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// Part 1: The Store – XIV 
// Story: Trolley Pushers 
// by Acologic 
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‘Ah!’ squeaked Hull. ‘Not there!’

‘There’s where you need it,’ said Lime, scraping the rubble none to gently. 

‘Ah!’ 

‘Don’t you think you should... well, I don’t know, keep it down?’ said Ale. ‘You’re going to attract attention.’

‘So what?’ Hull threw at him. ‘What are the shoppers going to do?’

Ale shrugged, but he knew why he’d said it. He didn’t want a scene. He was sure Gat would bring him trouble if they did cause a scene, not because the shoppers cared but because his department could look incompetent, or silly, or bad in some sort of way. Ale couldn’t really figure how exactly Gat would come to such a conclusion, but he was certain the latter would find some way to spin it so that they would take the fall. Ale in particular, since it was he who was responsible for Hull on his first shift. 

The pain in Hull’s leg, thankfully, seemed to have subsided, and now the only pain he felt was that induced by the slow removal of the rubble-like grains that did indeed appear to have stuck fast to his fur. Ale had tried first to scrape them off, but Lime had complained he was going too slowly and doing it wrong, so he had taken over. Elm, for her part, watched them and kept them at it, and she had even gone into the store and bought them all soft drinks. Now that their initial panic had abated, and the danger appeared to be contained and able to be dealt with, each of them were relatively relaxed, even Hull, who was sipping his hay soda as normally as he would in the staff canteen. Of course, they hadn’t at all explained how Hull had ended up in the pothole in the first place, but it was easy, while occupied with his extraction, to put it to the back of the mind. Time quickly made everything banal, even the most outlandish and unbelievable things.

But not enough time had passed to prevent Ale from taking serious issue with the fact that not only had Emergencies not yet arrived despite having been called, but also they had blatantly refused to take Elm’s call when she’d redialled. It defied all sense. What on earth were they doing? Hull had been right. The Company hypocrisy was as plain as the pothole he was sitting in. 

‘It’s coming loose,’ said Lime as if he were an expert in the field of extracting ponies from pony-snatching potholes. ‘I can see it. See that?’ he said to Lime and Ale. ‘That’s the hole just under there. Goes right down.’

‘But how does that work?’ said Ale. ‘You and I just saw it,’ he said to Hull. ‘It was just a bog-standard pothole. Is there some sort of hollow space under the road or something? Like, I know you said you were grabbed, but... you know what I’m saying, guys, there’s got to be some sort of explanation. Could a hollow road make it move about?’

‘Well, if it’s a hollow road,’ said Lime as he continued scraping and Hull winced as he pulled at the skin. ‘Then all the cars are going to have to come off. They’ll have to close the store to fix it. There’s no way it can stay open if it’s this unstable.’ 

‘We’ll have to tell the store manager,’ said Elm. 

‘But they’re in the main building,’ said Ale. ‘Gat’s actually who we’re supposed to call about this. He’ll pass it on.’

‘And what about all the shoppers right now?’ asked Elm. ‘We should tell the shopper manager at least. They need to be warned. Keep away from the potholes at least.’

‘Yeah,’ said Ale. ‘Well, the way Gat would want us to mark out a danger is with hazard cones, but I don’t think ponies really notice them too much. And by the way, he’ll have to know Hull’s been hurt on a shift as well.’

‘Why don’t you go and report that now, then?’ asked Elm. 

‘Well,’ said Ale, hesitant. ‘I could, yeah.’

‘Wait,’ grunted Lime. ‘We’ll need you to help pull him out when I get this last piece off.’

‘OK,’ said Elm. ‘Well, wait now and then do it after.’

‘Right,’ said Ale, unsure whether he liked taking orders from Elm. But he couldn’t deny she was speaking sense. 

‘Come on,’ said Hull, anxious to be free, as Lime chipped away the last of it.

‘I’m getting it, hold on a second.’

The last of the rubble crust came off less easily, and Hull winced again but held on as Lime chipped away faster. 

‘That’s done it,’ said Elm, leaning down to inspect the leg once Lime had finished. ‘Try to pull him now.’

Lime and Ale obliged, Ale grabbing one leg, Lime the other. They looked at Hull for his consent, which he nodded back at them, and pulled. Hull tensed up as he was stretched again, but this time the skin on his leg was free from tension, and slowly, they managed to wriggle his leg and hoof out of the small hole and onto the road beside it. Hull got to his hooves gingerly, inspecting his raw-looking leg and puffing out his cheeks. ‘Thanks for that,’ he said as Elm sighed with relief and Lime grinned. Ale looked down the hole they’d left behind, but could see nothing.

‘It’s deep,’ he said. 

‘Never mind that,’ said Elm. ‘We’ve got to report this. Stick that cone you brought over it for the moment. We’ve got to find some better way to block this off.’

‘That’s Gat’s job,’ said Ale. ‘He’ll send somepony with the equipment if he thinks it’s necessary.’

‘It is,’ said Elm. ‘Can you call him now?’

Ale nodded. ‘Will do,’ he said, and he walked quickly to the trolley hut.