Finally! Those two mares have been an irritation for sure, but...ahh, yes, that's over now.
Waiting for them to part ways after I engineered their meeting was definitely the wrong choice. Stubborn mares never left one another's side! I had to work in a way for both of them to meet with the ponies from the next branch of the bracket, but it was worth it.
They met, they fought, they all had dinner and got to know one another, and then she took him home. Now, I can just get rid of all of them while the winner's back is turned and move on to cleaning up the last branch!
Wow, I've lost a lot of time. I'll have to move all four of them into an encounter together with her, now. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle with how similar two of them already are. After this, though, no more idling. The only ones making it past tonight are the winners.
No exceptions.
I just have to tend to these first.
Dawn Gleam
Merry Weather
Tidy Till
Bibidi Boo
So long!
Dawn Gleam
Goodbye!
Merry Weather
And good...
*Tidy Till
...riddance?
Huh.
Out of ink.
Heh. Heh-heh. Ooooh-heeheeheehee!
I guess I'll just have to go and get some more.
I'll just set this little thing in motion for the next round and drop him in right...here! Perfect!
Those events will practically work themselves to my desired conflict on their own, leaving me to give this little loose end...
...my personal sendoff!
YAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!
Let the games begin!
There was darkness all around me, and I tumbled without reason. Formless shapes shifted about in all directions...
...my entire left side felt fuzzy. Then...
“TIDY!”
“Gah!”
...suddenly, floor.
I twitched for a few seconds, then, with some difficulty, I shook myself awake...
“Get it together, Tidy! Tight Shift needs you at the Front End, pronto!”
Only to become even more confused.
The red-orange pegasus mare frowned down on my prone form. Her messy, blond bangs bobbed as she heaved in and out, and her Rich's Barnyard Bargains uniform looked slightly rumpled from a recent hurried run. However, that wasn't the confusing bit.
“Rollback? Ugh, why're you...?”
“Lemme guess: you thought you had more time to nap on your lunch. Well, time's up. I don't care how much longer you've been working here than me. Tight's not gonna overlook you being half an hour coming back! Now get up!”
Defeated, I obeyed. She was right, and I was the one who was supposed to be training her, not the other way around.
We trotted up the aisles to the front in focused silence, and it wasn't long before I had taken my place at register #8. I settled into a comfortable stance and gave my register's conveyor belt a test crank with my magic just to be sure. As I flicked my sign around to show that I was open, I realized my head still felt a little foggy.
A stimulating shake later, which I felt from tip to tail, I tried to purge the last of my sleepiness from my system.
“Wow, I feel woozy. What day is it?”
Over on #6, Rollback stepped forward.
“Tidy. No. Don't even joke like that. Nightmare Night's already bad enough.”
That woke me up!
I looked to my right and finally noticed the time of day.
Or, should I say...night.
“What the...?!”
The main thoroughfare of Ponyville was decked out in full Nightmare Night spectacle. Spooky decorations, festive game booths, myriad costumed ponies, the whole shebang. The stage in front of Town Hall was a buzz of activity, as the pony in charge of delivering the Legend of Nightmare Moon to kickoff the event prepared her entrance. Naturally, all the town's little Fright-or-Biters were lined up front and center to enjoy the show.
Occupying a bench a fair distance from the edge of the crowd were two mares. One a gold-coated pegasus whose silvery mane and tail were buttoned down into a bun and a braid respectively and the other a reddish-purple earth pony whose beige mane was cropped short with a bobtail to match, the two looked on as the foreign celebration kicked off.
They sat in companionable silence, neither having much to comment on the sight before them...
...that is, until the storyteller took the stage.
A series of small explosions released a blackened mist that hovered low, adding atmosphere, as a silhouette slowly materialized. The first, most immediately recognizable feature was a tall, pointed conical hat. Then the mare stepped forth from the obscuring smoke, showing off the dark blue, pumpkin-patterned cloak covering her deep violet coat; a tall, dark blue hat to match; and a black river of a mane that hid the upper half of her face and flowed down on either side of her muzzle.
The dark mare's horn lit up a bright amber as the legend came to life in her illusory floating images.
It was a few lines into the Mare of Ceremony's tale that the pegasus leaned forward and squinted, having finally found her voice.
