A Magical Way of Working

"Attention passengers. If you want to start gathering your belongings, we'll be arriving in Canterlot in five minutes. Thank you," said the conductor over the intercom of the train.

That was my cue to open my eyes. I was is the middle of a good nap, but was immediately woken up by the words, "Arriving in Canterlot in five minutes." I wouldn't miss arriving in one of the greatest cities in Equestria for the world! I looked down at my pocket watch. 3:00 pm. Wow, has it already been three hours? I left the station in Mustangia around noon, and it's on the other side of the desert. I guess time flies when you're dreaming of what you're future's going to look like. As I grabbed my bags from the overhead rack, I dug into one of them and pulled out a slip of paper. My to-do list. "Let's see," I said to myself. "Step 1: Travel to Canterlot. Check. Step 2: Find a hardworking job. Step 3: Earn a good amount of money. Step 4: Travel back home, buy a house, and after that, who knows?" Technically that last step should've counted as three steps, but I was too excited to think about that kind of math. I then noticed that the entire train had gone dark. I looked up to realize that we were going through the tunnel. That's right, the tunnel. On the other side; Canterlot! I waited as the train came closer and closer to the light at the end, and as it left the tunnel, my eyes grew and mouth dropped open.

The city was gorgeous! The towers were glistening in the bright sun, showing off their alabaster coating with gold flagpoles and buttresses. As the train pulled into the station and started to slow, I looked out at the ponies trotting through the streets. All of them fancily dressed and with their snouts up in the air so high, they would probably drown if it rained. I always heard that Canterlot was high end, but I never expected it to be this high end. If there was a city I could find a job, it was definitely here. The train made one more whistling shout as it halted to a stop. The doors opened, and I can honestly say I was the first one out of there. I took a deep breath of my surroundings and let it out with a big sigh. That's a high end smell all right! "And so my journey begins!" I thought happily as I trotted off towards the newspaper stand.

I'm sorry. I just remember that I never introduced myself. It would be silly of me to write this and for everypony to discover my name only during the middle of the story. My name is Elbow Grease. I know, I know. A name like that is a little strange, but let me explain. I was born in Mustangia to a carpenter named Jackhammer and a nurse named Loving Care. Both earth ponies, so it was no surprise that I was born an earth pony as well. Throughout my childhood, my father taught me his philosophy. He said to me, "Elbow, nothing in this world is free. Only through hard work and perseverance can you fully accomplish a goal. Work hard and believe in yourself, and you can accomplish anything." That's a philosophy I've lived by ever since. It wasn't until I was eight, while seeing ponies getting cutie marks for specific talents, that I realized that working hard was my special talent, and just like that, my cutie mark appeared right on my flank. It was the picture of a flexing leg, which showed my dedication to hard work. While it was my father that taught me to work hard, it was my mother who taught me to love and show compassion. Being a nurse, she had a lot of patience (no pun intended) and kindness. She passed those traits to me, and to this day, I've never snapped off at any pony.

Anyway, after I graduated college, I decided my next goal was to get a job. There weren't that many good jobs in Mustangia, but I still wanted to live close to home. One day, I was looking through the paper, and a picture of Canterlot caught my eyes. I thought that a place that famous ought to have at least one decent job available to a hard working earth pony like myself. I had decided right there to move to Canterlot, temporarily of course, get a good job, work until I had enough money for a house, come home, and buy said house. After that, well I hadn't thought that part through, but I was confident that it would all work out. So with my suitcases packed and all the graduation money I had gotten from relatives, enough for train tickets, a decent apartment room, and meals, I got on the train to Canterlot, and the rest is self explanatory.

So there I was, in one of the most popular cities in Equestria, looking through the paper for the Help Wanted sections. "Let's see, Sports...no...Local....nope....Cartoons...another time perhaps....oh here we go." I finally got to the pages and to my happy surprise, there were a decent amount of jobs available. Since I didn't know where to start, I just decided to go in alphabetical order. No A's (bummer), B's...Bank teller. I could do that. I had some experience with money, since my dad did all our family's taxes (Hey I said he was a carpenter. I never said that was all he did). I was organized enough and smart enough, so I thought, let's give it a try. So putting the paper in one of my bags, I trotted happily in the sunshine to Canterlot's National Bank.

The bank was very quiet that day, besides the constant scribbling of quills and silent chatter of the staff. I was sitting in a small office of "Cash Return: Head Banker" or at least, that's what it said on the door. Mr. Return looked over my resume I gave him for a short while as I sat patiently. Finally, he looked up. "So Mister...uh..."

"Elbow Grease sir."

"Right. Mr. Grease. Do you have any banking experience?"

"Well, I've helped my dad with the taxes before. He taught me everything he knows."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I see," he mumbled, "So your father is a banker?"

"Well, no," I responded. "He's a carpenter." Another raised eyebrow.

"So you've never been in banking before?"

"Technically no. But I am good with money and organized."

"I think I've heard enough," Cash Return said as he handed back my resume. "I'm sorry Mr. Grease, but we are looking for SPECIFIC talents in banking or handling money. I hope you understand." He said that, but the monotone in his voice made me wonder if he really meant it.

"Oh, I understand," I said with a sound of defeat in my voice. "Thanks for your time." He didn't say anything back. Just went back to his paperwork. As I walked out of the bank, I feel like that could've gone better. But, I wasn't about to stop there. "That was just one job," I told myself. "There are other opportunities." I took the newspaper from my bag, scratched off Bank Teller, and moved to the next one. "There ought to be others who will want my service."

There weren't others.

Two hours later, I was sitting on a bench near the station, crossing off the last "K" job. I never thought ponies were so specific about their hiring positions. All day all I heard was, "Specific talents this," and, "Not what we're looking for that." I sighed heavily as I sat back on the bench. I was running out of options. If I couldn't find a job in Canterlot, what was I supposed to do? I guess I could go to a bigger city for more opportunities, but it would be more expensive. Then I thought maybe I could find a job in that small town that was below Canterlot, uh...Ponyville. But that idea was shot down when I realized that it was even smaller than Mustangia. I didn't know what else to do. I needed a miracle. As I turned the pages of the paper, something bright caught my eye, stuck between the pages. I pulled it out and saw that it was a flyer. It was bright blue with stars designed on it. I read through the fancy letterings. "Come One, Come All, to see the Magical Amazements of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Show in Canterlot Square at 6:00 pm. Admission: 2 Bits." So it was just an ad for a magic show. Well that sounded fun and all, but I was on a mission. I wasn't about to waste my money on something as pointless as a magic show. I started to put the flyer back in the paper when I noticed something familiar written on the back. "Help Wanted." Quick as a flash, I took it back out and flipped it over. It read, "Help Wanted. Magician's assistant. Pony needed who is hard-working, diligent, organized, and very, VERY patient. Job Description: Helping magician with acts.

Hard-working? I was hard working! Diligent? I was diligent! Organized? I was organized! Patient? I WAS PATIENT! My mind was zooming with excitement and hope as I read through it again and again, making sure that it wasn't a dream. I could be a magician's assistant. Just handed off props and helping with some tricks? Piece of cake. Though I wondered why they put so much emphasis on patient. Ah what did it matter? I fit the description, so I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by! It said the show started at 6:00? I looked at my pocket watch and it read 5:45. I had to get going! With that, I sped off towards Canterlot square, all the while hoping that this was going to work!