my fingers.
"So even with your high hour requirement you still did an extra 50 hours?" Sweet Orange asked.
"Yes ma'am," I responded.
"But what about the missing credit. If what you say is true, you obviously meet the Ponyville requirements, but what was this single missing credit?" Bright Future asked.
"I had finished all the mandatory classes and all that was required, was an extra class of my choice. So I chose an extra biology class. I only had three weeks left of that as well," I responded.
"I see, but as a human, why choose an especially small town like Ponyville to become a teacher? I mean, you have access to the human settlement in Canterlot. Why not become a teacher there?" Chalkboard asked.
"Well that's a two part question. Firstly, I live in Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle, plus I've been to Canterlot, not my cup of tea," I said.
"Ah yes, Miss Sparkle. She occasionally assists us in teaching young unicorns magic. How did you two come to meet?" Sweet Orange asked.
"When I first arrived here, I was in the Everfree Forest and after a few days I found her being attacked by a pack of Timberwolves. I fought off the timber wolves before my pebble golem scared them off and she invited me to live with her," I responded.
The room fell silent as the three ponies looked at me in utter disbelief, with their mouths left open at what I had said. This was a common response when Twilight and I told this story.
"I'm sorry but… you said you saved her from a pack of Timberwolves?" Bright Future asked.
"Yes," I responded.
"Fascinating. You said you had another part to my question? What would that be?" Chalkboard asked.
"Well, to be honest I don't really care who I teach, whether that is a human or a pony. I just want to help children learn and grow to be better and smarter individuals while both they and I have a smile on our faces," I responded as I gave the three ponies a genuinely big smile.
"Yes, you said you wanted to become a music teacher in your letter. Is this correct?" Sweet Orange asked.
"Yes, ma'am, that would be correct," I replied.
"Hmm. Mr. Marrow, would you please step outside for a moment so we can discuss what you have told us," Chalkboard said.
"Yes, I can," I responded as I stood up from my chair.
"Also, while we speak, can you fill out this standardized test as a teaching knowledge base while we speak," Sweet Orange said as she levitated a three-page paper and a quill to me.
"Yes," I responded as I took the paper and quill in hand.
Walking over to the door, I pulled it open before stepping out and closing the door behind me. Looking around, I saw a small stool between 'Meeting room 3' and 'Meeting room 2.' Walking over, I sat down in the seat and waited for the school board to discuss what they wanted to do.
Waiting there, I started to take the little standardized test which seemed easy enough. As I tested, my mind raced as I thought about everything I had told them. Did I say the right things? Should I have told them something else? I pulled on the collar of my shirt to vent some of the heat and better help me cool off.
After ten panicked and nervous minutes, I watched a nearby clock as the seconds ticked slowly, feeling like hours and days. I had been out here for nearly forty minutes. The test had taken me almost thirty of those minutes, but it also seemed straightforward.
As I looked over my test again, I heard the door handle to 'meeting room 3' wiggle. The handle glowed orange as the door was pulled open.
"Mr. Marrow, you can re-enter," Sweet Orange said.
Standing up from the stool, I re-entered the meeting room and retook my seat across from the three ponies. I handed the three ponies my test, and they began to look it over. There was silence in the room as the three looked it over before turning to each other and nodding. They all turned their attention and started staring at me, and as I sweated bullets. Chalkboard shifted in his seat as he leaned forward.
"Mr. Marrow, in light of everything that you have told us today and this test, we have come to a reasonable conclusion. Unfortunately, we do not 'just' need a music teacher…" Chalkboard said as he leaned back slightly.
Hearing what he had just made me feel like throwing up. I did not get the job. Did I not impress them enough, or did they still not think I was qualified to do the job? Regardless of the matter, they still took their time to speak with me, and I, regardless of how I felt, should thank them for that.
Letting out a somber sigh, I looked up at them. "I understand. Thank you all for the time that you took…," was all that I could say before Chalkboard held up his hoof to stop me.
