Note: This is just a preview of the story I put up so potential editors can get a feel for how I write. This whole segment (better edited) is part of Act 1 Part 1, so you probally want to go right to that.
Fallout Equestria: Souls
~Preview~
“18 boxes of detergent.”
“18 boxes of detergent… Check.”
“3 leaf blowers.”
“3 leaf blowers… Check.”
“A henwey.”
“About 2 kilos… Check.”
“1 smart ass colt that ruins my jokes.”
Glancing up from my clip board, I saw Mr. Fulvous Ingot looking straight at me with an annoyed expression on his face. I guess he figured I hadn’t heard that one before.
“Check?” he asked expectantly.
“1 smart ass colt that ruins your jokes… Check.” I replied with a sigh.
Doing inventory with Mr. Ingot was the most tedious and mind numbing work in all of Dise, so I can’t blame him for trying to sneak in a joke now and then, I just wish he had better material. The job is even more pointless since Mr. Ingot kept meticulous records of every sale, so inventory ALWAYS matches up to exactly what was listed in his books. Yet I’m in no position to complain, I asked for this job in particular out of all the others available in Dise. Considering all the work involved in restarting a whole city, that was a lot of other jobs to choose from.
My parents think that I took this job because I was too ashamed to work in their nightclub/restaurant “The Winking Mare”, but that wasn’t it at all. Mr. Ingot thinks that I took this job so I can spy for my parents and undercut his prices, which is also not true. What I tell everyone is that I really want to be a merchant when I’m older and so I’m starting to work toward that goal, which is not true either. I have no interest in spending my life in a shop selling the same things to the same ponies every day. I want to someday go out and see the world beyond Dise, even if it is a wasteland, and I doubt that being a merchant is the way to do that.
No, the real reason that I volunteered for this tedious and boring job…
“Hey dad! Do you have a steam gauge assembly?”
Just walked in!
Peachy Keen, the prettiest filly in all of Dise. Vibrant magenta coat, wavy orange mane, brilliant violet eyes, and her cazadorable cutie mark even made the horrifying insect look cute. Sure, she was a few years older than me, but then I was often told that I was very smart for my age. Well, “too smart” is how most ponies put it, but close enough!
Wait! She asked an inventory related question, this was my chance!
Flipping through the pages in the clipboard I searched for the listing of steam gauge assemblies.
Found it!
“Just one in stock.” Mr. Ingot said a moment before I could. See what I mean by this is a pointless job? He’s got the whole inventory memorized!
“Can I have it?” Peachy said with a smile, batting her beautiful eyelashes. If it was up to me I would have given her the whole store for that look.
“Sure…” Mr. Ignot started.
Peachy let out an adorable squee of delight. “Total sweetness! Thanks da…”
“For right amount of bits, chips, or equal value in trade.” He finished and her smile fell.
“Aww dad, you know I’m saving my bits!” The magenta filly pouted. “Please can I just have it? It’s my birthday next week after all!”
“You already got your birthday present in advance three months ago. Did you think that I forgot that?” From the frustrated grimace that briefly flashed across Peachy’s face, that may have actually been her plan.
Peach tried pouting again “Mom would have given it to me…”. Oh, that was a low blow. Ms. Keen died 2 years ago helping to defend Dise from raiders, the memory must be still painful for…
“HA! Your memory must be getting tainted from nostalgia.” Mr. Ingot laughed and then continued with a big grin. “The commander was the cheapest hardass I’ve ever met.”
Peachy puffed her cheeks out in frustration. She’s so cute! She then turned around and started walking out of the store room, her silky orange tail swishing back and forth…
Wait! She’s leaving and I haven’t even said anything to her yet!
“Uhh… Have a nice day Peachy!” Ugh. Real original.
She turned her head back and looked at me like she didn’t even know I was there before. “Oh, the new stock-colt.” She said indifferently and walked out.
