Author's Note
(This story will be set as if the events of Rainbow Rock's never happened, and the Siren's are just normal, high school girls)
This is a fun idea I had while eating at Moe's. It just seems like the perfect place for Sonata to work. Again, this story is just for fun, and I hope you like it!
Job Hunt
(CHAPTER 1) Job Hunt
Sonata Dusk had a skip in her step as she walked down the sidewalk of downtown Canterlot with her ear buds in. With her music blaring, she had the rest of the world completely tuned out. As she made her way into town, she stopped at a shop window and looked inside. This particular store was one of her favorites. The town’s pet shop. She always liked to stop and wave at the puppies and kitties before she went to school.
Still, there was no school today, and she had every reason to be happy. Today was the first day of summer vacation. After 180 long days of school, she could finally relax, sleep in, and not have to worry about anything until late August. With her happy smile, she waved goodbye to the animals in the window and continued on her way.
With the arrival of summer also came the summer heat. Sonata wasn’t very fond of it, but today it couldn’t bother her. She only cared about the three months of doing nothing that lay ahead of her.
Up ahead, she saw the small café that she was heading too. She was going to meet up with her two friends Adagio, and Aria, and the three of them were looking forward to starting their summer vacation together.
Sonata waited for the crosswalk to change then made her way across the street, took out her ear buds, and went into the café. The door opened along with the chime of a bell. “Good morning Dear.” Came the warm greeting from Mrs. Cake who was working behind the counter.
“Good morning.” Sonata replied as she walked up to the counter.
“What can I get ya?” Mrs. Cake asked.
Sonata studied the menu as she rocked back and forth on her heels. “Hmm… can I have chocolate peanut butter smoothie please?”
“Of course.”
As her drink was being made, she heard the door’s bell chime. Sonata turned and saw her two friends walk in. “Hey girls!” she called out with her huge smile.
“Morning, Sonata.” Adagio said.
With a groan, Aria pouted, “Ughh! I don’t know why you dragged me out of bed so early on my first day of vacation… I wanted to sleep in today.”
“Quit complaining.” Adagio snapped. “You don’t even have to worry about class today.”
“It’s still too early…”
“Here’s your drink, dear.” Mrs. Cake said. With her trademark smile, Sonata paid for her drink and thanked her. Still with her skip to her step she went over to her friends and they sat down.
“Aren’t you girls getting anything?” She asked as she took her first sip.
“Not yet,” Adagio said, “I had a big breakfast. I’ll get something later.”
Aria could see Sonata’s drink through the clear plastic cup, overflowing with whipped cream and topped with chocolate shavings. “Do you really need that much sugar this early?” She asked. “You’ll be bouncing off the walls all day.”
Sonata raised an eyebrow as she scooped out a large dollop of whipped cream with her straw. She quickly ate it and said back pointing her straw at Aria. “You don’t know what you’re missing! Go get one and find out for yourself!”
“All that sugar’s gonna rot your teeth.” Aria quipped.
“Will not!”
“Will too!”
“Don’t you two start!” Adagio called out, silencing the two. “Both of you need to relax, it’s our first day of vacation after all.”
Sonata took another sip of her drink and said, “So what’s the plan for today?”
“Hmm…” Adagio leaned back in her seat. She hadn’t really planned anything. “Well there’s always the mall. I mean, the movie theater’s there, plus they just opened that new restaurant that serves exotic foods from all over the world. I have wanted to try it.”
“That sounds good.” Aria added. She was looking through her texts on her phone and then said, “Oh! That reminds me, I need to go to the music store too, there’s a new CD out that I want to pick up.”
“Sure, we can stop there on the way to the movies.”
Sonata set her drink down and reached into her skirt pocket. She pulled out her small wallet and looked inside. She only had a ten dollar bill. “Uhh… do you think you two could spot me for the movies and dinner? I don’t have that much money today.”
Aria scoffed, “What? Seriously? Again? How many times are we going to have to cover for you this summer, Sonata?”
“Come on, I don’t ask you for money all the time, only when I’m short on cash.”
Aria leaned forward, “You’re ALWAYS short on cash! Do you know how many times me and Adagio had to buy your lunch at school this year?!”
Sonata thought a moment and tried to figure it out. “I dunno, not very often?”
Aria face palmed. “Sonata, I’m sick and tired of always having to bail you out because you blow all of your extra cash on stupid things!”
“Hey! They aren’t stupid things!” She retorted.
