Return to Equestria

by David Silver

52 - Non-Compete Clauses

Gerome pulled the car off the road and parked it beside the building, the paint of the building glinting in the sun. "Wow... I knew where it was, but I never actually... visited."

Carefully making his way out of the car, he stood on his hooves and let out a little whicker as he shook himself off. "I hope they say yes."

With a bit of effort, David pulled himself away from the other side of the car and he paused to give his lower back some relief from the strain with a quiet rubbing of his knuckles.. "Hm. So, I don't know how long this will be."

"I'll wait for you in the lobby." Gerome trotted around the car swiftly. "Maybe they'll have things to look at. They made a lot of books I like."

"I don't want you to be bored." No matter the circumstance, David was still making his way to the front of the building. "You don't have to wait around."

"And make you walk, from here? That'd be mean." He matched David's purposeful stride. "You walk quickly."

"Always walk like you have somewhere to be." It had been a saying he'd kept in his mind since he was a child. "Sorry, is it too fast?"

"Please." Gerome could keep up. Being a pony had a clear advantage as it was much faster than other creatures, especially humans. "Power walk in there and tell me the good news when you're done!"

David reached for the door, but it slid open without contact being made. "Right." Automatic doors, defininately a thing. He thought about that as he walked. Most of the doors he'd run into in pony world had been very manual. That one being automatic was a symbol of power and success. "Excuse me." He went right to the reception desk, smiling at the mare there. "David Silver. They're expecting me, I hope."

The mare was busily typing away on her computer, her hooves tapping against the keys. "Hm. Hm... Here we... No... Here." She struck one last key with a smile. "They're waiting for you in 406." She raised her arm and pointed her hoof in an upward direction. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, you've been great." He fired a finger gun at her. The specifics of the gesture, lost, but his smile and attitude seemed to come across, so he went on past her towards the elevators. Elevators intended for Earth ponies were more... This ride was nothing extraordinary when compared to the other rides he had gone on in the past. Before, in the human world, he had been on the same open glass carriages that the pegasi had ridden. Architecture! It was available in a wide assortment of varieties.

It brought him smoothly to floor four and opened with a soft chime. There were a few ponies there, waiting their turn. They let David off with mildly surprised looks, then took their turn riding the elevator. "Six... Six... Six..." David chuckled to himself with memories of what so many sixes could mean. It was also just a number. "Six." There it was, 406!

He reached for the knob and twisted it, allowing him into the room. "Good day." There was a very serious pony watching him come in. There was also a frazzled pony that didn't look nearly as serious. Both were stallions. "Thanks for seeing me."

The frazzled one offered a hoof. "David, was it? Hi." He inclined his head at the serious one. "This is our lawyer."

They had lawyers?! That made sense, sorta... "Hi." He met the hoof with a fist and took a seat. The lawyer made no motion, so far. "Here it is." He put down his stack of papers with a soft thump. "But let's not get right into that or we'll get lost in the weeds."

The frazzled one rubbed behind his head. "Yeah... Been there. So, he says--" He inclined at the lawyer with his head. "That unsol--unasked for contributions can cause problems."

"Big problems," agreed the lawyer. "We would prefer to not see your submission at this time. Were our own work, past, present, or future, be found to have similarities with your work, it could cause issues."

"Sensible... But if I work for you, that stops being a problem." He pointed at himself with a thumb, turning the hand down to point at the frazzled one with a pointer finger. "So let's talk about that, if we can?"

The frazzled pony was ecstatic and clapped his hooves together in excitement. "Great! Okay. So, you... Have you worked in a team before?"

"I have." David stroked his beard. "Usually at the head, but I've worked under others too. I'm a focused writer. Give me something that needs doing and a deadline and I'm on the case."

"Great!" He waved at the lawyer. "It's alright if I see some demo work?"

"Any work you display is for demonstration purposes only. Any similarities between it and work produced here are entirely coincidental. You will not be recompensated for this. They will not credit you for any work displayed. Do you agree?" He spoke in a long, steady manner, with legal terms coming forth from him in an uninterrupted flood.

David hissed softly. "I don't have... anything to demo besides this." He tapped at the alicorn writeup. "And I don't want to give up credit rights on that just yet."

"Do you have a computer?" Frazzled inclined his head. "Do you have a phone?"

David dug out his phone. "Yes to both of those. Why?"

Frazzled produced his own. "Let's swap contacts." With a tap, that was done with a happy chime to commemorate the moment. "I'll send you a test job. Unfortunately, you will not be compensated for the task and it will not be published. But it'll see where you stand, so we know where we stand. I'm Fore Ward, two words, by the way. Nice to meet you."

David offered a hand, getting a bump from either pony. "Nice to meet you both. Um, is that it for today then?"

Fore responded with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Well! I don't know what else we can go over without the test run. We need to see how you do with an assignment. Now... I didn't want to bring this up... We respect a pony's right to be the best pony they can be, no matter what their tribe, gender, or favorite flavor of ice cream happens to be." His head flopped to the side. "But you aren't a pony."

