Coin-Op Girl
"I don't wanna go in another store," whined Sweetie Belle, setting her sister's mountain of clothing boxes down on the curb with a huff.
"It's just one more," pleaded Rarity.
"It takes forever, it's boring and I'm tired," countered her little sister.
"Alright, alright," she sighed, adding her parcels to Sweetie's pile. "You can just wait out here with the boxes if that's more to your liking. Oh, and look, there's a little ride if you get bored waiting for me." She pointed to a worn out coin operated ride of a big dopey looking fish with a saddle on its back.
"I'm too old for coin op rides,'' pouted Sweetie.
"Oh, of course you are," laughed Rarity patronizingly. "I'll just put these bits right here in case some other younger foal wishes to enjoy a ride." She floated the two coins down atop the ride's control box before disappearing with a smirk through the boutique doors.
Sweetie looked over the weird ride and sighed indignantly. She sat down on the bench next to it and crossed her forelegs.
"Hate clothes shopping," she muttered to herself. The only reason she ever came along to help Rarity on these outings was the promise of ice cream afterwards but today was a particularly long trip and Sweetie was starting to question if it was worth it. They didn't usually make it this far down the strip. By the look of it, no one else did either. The street was positively empty and the three closest buildings appeared to be vacant as well. She could see an 'out of business' sign in the window right across the street. There wasn't even anything interesting to look at while she waited.
Sweetie Belle sighed and glanced back at the bits. She could take them, go down the street and get candy somewhere instead of using them on the machine but then she'd have to abandon all the clothes and the thought made her nervous. So she slouched on the bench and waited. The trill of a distant cicada rose as the only audible sound.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she gave the fish ride a serious second look but it felt like an eternity and she had seen absolutely no one walk by and nothing happen.
"Fine," she grumbled, scooting off of the bench. Sweetie looked the fish in the face, fixating on its wide toothy grin. She rolled her eyes in embarrassment. Why did it have to look so dumb? She looked up and down the street, noting that it was still very abandoned. She didn't know why she'd be in this part of town but If Diamond Tiara ever caught her doing this, she'd never live it down. Sweetie climbed up the side of the fish using the little carveout steps and nestled into the well worn saddle. It just occurred to her, why would a fish have a saddle? Much of the brown and tan paint had been rubbed off, leaving scratched naked metal beneath her rump. She levitated one of the idle bits into the coin slot with her magic and let it drop, eliciting a gratifying mini mechanical cacophony inside. The fish lurched into motion, rising and falling in a circle while the machinery hummed and a jaunty little calliope tune struck up.
Sweetie Belle smiled in spite of herself and braced her forehooves on the back of the fish's head as she rode triumphantly into fish battle… or some sort of fish race? Suddenly something went wrong. Her smile faltered as the fish came to an abrupt stop with a loud clunk and its whole chassis began to vibrate beneath her. The music continued but the ride struggled, unable to reciprocate any longer. It was clearly a malfunction. Whatever disappointment Sweetie might have felt, evaporated immediately as the vibrations began tickling her inner thighs, causing her to giggle and squirm. Her legs began to lose feeling as the strange sensation migrated higher and concentrated between her hind legs.
Sweetie stopped giggling. She'd never felt anything like this before but it was nice. She shifted on the saddle, trying to adjust her straddle to get more of the feeling. Her efforts were rewarded as she leaned forward and the pleasant tickle intensified greatly. She swallowed and began to pant as her hips gyrated instinctively, grinding against the saddle. Something incredible was happening and she couldn't describe it. It was like her whole body was filling up with this feeling and it just kept growing and she wanted more of it. Suddenly the fish stopped shaking and the music went silent. The ride was over.
The feeling between the filly's legs began to fade, much to her disappointed frustration but then she remembered the second bit. Quickly she floated the coin into the slot and once again the music began to play and the ride began to vibrate. It wasn't long before the tingle returned and started to build even greater. Surely it couldn't just keep growing like it was but she hoped that it would. Though she was about on the cusp of losing control. It felt like something inside her was about to overflow.
