Dr. Fetlock had gotten that secretary she wanted. A griffon hen, seated behind her front desk and claws ticking away at a typewriter. Fetlock felt pride swell, knowing she had reached a new level in which she could afford to pay that secretary without worrying about her budget. "Gudrun?"
The griffon, Gudrun, looked up towards the doctor. "Yes, Doctor?"
Fetlock's smile grew. She liked the respect that was given in the tone of those words. "Has anypony made an appointment for today?"
Gudrun reached over with her clever fingers and quickly flipped through some papers. "I don't have anything noted for today, Doctor. I'll be making some follow-up calls on some potential clients that showed some interest previously. Doctor?"
Fetlock's ears perked. "Yes?"
"May I ask something?"
Fetlock's confusion grew. "What?"
Gudrun gestured towards the door leading into the back. "What is it you do, exactly? You speak to the client, go into the back, and return with a pony that I didn't see go in."
Fetlock considered that reply. She could angrily brush Gudrun off, but she wanted a loyal assistant, not a cowed servant or, worse, neither if she drove the griffon away. "I use very advanced magic to create the pony that the client wishes for."
Gudrun blinked owlishly, which fit her owlish face. "You create life, from nothing?" She shook her head. "Unicorns are like little gods." Despite her words, her eyes went back to her typewriter and she resumed typing, apparently satisfied with the answer she had received.
Fetlock let out an internal sigh of relief that her words had been accepted at face value. She liked Gudrun. The griffon was efficient, polite, and despite being a griffon, courteous to guests. "I'll be--"
Her words were interrupted by the door to the street being pushed open to admit a pegasus. He was blue, with multi-colored mane and tail. He looked a little frazzled. "Is this the place for getting ponies?"
Gudrun looked up at him, undisturbed. "You'll have to be more specific." She produced a pamphlet and offered it over her desk. "We offer a wide variety of pony location services."
The pony approached with a strong nod. "Great, yes, that's what I want!"
Fetlock wasn't sure about that pony. There was something... peculiar about them. "What, exactly, are you--"
He rushed her, eyes wide and mane becoming all the more frazzled. "Can you send a pony back?"
She raised a brow high. Was he? "Come with me. Gudrun, I'll be seeing to this client."
"As you wish, Doctor." She returned to her typing as if nothing remarkable had occurred.
Fetlock led the pegasus into the back room before turning to face him again. "Who are you?"
The pony gestured at himself. "That's a trick question. The name's Robert, or Aqua, if you prefer."
Robert. Yes, she had heard that name, and Aqua as well. "You're patient zero's acquaintance."
"Patient what?" Robert shook his head. "Look, I came to Equestria thinking it would be all that and a bag of chips."
"Every pony has a place," stated Fetlock evenly. "You did not belong there. The 'real' Aqua has integrated wonderfully." She pointed at Robert. "You are not Aqua."
Robert took half a step back. "G-great, so we agree. Send me home."
"Impossible."
Robert went rigid. "Don't lie to me! If you can pull people here, you can send them back. It's just common sense!"
Fetlock let out a slow breath. "Shall we try an analogy?"
"This better not be stupid."
Fetlock rolled her eyes. "You are fishing. You set your hook into the depths, find something, and pull it up. The fish is now in your hooves. It asks to be put back. Now the complexity. Every smallest bit of direction in that ocean is another ocean of oceans. If we put the fish back in the water, it will not be in the ocean it began in. It will never find its way home. If we try hurling the fish in the same direction, same result. The chance of returning that fish to the same place it began? Basically impossible."
Robert sank to his haunches with a thud. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"If I read her report properly, this was your decision entirely."
Robert scowled at the doctor. "I thought I could get a mare. I thought life would be easier here!"
"Why?" Fetlock raised a brow at him. "What point is there in any universe where nothing is challenged. If we had everything we could ever need, there would be no change, no growth, only slow stagnation." Something he said clicked with her. "A mare could be arranged."
"What?" Robert stood up. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," agreed Fetlock. "But... you would need gainful employment, for yourself, and for my fees. There are plenty of opportunities here in Manehattan." She pointed past him to the door they had entered through. "Surely you have some talents?"
