Vital Mender

Well, great. A waiting room. For the love of Celestia, why must there always be waiting rooms? Ugh, nothing to do but wait, and wait, and did I mention wait? Oh, at least the room is nice. Walls with a light pastel blue color, not so comfy waiting chairs, but hey, it has those shiny fake plastic potted plants at least, I love shiny stuff.

Oh, hey, I’m not alone! Huh, he wasn’t there a second ago.

“Hi! My name’s Vital Mender!” I greeted the copper colored stallion. “When did you get here?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, um hi. Didn’t you just walk in? I’ve been here for… no, was it… when did…”

He trailed off, as if another thought had grabbed his attention away from me. I totally knew what that was like, so I just kept talking. He’d eventually snap out of it.

“So, I just got into town today. I was hoping to get on with the Ponyville Fire Department.” I glanced at the clock hanging over the door longingly. “I’m waiting for my interview, which is supposed to in half an hour. I’m guessing it’s going to be longer than that. I bet you are here for one too right?” I said quizzically.  Apparently there were other applicants for the department that I did not see at first. From what I could tell around the room there were about eight of us waiting, and one in the office.

“What?” The stallion blinked, as if coming out of a daze, and looked at me. “Oh, sorry, I kinda zoned out there. Yeah, I’m also here for an interview today.” He paused for a moment. “Name’s Copper Core, by the way. Um, Just call me Copper if you’d like, less awkward to say that way. And less strange.“

Oddly enough, he seemed almost shy, or a bit sheepish to say the least. He is a taller unicorn stallion, almost as tall as a draft earth pony you might see on a farm, just without the bulkiness. This guy even has the furry fetlocks! He has a chocolate brown mane pulled back in a ponytail. I could really go for some chocolate right now. Dang now I’m hungry. Also as I look at him I notice that he has hazel eyes just like me.

“Good to meet y- Wait your name is Copper?” I let out a giggle. I couldn’t help myself! “Yeah, it does sound a little funny, since you’re copper and you’re Copper.”  So either his parents were rather unoriginal or just had amazing foresight.

The next thing I heard was a clop, from his forehoof meeting his head. That sounded kinda painful. I decided to change the subject.

“So... Copper where are you from?” I asked him, trying to keep the momentum of the conversation going, and to dissipate the awkward silence from my terrible pun.

I’ve always hated silence, and especially the awkward ones like this. Thankfully he recovered quickly enough and put his hoof back down at his side. Whew!

“I’m from Manehattan, actually.” He chimed in. Huh, that surprised me. He didn’t have an accent, and he really didn’t look like a city pony, either. “Ended up travelling after getting out of school, so I’ve, well, I’ve been here and there, ya know? Doing odd jobs, those kinds of things.” He almost seemed hesitant to talk about what he does.

“That’s really cool! I have always wanted to travel, but my parents insisted that I go to college first. I grew up in Canterlot.” Oh great, he probably thinks I’m some stuck up snob now. “The part where the regular ponies live, not the rich snobby part.” I added quickly, with a nervous smile. I looked over as I heard the office door open. An earth pony walked out, and he called the next interviewee in.

He gave me a funny look. “Wait, so there’s a part of Canterlot that isn’t full of stuck up snobby ponies?” He let out a snort of annoyance. “Cause I sure had a hard time finding it.”

“Oh, well umm, I- I guess you just have to know where to look.” I stuttered, not really knowing how to respond. “So what kind of cool places have you been? I bet you have tons of cool stories. You should tell me some of them.” I quickly asked trying to change the subject yet again.

He went wide eyed, realizing what he had said. “Oh. OH! I’m sorry! I’ve had several bad run ins with some of the noble families up there over the years. I try to avoid going up on that mountain when I can.” He looked off to the side and rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. “Anyway… I mostly went between Manehattan, Baltimare, and Phillydelpha, and occasionally Canterlot, depending on where I my work took me. I mostly did freelancing, or consulting.”

“Wow! That’s so amazing! So what made you decide to give up traveling and come here?” I asked excitedly. I had to keep from bouncing in my chair! I just love meeting interesting ponies so much! “Are you looking to settle down with a more stable job, or did you meet a mare here during your travels, or are you really a spy and you are coming here to hide from the organization that you used to work for that now wants to kill you!?” Some ponies may think that I pry too much, or talk too much, or ask too many questions… but I really just enjoy meeting ponies.  I tend to be a bit high energy, and my imagination my get away from me sometimes, which can be a bit off putting. He seems to be pretty cool, and I don’t think he’s scared of me yet. Again the office door opened and another pony went in, only six more.