Suddenly she clenched her eyes shut and went rigid as a lightning bolt of pleasure surged through her body. In that moment, she was shaking, unable to stop herself. When it finally let her go, she stayed on her stomach, her legs draped limply over the sides of the fish.
"Wha… Whoa," she panted with one eye open. The continued vibration between her legs was still nice but it was different now, not building toward some big release like a crumbling dam in a flash flood. The ride ended once more and she continued to lay there incredibly relaxed as if floating on a cloud. She'd never felt so physically content and at peace in her life. It was like shedding a weight that she didn't even know she was carrying. She became aware of the droning cicada once more and then the squeak of the boutique doors finally opening again.
"Looks like somepony had a fun ride," chimed Rarity, adding a small mountain of parcels to the pile. "Ready for ice cream?"
"Where even are we?" asked Scootaloo, warily scanning the empty town around her.
"Look, it's right there," called Sweetie Belle, excitedly as she pranced ahead of the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"I guess this is like the only thing out in this part of Ponyville," laughed Scootaloo.
"Yeah, a ride and a dress shop," added Sweetie. "Hopefully it's still broken. C'mon, c'mon," she prodded.
Apple Bloom stopped to look at the fish's face. "Look's fun but not amazin' like ya said it was. It's not like it's a rollercoaster er somethin'."
"You don't get it. You have to ride it to understand. Come on, try it."
Scootaloo shrugged and sat her saddlebag on the sidewalk before climbing up into the saddle. Sweetie dropped a coin in the slot and the music began while the machine buzzed inertly.
"Wooooooaaaah," laughed Scootaloo in a choppy voice. "That feels weird."
"Lean forward until you're almost laying on your barrel," suggested Sweetie.
Scootaloo shifted forward on her hips. The other two fillies watched intently as her eyes bugged out from the aptly applied stimulation.
"See?" said Sweetie Belle. "That's pretty fun, right?"
"Ya- yeah," she grunted shakily. She shivered, trying to adjust to the overwhelming sensation suddenly flowing into her.
Apple Bloom watched curiously as she let out a soft moan that was lost in the canned calliope notes. Scootaloo closed her eyes but kept her mouth open in a strained expression, almost like she was about to sneeze. She parted her legs more, allowing gravity to help her sink into closer contact with the back of the fish.
Scootaloo pressed herself down, embracing the ride tightly with all of her limbs as her body tensed up. She grunted with her tongue hanging out as her back shuddered and then finally relaxed, melting into the fish as it finished its run and went silent.
"See, it's really good, huh?" boasted Sweetie Belle excitedly.
"It actually is like a rollercoaster but you don't even move," she replied between gasps for air.
"Ya made a real weird face," said Apple Bloom.
"What? No I didn't," Scootaloo argued indignantly.
"Now you do it, Apple Bloom," interrupted Sweetie.
"Okay." Apple Bloom climbed into the saddle and immediately slipped forward , almost hitting her chin on the fish head. "Saddle's kinda slippery," she grunted, pushing herself up.
"Wasn't slippery when I used it," shrugged Scootaloo.
"Remember to lean forward," reminded Sweetie Belle before plunking a coin in the slot.
The machine sprang to life and the other two stood back. Just then, the boutique door swung open and out stepped Fluttershy with a small box bundled in her wings.
"Oh, hi, girls," she chimed.
"Hi, Fluttershy," they greeted in unison excluding Apple Bloom who was thoroughly distracted.
"What are you all doing out here? You weren't shopping for clothes, were you?" she chuckled facetiously.
"No, we just came here to ride this ride," answered Scootaloo, tapping the side of the vibrating fish with one hoof.
Fluttershy screwed up her face as she looked over the machine and the dazed, drooling filly sitting atop it. "Hmm… It 's not really moving. It looks broken."
"It is broken," replied Sweetie Belle "but it's still fun! In fact it's even more fun broken."
"Oh, well that's nice," smiled Fluttershy. "When life gives you lemons… Speaking of lemons, I need some apples today. Is your sister still selling in town right now?" She waited, watching Apple Bloom stare vacantly into the distance. She cocked her head curiously. "Um… Apple Bloom?"
"Y-yeah," the filly grunted absently.
"Is Applejack still selling at the market?"
