Luna rubbed her eyes for a moment before she opened the newspaper she had received outside her bedroom and continued to walk towards the kitchen. It was the paper from the morning prior, but because of her nocturnal habits, she insisted on receiving it when she awoke. She had spent the vast majority of the day before looking for a job around the castle that a klutzy stallion might be able to do well in, but had failed. The entire castle worked like a clock. Every piece had to be pristine and perfect in whatever location they were placed, thus making it nigh impossible to find a place where Hendrick, with his unsteady hoofsteps, could get a job.

Her eyes drifted lazily across a story on the newspaper written by the popular Front Page. It told of some illegal scheme that a stallion had been cooking up to avoid paying his taxes, only to be taken down by the always active judicial forces of Canterlot. After uncovering the evidence they needed, the stallion had been apprehended quickly and brought to court, where he was subsequently charged guilty and punished for his crime in the form of jail time and a fine.

She didn’t deem it very important, but smiled at the obvious amount of effort that had gone into the story. She was about to turn the page when a small note near the bottom caught her attention. “P.S. Dear readers, our usual editor has quit. He didn’t like the sudden amount of effort that I insisted he put into checking for errors, so he left us to find an easier job. So this is a note to all you readers out there: If you are any good at editing, swing by and try out for the job. I’ll be happy to personally interview all who care to try.”

The edges of the princess's lips began to curve upwards as a plan started to hatch in her mind. She was at the kitchen now, and she immediately reached out to grab a mug of steaming drink. She quickly drank the brown liquid and her smile widened. “Oh, I do so love some hot cocoa after I wake up,” she said to herself before turning her attention back to the goal she now had.

Front Page sat at her desk as the sun started to sink beneath the horizon. It looked like time for her to go home. She stood from her desk and let the paper she had written remain in the typewriter. After going over it multiple times, she still felt like she had forgotten something. Some errors were still in that paper, she just couldn’t see them. Her mind skipped over them because she couldn’t view the pages like her editor had. She just saw the words.

With a sigh, the mare placed her personal belongings within her saddlebags and closed the door to her workspace behind her. As she turned around, she was met face to face with Luna. After slamming herself against the closed door in an effort to back away, she took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry; I was just about to knock,” Luna apologized.

“It’s all right, Your Highness. My heart just jumped a little.” Front Page let out a breath, then looked to her. “So, what brings you to my work?”

“Yes, well, in the last paper I noticed that you said you were no longer employing an editor to work for you?”

“That’s right,” Front Page said cautiously.

“I was wondering if you would consider employing Hendrick for the job, as he is out of one, currently.”

“Oh, of course I would,” Front Page said with a smile. “He’ll still have to take the entry exam, but if what he said when we first met is any indication, then I’m sure that that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Great. I’ll send him a note and ask him come by around noon tomorrow. I assume that would be fine by him.”

“You assume? You mean you didn’t talk to him about this first?”

“No, I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Uhuh. Well, I’ll see him tomorrow, then. It was an honor, Your Highness.”

“The honor was all mine. Thank you for your time, Front Page,” Luna said with a smile of her own, then took to the air and left the building through a window to the right.

As her wings glided on the thermals of a late afternoon in Canterlot, her mind drifted back to what it had been like when she had returned from her banishment, only to find a world she no longer knew. But there had been her sister to look out for her, then. She wanted someone to be there for Hendrick. And if noone else was going to, then she would do it, gladly.

Front Page smiled from behind the front desk, nodding at each of the editors who wanted to take the job opening. Each of them took a seat in the room to her right where the exam was to take place. It wasn’t usual protocol for hiring, but the writer enjoyed watching the competition face off for who would take the open spot. A few who had tried for employment at the place before weren’t surprised by the room, but some of the newbies had to have the protocol explained to them.

Eventually, the familiar unsteady steps of Hendrick sounded on the linoleum and Front Page smiled to the earth pony. “Hello, Front Page. I got this note saying I should come here?” he asked.

“Yes, indeed. You’re just in time for the exam. Please go in that room on the left.”

“Ex-exam? What?”

“She didn’t tell you?” The stallion shook his head. “You’re here for a test that will let you take the open position of editor for this newspaper.” Sweat began to pour down his face immediately at the words.

“Oh, Luna, why?” he croaked as he made his way toward the room. Upon entering, several of the ponies within turned to see the new competition, a few breaking into chuckles when they saw his lack of a cutie mark. Front Page remained at the desk for a few more moments before deciding that no one else was coming and entered the room, closing the door behind her as she did so.

