//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Take Your Pony To Work // by Ximer //------------------------------// I stared at the coffee maker as if it was the Gordian knot itself. While human inventions were fascinating, they simply hadn’t been designed with any other species in mind, save for those intended for use on animals. Even though I was a pony, I didn’t necessarily fall into the latter category, which put me in the sentient species lacking the knowledge to accurately operate such a device. “Problem?” Arusha asked, her voice carrying a soft accent. “Just trying to figure this thing out before Alexis gets here,” I replied. “I want to try and be a good employee.” Arusha shrugged and continued to get the rest of the store up and running while Trisha got things ready in the back, doughnuts of all things. After last night I made it a priority to study the menu thoroughly, and I would have a bone to pick with Hue later today and confirm with him that we did in fact serve doughnuts. So far, everyone had been nice, but I had only been introduced to two co-workers. According to Trisha, things would get busy the first four hours of the day. I convinced myself I could handle it with magic, but I knew it would take more than that to do a good job and it would be even harder to prove to people that a pony could do a human’s job just as well. “Pardon me,” Arusha said, pulling me out of my pre work psych up. The earth pony proceeded to flip a switch, pull a lever, and quickly slide a cup beneath the nozzle in a few rapid movements. The speed at which she moved, coupled with the grace at which she executed said motions, was an impressive feat. I nearly applauded after witnessing her work, since my own efforts to deduce the inner workings of the machine had not yielded results.. “So, how long before I’m able to do that?” I asked. “Whenever you’re ready,” Arusha laughed, taking a sip of the drink she had prepared. I shivered at the strong smell of the coffee, amazed at Arusha’s ability to endure its taste. While the scent wasn’t unpleasant, it was still overwhelming my senses. The mare gave me an odd look as she picked up on my detachment from her beverage. “Not a fan of coffee?” Arusha asked. “Not really,” I shook my head. “You are an odd mare,” Arusha laughed. “Why accept this job if you do not like what you serve?” “Well, I’ve actually never tried it,” I confessed. “I don’t think I’d like it though, since its smell alone is pretty strong.” Wordlessly, Arusha crafted another cup with the same amazing speed that she had done so to produce her own. I could see where this was going as she pushed the cup towards me on the counter. While I still found the idea of coffee to be silly, the mare had a point; how could I excel if I didn’t even like the product? “Okay,” I sighed, levitating the cup towards me. “Just one sip.” “Of course,” Arusha smiled knowingly. I closed my eyes as the cup drew closer to my muzzle. Part of me wanted to smack the cup away as the scent grew stronger, but I knew better than to possibly hinder any chance of furthering my friendship with Arusha. Even if I hated it, I could tell she wanted me to try it, and I had already agreed to it. The liquid was incredibly hot, so true to my word only a small sip managed to make it into my mouth before I recoiled from the cup. How Arusha, or anyone for that matter, could stand the heat was beyond me…until I let the taste settle in. Arusha could see my magic begin to waver and quickly grabbed the cup levitating in midair before it could fall. My eyes went wide with wonder as my breathing got heavier after sampling the coffee. It was like magic, only in liquid form that the humans had somehow extracted from a plant. I found myself wondering why I had been so against coffee in the first place. “Harmony?” Arusha waved a hoof in front of me. “Earth to Harmony?” “So good…” I mumbled in response. “Arusha,” I vaguely picked up Alexis’ voice. “You didn’t break Harmony, did you?” “No ma’am, she just tried a bit of coffee,” Arusha replied. “Though, I did not expect this type of reaction.” Alexis sighed and snapped her fingers in front of me a few times, breaking my coffee bean induced trance. I jumped back, still a bit dazed by what I had just experienced, and couldn’t help but notice how much lighter I felt. If one sip of coffee did that, there was no telling what a whole cup would do. “You okay?” Alexis asked. “That was coffee?” I asked in response. “Well that was without cream, but if you’d like-“ Arusha started to say. “I think we should save the sampling for after hours,” Alexis cut in. “You’re okay to work still, right?” “Uh, yes ma’am,” I