Apple Bloom trembled as she shifted in the saddle. "Um… Um, yeah… she is."
"Oh, thank goodness. I don't think Angel would ever forgive me if I came home without his red delicious two days in a row. He has such sensitive dietary needs. He eats almost strictly paleo but without the meat or fish of course. And well… the other day I took a little too long preparing his dinner and I didn't notice that his pinot noir had warmed from slightly chilled to room temperature. He told me I had no regard for the artisanship of wine and he bit me so hard," she chuckled nervously.
"Uh… uh-huh," agreed Apple Bloom shakily as her hips turned to jello.
"He threw his plate on the floor and said his appetite was ruined but thankfully I had just enough time to cook him a second different meal before the urgent care closed. He broke his old record of three stitches." Fluttershy smiled as she held out her bandaged foreleg.
Apple Bloom gasped and shook before collapsing over the fish's head.
"Anyway, as you can see, I really have to go get those apples. See you later." Fluttershy turned and trotted away in the direction of the market.
"How was it?" asked Sweetie Belle as the buzz and the music subsided.
"Ah wanna ride it again," gasped Apple Bloom.
"I wanna ride it again," countered Scootaloo aggressively.
"I haven't gone yet and I only have one bit left," argued Sweetie Belle.
"Well, I'm going to get my piggy bank," muttered Scootaloo.
"The ayes have it," declared Sweetie Belle with authority from behind the clubhouse podium. "Cutie mark crusading is officially on hiatus while we address the issue of us all being completely out of money. I will now open the floor to ideas to best finance more coin-op riding."
"You didn't tell me it doesn't work twice in a row," grumbled Scootaloo, still remembering the trial and error of the first day. "I want that bit back."
"Ugh, that was like a week ago," groaned Sweetie Belle. "I already said I was sorry. I mean, yeah I invented it but It's not like I'm some sort of expert and you'd never even know about it if it wasn't for me."
"No one's tellin' anyone else, right?" asked Apple Bloom. "We should keep the ride a secret between just us."
The other two nodded in agreement.
"I wish they had something like the ride but it was free to use," mused Sweetie Belle, staring off into the clubhouse rafters. "And it was a lot smaller so you can just keep it at home and use it whenever."
"Yeah, that would be a lot easier," agreed Scootaloo. "They should invent something like that. I'd take it with me everywhere and use it all the time."
The other fillies nodded in agreement. Since going broke, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been scrounging for coins under sofa cushions and in the gutter to get another ride on the fish. Sweetie Belle made sure to suggest every day to Rarity that they return to the dress shop in the bad part of town in hopes of getting treated to a free ride on the machine, even willingly forgoing the usual requirement of ice cream.
Back when Sweetie didn't care to go, it seemed Rarity was constantly shopping and begging for her companionship and labor. Now it seemed she went hardly at all, at least not nearly as much as Sweetie wanted to ride the fish. She'd quickly exhausted her easiest backup resources for money and favors and was now entertaining the idea of just stealing bits from her sister whenever she saw them unattended on dressers and tables.
Apple Bloom spoke up. "Ah got an idea what we could do fer money."
"Yeah, this is a stupid location," grumbled Scootaloo, looking around at the empty squalor which surrounded them. "We should be in the marketplace where everypony else sells."
"We can't be in the marketplace where everypony else sells," countered Apple Bloom as she lined up a row of apples on the little fold up table. "Applejack'll see us an' get real angry, 'specially if we're sellin' for less than she does."
Sweetie Belle taped the price sign on the edge of the table and then leaned up against the fish ride with a hopeful sigh. Then the three of them waited…
It wasn't long before the exciting promise of making money gave way to the reality that there were just very few ponies at all in that part of town and ever fewer customers. The three fillies fluctuated between looking bored and over smiling at every single pony who walked by.
It was getting late in the day and it was starting to look like the three of them would need to go home soon without making even a single sale. Suddenly Cup Cake appeared on the sidewalk humming as she approached.
"Hello, Mrs. Cake," the three of them greeted aggressively in unison.
"Oh, hello," she replied, shrinking back in surprise.
