mylittlejamjar | 6th Sign: For science! Or magic. Magic science. [Visual]

Entry tags:

6th Sign: For science! Or magic. Magic science. [Visual]

I understand many of you may be busy at the moment, so I will attempt to keep this brief. For those of you who don't know, I work with the Equestrian Magic Foundation in studying the ongoing phenomenon of outsiders being drawn into this universe and the accompanying polymorph into various local fauna. My grant with the foundation this year has increased substantially, but it comes with a few more expectations, the scope of which will be challenging to handle myself.

Thus, I am in the position to hire one or two assistants so that I may focus on the research itself. Duties will include regular travels to the Canterlot library, material acquisition, setting and cleaning up experiments, handling of potentially dangerous magical materials, scribe work, and miscellaneous errands. I do not require you to have previous experience in magical research, and I will set aside time to train you. The work isn't terribly difficult, and as long as you follow proper procedure, I can ensure no harm will come to you. If you are interested, contact me here on the scrolls or stop by the Ponyville library.

That will be all for now. Thank you.

[So much for 'brief'.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um....I know that I'm not exactly what you would want but..If school isn't a problem I could help.

That is a possibility, but it may be better for you to focus on education, for the time being. Perhaps you could help on weekends if you want some spending money.

Okay, I can do that! I wanna get some money for something I've been planing..

Perhaps if my standard assistants are unable to make it, I may have things for you to do.

What is it you're planning, if I may ask?

Nothing bad! I just wanna get things for people. It's not like back in the city and getting Raks for fighting.

I see.

[There's a moment as Patchy shuffles through a few papers to see if she needs anything done that Cirno can accomplish.]

A friend of yours has also expressed an interest in helping me. I believe I can have the two of you working together to return a few books to the Canterlot library for me this weekend.

[This wasn't exactly his cup of tea, but the magic part sounded kind of interesting. And a wider scope of education was supposed to help him, right?]

I could give it a shot? Sure.

[Confidence.]

Very well, but I would like to give a short interview before accepting anypony off the street. Would you have a moment for that?

[He nodded.] Yeah, of course. I'm free whenever.

Very well.

Firstly, how are your organizational and time management skills? Both will be required for this job, not only for efficiency but also safety.

Pretty good, I guess? I manage a four-person team in battle alright. [~~He supposes.~~ They have had a couple good fights under their belt.]

A squad leader? Hm. Better than I was expecting.

[He doesn't exactly look the part, though. Not that she can really judge.]

We shall put that to the test, then; a practical application, if you will. I need a few items from town, and I wish to see how quickly you can get them and bring them to the library. Does that sound fair?

[Doesn't look the part? Come on, that patchwork armor and lanky pony-ness is totally the look of a leader.]

Fair enough, yeah. [That's the kind of work he'd be doing anyway, right?]

What d'you need?

[Instead of answering verbally, she uses the scroll to write down what she needs. It's a list of around ten items and places to get them from. They range from simple groceries and tea leaves to fragile packages from the post office to samples of plants from the edge of the Everfree. It will bring him all around town, so planning a route might be a good idea.]

I shall time you. Should you do complete this quickly, I will count this time as part of your pay, and you will be reimbursed for purchases you make on my behalf whether you succeed or not.

You got it. [He pulls himself up, saluting with one hoof. He's going to try his best, he really is. A job would definitely be nice, along with the points made earlier.]

I will be waiting, then.

[Patchy closes the scroll so Jaune can go about his work.]

[She will be relatively lenient on the timing; she more concerned that he gets everything without breaking it. The biggest challenge will be carrying it all at once.]

[Funnily enough, Jaune already has plenty of experience being an errand boy, and once you carry an entire class's collection of jars and spend time collecting a creature called Rapier Wasps in a box, you get a pretty good handle of how to do things. Doing said errands gave him a mild overtone of flashback, but it being drastically different work and not having to be bullied into it certainly helped with that.

So it's sooner than might've been expected for someone like him but he's coming up to the library, pulling a borrowed cart behind him with the items packed inside. There's even hay packed around the more fragile items, to keep them from knocking together.]

[It takes a moment for Patchy to notice once Jaune steps in the door, but once she does, she takes a glance at a nearby clock, checking on his time. Not bad, to say the least. She leaves her work on a nearby desk to go inspect the cart. Seems like everything was here.]

I can't say I'm disappointed. Everything is here, and the cart and hay shows initiative on your part. Should you keep up that sort of work, we will get along well.

[She starts to remove the items from the cart and put them where they need to be, but pauses when she realizes she forgot some important bits.]

It occurs to me that I forgot to introduce myself. Patchouli Knowledge, Librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It will be a pleasure working with you.

[He can't help but feel pleased at the comment, though there's a brief wondering over whether there was a method alternate to the cart.

He looks up at the introduction, chuckling a bit.] Oh yeah; I'm Jaune Arc. Pleasure working with you, too.

[She has very low expectations of people outside her very tiny friendship circle.]

[Jaune simply gets a short nod for the introduction rather than a more proper hoofshake, and she goes back to organizing the items as she talks. Not one to waste time, this one.]

In any case, that is all I will need from you today in terms of work, as I was not expecting such a quick response. I will have training materials and paperwork for your position prepared for you tomorrow morning. Your reimbursement for the items is on the table to your left.