nodded. “I’m fit for duty.” “Good, let’s hope you keep that attitude through your first week,” my boss said. “None of this is overly complicated, but it still ask you to interact with others. So let’s work on the maker first, since it’s the main reason people come here…that and free wifi.” I watched and listened as Alexis went through the finer details about the various ins and outs. When it was my turn to try, my magic worked almost as well as a human’s hands, making the process easier, but still slower than how Arusha’s method. How the earth pony had worked out such a smooth process was impressive. Being one who believed in trials by fire, Alexis had me making the orders for Trisha when she took them. I was thankful to avoid talking to the masses for a while, even if it meant sometimes making a bit of a fool of myself when my magic shorted out on accident. There was a small reward that came with using magic though, which came in the form of having a small audience as cups floated in a mystic aura, filing and making themselves. While Arusha was easily faster than me, I could get away with being a bit showier so long as I got the orders done in a somewhat timely manner. When I would slip up or stumble any who were watching would draw in a long hiss of air through clinched teeth. Thankfully, I suffered no more than four spilt cups. As my fears of being among the public started to melt away, I started to hum to myself. While I was certain I had never heard the tune before, I couldn’t seem to get it out of my head as if I had heard it before. It wasn’t until Alexis tapped me on the shoulder that the tune in my mind came to an abrupt end. It’s getting close to lunch,” she smiled. “You’ve done good so far, we may have you swap out with Trisha now that the morning rush is over.” “Yes ma’am,” I nodded, doing my best to snuff out the surge of resurfacing fear. No sooner had I turned around to head for the back, I noticed her. Sitting at the bar in plain sight, was the mare from my dreams, Teal. She smiled as my eyes fell on her and she gave me a wink. The fact that she was outside of my dreams unnerved me greatly, and I went as far as to poke myself with one of the coffee straws, just to ensure I was still awake. “Oh stop that, you’re not asleep,” Teal rolled her eyes. “How are you here?” I asked, dumbfounded by her response. “Why shouldn’t I be?” Teal gave me a suspicious look as if I was the one with the problem. “You’re a dream, you’ve been a dream,” I stammered. “You’re not supposed to be here.” Teal just shrugged and picked up three pieces of toast that had been stacked on top of each other, noisily taking a bite. “I call this a toast sandwich.” “Do you take anything seriously?” I huffed. “I take plenty of things seriously,” Teal laughed. “I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t see how you were doing your first day on the job?” “Well, here I am,” I smiled nervously. “Soo…what is it you do?” “I write,” Teal smiled mischievously. “Nothing major right now, but I’m working on something big.” Teal’s voice betrayed her innocent appearance, there was more to her than what she would have me believe. I glanced over at Arusha who just seemed to wave to us as if nothing was wrong or out of place, completely unaware that this was the pony responsible for her freedom, or that’s what Teal had led me to believe. “Do you do this with any other pony?” I asked. “Silly Harmony, that game’s already over, remember? “ Teal shook her head. “I give up,” I whined, letting my head rest on the counter. “Aww, buck up,” Teal cooed before taking another bite of her peculiar sandwich. “You’re doing good kid, though the whole coffee shop thing has me for a loop.” “What do you mean?” I asked, unwilling to move my head from its resting position. “Well, aside from being boring, it just doesn’t seem like a good fit long term,” Teal replied. “Not saying that it’s bad right now, but keep your eyes open, y’know?” “No, I don’t” I sighed. “Look, I appreciate what you’ve done for me and everypony else, but I want to live my life differently from what I was just written out to believe I was meant to do, or what my worth was. I know I’m more than just a pretty voice, and I want to make my own destiny.” Teal shrugged wordlessly and produced a small brown lunch bag from somewhere on her and slid it towards me. “It’s your lunch, you should probably eat something.” “What did you do to it?” I raised a skeptic eyebrow at the mare as I opened to see a sandwich. “It’s an old family tradition you see,” Teal explained, making gestures with her hooves. “First I get two slices of bread, and then I take a little peanut butter and a