"Would you like to buy some apples?" asked Sweetie Belle with a manic glint in her eyes.
"It's for a good cause," blurted Scootaloo, trying to find anything she could say to spark a deal.
Sweetie turned to her. "What?" she mouthed.
Scootaloo shrugged. "I think it's a good cause," she muttered.
"Oh, three for one bit?" exclaimed Mrs. Cake, looking down at the sign. "What a bargain. That's much cheaper than your price in the market."
Apple Bloom nodded, chuckling nervously.
"I'll take three."
"That'll be one bit," said Apple Bloom.
Mrs. Cake flipped a coin with her teeth to the table where it settled loudly. Then she turned away, cradling her apples in one foreleg.
The three fillies' hooves collided over the coin but it was Sweetie Belle who came away with it and immediately broke for the ride.
"Hey, what about us?" demanded Scootaloo, rushing in to block her path.
"You can go on the next one," Sweetie Belle replied dismissively.
"Yeah, if there is a next one," snapped Scootaloo.
"They're mah apples," argued Apple Bloom. "Ah should go first."
"But I'm the one who discovered the tingle to begin with," countered Sweetie Belle. "So I should go first.
"Well… it's my tape," said Scootaloo.
The other two looked at her quizzically.
"Actually I just stole it off of Miss Cheerilee's desk," she admitted sheepishly.
"Fine, let's settle it with a game," proposed Apple Bloom. "We'll just flip the coin."
"How does that work?" shrugged Scootaloo. The coin has two sides; there's three of us."
"Everyone just choose a side an' we'll flip till there's only one of us left."
The three agreed. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo chose heads. Apple Bloom chose tails. Sweetie let the coin drop on the cracked cement and they watched as it came up tails.
"Woohoo," exclaimed Apple Bloom, scooping up the bit.
The other two fillies grumbled as they returned to the apples. They leaned listlessly on the back of the sales table as the calliope music started up and Apple Bloom began her session just outside of their peripheral vision. They ignored the grunting and the occasional ohs and ahs that where emphatic enough to make it through the blaring circus track.
Apple Bloom sighed dreamily when she returned to the table.
"Yeah, how great for you," muttered Scootaloo.
"You'll get ta go eventually," Apple Bloom assured her.
"We had one sale in like three hours. I wanna ride today." She drove a hoof into the table for emphasis, shaking the merchandise.
"Hey, here comes someone," chirped Sweetie Belle, pointing down the street.
Apple Bloom squinted at the red figure slowly loping their way. "That's mah brother," she gasped in alarm.
"Quick, hide the apples," blathered Scootaloo, panicking. "Look, over here!" She pointed at a gaping storm drain in the gutter and looked back at her two friends who were frantically stuffing apples into their mouths. "What are you doing?"
"Eeding tha abblez," replied Sweetie Belle through a mouthful of masticated apple mush.
"No! Toss them down the drain," Scootaloo ordered, pointing urgently at the gutter.
Sweetie quickly flipped the table, knocking all of the apples down into the gutter. Apple Bloom choked on her apple and then began to retch violently as Scootaloo kicked apples into the darkness of the drain. Sweetie Belle ripped off the price sign and began folding up the table.
The apples were gone but they could do little to explain the wagon and folding table they'd brought with them.
As the figure approached, it became apparent that the likeness to Big Mac was off with a lighter colored mane and the soft features of a mare. The female pony passed by, giving the three dumbstruck fillies a strange look.
"That wasn't Big Mac," whispered Sweetie Belle as the vague look alike disappeared into the dress shop.
Apple Bloom's eyes watered and her throat still burned from nearly inhaling an entire apple.
"Great," complained Scootaloo. "First she took the only bit, then she sabotaged it so we couldn't get anymore."
"That's not what Ah did," Apple Bloom shot back angrily. "Ah really thought it was him. Y'all ever see another red pony before?"
"Yeah, the one that just walked by."
"Oh yeah? Well you make an angry face when ya ride the fish. Looks like this." Apple Bloom furrowed her brow and clenched her teeth in a crazed sneer.
"N-no it doesn't," retorted Scootaloo, her face turning scarlet.
Sweetie Belle sniggered at the hyperbolized expression.
