Equestria High, a place of learning for young and passion driven minds. It had been the home for Octavia Melody, Vinyl “Scratch” and Derpy Philharmonics. For years the triplets had found their own places at this school of learning, but after the next year, that all would change. Graduation was just a year away, and Octavia, after much thought and hard work, already had a scholarship already lined up for Canterlot Music Institute, CMI for short. She was quite pleased with her impending success as a high class musician. She'd even started to prepare for it by getting a job at the local supermarket, Rich's, to help pay for it, to help ease the financial burden of collage tuition for her over worked parents. She was always thoughtful like that.
Vinyl, on the other hand, was thinking of anything but the end of her high school career. Sitting there, eating pizza and fries, she chatted with the youngest of the triplets animatedly about the ideas she had for the next house party they'd throw once mom and dad were out of town for their next conference. Mr. and Mrs. Philharmonic were business consultants, and thus made enough to support all three girls in their varied, and often erratic, interests. It was Octavia alone who worried about any money problems.
“And I figured out how to water proof some subwoofers,” Vinyl was saying. “So every time the base hits, it's going to cause a fountain in the pool! It's going to crank the party to level eleven!”
Derpy, eyes skewed due to an unfortunate childhood event which included the jungle gym, Vinyl and a water ballon, listened with wide eyes, grinning ear to ear.
“And I can make those triple chocolate and caramel muffins I've been wanting to try! I don't know why mom won't let me bake anymore.”
“Could have something to do with you putting raw muffin batter in the toaster, maybe?” Vinyl suggested, hiding a grin.
“Hey! I was working on creating a muffin that you can bake everyday in three minutes! I call it, Muff'pops.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. While she was planning for the future, her dear sisters where squandering theirs by living in the moment, and most likely they'd waste the up coming summer as well. As she sat there and listened to the two chat away about their plans that summer, which consisted of being as lazy as they could, eating muffins and playing video games all day, she decided it was time to put her foot down, and be the older sister they dearly needed.
“Might I make a suggestion of what you two can do for the summer?” She asked.
Vinyl gave Octavia a skeptical look. “If it's another 'classical recital', I'm out. The last one put me to sleep.”
“It was Bach!” Octavia snapped. “How can Bach be boring?!”
“Bach?” Derpy scratched her head. “Wasn't that a line in a movie?”
Both her sisters blinked with a collective, “What?”
“You know? That one about the machine man going back in time? He said it as a line.” Derpy did her best deep male voice impression. “I'll be Bach!”
There was a pause, as if the time it took for their ears to hear and brains to register seemed to have encountered an error and thus needed to reboot. Vinyl started laughing while Octavia looked outraged.
“Derpy! That movie was rated R! You shouldn't be watching those kind of movies!”
Vinyl snorted. “Oh? And I'm pretty sure you've been a perfect angel all your life. Should I tell mom and dad about your steamy romance novels you keep hidden under your mattress?”
Octavia hiccuped, her face turning a bright red. She thought no one knew about her late night readings. If mom and dad found out, her image would be ruined!
Just then, Flash Sentry, the rock star of the school walked by, chatting with his buddies. Vinyl, once she caught sight, turned away, and put her headphones on, blasting whatever techno she had currently playing on her A-pod.
Derpy fought to keep her giggles down as Vinyl watched the handsome hunk walk by, completely oblivious to the love struck eyes that were trained on the back of his head.
“Why don't you just talk to him?” Derpy asked once Vinyl came out of her hiding spot behind her music.
Vinyl blushed, but said nothing. She'd had a crush on him since freshman year, but had yet had the courage to speak to him. Some girl by the name of Twilight Sparkle, this chick from 'another world' where she claimed to be a pony princess or something, had caught his eye, but since she hadn't been around for a month or two, it was fair to say that Flash was still fair game.
Octavia watched all this and decided if she was going to do anything about her sisters and their lackadaisical ways, she'd best do it now.
“Girls,” Both sisters looked at her. “This summer, you'll be getting jobs.”
It was not a request. It was a statement. One in which there would be much protesting about, but Octavia would handle all that in stride.
“You two need to learn responsibility, structure, and most importantly, good work ethics. Having a job can be very rewarding, and the money you make is yours to keep.”
Vinyl mold that over in her mind. A job meant less lazy time, but meant money. Money meant more expensive toys that she didn't have to beg their parents for. She could work with that.
Derpy's thought process was a bit simpler. A job meant meeting new people and being out of the house, both of which were things she enjoyed to do.
“We're in!”
Octavia blinked. Well, that was easy.
Since starting work after the Christmas holidays, Octavia had impressed several of her supervisors, not to mention the owner of the store, Filthy Rich himself. All this hard work had earned her the promotion of on duty manager, which meant getting her two sisters hired was a faster process than usual. And so after talking to the right people, both Vinyl and Derpy were interviewed and hired on the spot, with Octavia's solemn word that nothing would go wrong and that she'd take full responsibility if it did.