He just stared at me, his muzzle all scrunched up and looking super confused.

Oh, no! I did it again! Great. Darn it Mender, you always do that! Rambling on like a madpony about things! Now he’s never gonna tell me any cool stories... or even talk to me! What to do what to do… "Too bad I'm not as good at talking to other ponies as am I at talking to myself." I thought to myself… oh gosh, I said that out loud.

Copper blinked at me, realizing what I had done. Then I facehoofed loudly which caused not just Copper, but everypony in the room to look at me. I sank down in my seat, and tried to become invisible covering my face with both hooves.

“Uh, Mender? Are you okay?” He asked me, a look of concern on his face.

“Umm. I- I- I’m sorry I’m not here right now.” I squeaked as I tried to avoid eye contact. Why do I always do this, I always screw things up. I just have to hope I don’t do anything this stupid once I get into the interview. I have always been like this ever since I was a little filly. I try to make friends, but I end up weirding ponies out and scaring them away.

Fortunately everypony got a momentary distraction when the office door opened, and the next interviewee was called in leaving five of still waiting. Once the door closed again the current situation came rushing back into my mind. Well I know it doesn’t matter if other ponies think I’m weird or crazy, because come on I am weird, but what if says something to the chief about it to make sure that I don’t get the job. Should I try to talk to him again and fix it, or should I just hope he is a nice pony. Oh, why do I always have to make things harder than they are. The silence drug on as the next two ponies cycled into an out of the office, now only Copper, me, and another stallion.

“Hey, umm Mender.” He said fading out like he hadn't quite thought of what else to say.

“Yeah, anyways. So… Copper what made you decide to take up firefighting?” I asked after deciding that I couldn’t just pretend I wasn’t here. Then the door opened again, loudly this time, and after a brief shout or two the angry looking stallion made a hasty exit. The last remaining pony went in, now it’s only Copper and I left to go.

“Well I’ve been working around for a while, did a lot of fire safety related stuff, enforcing building codes and the like. When my ex moved out here with our kids. I just really needed to be closer to them, so that I can see them more often. Plus I have always thought a job like this sounded really exciting.” He paused for a moment. “What about you, Mender?”

“Well, I have always wanted to be a medical pony. I really got into the firepony stuff as a side effect. Originally I was going to nurse pony, because I love helping ponies with medical magic, but this sounded like it would be more fun! Plus the uniforms are way cooler, like seriously how many other jobs let you carry around axes and stuff. Unless you want to be a lumberjack, and that’s OK, but I hear they work all night and sleep all day, and that doesn’t sound fun.” I beamed. Some ponies think it’s crazy that I would use fun to describe this kind of job as fun. I think you have to be crazy to do a job without thinking it’s fun.

“Hey, that’s really cool. I don’t think I’d like being a nurse pony myself either. Too… I dunno, routine I suppose? Being able to kick doors in on burning buildings is a plus, right?” He paused for a minute and quickly muttered “I may be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Just a bit.”

“Yeah, there is so much more to do as a firepony! Plus I think you're totally right kicking in doors does sound really fun.” I agreed, feeling much less embarrassed now. “So do you think we have much of a chance of getting this job? I didn’t expect there to be this many ponies here interviewing.”

“I... “ The stallion looked around, thinking. “I’m not really sure, hm. With this many ponies floating around, who knows?”

“Do you have any like training or anything? Have you done any fire stuff before?” I asked him. I don’t get the feeling he has had quite as much training as I have. Not that it’s a big deal, since this is an entry level job, and they offer training.

“Well, not directly I suppose. I mean, I actually had a job doing fire safety work and inspections for Manehattan for several years.”

“That sounds pretty cool-” The door opened once more, interrupting me. As the voice in the office called Coppercore’s name, I gave a little wave. “Well I guess it’s your turn, good luck in there.” I said to him with a smile. “Oh, and I want to hear some of those stories later!” I called out as he stepped into the office and closed the door.

It felt like an eternity sitting in that room alone, with nopony to talk to. The only thing really on my mind at this point was the conversation I just had with Copper. He seemed like a nice stallion and all, I wonder if he will end up getting the job. He probably has a better chance than I do, he is at least built for this kind of work.

Eventually the door swung open and I was called in. I gave Copper a quick smile as I walked past him, and he returned the gesture. I entered the office to see an older pony with a grey coat and a silver mane sitting behind a desk. He motioned to a chair on my left, and I sat down.