"Shut up!" Scootaloo lunged at the earth pony with her forehooves flailing in the air but Sweetie was quick to restrain her with her magic.
"Okay, okay, why don't we just get more apples and try again tomorrow," suggested Sweetie, slowly pulling Scootaloo away.
"Just forget it," Scootaloo sighed in a defeated tone. "We've been here almost all day and we've only made one sale. I don't think it's worth it."
"Hey, you three," called a familiar voice from behind.
The three fillies screamed and recoiled in surprise at the sudden appearance of Applejack.
"H-hey Applejack," stammered Apple Bloom with a crooked smile and flop sweat forming on her brow.
Applejack grimaced at their strange reaction. "What're… y'all doin' out here?"
"We were s-sellin'… arts 'n' crafts."
Applejack's eyebrows went up in interest. "Oh, really? Can Ah see 'em?"
"No, because we sold them all," replied Sweetie Belle quickly.
"Yeah, made a killing," droned Scootaloo.
"Wow. All the way out here? How much didya make?"
"We don't know because…" Apple Bloom frowned, her eyes flicking over to her friends for help.
"We spent it all… on… dresses," added Sweetie, looking over at the dress shop sign as the only object of inspiration within eyesight.
The other two fillies groaned frustratedly under their breaths. Applejack looked around confusedly for said dresses but it was plain to see they had nothing but a wagon and a table.
"And then we donated them to the poor," supplied Scootaloo, gritting her teeth in hopes that this would be the conclusion to their bizarre story.
"Oh, well that was mighty nice of ya," gushed Applejack, patting her sweaty little sister on the head. "Y'all deserve a little somethin' fer bein' so kind and charitable." She fished out three bits from her pouch and held them out to the fillies who all grinned excitedly at one another.
It wasn't long before the Cutie Mark Crusaders were right back where they started, penniless and desperate for a fix as they floated from one half baked scheme to another. Life had become nothing more than a cycle of acquiring money for sensuous gratification. It might have been less important than finding cutie marks in the long-run but the quest was infinitely more fruitful and instantly rewarding.
"Anyone have any announcements?" asked Sweetie Belle, tapping the podium.
Scootaloo's hoof shot up as if she'd been waiting for this moment all day. "You can just use your hoof to get the tingle," she blurted.
"Aw, Ah wanted ta tell," sulked Apple Bloom who'd also made the discovery independently.
Sweetie's eyes grew huge. "You can?"
"Yeah, but it's not as good," added Apple Bloom in a disappointed tone.
"It's still good," argued Scootaloo. It's just that the sidewalk ride is still a lot better."
"But why is that?" wondered Apple Bloom aloud.
Scootaloo scratched her head as she mentally listed all the variables between the two methods. Laying down versus sitting. Hoof versus smooth metal. Rapid vibration versus rubbing. "Hey, I just got an idea," she chirped. "Lay face up on the beanbag, Apple Bloom."
Apple Bloom made a weird face but did as she was told, falling back with exaggerated but quiet poof.
Scootaloo stood over her. "The whole thing is like a really nice tickle, right?" she posed. "You know how it's impossible to tickle yourself and you have to have someone else do it? I bet it's like the same thing. It feels better if you have someone else do it for you."
"That makes sense," agreed Sweetie Belle."
Apple Bloom was quietly aghast.
"Okay, hold still," ordered Scootaloo. "I'm gonna try something."
"Wait, Y- you're gonna do it fer me?"
"Yeah."
Apple Bloom covered herself with her hooves. "But, Applejack and Big Mac said yer not sposda let anyone else touch there."
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged confused glances. "They did?" asked Scootaloo, scratching her head. "Why?"
"Ah dunno," admitted Apple Bloom.
"I'm sure it's okay if a good friend does it," argued Sweetie Belle, "Right?" Her eyes bounced back and forth between the two for affirmation.
"May- maybe?" shrugged Apple Bloom. "But what if somethin' bad happens?"
"What could happen?" asked Scootaloo. "If something happens, I'll just stop, okay?"
"Oh… Okay," nodded Apple Bloom warily.
"But if it works, then you do it to me," added the pegasus.