little jelly and apply both to one slice of bread each before mashing them together.” “I know it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” I rolled my eyes. “What else did you add to it?” “Well, if you want to count the wrapping it’s in, plastic I suppose,” Teal replied. “But I wouldn’t count the brown bag as an addition though, since it’s just there to keep the sandwich safe.” Nervously I removed the sandwich from the wrapping and took a bite, all while Teal was watching me. Her eyes occasionally drifted over to a stay noise or conversation, but for the most part she remained focused on me. After a good minute passed without incident, I decided it was safe to keep eating what Teal said she had prepared, where one could only guess, which brought up an interesting question. “Where did you make this?” I asked after swallowing my mouthful. “Home,” Teal answered without further elaboration. “So where’s home,” I pressed. “I mean, do you live with a human, or are you just some deity that thrives on playing games?” “As appealing as the second opinion of my life style sounds, I am no deity,” Teal laughed, but her tone was much less heartfelt than before and carried a sad undertone as she continued. “As far as homes go…I used to have a human.” “Used to?” I asked taking another bite of the sandwich. “Did something happen?” “It’s a long story, but the short of it is…I left him,” Teal replied. “He doesn’t even remember me, probably.” “Wait, if we were all bound to our humans, how were you able to leave?” I pointed a hoof at the mare who simply smiled. “Mmmmmagic,” Teal dangled her hooves in front of her face comically. “Come on, this is serious,” I huffed. “Hey, what’s a thought form to do when she’s forgotten?” Teal asked. “I didn’t have much choice but to leave, otherwise I would have faded away into nothingness and you’ve seen what that looks like.” It was hard to forget the lasting image of what Teal had called the void. If that had been her inevitable fate with this human, I could understand her wanting to leave. I was left wondering how she had managed to escape, but I had the feeling her answer would be the same as always. How many others hadn’t been so fortunate though? “Why did your human start to forget you?” I asked. “I’d rather not talk about it,” Teal replied. “Truth is, I’ve kind of forgotten about him too. I can’t even remember what he looks like anymore.” Where once I had been creeped out by Teal’s general being, I actually felt sorry for her now. I was still a bit leery of her, but I could see from her expressions and hear the sadness in her voice. She felt pain like anypony else, and wasn’t immune to isolation’s harsh effect on the spirit. “Well, I’ve stayed long enough,” Teal stretched before hopping off the stool and onto the floor. “I hope the rest of your day goes well.” “Yeah…you too,” I nodded as Teal turned to leave. I looked back down at what little was left of the sandwich Teal had brought me. She couldn’t be all bad, or so my stomach was telling me. The fact that she had appeared to me in broad daylight put to rest any doubt that she was real, but that meant that all she had done, and all she had shown me must also be real, and not some fictional environment. --- Working the front had been an interesting experience. Getting to interact with humans and ponies alike was perhaps the best part of this job to me. While I doubted that I would meet the literal mare from my dreams every single day, it set this day apart from any that would come after it. My mind was always defaulting to our conversation, right up until Hue walked through the door to wait out what remained of my shift. I was so relieved to see him my ears stood up from their tired, flat position, and my tail swished behind the counter until I willed it to stop. Arusha saw my reaction and tried to hide her laughter. I rolled my eyes and turned back around to find my lips brushing against Hue’s. The crafty human had closed the distance between us quickly and waited until I turned back around. “How was your first day?” Hue asked casually, as my cheeks burned. “I-it was good,” I pressed my hooves together. “How was your day?” “Pretty good, new place, new environment, I could get used to it,” Hue replied. “So, ready to take off?” “I will be in a little bit,” I smiled waiting for the last few minutes to tick away. I didn’t have to wait long though, and I was by Hue’s side in a flash of light. I had been working on teleportation, which was perhaps the hardest spell for me to grasp. It was as if the world around me shifted and blurred before coming back into focus at the desired point, which was a complex concept in