This story is a sequel to Triptych
As far as amenities go, most of what the Manehattan Fashion Moon trade show offers to first-time booth operators is 'the honor of attending'. It means Rarity is expected to pay for her cart's storage, along with just finding a place to put it. But with Pinkie along for the trip, at least there's somepony to speak with during the endless Moon-watched circuits of the structure. Two mares desperately searching for an empty space, with nothing to do but think.
It's easy to think, when all you can really do is trot and talk. The hard part is figuring out how to stop.
(Part of the Triptych Continuum, which has its own TVTropes page and FIMFiction group. New members and trope edits welcome.)
Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages.
Welp, I didn’t need to be sleeping.
Heavy business man, there's just something about deserted parking garages, yes?
So was the busted up cart scattered among several occupied spaces then?
Parking psychology. It's a thing. Cursing those who don't know how to park properly is an art. Not parking properly is both art and a capital sin. And paying parking is a racket that need the capital punishment.
I hate parking lots. But I love this story and it's a perfect little follow up for the continuum.
And Rarity is in Manehattan! That mean Coco! Or possible Coco.
Whelp, welcome to the big city. Spend your bits and then leave, I guess.
Reminds me of an old Archie comic where Chuck got it into his head that the Big Apple was where it was at. On his father's recommendation, he and Archie took a trip there to visit Chuck's Aunt. 4 locks on the door (because she can't afford 5 yet), cramped city, squalid conditions, indifference, and a nice diner attendant talking about his old hometown that he's saving to return to.
In case, it wasn't clear, I did like the story.
I knew this was an Estee story as soon as I read the title. Which is funny because you say the same thing about my stories.
9804410
That sounds like the only viable option.
If it's not a whole cart, does it trigger the wards for the special resident parking?
So, you’re a Disc World fan? Me too. IIRC, Going Postal?
For some reason, this brought to mind Dr. Samuel “Dictionary” Johnson’s famous dictum
“A ship has every amenity afforded by a prison with the added advantage that you can drown”
Reason #687 I still convince myself I don't ever need to drive. This entire story. Of course, Reason #1 is "I can't afford a car for at least the next decade," so the rest are...superfluous.
Okay, this is just a little horrifying. Whenever the Bearers leave Ponyville, the castle has to be able to reach them. There has to be a bureaucracy just to keep tabs on them. Every trip beyond their home settled zone documented in triplicate and advance. Is it the malicious kind? Filled with power-tripping, and unimaginative bureaucrats? Or has it been taken by a volunteer like Fancypants, who hates the intrusion of privacy just as much as the Bearers do?
Just imagine after Duet wraps up, and Snowflake is planning a romantic getaway for Applejack. Just picture him sliding the paperwork over to some low level functionary, and how intimidating he could make that action look. With his red eyes and pierced ear...
Nice story! So many good references to real life!
I wonder if it could be cheated by grabbing a ticket and immediately teleporting to the scanner.
But that means you have a teleporter... Which are pretty rare?
Lucky that they found those shields! It would've sucked if they didn't!
Compared to Bronycon, those prices seem reasonable. Worse, when we paid our stunning bill in the lobby, walked to the car, drove out, and waved the magic receipt at the machine, it demanded more bribe money because it had taken us 11 minutes instead of the listed ten. I have never in my life wanted to just drive through one of those wooden arms so much, and I'm one of those hopelessly law-abiding people who bring loose carts into the stores, drive at least close to the speed limit despite the traffic zinging by, and always stop at red lights, even at 3AM when there's nobody within miles.
(At least they didn't try the Piano Solution)
9804774
Spike doesn't have to know where someone is to get a letter to them.
Honestly, why is he not rich from going into business as an emergency message service?
9804845
Yes, but aside from the princesses, Spike’s method is distinctly one way. He can get the message there no problem. But for the palace to get the long-range teleporters there, they have to have some advance warning.
I know that this was inspired by your own experiences in Baltimore (I recognize the appearance of the rat, at least), but I could relate to the set-up to a spooky degree. I arrived in the city with only a couple of hours before the vendor hall opened for the first day, after not getting any sleep the night before, and had to scramble to set up my booth in the far corner of artist’s alley after being turned down for one of the larger vender spots in the front half of the hall, what with it being my first time attending. My hotel did have a parking garage attached, but it was owned by the city and therefore insanely expensive per day, and I had to pay for two cars with my brother arriving from the DC area to help me. It definitely ramped up my hotel costs significantly. And I had my own nightmare trying to get out of the garage on the last day, when my ticket wouldn’t work to open the gate.
