//------------------------------// // Ep 2 - Conquest of Bucks // Story: Rares & Pie: Burgers n' Fries // by kaminakat //------------------------------// “That’s 120. Double check 2?” “120!” “Good.” It was a brisk morning in the early spring. The god-forsaken, decaying Canterlot Springs Mall was at the very least a warm place on mornings like this. The large glass entrance that went out to the parking lot was slightly foggy as the various food workers prepared the various restaurants for the day ahead. Rares let out a sigh as she slammed the drawer shut on her cash register. “God, could I use 120 right about now. Hell, I could use 20.” Pinks followed suit, then filled a cup with water and took a sip. “Hmm,” said Rares, scratching her chin. She looked over to her coworker. “If I ran with 240 you wouldn’t stop me, right? On principle?” Pinks leaned over the counter. Her eyes looked up in thought. “Hrmm, I mean I guess?” She raised a finger: “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do in case of a robbery? Just let em go?” “I mean this wouldn’t be a robbery, right,” replied Rares, digging into her bag and grabbing her medicine. “I’m not forcing you in this hypothetical.” “Is there another word for that kind of crime?” “Not sure.” Rares took a pill, then grabbed a granola bar from her pack and chomped into it before taking the rest. She had a thought. Turning around and reaching her arm up, she tapped on the lens of a tiny security camera surveying the restaurant. “Hey dumb-dumbs,” she said, “this is a joke. Twas but a farce. A jape.” She looked over to Pinks. “Right, Pinks?” “Huh?” “It’s a joke. Laugh.” “Oh! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-“ Rares quickly put her hands over the other girls mouth. Her fake laughter had been incredibly loud and disconcerting. “Jesus, Pinks,” said Rares, still shaking off the willies, “you gotta warn me about stuff like that, you scared the crap out of me!” She removed her hands. “You got a creepy-ass laugh.” “My laugh lights up a room!” retorted Pinks, folding her arms. “Lights up a madhouse, maybe.” Pinks shook her head. “That was a fake laugh. You have to hear my real one!” Rares gestured with her hand. “Go on then.” “Tell a joke!” The neon burger up above flickered on. Rares smirked. “Wanna open this place?” “Har har har.” As the two girls continued to bicker, they grew closer still. Because even in this world a few removed, where things aren’t so special and magic is but a dream: people need each other, and people need to eat. RARES & PIE: BURGERS N FRIES EPISODE TWO: CONQUEST OF BUCKS “Rrrrrr...” Rares placed a hand over her stomach as it growled at her. She was standing, sweating over the grill while she leaned over a bit in discomfort. Pinks peered back in from the front. “Captain, we have an issue,” reported The Pink One. Heading up to the counter, a middle-aged woman stood on the other side with a puzzled look on her face. “What seems to be-“ Rares started, before looking down at the point-of-sale screen on the register. A window with a big red “X” had popped up in the center of the screen. “Oh no...” she muttered. The woman was continuously swiping a credit card through the card reader to no avail. “It’s not working,” said the lady. “No, I don’t think,” Rares started, before looking over at the Pizza shop across the way and noticing the guy that worked there giving a shrug to a customer. “Crap. I think the whole food court’s things are down.” She put a hand up, gesturing at the card reader the woman kept trying. “It’s down, we’ll only be able to do cash right now.” The woman blinked. “But I want to use this card.” Rares scratched at the underside of the counter with her fingernail. “I understand m’am, and I’m very sorry, but-“ “I’m going somewhere else.” As the lady walked away Rares squeezed her nails into her palm, then took a deep breath. Her stomach growled again. “You okay there, partner?” asked Pinks, holding the abandoned tray of food. “You wanna eat this since they left?” “Pass,” said Rares, holding her stomach. “Just behind on bills and I don’t have money for groceries right this second. She tapped around the POS screen to no avail. “Ah, this is gonna be a long day.” Pinks set the tray down on the counter. “You really should eat, Rares.” “Listen,” replied her coworker, pushing the tray away, “I already eat this stuff too much. Im really not trying to heighten my stroke risk higher than it already is.” “I still think fed is better,” replied Pinks, looking