A Meeting With Mom, a Search For a Job, and Careers-matter-ic Ponies
To Makeup a Mind: Chapter 1
Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing! Pinkie Pie happily bounced her way through the streets of Ponyville. Smiling brightly and waving furiously at the passing ponies, she carried on her back a huge saddle bag bulging with the weight of party supplies. Any other pony would have sagged and dragged her hooves under the burden, but not Pinkie. Pinkie Pie bounced. Nothing in all of Equestria could bring Pinkie down today. Or, ANY day for that matter. But mostly today. Her mom had requested a meeting with her at Trottington Circle, the center of the town. But Pinkie thought that whole thing was super-duper-silly. Moms don't do meetings...they do GREETINGS! So naturally, Pinkie automatically assumed that her mom had requested a greeting party.
Pinkie felt like she hadn't seen her mom in forever and two days! She wrote to her and the sisters, but it just wasn't the same. They all had become boring again after she had moved and they stayed to care for the rock farm. But today was going to be different. Pinkie just had to show [her mom that she was doing great in Ponyville-that she was happy here.
As she turned the corner and galloped into Trottington Circle, she zeroed in on her mother's waiting, grey-blue figure. Pinkie's eyes bulged and she ran to her mother, yelling and singing and throwing bag-confetti into the air around her mom. "HAPPY MEETING-GREETING DAY MOM!!!" Pinkie shouted. Pinkie's mom looked up at Pinkie, fazed, stuttering, and trying desperately to pick confetti out of her teal-colored mane-do. "Pinkamina," she said sternly, trying to get her daughter to stop blowing horns. "Pinkamina." Pinkie was too busy squinting into her bag and shaking out the last of the confetti to listen. "PINKAMINA DIANNE PIE!" her mom bellowed. Pinkie looked up at her mother. So did the fifteen other ponies in the Circle. "Sorry everypony!" Pinkie cried. "That's just my mom, don't mind her!"
Pinkie then turned to face her mother. "Yeeeeeess?" she asked sweetly. "Pinkamina, I'm here for a reason, you know," her mom said. "What is it?" Pinkie replied. "Do you need a tour of Ponyville? Ooh! Ooh! Wanna meet all my new friends?" Pinkie gasped loudly. "Do you need a PARTY!? I gotcha covered..." she squealed. "Pinkamina," her mother replied. "Pinkamina I need you to do something for me," she said dully. "Sure, Mom! Anything!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I need you to get a job," Pinkie's mom said.
WHAT!? A JOB!? Pinkie thought. Oh, no no no, sister. A job will NOT work. Pinkie was just too busy! She had to take care of Gummy! And Sugarcube Corners! And have fun with her friends, and plan a whole new party every week for whatever reason! "ARE YOU CRAY-ZAY?!" she exclaimed. "Pinkamina," her mother began, "as I can tell from your letters, you have a bizarre amount of hyperactive energy you can only channel through parties. Your father and I back on the rock farm think that a job is a great way to put your energy into something productive and teach you focus," she said. What did she do, swallow a dictionary?! Pinkie thought. She sighed. Why not make the best of it? "Any job?" she asked her mom, who nodded in reply. "I have to get going," Pinkie's mom croaked, "But I'll be back in a month. Do you hear me, Pinkamina? If you don't have a job by then you're coming back home with me." Pinkie's mane deflated as her mom trotted away, but it was only a nanosecond before it popped back up to it's usual poof of pink fluff. I can do this, she thought. There was no time to be sad. She retrieved her saddle bag, packed up the discarded supplies, and bounced home as fast as her hooves could carry her.
When she was in her room at Sugarcube Corners, she sat down at her hot pink desk with a few pieces of paper and a pencil. With maximum effort to stay still, she scribbled out a checklist of the places she could look for job openings at. When she was finished, she practically leaped out the door and headed out to begin her search. The first box on the checklist was the Cake's bakery. She was there in what seemed like seconds and plastered an even bigger smile than usual on her face. Pinkie was nervous and afraid of destiny's plans for her. This had to work. She couldn't go back to her old life. She belonged in Ponyville with her friends. She took a shaky breath and entered the colorful shop. The sweet music of a bell behind Pinkie gave her hope. Mr. Cake greeted her from behind the counter and asked her what she needed.