A few days after the end of school, Vinyl and Derpy stood at their register booths, both fidgeting nervously. Their orientation and training had been completed the previous day, and now they began their shift, getting ready to relieve the two current cashiers while Octavia gave them her pep-talk.
“You have nothing to worry about girls.” She smiled. “Just remember your training, and smile. If you need any help whatsoever, don't hesitate to call for me on my ear piece.” She slide her wired ear piece into her ear. “I'm on line two. Any questions?”
Silence.
“Good.”
Once everything was set, Octavia gave the thumbs up to her sisters that it was time to flip the light switch on their booths, signaling to the few customers who were roaming the isles that the checkouts were open.
It was a slow day, and so, in Octavia's point of view, the best kind of day to break in new employes. Vinyl and Derpy stood, smiling nervously, not sure what to expect with their first customers. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, a tall hansom young man stepped up to Vinyl's register, his blue hair swept back, like he's just gotten off a motorcycle after winning the Grand Prix.
“Hi there.” He smiled.
Vinyl froze, her eyes wide, and heart in her throat. In her eyes, the stars had aligned and cherubs were singing while a giant pink heart formed around the young man's face. Flash Sentry was here! He noticed her, and was smiling! He even said hi! The fates truly had blessed this day.
After a few moments of awkward silence, which was made even more awkward by Vinyl's ogling, Flash cleared his throat.
“Are you open?”
The question was enough to snap Vinyl out of her romantic vision, in which she and Flash were riding a speed boat to a far off deserted island, all of which was happening to the sounds of dubstep.
'Okay,' she told herself. 'You've got one shot at this. Don't blow it.' Vinyle pulled a cheeky smile that reached her eyes and leaned over the counter, batting her eyes way to much in an attempt to be alluring.
“Sure am.” She gave kissy face. “What did you have in mind?”
“Uhhhmm...I'd like to buy this? Please?” Flash hesitantly held up frozen bake pizza.
“Dine in.” Vinyl took the pizza and rang it up. “I like your style. That will be three dollars and seventy two cents, hot stuff.”
Flash blushed, and looked even more uncomfortably as he fished out the money to pay. He was about to take the bag, when Vinyl's hand touched his. The accidental gesture cause them to look into each others eyes. This was truly meant to be.
“I have something to tell you!” Vinyl blurted out. “I love you! Always have!”
“What?!”
“So, since I'm not doing anything after work, what time should I come over?” She asked.
“I've got a girlfriend!” Flash bleated, sounding much like a scared sheep that had been cornered by a lion. “Thanks! Bye!”
As he ran to the front door, Vinyl stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape. A girlfriend?! No! The love of her life was leaving and she could do nothing. She'd finally gotten the courage to say something to him, and she confessed her feelings of love to him! And yet his heart had been snared by another. Oh cruel fate, why did you enjoy in tempting the heart to love when it was not meant to be?
Meanwhile, Derpy was experiencing some difficulty of her own.
“I just don't know what I did wrong?” She whimpered, scanning the same box of AJ-O's over and over again. If something little went wrong, she somehow found a way to make it worse. This would be the time to call her sister for help. Picking up the radio, she turned it on to channel three.
“Emergency line. How can I help?” A static voice answered.
That wasn't it. She tried channel one. No answer. She looked to Vinyl, hoping for some help, but her sister was singing something, staring out the window. That wasn't a good sign. Unsure what to do to solve the problem, Derpy scanned the box of cereal again, ready to cry.
“Listen sugarcube, ya' got ta'h press that yellow bar on the side.” Applejack pointed out the button on the register with an impatient sigh.
Derpy did, resulting in a ching as the printer buzzed to life, printing out her reciept. “Oh!” She smiled. “Thanks AJ. You're so smart.”
“Aw, think nothin' of it. Ah' practically ran the Flim Flam brother's Pawnshop while I worked there.”
Derpy blinked. “But weren't you the banana out front?”
Applejack's face turned red. “Yeah, well, had to start some place.”
“You looked good as a banana.” Derpy said kindly.
“I suppose that's a complement?”
Derpy nodded. “And you're total is forty-three, ninety-two.” She added.
“Okay-wait, what?!”
“Forty-three, ninety-two.” Derpy repeated with a smile. “We can take cash, check or credit card.”
“Naw wait just a darn minute!”
Octavia had finished making her round around the store, making sure that everything was in it's place and all was running smoothly. Satisfied that nothing could possible go wrong, she made her way back up to the front.
Vinyl was staring out the window, tears in her eye while singing, “Blue mooooon. You saw me standiiiing aloooone. Without a dream in my heeeeaaart. Without a love of my oooooowwwwn.”