She doesn’t even know my name…
Hold on a second, she said that her birthday is next week! If I could somehow get her that steam gauge assembly for her birthday, she’ll be sure to notice me! Only problem is that I’m not getting paid before then and I have nothing of value to my name. The odds of Mr. Ingot just giving me the steam gauge assembly in advance of my pay were about the same as me bumping into…
“15 hula mares.”
Yeah, exactly... Oh! I quickly picked up the pencil from the rope around my neck and found the listing of the plastic figures. “15 hula mares… check.”
This job is still so pointless! I’m willing to bet that…
Ah! I just had a wonderful Idea!
“Hey Mr. Ingot, why do you need to take inventory so often?” I tried my best to make it sound like an innocent question and not pointing out the futility of it.
“In case any of it ever goes missing. I need to be careful for thieves…” He then shot me a side long glance “…or spies.”
I pressed on as if I hadn’t noticed. “Are we also checking to see if there’s any stock that’s more than you should have?”
“A surplus?” He replied with a laugh. “Not possible, I know every item that goes in and out of here, and I never forget an item.”
Ok, here goes… “I bet I could find a surplus.” I tried to make it sound like an innocent boast and not a slant at his skills.
“Oh really?” The brown stallion raised a bushy black eyebrow. “And what are you willing to bet on that?”
“If I find one item of surplus I get to keep it. If I don’t, then you don’t have to pay me for the weekend.” Come on, take the bait…
“Ha! Deal kid. Come in bright and early tomorrow.” I could see him already ringing up the bits he’ll save in the back of his head.
YES! The odds of actually finding a surplus item were slim, and I was taking a gamble here, but heck, this was Dise!
~~~
All right! It took all weekend of mind numbing counting and checking but I finally found an item of inventory not on the list.
At some point Mr. Ingot mixed up that he had twenty-eight balls (of the blue and yellow toy variety) with having twenty eight-balls (of the pool variety), while he actually had twenty-one eight-balls. True to his word, and much to his chagrin, he let me keep the surplus eight-ball with the promise that his gaff never got out.
It wasn’t exactly the prize I was hoping for, but it was a start.
I then moved on to the next stage of my idea, surreptitiously going to everypony I could in Dise and finding out what they might need and might have to offer. With that information I set about making a list of the most promising chain of events and then set out to put it in action.
My first, and most obvious, stop was the local pool hall. As I walked in I overheard the owner of the hall talking with another mare. I stopped just short of the door to listen.
“So, the little blank flank came asking you questions too?”
“Yeah, from what I heard he’s been poking around all of Dise. It’s kind of weird, wonder what he’s up to.”
I had the sinking suspicion that they were talking about me. I guess my inquiries were not as surreptitious as I hoped.
“Well what do you expect…” The owner said with a snicker. “Half his family is… off.” I rolled my eyes. Yup, they were talking about me.
The other mare let out a laugh. “Yeah, and he’s definitely… a little off!”
“And proud of it!” I said with a big grin as I confidently trotted over to the bar where owner and the other mare were having drinks. “Could I interest you in possibly purchasing… this?” I took out the eight-ball from my saddle bag with a flourish and presented it to the owner, balanced on my hoof like it was a rare treasure.
The owner looked at it then she gave a little smirk. “Kind of young to be coming in here and offering me your balls, try back in a few years.” This odd reply brought about a fit of giggles from her friend, who gave the unicorn playful slap and muttered that she was terrible.
I didn’t have a few years to wait though, so I tried switching from showmanship to simple pleading. “Come on, could I at least trade it for one of those broken pool cues you keep behind this bar?”
The mare raised an eyebrow for a moment, I don’t think that she knew I took such a through stock of her resources, but then it was replaced with a wide grin. “So, you’re offering your balls in exchange for nice long shaft? Didn’t know your stable door swung that way.” This brought about such a burst of laughter from her friend that she nearly spilt her drink.
“I only have the one ball.” I admitted sheepishly, which triggered even more laughter from the mares.
