Day Four: Change of Plans
November 6, 1983
As the clock hits 6 AM, you put the finishing touches on a set of mirrors inside the booth. The MOA was perfectly fine with modifying your station for easier use, thankfully, as long as it was out of your own pockets. At least now you wouldn't have to bend yourself over the counter to see if ponies' cutie marks matched up.
Once that was done, you got everything into position for another work day, and hit the intercom.
"Next!"
The first immigrant today is a young woman, who gets through with no problems, save for her weight not matching up, but you made sure no contraband was involved.
"Next!"
Next is an older man, who seems to be a diplomat from United Federation. Everything seemed to check out, but then you noticed something.
"You are not authorized to enter Arstotzka," you tell him. Antegria, Obristan, and Equestria are present on his diplomatic pass, but Arstotzka is, indeed, missing.
"I know nothing of this."
You deny the man and send him on his way.
"Next!"
A pony was the next entrant. Specifically, it was a unicorn mare who seemed a bit familiar. You held your tongue, though, in case you were wrong. "Papers, please."
"Of course, darling." As she gives you her documents with her magic, you know for sure you've heard her voice before, and fairly recently, too. Still, you say nothing.
"What is the purpose of your trip?"
"Business, and visiting friends."
Her permit reason only says 'Visiting', but you could probably let that slide. "Duration of stay?"
"About a week."
Once you make sure that everything she said checks out, you start working on making sure everything else was correct. "Oh, you're the human who helped me find my sister and her friends a few days ago," she finally says. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you, most humans still look alike for me."
"It was no trouble," you tell her, flipping to the 'Equestria' page of your rulebook. "I was just doing my job."
Satisfied with her papers, you stamp her visa, and hand everything back. "Cause no trouble."
"Wouldn't dream of it, darling." She leaves the booth.
"Next!"
Several immigrants enter your booth, including some ponies, and save for someone from Republia who thought that a press badge was all the papers he needed, there was little incident involved.
"Next!"
Yet another pony enters the booth. The first thing you notice is how she's literally hopping, a smile on her face. The next thing is that she is incredibly pink.
"Papers, please," you tell her, and you could swear that for a second she froze in mid-air. Grinning, she just gives you her documents.
"What is the purpose of your trip?"
As if a dam had burst, she began talking. "Well, I really wanted to see some of my friends, but I also heard that humans have some bakeries of their own, so I thought I might try them out too, and-"
"Alright, alright." You hold up a hand, silencing her. Her permit reason says 'Visiting', so that will work. "Duration of stay?"
"Well, they said it'd only take like a week, but then again, I might stay two weeks, so I can sample human bakeries some more! One week, or two weeks? One week, or-"
You cut her off before she can get started again. "Miss, which is it?"
She silently thinks for a moment, something you're all too thankful for. "What's it say on my paper thingy?"
You look. "Two weeks."
"Then two weeks it is!"
You roll your eyes, and start looking at all her other stuff.
"Say, what kind of cupcakes do humans have?" You ignore her as you check the issuing city. "I mean, humans have told me that mine are the best ever, but surely that can't be true, because then-"
You cut her off by nearly shoving her approved visa in her face, followed by her other papers. "Cause no trouble," you say between clenched teeth. She just nods in reply, and bounces out. Lord help whoever she decided to talk to next.
"Next!"
A young man walks inside the booth, looking worn out. "Papers, please."
After checking off the reason and duration for staying, he speaks. "I couldn't stand that pink horse in front of me. She just kept going on and on about parties, cupcakes, and that sort of thing."
You chuckle softly to yourself. At least you didn't suffer alone.
"If that's what those ponies are like," he continues, "then maybe we should just keep all of them out."
"I wouldn't go that far," you say. "Aside from her, the ponies that have come through here were generally not too different from the humans."
He just grunts in response as you give back his papers. As soon as he leaves, the end-of-day horn goes off, and everyone in the line starts to leave. You start packing up your things, when you hear the telltale sign of a printout from the MOA. At first, you fear that you overlooked something on that last guy, but instead, it's something else entirely.
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO TAKE PART IN AN EMPLOYEE EXCHANGE PROGRAM
REPORT TO YOUR USUAL STATION TOMORROW MORNING AT 5 AM SHARP FOR MORE DETAILS
YOUR FAMILY WILL NEED TO STAY IN ARSTOTZKA
Your curiosity was piqued. Looks like you were getting a change of venue for a bit. You're just not sure how your wife would react to this...
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This update. Yes.
Hmm...interesting. I wonder where he'll be going.
Manning the checkpoint at the Equestrian border? Interesting.
Still waiting on Changelings entering the fray in this... Should add some stress to the political side of things.
Glory to Arstotzka.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the game.
3807158 Oh, lord...not too shabby for an old game!
3807173
"Old?" It came out like last year.
3807295 Like I said, I'm unfamiliar with it....don't hate me...
Very good
Glory to Arstotzka.
Pinkie was so unpredictable I saw it coming a mile away.
EXACTLY.
Looking forward to another chapter!
Still no citation? Lucky
I cannot wait until he has an encounter with Jorgi during the exchange!
...Please... I beg you... It's just that... I... need...
MOAR!
Interesting. I hope that this border guard continues to be a model citizen of Arstotzka.
Yay, update!
This guy's gotten really good. I always find myself tripping up on issuing cities and weight being slightly off and other little things.
I wonder, though, if our hero is the kind of guy who takes pity on the deserving (i.e. collects national tokens). And who would give him Equestria's token, too...
Oh, man. If any changelings get their mind set on crossing the border covertly, things could get really complicated. If they get called out on any physical discrepancies, they can just fix their disguise right there in the booth!
Take all my yes!
3810596 Those issuing cities always get me.
Interesting. Would that mean that while he is stationed in Equestria, a pony would temporarily hold the inspector's position at the Grestin checkpoint?
As GameKnut mentioned, changelings would make things more interesting. Maybe another booth upgrade to deal with this?
If there is someone who can deal with changelings illegaly trying to cross the border, it would be an Arstotzkan border inspector.
Glory to Arstotzka.
Seriously, though, submit this to EQD. There're folks there who REALLY love this game, and this is well-written enough to earn a Feature.
3843505
But I'm unaware of the correct way to submit things to them, and I'm kinda under the impression that if it got that popular, someone else would submit it for me...
So, as always, laziness is to blame
3843519 I'm not entirely sure, but I think they'd prefer the author submitting their story; what if you have a problem with suddenly being thrust into the spotlight because someone else shoved you in there?
(Not exactly a good metaphor, I know)
As for how to submit it...
Glory to Arstotzka!
i.imgur.com/IkUcLkD.gif
Much potential here. Also, on the offchance anyone reading this hasn't seen it already:
[youtube=brp-qzD07F4]
Agh, that fucking printer sound. It gets me a bit shaky even thinking about it.