“Remember last week when we were at the mall and you just had to have one of those magic eye books because you thought the colors looked pretty? Have you even touched it since you got it home?” Aria was trying to fight off her annoyance but it wasn’t working.
“I looked at it that night!”
“Okay, and since then how many times have you looked at it?” Aria asked.
Sonata again paused to think. “Not since then I think. I couldn’t figure out how to see the pictures in all the colors.”
“You see!” Aria called out, “You wasted money on that book. Not your money, but MY money!”
“Alright Aria,” Adagio said, “settle down.”
“No! I’m not settling down.” Aria stood up and looked out the window as she started her rant. “Sonata you need to learn that your friends aren’t an open wallet for you to go in every time you want something. Why don’t you try working for what you want for a change instead of always mooching. We’re all getting sick of it! But will that ever happen? Probably not. There’s no way you could ever get a job let alone hold one down. You’re to air-headed, and simple minded to even take work seriously. All you care about is shiny things and taco’s. What kind of job would ever take that…”
“Ahem” Adagio cleared her throat and got Aria’s attention.
“What?!” Aria saw Adagio looking at her and pointing towards Sonata.
Sonata was sitting with her head down and her long blue bangs covering her rose colored eyes. She sat slightly slumped with her legs closed together and her hands clenched into fists at her waist. She had a slight tremble in her shoulders and she let out a tiny whimper. Aria saw a tear drip down and land on her pink skirt. Before she could even say anything, Sonata quickly stood up and ran out the door, now openly crying.
“You didn’t have to degrade her like that, you know.” Adagio said calmly.
Aria sighed as she sat back down. “I just get sick of it though. It’s like she never learns.”
Adagio crossed her arms “I know that she can be frustrating, but you still didn’t need to talk down to her like that. I know that she’s immature, but that still doesn’t mean you have to yell at her for it.”
Aria wanted to feel bad about what she had done, but at the same time she felt that she had to do it. Yes, Sonata was a nothing but a good friend to her, a great friend even. She was always around when she needed help with something or always there as someone to talk to. Still, her constantly mooching for things and her immaturity was finally at Aria’s breaking point. Aria again sighed and said, “I’ll let her vent a while then I’ll call and apologize…”
“Good,” Adagio said, “Don’t ruin her summer vacation on the first day.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Sonata went into the grocery store to use the bathroom. Inside she pulled out her mascara and started to fix her makeup. “Stupid Aria!” She brooded. “Always being mean to me! I can so get a job!” She looked at herself in the mirror. She washed away any traces of tear stained mascara and fixed her bangs. “I’ll show her!”
Sonata regained her composure and headed back outside into town. A sudden realization hit her, where should she even look for work? What would she be able to do? She stopped and looked around at the local businesses. To her, most of them looked boring. The gas station was small and smelled funny, the clothes store had nothing that she even liked to wear, and the hospital was out because the sight of blood made her queasy. She looked down the street and her large smile returned. “Perfect!” She chimed!
Sonata made her way down the street and came to the pet shop. To her it was the perfect place to work! She loved animals, and working with them would be even better. She went inside and was greeted by the owner. She was a middle aged woman with pale purple skin and earthy green hair. “Hello young lady,” She greeted, “What can I do for you?”
With a beaming smile, Sonata blurted out, “I’d like a job please!”
The woman smiled and said, “Oh, I’m sorry, but I have all the help I need already.”
Sonata felt her smile fade. She never expected this to happen. She had always assumed that any place would hire you if you asked. “You don’t have any jobs at all?” She asked with her last fading ounce of hope.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Oh…” Sonata felt defeated. “Thanks anyway.” She said quietly as she turned and left. She went back outside and felt like crying again. Around her weren’t any business that appealed to her. She wanted an exciting job with something that she liked doing. She wanted so badly to work at the pet store so she could play with the animals all day. An idea came to her. She liked the mall, there were plenty of stores there that she liked. Maybe she could find a job there.
It took her about 20 minutes to walk across town. The entire time she could only think of places where she would like to work. Her first thought was the one clothes store where she always bought her outfits from. If she worked there she could get first pick at all the new clothes she wanted! Sonata with a new beaming hope quickened her pace and made her way inside the mall. She rushed to her favorite store called Skirts n’ Shirts.
She made her way to the counter and chimed to the employee, “Can I have a job please?”
The girl working at the counter was a bit thrown off by Sonata’s forward request. She then reached for one of the job applications and said, “Well let’s see, do you have retail experience?”
