//------------------------------// // Day After Delivery // Story: Several Nights at Pepperoni's // by Mod On Death //------------------------------// Sound got to work early that morning. All the extra work she'd been doing with the movie poster sketches had started to annoy her. She thought that Cloverbud was probably the strictest Quality Control pony in the business, but at least she could tell the difference between knowing something is good and liking it personally. This director however was not like that. If he didn't like it, it was objectively bad. Apparently the movie had to be micromanaged by the guy since he'd flip out otherwise. Too bad her partner, Buronson, needed to consult on the movie and apparently had to accommodate for the director's decisions. "Hey, Buronson. Your story butchered yet?" He greeted her with a deep moan, waking up from what she could tell was a long night's rest in the office. "I'd rather not talk about it." He struggled to get out of his seat, attempting to head to the coffee machine only to run into a desk. "Hey. I made this thing with you and I have even less say than anypony else," she reminded him. "I wanna know what's going on there myself." "Well," he said, trying to grab a seat, "They got the art style down to a dot. That was a surprise from what I expected. They're also doing the entire first arc of the story as well. It's weird how short it seems when you see it in movie form. I mean, I thought it'd be longer, but no. They managed to get all the good details down and didn't try to cut anything out." "That actually sounds pretty good," Sound remarked. "Why're feeling down then?" "It's just that, I dunno, I guess I feel like everything we've made has actually been pretty...stupid." Sound was shocked when she heard Buronson say that. She went over and slapped him across the face. "That's nonsense! You and I both know that Jenshiro's story of a post-apocalypse is an epic tail about fighting through the evils of the world through the power of explosive punching. That isn't stupid. That's revolutionary! How many other stories take place during a post-apocalypse and fight warriors with odd clothing?" "I'm guessing that the movie called 'The Path Warrior' that takes place in a post-apocalypse where the protagonist fights against raiders that where weathered clothing," he explained. "Yes, but did he defeat them purely with the power of punches and was a girl?" she replied. "No?" "Then that settles it. Our thing required thought to put that together." Sound strode off confidently, feeling more confident than she had earlier that same morning. "Creators never feel fully satisfied with their work. That's the only thing you're feeling. You have to learn to say that you've done enough and move on." "So why have you redone the poster at least five times?" he asked. "Because the STUPID FREAKIN' DIRECTOR keeps saying that it isn't good enough or doesn't capture the style. I made the style! I drew the artwork!" She started scribbling furiously on a piece of sketch paper, not really sure if she was actually trying to draw something. "What can't this guy get through his head?" "Guessing he has his own unique vision of how to present the story," Buronson suggested. "His vision is wrong." "Whatever." Buronson was too depressed to deal with this. "I don't have anything I need to do today. Should've just stayed in bed." "If you stayed in bed then you wouldn't be able to hear me complain," Sound teased. "Go ahead and complain. Your pain may make mine more bearable." "Alright," she started. "Well, yesterday I had to work on the poster downstairs in the restaurant while a bunch of kids and foals joked around and kept asking me questions about my profession. Then I had to try and help my dad figure out this animatronic he apparently got for just a hundred bits. This morning I go down and find that my mom apparently hid in the garbage all night thinking that a robber was running around downstairs." "Sounds like your mom is the one having a difficult time," Buronson said as he raised his head up. "Late shift and then spending your night in garbage? Obviously. She must have thought that the new animatronic was in invader. Can't say I'd blame her. Thing kinda looks creepy even when there's light." "What kind of animatronic is it?" "Well," Sound dragged out as she tried to remember details, "It had brown fur, some weird yellow eyes, and I even think one of its ears was torn." "You think it was from shipping?" "Nah. I think you just expect something like that when you order something that complex used," she reasoned. "Anyway, I better come up with something to do for a poster soon or I'll lose my mind." "Can I help? Buronson asked. "Wouldn't have it any other way, partner." Together, the two worked on designing a suitable poster that the annoying director could not possibly hate. Pepperoni had just opened up the shop when the first customers started coming in. It was around that time when he finally saw the wolf animatronic start to do its thing. "Hey there! Welcome to-" It stopped talking for a moment. From the sound of it the character was supposed to be a girl. Pepperoni was confused for a second before realizing that whoever had owned it last must have reset some of its voice commands. Or something. He wasn't really sure how it worked yet. "Pepperoni's Pizzeria," he told it, hoping that it would understand. "Hey there! Welcome to Pepperoni's Pizzeria! Hope you enjoy your meal!" she said. Pepperoni was pleased with himself as he hoped that figuring out the rest would be that easy. "Now, entertain children," he ordered, hoping that it actually was that easy. "Dance, song, story, jokes, or shuffle?" it asked. "Um, shuffle I guess." Pepperoni watched as the wolf started moving its arms around and bending its knees. Music seemed to be playing out of some speakers it must have had on its body somewhere, though Pepperoni could not guess where. This kept on going while he made the pizzas. It looked like he made a good investment after all. Bloomheart bumbled around the break office before finding her seat. With a great humph she sat down, plopping her head down. Tina Triage and Chatty Cathy, the head nurse and junior nurse, were both sitting there without saying a word to their friend. "None of you gonna ask why I'm tired?" Bloomheart said halfheartedly. "You're a nurse. No need to ask why you're tired," Tina remarked. "I never feel tired. Wonder why," Tina added, drinking her fourth coffee that hour. "It's not my job. It's something that happened when I got home last night. I thought there was a robber in the restaurant and he was in the same room as me so I ended up hiding in the garbage all night." The two snickered hearing that. "I've made mistakes in the past when tired, but nothing like that," Tina replied. "One time I thought that a bag of garbage was a cat." Cathy added, "I once put cream cheese on my toast when I thought it was butter. It did not taste good." "Well I think I'll be heading home early today. Haven't been doing so well today. Almost let Dr. Zebra Chaser forget his watch inside a patient today. I'm supposed to remind him before it happens again." "It's not hard to tell when you have a watch in you. You start feeling strong pangs of pain in the area along with hearing subtle ticking throughout the day." The two were about to ask Cathy about how she knew that before reconsidering. "Anyway, I can't do well today, so you guys have anyone to look over my shift?" "You don't have to go home. I know a place you can sleep in secret." Tina leaned forward and started whispering. "There's a sleeping quarter for the students that's usually locked, but I managed to jimmy one of the locks so anypony can get in there when they need it. It's on the third floor right across the from the janitor's closet. Go there, rest an hour, and come back feeling better." "Okay." Without any real emotion, Bloomheart dragged herself off to the third floor to get some rest. Her two friends felt insulted by this though. "She could've said thanks," Cathy said. "True, but then that would mean less time for sleep." Tina took out a piece of gum and started chewing. "Everypony needs their thing to get through the day." "I hear that!" Cathy said as she took a drink of her coffee.