After finally composing herself, the owner wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hoof. “Oh, since you’re such a good laugh, you got a deal.” She then levitated out from behind the counter a pool cue with the tip broken off to a jagged point and took the eight-ball out of my hoof.
“Thanks!” I said stuffing the broken cue as much into my saddle bag as I could before galloping out.
Just as I was leaving I heard the owner say “And… he’s off!” before her and the other mare burst out laughing again. I guess some ponies are easily amused.
Once I got outside of the pool hall I took out my list and set it on the ground, holding it in place with a hoof. I then took out a red marker that I brought with me and checked off the box beside the picture of a broken cue. Second stage done, here’s hoping that the rest goes just as well.
My next stop was the ruined back alleys on the east side of Dise. The streets were home to basically anypony that wanted to be safe in the city but didn’t actually contribute to any of the work to rebuild it. After asking a friendly hobo for directions I found my next target, Foalson.
If Peachy Keen was the prettiest filly in Dise, Foalson was the coolest colt. He was only a couple years older than me but he already had his own gang, which he was the only member. His parents were raiders that were killed in the same attack that took Peachy’s mom (nopony should bring their foals with them into a war). There wasn’t anypony that wanted to look after a raider’s colt, but nopony had the heart to kick him out of the city either, so he just grew up on the back streets.
I found the young unicorn practicing his telekinesis with a length of chain that he always had with him. I don’t think he’s every actually fought anypony with it, considering his current awkward attempts to swing it around like a lasso or crack it like a whip were more likely to hit him than a potential opponent.
“Looking good there Foalson!” I tried really hard to sound impressed.
“What do you want twerp?” He said as he continued to spin the chain in the air. He then nonchalantly brushed a hoof through his spikey green mane, which was dyed with wide red stripes (or maybe it was red dyed with thin green stripes). He was trying to pass off like his practice was nothing, though I suspect he was actually wiping the sweat of the exertion from his forehead.
“As cool as your chain is, I’ve got something even cooler for you…” I reached into my saddle bag and pulled the broken cue out with my mouth.
“A broken pool stick?” Foalson observed flatly.
I tossed the stick from my mouth into the air near him and he caught it with his magic, dropping the chain. I pretended not to notice that he couldn’t levitate two things at once.
“Don’t think of it as a pool stick, think of it as a versatile improvised weapon!” I started into my spiel. “You could swing it like a club, brandish it like a rapier, block like a staff, and even hurl it like a spear! Also, it gives you greater reach and range than most any weapon your opponent might have.”
Foalson condensed his magical grip on to a section near the base of the stick and gave it a few experimental swings and thrusts. It was clear even to him that he had much better control over it than he did with his chain. “Hmm, not bad. Maybe I could even fix a bit of scrap metal at the tip and give it a real nasty point. My old sire always did prefer a spear. Though, it didn’t do the fool much good against a gatling battle saddle.” After a few more swings he looked at me. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch, straight up trade, the stick for your chain.”
Foalson though for a moment, casually scratching his flank with the round end of the cue. I almost expected it to make pinking sounds as it passed over the bars of his prison window cutie mark.
“Throw in a couple passes for your mom’s show and you got a deal.” He said with a grin. He might not have had a Stable style education like I did, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that if somepony comes to you with a deal in Dise, you’re the one with the upper hoof since they want something from you.
“Hmm. That may be tricky to get, but I’ll give it my best shot.” Truth be told, getting him passes would be easy, my parents always have several to give away as promotions. It won’t do him any good though, since he wouldn’t pass the magical age check at the door.
“Good enough.” And with that he tossed the chain at me (dropping the cue at the same time). I quickly side stepped and opened my saddle bag, allowing the chain to drop into it with a swish.
After leaving the alley I took out my list again and put a red check next to the picture of the chain. Looking down the rest of the list I smiled to myself. Just a half dozen more trades like this and I’ll have something worth enough to trade Mr. Ingot for the steam gauge assembly. Then I could give it to Peachy for her birthday!
I could already picture her making that cute little squee sound and then going “Total sweetness!”
With a happy sigh I headed off to the water plant.
