Sleipnir Colony - A Short Story Collection

There was a buzz about the colony. Excited ponies had been whispering to each other for weeks now.

“Have you heard the news?”

It was no wonder that Blubber King had been doing their best to draw in the crowds, with a new menu and recent eating competitions they had started. Their corporate board was worried, very worried.

Expansion had been rapid (something most ponies were no stranger to…) and already Blubber King was starting to feel the pinch of their profit margins being eaten into. And finally, it had reached Sleipnir.

Di was sat at home for once, just watching the broadcast on her screen. She had only heard about this new chain fairly recently. They had started on Kelpie colony only eleven months ago opening their first branch, since then they had just done nothing but build new stores and expand their coverage as fast and far as they could. She had heard on the grapevine that they had a rather wealthy backer making it all possible. It was only a matter of time really.

The broadcast showed a much bigger building to the branch she ran. For a start it had two stories, massive ramps took up much of the front so ponies on pads could easily maneuver their way up onto the next floor if the first one was full. Both levels had a counter to order food and the interior looked rather lavish. It was all new after all.

No drone system though, the newscaster pony explained that all food was delivered to tables via a conveyor system that ran round the entirety of the store. Ponies could even place their orders on a special app that allowed them to pay and just wait for their food to be taken to them. They never need go near the counter. It disappointed Di a bit, some interaction was always nice. It made the day interesting. She didn’t envy the ponies working the counter, the days for them would drag.

Finally the broadcast switched as the newscaster stopped explaining about all the new shiny things that this new chain could offer within its building and the camera turned to a rather portly pad bound pony in front of a lectern. As was custom there was a small red ribbon behind him across the front doors to the first level. He moved forward a little to the microphone to speak.

“Ponies! Thank you for coming to the grand opening. And I assume you, it will be more grand than anything you’ve experienced in your lives.” He said, his voice full of gusto. Di just smiled, it was so obvious when ponies were either being paid to be enthusiastic or they really wanted to put on a show. The stallion continued to speak.

“Since we opened just eleven short months ago we have strived to make our product available to all, that’s why we’re here. That’s why we now have multiple branches across thirteen of the colonies and we’re opening more every single month. I can only ask one thing of you all. Come, try the food. That is the staple of a quality business. A quality offering of foods! Once you waddle or pilot your way in, I assure you, you’ll never want to eat anywhere else.”

Di scoffed a little, big words from a big pony. He certainly had the charisma of a public speaker. Not much seemed to be getting in the way of his current tirade of words.

“As founder of the business, I, Roaring Thunder have nothing but passion for our food. And I’m sure you will too. We’re open seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year. Because ponies don’t stop being hungry.”

Well that was true, but still. Ponies were ponies, not machines. The rigorous schedule he had just announced worried Di slightly. Not even Blubber King opened for that much, in fact they shut fairly frequently to refurbish or update things. Surely they couldn’t promise that unless they had some sort of backup.

There was a small cheer from the crowd who were watching the ceremonies, at this point Roaring Thunder backed himself away from the lectern and gave a small nod to somepony out of shot. Di was slightly perplexed at the lectern set up, it had been like watching a leader give a speech to his troops. The camera panned slightly and zoomed in Farthest Reach, of course the governor was present to open a new food joint. It was amusing he technically wouldn’t even be able to cut the ribbon, his size prevented him from doing so. Instead a small drone hovered with a pair of scissors, ready from a single push of a button on his control console. He made his own way to the lectern.

“I now declare the first branch of Plump Palace open for business!” And with that, the drone rather sharply cut the ribbon. There was another cheer, although shorter this time as ponies rather eagerly could be seen immediately going inside as the camera panned back and showed a queue forming instantly. The newscaster said a few more words and then the segment ended.

Di just sat thinking, she knew very much so that the higher powers at the top were worried. Blubber King had existed for decades around the colonies, it was a staple fast food place. You were hungry? You could usually find a branch somewhere on the colony, even if there was only one. Recent years had been more difficult than she had cared to admit to her staff though, development had slowed. In fact her branch was most likely the most modern and she could see corporate was trying whatever they had in their hooves to try to really outshine any potential competition. But the food was what was important, that was why a new menu was always risky. In places like Sleipnir though the ponies had loved the fact they could gain now by doing some very simple maths. She had no idea how it had gone or been implemented on others.

Blubber King as far as she could remember had over two hundred branches on the various colonies, but that had been built up over an exceptionally long time. In less than a year Plump Palace had opened twenty locations across thirteen colonies with their company roadmap only showing plans for more. In three short years they planned to really ramp up and hit one hundred locations across forty five colonies. It had taken Blubber King almost two decades to reach those levels back when it had first started as a brand.

So the worry was real, for obvious reasons, ponies were fickle. With food, the one thing they cared about, you had to really impress them. It seemed whatever food they offered was impressive. She had already spied a number of regular faces from the broadcast to her joint making their way into the new eatery. Even the name of the place sounded more upmarket, who wouldn’t want to eat in a palace?

Regardless, it would be years before they caught up, but it was still a worry. She liked her job, she liked the food they served and the ponies she worked with. At her age, she didn’t really relish the idea of having to apply for a job at a competitor that worked such hard hours. Maybe if the brand did go under she could just eke it out until she could retire.

She stopped herself, her thoughts were becoming silly. Another brand coming along and instantly stomping their own? What was she thinking. C’mon Di be realistic. For now it was probably best to just keep an eye on them. She wondered how long Roaring Thunder would be sticking around on the colony for. More rumours said a while as they planned to open more branches straight away. Wouldn’t be hard to spot the build with those ridiculous ramps outside built for the pads.

She sunk back into her lull of watching the programming. Another cookery show, typical. Although she was getting hungry. Any idea of what the competition was offering though would be good and she didn’t really fancy leaving her house on one of the few days off she had. She had picked up a menu flyer from their recent marketing around town on her way home one evening and there was a number to call if you wanted it delivered, something else they didn’t do. She had thought about submitting it as an idea back to her bosses but she was sure somepony there was already on it.

In the meantime she dialed the connecting number into her pad and waited for the pickup on the other end.