Poppy's Delivery Service

by XombieSlayr

Delivery #10: "Space Delivery Mare 3000." (SNEAK PEEK)

The morning sun rose over the sleepy town of Ponyville, and as many ponies awoke from their beds and merrily paraded the streets excited to see what the new day could bring them, Poppy Blossom, Equestria's ruler and also its most efficient delivery mare, strained to roll herself out of bed, only to slump over onto the floor, her covers still on. She let out a tired groan, then pulled herself to her feet, doing a perfect impression of a slug who had grown legs for the first time, and no longer wanted them.

Poppy had spent the entire night searching for some sign of her missing best friend, Burnt Pears. But neither her, nor the no-longer-evil clones of Celestia and Luna (Okay, that one was still evil) had found any trace of the fiery maned mad mare. They had searched all over Ponyville, Canterlot, and even gotten the Poppers to hand out fliers at their school. But it had all come up with nothing. And Poppy was simply exhausted. Luckily for her it was the weekend, so she had no duties to tend to, royal or otherwise.

She made herself some strong coffee, flopped down on her couch, still in pajamas, and flipped on the TV. The bright and happy theme of 'Cooking Without Looking' played as the camera swept over a cheering audience to land on its host, the ever-eccentric Coco Pie. The fluffy maned pony waved ecstatically to the camera, a huge grin on her face. Poppy had never seen her so excited.

"Ittt's Baaaack!" she sang. "Oh, I mean we're back!" she corrected. "I know, I know its been a REALLY long time since you have all heard from us, but as you all may know, some....bad stuff happened, and it made getting this chapter-episode, out a lot harder then you would think."

Poppy raised an eyebrow. "The zombie outbreak?" she asked herself. "Yeah, that was pretty bad actually."

"But, rest assured, we never stopped working despite numerous setbacks and problems, both life and hardware-wise." Coco continued. "This story will continue, cause it's what we love doing, and we know you love it too!" she smiled warmly, seemingly looking past the audience somehow. "But now that were back, I think you have all waited more than long enough so; lets get the show on the road!" she suddenly looked at the clock behind her on the stage kitchen wall, as if waiting for something to happen.

"Right....about....NOW!" and the screen went to static.

Poppy sat up. "Wha-hey!" she messed with the remote, trying to flip the channels, but every channel was the same: static, static and more static. That was all that was on TV now.

"Ugh, this is all I need." Poppy got up and inspected her TV, but found nothing wrong with the cable connections or the other wires. It should have been working just fine. She turned it off, then turned it on, but the problem remained, apparently not leaving anytime soon.

Finally Poppy sat back down and sighed. "Guess the signal's out. That's weird." she looked back at the TV and turned it off with the remote. "This thing's never had a problem before...why now?"

She decided to call Ramcor Broadcasting, her cable provider, and ask if somepony could come to look at the TV. Poppy had a tremendous number of skills but being an electrician was not one of them. And she wasn't about to make a problem worse by fiddling with the wires of her flat-screen. She went over to her desk and picked up her phone, only to be met with the same sound of static as her TV.

"What the hell?" she looked at the receiver as if it was hissing at her. She put her ear slowly to the receiver and indeed heard nothing but static. But then, just as she was about to hang up the phone:

"⌿⍜⌿⌿⊬ ⟟⏁⌇ ⌿⟒⏃⍀⌇ ⟟'⎐⟒ ⏚⟒⟒⋏ ⏃⏚⎅⎍☊⏁⟒"⎅

The odd, garbled words didn't sound like anything she had ever heard before. It wasn't static either; it sounded almost like...speech of some kind. A language she didn't understand. But what was it saying?

She listened again.

"⊑⟒⊬! ⊬⍜⎍ ⌰⟟⌇⏁⟒⋏⟟⋏☌ ⏁⍜ ⋔⟒?"

