Do Ponies on Earth have Magic Dreams?

by TikiBat

Chapter 22: Salvaging the Future

Silver let out a few frustrated curses as he struggled to dial the number Tinker had given him. Currently, his phone was laying out on an old stump, and his awkward attempts to try and tap out the numbers with his hoof had gotten him nowhere. With another frustrated grunt, he flared his wings open and hissed at the phone, before quickly looking back toward the cabin and praying to whatever higher power existed out there that Scarlet hadn’t seen his unintentionally aggressive display.

Flexing his wings a few times, an idea struck him… an idea that might just be dumb enough to work. With careful precision, he flexed out his right wing and slowly held the thumb of it over the phone, giving the screen a light tap.

Beep

It chimed back, making his ears perk up in excitement.

Beep beep boop

Came the next few tones

Beep boop bop beep

A proud smile was plastered across his face as he hit call and began to hear the phone ring on the other end of the line, a nervous, almost excited feeling welling up inside of him. That and the gentle sounds of nature were the only things that he could hear, except for his steady heartbeat that seemed to loudly pound like a drum in his chest.

“Thank you for calling Valley Scrap and Salvage; this is Duncan speaking,” came the other voice on the line, elevating that nervous feeling tenfold.

Silver anxiously cleared his throat and spoke in the most confident tone that he could muster, “H—hi! I’m calling about the job you wanted to fill.”

He facehoofed at how weak the opening was, and the little voice in his head was already shouting, you blew it. To his relief, though, Duncan hadn’t hung up yet, and almost seemed to shift into a relieved tone.

“May I ask who’s calling?”

“Silver Eclipse,” he responded, “I’m a night pony up in the mountains, but it’s a swift flight down, and one of my friends gave me your card and said you were looking for someone to fill a night job.”

The human paused for a moment but didn’t hang up, “The night security job? You’re the first to call about it.”

“I am?!” He excitedly replied, “I mean, I am?”

“Uh-huh. So you’re a night pony, huh?”

“Yeah…” Silver hesitantly began, “Is that a problem?”

“Nah, just means I won’t have to worry ‘bout you sleeping on the job. Have you had any security experience in the past?”

“I worked security in a strip mall for like six months back in college,” he shrugged.

“I see… well, at least you know what to expect. I’ll tell you what, I’m kind of in a tight spot and needed someone to watch the place at night. Why don’t you stop by sometime tomorrow, say like five, and I’ll give you the rundown of what you’ll be doing.”

“So, I have the job?” He perked up.

“It’s not a hard yes or no yet, but you’re the only one in the running right now, so we can talk about this more tomorrow.”

Silver almost didn’t know what to say. He was feeling excited but also anxious, but more than anything, he felt a sense of relief, relief that he wouldn’t need to worry about Scarlet’s next appointment, and excitement that he could maybe start making her something that she’d love.

“That sounds wonderful! Should I just stop by the office tomorrow, then? And do I need to bring anything along?”

“Yeah, so just come by the office at five, and I’ll get you caught up to speed. You don’t need to bring anything, maybe some headphones if you’re still able to use that kind of thing. Your job is going to just be keeping an eye on things overnight and just making sure that no one tries to hop the fence and make off with anything.”

Silver raised an eyebrow, trying his best to get a good read on the situation to make sure it wasn’t too good to be true, “You’ve had problems with that?”

“Not a whole lot, but enough that I want someone to keep an eye on things overnight. It’s mainly been a few cases of someone smashing a window or making off with some old piece of scrap, but that’s still an issue to me.”

“Gotcha, keeping an eye on things and scaring off any would-be trouble makers. I think I’m all set, and I can’t wait to see you tomorrow!”

“Ditto. I’ll see you tomorrow Mr. Eclipse.”

Silver smirked, “Oh, go ahead and call me Silver. Mr. Eclipse sounds way too formal.”

“Gotcha Silver, have a nice night, looking forward to having you onboard.”

“Me too, Duncan! Thank you again for the opportunity; it means a ton!”

