The Mandate

by Mod On Death

Burn, Baby Burn!

Mr. Thes stood in his room, Lyra tied up in a chair. The knot wasn't tied well, but she knew that anything she tried would result in the minotaur bringing the pain.

"Now, do you have the money?" he finally asked.

"I'm working on it, alright? I left Ponyville so I could actually find a job where I'd earn enough to pay you back," she explained. "Now, if you'd just let me-"

"Look, I need you to somehow get me ten thousand bits right now, okay? I don't care how you do it, the boss needs the money and you have it, and that's what I do. Now you do your thing. Wait...I think I messed that up. Anyway, money." The minotaur felt like he was forgetting something and then remembered to ask. "Actually, there is another way you can help pay off the debt. You know a pony named 'Mr. Bates'?"

"Mr. Bates?" Before Lyra could say anymore, the door to the hotel room blew open, a group of long-haired ponies pouring in.

"Save the lady!" one of the guys said as he grabbed Mr. Thes' right leg. The minotaur just stood there as the ponies started grappling onto his body, trying to figure out the proper response to this. He finally decided to move however when he saw that Lyra had galloped out of the room.

"Stop!" he yelled, chasing her while covered in hippies. More and more of them poured in through his door, grabbing onto him until he could move anymore. "I wonder if anypony will believe me when I tell them what just happened."

"Blue chick! Follow me!" a hippie called out, leading the captured mare to safety. She was led outside to the exit of the place they were staying at, a familiar face standing there waiting for her.

"Mr. Bates?" she asked, surprised that the hippies were working with him.

"It's a long story," he told her as they rushed out of the building, looking for a safe place to hide. "But let's just say that those hippies are some pretty awesome ponies."

"Hey, Mr. Bates, do you know that big guy?" Lyra asked.

"Never saw him before I came across you. Why?"

"Well, he told me that if I told him where I could find you that he'd clear my debt. I didn't tell him anything though." Bates was horrified when he'd heard this. It looked like he was now a target of a possibly murderous crime lord.

"Thanks for that. You know anyplace we can lay low?" he asked.

"I know that the place we were staying at has an emergency safe room for situations like this. We can use that." Bates stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard this.

"Wait, so why didn't you stay there before?"

"It smells," she explained. Deciding that this wasn't something to bother arguing about, they went back to the hotel again, hoping that the minotaur wouldn't bother to check the place again.

---

Bloomheart was having a pretty good day on her shift. She'd managed to help a patient in critical condition stabilize and also found a bit in the vending machine. Those two things had never happened both on the same day before, so she took it as an omen of good things to come. It was during her lunch break that she really appreciated how well things were going for her. And then she remembered her husband was in jail.

"Bloomy! How's it going?" Cathy asked, sitting next to her.

"It's...going as well as things can for for now," she told her. "Definitely could be better."

"Husband still locked up?" Tina asked.

"Yeah. Just wish that Bates would call and sort things out already. I know he's on vacation, but he should at least check in on his dog."

"My guess is that he thinks you guys are doing fine on your own and don't need to be bothered," Tina suggested. "Wish he bothered giving you guys some contact information."

"Same. Can't change that now though. Just hope I can get through this time. Sound's spending her time at the restaurant since her comic place doesn't need her just yet. They're still writing their stories apparently."

"Is Sound doing fine on her own?" Cathy asked.

"Surprisingly, yeah! I worried that she was going to end up destroying the place and burning down Equestria. Turns out she can run that place on her own."

"Well, if she can do that on her own, I think I know something the three of us can do to cheer you up." Cathy smiled before announcing, "MALL TIME!"

"Wait, three?" Tina never hung out with Cathy ever, so this was a surprise. "I dunno about-"

"Oh come on, Tina. I never get to have time outside of work with you." Cathy gave her a sympathetic look that Tina was annoyed by.

"Fine. I'll join." She was excited to finally get her other coworker to go out with her.

"So, Bloomheart, where would you like to go first?"

"Honestly, I have no idea if I'd like to go out. I think Sound might need help when I get home, so I think I'll pass." Bloomheart's attempt to not deal with her coworkers outside of work again didn't look like it would work. Tina, the senior nurse there, gave her a look that said 'you will join or I'll make you work in blood drives'. "Well, I guess I could try to make it. I think Sound can do well."

---

Sound was dealing with a rush that evening, both a soccer team coming in from a victory (along with their competitor) and a clown posse deciding to eat there.

"I want extra cheese!" one kid kept screaming. Several of them were kicking their ball around and almost kicked it right into Sound's face.

"Calm down! And stop kicking that ball around!" she yelled. Looking up at the clock, Sound wondered where her mother was. "She was supposed to be off her shift an hour ago. What's taking so long?"

"Excuse me, mam, but where is my pizza?" one clown asked.

"It's being cooked. Should be about half an hour. she explained. Sound opened an oven and turned around to grab one of the pizzas, not noticing the soccer ball landing in the oven.

"Is that my pizza?" the clown asked her.

"Yes. Patience," she said, too busy to notice the ball kicked on there. "Now, who's next?"

"Mememe!" two foals with jerseys yelled, fighting over their chance to place their order.

"Calm down fellas! I'll be able to get them made faster if you cooperate."

"I was pizza with pepperoni!" the one on the left yelled.

"I want anchovies!" the other yelled, grossing Sound out.

"Hate those things," she said as she went back into the kitchen to prepare them. Going back into the freezer she grabbed a can and opened it up, grossed out by their smell.

"Where's our ball?" one kid asked. "I don't wanna lose it. I just pumped it and everything!"

"Heh. Serves you right," Sound said under her breath, hoping that ball wouldn't cause her anymore trouble. "Now, onto the peppero-"

"BANG!" went the oven that Sound just put a pizza into. Checking out the noise, Sound noticed that the pilot light was apparently broken. She opened it up and saw the remains of the ball on the pizza.

"Soccer! I hate you!" she yelled out. "Now I have to fix the light and reignite the thing." She tried to do this, but noticed several of the other pizzas were ready. She decided to deal with it after she'd served the other customers, taking a good forty minutes before she could get to it.

"Now, let's fix this thing." With the supplies in hoof, Sound began the repair. She replaced the light and lit a match to reignite the oven. Unfortunately, Sound had forgotten to turn off the gas during that time and left the oven door open, flooding the place with gas. When she lit the match, everything went downhill.