“No...no, I must be dreaming.”
“What's going on, Kitty?”
Falcata, or “Kitty” according to her friend, let out a well used groan.
“Lucy. You know how I feel about that name.”
Loosestrife, otherwise known as “Lucy”, just chuckled and countered with a scoff.
“The day I stop calling you “Kitty” is the day the Witch of the Everfree rises from her accursed grave. Also, you'd have to stop calling me “Lucy” first, and we both know how likely that I- Whoa!”
Loosestrife suddenly found herself hooked around the shoulders by Falcata's good foreleg and tossed behind a nearby bush. She was joined shortly afterward by her scowling aggressor.
“So it is to be a duel, is it?! Come at me! You will see the full worth of my tribe brought to bear! I shall-”
“Loosestrife! Stay your hoof...lower your volume...and take a long, hard look at that mare on the stage.”
Loosestrife's mouth flew shut in an instant, and she quickly and silently righted herself and obeyed.
It wasn't long before her eyes began to widen.
“No...it can't be.”
“Despite our best efforts, it appears to be so. I don't know how she escaped that cave, but knowing her...and seeing this mare...”
“...around foals, no less!”
“Indeed. I don't dare doubt for a minute that she could've survived, even this far into the future from our time.”
“Neither do I. My old team never fully discovered the true extent of her capabilities. Nevertheless, this sort of unnatural longevity does certainly fit to my memory of her.”
Falcata nodded.
For a time, the two watched the familiar dark mare's performance intently, studying her actions. Falcata unconsciously squeezed the stump of old left foreleg.
“So, Strategist, what's the plan?”
Loosestrife smiled.
“Separate her from the foals, take her down, capture her, bring her to the regal authorities of this land, and politely insist that she be given her due for her crimes. However, none of that will be possible without a certain measure of stealth.”
“THERE YOU ARE!”
The two scheming mares jumped straight up from the shock, Falcata's wings affording her slightly more hang time than her co-conspirator. They turned to face the unexpected interruption, only to find a unicorn in a very loud, very pink, blocky costume.
“There's my two favorite time-tossed titans! Happy Nightmare Night! I see you're enjoying the opening ceremony! Why you're watching from behind a bush is beyond me, though. I mean, it's almost like you're- OH MY GOSH!”
Her second outburst caught Loosestrife and Falcata, as well as her own piebald-coated earth pony shopping buddy off-guard. Though that was probably more due to her horn sparking off a neon blue burst of aimless magic than from just her sudden rise in tone.
The mare's Shocking Pink Joy Boy Hoof-Held Gaming System™ costume squeaked and rattled about, not lending its owner any subtlety as she dashed a few paces forward and gawked at the dark unicorn conducting the ceremony. It was at that moment, as the black and orange image of Nightmare Moon dived into the crowd, that the mare running the show leaped up and began floating in the air in a grand display of magic to cap off the legend.
“WOW! Minnie, did you see that! This is way better than last year, and that zebra was no slouch! And I just love her costume! She's really got the 'Evil-But-Not-Really-Evil Witch' motif nailed down! I wonder what she'll think of mine!”
With a flick of her muted pink magic, the grayish unicorn flipped a sliding switch on the left shoulder of her garish costume, and a screen on her chest lit up with a two-toned green tint. After a few seconds, a lively tune trickled out of a speaker on her right shoulder.
“It even plays 'Tetrominix'!”
There was a beat of time where the only sounds to be heard were the ones from the over-excited unicorn's costume. It was ended by the sound of Minnie's facehoof and a single copper-toned ring.
Minnie was decked out in blue-collared cowbell. the source of the ring, and a novelty cow-horned hairband. She stomped her hoof back to the ground and voiced her opinion.
“Caps Lock, I'm sure she's quite busy being the Nightmare Night Legend Giver for tonight. If you run up to her now, musical as you are, you'll just break the atmosphere of the holiday for the foals. I'm sure she'll be here later on tonight.”
Falcata took the opportunity presented her to drop an unsavory bombshell.
“Minnie, there's a possibility that those foals might not be.”
“WHAT?!”
Caps Lock's costume let out a sorrowful sound.