The human let out a small laugh, “Hey, thank you for giving me a call; it’s been a nightmare finding someone for this, so you’re doing me a favor.”

“Have a great night!”

“You too,” he finished, going silent and leaving Silver with this euphoric feeling that made him want to jump up in the air and fly until he couldn’t fly anymore. He hadn’t shared any of this plan with Scarlet yet, and a small part of him cried out in sadness at the thought of not being able to spend every part of his night with her, but it was all going to be worth it. He’d have his peace of mind that they wouldn’t have to stress over costs as much, he’d be able to get her a new telescope eventually, and they’d even hopefully have some stable funds saved up for any future endeavors the pair decided to go on.

His thoughts turned back to the pony he loved and the future he dreamed of with her. While he hadn’t known her for long, as night ponies, the two spent more time together than most couples would, which made the short time fly by and feel far longer than it actually was. He loved her with every ounce of his being, and there wasn’t anypony else that he could imagine spending the rest of his life with, or anypony else he’d even want to consider spending his future with.

That’s why he would go out and do the best job that he could do, even if it wasn’t the most exciting job out there.

You’ve got this Silver, just gotta relax and think of the future… you can do this, he mentally hyped himself up.

The stallion picked up his phone as best as he could with his wing and clumsily tossed it over to the bed as he trotted through the door, “Okay, I think I’m set!” He excitedly announced.

Scarlet looked out from the small restroom and raised an eyebrow as she used her wings to pull a towel across her wet mane, “Set for what?”

“I think I have this job locked in!”

She paused her grooming and stepped out, throwing the towel around her neck, “Job?”

He nodded, “I picked up a job just now! At a salvage yard back in the valley.”

She glanced around the small cabin and shook her head, “Hang on a sec, Silvie, what’s going on now?”

Silver pulled over the notebook he had sloppily scrawled some notes down on and gestured toward it and the owner’s card with a hoof, “These are the medical expenses we had to make, and the amount we have left in cash. I had this realization that we have to make a follow-up appointment, and we’re going to need cash for that.”

“So you’re going to work in some strange place in the valley with some strange person you’ve just randomly called on the phone?”

“It’s not a strange place; it’s a salvage yard,” he corrected, “trust me, it’s better than it sounds, and it gives us at least some income.”

“It’s a scrapyard in the shady part of that town. I’m not saying that getting a job is a bad idea or anything… just… well, can’t it be closer? Or something better?”

Silver looked around the small, cozy cabin and shook his head, “It sounds like this is better. You know how strapped the job market is, especially for ponies, right?”

Scarlet began to protest but quickly silenced herself, “I… yes,” she sighed, “especially for night ponies. I just want you to be safe, is all. I don’t need you getting hurt or crushed by that car crusher machine…”

“Don’t worry, Scarlet; this is real life, not some tacky story. The place I’m interviewing at doesn’t even have one of those.”

“Okay, then I don’t need you scraping yourself on some rusty fence, or stepping on a rusty nail or something. You think a sprained hoof is bad? I don’t think dealing with an infection is going to be a trot in the park.”

Silver noticed her worried expression and pulled her into a tight embrace, narrowing his gaze until she was the only thing in the whole world, “Hey, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to make sure that we can support ourselves for however long that is. Getting this job is just a start; it’s not the end, and I don’t want it to be the end.”

“So, what’s your endgame with it?”

He shrugged, “Get some money set aside for emergencies, and then maybe get some more set aside to treat you to stuff.”

She laughed, “I get the emergencies part, but you don’t need to treat me to anything.”

“Sure I do; I’m still going to get you a new telescope one of these days, whether you like it or not.”

She gestured around the small cabin and then pointed to Silver, “I’ve got everything I want in the whole wide world right here.”

“Everything?” He skeptically asked, “Well, I’m still going to treat you to some nice things. At least a nice dinner every once in a while, or some specially imported fruits, maybe?”

Scarlet’s mouth began to water as she remembered the fruit plate that Silver had painstakingly put together for her, “Okay, I’ll let that slide,” she looked back up at him, “I just want you to be safe though, okay? Don’t go playing around things you’re not sure of; we don’t need to add more medical expenses to that list.”