The noise caught the attention of the ponies and all looked toward her, including Hendrick, who sat at the farthest back and leftmost seat. “Hello everypony, and welcome to the editorial exam.” Her tone screamed high school teacher, but no one made a comment as a smile began to worm its way across her face. “As you’ll see on your desks in front of you, there is an article written by me. My first, in fact, before it was edited. This is your first test. I want you to show me what is wrong with this article. Quills have been provided. You have ten minutes. Good luck.”

Each of the ponies began to quickly work over the article, scratching and writing in the margins hurriedly as the time ticked away. As she looked over them all, an evil smile on her face, her gaze moved to Hendrick, who was merely staring at the paper and occasionally looking between the quill and his hooves. He snuck a glance at someone else and saw they were holding it in their teeth, but despite that evidence, he seemed to refuse to use it as they were.

He glanced around the room, checking his surroundings, and, after finding some loose cloth, managed to tie the quill perpendicular to his hoof just as the time ran out. Front Page smacked the front desk and all the ponies dropped their quills, except for Hendrick, who just let his hoof fall to his side. One by one, Front Page looked through the papers until, at last, she came to the pony at the back.

All the others in the room turned to see him as well and a few began to snicker when they saw he had done nothing with the paper in front of him. “Hendrick,” Front Page said, a grim look on her face. “Why didn’t you do anything with the paper?”

“Well...” Hendrick paused, obviously under stress. “That’s because you told us to show you what was wrong with it.” He then took the paper in his hooves and crumbled it into a ball. “The paper was horrible. The first paragraph had error after error and, even if I used the margins to their fullest extent with my smallest writing, I would probably need to use the back as well. The result of which might be that you miss something on your next draft. It is just more efficient if I tell you the major errors verbally, without the paper, and then have you provide another draft. For instance, you need to use ‘then’ and ‘than’ correctly. Then, the use of comments from your perspective need to be rephrased.”

The rest of the potential employees were dumbstruck, but a smile crept slowly onto Front Page’s face. “That’s pretty much exactly what the editor told me, too. Congrats, you make it to the next round. As do,” -The mare turned around and pointed to a few more ponies- “you seven.” As she said that, one of the other’s came up, whispered in her ear, and left. Front Page pointed out another pony “You, then, since that display scared off that other one,” she corrected.

All the others left the room and Front page moved to the front once again. “Second and final test, now. You are going to pair up with another pony, and you are both going to write your own stories about anything you want. When the bell goes off in ten minutes, you are going to swap with your partner and edit each other’s works.” Papers were passed around and the timer at the front was set once again.

After the cue was given by Front Page and the timer started, all the eight remaining ponies started working hurriedly, all of them either levitating the quill, or writing with their teeth. Except for Hendrick, who, of course, was using a quill that was strapped to his hoof. The sound of writing on paper filled the air and Front Page took a moment to lean back and relax. It wasn’t often that she got time off during the day.

Eventually, the alarm went off and she sat back up. “All right, everypony. Pass your papers to your partner and start your correcting. When you’re finished, set your quill down, and I’ll come around to check.” Her smile was incredibly large. She always did enjoy the competition between ponies. It brought out the strongest aspects of a pony’s personality. Now that I think about it, that’s an odd word. Why is it ‘personality’?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Hendrick slammed his quill onto the table. Sweat was slicking his entire coat and his gaze was locked on the paper in front of him. All the others turned to look at him for a moment, before returning to their work. His partner was equally worried as he continued to read and reread the paper that Hendrick had handed him. Wondering what was going on, Front Page meandered around to behind the pony and looked at it. He had managed to find three errors so far, but was desperately looking for more. After looking at the one Hendrick had edited, she realized why; his own paper was covered in circles and comments in the margins.

All the others put their quills down as well and, eventually, the pony reluctantly set Hendrick’s story down as well, a sigh of acceptance heavy in his exhale. Glancing around at the other papers and reading the various edits, the mare smiled knowingly. She looked at Hendrick for a moment, sweat still pouring from his face, then went back to the front of the room again. “All right, everypony. I think I’ve made my decision. Could everypony except Hendrick please leave? Thank you all for coming.”

All the other’s diligently left, leaving Hendrick alone in the seated part of the room. “Hendrick, I would like to-”

“I’m so sorry!” he interrupted. “I screwed up!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I accidentally did a comma where a semi colon would have fit better, and I know that there were errors that I missed, but I just didn’t see them because I was strained for time, and then, in the first section, I was going to write the general errors on your paper, but I didn’t want to hold a quill in my mouth and by the time I had it tied around my hoof, it was over and I had to improvise. And then...” He continued on, telling of every single mistake and error he had done during the course of the event, panic evident on his face.

One thing’s for sure, Front Page thought to herself as she watched the stallion blather on about his own mistakes. This is going to be one heck of an employment.