"See, Mr. Cake," Pinkie began, "I need a job to stay here in Ponyville. Do ya have any openings?" "Ooh," said Mr. Cake, scrunching up his face. "I was offering positions about a week ago, but I found the employees I needed. I'm sorry Pinkie," he said sadly. As if on cue, two smiling ponies, one indigo and one yellow, emerged from the kitchen. A light dusting of flour and smears of chocolate covered their aprons and streaked down their faces. "Ah," said Mr. Cake. "These are my newest bakers, Jeweltone and Rosebud." Naturally, Pinkie Pie knew them. For Celestia's sake, she knew every pony in Ponyville by name! Pinkie's smile wavered for a moment, but there were plenty of jobs out there, and besides, Jewel and Rosebud were good, hardworking ponies. "Well, thanks Mr. Cake," Pinkie said cheerfully as she left. She waved good-bye to the mares and set out again.
~~~
To Pinkie's dismay, she was still jobless after an hour of searching. Nopony was hiring! She had tried almost EVERYWHERE! The shoe store, a cafe, a diner, a saddle shop, a doctor's office-nothing! Even Zecora had hired a new brew-whipper-upper! What was Pinkie to do?! She couldn't go back home now! What would happen to her friends?! What would she do without her party supplies?! She trotted into Trottington Circle and plopped down on a bench gloomily. her smile shook, puckered, then disappeared. Twilight Sparkle passed by, noticed Pinkie, and sat beside her. "What's the matter, Pinkie?" she asked. "Oh, I don't know," Pinkie said. I need a job really bad but I just can't find one. And if I can't find one, Mom will send me back home!" she cried. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Pinkie," Twilight said. "You can't be so hard on yourself. I mean, you're the happiest, most positive, energetic, charismatic pony I've ever met!" Twilight cried. "You're sure to find a job. have you checked the mall yet?" she suggested. Pinkie's eyes lit up. "THE MALL!" she cried. "You're a genius, Twi!" Twiglight giggled. "No problem," she said in reply. Pinkie began shouting again. "I'm gonna find a job at the mall and stay in Ponyville and be happy and careers-matter-ic again!" she said. "Happy to help," Twighlight said as she trotted away. With that, Pinkie bounced off towards the train station. She was going to the mall.
A 10-minute train-ride later, Pinkie stood before the brass-and-glass entrance of The Pony Shopping Mall of Equestria. As she walked into the large building, she instantly spied a gleaming shop, pearly and lettered in dusty rose-pink color. The store was LaRose, the biggest, richest makeup brand in all of Equestria. The best part of the glimmering storefront was the sign in the window that read 'Help Wanted'. Look at that!!! Pinkie thought. They want my help! THEY WANT MY HELP! Pinkie eagerly trotted in. She was instantly faced with a main counter with LaRose's glowing logo lettered on it. She was greeted by an alabaster mare with a straight, angled navy mane-cut. Light blue eyeshadow swooped over her eyelids dramatically. She was dressed all in white, had in a small earpiece, and brushes poked out of her uniform pockets. She wore a name tag that read 'Manager'.
"Hi Miss Manager!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I'm here for your job position." The manager raised her perfect eyebrows, gave Pinkie the once-over, and mumbled something un-comprehensible in to the earpiece. Within seconds, another white-clad mare appeared. This one wore her curled, violet mane in a ponytail, and she had pastel green skin. Her name tag bore the words 'Asst. Manager'.
"She's here for the job opening," the manager murmured. The assistant manager nodded. "She seems to have the energy for it," she replied. "I think we should just hire her," the manager stated plaintively. The assistant manager became concerned. "Look," she said. "I know we need a new makeup artist. And I realize that if we don't get one soon, this business just won't be able to keep up. But don't we think we should at least assess her first? If she turns out to be a doozy, she can create a big mess out of her customers...and that would be worse than no mare at all!" she cried.
Pinkie, who had been surveying the scene, tilted her head in question. "Um...guys?" she asked. "We have to take a chance," The manager said."There's too little left of us." Pinkie, confused, said "Hello? Still here!" The manager turned to the pink mare. "What's your name?" she asked Pinkie. "Pinkie Pie," she replied. "But most people just call me Pinkie." The manager shared a glance with her co-worker. "Hmm..Pinkie." she said. "Welcome to LaRose."
A/N: Please overlook my short chapters. I'm working on putting a little bit more meat on the others, which I will upload very soon! See, I've completed the story, so now all I have to do is type! This is my first ever FIM Fiction-or fan fiction for that matter! Please favorite, comment, and keep checking back...more chapters are on their way! ;)