He gave her a tight hug in the dim light, “Thanks for looking out for me; I appreciate it.”

She leaned into the embrace and smiled, “That’s what friends are for.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably be stuck in some boring old town on your own?” She offered, eliciting a laugh from the stallion.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s true,” he began to frown, “Just realized too, this means less late-night stars walks and cuddles under the stars.”

“You really like those that much?”

“Yeah?” He laughed, “Is that even a question?”

“Fair enough. Guess that’s the price of getting that job then, eh?”

“You could always come along and hang out on my breaks if you really wanted to,” he offered.

“And then sit around for the rest of the night alone? Might as well get my own job too at that point.”

“That’s honestly not a bad idea if you think about it.”

Scarlet glanced out the window and up at the night sky above, “You think so?”

“Well yeah,” he followed her gaze, “I mean, I know we’ve been talking a bit about our future lately; it wouldn’t hurt to have a little extra stashed away for that kind of thing.”

She laughed, “You’re probably right,” She looked back at him, “You’re telling me you don’t think we could start a family just on hopes and dreams someday?”

He shrugged, “We’ve got the hopes and dreams part down; it’s just making sure we can cover anything else that those won’t cover.”

She smirked and shook her head, “You go in tomorrow for your first shift, right?”

“Uh-huh,” he nodded his head, “Why?”

“Maybe I’ll take a look around town. See what’s out there and who’s hiring.”

Silver paused, “You don’t have to jump right into it if you don’t want to; it’s just an idea for the future.”

“Yeah… but I’m not the stay at home and do housework in a tiny little cabin kind of pony. If I’m not spending time here with you, then I might as well go spend my nights doing something productive.”

“You could spend time with Sine if you wanted to,” he smirked.

“I get the I can only handle small bursts of interaction with this pony kind of vibes with Sine. Trust me; I don’t think we need to spend all of our time together while you’re at work.”

“Fair enough, fair enough,” he shrugged, “I absolutely feel you there.”

Scarlet nodded and gestured toward the door, “Now how about some late-night stargazing and maybe even some cuddles later?”

Silver raised an eyebrow, “What kind of cuddles are we talking?”

“What kind do you think?”

“The lovey-dovey see where the night takes us kind of cuddles?” He questioned.

“Mhmm,” she replied, “So let’s get going; this is probably the last night we can hang out and do this sort of thing for a while. Better not waste it,” she teased him with a flick of her tail.

“Oh, believe me, I won’t,” he retorted as he started to trot toward the door with her, “So where to? Our clearing, the creek… maybe that spooky cave we found a while ago?”

“You wanna go cuddle in a spooky cave?”

“Maybe?” He shrugged with a goofy smile on his face, “Something about it just seemed so… cozy, you know?”

Scarlet shook her head and laughed to herself, “You’re such a dork.”

“Hey, I’m your dork.”

She nuzzled up next to him, “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Art by: https://twitter.com/FanDrawsArt

Comments

[The Marvel Horse]

Ha! I really enjoyed the bat-erisms. Bat antics? Bantics? Bat pony behaviour stuff. And that was a good portrayal of how phone calls for jobs go. Wrapped up with some cute and it was a nice little chapter. Maybe Silver should invest in some work boots though, tetanus is no laughing matter.

[TikiBat]

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I intend to delve into it a little more as the story goes along. Not including more right away was ultimately a decision that I deliberated on time and time again, and in the end we (being me and at least four or five others) determined that including that and not having it really play any more of a role in the story as it does as it is right now ultimately hurt the story's pacing. I could have gone further into detail but ultimately him clashing with his parents only served to kickstart him deciding to go off and do his own thing, and adding more of that just dragged the opening on longer than it needed to be. Glad to see you're enjoying it so far, and your feedback really means a lot to me and actually helps a ton too!

[Stinium_Ruide]

I like how the job application went. Relatable and genuine. The cost-benefit decision making framework came in naturally and smoothly in this chapter. This is a piece far better executed than the first few, splendid work!