"Of course I am." Nick leans in for a nosing and you return the gesture, turning it into a fond nuzzle. "I do need to know how much I get paid. There are bills to pay. Oh! I'm not a jerk, and you wouldn't want it from me. I have to put in my two weeks."

Harold nods at that. "Entirely fair. No, we wouldn't want any worker of ours to move on without some warning." He spreads his hands at the both of you. "A power couple. Now... The viscountess seemed to know something about this, but I'm not her." He rolls a hand towards Nick. "If you don't mind the asking, what talent do you have? Your ladyfriend's made clear hers."

You had other tricks! But you also feel little need to go into detail on that. "Oh! Oh!"

Harold looks at you. "Forget something?"

"Yes. Someone mentioned this... I can see this..." You wave around. "On my own. Nick needed help. That help comes with a price, doesn't it?"

Harold hummed. "That depends on how... banal one is."

Nick flinched. "You didn't warn me of any prices! What kind of price are we talking?"

Harold raised his hands wardingly. "Don't panic. People who awaken after a bit of enchantment just tend to forget some, most, or even all of what happened, depending on how banal they are. The more rooted they are in the dreary ice cold of the mundane, the less they will remember of this colorful dream."

Nick dances in place. "That is kinda... Messed up. I don't want my life to become a patchwork or feel like I'm becoming a forgetful old man."

You point in what you hope is the right direction. "What if Nick helps in the front room, where I was going to work? He doesn't need to be enchanted for there, right?"

Harold snapped his fingers, turning right into a thumbs up in a triumphant gesture. "Nope! That'd work just fine. Now, don't know how banal ponies actually are. I'm not feeling much, but I'm hardly an expert..." He began to walk in the same direction. "We'll find out tomorrow, when you recover and can tell us how you feel. Now, you have a partner you trust, right?"

Nick thumps sidelong into you. "That's why I'm here."

"Good! So if she has to explain all of this, you should believe her." He gives an emphatic shrug on the way. "You probably wouldn't believe some guy you only met in a dream."

"I imagine not..."

Harold takes you all back out into the candy shop proper. "Now, you." He points to you. "Have little reason to be here, just a place to walk through, into the back." He turns the finger on Nick. "But for you, this will be a place of work. Ever done retail?"

You let them chat about what his work will entail, instead turning on your pet...friend? Pet friend! "What do you think of this all so far?"

Bright grins as wide as only a dragon could. "Love it! I love that you're here, and you're paying attention to me, and this whole place is warm and nice." He waves at the front of the shop. "It gets cooler as you go, and warmer inside. We'll be inside, right? We can play more?" He paws at the air, looking ready to pounce on you with his childish energy. "I've wanted to wrestle with you forever!"

You tap him on the snoot with a finger. You had gone back to two leg mode in the front of the store. People coming to get candy didn't need to see a magic pony, right? "I'm not sure how much of a wrestler I am, and I'll be a maid of sorts back there." Christ, maid? You would not have guessed that was your eventual job. "Are you ready to help with that?"

"Sounds fun!" As if helping a maid was just as equally fun as wrestling. "When do we start?"

"I think when Nick is settled in. He'll be working here." You wave at the candy store in general. "A sweet job."

"I get it!" Announcing he had heard a dad joke, another talent Bright had. "Alright." He settled in to watch Nick intently. Was that how he watched you when you weren't paying attention to him?

Harold returns to you and Bright. "Alright, let's head back inside." He leads you both into the 'warm' interior. You don't feel the warmth, but it does get more colorful. Curiosity overwhelms you and you try just... relaxing.

And you can still see everything. Inside that place, you didn't need to keep focusing on the dreaming to see it. It was just as 'real' as anything else. That'll make working easier! "Hey."

Harold looks back at you. "Hm?"

"I can still see things without trying, back here." You point a hoof at your eye. Ponies have large ones, by the way. "Why can't Nick just... not be enchanted?"

"Oh! Well. If you tried to walk in here without already having a foot in the door, as it were." He stuck out a foot without taking a step. "The place you'd land would be the back area of the candy shop, and not here." He waves around. "He couldn't get in here. You can already throw yourself, so you can get in without an enchantment."

Bright applauds with seeming understanding. "Wow! I knew you were special, from the day you were born."

Wait... "You were there, when I was born?"

Bright nods in a rapid bobbing. "You were such a cute little boy. I kept you safe from mean things, nightmares that wanted to get close to you. Not past me!" He puffs up, a proud dragon guardian. "I was always there."

"Time to visit someone less glamorous, but still just as magic." Harold leads the way down a new hallway. "He keeps track of the finances, among other things. Most would find it terribly banal, but he finds joy in it."

Ah ha. "We'll settle pay there then?"

"That's the idea." Harold knocks firmly on a door.

"Damn it all," came muffledly through the door. "Who'd come fucking botherin' me?!" Steps approach from the other side. "I swear on all high and low, this better be good." The door swung in with the last word, revealing a new sort of changeling. A scowling little... gnome? They had wild hair and thick goggles. "Harold, and a horse." He looks between the two of you. "Fucking great! The hell do you want?!"

Harold didn't look bothered by the tirade. "Evening, Toley. This is our newest recruit, Sally. She'll be working the back."

