//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: If At First You Don’t Succeed… Get Your Frustration Out With Some Games? // Story: Finding Your Place With the Outcasts // by TikiBat //------------------------------// Walks along the lake with Blue Spring and Sine had become the norm for Zipper lately, but considering all of the recent developments for his two plans, he would have to say this was a complete win. As a pegasus there was an instinctive urge to leap up and soar around the sparkling Oasis, but the more he started to embrace who he really was, the happier he was for the little moments he got to spend with friends throughout his day. As fun as constant stunt flying was, there was more to life than showing off.  While it had only been a few days since they had had their talk with River Breeze and Sine Wave, Zipper could hardly contain his excitement, and just the prospect of opening up soon made him ramble off about the arcade to any pony that was unfortunate (or fortunate depending on your perspective) enough to make eye contact with him.  There was of course a lot of work left to do; the sign hadn’t even been finished yet, the snack bar was a complete mess, the sound system had a tendency to disconnect randomly, and not all of the arcade cabinets were up to the high standard that Sine had set. However, perhaps emboldened by Zipper’s excitement, she had agreed to host a soft opening tonight, and that would ideally give them a chance to work out off the remaining bugs so the grand opening could be as grand as possible. It would be hard work for sure, but none of that slowed Zipper in the slightest. Blue Spring let out a laugh as she watched another flustered pegasus awkwardly agree to check out the arcade when it opened, this time a dark black pony named Void, one of the new weather team recruits who managed to get sucked into a conversation. The gray pegasus cheerfully trotted back toward her, a giant smile plastered on his face, “This is going to be so awesome Springy! We’ve told so many people, and I just know that it's gonna be great!” “That’s great Zip,” she shook her head. “I’m glad you’re so excited about this but maybe we should take a break.” His expression dropped for a moment, “What do you mean?” “Well… Zipper, you’ve told about thirty ponies this so far and I think you’re starting to scare some of them away.” “You think so?” Zipper asked, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think I’ve been that overexcited… have I?” She stifled a chuckle. “A little… Why don’t we go talk to Sine and tell her all about the opening plans and we can go hand out some fliers afterwards. You know, give some of the other ponies a break right now.” Zipper shrugged. “Okay, well if you think I’m annoying them then I guess we can do that,” He replied back with a tone that clearly exuded disappointment and self-doubt. Blue Spring flashed a worried look before laying a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m not saying you’re being annoying, I’m just saying that maybe you’re getting a little excited about this. A lot of the ponies you’ve been stopping have either been on their way to work, or are brand new here and don’t know anything about you, so their first impression is seeing this wild maned pegasus that they’ve never met before fly up to them and excitedly asking them about some arcade in a city they’ve barely explored.” Zipper slowly nodded his head. “I guess you have a good point.” “Trust me, it’s not bad to share this, but I think we can get the word out in a less… forward way a little later once everyone’s off work and not trying to move around in a hurry.” “Alright, I just want to make sure we really get the word out, I really want this to be a cool place for everyone.” She nodded. “And I do too, but we don’t want to scare people away either.” “You’re right, well Sine’s house is coming up, maybe she’ll have some ideas.” “She might, it’s worth asking. Did you guys talk about that at all when you were walking her back home yesterday?” Zipper shrugged. “A little, but we also took the time to chat together. I never really had a chance to talk to Ink Rose so that kind of became our ice breaker.” “That’s fair,” Blue Spring replied. “So what did Sine suggest when you guys did talk about arcade stuff?” “It wasn’t a huge part of the conversation, but she suggested asking some of the weather team to help out if they wanted to earn some free play. Even came up with the idea of having some of them try to write out the name in the sky, but I thought that was going a little too far.” The mare let out a laugh. “You thought something was going too far?” “What?” He confidently smirked. “I know I might have a bad rep around here but I have my limits on what I’ll do. It’s all a part of showing the world who the real me is, you know?” “Huh, well I guess I didn’t know what to expect after your whole stunt flier phase.” Zipper nodded as they neared the night pony’s house, “I get you though. I wouldn’t have put it past me either.” “At least you’re learning from your past. Now do you think Sine’s awake? I know it’s a weird question, it’s the morning after all… but you never know with her.” “She should be,” Zipper glanced down at his gauntlet for the time. “I mean she’s normally up until noon so I’m gonna place my bets on that.” Blue Spring smiled. “Well that should be good then. I love talking with her but a tired Sine Wave isn’t a fun Sine Wave to talk to.” The pair stopped in front of Sine’s door and held for a moment before Zipper turned toward Blue Spring. “Right then, shall we?” “Lead the way, Zip,” Blue Spring gestures towards the door.  