//------------------------------// // Duct Tape // Story: Hikarus Freedom // by 20percentcooler //------------------------------// Iris was busy taking calls in the hotel. Ponies from all around were booking rooms for Nocturnal Oasis. Iris definitely had her hooves full as she tried to work fast to take calls, file info, and list rooms as booked in the computer schedule. She worked hard all morning and was very much relieved when it was time for her lunch break. "Whew! Busy day." She said to herself. "I guess I better get used to it as this event gets closer." She was just about to head out the door to go to her favorite lunch spot, when she noticed another hotel worker walking toward the door as well. "Oh hey Summer. What's up?" Summer looked up from the ground. "I just got fired." Iris froze. "Fired?" She couldn't believe it. Summer was an excellent worker who had been working in the hotel for years. Why would Storm fire her? "But...Summer....why?" "He said that we need to cut back." Said Summer sadly. " I guess that means it was time to let me go." She sighed. "I just don't know what to do now. I have a foal to take care of and I am now out of work. I just gotta hope that I can find something." "Oh Summer...." Said Iris. " I don't know what to say. You don't deserve this though. I don't know what Storm is thinking." "Yeah I don't know...." Said Summer quietly. "But...I guess thats it for now...." And with that, Summer left the hotel. Iris couldn't believe it. It didn't make sense. Summer was one of the best employees of all time in the hotel. And her contributions to the business were many. Iris remembered her from the very first day she had come to work at the hotel herself. Summer had introduced her to the other workers, helped her out in the computer system and filing, made he feel comfortable working in what was at the time, a very new place. 'Of all the workers...' Thought Iris to herself as she shook her head in complete disbelief. 'That really doesn't make any sense at all.' Iris was thinking about the matter when she heard some commotion from down the hallway. Iris ran around the corner and down the hall to see what the ruckus was about. She found 2 other hotel workers trying to hold back Spark (who was in charge of the hotel's electricity) who was destroying Storms office. "SPARK!" Shouted Iris. "What are you doing! Stop!" Spark struggled to be released from the grasp of the two other ponies that held him back. "That no good little foal!" He shouted. "Ill RIP his head off! He will regret the very day he was born! Ill kill him! I swear Ill kill him!" "Please calm down!" Said one of the other hotel workers struggling to hold the mad rampaging stallion back. "Spark, what happened?" Fear in Iris's voice. What could drive Spark to be this angry? He was usually so calm and relaxed. "That freaking Storm..." Muttered Spark starting to calm down a bit. He sighed, and continued. "He approached me today as I was working. I was fixing some wiring on the 3rd floor. He came up to me, and without a care in the world, said he was dropping my salary by 25 percent. I asked him why and he just said that it was none of my business. Well to hay with that I think it is my business to know why my salary is being dropped like that! So I protested, and the little foal says he is dropping my salary by 50 percent because he didn't like my ATTITUDE! So of course this is totally ridiculous, I mean, I have a family at home I need to take care of! I am barely making it as is! I need all the bits I can get cause I want to keep everypony alive you know!" Spark kicked over a trash can and looked down onto the ground. Through a bright red mane, were hidden eyes filled with anger, and sadness. "He fired me before I could say another word. Im done, I have no means to care for my family. All the benefits I had here are gone. I have nothing. Im done ok? Im totally done!" Tears started flowing from Sparks eyes as he slumped down onto the ground. Times had been very tough for him for quite a while, and this was a heavy blow to his efforts of trying to care for the ones he loved. And in his eyes, there was no hope. Iris put a hoof over him. "Im done!" He shouted. And he got up and ran out the door, leaving bitter and angry tears behind him. Orange Range, one of the other hotel workers, sighed and eyed Storms destroyed office. "He's lost it. He's completely out of control." "Spark?" Asked Iris. "No, Storm. He's been getting increasingly more and more angry and rude to all of the workers here. I overheard him saying that he is planning on laying off most of the staff except a few. He's not even caring who it is or what situations they are in...obviously...I would be careful Iris, its not