So I was definitely primed for the set-up, but it’s in the “therapy” as Rarity cleverly calls it that this story shines. Some great characterization here, comparing and contrasting Pinkie and Rarity and their fears. The quiet follow-up to Triptych showing the emotional scars that still need to heal was quite welcome, and I sympathize with Pinkie feeling that it’s all somehow on her.
Plus, it made me want a bagel.
Ah, the New York parking garage. Abandon all funds, ye who enter here.
I do have to wonder how (and if) that disclaimer is legally binding.
As for the shared long, dark night of the soul, an excellent dive into the traumas brought on by an adventuring career. Bad enough when the fate of the world regularly rests on your shoulders. When it depends on you staying friends with several other people on top of that? Yeah, that'll lead to trauma that a few quick dream therapy sessions will barely be able to scratch.
Though with any luck, Rarity's efforts at this show go better than they have in the past. Having a friend in the booth with her should definitely help. As should bagels, crisped or otherwise.
Thank you for another excellent read.
9804787
All times round up, and you'd be within the first five minutes. Even assuming zero decay, it'd probably be set up to charge twenty bits at minimum.
The question is whether the tickets can be recharged. Or how hard it is to lift the portcullis yourself.
9804862 You should see how much they charge the rats.
All things considered, it's a good thing parking garages aren't particularly flammable.
9804845
Spike needs gems, and it takes effort. Plus, he's still a very young dragon, and doesn't need everyone treating him like a public utility. He got enough of being objectified by his sister when she was deep in her mark...
9805176
The clear implication was that he would be charging enough to cover the cost of gems with a healthy profit left over. As in, high enough that most would only come to him over stuff that was actually important.
Uh, spoiler alert
I'm sorry, someone must pick the low hanging fruit.
reminds me of a scene in "going postal" by Terry Pratchett, where the protagonist spent some time using a spoon to loosen a large block, and moved it...only to find a new block FRESHLY mortared into the other side of the gap...and a new spoon!
9804714
Also, in Dr. Johnson's day, a higher risk of scurvy.
So Ponies have found a way to use magic to make parking garages even _more_ inconvenient than in our world? I am impressed. (Although that potentially nose-breaking barrier which only becomes visible - along with the warning - almost at the point of impact seems a series of lawsuits waiting to happen.)
I wonder if the open-structure parking garage originated here in the sunny southwest and duplicated elsewhere simply because it was cheap - here in Albuquerque, for instance, wind-driven rain is rare, snow even rarer.
9806082
Well, putting the best view of it: Pegasi can get in & out that way
Jury Duty 4. A class action lawsuit against a company owning multiple parking garages?
Here in the USA, advertising what you don’t have is called “bait & switch” & it’s illegal
9804916
According to a Business Law course I took in college (going on 50 years ago)
There is an ”implied doctrine of merchantability”
That is, if you sell something it’s implied that it is good for the purpose that you sold it for.
That is, you sell rat poison, you warrant that it will kill rats, for example
The warranty that comes with something you buy?
It’s for the company’s protection NOT yours
because without it, the general warranty applies & it favors the consumer MUCH more
than the specific warranty, which limits the company’s liability
from Bullwinkle & Rocky
“Hey! You advertised ‘money back if not completely satisfied’ “
“I’m completely satisfied with your money”
I suddenly really want to see Rarity mercilessly roasting someone who's captured her for "substandard dungeonkeeping". Just laying into them until they're in tears, and let her go.
...anyway. Commencing proper read now.
9804982
That was a terrible old joke and it still made me laugh.
Quite disturbing.
btw
Extraneous space.
9805212
Profit doesn't make up for child labor, and ask Dulci or Fluttershy how well the Ponyville public treats anyone 'different' but useful.
Hell, even Twi gets that and deeply regrets the times when she didn't.
It's still surprising to me, even given the cynicism of the 'Verse, that Bearers don't get a larger Crown-funded stipend. There's surely no shortage of funds to pay them each a stipend equivalent to what a 95th percentile Manhattanite earns, and no shortage of accountants talented enough to make it happen if Celestia really wanted it to.
9806648
Dulci has a boss and Fluttershy is held hostage by the well-being of her patients.
Spike would be in business independently, and free to refuse unreasonable requests.