Zipper nodded, reaching forward with a hoof. He gave a few quick knocks and waited, and before long a voice came over a small speaker next to the door. “Ah yes, Bird Brain,” Sine mused. “Oh! And Spring too, you guys can come on in, door’s unlocked.” As if by magic, a click was heard and with a gentle push of the door Zipper gestured forward. “After you. Heads up though, she keeps the house dark so just watch your step.” “I’m guessing you’ve tripped in here before?” “Maybe,” He replied back with a smirk. “Right…” She reached down to her gauntlet and flipped on the small built-in flashlight. “Guess I finally have an excuse to use this.” “Flip it to the low settings, Sine’s not gonna be a fan of that. Trust me.” “Gotcha,” She replied back with a quick nod, dimming the light as she meandered through the hallway. As they entered the small den they took sight of the dark purple night pony sitting in front of a dim computer monitor, using a pair of gauntlets to better work the machine. Taking notice of the pair, she swiveled over in her chair to greet them, casually folding up the mechanical digits that she was using. “Springy and Bird Brain, how are you two doing today?” “Doing well, how about you?” Blue Spring replied back with a smile. “I’m doing good. Working away on some hobbies and I need to get some last minute things figured out before the soft opening. Speaking of which, how’s the advertising going? Bird brain said he was going to get on that.” “It’s going well Sine,” Zipper smirked. “I told a bunch of ponies all about it today, hopefully that’ll start generating some buzz.” “Yeah, you should have seen Zip,” Blue Spring laughed. “He was flagging down anyone that’d make eye contact with him,” Blue Spring laughed.  Sine Wave let out a small laugh. “Sounds like Bird brain. So did you get anyone hooked on it?” Zipper smiled. “I had a few say they’d stop by, so hopefully they weren’t just pulling my leg.” “That’s great to hear. I want to say we’re all set to go on my front too… but you never know.” “Something come up?” Zipper raised an eyebrow. “Mhmm,” Sine confirmed. “I was doing some last minute diagnostics and some of the cabinets turned out to be lemons, but I think I can find use for them besides being cannibalized for spare parts.” “That’s got to be frustrating,” Zipper replied. “I know you went through a lot to get those.” “I did. While I want to go wring that seller’s neck… I’m gonna be civil and look on the bright side of things. Like I said, I think I have a use for them that’ll make them even better than they would have been before.” Blue Spring looked back toward the computer. “Is that what you’re working on now? Something to go in those cabinets?” “You could say that,” she replied with a coy smile. “You didn’t think I was just working on the arcade stuff for nothing did you?” “You’re making games, huh,” Blue Sprint guessed.  “Not yet,” Sine shook her head. “I still have a ways to go until this is polished enough for that… but I might have something to go public with someday soon.” “So what is it now?” Zipper asked.  “Right now it’s a pile of code that kinda looks like a game, but it still needs a lot of love and care to mold it into a real game.” Zipper’s curious expression started to twist into a gleeful one, earning a laugh from the other pegasus. “And the arcade’s a front for getting your games out to an audience?” Sine Wave nodded. “Think of it like a public beta test— kinda like what we’re doing tonight with the arcade actually. We try them out here, see which ones the ponies like and dislike, and the ones that work out well get fleshed out and pitched somewhere else.” “So you want to get into game development, I take it?” Blue Spring asked.  “Isn’t it pretty obvious?” Sine chuckled.  Blue Spring shrugged. “I guess I just never really expected a pony to get into that kind of thing.” “Well then I guess I’m the first,” She replied back with a confident smirk. “Sure, I’m good with the hardware stuff, which is what got me a job here, but I’ve got my own plans for the future and you two just so happened to give me the perfect chance to jumpstart that.” “So what you’re saying is that you’re going to give people an actual reason to keep coming back to the arcade?” Sine nodded at Zipper. “You know, maybe you’re not as much of a bird brain as I thought you were.” “That sounds awesome!” The stallion cheered. “Like Spring said, I told a bunch of ponies about the arcade so hopefully that’ll get a nice big group that can try out all your new games whenever you have them ready!” “Well hopefully that’ll be sooner rather than later.” Blue Spring nodded. “Why don’t you show us what you’ve got set up so far, I know you said it was