“Falcata, this isn't funny! This is not the way to play a joke, or...or a prank or anything lighthearted of that nature! I've known you for a few months now, and you've always been terrible at it, and...”
Minnie froze for a fraction of a second before slowly gasping as her blue eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks.
“...and you truly believe this is going to happen, don't you? That those foals are in danger?”
Falcata nodded.
Minnie nodded back, albeit more slowly.
She then stepped over to Caps Lock and put a hoof on the bulky costume's left shoulder, turning off the game sounds before turning back around to face her friend.
“What can we do to help?”
I shouldn't be here.
I may not know what my true Special Talent is yet, but I know for sure it isn't this.
It's a fact that I've been acutely aware of for a long time.
It's a feeling that never goes away, a sense of wrongness that follows me every day I'm building a talent that isn't my own Special Talent.
It's incredibly stressful, feeling utterly wrong every minute of the work day and not reflecting that emotion to my customers.
Even more so, to prevent them from seeing my stress, managing said stress, and still provide to them the best customer service experience of their day, Celestia knows how I've not been reduced to a quivering wreck after these eight years.
Just about the only thing that's made it possible is a skill I've had to develop and constantly rely on throughout my time here.
Retention.
Product Codes, Customer names and faces, conversations, Clock In and Clock Out times; I've had to keep it all locked up inside my head. I've had to be ready to rattle off anything at a moment's notice with a smile on my face.
“Hey, Tidy! What's the code for cucumbers?”
Ho there! 4 a sight's divine!
Bibidi spies an 0-ty line!
You! Cashier! I've 6-ed your shelves!
Now, these pumpkins won't 2 themselves!
And then things like this happen.
“It's '4062', Rollback.”
I know for a fact that I've never met anypony named “Bibidi” or heard any of that conversation before, but there it is, mingling with my other memories.
I'm just glad that was an easy one.
“Hey, Tidy! How about beets?”
Horseapples.
What is this look upon 4 face?! Am I...not welcome in this place?
M-MM! Delicious~! Oh, yes 5-deed! I believe I have found...all I need!
Oh! You're up! Good 3-ing, there. I've had just enough time to prepare!
You've been a great help to me, more 9 you know, so since I've had my dinner.....IT'S TIME FOR THE SHOW!!
Well, whoever she was, she's a whiz with a rhyme.
“That's '4539'.”
“Thanks!”
“No prob'.”
Though, I admit, her voice isn't bad to listen to. Whoever this was, she sure styled herself as a total ham, but in a good way.
I kinda wish I could see her again. That is, if she's really not just in my head.
But I can't leave here now. I've got a job to do.
“Hey, Tidy! Granny Smith!”
“Where?”
“Gotcha! Haha! I mean the fruit, silly! What's the code?”
I've been belligerent, vile and sore; against your sanity I waged war.
I pondered what would bring you tears after I spied the first of your fears.
In line, I gave you much to endure, to draw out all your terrors pure.
But in my haste I failed to see. What frightened you was not just me, but what I then did represent. All this, to you, I now repent.
A-
“Tidy?”
Is that?
“Hello~! Equestria to Tidy Till!”
Who was she?
“Tidy, what's going on?”
Where is she now?
“Tidy, I need that code! I don't remember it!”
Was she really real? And if so, did something happen between us?
“You know what? Fine! Don't help me! I'll just look it up on my own! Thanks for nothing!”
Nothing?
No, that can't be it. Something happened.
Something definitely happened for her to have said that.
“Uh, sir?”
But what? What am I missing?
“Sir, could you please ring up my pumpkins?”
Pumpkins?
...pumpkins?
“BOO!!”
“Whoa!”
In an instant, my back was on the floor once again.
That moment happened after I clocked out for Nightmare Night!
But it's still Nightmare Night.
But I'm still scheduled to continue working.
But I already clocked out!
…
I gazed around me at the stunned faces. All of them looking in my direction, as if I were some madpony. I realized in that moment, that I didn't recognize any of their faces.
Not a one.
They're all strangers.
I suddenly realized that no amount of internal monologue could do this justice.
“What am I doing here!?”
This feels wrong!
I shouldn't be here!
Without another word, I turned and galloped away from my register!