a bit worried. “Seriously. Even if it’s fast food.” “You’re not my mom, Pinks,” said Rares with a sneer. The other girl frowned, and Rares exhaled. “Sorry. Yeah just been rough. Just gotta make it to payday.” She grabbed a water bottle from her bag and took a swig. “How do you manage off this paycheck?” Pinks shrugged. “I mean yeah it’s not good, but I live with my older sis and she makes good money.” “Oh yeah? What’s your sister do?” “She’s a professor!” Rares was surprised. “Dang, really? What’s she teach?” “Geology!” Rares grabbed a napkin and then a sharpie marker out of her bag. She wrote “NO CARD” on the napkin and placed it next to the card reader. “I thought you told me your whole family was like, Amish?” Pinks shook her head. “Everyone but Maud, she moved out before me.” “I gotcha,” replied Rares. She watched two people in a row start to approach, read the sign, and walk away. “So you grew up in that, though. Can you like, build me a house?” Pinks took her cup and filled it with cherry soda. “Ehh, that was more for the guys,” she explained. “I could sew you something!” Rares grinned. “Oh, sewings actually kind of my wheelhouse.” “Yeah?” Reaching down into her pack, Rares pulled out a three-color scarf. She handed it to Pinks. “Been sewing since I was a little kid. Almost got to go to school for fashion, but it fell through. If I had my way that’s what I would be doing all day, instead of rotting here with you.” She felt a pang if guilt. “Ah, I mean, I would rather both of us be in some boutique together. It’s not you, it’s this place that sucks.” “No worries, I know what you meant,” said Pinks, flashing a smile. “This is really good though, I’m impressed. She wrapped the scarf around her head. “I kind of expected you to be an English major or something.” Her voice was muffled by the scarf. “I considered that too,” replied Rares, “I would have liked to be an English teacher, I think.” She sighed. “I mean, writing is just sewing with words. Or, that is, sewing is writing with a needle.” Her hair drooped over her face as she looked down in thought. “It’s all sort of awash in the same sea, inspiration. I’ve written, I used to sing in the choir, hell I even used to write music myself. Any kind of art has always been something I found myself in.” “Wow, that’s really beautiful, Rares.” The two burger girls turned to see Flutters standing on the other side of the counter. She wore a black cloak which had a hood pulled up over her head, and some kind of metal cross necklace around her neck. She had a smattering of dark eyeshadow on, and thick eyeliner on her upper and lower lash lines. Her lips wore black lipstick to boot. “Can I get a large fry?” Rares gave a thumbs up and stepped back to the fryer, while Pinks took off the scarf and examined the new Flutters outfit. “Cool threads,” stated Pinks, “so, Halloween in March?” “Dungeon-core.” “Is that a thing??” “It is now.” Walking up behind Pinks, Rares set down the order on a tray an placed it on the counter. Her stomach growled again, and she sighed. “How do you always afford all these wacky outfits?” she asked the hooded girl. “You only work at the movie theater, right? Plus you skip out on work like, constantly.” “Our kiosk is down, so there’s no point in being there right now,” Flutters stated plainly, “and I make that money, that’s how.” She then proceeded to reach into her cloak and withdraw a pin, then attached it to the front of her outfit. It read “Flutters” and had an image of a light bulb next to the name. “Speaking of,” Flutters continued, shifting focus to Pinks, “let’s talk about you paying too much on your electric bill.” “I am?” replied Pinks. “Oh indeed you are,” said Flutters, pulling a clipboard out of her cloak. Rares snatched the clipboard and looked over the papers attached to it. “Oh for Pete’s sake,” she said with a groan, “this is just one of those power scams. Don’t push this on our poor Pink friend.” Flutters gently but firmly took her clipboard back. “You’re just upset that you’re not saving money.” “Flutters, this is a pyramid scheme. I’m pretty sure I’ve dealt with this exact company before.” Rares rubbed her forehead. “God. How do you even make money with this, have you duped anyone today?” Tucking away her items back in her cloak, Flutters cleared her throat. “I’ll have you know I sold the owner of Canterlot Springs a package today.” “The...owner of the mall??” “What!” exclaimed Pinks. Rares stared at her hands. “How...how did you even find...” The