"Wait, who's going to do it to me?" asked Sweetie Belle worriedly.
"Oh, right," thought Scootaloo. "Um… I can- no wait. Who's going to do me?"
"Apple Bloom, like you said," suggested Sweetie Belle.
"No, hold on. Then I'm doing two and you're doing none… I got it. I'll do Apple Bloom, she'll do you and you'll do me."
Sweetie Belle gasped. "I just thought of something; we could all do it to each other at the same time!"
"No," Apple Bloom was quick to retort.
Scootaloo frowned doubtfully, unable to wrap her brain around the logistics of the idea. "I don't know; that sounds complicated. We can try it next time. This is just supposed to be a test."she turned back to the earth pony. "So just move your hooves out of the way."
Apple Bloom slowly moved her forehooves away from the space between her legs.
"And uncross your legs" added Scootaloo impatiently.
Apple Bloom spread her hind legs a modest distance apart and waited awkwardly for whatever happened next.
Scootaloo paused, suddenly having second thoughts. The idea was a lot less weird in her mind than it seemed right now.
"Stop starin' at it." Apple Bloom whined, noticing Scootaloo just standing there, leering downward, lost in her own thoughts.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Her eyes locked with Apple Bloom's as she timidly advanced with her hoof.
"Don't look at me, neither," squeaked Apple Bloom, covering her face in embarrassment.
"Well, where am I supposed to look?"
"Ah dunno. Anywhere else... Nowhere."
Scootaloo sighed, closed her eyes and began groping around blindly with one hoof. She brushed Apple Bloom's inner thigh, causing her to squirm and giggle.
"Hold still and keep your legs open," grumbled Scootaloo. Suddenly there came the well recognized creak of the first board on the clubhouse steps. Her eyes shot open.
Applejack pushed the door open to a clubhouse of woodenly posed fillies. Apple Bloom lay in rigid, overly modest repose on the beanbag while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked like they were trying to blend in with the wall. All of them motionless and tracking Applejack as if they were prey deciding whether to run or continue playing dead.
"Hey, girls... Got yer… snacks?"
It had been almost a week since any of them had been able to afford or bum a ride off of anyone. Apple Bloom had gotten her chore money and since The Cutie Mark Crusaders had agreed to pool their bits, it meant they were all going to the fish ride today.
As the three fillies trotted happily down the sidewalk, they began to hear the sound of the ride music becoming louder. They looked at each other in concern. Someone else was riding the fish.
As they neared the old broken amusement, they could make out their classmate Dinky riding in the saddle. Twist sat backwards behind her, straddling the space between the body and caudal fin. She bit her lip while she vigorously grinded against the big metal fin. Derpy Hooves stood nearby, oblivious to the world as usual as she waited for them to finish.
"Hey, they're doin' it two at a time," marveled Apple Bloom. "Why didn't we think a that?"
"That fin part looks perfect," gasped Scootaloo, imagining herself straddling the vertical wedge. It was clearly working well for Twist.
"I don't like this," began Sweetie Belle. "Other ponies using it. I liked it better when it was just us."
"Guess we'll just wait out turn, shrugged Apple Bloom, parking her rump on the cement.
"It's this, right here," came an excitable snooty voice from behind them. "This is the one I want you to buy."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders turned to see Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara and her father, Filthy Rich coming down the street. They immediately looked at each other in alarm. Buy? Buy the fish ride? The Rich's were going to take it away and lock it up in their mansion. They'd never get to use it again, eternally deprived of its magical touch.
Filthy scratched his stubble absently as he walked. "I thought you were too old for these types of rides." He blinked suddenly in disbelief, stopping in his tracks. "Wait, this thing is a hunk of junk. Why in Equestria would you want it?"
Diamond's eyes bulged with emphatic seriousness. "Because it's really fun."
"I could just buy you a brand new one," he argued dismissively.
"No, daddy," she begged. "It has to be this one!"
"She's right, Mr. Rich," snorted Silver Spoon with an uncanny ear to ear grin. "This one is the best one, heh heh." She rubbed her hooves together.
"But it's just so…"
"You don't want this one," Apple Bloom interjected bluntly. "It's ugly and doesn't even work right."