rough but I’d love to see it.” Sine turned back toward the monitor, flipping out a few digits. “If you’re so interested I think I could show off a little demo… just remember that it’s rough and it probably doesn’t look that good.” Zipper smiled. “I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome Sine!” “I appreciate the vouch of confidence, Bird Brain.” “Anytime,” He replied back with a playful punch on the shoulder, earning a chuckle from the mare. The chat with Sine Wave had been as productive as the two pegasi had wanted it to go, and now that that part of the job was done, they could get things rolling. The day itself had gone by in a complete flash… mostly because Blue Spring had managed to convince Zipper to take a rest. Once his alarm went off however, he had zipped to the arcade without a moment’s hesitation and eagerly unlocked the doors.  Sine had booted up the music— which thankfully hadn’t cut out yet, Blue Spring had loosely been manning the snack bar, and he himself stood by ready to greet whoever decided to show up first!.. Right out the gate, that had consisted of Radiant Phoenix, Midnight Sun, and Ink Rose— all of which were close friends. However, much to his surprise and relief, Void, the pegasus from earlier had shown up too.  He scanned around the room again, taking note of the other few ponies he had recognized, spotting Atlas and Ocean off to the side chatting away with Ink Rose, who must have just showed up.  He let out a small sigh as he trotted around the room, disappointment clearly carrying in his expression. Deciding to get a feel for how things were going so far, he started to make his way towards Void. With a somewhat forced smile he greeted the pegasus. “Hey… Void was it, Right?” The pegasus nodded, not turning away from his game of Pacman. “Yep, what’s up Zipper?” “Oh not much, just seeing what you’re playing.” “Oh, well just Pacman for now. Might give some of the others a try out later. I used to play this all the time as a kid, it’s great that I have a chance to get into it again.” Zipper smiled. “I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it, it really means a lot to me that you decided to stop by.” “Hey well glad you invited me, I was kind of getting worried that there was nothing else to do after work, so thanks for giving me something else to do.” Zipper’s spirits started to lift a little, even though he still couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. “Well I’m really glad to hear that, hope you stick around, Sine’s gonna make sure that the games are all rotated around every so often, just to keep things fresh.” “Can’t wait to see that, I’ll definitely be back.” “Well I’ll let you get back to your game, let us know if you need anything though.” “Sure thing Zipper.” Bolstered a little by Void’s cheerful demeanor, Zipper decided to trot back over to the door in hopes that more ponies would walk in. Aside from Golden Atlas and Ocean, no one else had stopped by yet. The night was young however, and they had only been open for around thirty minutes too. He just had to try his best to bury his anxiety and focus on the good stuff so far. “So you guys really did get this going, huh?” Phoenix mused as he tapped a hoof to Zipper’s shoulder.  The stallion turned away from the door and smiled. “Yeah, took a lot of work but I’m really happy with how it came together. I’m so glad you guys came too!” The yellow night pony chuckled. “After our adventure in the abandoned mines? How could I say no?!” “I’m glad that didn’t scare you away,” Zipper laughed. “Are you guys having fun so far?” “You bet we are,” Midnight Sun answered as she trotted over. “Got us out of the shop for a bit too which was great. As much as we both like old trinkets and artifacts, it’s nice to get a change of scenery every so often.” “It sure is,” Phoenix agreed. “I gotta ask though, are you going to keep these on free play all the time?” “For other guests, nah. We’re gonna offer time slots you get to play for,” Zipper leaned closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “For you two though, it’s free whenever you want.” “You don’t need to do that for us,” Phoenix shook his head.  “I don’t, but you’re one of my closest friends and you stood behind me when everyone else thought I was just some loser. That means more to me than you probably realize.” Phoenix nodded. “That means a lot to us too, Zip.” Zipper patted him on the shoulder and gestured back towards the games. “You guys go have some more fun now. Maybe we’ll do a tournament or two later.” “Thanks Zip,” Phoenix thanked him, giving the pegasus another pat.  As his friends trotted back towards the fun, Zipper couldn’t help but feel a wistful longing in the back of his mind. He shook his head though, and with a warm smile he trotted on.  This time he decided to go see how Blue Spring was handling things. As Zipper neared the snack counter, Blue Spring flipped off her gauntlet and smiled. “Hey Zip, you seem in a better mood. I was starting to think you were going to be super bummed for the whole night.” “You could tell?” “Well your ears were down and you were just sadly looking around at everyone else. It’s kinda obvious when you’re not feeling one hundred percent.” He gave a small nod in reply. “Yeah, I think I am now,” He let out a small sigh.  “I just don’t know though, I mean we stopped and talked about this with so many ponies, and we’ve got like a handful that showed up… and River wasn’t even one of them. I just feel like we did all this work for no one.” A small frown spread across her face. “I know Zip, but keep your chin up. It’s just the first day, and it’s a work night, wait and hold your final judgement until the weekend. River called me earlier and said that there was an emergency at the clinic and she had to cancel, so she’ll definitely be here with a few of her friends on Friday.” He smiled. “You’re right. You’ve always been right, and I’ll keep that in mind. Why don’t you go see how everyone else is enjoying it, maybe they’ll let you know if they have any suggestions or feedback.” He raised an eyebrow. “You think so?” She nodded. “If anything it’ll at least show that you care about the place.” “Right,” He confidently replied back. “I’ll go see what’s up, and who knows, maybe it is just too early to tell if this will work out or not.” “That’s the spirit Zip, just go have some fun and relax, I know you care a lot about this place and the sanctuary, but that doesn’t just all hinge on the arcade being a success. Failure’s not the end of anything either, we can always learn from this and figure out what to do next with Sine.” Zipper smiled. “Thanks Springy, I really appreciate it.” “Anytime Zip.” With a newfound confidence he trotted off toward Ocean, Atlas, and another pony who had seemingly walked in unnoticed during his conversation with Blue Spring. With a nervous gulp he trotted up to the three.  “Hey guys, having fun?” Atlas gave a small nod. “So far. To tell ya the truth, games have never been my thing, but I love the music.” “Add a little bar in somewhere and you might have a few more regular customers Zippy,” Ocean added. Zipper nodded. “Well that would need a special permit and license, but I’ll talk with the others and see what I can do.” Because I totally want to bring in even more help… he silently thought to himself. Shaking his head, he turned toward the aqua colored pegasus, “And how about you? I don’t think I’ve met you before.” “Oh,” the stallion replied. “I’m Star Seeker, Atlas and I go way back. And I’m guessing that you’re the Zipper that’s made such a big name for himself around here?” Zipper slowly nodded. “Yeah… I used to be the weather captain but I uhh, just do this right now. I’m trying to get an animal sanctuary set up though, that’s one of the big projects we have planned out.” “An animal sanctuary you say?” Star Seeker lit up as if he had heard some surprisingly good news. “Well that’s awesome! I was brought in as part of Scarlet’s astronomy program, but you wanna know a secret? I love diving into marine biology on the side, that’s actually what I got my cutie mark in. Do you think you’ll have any aquatic animals there?” Zipper shrugged. “I’m not sure yet, but I can talk with Blue Spring and River Breeze about that. River’s the local vet and Springy used to work in a state park in Florida and she loves to talk about the manatees and fish there.” “I’m going to wager a bet and say she worked at Blue Spring?” Zipper let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, the name give it away?” The astronomer nodded. “Yeah, I was actually interning down at KSC before ETS, I used to love visiting that place on my weekends.” “KSC, what’s that?” Zipper raised an eyebrow.  “Kennedy Space Center. It’s where they used to launch the space shuttles. I got let go during the whole ETS fiasco and wound up working with some scientists up in Maine. Called themselves the Mariners.” “Oh those guys!” Zipper’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Silver hired them to work on some ocean project or something.” “The Sea Castle. That’s actually where I got my mark. Anyways their research kind of reached a point where they didn’t need me anymore and I got the opportunity to transfer down here. Go figure my old college room mate found his way down here too.” Atlas smirked. “Great minds think alike.” Zipper smiled again. “Small world, of all the places in all the world and you two wound up running into each other again.” Star Seeker nodded. “kind of hard to miss when this place is like the only notable pony run science center on the west coast. It might not be Riverview, but it’s got its own special charm.” “It does, doesn’t it?” Zipper paused for a moment. “I’ve never actually been down to Riverview, is it really all that and more?” The astronomer shrugged. “It’s kinda the pony capital of the US, but it just wasn’t my place. I’m not into all the shimmerist stuff, and it’s hard to avoid that there when the mayor is one of the most outspoken shimmerists. Attracts a lot of devotees. That said though, you guys are almost like the West Coast Riverview in a way, cozy little pony buildings, a monorail running through the city, but it’s all so small and quaint— well small by comparison.” “So I’ll take it you’re liking the place so far?” “Yeah,” Star Seeker nodded. “It’s definitely a nice change of locale. Glad to see that there’s some night life too, I could definitely see myself hanging here on and off.” “Well that’s wonderful to hear,” Zipper beamed. “I’ll let you guys get back to your conversation, but I just want to say thanks again for stopping by.” The astronomer smiled. “Sure thing, and it’s nice meeting you again.” Zipper nodded. “My pleasure.” With a spring in his step he began to trot toward Sine Wave, who was playing away at a space invaders cabinet with Ink Rose. Every so often one of them would let out a small cheer.  