//------------------------------// // Day 6: For Gryphonia! // Story: Arstrotzka Welcomes You: A Papers, Please Crossover. // by Herr Director //------------------------------// The next morning, the Inspector arrived at the booth on time. He was a bit worried, as his salary yesterday could not pay his entire set of bills. His savings would cover costs for now, but he would need another way to earn enough money to pay if he wanted his family to have a place to live. He had also decided that he would try and look beyond the booth that day. He wanted to make sure that he used his power for the right reasons and not abuse it. The Inspector looked around his booth. Nothing had been installed or added, that he could see. He went over to his desk and removed a new bulletin from its slot. He began to read the day's instructions. Dear Inspector, You may be aware that jobs in Arstrotzka are few, and are becoming fewer. As such, the Ministry of Labor has requested that the Ministry of Admission adopt a new policy to control the immigration of workers. From now on, an entrant who wishes to enter the country for work must carry a valid work pass issued by the Ministry of Labor in addition to their entry permit. A work pass must not expire before the entry permit. If it does, it is most likely a forgery and the entrant must be denied or detained. Arstrotzkan citizens and foreigners who are coming to Arstrotzka for reasons other than work purposes are not required to carry a work pass. Process them as you normally would. It has come to my attention that you apprehended Aerial Ace yesterday. I have to give you credit. He could have snuck by most other inspectors. The Ministry of Justice is rather grateful for your hard work. Arstrotzka needs more workers like you. Continue to make us proud, inspector. For the Glory of Arstrotzka and Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Temporary Governor of Arstrotzka The Inspector had a couple minutes before he was supposed to open, so he leaned over the counter and played with the stamps. He stopped himself and straightened up once more. He had to maintain his professional demeanor at all times. The clock struck six. It was time to start. "The checkpoint is now open. Please enter the booth." A crystal mare entered the booth. "Papers, please." the Inspector requested. She presented her Crystal Empire passport and an entry permit, as well as a magenta slip. The Inspector looked at the slip. It was a work pass. He went through his list of questions. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "I come for work." "Duration of stay?" "I will stay for one year." The Inspector looked over the papers presented to him. A cursory inspection revealed that the names did not match. "These names do not match." "Oh, I have multiple names." "Please provide your hoof prints on this slip." The entrant took the slip and the ink pad while the Inspector scanned passport. CLICK CLICK CLICK. The Inspector ripped out the page that was emitted from the printer. The two names on the papers were listed on the slip above the hoof prints. He stamped the passport with the approval stamp. "Cause no trouble." The Inspector handed the mare a paper towel to wipe her hooves, as well as her documents. She left promptly. "Next." Another mare entered the both. Her mane hung down in front of her eyes, and she looked as if she had been crying. "Papers, please." She gave the Inspector a Germane passport, an entry permit, and a work pass. She also slipped in a familiar purple and pink flier. Another advertisement for Plotholes. The Inspector wrinkled his snout a bit, but proceed to ask his questions to the mare. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "Work." "Duration of stay?" "Six months." The Inspector looked through the papers. Names, dates, issuing cities, yes. They were correct. He stamped the passport green. "Cause no trouble." he cautioned. The mare shifted a bit. "Help me." she said quietly, almost a whisper. She passed over a piece of paper and left. The Inspector unfolded the note and read it quickly. Please, help me. A stallion named Bangor Dare promised my sister and I good work in Arstrotzka. However I do not trust him I am worried that he will try and take our passports to make us work in a brothel that is somewhere in East Manetin. He is a few ponies behind me in line today. I don't want to be stuck in a brothel for the rest of my life. I beg you, do something! The Inspector folded the note back up and placed it into a drawer. He would look at it later. For now, he had to get back to work. "Next." he called into the microphone. A old stallion hobbled into the booth. "Papers, please." The stallion gave him a Saddle Arabian passport and an entry permit. He had no work pass. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "I am moving here." The Inspector looked over his papers. Something was fishy about his passport, though. The date was fine, the name and photo were both fine. The Inspector opened his rule book. He turned to the page about Saddle Arabia. There were two issuing cities, Abu-Clopi, and Dubit. Neither of which matched the city on the passport. "The issuing city is not correct." "I don't understand." The Inspector sighed. The passport was forged. He reached for the alarm button, but stopped. Detaining the stallion would probably mean his death. He simply stamped the passport with a denial stamp. "Do not come back." he said as he handed the stallion back his papers. The stallion nodded, perfectly understanding why he had been denied. He hurried back out of the booth. "Next." "Hey pal, it's me again!" The Inspector looked up. Gilda Swiftfeather stood in front of him with her front talon outstretched. An authentic looking Germane passport was held within. "Hah, it wasn't easy to get, but today, I got a grade A passport, baby!" The Inspector smiled. "That is good news to me, Miss Swiftfeather." "Just Gilda. This whole 'Miss Swiftfeather' thing is too weird." "I understand. Regardless, I must see your papers, Gilda." "Read it and weep!" Gilda tossed the passport onto the counter. The Inspector raised an eyebrow. "Where is the entry permit?" "The what?" Gilda's mouth hung open. He studied the passport. It was authentic in every way, but it wasn't enough. "This passport is good, but without an entry permit, I cannot let you through." He braced for Gilda's rage. "Dammit. I look like an idiot." Gilda began to hit herself with her talon over and over. "Stupid, stupid, STUPID! I can't believe I FORGOT THE DAMM ENTRY PERMIT!" The Inspector waited for Gilda to finish. She facetaloned herself one last time and shook her head "I'm sorry pal, this one's on me." She took back her passport. "I'll come back with the right stuff in a day or two." "See that you do." The Inspector said. He was beginning to get frustrated with Gilda's repeated, and failed attempts to enter the border. He shook his head. "Next." A royal purple pegasus stallion with a brown mane entered the booth next. "Papers, please." the Inspector requested. The pegasus gave him an Arstrotzkan passport and an ID card. He also passed the Inspector another flyer for Plotholes. "Hello, friend." He began. "How about you come down to Plotholes? I can get you the mare of your dreams." "I've already found her." The Inspector replied casually. "Come anyways, who knows," The stallion leaned in closer. "Maybe you want to try something new." The Inspector ignored the stallion and looked at his papers. Something struck him as odd. That mane, Bangor Dare, was familiar to him. He checked the note that the mare had given him earlier. She said that Dare was trying to smuggle her across the border. This was unacceptable. "You are Bangor Dare?" The Inspector asked, for the audio log. "Of course." Dare replied. "It says so on the passport, right?" "Indeed." The Inspector pressed the alarm button. The grate slid down. "Wait here, Mr. Dare." "What is this shit?" The pegasus looked around nervously. His nervousness turned into anger. "Give me my papers back!" The Inspector took the Plotholes fliers and ripped them in half, spitefully. "OUT!" The guards yelled from outside the booth. If looks could kill, the Inspector would be a dead pony. Dare glared at the Inspector with a terrible fury. He stormed out to the guards who escorted him away. "Well, I'm glad that's over," The Inspector said to himself out loud. He closed his eyes. "Good riddance. Now I don't have to deal with those dammed fliers anymore." "Next." he called. A short unicorn mare wearing a large fuzzy coat entered the booth. She looked sad and unfocused. "Papers, please." She shook herself out of her daze and handed her documents over to the Inspector. They consisted of a Gryphonian passport and an entry permit. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "Transit through the country." "Duration of stay?" "Two days." A brief inspection on the Inspector's part revealed no problems with the papers. KA-CHUNK "Cause no trouble." The mare stepped out of the booth. "Next." the Inspector called. A butter yellow pegasus stepped into the booth. She had turquoise eyes and a long pink mane. "Papers, please." She gave him an Equestrian passport and an entry pass. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "I'm, um, visiting friends." The pony said something very quietly. The Inspector did not quite catch what she had mumbled. "Can you repeat that, please?" "I'm visiting friends." The Inspector nodded. "I see. Duration of stay?" "Oh, um... two months." The Inspector looked through the documents. He mouthed his checklist under his breath. "Name is Fluttershy on both papers, issuing city is correct, dates are valid." His mumbling was interrupted by a small cough. He looked up. The mare was gesturing out of the doorway to the right at the guards. "What is that mare doing?" She asked. "What!?" The Inspector leaned forward out of the booth to peer out the door. The previous entrant was right behind the guards. She took off her large coat, revealing a black device attached to her. "FOR GRYPHONIA!" she shouted. She pulled a cord on the device. "Oh, shi-" The Inspector ducked behind his desk, hooves over his head as the checkpoint was rocked by the explosion from the suicide bomber. Screams and the rapid, frenzied, clip clopping of hooves were heard from outside the booth. With a squeal, the