"Yeah, it's old and hundreds of poor commoners have ridden it," added Scootaloo.
"You stay out of this, blank flanks," snarled Diamond.
"They're right," grumbled Filthy. "This thing is an eyesore and I don't want to buy something that's already broken. Come on, Diamond. I don't even want you being in this part of town."
"But…"
Silent tears began to roll down Silver's cheeks as she departed with them.
Diamond turned to glare daggers back at the trio. "You are so gonna get it," she growled.
The three breathed a sigh of relief, watching them disappear up the street.
"Seems like she could use a ride on the fish right about now," mused Apple Bloom. "Should we tell 'er 'bout the hoof trick?"
"Pfft. Nope," scoffed Scootaloo, turning back to the ride. "Hey, the dorks are gone," she announced cheerfully, scrambling over to their favorite pastime. "I call the fin seat."
After the three were adequately satisfied, they sat on the nearby bench, riding out their post buzz and hoping to maybe give their bodies enough of a break to squeeze in a second ride before going home.
"It always makes me sleepy afterwards," sighed Sweetie Belle, her eyelids drooping.
A grizzled earth pony stallion lumbered out of the dress shop and approached the ride with a ring of keys in his mouth. He opened up the coin receptacle and was quietly surprised when the inner box slid out near overflowing. He began pouring a cascade of coins into a big drawstring bag.
"There goes all our money," mumbled Scootaloo.
"Sure, a lot of it's probably ours but it looks like plenty a other ponies have been ridin' it too," posed Apple Bloom lazily.
Sweetie Belle's eyes shot open with inspiration. "Hey, ponies will pay lots for this. Why don't we just sell it to them?
"We can't just sell admission to the ride," replied Scootaloo, envisioning herself as a bouncer in front of a velvet rope barricade. "It's not even ours."
"We already sold apples that ain't ours," argued Apple Bloom.
"No, I mean… not the ride exactly," fumbled Sweetie Belle. "I mean the hoof trick. That's what we sell. Other ponies pay us to do it to them."
Scootaloo's mouth dropped open. "That's… brilliant! I've never heard of anything like that before!"
Apple Bloom grimaced. "But we never actually figured out if it's better when someone else does it for you," she began apprehensively. "Ah don't wanna do it anyway 'cuz Applejack and Big Mac said-"
"Yeah but if someone's paying you to do it to them, then it's fine. What's the problem?" shrugged Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom thought for a moment. "Hmm. I guess yer right. Still not sure Ah wanna do it though."
"I'll do it," said Sweetie."
Scootaloo thought back to when she got stage fright in the clubhouse and then Applejack almost caught them. "I… might do it," she mused tentatively. "Hey, maybe we'll be really good at it and get our cutie marks."
The three of them silently ruminated on the possibilities of such a novel venture.
Apple Bloom frowned. "Ah don't wanna cutie mark that looks like a hoof trick," she muttered matter-of-factly.
"Yeah…" agreed Sweetie Belle slowly, suddenly disenchanted with the whole thing.
It was the day after Sweetie Belle's birthday party and she was rolling in cash. The Cutie Mark Crusaders burst out of the schoolhouse, shaking with anticipation.
"We're gonna ride that fish till we pass out in the gutter!" exclaimed Sweetie as they galloped down the street.
"Yeah," laughed Scootaloo.
They did not slow their pace until they were across town at the secluded dress shop.
Sweetie Belle clamored into the saddle with an ecstatic grin while Scootaloo claimed her new favorite spot, spooning the caudal fin.
"C'mon," called Sweetie, looking down at Apple Bloom. "I bet we could squeeze all of us on here. Just this once! For my birthday!"
"Oh, alright," sighed Apple Bloom, climbing the carveout steps. She slipped in between her friends, facing forward.
Sweetie Belle floated a coin into the slot and the machine began to buzz beneath them. The three let out a communal gasp as the initial pulse overwhelmed their wanting bodies. They fidgeted in their seats, settling into the best positions for them to really feel it. They started to pant, moan and whimper as the wave they rode began to crest.