Anyone who tried to force the issue would have an annoyed Twilight to deal with.
Thank you for reminding me why I despise Seattle.
It was genuine curiosity, for Pinkie had a real (and surprising) interest in politics, and had submitted her name onto the ballot for Ponyville's mayoralty in every election but the most recent.
i.pinimg.com/564x/98/12/8e/98128e1fe7366b6ba476eb27baaf61e1.jpg
9807183
Anyone who forced the issue would be dealing with a dragon.
You have the most interesting way of taking terribly mundane annoyances and turning them into the kinds of stories that make me ponder the meaning of life.
Cheers to you, mate.
9807890
Also true. Though it's debatable as to which of them is scarier.
9807908
You could liken it to Steven King's ability to make mundane things disturbing.
He holds up the horror lens, Estee holds up the philosophy lens.
I always enjoy Estee's version of Rarity but I got to say her and Pinkie are a delight together. Its interesting to see these two interacting more.
What got me was how jealous each of them are if the others, Rarity of Twilights magic. Twilight of Raritys words. Pinkie fot Applejacks ability.
9806977
According to Estee the Bearer’s compensation fund was set up by Celestia herself. One of her weaknesses and blind spots is money and finance. She genuinely thinks she’s paying them fairly and will probably be horribly embarrassed if she ever learns how criminally underpaid they are.
Luna is in charge of that sort of thing now and she’s actually good at it. But the fund was set up while she was still recovering and she probably doesn’t know anything about it. Maybe someday she’ll learn and give her sister an earful and the Bearer’s proper back pay.
Of course given the Bearer’s luck this will only happen long after they are independently financially secure and don’t really need it anymore.
9808886
Seems like something that could be fixed if Rarity makes an offhand comment to Fancypants. Do these versions know each other?
Fifteen floors? I've spent hours in Final Fantasy dungeons with fewer floors than that.
9805288
That is quite possibly the best visual pun I've ever seen. I tip my hat to you.
To be fair, in Equestria exits on every floor are not ominous at all.
2 things. 1: you are all probably going to hate me for this but one time I couldn't get the exit gate to accept my card so I called the customer service number printed on the outside. When I explained the situation, they remotely opened it up for me, no charge required!
Second, a story paraphrased. There was once a man in New York who was going overseas for 3 days and asked the bank to lend him $10,000. He would pay 10% annual interest and would give them his car as collateral. Realizing what a good deal this was for them the bank gladly accepted and claimed his car while he was away. He came back a few days later and payed the loan back, and the clerk had noticed that the man was super wealthy and really didn't need to borrow that kind of money. When asked why he took out the loan he said "Where else in this city could I get my car parked for 3 days at about $30?"
One of the reason the World Wargaming convention stopped using the town-centre venue it started at was becajuse, for some inexplicable reason, the idiots decided that they should charge extortionately stupid parking like that.
Clearly "parking" needs to be added to the utilies that the eventualy Bleakbane Rules All The Things Regime will have to take direct control of...
To be fair, about a third of their customers would be pegasi, who can jump out of a twelfth-floor window in order to go home for tea.
9809776
The Continuum takes everything through the end of season 3 as canon, with few exceptions. "Sweet and Elite" happened and is referenced a few times.
Rarity and Fancypants have some sort of ongoing student/mentor relationship, but it hasn't really been elaborated on.
Modern buildings, the walls aren’t loadbearing. There’s a steel frame that actually supports the weight. The tallest masonry building was the Monadnock building, 19 floors. Building up not out is because of the cost of land.
9804801
Once upon a time, I worked for a convention and the hotel we used always gave convention attendees free parking. But, the second to last year of the con, the hotel chain went to an independent contractor to run their parking lot.
Which we didn't find out about until after we negotiated the rates for the hotel, so all of our con goers had to pay full parking rates...
One of the staff, having gotten extremely frustrated at the cost (I think it was like $20 a day in 2006 or so), that we didn't get any parking validation, and all the machinery took up parking spots, went down and broke the arms to all the gates. The con had to fire him and send him off the premise, but I know the hat was passed for him...
Yes -assuming the police enforce the law
Actually, tall buildings like that have considerable wind force on them. The wind can cause considerable damage. Letting the wind through helps reduce the pressure & can save the building.
somehow this made me think of a Batman comic book where Scarecrow gave Batman a case of that.
he thought all his friends had faded away, and he couldn't see them RIGHT in front of him!
he wound up asking Catwoman for help!