First things first: I had to negotiate some free time from my boss, Paper Pusher, so I could accompany Kyo on his quest for love. I could have always feigned sickness, but that would be dishonest, not to mention it’d leave me dry on sick days in case I actually got sick. No, I decided I would prefer to use the opportunity to travel to my advantage.
Upon leaving Kyo’s house, I headed straight for the newspaper building where I worked. As I entered the building, the secretary, a pink mare with a red mane, noticed me and said, “Oh, hello Abstract. I thought you were done for today.”
“Hello, Gilly Flower,” I responded. “I just wanted to talk to Paper Pusher about something. Is he free?”
“He should be. I’ll let him know you wish to see him.” Gilly buzzed the intercom on her desk and said, “Mr. Thought is here to see you, sir.”
“Alright, send him in,” a gruff voice on the other end answered.
“Mr. Pusher will see you now,” Gilly informed me.
“Okay, thanks Gilly!” I gave her a friendly smile as I walked over to my boss’s office. I soon came to a door with Paper Pusher, Chief Editor written on it. Okay, you can do this, Abstract. You’ve never requested a favor from the boss before, so he should be open to your request. Just be polite and friendly, and above all, don’t say anything stupid. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Come in.” I opened the door and saw a sandy brown pony with a graying mane sitting behind a desk with papers strewn all over it. “Ah, Abstract. What brings you to my office outside of your work hours?”
“Hello, Mr. Pusher,” I said as I stepped into his office. “I came here because I would like to make a request, if that’s okay with you.”
“That would depend on the request, of course,” he pointed out. “What did you have in mind?”
I cleared my throat and began, “Well, have you heard of Appleloosa?”
“Sure, it’s that settlement in the desert that was almost overrun by buffalo, right?”
“Well, I don’t think the situation was quite like that,” I offered.
“Perhaps, but it certainly makes for a better story,” he responded with a smirk.
“Heh, I guess,” I giggled. “Speaking of which, I was thinking that I could, uh, go to Appleloosa and interview some of the buffalo myself and, you know, learn more about them and their culture, as well as how they’re getting along with the settler ponies at this point. I’m sure there are plenty of interesting facts about them that would make a good story.”
“Hmm, an article showing the inside story of a little known culture?” the boss pondered, rubbing his chin with his hoof. “Sounds interesting. But out of curiosity, why the sudden interest in buffalo?”
Oh, horse apples. “Well, uh,” I stammered, racking my brains to try and think of something. As I searched through my thoughts, I suddenly recalled some old Western movie Kyo and I had seen some time ago; specifically, I thought about a scene where buffalo swarmed and attacked a house for no good reason. I didn’t exactly find that respectful to the buffalo, but Kyo didn’t really care about the unfortunate implications and was just excited by the action. The memory of the movie distracted my thinking until the boss chimed in, “Ah, you saw Horse Drawn Horses? That’s my favorite Western!”
“What are you…” I started, until I suddenly realized that my magic was activated. Oh, why did my thought magic have to activate now? Wait, maybe I can use that to my advantage! “Uh, yeah! Mine too! Once I saw it, I knew I had to learn all I could about what real cowponies and buffalo were like!”
The boss laughed heartily at that. “That’s the kind of attitude I like to hear! Alright, Abstract, I’ll give you two days paid leave so you can go to Appleloosa. Just make sure you remember to write an article based on what you learned there.”
“Will do, sir!” I replied, a bright smile on my face.
“Attaboy, son!” he said. “Now get outta here before I forget where I put those letters that the mayor sent me!”
“Okay, have a good day, sir!” With that, I left the office, spirits high. On my way out of the building, I bid farewell to Gilly Flower and heard the boss swear loudly. I could hardly believe how well that went! I just hoped that things continued to go well, for Kyo’s sake more than mine. I mean, I like Kyo a lot, but there’s no denying that he tends to leap before he looks, so to speak. If Kyo didn’t watch his mouth, meeting Gilda probably wouldn’t end well for him.
“What do you want?”
“Gilda I love you you’re so hot can I make out with you?!”
*SLASH!*
Yeah, there was no way Kyo was talking to her without a little practice.
End of Part 7