gothic looking saleswoman chomped on a fry. “I told you, I make the money.” At that, she turned and walked away with her food. Across from the food court, Rares watched as three women ran out of a shoe store in hysterics, belting or something akin to “the horror!!!” “Maybe everyone is having technical problems,” posited Rares. As the three panicked women ran off, AJ and Dash walked into view. They were chatting, though AJ looked stressed out. Her hair was messy, more so than usual, and she didn’t have her tools with her. Dash seemed oblivious to the state her friend was in. They turned to head towards the burger joint. Rares felt herself start breathing faster. Pinks placed a hand on her shoulder. “You need to go hide?” Rares shook her head. “No, I’m okay. I’m okay.” She took a deep breath then looked over at Pinks. “I’m okay, right?” “Yyyyyes?” AJ and Dash walked up to the counter, the former giving a head nod to Pinks and then addressing Rares. “Well I’ll be,” she said, sounding out of breath, “you’re a sight for sore eyes miss Rares.” She briefly withdrew her hat and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Ah, y-yeah,” managed Rares, stammering. She felt her cheeks burn but held it together. “What’s wrong?” “A/C system is messing up,” explained Dash. She smirked and gestured to the woman next to her. “This turkey has been in the oven all morning trying to fix it.” “Shuddup.” AJ looked up at the menu. She paused, then squinted. “I’ll have uh...number...twenty-two...?” “D-do you mean number two?” asked Rares, feeling concerned now as well as flustered. She instinctually took a lock of her hair in her fingers and begun fidgeting with it. “We’ll have two number two meals,” stated Dash, “large WATERS, to drink. Before this one hits the floor.” She snickered to herself. “It would be like a redwood falling, there would be collateral damage.” “No, I don’t care about the calories,” mumbled AJ, before turning to Dash and raising a finger. “Let me pay for mine.” “No.” “Uh, girls,” interrupted Pinks. “We’re cash only right now, just a heads up.” AJ blinked. She dug into her back pocket and produced a leather wallet. Opening it revealed a single dollar. Dash reached into her pocket and took out a twenty, handing it to Rares. “Keep the change.” Pinks gave a thumbs up and headed back to the grill. Opening her register, Rares felt her stomach make itself known again. She winced and placed a hand on her abdomen. AJ had been pretty out of it, but she took notice of that. “Hey,” she said, getting Rares’ attention, “you okay, sugar cube?” Rares looked down. “Oh, uh...yea, I mean-“ Pinks walked up next to her with the order on a tray. “She hasn’t eaten.” AJ swayed a bit before straightening out. “Now, I may be well and surely out of sorts,” she stated, “but I do believe that is a problem within the jurisdiction of your current location.” “I know that, just,” started Rares, before trailing off. She looked down at the floor. AJ hummed to herself quietly. “Trying to stay healthy?” Rares looked up. “Yeah, I mean...” “Money tight?” “...yes...” AJ nodded. She grabbed one of the cups off of the tray as Pinks handed it to Dash, and lifted it to her lips. Placing her other hand on top of her hat she threw back the drink. Some drops of water ran down her chin as she gulped the whole thing down. Rares twiddled her hair in her fingers faster. After finishing the whole thing in one go, AJ let out a satisfied “ahhhhh” before crushing the cup in her hand. Some hairs wrapped around Rares finger tore out as she flinched and accidentally pulled them. “Alright,” said AJ, grabbing a burger off the tray, “I’ll see you later on, sugar cube.” She gave Rares a wink before she scooted off, throwing the crushed cup in a trash can and munching on the burger. “Wow, that sure was something” stated Dash, giving Rares a knowing look. “Hey, have you guys seen Flutters? What’s she look like today?” “Halloween lawn decoration grim reaper,” replied Pinks. She pointed across the room to the black robe at one of the tables. Dash looked over then nodded. “Cool. See you kids later.” As she walked away, Rares relaxed and let go of her hair. “I hate when she says that,” she mumbled, “she’s like three years younger than me.” “Hey,” said Pinks, tapping Rares’ shoulder. Rares looked over. “Yeah?” “Good job!” said Pinks, giving two thumbs up. “That was a big improvement!” If it was coming from anyone else it would have sounded condescending. Pinks wasn’t like that. “Thanks,” replied