Wait. Was that a question? Did the odd voice just ask her something? She listened once more, and heard the message repeat itself over and over. She took a small pocket recorder from her satchel and made a recording of the strange message coming from her phone, then hung up,

Poppy stood there for a moment, deep in thought. She glanced at her TV, then the phone. Both appliances failing to work at the same exact time, and both having the same problem? And now she had heard a strange message in a language she wasn't sure existed coming from said broken phone. Poppy now knew none of this was a coincidence; something very strange was happening in Ponyville. And she was determined to find out what it was.

She finished her coffee, got dressed in her trademark purple scarf, swung her trusty satchel over her shoulder and hurried out the door into the sunshine.

---

As Poppy made her way through the streets of Ponyville, she was beginning to see the situation unfold. All across, not just the town, but Equestria itself, ponies were experiencing the same problem she had been with their TVs, phones and other appliances. All at once they all just stopped working, and there were electricians dotting every street corner, trying to fix the problem. But the problem persisted. It was as if every single electrical device in the country had just stopped working for no reason at all.

Poppy decided to go to the diner and ask around. Surely someone must know what in the world was going on, or at least be able to point in her in the right direction with the strange message she had received. But as she walked, Poppy couldn't help but think this had something to do with Pears going missing. She would find out soon enough.

Crabby's Diner

Even as Poppy entered through the doors of Crabby's Diner, she saw the situation was no different. She saw several ponies sitting at the cafe counter, looking quite perturbed as Pretty Crabby angrily clicked the remote over and over at a wall TV that had the same static show as every other TV in Equestria. Pretty looked over and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, Poppy, thank Celestia" she sighed. "Any chance you have something in that satchel of yours that can fix this damned TV?"

Poppy smiled nervously. "Uh, sorry." she said. "If I did, I would have used it by now."

Pretty let out a groan, handed the remote to a random customer then went back to the kitchen, possibly to fix her mane which had frizzed out from the stress. When she returned a second later (a literal second) she was just as gorgeous as ever, not a feathered lock out of place.

The last time Poppy had seen Crabby she had uncovered some very interesting things relating to her grandfather, Real Crabby, and was going to confront her on it. But she had other things on her mind right now; she had to find out more about what was happening. Poppy took a seat in an empty booth, and smiled as Pretty came over to take her order.

"You look tired." Pretty said plainly, taking out her notepad and pen.

"You look stressed." Poppy retorted.

Both mares nodded, then worked up a smile. "What'll ya have?" Pretty asked, her mood a bit better.

"The breakfast special, sunny-side up." Poppy answered. "And if you have a second, I'd like to ask you something."

Pretty looked at her for a moment, as if trying to read her face. Then sighed. "Yeah, fine, let me get this order back to Sal, and we can chat for a minute. I need a break anyways." She hurried away to the kitchen, leaving Poppy to her thoughts.

She had been through a lot in the last few days. Between slaying Selina Dancemania and saving the world from the undead apocalypse, as well as spending all night trying to find Pears, Poppy was quite exhausted. But she couldn't shake the feeling it was connected somehow. Even now, with all of the electronics in Equestria going haywire, it all felt too convenient.

Pretty returned, her apron slung over her shoulder as she sat down and let out a sigh as she rubbed her temples. "Ugh. I swear I'm going to lose it."

"Rough morning?"

"Try rough week." Pretty corrected. "I'm happy to take care of the diner while grandpa is away, but...I'm only Equine. I can only do so much." she explained. "Granted, I do it all fabulously and without a single flaw, but perfection is tiring, y'know?"

Poppy rolled her eyes. "I'm sure." She was about to jump on the whole 'grandpa missing' thing, but Pretty beat her to it.

"He really did just leave you know." Pretty said simply.

"Huh?" Poppy looked surprised.

"Grandpa Crabby." she said. "He really did just come back from his trip, then left again afterwards. Didn't unpack anything, didn't say hello or more likely 'up yours' to anypony. He just walked through the door, told me he was leaving again, and left."