“Oh sure! I re-tail my hair every morning when I get up!” Sonata motioned towards her long blue pony tail.
The girl behind the counter took it as a joke and began to laugh. This confused Sonata. “What? What I say?”
“That was a good one.” She said, “but do you have retail experience, and working with the public?”
“Yeah, I already told you that, every morning when I get up, I re-tail my hair, then I go out in public with it.”
“Are you being serious right now?” She asked.
“Of course!” Sonata chimed, “I’m out in public with it right now!”
The girl behind the counter paused and tried to grasp what was happening. She set the application back down in the pile and said, “Uh… yeah… we don’t have any positions available right now.”
Sonata again felt her smile and good mood fade away. “…Oh, okay then.” She said with defeat in her voice.
“Yeah, sorry.” the girl told her.
Sonata went back out into the mall. She didn’t understand why getting a job was so difficult, didn’t everyone have a job? Why couldn’t she have one? She looked around and saw another store. This one was called, Knickknacks, and the store sold just that. Random items, and collectables. Sonata looked inside and saw all of the interesting looking items. She went in and looked at one of the cases. Inside she saw a small glass figurine of a ballerina, next to it were other random items like used MP3 players, and jewelry.
“Can I help you, Miss?” Sonata was slightly startled and turned to find an older man with graying hair.
“Yes! I’d like a job please!” She asked, this time slightly calmer.
“Well now,” He said, “I think I may have something open.”
Sonata felt her smile return along with her hope. “Really?!” she beamed.
“I’m sure I can find something for you to do around here. But tell me, have you ever worked for a Pawn Shop before or know how pawning works?”
Sonata let out an audible gasp and took a step back. “This is a Porn shop! That’s disgusting! Thanks, but no thanks!” Sonata quickly turned with a horrified look on her face. “This place looked so innocent too! But it’s just a shop for perverts!”
The poor man didn’t know how to react. He was certain he had said “Pawn“.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It had gone on like this all afternoon. Every business she went to she was either turned down, or they didn‘t have any positions. As hard as she tried to keep herself in a positive mood, she couldn’t help but feel depressed. “…Maybe Aria was right… Maybe I am just to air-headed to get a job.”
She slowly made her way through the mall with a glum look on her face. She broke from her trance when she felt her stomach growl. She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. It was just about lunch time, and she did have enough in her wallet to get something to eat; after all, she didn’t need to worry about having to spend money later with Adagio, and Aria. She made her way over to the food court and looked around, trying to decide what to eat.
Burgers? No… Pizza? She had that last night. Fried fish? Too greasy. Pretzel’s? She wasn’t really in the mood for one.
Out of nowhere a smell caught her nose, one she always welcomed. She could smell chicken, spicy steak, beans, and the warm scent of freshly made tortilla’s. She looked up and she saw a restaurant that she hadn’t seen in the mall before. It was like a gift sent to her from heaven. The sign above the entrance in big red letters said, MOE’S Southwest Grill. Sonata’s eyes widened and she walked towards it as it’s alluring scent of freshly made taco’s and Mexican food enticed her in. She looked at the window. She could see a small red sign in the corner with white letters that read, Help Wanted.
“That’s perfect!” She called out loud to no one in particular. Several people around her shot her confused glances, Sonata didn’t even notice. She made taco’s and burrito’s at home all the time, it was basically her one flawless skill. That, and she had no shame in bragging that the one’s she made were amazing.
Sonata made her way inside and was greeted by all of the employee’s calling out, “Welcome to Moe’s!”
Her smile again beamed as she walked up to the counter. “What would you like?” The clerk asked.
“I’d like a job please!”
(CHAPTER 2) The Interview
Excitement! That was the only emotion Sonata could feel at the moment. After a rough morning of fighting with Aria, then being turned down from job after job, she was finally being given a chance to prove that she was employable.
She sat in a small office in the back of the restaurant. For her, everything was happening very quickly. From the time she had asked about getting a job, she had been approached by a man who had “Manager” on the bottom of his name tag. She hadn’t actually caught his name, truth be told, she was to excited to even care. This was her golden opportunity to prove Aria wrong that she was capable of holding down a job, and she had all intention of making her moody friend eat her words when the time came.
Sonata’s plans of domination screeched to a halt when she heard the door behind her open. The person she had spoken to earlier with “Manager” on his tag walked in. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He said with a little bit of wear and tare to his voice. “This shift is short handed so I’m usually out there helping during the lunch rush. It can get a little hectic when it get‘s busy.” He smiled at Sonata as he sat in a simple chair at a desk that was typical of a small office such as this.