Rares with a smile, giving her a light bop on the arm. “Glad that if I’m to be stuck in burger hell, it’s with you.” Pinks nodded. “Poetic.” Twily walked up to the counter. She was dressed in her usual lab coat and eating a banana. “Hey burger girls,” she said, in between munching, “what’s goin on at the mall today? There was some sort of mechanic people on the roof.” “Seems like there’s been a whole host of issues,” replied Rares, looking down at the POS screen displaying the same error message. Twily hummed in thought. At the same time, a gray haired-older woman walked up. She looked like she was searching for something. “Everything okay, m’am?” asked Rares. “Oh, hello,” she said, turning to address her, “have you seen a young woman named “Flutters” around?” Rares looked over to the table where the girl in question had been sitting across from Dash. Upon looking up, Flutters eyed the old woman, got a panicked look on her face, and promptly got up and ran towards the entrance. “Ah, I haven’t seen her today yet,” stated Rares. Pinks walked up beside her while eating some fries. “Isn’t she-“ Rares elbowed her coworker. “Oh yeah,” said Rares, “she works at the uh, shoe store. I think.” The woman groaned and walked back towards the hallway. Twily shook her head. “Pinks, no snitches.” “I’m sorry guys!!!!” said Pinks, pouting with extreme exaggeration, “I have a hard time keeping secrets!! I’m too pure!!” Finishing her banana, Twily laughed to herself as she turned to throw the peel into the trash. All at once, the lights in the area cut off. Several gasps and yelps followed. AJ’s voice cut through the darkness: “It’s okay! Generator should kick any sec now!” After this, Rares heard a “WOAH!” from the other side of the counter, and then a thud. The lights snapped back on. Rares peered over the counter to see Twily sitting on the floor next to a banana peel that had not made it to the trash can. Her glasses has fallen off and she looked bamboozled. Looking down at her register screen, she gasped: the error was gone. “It’s fixed!” She turned to Pinks. The Pink One looked at Rares, then the register, then Twily as she picked her glasses up off the floor. Then, she laughed. This one wasn’t like earlier; she had to hunch over slightly from the force of it. Her voice squeaked in a way just under annoyance, but instead sounded jovial and full of life. She lifted a finger up to wipe a tear away. Rares hopped over the counter and reached down to help Twily up. Twily stood back up, adjusting her glasses. She was, surprisingly, not mortified. She was smiling. “Wow, her laugh,” she said under her breath, “it’s adorable.” She looked at Rares. “Is she like, seeing anyone?” “Har har,” replied Rares. “No I’m serious!” Rares’ eyes widened. “Oh, uh, I think she’s single?” Twily hummed to herself. “Excellent, excellent.” She then paused and pointed behind Rares. “You have a visitor.” Rares turned around into AJ, who was holding some containers of food under her right arm. She stepped back out of instinct and promptly slipped on the same banana peel. AJ lunged forward and put her other arm under her back, lifting her back up. “Gosh, I don’t know how you survive when I ain’t here,” said AJ with an enormous smirk. Rares was paralyzed with embarrassment. AJ motioned with her head towards the tables. “Why don’tcha step into my office, sugar cube.” The two walked over to an empty table. Rares sat down meekly and watched as AJ set down her food. “Now, after hearing about your predicament,” explained AJ, opening up Tupperware full of casserole, “I just so happened to have a bunch of leftovers from last night.” She pulled out a couple forks, and handed one to Rares. “Dig in.” Rares felt dumbfounded. Looking down at the casserole in front of her, steam rose out of it; she heated everything up. Where did she even do that?? After taking a bite herself, AJ gave her a gentle smile. “I know this ain’t quite dinner and a movie,” she said, “but right now we just need you fed.” Rares bit her lip. “Dinner and a movie,” she thought as she forked up her own bit of the spread. She took a bite and “mmm’d” before really digging into it. The food was good; AJ made this? The two sat and ate. For just a moment, Rares felt relaxed. She looked over and watched as Twily chatted up a still-wheezing Pinks and felt herself smiling. In this world a few removed, with laughter in the air and fresh food in your belly: things were starting to make sense, and that was a pleasant thought.