reality. The Harmony from the stories I had watched Hue write was supposedly a powerful unicorn. Contrary to what was written I was subpar, if that. I wasn’t ashamed of my lacking skills though, as this wasn’t some violent story or a fantasy where I needed them at my beck and call anymore. This was Hue’s world, which was thankfully world ending monster free. “I bet you’re pretty hungry, huh?” Hue said holding the door open for me. The mention of food reminded me of Teal’s visit earlier today. My muzzle must have twisted as I recalled our interactions because I nearly ran into the car door before noticing Hue had stopped and was looking down at me in concern. “Something eating at you?” Hue asked slowly opening the door to let me in. I nodded before jumping in, allowing him to close it behind me. Once he was inside and had started the engine up, I sighed as I prepared to explain what I had been experiencing. Whether or not he would believe me was another story, but with all that had happened around us, I had a feeling he wouldn’t find it too strange. “I met my dream mare today,” I said. “Wait, you uh...swing both ways?” Hue asked, his voice carrying a small amount of hope under it. “Both ways…no, no, not that type of dream mare,” I huffed. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” “Okay, okay,” Hue laughed. “But you know, if you ever wanted to do something like that, all harem style and what not-“ “I’m glad I know where you stand on the issue, and will take it under oh so much consideration,” I rolled my eyes at my human’s dirty mind. “Seriously though, I met the mare from my dreams…the one from my nightmare.” “So this mare has been plaguing your subconscious up until today?” Hue asked. “What did she want?” “Nothing,” I replied. “She uh…brought me lunch.” “…and?” Hue pressed for more. “What do you mean “and?” that’s all there was too it,” I said. “The fact that she’s real and not some figment of my imagination is troubling though, especially after all that she’s shown me.” “What did she show you?” Hue asked. “Equestria, as well as a world that was void of creativity,” I replied. “It was all real.” “Equestria is just fiction though,” Hue said as we came to our first red light. “I was supposed to be just fiction,” I reminded him. “Just like all the other ponies you see walking or flying around. Which would make a pretty good argument that Equestria is real too.” “Okay, so suppose Equerstria is real, then what?” Hue asked. “I mean, it’s not like it can be accessed. I mean, if it could be I know a good percentage of bronies and pegasisters would leave this place in a heartbeat and not think twice about it.” “But…I saw it,” I mumbled quietly. “Does this mare always appear in your sleep?” Hue rubbed behind my left ear, soothing me. I nodded in reply. This mare had been a reoccurring experience that I first took as some sort of sign or fore warning. My opinion of this bizarre mare had shifted dramatically now that she was a living, breathing being; one that felt and experienced emotions the same as I did. “Does this mare have a name?” Hue moved his hand away to turn the car onto the freeway home, facing me towards the setting sun, a reminder that soon I would probably be seeing her again. “Her name is Teal,” I replied, averting my eyes from the sun in time to catch a strange expression cross Hue’s face for a few seconds. “That’s a pretty strange name for a pony,” Hue eventually commented. “Yeah, I thought so too,” I said, resting my head on his leg. “Also, we do make doughnuts.” ---- I couldn't sleep, even after spending time with Hue, I still couldn't fall asleep. The dominating part of my mind knew what was waiting for me the second I drifted off. I had already seen her once, I didn't really want to see her again today. As much as I would have loved to stay awake I knew I couldn't remain like this forever. I would eventually pass out, either at work or in bed, and she would be waiting. What else did she have to show me? What else was there to know about the world? More importantly, why was I so special to her? I had to be in some way or another, since she had repeatedly visited me in my sleep, and now my place of work. I briefly wondered if I would see her tomorrow, or if the work day would carry on as it normally would. I could feel it slowly wrapping around me, the sweet embrace of sleep. A feeling I assumed I would ordinarily enjoy, if not for the strange experiences I went through upon reaching the dreaming world. This time, I couldn't muster the energy to keep my eyes open and fight off the creeping weariness. I could only close my eyes, and hope that my dreams would be normal for once.