pegasus jumped over the booth, just before the grate came down. She huddled close to the Inspector under the desk and sobbed. into his shoulder, uttering words made unintelligible by her tears. The Inspector looked nervously around the booth with the frightened mare laying against him. "You have to leave now," he said. "or the both of us will be in very big trouble." "...please don't make me go outside." she blubbered. No matter what the Inspector said or did, she would not move from under the desk. He patted her on the back and spoke gently. The same technique worked well on his wife when she was upset. "Hush now. No more crying, okay?" He stroked her mane. The mare's tears began to slow "Everything is fine now." He slowly stood up and opened the grate. He also handed the mare her papers, which were still on the desk. "Now you have to go. You cannot stay here or else the guards might arrest us." he warned. The mare crawled out from under the desk. She sniffed and for the first time since the Inspector first saw her, she smiled. "...okay. Thank you so much." She took her papers and climbed over the counter. She hurried out of the booth. A short time later, the Inspector was escorted out of the checkpoint by a pair of Equestrian Royal Guards. The Inspector could not help but notice that they seemed a little hostile with him. Did they blame him for the death of their fellow guards be letting in the bomber? The Inspector was shoved harshly into the street. The guards snorted at him and then returned to securing the checkpoint. The Inspector trudged down the street to his apartment, his head hung in shame. He had done a poor job, and becaus eof his inadequacy, three innocent lives were lost. Maybe a night on the bar was in order- no! If he drank tonight, he would be in no shape to work early tomorrow morning. The Ministry of Admissions would not give him a day off just because a suicide bomber snuck past him. No, that was not how things worked in glorious Arstrotzka. After some time of walking, the Inspector entered his apartment building and climbed up to his room. He was immediately greeted by his wife's hooves being thrown around him. "I cannot believe there's been another attack already!" She lamented. "I don't feel comfortable with you going to work like this anymore." "You know I have to go anyways." The Inspector hung up his uniform in his wardrobe. "This is the only way we can get money, anyways." "And even that is barely enough to get us by." she countered. She flopped onto their bed. "There has to be another way. I don't know what I would do if you ever were to die at that dammed checkpoint." She cursed angrily, her foreleg pounding the blankets in frustration. "Don't worry." he said. "I will be perfectly safe. I have been, and I will be." "I just hope it stays that way." There was a knock at the door. The Inspector was the first to the door. Standing in the hall was a blonde walleyed grey pegasus. She had a mail bag brimming with packages and letters. "Delivery for Mr.- oh hey! It's you!" The mare smiled and laughed. The Inspector reconized that laugh. "Ditzy Doo!" he exclaimed. "I see you got the mail mare job!" "Yeah!" Ditzy grinned. "My boss is really nice. He gave me a place to live and everything. It'll last until I have to go back to Equestria. "Good." The Inspector said. "Now, you have mail for me." "Oh yeah. Sorry. This is apartment C8-52, right?" The mare dug through her bag until she pulled out a few envelopes and a small package containing the Inspector's pay from the Ministry of Admissions. "Excellent. Be safe, Ditzy." The Inspector waved away the pegasus and withdrew to his room. He slit open the envelopes and the package, taking out the contents within. It didn't take long for the Inspector to figure out a major problem. He didn't have enough moneys to cover the bills. Even his savings and pay combined couldn't cover it. He was still short five bits. "Honey, we need to talk!" he called. "What's the matter?" His wife entered the room. "Is there a problem?" The Inspector nodded. "We don't have enough money. We will either have to forgo food or heat for tomorrow." "You are joking right?" she groaned. "First you nearly get killed at work and now we are out of bits for the bills. She sighed. See if you can get away with not paying for the heat. I don't think anypony will be staying home all day, so that should be okay." "Okay then." The Inspector deposited money into the food and rent envelopes. He placed those by the front door. "I will make sure I work extra hard so I can make enough money." "All right, dear." His wife wrapped her foreleg around him. "I know you're trying your very best, and I appreciate it." "Who knows. With all of the security that will no doubt be added tomorrow, maybe they'll give me a raise." The Inspector smiled halfheartedly. He knew that he would have to do many more things tomorrow because of the bombing. He could only hope that his family would be able to keep up with it all. Guest Star OCs! Special thanks to: Bangor Dare by CyberFan479 Thank you for submitting. Keep sending me those characters and they will have a good chance to appear in an upcoming chapter.