//------------------------------//
// Quality Control 
// Story: The Mandate 
// by Mod On Death 
//------------------------------//

	Bates was having a blast with his vacation. He was dancing, going to fancy restaurants, blowing stuff up with what he suspected later on were anarchists. It was quite a time for him. Not only that, but he found himself staying out most of the night and coming back early morning. The concierge gave him the usual greeting as he entered.
"Good morning, Mr. Bates!" she said to the lumbering stallion, tired from his escapades. "Do you need any assistance getting to your room?"
"Nah. I'm just tired." He went slowly to the elevator and waited as it came down. As it opened, the cerulean mare hurried past him, not noticing him at all. "Wonder what that's about," he said as he entered. Pushing his number, the door closed and he was lifted up. When they opened, he was greeted by a large, sun-glass wearing minotaur.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a blue looking mare pass by here?" he asked. Bates thought about if he saw a blue mare pass by and couldn't think of any. There was the cerulean one, but no green.
"Nope. Sorry." Bates then went to his room and locked the door after entering, plopping down on his bed when it was in sight.
"Huh," the minotaur said, thinking, "I should have also asked him if he knew a 'Mr. Bates'."





The lunch shift at Pepperoni's Pizza was slow today, giving Sound some time to clean up the place before the downpour. It was pretty nice for Sound, having forgotten what it was like to not immediately worry about getting something done. All the dough was prepared, all the toppings readied, and now the floor and tables were fresh and shiny.
"Think I know why dad likes doing this," she commented as two other ponies entered the establishment. She turned to see that it was Cloverbud and Golden Bell coming in. "Hey guys! How's it going?"
"Pretty good," Golden Bell replied.
"Terrible," Cloverbud said.
"Huh. Guess things aren't going well with the toy guys then." Sound said this as if it were common knowledge to her. "Thing about those guys is that when it comes to girl toys they really lay it on with the pink and purple."
"Jenshiro was pink," Cloverbud told her. Sound burst into tears laughing when she heard that.
"Oh wow! I guess that myth I heard about those guys was real." Sound went on to clarify. "See, apparently Ashbro or whatever it's called accidentally signed a contract that made it so they end up buying an extra 200 gallons of pink and purple dye each year. Because of that the toy guys really need to market those colors so they don't suffer a big loss."
"That would make a while lot of sense," Golden Bell said as she looked up from her menu. "I think I'll have a cheese pizza. Wanna share, Clover?"
"Sure. One cheese pizza," she said through her crossed hooves.
"Coming right up!" Sound went into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.
"Cheer up, Clover. I'm sure they've improved the design now."
"You're a very hopeful girl, Golden Bell. My job is to look at things that area terrible and make them good. It's not as easy as you'd think."
"Oh really?" Golden Bell replied, looking a bit insulted by that statement. "Clover, I have to go and market all the stuff we make in order for us to let ponies know that we make things. Do you realize how difficult it is to figure out the best ways to get ponies interested and have them inform you of how they became interested? It's hard, and I do this marketing on my own, along toys most of the time, so I do know what it's like to deal with something difficult."
"Huh," Cloverbud said, somewhat surprised at the meek pony's backbone. "Guess we both do difficult things on our own."
"Yes. Yes we do." The two sat quietly until their pizza arrived. After eating the whole thing (to the surprise of Sound who couldn't believe their appetite) they went back to the factory.





"Oh boy, do I have a surprise for the two of you!" Cold Mold said to the two enthusiastically. "We REALLY went and looked at the character and took tons of notes. Trust me when I say you'll be impressed."
"If the character is now purple..." Cloverbud said, her eyebrow furled.
"Don't worry. We put extra work in it this time. Follow me." Going through the factory again, Golden Bell starting wheezing again while Clover just passed through. In the room they'd first seen the toys was a single box.
"I assume you reworked the one we saw before," Golden Bell said through gasps.
"Eeyup! Take a look at the new, improved, JENSHIRO!" He revealed the toy, shocking the two mares. Instead of the inaccurate toy before, this one looked like an exact replica of the character. "Now, what do you think?"
"Wow!" the two yelled ecstatically.
"Great! Now, the price per production of each of these is about forty bits, so-"
"Wait a moment," Golden Bell interrupted. "Forty bits to produce one of these? How much would they go for on the market?"
"Um, well, with the normal percentage adjustment, it would be in the realm of...one hundred and fifty bits." This price set Golden Bell's jaw on the table. "Now, it really is expensive, so-"
"I don't mind," Cloverbud said to the shock of those two. "After all, this is incredibly high quality. I approve it."
"Clover, are you out of your mind?! We can't mass produce that! It's too expensive, and what pony would spend that much on an action figure?"
"Golden Bell, I thought you wanted the best," Cloverbud said.
"Yeah, but at a cheap and profitable price! I'd rather go with the previous model than do something this expensive." Those words sent Cloverbud jumping out of her seat.
"You take that back right now," she said menacingly.
"Or what?" The two were now staring right into each other's eyes, challenging the other to make their move.
"Um, I don't think-"
"STAY OUT OF IT, MOLD!" the two yelled at him, not changing their glance. He slowly left the room and closed the door.
"There is no way I'm going to allow something that expensive to go into production," Golden Bell said firmly.
"Well there's no way I'm going to let something as shoddy as the previous toy besmirch my good reputation as Quality Control," contested Cloverbud.
"Same here with me." The two continued to stare until they heard a whistle and saw ponies leave the facility.
"It looks like we'll have to continue this later on," Cloverbud said.
"Yes." The two left the factory, never leaving the other's eyesight until they finally had to go home.