He was older, but not too old, if anything he matched the age of her father. His hair was a deep brown, and his skin a pale yellow. Along with his green eyes, he wasn’t all that intimidating. Just the typical manager of a chain business. He continued as he pulled out a few pieces of paper, “That being said, I’ll keep this short and sweet!”
Sonata wanted to reply but out of nowhere her excitement was being intruded upon by the light feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Strange… She wasn’t nervous a second ago… For Sonata it seemed that the reality of her situation was finally beginning to set in. This was it, her chance to prove that she was capable of maturity, the last thing she wanted to do was screw this all up. With a slight shudder to her voice, she let out a nervous laugh, and said back, “Eh heh heh… No problem.”
The manager caught the hint. This wasn’t his first time dealing with a student looking for their first job. That being said, he wasn’t the kind of person that liked to intimidate his employees. He set the papers he was fumbling with on the desk and slipped the pen behind his ear. He gave Sonata a reassuring smile and said, “Let’s start with the basics, my name is Carne Asada, I’m the manager of this fine restaurant that you see before you!” Sonata looked around as he motioned. With the door closed to keep out the noise of the kitchen, she could only see the cluttered white office lit by a line of fluorescent bulbs. Carne Asada took the hint and let out a small chuckle. “Well, the restaurant out there anyway.”
Not letting to much silence come between them, he continued, “Well you know my name, how about you tell me yours.
Again, Sonata could feel the fluttering of nerves in her belly. It was very distracting and it made the simple question feel like she was back in her algebra classes. She took a breath and blurted out a little louder than she should have. “Sonata!”
“Sonata?”
“Sonata Dusk!” She made her smile return as she spoke trying to keep her confidence going.
“Sonata Dusk…” He said as he slipped the pen out from behind his ear and wrote her name down. “That’s a nice name.” He remarked. He then looked back up to her and said, “Okay then Sonata, tell me a little about yourself.”
“About myself?” She asked. Sonata couldn’t figure out why all of these basic questions felt like she needed a Ph. D. to answer.
“That’s right,” Carne told her, trying to get her started. “What grade you’re in? Favorite color? Favorite kind of music? Favorite food?”
“I’m going to be a senior this coming school year…” She started off slowly, simply trying to get her rhythm of talking to start moving again. “I go to Canterlot Prep. Daddy decided that type of school would be better for me than public school…” She felt herself starting to pick up her normal talking now that her mind was going off the fact of what was happening around her. “I don’t mind it too much but some of the classes can get pretty hard, you know? I mean come on! Why would someone put letters in math problems?! Math is hard enough, but throwing spelling in with it just makes it worse!”
Without realizing, Sonata was back to her usual talking pace. “I guess my favorite color is dark purple, I do like blue too, but for realzies have you seen my outfit?! It’s entirely purple so I guess that settles that.” As sonata kept ranting, Carne Asada’s pen was busy trying to keep up with her answers. The more she spoke, the more questions she was inadvertently answering about herself on her employment form.
“My favorite music would probably be pop. Oh! But sometimes I do like heavy metal! I mean I was never big into it at first but then the other day I heard this new foreign metal band that had the most awesome guitar I’ve ever heard. They do sing in another language but that doesn’t bother me, as long as it sounds good, am I right?!”
Carne Asada could already tell what he was dealing with as far as Sonata was concerned. She came off as shy around new people; however, once you gave her a task that she felt comfortable with she would easily open up and set to it. One other important factor about her that he saw was that she seemed to be nothing but energy! She didn’t come off as the kind of person to tire of a task easily. With his pen still scratching away on the paper, he heard her ask, “What was that last one?”
“Uhh…” He said trying to refocus himself, “Favorite food?”
“Helloo~~ Taco’s of course! That’s what drew me here in the first place!”
“Well that’s good to hear.” He remarked, “Do you have experience making them?”
“Please! You should see my kitchen. I try to make them and burrito’s at least a few times a week. If you ask me there’s no food more perfect! The spicy beef, or seasoned chicken on top of the rice and beans that gets the cheese all gooey and melty, right along side with the cool contrast of the sour cream and lettuce, all topped off with a good spicy salsa!” She leaned in and motioned Carne closer. “And just between you and me, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried one of my burrito’s!”