Taking note of the presence near her, Sine turned away from her cabinet for a brief moment, waving Zipper over with a wing. “Heya Zip, how’re ya doing?” He shrugged. “I don’t know to be honest, I just feel like it’s already a flop but it seems like the ponies that showed up are at least having a good time.” “I’m having a great time for the record,” Ink Rose cut in. “Keep in mind it’s still early, and if the night ponies here are anything like the ones back home then I know we’ll see a few stop by sooner or later.” “Look at it this way too,” Sine replied while still playing her game. “I put all the machines on freeplay for this week, that’s bound to bring in some more ponies before we open for real.” “That’s a good point,” Zipper smiled. “I’m glad we were able to do this.” “Me too Zip,” Sine replied. “I know you’re the floor manager but why don’t you go take a spin on one of the games, see if that raises your spirits. I know it definitely raises mine whenever I’m feeling blue.” “Alright,” Zipper shrugged. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” “That’s what I like to hear, just relax and have fun, let me worry about how this place does, okay?” “You sure?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yep, these are my babies and believe me, I’ll figure out a way to drum up some hype so they get the love they deserve.” With a silent nod, Zipper walked around the nearby cabinets, scrutinizing each of them with a curious gaze, pausing as his eyes landed on an old TRON cabinet. The cheerful music and racing light cycles seemed to catch his attention, pulling him in like a moth to a flame.  “This one calling your name?” Ink Rose’s voice rang in his ear, startling him.  “I uhh… yeah, it seems fun. How does it work though?” Ink’s eyes widened. “Have you ever seen TRON before?” “A long time ago,” Zipper nervously replied. “I always liked the arcade but I never got a chance to play the game.” “Then it was meant to be,” She smiled. “Come on, give it a try and I’ll help show you the ropes.” With a shaky hoof, he gently took hold of the joystick, pressing the start button and watching as the game began. Before long he was greeted with the unfamiliar main screen, watching as some counter in the center of a maze counted down. Without warning the game chose a mini game for him to play, and with a gleeful smile Zipper began to pilot a light cycle, quickly boxing in the enemy AI and letting out a cheerful shout as he won the level.  “Look at that,” Ink cheered. “You’re a natural. I didn’t even have to hold your hoof for that part.” “That… was kinda fun. What’s next?” “Go pick a spot, there’s a few other games to play.” Zipper focused back on the screen and as he continued to play through the game’s levels he couldn’t help but feel his worries and disappointments melt away. Sine Wave was right, he just needed to relax and have a little fun, and Ink Rose being there right by his side made him even happier. Whether it was her presence or the fact that he was having fun— none of it really mattered much to him. What was important was that he was having a fun time with friends, friends who accepted him for who he was and weren’t going to judge him. Maybe the arcade wasn’t the breakaway hit he had hoped it would be, but they still had a whole weekend to look forward to, and that meant that he still had time to advertise the place more. As the game loudly played a tune alerting him to the fact that he had just won the high score, he couldn’t help but trot in place in glee. “Look at that Zip! You got the high score!” Ink Rose cheered and hoof bumped him. “What else do you wanna try?” A nervous excitement started to build up within Zipper, and he glanced around the room to find his next pick. Unsure of what to go with, he smiled and shrugged. “How about you pick one? Show me what you’ve got.” Ink smirked. “I like it. How about a game of air hockey then? You’ve surely played that.” “I was the Circus Circus break room air hockey champion three years running, I’ll have you know,” He confidently boasted.  “Then I think the game’s on,” Ink taunted back. “How about we raise the stakes? Winner picks something for the loser to do?” “You’re on!” Zipper cheered back.  His mood had definitely improved, and in a twist of irony, a night that had started on a sour note was quickly turning into one of the most fun times that he had ever had. The game had just begun, and Zipper’s excitement and optimism had at least been partially restored. Time would only tell what would happen next, but Zipper knew one thing; he was excited to see what was on the horizon.