~~~
“What do you mean you won’t trade me the micro-cell?!” I blurted out as my plan hit a major roadblock.
“I’m sorry, it’s a fine length of chain, and I certainly can use it…” The service technician said as he mopped his face with a rag in the steamy hall. “But one of the control panels blew last night and I need that micro-cell for the repairs. I could offer you something else in trade though, I’ve got a spare small size flywheel, or three meters of bidirectional wire, there’s also…”
As he listed off miscellaneous parts I slumped down onto the cold metal grating. None of the things he was listing off were any use to me. I would have to go back and rework my entire list and find new ponies to trade up whatever he gave me towards the… My ears suddenly shot up, catching something I almost missed.
“What was the last thing that you just said?” I asked standing straight up.
“What? I said a steam gauge assembly. I have a spare in the old back utility closet, it’s kind of beat up but I think that…”
“I’ll take it!” I shouted eagerly.
Within a few minutes I was happily running out of the water plant with my prize in tow, stopping only briefly to skip down to the bottom of my list as put big red check in to box next to the picture of the steam gauge assembly. It may not have been exactly to plan, but my idea worked!
I was running so fast that I almost missed that I ran past Peachy Keen walking in the other direction. Without even stopping to turn around I quickly ran backwards to catch up with the pretty earth pony.
“Hi… *huff* Peachy… *puff* Keen!” I gasped trying to catch my breath.
Peachy looked down at me confused for a moment, then a look of realization hit her. “Oh, you’re the new stock-colt.” Well at least she knows my face if not my name.
Finally catching my breath I smiled at her. “I have a birthday present for you.”
“Oh?” she replied curiously.
I took the steam gauge assembly out of my bag and set it down by her hooves. Her pretty violet eyes went wide and she made that happy squee sound like I knew she would.
“Total sweetness!” she exclaimed just like I knew she would.
Then she did something that I had no idea she would. She leaned forwards and gave me a little kiss on the forehead. I was lucky there was no wind at all at that moment; since I think the smallest gust could have knocked me right over.
“This is just perfect! My colt-friend is going to love it!”
Colt-friend?
The warm feeling I had all over me disappeared as if I was thrown into a pool of ice water.
“Colt-friend?” I managed to stammer out.
“Uh-hu, he’s the super coolest colt ever! But don’t tell my dad, he would totally freak.”
“Who… who is it?” I asked, half knowing the answer already.
“You probably don’t know him, he’s a light gray unicorn that lives on the east side, carries a big chain…”
“Pool cue.” Corrected, still in shock.
“What?” Peachy said puzzled.
“Foalson traded in his chain for a pool cue.” I mumbled, trying to process what just happened. “More versatile.” I added, recalling my own sales pitch less than an hour ago. No way was he getting those passes now.
“Oh, you do know him?” The filly said with a surprised smile. “Well, he wanted this for a project he’s working on. He says it’s going to be awesome! I should get this to him right away.”
She galloped off with the steam gauge assembly, but after a moment stopped and called back to me. “Oh, and congratulations on getting your cutie mark, it really suits you!”
As she raced off to the east side, what she said slowly sunk in. Cutie mark? I don’t have my…
Looking over my shoulder at my flank I saw that now emblazoned on it was a large square box with a big red check mark in it, just like the one at the bottom of my list.
Well how about that.
To celebrate the event I made a list in my head of what I achieved today:
1. Got a week’s worth of dull work finished in a weekend.
2. Made Mr. Ingot eat crow over the infallibility of his inventory.
3. Helped out three ponies through good trades (even if one is now my nemesis).
4. Got Peachy her birthday present (even if she wasn’t really the one who wanted it).
5. Peachy kissed me.
6. PEACHY KISSED ME!!
7. Got my cutie mark.
8. Learned the hard way to first find out if the filly you like already has a colt friend.
A little bad mixed in with the good there, but all in all I’d say that this day turned out pretty darn good. Or, as Peachy would say…
Total sweetness!!