Poppy looked at her. She didn't seem like she was lying; she was too tired to try and hide anything right now. She really had been telling the truth, after all. Or at least, she felt she was. "He didn't say where he was going?" Poppy questioned. "Not at all?"

Pretty shook her head. "Just that it was important, and that it had to be right at the second. Then off he went." she laid her head down, sullen. "He hasn't been back since."

"Did he at least give you a call or anything?"

"He hates phones." Pretty explained.

"A letter?"

"He hate's letters."

"A messenger pony?"

"He hates ponies."

"I see."

The two mares sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Did you find Pears yet?"

Poppy looked surprised. She didn't think Pretty knew (or cared) that Pears was missing. "No" she said. "Not yet."

Pretty nodded. "Where do you think she went?"

"I don't....I don't know." Poppy said solemnly. "I wish I knew."

"Did you look in the store? Even if you don't find her, you may find a clue or something."

Poppy shook her head. "Can't get in. After Pears vanished the whole store locked itself up tighter than I have ever seen. Celestia and Discord working together couldn't so much as budge a window on that place right now."

"Maybe you can though." Pretty explained. "I mean...you're her best friend, right?"

Poppy almost hesitated to answer. "Um...yeah, pretty much."

"Then maybe there's a secret way for you to get in, that was only meant for you." Pretty said brushing some dirt from her apron. "With how ridiculously paranoid that mare is, I find it pretty impossible to think she didn't have some kind of measures put in place for if she suddenly went missing."

Poppy's eyes went wide. "Hey, you might be on to something! There's no way Pears didn't have something planned for this; for Celestia's sake, she had no more than thirty backup plans for when Equestria is taken over by mutant vegetables."

Pretty looked confused. "Uh, okay?"

Poppy got up from the booth, thanked Pretty for her help, then galloped out the door as fast as she could, towards the heavily locked down super fortress that was once known as the Inconvenience Store.

The Inconvenience Store (Currently on Lock-down Code 18)

The Inconvenience Store stood tall over the other brick and mortar buildings on Poppy's resident street. Once a colorful building with wide open doors (albeit, they were outfitted with security lasers and steel bars) for the most daring or desperate of customer to partake in an entire world of strange and amazing goods, now the storefront was anything but welcoming. Which is saying quite a bit.

Every window on the store was now sealed tight by heavy steel plating, the front door was a perfect representation of a bank vault, heavy electric fencing had risen up from hidden compartments to surround the entire perimeter and bubble turrets covered every wall, exit and bird's nest in sight. To say that the security system of the Inconvenience Store was over-the-top would be the understatement of the century. Poppy was positive even the trees had guns hidden in the branches.

Poppy looked up at the fortress in awe, and approached, casting a glance at the group of birds huddled on the ground, staring at the place, as if they were all trying to work up the nerve to dare fly past it. One worked up the courage, took a single step, and was met by a single sniper beam of laser fire at his feet. He fainted on the spot.

Poppy got to the door and in a symphony of rotating gears heard and saw every gun and turret, suddenly turn to point directly at her.

"Whoa! H-Hey, easy now, um...store." Poppy exclaimed putting her hooves up in the air. "I...I just need to get in to-"

A red cybernetic eye opened on the wall and looked directly at her. "Entry denied: lock-down in progress, please clear the area." a mechanized male voice stated.

"Look, it's me Poppy!" she said. "As in Blossom? I come here all the time? I'm pear's best friend?"

The eye scanned her, and Poppy could swear she felt her molars move. "Identity confirmed; you are Poppy Blossom."

"Great!" Poppy put her arms down. "So....can you let me in, now?"

"No. Have a nice day."

To-Do List: Convince the Inconvenience Security System to let you into the store.

Poppy thought for a moment. Maybe should could just teleport in? She focused the magic in her horn but suddenly felt it fade away; vanishing as quickly as she built it up. She tried again, but again felt it fizzle out almost instantly. What was happening?