looking good for all of us." ============== Hikaru and Sky arrived at the apartment building on 28th and Castleview Avenue. The building appeared to be quite old and run down. But this was understandable, as Flash and Zen were young and didn't have the bits to be able to keep up the place very much. "Lets see here..." Said Sky looking over the note that Zen had written. "They are in apartment 107." Hikaru pushed the bell for that particular room. A faint mechanical sound could be heard. it was a strange sound. A mix of grinding gears of some kind and a few creaks. Hikaru realized that it must be an older doorbell that had gotten worn out over the years and no longer had its signature chime. Hikaru looked up at the large metal door that towered in front of them. "You sure they would be here....?" Asked Hikaru nervously as they waited. "Yeah for sure. It says here in the note that they would be." Suddenly, the sound of rushing hoofbeats could be heard from inside. A click was heard and the door swung open. "SKY!" Shouted a yellow pony with a black and red streaked mane. "ZEN!" Shouted Sky embracing her friend. "Its great to see you again! Its been forever!" "Yeah I know! I haven't seen you in like a year! Oh wow, Im so glad you are here! I was so excited when Flash told me about what was going on, oh this will be awesome, you will love it here, it may be a bit run down but you'll learn to love this place!" Zen looked over at Hikaru. "Oh! Haha, sorry how could I forget. Im Zen, and I take it that you must be Hikaru?" "Yeah thats me." Laughed Hikaru. "I guess Sky has told you about me huh." "Oh yes indeed." Replied Zen with a smile. "Sounds like you two are very close." "So where is Flash?" Asked Sky suddenly. "Oh yeah! I forgot!" Said Zen quickly. "He had to go to the store and get some duct tape to fix a leak in one of the pipes." "You use duct tape to repair leaks?" Questioned Hikaru giving her an odd look. "Not just pipes either!" She replied with a proud smile. "We use it to fix leaks in the roof as well! The stuff works wonders!" "That stuff is pretty useful." Said Sky recalling the strange tape that had been invented about 2 years ago. "Although I never thought it could hold back water from a leaking roof." "Oh yeah for sure!" Zen said happily. "We can't use enough of the stuff! It holds this building up!" Hikaru choked for a second. 'This place is held up by tape.....great...' "Well come on in!" Zen said happily grabbing Sky's bag. "Ill show you guys your apartment! Its one of the best ones we have! Only the best for our friends you know!" 'Wait...' Thought Hikaru as they followed Zen into the building. 'Its just....one...apartment?' They arrived at the apartment on the 3rd floor. Hikaru noticed that the door seemed to be broken. The door handle was falling off, but was somewhat still attached...By none other than- "Duct tape." Remarked Hikaru looking at the handle wrapped in many layers of the material. "Hehe..." Laughed Zen. "Yeah, its a life saver! I can't imagine what we would do without it! I mean, just the other day, the radio receiver tower on the roof collapsed. It was pretty rusty and was pretty much eaten away. But we used this tape to attach it back to the ground and set it back up again! Its fantastic!" Zen opened the door and let them into the apartment. The layout was pretty simple. One small living room area, a small bathroom off to one side, and a bedroom off to the other. Hikaru walked over to the window and peered out through the old curtains that looked like they had been made hundreds of years ago. Everything was so different than Ponyville. Instead of seeing the few individuals walking the streets of a very quiet town, Hikaru saw hundreds of ponies, all moving very quickly through the streets that were surrounded by towering multistory buildings. The atmosphere here was completely different. Hikaru didn't know if he really liked this new feeling, but he figured that he had better get used to it. This was his home now, and most likely would be for quite a while. "Well, Ill let you two get settled in." Said Zen waking up Hikaru from his thoughts. "Flash and I want to take you two out tonight. Theres this really awesome place a few blocks down. Good time for us to catch up, meet up, talk it up, you get it." Sky laughed in reply at her friends words. "That would be great. What time should we meet up and where?" "Just come to our apartment at 7. So about an hour from now, and we'll all go together!" "Sounds good. Thanks for the invite!" Zen left the small apartment, carefully closing the door. Apparently not carefully enough as the door handle fell off onto the floor with a thud. "Ill get that fixed! No worries!" 'Ugh..' ----------------