Lost in the throes of their growing bliss, the three didn't notice Twilight Sparkle standing next to them.
"Hey, girls," she greeted with a smile. "Happy belated birthday, Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie shakily managed to get an eye open. "Uh… th- thanks," she grunted, her pelvis quivering out of control.
Twilight squinted at the fish ride. "Huh… Looks like your ride's malfunctioning. Don't worry. I can fix that in a second."
"Wha- wait. What?" blathered Sweetie, teetering on the cusp of pure ecstasy.
Twilight's horn flashed as she cast a spell over the fish. In an instant, the ride lurched into motion, rolling in slow circles once again and not vibrating, not at all. The three fillies' jaws were on the floor as they were suddenly left twisting in the wind with no path to fulfillment.
"No need to thank me," winked Twilight before turning to depart. "Have a nice day."
The girls could do nothing but hold their horrified expressions until the ride petered to its end, leaving them with an emptiness and insufferable frustration between their legs.
"Ugh! No," gasped Scootaloo. "I was almost there!"
"It's goin' away," whimpered Apple Bloom. "Waddoo Ah do?"
"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me," cried Sweetie Belle.
"Quick, use your hooves," instructed Scootaloo in utter distress. "It's not as good but it's better than nothing!"
A lone Sweetie Belle sat despondently gazing out of her bedroom window. Earlier that day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had held a memorial at the clubhouse where they shared their memories of the coin operated fish ride, all of which were quite similar and equally poignant. When it was over, they journeyed one last time to the dress shop at the end of the lane to say their goodbyes to the fixed ride. In the distance, before they arrived, they could see a solitary figure, a cloaked foal bowing to leave a single rose on the base of the ride before vanishing in a flash of gray. Though they could not identify the pony, it was comforting to know that there were others out there experiencing the same loss alongside them.
"I know I said I didn't like it when other ponies used the ride," sniffed Sweetie. "But now, looking back, I'm actually glad it brought joy to so many others. The ride was always something that was meant to be free and those who were lucky enough to experience it while it was here share an unbreakable bond."
Sweetie's somber remembrance of the day's events was shattered by the sound of her sister's aggravated growl. It was followed moments later by a knock at her open door and Rarity clearing her throat.
"Sweetie Belle, would you please accompany me to the laundromat. Our machine is on the fritz and maintenance just isn't my forte. Perhaps I'll need some burly… swarthy… roughneck handy stallion with powerful but gentle hooves to come look at it." She absently twirled a lock of her mane, lost in a haze of book cover fantasies. "What was I saying? Oh, yes. Anyway, I have accumulated quite a bit of non dry clean laundry and now a quarter of it's just sitting there all wet and I need your help."
Sweetie Belle groaned.
Rarity batted her eyes. "We can get ice cream afterwards."
"Okay," she sighed.
"Bring a book," grinned Rarity.
The two of them loaded up with dirty and wet clothes and trekked down the street to the closest coin laundry. Rarity quickly filled up four washers.
"I think I'll just rinse the wet ones," she muttered as she turned the dial on the last washer. "They are technically already clean. They just need a good ringing."
Sweetie Belle sat across the way in the largely vacant array of chairs as she watched her sister slip a bit into the coin slot. The machine clicked on like the other three, hissing as it filled with water. The filly sighed and raised her book with her magic, Rarity joining her shortly.
"Misery loves company," she said, cracking open a fashion magazine from a nearby table. "That's the number one rule of laundromats."
The two drifted away into their reading material as mechanical white noise consumed the sound space around them.
Some minutes later, Sweetie was brought out of her book by a sudden change in the pitch of the washer's hum. It sounded like it was powering up and getting ready to blast off. Her eyes widened as she noticed the machine was actually shaking quite vigorously.
The filly set her book down and walked over to investigate. She curiously placed a hoof on the washer's side, feeling the rapid shimmying as it only seemed to intensify. There was such power in there. It was almost like… Sweetie ran her hoof up the length of the machine's exposed corner as the wheels turned in her head. Standing on her hind legs, she set her forelegs over the top of the washer and pressed her barrel against the corner. Then she pushed her hips forward until she made full contact with the edge and a familiar sensation returned.