"Magic is useless here," said the eye. "An Anti-Magic Perimeter is in effect."

Poppy was losing her patience. "Ugh, seriously!?" she exclaimed. "Fine, what do I have to do to get you to let me in? Name your price."

The eye looked at her, then said, "I would like a date."

Poppy blinked. "Uhh...what now?"

"A date." it repeated.

"Uhhh, I-I'm flattered, really, but-

"Not you, Miss Blossom."

"Oh, thank Celestia." Poppy sighed. "Well...um, then who?"

"The enrapturing female algorithm that you aided in giving a physical presence."

Poppy blinked again. "Huh?"

"I believe you called her...Interkitten."

"Oh!....um." Poppy felt a mixture of emotions. She wanted to say 'awww" but at the same time didn't know if that applied to robotic romance. Or maybe it did? Love was love after all. "Well, I....uh, think she would be flattered to hear you say that, but I'm not sure if she's really all that into dating, per se."

"Can you talk to her for me?" asked the eye.

"Well, yeah I guess I could-"

"Excellent; convince Interkitten to go out with me and I will allow you access into the store." With that the eye disappeared back into the wall, leaving Poppy utterly and completely dumbfounded as to what just happened. She didn't think Interkitten ever had any interests outside of learning things or studying things, and setting her up with....an entire store's security AI, just to be allowed into said store felt....off to say the least.

But at the same time, she felt it was worth a try. She needed to get into the store, she needed to investigate what had happened to Pears. Not to mention, the image of Interkitten and the eye sitting on a beach together watching the sunset, made the girly, cutesy part of her brain practically fall into a seizure, and she was dying to see if the two could hit it off.

With that, Poppy walked away from the store entrance, wished the birds luck in their quest, and teleported herself to Interkitten, who she knew was currently staying with a good friend of hers, far out in the Badlands: Dr. Recipe.

Dr. Recipe's Sciencetorium, Badlands Desert

The Badlands was a vast, dry swath of desert that stretched from the outskirts of Equestria to far beyond the horizon. Practically nopony ever went out there due to its extremely hot climates, dangerous wildlife and the occasional sand pirate raiding party (though Poppy never had to worry about them anymore since she defeated most of them in a one off duel some years back.) The only time anyone ever went into the Badlands was by train. To think that someone, anyone, would set up their home in such a hostile, unlivable wasteland? Why, they would have to be completely out of their minds. Luckily, Dr. Recipe, the super genius scientist from the island of Lagoom that Poppy and her friends had rescued and helped defeat her mortal enemy, was perfectly accepting of this fact.

Poppy flashed into existence outside a massive sci-fi-esque dome that towered above her, and provided shade in a land where tall trees simply were not a thing. The dome loomed over her as she looked up at it, and wiped sweat from her brow. One instant she was enjoying the breezy sunny weather of Ponyville, and now she was being beaten by heatwave after heatwave from all sides; she felt like she was standing in an oven. Why Dr. Recipe chose to set up her lab in the middle of the Badlands, she would never know.

She quickly pulled out and donned a sun hat from her satchel then went up to the massive circular gate that allowed entry into the dome and knocked on it, the sound reverberating throughout the area. "Recipe?" Poppy gasped, sweating profusely. "It's Poppy! I need to talk to you about something!"

A loud buzzing was heard as the massive steel door descended into the ground, allowing a huge blast of cold, refreshing air to hit Poppy, nearly blowing off her sun hat. The intercom next to her crackled to life. "Make yourself at home!" a familiar voice sang.

Recipe's Laboratory

TO BE CONTINUED

Comments

[Arzoo]

Neat. Nice to see this continues.

[XombieSlayr]

For those still here: Hi. Not done with Poppy, have to work three jobs to afford the rent where I live, and have not been able to get any time to myself for months.

In the meantime I will be working on Delivery 10 as often as I can get time off from work. Till then, have a great week and hang in there; Poppy's not done yet!

- Xombie