Derpy, however, was looking thoroughly confused as she kept pressing buttons on the register, while Applejack was fuming at the ears about a box of cereal.
Octavia had no time to think. She sprung into action.
“Can I help you?” She asked AJ.
The cowgirl turned on Octavia and nodded curtly. “Derpy here is charging me forty-three, ninety-two for this here box of AJ-O's, which, might Ah' add, is a brand that belongs to the Apple family! What kind of highway robbery are ya trying to stage here?!”
Octavia stepped around the counter, trying to keep her winning smile that had won her the Bright Brilliant Smile award, three months in a row.
“I'm terrible sorry for the inconvenience. Allow me.” Octavia, politely, pushed her sister aside and pressed a few keys on the register before swiping the box once more. “Here, have this one on us. Again, we're terribly sorry for any inconvenience this may have brought you.”
Applejack wasn't happy, but she muttered, “Thanks.” And left with her box of cereal. After making sure she left Octavia turned to Derpy.
“I told you to radio me if you needed any help!” Octavia snapped.
“I did!” Derpy whined. “But I couldn't get you!”
“I was on line two! I told you before I started...” With a sigh, Octavia took a breath. “Okay. That could have gone better, much better, but at least she's not going to make a formal complaint, I think. Now!” She turned her attention to the still singing Vinyl, who seemed to just increase in volume while getting more off tune. “What's your problem?”
Vinyl paused her love sick song to answer. “He left me.” She answered in a heart broken voice. “We were perfect for each other, and he left me.”
“Who left you?”
Before the answer could come out, a purple haired girl stormed in to the supermarket. “Okay! Which one of you girls tried to make a move on my man?!”
Octavia looked to the now famous Twilight Sparkle, and then back to her heartbroken sister. Two plus two. “You didn't.”
Vinyl just gave Twilight a dead look. “Oh. The horse girl is back. I should have seen that one coming.”
“Horse girl? HORSE GIRL?!”
Octavia wasn't sure what exactly happened, but in no time at all, She, was trying to pull Twilight off of Vinyl, who was doing her best to yank Twilight's hair, only resulting in grabbing Octavia's instead. Derpy, eyes wide, rushed in to help, but only trip as soon as she got in arms distance, thus knocking all four of them over. There was much name calling, and even more squeals of fright by Derpy and Octavia, until two pairs of strong hands pull them all up and off of each other.
Filthy Rich and Big Mac held the girls at bay. “Now what's going on here?!” Filthy demanded.
“Well, sir, you see-” Octavia tried to explain.
“She!” Twilight pointed at Vinyl, who had rather quickly shed all her previous moroseness only to have it be replaced by rage. “Tried to make a move on my boyfriend when he came in to buy a pizza!”
It was a no brainer for the business man. “Vinyl, you're fired. Twilight, I'm banning you from my store. If you're going to get into fights do it off my property. Derpy, you might as well go too.” Rich added. “Macintosh has told me all about the hassle you gave his sister. After seeing what your sister is like, I don't want you here either.” Filthy took a deep breath before looking at Octavia, a vain pulsing in his temple. “Octavia...If I remember right, you told us that your sisters were good candidates for the job, am I right?”
“I-I did.” Octavia gulped.
“And you swore that nothing would go wrong on their first day, yes?”
“Y-y-yes.”
“And you told me personally that you would take full responsibility for anything that went wrong, correct?”
Octavia couldn't breath. She just swallowed and nodded.
“You're fired. Get out.”
Hours latter, sitting on the couch at home, Derpy, Vinyl and Octavia tried to console themselves on muffins, chocolate milk and video games. Mom and dad were still at work, and so they had free reign of the house.
“It was a dead end job.” Vinyl was saying, playing Mega Bash Sisters against Derpy, who was winning while eating a blueberry muffin. “I don't see why you're so upset over it Octi.”
“I spend months getting that promotion.” Octavia cried, taking a swig of her chocolate milk. “And all it took was an hour, a single hour for you two to screw it up for me and get me fired!”
“If it helps,” Derpy mumbled around her muffin, while preforming a special on the game. “I saw on the way home that the Flim Flam Pawnshop was looking for some sign spinners.
“Hey! That could be fun!” Vinyl remarked, getting smashed into the side again, marking the end of the match. She turned to her grieving sister. “What do you say?”
Octavia gulped down the rest of the jug of chocolate milk. “As long as I don't have to be a banana.”
The next day.
Octavia, Vinyl and Derpy all stood outside of the Flim Flam shop, holding different signs.
“This isn't so bad.” Derpy smiled.
Octavia growled.
“Hey, at least it isn't a banana suit.” Vinyl pointed out.
Octavia just glared at her, wondering what was going to kill her first. The heat? Or the embarrassment from wearing a potato suit.