"Mr. Marrow, I don't think you understand what I mean by 'just' a music teacher," Chalkboard said as it put its hoof down.
Feeling that pit in my stomach lighten a bit, I asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Sweet orange leaned in and started to speak, "Like he said, we don't 'just' need a music teacher. As a small town with really only one teacher, it gets hard for Cheerilee to do everything, and you doing just music only helps her a little bit."
"And what we're asking of you is that you don't just do music. But to assist Cheerilee as a second teacher and help her teach the students of Ponyville," Bright future said, piggy backing on what Sweet Orange had said.
I felt a wave of tingles wash over me at what they had just told me. I had not failed and they did not want me as just a music teacher but as a normal teacher, which I did not mind, as I still got to be a teacher.
"So what do you say, Mr. Marrow, do you accept?" chalkboard asked.
Still feeling the tingles, I nodded in agreement as I spoke, "Yes. I accept your offer."
The three of them smiled as they clapped their hooves together as Chalkboard spoke, "Good. All that we need from you now is to fill out a bit of paperwork, and then we can send you on your way."
Sweet Orange pulled out a few papers from another envelope and a quill, before setting them in front of me.
Looking over the paper, I saw that it was just a simple contract laying out the term and conditions of employment along with the pay amount. The pay would be thirty-six bits per hour for an average of eight hours of work with weekends off. This was nice, I could finally pay back Twilight.
After looking over the paper and finding nothing wrong with it, I signed it and slid it back over to the three ponies. Sweet Orange picked the paper up with her magic and put it back in the envelope.
"Wonderful, with this you are now an official Ponyville school staff member," Chalkboard said as he held out his hoof for me to shake.
I took his hoof in my hand as I asked, "So when do I start?"
"Officially, we'll have you start next Monday. But we would love for you to come in on Friday and introduce yourself to the students," Bright Future said.
"I'll be there," I responded.
"Good. We'll inform Cheerilee. Also, we would like to meet with you in a month's time to check and see how you are performing. We'll, set it for the first day of the Hearts warming eve break. Does that work for you?" Chalkboard asked.
"I believe so," I replied.
"Wonderful. If that is all that you need from us, Mr. Marrow, you are free to leave," chalkboard said.
"Thank you," I said as I stood up from my seat.
The three ponies nodded at me as I walked to the exit. Walking out into the main office area, I retraced the path that paper jam had taken me down. It took me a moment but I was able to find the second floor waiting area where Twilight was waiting.
Twilight was sitting in a chair fast asleep. Her head was bobbing back and forth slightly in her unconscious attempt to keep balance. She was letting out a cute little snore each time she moved back and forth.
Smiling, I sat down beside her and watched her. As she wobbled back and forth, she finally lost her balance and fell onto my right arm. A smile crept across her face as her head rested on my arm. I was faced with the moral dilemma of either letting this mare have a moment of cuteness and rest using me as a pillow or waking her up to tell her the good news.
Sighing, I used my left arm to tap gently on Twilight's head as I spoke softly, "Twilight. Twilight."
Moggy groans came from Twilight as she lifted her head from my arm, as she rubbed her eyes. As she lowered her hoof from her face, she turned to look at me with excitement.
"Jack! How did it go?" Twilight asked as she perked her ears up.
"Well, I'm not going to be a music teacher," I said as I watched Twilight's face.
A look of sadness washed over Twilight as she reached out and put a hoof where she had just had her face, "Jack… I'm so sorry."
A smile crept across my face as I spoke," Yeah, no music teacher… just teacher."
As the words left my mouth, the look of sadness left Twilight's face as she pulled me in for a hug, "Jack! That's amazing, when do you start?"
I pulled away from the hug as I responded, "Officially, I start on Monday. But they want me to come in Friday to introduce myself."
"Ahh… this is so exciting. Come on, let's head home so we can tell Spike the good news. We'll have to tell the girls next time we see them as well," Twilight said as she jumped up from her seat.