Before you go, however. I am sensing some form of magic from you. Out of personal curiosity, might I ask what it is?

[He nodded as she spoke, absorbing everything, and looking over at the table when it's mentioned.

The question has him turn back with a blink.] Magic?

Ohh, that's probably my Aura. A force of protection generated from my soul, helps keep me safe from harm. [He shrugged.] Everyone from my home has one. [If they have a soul, but he's leaving that detail out, for the moment.]

Spirit-based magic. Appears to be common to a number of worlds, but not nearly as much as the more arcane and divine varieties. Still useful in its own right; more difficult to dispel and doesn't tend to interact with other forms unless forced. That means you come with your own protection, and I can make use of that.

[That doesn't sound ominous at all, nope.]

Madame Knowledge, I am glad to see you are doing well!

...Ah. I thought you disappeared.

[Warm welcomes all abound.]

You are correct!

[A world-level clown does not let a lukewarm audience slow down his performance, Patchouli.]

Or rather, I should say "you appear to be correct" as I am only recently finding out how much time has passed since I was returned to my own world. For instance, I do not recall Madame having contacts in the EMF!

I have had them established since a month or so after my arrival. I suppose it was simply not common knowledge. Regardless, they have been quite beneficial to my studies.

Merveilleux! In that case, I would like to offer my assistance! I'd offer you my resume, but a good deal of my references are in another world, in a timeline that no longer exists except in my memories!

I would still accept a resume like that; many of us here are in a similar situation. Regardless, I would be willing to hire you based on what I have seen of your performance in the past.

I am curious, however. What did you do in your home world?

[Pierrot pauses for a moment. On the one hand, that is the perfect set up line for a joke. He can already hear the deadpan snark, or the deadpan snarker's equivalent to a facehoof.]

[On the other hand, he is talking to Madame Patchoulli. Also this might-slash-very-likely count as a job interview? Grumble.]

.....I was a clown!

[You can practically hear him bite down on a joke.]

...Or rather, this was the role I played during my performances, but behind the curtains I was the Ringmaster, the leader of our circus troupe. It was frequently my task to book shows and negotiate use of land for our tents, as well as performing as master of ceremonies in and out of shows.

[It's about as close to a job interview as Patchy gets.]

I see. You know how to be responsible, so that is enough for me. The work I will be having you do won't be terribly difficult, so long as you have some sense of time management. I see no reason to not allow you to work.

I will have paperwork for you to fill out tomorrow morning to make the position official. Stop by then to get it and to introduce yourself to your partner, Jaune. I will have to train you both in lab safety before I can give you any heavy work.

Rodgerigible. Have no fear, Madame Patchouli: as they say, "a clown who is late for his cues is a clown who can't pay his dues!"

[How quaint, Pierrot.]

Tomorrow morning, certainly. At the Golden Oaks library, of course. [Pause.] Who is this Jaune fellow?

Jaune Arc. He is the other one I hired for this position. He is young, but follows direction well and seems to have some semblance of common sense.

[Oh, this sounds like something she could do! But... hm... she saw Cirno's response and how Patchouli reacted. Rise's busy with school too, but maybe...]

Do you need anyone part-time?

[A pink unicorn filly that looks about Cirno's (apparent) age appears on the scrolls, looking equal parts hopeful and apprehensive. It's a long shot, but she's taking the chance.]

I go to school with Cirno-chan, so I wouldn't be able to do much. But I'd like to help too, if I could!

[Patchouli take a moment to consider it.]

I already have given a position to two others, and I cannot hire everypony who stops by. However, as I told Cirno, I may have work on weekends or if my current assistants are otherwise occupied. I cannot guarantee steady hours.

That's okay! It'd just be nice to have some other stuff to do, besides schoolwork...

[Schools here don't have clubs, and she's used to either working all the time or spending all her free time with her friends. She can still do some of those things, but it doesn't quite feel like she's as active as she should be.]

If anything does come up on the weekends, you can definitely count on me!

Fair enough. Come to the Ponyville library this weekend, then. I will have you and Cirno take a trip to Canterlot to return books for me.

Alright, sure! We could definitely handle that!

[She assumes Cirno already agreed, so no reason to worry about speaking for her...]

Oh, and thank you!

[Awfully energetic filly, isn't she?]

[Energetic, but Patchy is far more patient with children than she is with adults.]

It is no issue. Let me know if you have further questions.

Sure! Um...

[It's only just hitting her that introductions are not a thing that happened.]

Wait, what's your name? I'm Rise!

[Don't worry. Patchy forgets all the time.]

Patchouli Knowledge, Librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

[Full title is very important.]

[There's a small pause and a blink before Rise perks up and smiles again.]

Nice to meet you, Patchouli-san!

[Because 'Knowledge-san' just sounds awful, and Rise's not super polite enough to lastname everyone.]

[Either way, Patchy's fine with it. She rarely calls people by name, herself.]

And you, as well. I shall see you this weekend.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

6th Sign: For science! Or magic. Magic science. [Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

Re: [Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual] --- TORN BETWEEN BEING INFORMATIVE AND BEING AN IDIOT, A CLOWN'S STORY

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]

[Visual]