"And this is Bright," you continue the introductions with a wave at your dragon. You had almost forgot the name you gave, but that was a nice reminder.

Toley thrusts a hand at you, just to pause, perhaps realizing you had no hand to do much with it. "Piss it." He pats your head instead. "Good horse. Now what the hell do you want me to do with any of 'em?"

Howard points down at you from above. "This one needs adding to the payroll. Her boyfriend, Nick, is joining too. She's working the back, and he's in the front."

"Yeah?" He looks you over critically. "The hell do you do, besides shed all over the shittin' carpet?"

Time to sell yourself! "I don't need enchanting to get here."

"Well, la de da... That's more of a base requirement if we're being honest about it, which we are." He looks upset, not at that, but at everything really.

"The viscountess decided I was interesting and wants to keep me around." That was, perhaps, less flattering, but true and pertinent, you think?

Toley looks to Harold, getting a nod in return. "Martyr on a stick... Fine, that gets you in the door. Wouldn't want to get the viscountess' panties in a knot... Got anythin' else or are you just a trophy for her to gloat about?"

You turn your pointing upwards, to your horn. "I'm a unicorn, which means I have magic." Sure, you didn't have tons of it just yet...

"Yah huh... Like? Don't leave me fuckin' guessin' over here!" He threw a hand wide, a scowl worn.

"Well..." You do a slow turn. "To start, would you guess I'm over seventy?"

"Nuh uh. I'm not that god damned stupid to start guessing a lady's age, horse or not." He crossed his arms. "So if yer sayin' it, bloody hell, just gonna believe that."

That had failed to impress him. You glance towards Harold, who sighs out. "Was hoping to keep it a secret."

"I'm the one paying people!" He stomps down a foot with a scowl. "Don't hide shit from me! My job's hard enough already and you bloody well know it."

"Sorry, sorry." Harold waves at you. "She's a healer, the real cut from what I've gathered."

"No kiddin'?" He prods you on the chest with a firm thump. "Why didn't you start with that, you buck toothed farm animal?! I swear, and trust me, I do that a lot, but I fucking swear, it's like people just want to piss all over my day. Fine! Trophy, enchanted, can heal. Now we're getting somewhere. She do anything else? Stop making me ask every damn thing."

"Right! So... Still learning how to magic, and how to pony." You wave at yourself. "But I can do both of those."

"Still learning?" Toley squints at you. "You brought an old young pony? I didn't even fucking knew they made those kinds... Whatever, alright. If you're here, it's because you don't want to work out of the kindness of yer bleedin' heart, or loyalty to Miss Prissy Bitch. You want money." He snapped out a benjamin, folding and unfolding the considerable bill.

Actually... "My first priority is helping a homeless person I know. I want to get them a new start at life, not just a temporary windfall."

"What?" He tosses the bill aside. "What?!"

Was that a bad question? "Sorry?"

"What?!" He grabs you by your cheeks. Horses have big cheeks, just right for grabbing and holding, which he does. "Seriously? You come in here askin' for someone else's god-damned payday? Bloodiest of hells." He throws up his hands. "Whatever, fine! So you don't get shit. Tell us who this lucky person is."

Harold waved a hand down, cutting off the space between you and Toley and freeing you of that grasp. "She should get something for her time, right?"

Toley flips Harold the bird casually. "She named the price, don't go blamin' me for what she decided. Fuck. So who is it?"

You describe them as best you can, including where they can usually be found. "He deserves better than he's getting."

"Nice of you to fucking decide." Toley makes a note of it. "We'll turn his life around, assuming you keep on your best. His life is now in your ha... hooves? Fucking shit! Whatever. Up to you. Nick or whatever needs to be on the books?"

Harold nodded firmly. He had wanted to be separate, and more of you agreed with him than not, so you let that slide on past as they argued the pricing. "Well, if he's staying up front, that makes this easy. We have a base rate for new hires over there." Another scratching mark. "He's in."

Wait. "What is that base rate? I have to tell him, and it has to be better than what he's already getting."

"God damn it. What part of 'don't keep secrets' did you not fucking understand the first time I shat it out at you?" Toley sat at his desk. "What is he getting right now?"

You dig out your phone with your magic and quickly dial. Did phones work in there? It rang!

"Babe? Shit... That slipped out."

That... was awkward, but why did it make your cheeks warm? "What do you get paid right now? We're going over pay."

"Thanks for calling. Fifteen an hour. What are they offering?"

"About to find out." You float the phone away. "Sixteen an hour. Can you beat that?"

"Shit." Toley started making new marks. "Whatever. Twenty, and he better be here on time. I'm tired of signing new people up!"

You float the phone back. "Twenty. You can save the thank yous for later."

"You are the best." He laughed even as he hung up. He was already on the clock. You felt a tiny little tickle. You had done a good deed, the smallest sort.

Toley reached for the door to his office. "Now, go fuck off!" With a slam, he ended that conversation. "Welcome to the team," he shouted through the door.

Harold chuckled softly. "He doesn't mean it. Just how they are. I think he likes you."

That was like?! "What's next?"

"Well..." And he gives a few options.

Author's Note

Blending it all together, we got to meet a new kind of changeling, and I'm pretty happy with Toley. We hashed out payments and got the homeless guy a lifeline with a little deal with the fair folk. Nothing could go wrong!

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