//------------------------------// // What Exactly is a Hotdog? // Story: Late Night Encounters At The Gas Station // by Barracuda cyborg //------------------------------// Once again, it was the dead of night. The two clerks had decided to take another night shift to see if their little pony friend would show up or not. The start of their shift was quite different from their first, they had more customers come in, they restocked some retro soda from the 90’s, and finally managed to empty out the Blue Thunder flavored slush. Hopefully Luna would show up, because they seriously needed a break from the insanity they’re used to, “Back to square one…” Derrick sighed. “So when do you think she’ll show up?” Mark asked as he tapped his fingers against the counter. “I don’t know, I hope she gets here, otherwise we’re stuck twiddling our thumbs for the rest of the shift,” Derrick replied as he once again looked outside the window. “Yeah, that would be a boring shift—not that you’re a boring person, Derrick.” “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Derrick said lamely, rolling his eyes.  Mark shook his head. “I mean think about it, she showed up here around the exact same time last night, so it would make sense for her to come back again around the same time,” Mark said. It was as if they were trying to catch a lightning bug in a bottle, only they were so far from even finding one to catch. Why was she not here yet? “Dude seriously. After what happened the last time we had to deal with this, I’m still not even certain if any of that happened,” Derrick said. He was still of the belief that none of what they had experienced wasn’t just due to the lack of sleep. “Or maybe we just got to give it some time. She could be running a little late, y’know. She’s a princess, remember?” Mark replied, hoping that their experience was real. “She’s got magic. She could just pop up right now,” Derrick replied matter-of-factly.  “Yeah…” Mark said, his voice trailing off. The two stayed silent. They only heard the clock ticking and tocking… and then, suddenly, a loud BANG came from outside. “Great, now the raccoons are back.” Derrick grabbed one of the brooms from the supply closet and walked out to the back of the store, “Alright you fuzzy little fuckers, get out of here before I start swinging!” In all of Derrick’s anger, he did not notice the yellow pony below him. “Oh… another one.” The yellow pony just looked up at the clerk, a bit terrified at the threat of being hit with a broom. “Please don’t hurt me…” She pleaded, “I was just trying to shoo the raccoons away. Eating garbage isn’t exactly healthy for them.” “Oh, I’m sorry.” Derrick quickly put his weapon of choice up. “Well since you’re here, are you in need of something?” “I am actually. In all of the craziness, I completely forgot about it.” The pony replied. Derrick went back to the door and opened it. “Well, by all means, come in miss…” “Fluttershy.” The pony said, “And thank you.” With that, she walked right into the store. “Anything yet Mark?” Derrick asked.   “Nothing yet dude. Just a few cars passing and—” Mark stopped when he finally noticed the yellow pony beside his friend. “I see you found the raccoon,” Mark replied as he straightened back up. “Yeah, you could say that,” Derrick said with a smirk. The two watched as Fluttershy wandered about, looking for whatever she was intending to buy. Fluttershy was a bit taken back by all of the items in the store. She was normally used to the open space of a farmer’s market, or borrowing from her friends. With the enclosed space, the flashy items, and the low buzzing sounds of the lights above, it was a lot to take in. Everything seemed to be going well until she smelled something... odd. It was as if something was left to rot in the sun and forgotten to the sands of time. She looked around until she noticed the machine rotating some hotdogs. This sent her into a bit of hysteria as she was trying to process what she was witnessing, eventually, she let out an ear-piercing shriek that could render the skies. “What the heck was that?!” Mark asked. “Sounded like a banshee found out what a megaphone was.” “W-what are... these?” Fluttershy asked as she pointed a hoof at the machine. “Those are just hotdogs,” Derrick answered as he walked up, trying to comfort the shaking mare. “Who would ever eat a dog?” Fluttershy asked. Derrick sighed. “They are not made of dogs, they're made of… you know, I’m not really sure.” “You’re not sure?!” Fluttershy shouted while grabbing the clerk’s face. Derrick was really unsure of what to say at this point, but he went with his gut. “We get them in a box, that’s all I know!”  Fluttershy fainted. Luckily, she didn’t hit her head on the tile or the counter. She was totally out, though, much to the chagrin of the two clerks.  Derrick was unsure of what to do at this point. “Uh… Mark, she fainted.” “Ok, what do you want me to do about it?” Mark asked. “Well, help me wake her up,” Derrick said, grunting. He tried to nudge her in her side, but the pony was unresponsive. “Dude, I heard you’re not supposed to wake up a sleeping horse.” Mark said as he pulled out a nature magazine on horses. “That’s bears, you idiot.” Derrick retorted, knowing his friend was just trying to blow off helping. “It’s still an animal,” Mark weakly replied. Derrick sighed. “Look, just get an ice pack or a fan and help.” After a good long while of trying to wake up their customer, she finally woke up. “Well, look who decided to wake up,” Mark said, which earned him a glare from Derrick. They watched as Fluttershy groaned, holding her head with a hoof. “Oh, dear… I guess I must’ve passed out,” Fluttershy weakly said as she got back up on her legs. “Well, I guess hotdogs aren’t on your list then,” Mark chuckled, only to be immediately smacked by his coworker. Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Well… I know this might be a long shot, but you wouldn’t happen to have any trail mix in stock?” The clerks looked at each other, “That depends on what size of bag you want, they’re next to the chips and jer… uhh, the snack cakes!” Derrick said, saving them from dealing with another fainting episode. “Oh well, in that case, do you sell it in large bags? I was planning on going on a nature walk with a few friends and I forgot that I was bringing the trail mix.” “Don’t worry, we got you covered,” Mark stated as he grabbed a party-sized bag and walked up to the counter. “Is that everything?” “Yes, it is,” Fluttershy replied. She cringed as she took one final look at that rotating machine. “How much do I owe you?” After scanning the bag and working with the register, the machine gave out the total. “That’s gonna be five dollars and thirty-five cents.” Fluttershy looked through her bags and just like the other ponies that came through the stores, they had bits instead of regular money. The mare frowned when she saw the look on the clerks’ faces. “I guess you don’t accept bits as payment?” “We’ll hold on to this, you enjoy your night,” Derrick said as he grabbed the bits from the pony. “Thank you, I’ll try to come back sometime.” With that Fluttershy grabbed her bag of trail mix and walked out of the store. “How much longer do we have?” Derrick asked. “Two more hours,” Mark replied. “I hope Luna shows up before we close.” “I hope so too, otherwise this is gonna be the worst night since these ponies showed up!” Derrick exclaimed. “I dunno, this doesn’t top that night when that hobo tried to make his home in the dumpster.” Mark simply replied. Derrick groaned. “Don’t remind me. I don’t need another headache from all that banging…”