Standing up, I followed Twilight into the stairwell and down the stairs back down to the lobby area. We exited into the lobby to find Paper Jam looking as bored as she had been when we arrived. Noticing us, she gave us a wave as she warned us.
"Have a nice night, you two, and be careful, the snow has started and it is coming down hard," Paper Jam said as Twilight and I pushed open the door.
We were met with a semi white floor as the snow had started to take root on the floor in small piles here and there. The snowfall wasn't light, but it wasn't blizzard level, but at this rate the snow would completely take the floor in less than an hour.
I felt this hollow pit in my stomach as I watched the snow fall. Memories of that god forsaken forest flooded my mind. My hands trembled as I watched Twilight step out into the snow. She turned back and saw my hesitation.
"Come on, Jack, let's try to get home quickly," Twilight said as she used her magic to pull me out of the building.
As I was dragged out, I could feel the snow falling on my head before it melted due to my body heat. Holding a hand out, the snowflake gently dropped into the palm of my hand before melting as well. Twilight waited next to me before we finally started to make our way home.
As we walked the streets, and the market was less crowded with only a few ponies walking around. Everyone else probably decided to head indoors, save for groups of colts and fillies playing in the snow. As Twilight and I walked home, we talked about what had happened during the meeting and what my job entailed.
It wasn't long before the tree house came into view with its leaves and branches forming a thin layer of snow. Stonehenge was sitting under his awning, but he had his hands on the ground playing with the quickly thickening blanket of snow that was forming. As we approached Stonehenge, he noticed us, and gave us a wave as snow that had stuck to his hand was thrown around but he cocked his head to the side when he saw me.
Twilight used her magic to push open the door and stepped inside. As I was about to walk inside, I felt a hard circular motion on the tip of my head. Looking up, I saw Stonehenge's stone finger, and looking at Stonehenge, he was leaning on his side. As I was about to say something, he gave me a little nudge and pushed me inside. Turning around, he gave another wave as Twilight closed the door.
It was warm inside as Spike had lit the fireplace and the sound of pops and cracks filled the room. Spike was sitting in front of the fire reading a comic book, which he put down and stood up at the sight of Twilight and me.
"Jack, Twilight. How did the meeting go? Are you going to be a music teacher, Jack?" Spike asked as he ran over to us.
"Yes, he's going to be a music teacher. But not just that, he is going to be a full-fledged teacher working with Cheerilee," Twilight responded.
"Really? That must be so exciting for you, Jack," Spike said.
"Yeah, I can't wait. I get to go on Friday to introduce myself," I said with a smile as I turned to look out the window at the falling snow, as the smile faded from my face.
"Cool. Now, if you all could excuse me, I need to get back to my comic. You two walked in when I got to the power ponies' big battle," Spike said as he ran back over to his power ponies comic book.
Twilight shook her head as she turned to look at me, "I'm going to grab something to drink in the kitchen. Do you want anything?"
"No, I'm fine," I responded as I continued to look out the window.
"Okay, suit yourself," Twilight said as she walked into the kitchen.
My gaze did not leave the window as I walked over to the large veneer that Twilight had been sitting on this morning. Pulling myself onto it, I crossed my legs and faced the window as I watched the snow fall gently to the ground.
Watching the snow fall, time seemed to move slower, as the seconds felt like minutes and the minutes felt like hours. Slowly the world around me faded away into a fog. I felt alone, as bad memories surfaced, while the feeling of my hand and feet stinging came and went. It felt like hours before something drew me slightly back to reality.
I felt a gentle push on my right side as I was moved over slightly, as Twilight, with a book in her magic sat down next to me. For the first time in who knows how long, I looked away from the window towards Twilight, who did not say a single word, gave me the warmest smile that I had ever seen on someone. As she looked away from me, she looked down at her book and started to read.
I looked back and forth between Twilight and the window, and felt a tingle run up my spine. I lifted my right arm and wrapped it around Twilight, giving her a one-armed hug. She did not look up from her book, but she gave another smile as I gave a weak smile back before looking back out the window at the falling snow.