Carne gave a light chuckle and sat back and wrote a few more lines on the employee evaluation sheet. “Good answer!” He told her. After he finished writing, he set his pen down and asked calmly, “Just one last thing…”
Sonata sat with full attention.
“Why do you want to work for Moe’s?”
Finally, a question that she could answer with no nervousness. With her trademark smile beaming once more, she said back with full on confidence, “Because I love southwestern style cooking, and I want to share that with the world!”
Sonata suddenly felt herself snap to a sudden reality. All this time she was out to prove Aria wrong, and show that she could get a job. Still, during this entire interview she hadn’t thought about Aria once. For Sonata it felt like a switch had been flipped. She wasn’t out to prove someone wrong anymore. She was just doing this for herself. …And of course the taco’s.
Carne wrote one final line on the sheet and said. “Well Miss. Dusk, I think that covers it all. Is there anything you’d like to ask me before we bring this to a close?”
Sonata felt the butterflies return one last time; however, she felt they were justified. “Just one question actually…” She took in a breath and asked, “…How did I do?”
He leaned back in his chair and said, “Well, a little shaky at the start, I can see that you’re a little nervous, and there’s nothing wrong with that. For future reference, you may want to hold off on using words like “Realzies” during an interview, but that’s just a small nitpick, I can’t very well tell you to change who you are. One last thing, Sonata, you have a great personality with a lot of energy. That’s the type of personality that I like to have on my team here at Moe’s.”
Sonata’s smile grew, “…Do you mean…?”
“Can you start tomorrow?”
Sonata absolutely beamed! She stood up from her chair and jumped in place with excitement. She grabbed Carne Asada by the hands and shook them with all the gratuity she could muster. “Thank you so much Mr. Carney Mazda! I won’t let you down!”
Carne debated on correcting her pronunciation of his name but stopped himself. He wasn’t about to kill her buzz. He did however calm her down slightly. “One last thing I’d like to discuss.”
Sonata paused and looked at him. “What’s that?” she asked.
“I’m looking for help for the afternoon to evening shift. It’s not a long one mind you. You would only work for 6 hours a day for 4 day’s a week. Since this is your first job I think it’s a good way for you to “get your feet wet” so to speak. This way you can adjust to your job without feeling to overwhelmed. Is that alright?”
With a firm nod she chirped, “Of course! I’m just glad I finally found work!” She turned to him and said, “And I promise, I’ll be the best employee you ever had!” ~grrr~
Sonata froze and blushed fiercely. There was one thing that she hadn’t done before the interview started, she still hadn’t eaten lunch. The two could hear her bellies audible growl of hunger. She wanted to hide her embarrassment but there was no where to run.
Carne simply gave her a smile and said, “Tell you what, take these booklets home with you and look over them.” He handed Sonata a packet and continued, “They have everything from basic job descriptions, food prep, and the general rules of Moe’s. Nothing to tough, it’s all pretty basic.”
He then stood up and opened the door. “And how about I buy your lunch today since you’re going to be working for me now.”
“Really?!” Sonata chimed, “Are you sure?”
“Positive. And while they’re making your food, watch how it’s prepared, and the steps to making it. I’m going to have you as a Line Cook. If you’re as good at making taco’s, and burrito’s as you say you are, then I want you to be the one making them for me. Can you do that?”
“Absolutely!”
“Alright then.” He said, “Go order your lunch, I’ll let them know that I have the cost covered. As for tomorrow, can you come in a little before 2? That’s right after the lunch rush so it’ll be on the slower side so you can learn without being to overwhelmed.”
“Sure! And thanks again! I really mean that.”
“Not a problem at all. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was just about 2pm when Sonata left the mall. She had ordered her food to go so that she could eat it at her house and away from the crowd. Juggling the bag, and the packet of work info, she pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket and looked at the time. “Alright…” She said to herself, “24 hours to get myself together, and get ready for my first day! I can do this!” With the sun beaming down and the temperature far from comfortable, Sonata decided that taking the bus home was the smartest option.
She went to the closest bus stop that sat outside the mall and opened the tab on the packet with all of her work information. She could see 2 little booklets inside and a few pages of paperwork that looked like they needed to be filled out. All of that she would worry about once she got home. For the moment, she allowed herself just to be proud that she had done what her friend said was impossible. Sonata Dusk was now employed!
Author's Note
Gotta say, I honestly didn't think this story would be as popular as it is. A lot of people tend to be overly critical about these slice of life stories. I must be doing something right! HA!
Thanks for all the positive feedback so far. I'll try to update when I can.