Robert's face scrunched with thought, his wings fidgeting. "I used to work retail, like George did. Hell, that's how we met in the first place."
"Do you not have hobbies and interests beyond that?" Fetlock rolled a hoof. "Besides, even retail is a desired field. There are more than enough storefronts, if you clean yourself up and make yourself presentable."
"How?!" Robert took a step towards her, clopping the ground. "I don't have a shower!"
"I can smell." Fetlock wrinkled her nose a moment. "Look, here." She pulled out a bag of bits and counted out a few moderate coins. "Go buy a room at a motel, get cleaned up, then get a job. This is your world now, like it or not. You chose it. You have nopony to blame."
Robert glanced at her bag, as if considering trying to get more bits than were being offered, but the urge seemed to fade quickly. "Yeah..." He reached a hoof for the bits, only to have them fall to the floor. He hadn't perfected hoof-grabbing yet. With another try, he had them up and tucked away. "Look, I'll do it, but you better be here when I come back."
"I plan to be," stated Fetlock confidently. "Prove you can adapt to the situation. I would like to speak with you further, but only then."
She watched him walk out and closed the door behind him. Would he manage? She almost hoped he did. She was curious what pony he thought would fill the many holes she could see in his heart. Maybe it would end happily? Only if he took care of himself first.
... He didn't even think he had to get a job?
Just how clueless is this guy?
It sounds like he's basically been uh... alone since he got to Equestria. Probably drives away/neglects anyone who'd want to be his friend, too.
7791769 Hey, that one guy's job was hanging out in a huge jar of jelly. The show wouldn't lie to us, right?
7791782
Maaan, shows lie to you as their primary function.
Don't be a fool, stay
in schoolthe workforce.That last part is the sorta bit part, though and I'm gonna say more about it.
However long he's been there, he hasn't made any real emotional connections, nor has he accepted help (which would inevitably lead to someone telling him he still needs a damn job) from someone, most likely. I mean, maybe he did and he's just left his situation after it had been ruined beyond recovery
As much as I don't like the guy, I find myself curious what that sort of situations have befell him.
Interesting to note that Dr. Fetlock's mark could represent abduction just as easily as filling roles...
In any case, I'd say the current format works well. Some cases go according to plan, some are significantly more complicated. Such is life.
So she'll put an ad in the wanted pony pages, "Need mare for desperate jerk. Experience with codependant relationships required."
7791421
Hmm, I'll try to put it another way. Where do you want your readers attention? Do you want the reader to direct their attention to characters like Case 2 and 3, or is there more important than stuff going on?
More attention on these easy cases (for Fetlock) means less attention on other aspects of the story. Like Twilights involvement, Big Mac, and the overall plotline. Should we, as readers, care about these transformees, or are they background information?
Right now things are in a gray area. There's not enough time spent on them for me to care about them as individuals, and yet each gets their own chapter, implying great significance.
followup calls - follow-up calls
remarkable had occured - remarkable had occurred
than was being offered - than were being offered
Does he have it in himself to do what it takes to earn redemption or will he dig his hole even deeper?
Curiouser and curiouser. The doctor seems focussed on filling holes in ponies, but she's making them in other places in the process.
No, life is different in Equestria, not easier. If he was broken before he came there the land will not 'fix' him. There are opportunities for happiness, but there were those back on earth too. They were different, but they were there. Forcing his way to Equestria only swapped one set of challenges for another. [/soapbox]
7792921 She seems willing to even help fill his gaping missing pieces. She's not all bad, perhaps?
What'd you think of Gudrun?
7793067
We don't get to see too much from her, but she seems to be a decent secretary.
You do use a certain word to describe her, though, and for that reason alone she bears watching to see if there's more to her than there appears to be at first glance. Related to that, I'm fairly sure that if George/Aqua had tried anything physical he would have his ticket out of Equestria but not in the manner he would have intended.
7793067
After a little digging, she also seems to be named after a heroine from Norse/Germannic mythology.
Oh yeah! That arsehole! Well, we agree, he needs to prove himself competent to a minimum degree.
Keep going! ;)