"Sure aren't." David had seen that question as a possibility. "I'm a human, like that game, but also not quite that. A lucky coincidence, really."

"Lucky." Fore considered with a slow tapping at his chin. "Now, wild question. Way wild! You don't have any contacts with Pegasoft, do you? Didn't I see you... on an ad once?"

"Yeah." David tapped eagerly at his phone to draw up the ad to play on the table, the phone tossed out to be viewed. "I've talked with them before."

Fore sat up. "So... Just in theory here, but if we wanted to talk to them, you could be the middle-pony, right?"

"In theory?" David reclaimed his phone, not that either of the other two had been watching it too intently. "I have their marketing manager's contact."

"Wow." Fore twirled towards the lawyer. "You heard that?"

"I heard that." Flat, even. "I look forward to hearing of your performance on the test." He stood up and straightened his tie, not that it had been askew. "Have a nice day."

The lawyer left without another word, leaving David with Fore. Fore hopped to his hooves. "This has been a great meeting! Sorry we can't give something definite right now, but that could change. This isn't a no, just going down to the next floor, as it were."

"One step at a time." David reached, just to abort the motion quickly. Petting the pony he hoped would hire him? That seemed... unprofessional, really. "Looking forward to that message then. I'll get it back to you as soon as possible."

He rode the elevator down, emerging to see Gerome reading a magazine in the lobby. He strode purposefully over. "Hey."

David's arrival immediately caught Gerome's attention and he perked up. "Hi!" He hopped down to his hooves, abandoning the magazine to the couch cushion. "That was fast! Is that a good sign... or a bad sign? Wanna say now, or wait until we get some lunch?"

"Lunch sounds good." He had permission to pet that pony, so he did, ruffling Gerome's mane. "I didn't get hired, but I didn't get denied either. Work in progress."

"In progress!" Gerome led the way out to his car. "I'll drink to that. If they didn't say no, it coulda been worse." He slid into his side, ready to drive. "Let's get this parked, then we can walk where we want to go." He brought David back to the store. "Be right back." He vanished down the road at a steady puttering.

"Who's that?" Pippster was sitting in front of the store, watching where Gerome was going. "That's a friend of yours... right?"

"Yep." David crouched down closer to the colt's level. "How's it going?"

"Your new game looks neat!"

Despite Pippster's grin, David was mildly confused. "I don't have a game, yet?"

"The one you were on television for?" He pointed into the store. "That one?"

David snapped his fingers with a toss of his hand. "Right! That isn't mine. That belongs to Pegasoft. I'm just being their spokes...human." He offered his bundle of papers. "This is my game, but it isn't out yet. An imagining game."

"Oh." Pippster reached for the papers and David didn't stop him from nosing through them curiously. "I don't get the imagining game... thing... But I'm happy for you. When it's a real book, can I have one?"

"Aw..." David ruffled him on the head gently. "I'd be glad to get you one."

"No." Pippster put down the pile. "Tell me where to get it, and I'll get it."

"You don't want a free one?"

"Free's nice, but I want my friend to be happy." He beamed brightly at David. "So tell me where to get one."

David was hit by a wave of conflicting emotions, making it difficult for him to process what he was feeling. A feeling of joy, excitement and a little something else that is hard to describe. "That's so nice. Thank you. I'll do that." He reclaimed his papers. "I hope it'll be nice and pretty too. They make pretty books, so if I make one with them, it should be nice too."

"It'll be the best." Pippster went for the store, not having to go far to reach the door. "Wanna race?"

"Tempting..." He felt a buzz from his pocket. "But I should get that. It may be my potential new boss."

"Ooo! Good luck!" He dashed inside, not looking upset at being turned down.

"Thanks for understanding." Not that Pippster was there to hear it. David dug out his phone.

David,

Hi. It was a pleasure meeting you today. Although I don't believe I asked what your specialty is, that doesn't make any difference. You have to be prepared to do whatever job is necessary if you wish to work here, and unfortunately you may not have the luxury of choosing which tasks to pursue. We cannot allow ourselves to have writers who are excessively picky, as you are aware.

With that in mind, I lied. There are two assignments that you need to complete. I am looking for a detailed synopsis of a story, with the appropriate rolls for a group of four adventurers who find themselves lost and alone in the woods, miles away from any kind of safety. Secondly, I would like to observe the things that you enjoy doing and although they may be similar to my request, I still need two. Not one.

David softly hummed to himself as he read what was displayed on his phone screen. "All right, that's settled then."

Author's Note:

There, it was said. It is done. Happiness? Also interviews. How will that turn out? How'd your last interview go?

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Trouble is with legalese, is that 50 yeas later, that piece of paper with the demo on it could be worth more than the entire back catalog.

[Numinos]

Yeesh, that all looked quite sus. I hope David will be ok : )