“TIDY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!”
A not-so-jolly green giant of an earth pony stallion, clad in a navy suit, white undershirt and yellow tie, blocked my path to the exit.
“That's my thought exactly, Mr. Tight Shift, Sir!”
I quickly dislodged one of the large panes of glass that made up the long front window of the store, pulled it in front of me, and plopped it down right in my Supervisor's path.
He balked, and I jumped out the window!
Once out and into Ponyville proper, a flood of memories washed over me. The scare, the castle, the mage, the brawler, the fight and the dinner with all those viscous, black animals. All of it rushed back in an instant, and I knew I had to find her.
If this weirdness was happening to me, I couldn't begin to imagine what was going on with her.
“Hold on, Bibidi Boo, I'm on my way!”
It had been a simple matter for Miss Caps Lock to distract the foals away from this witch, and with Miss Minnie Milk watching for anything suspicious that might interrupt us and Loosestrife watching her back from the shadows, Falcata had a prime opportunity to confirm her suspicions.
"So, Mistress of Ceremonies, or should I say 'Bibidi Boo'? Let's not have any games, now. Are you or are you not the Witch of the Everfree Forest?!"
The dark mare smiled.
"That is quite the brazen claim. Might I have the accuser's name?"
"I am Falcata of the Curved Blade. If you are indeed the Witch, then you have much to answer for, none the least of which is this."
Falcata presented her useless stump of a leg for further emphasis.
"Hmm~ Nope! You don't ring a bell! So why don't you just go to-"
"THERE YOU ARE!!"
Mane wild, clothes torn, and covered in minor cuts and bruises, a unicorn stallion threw himself into the clearing.
"Bibidi Boo! Am I glad to see you! Do you remember? It's me! Tidy Till!"
Falcata stood stock still, slack-jawed and buggy-eyed, and she couldn't bring herself to change that. Here was something so unexpected, so against her vision for this meeting, that its very existence threatened to bring her mind to a standstill.
Who was this stallion?!
What was he to the Witch?
Who cares?! He's in danger! Get him out of there!
I found her!
I found her, and she was so surprised that her hat fell off!
She pulled her bangs away, and I saw glorious recognition in those brilliant orange eyes!
"T-Tidy?"
"Stallion! MOVE!"
Uh-oh, somepony's not happy!
I turned and saw the tall, gold-coated, three-legged pegasus advancing on Bibidi and I. A highly intimidating curved sword glinted in the moonlight, and ill intent was practically written all over her face.
"H-Hey! Hold on! Let's all calm down here."
"You dare to advise anything of me!? You are in danger, colt! Back away from her!"
"I'll say we're in danger! Why don't you just put down the sword, and-"
"I WILL NOT STAY MY BLADE FROM ITS PURPOSE!"
Okay, now, she's seriously scaring me!
"I have been taunted, beaten, maimed, cursed, torn from my time, and brought into this backwards world where mares and stallions alike fret over the most frivolous of things! All! Because of that! Accursed! Witch! If she will not see justice, then I will show her my wrath!"
This is not good! C'mon! Think of something!
"Hey! I mean, this time can't be all bad! Maybe she did you a favor...?"
"Favor?! SHE TOOK MY LEG FROM ME!!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the slightest of frowns on Bibidi's face.
No good! Think of something else!
"Okay, so she's done some bad things, but she's not the same mare now as she was then! Can't you see that!"
"I see nothing but a blight on all ponykind, and a fool. If you will not remove yourself, then you shall surely share her fate!"
Oh, come on!
"Isn't there anything good that came from you coming to this time?! New friends? Kindred spirits? Even just a pal!?"
Minnie Milk
"No!"
Loosestrife
"NO!"
Caps Lock
"NO!!"
Suddenly, I saw a drastically different mare before me. Gone was the dutiful warrioress barely holding herself back. Now the only thing I saw in her eyes was a murderous glare.
She snorted aggression every breath now, and she renewed her advance.
I looked to Bibidi, and saw in her a mirror to my own confusion.
Her eyes met mine.
I've known her for a day at most, and here I was, risking my life for her.
She offered me a break from my boring routine.
-SLICE!-
...and I paid for it with my life.