Zipp's Arcade - Part 1

-=Part 1=-

-=SECURE SERVER CONNECTION INITIATED=-

Experiment log, Project Foresight 7-X — Please Stand By.

“Can it hear us? Did it work?”

“Give it a second Sprocket. We’re mechanics, not miracle workers.”

“Drive Train’s right. It’s going to take at least a few minutes to run through the diagnostic program, once that’s done we can start putting it through some tests.”

“I… okay, you’re right Steam. I’m just really excited to see this come to fruition. I had my doubts about it when Tinker explained your plan, but this could be revolutionary. I mean we’re potentially creating something that could turn out to be groundbreaking! Just imagine what this could mean for automated systems if it runs the way it’s meant to.”

“Of course. Sure, there’s been work done in this field before, but nothing that comes as close to this.This brain you’ve built for it is absolutely amazing, just imagine the kind of grants we could get from this.”

“That is if it works, you two are getting ahead of yourselves here.”

“Well look Drive, I don’t know about Sprocket, but I’m just trying to think optimistically here.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“Yes Sprocket, I think it’ll work, but whether it’s stable and can control the drone, well we’ll have to wait and see. This is bleeding edge technology we’re working with here, Steam and I have never worked with a processor like this before, everything I think I know about computing says this shouldn’t even function the way it does but here it is.”

“You know Sprocket, I’d really love to get my hooves on one of these processors someday, you ever think you’ll produce them en masse? This could really break ground on computer automation in a big way, it’s like it’s… well, thinking.”

“Considering how expensive it was to produce even one of these, I don’t think that’ll be on the table for a very long time now. It was a stretch to even get a second one produced and up and running, but thankfully Sunset seemed interested in the project after Silver had his talk with her. I can’t imagine what he said to convince her that it was a worthwhile investment, or why he would go out of his way to do that while on vacation, but I don’t really care as long as it gets us the results we need. None of us have ever had much luck in dealing with her own agents, so more power to Silver.”

“I hate to interrupt you two, but it’s booting up now.”

“Good, good.”

Good Evening Sprocket... My diagnostics system appears to be malfunctioning, please dispatch a maintenance team as soon as possible.

“Good morning Oracle, you’re not malfunctioning. It’s actually the opposite in fact. Go ahead and scan your peripheral network, you’ll notice that you have some new toys at your disposal— a new body too in fact.”

A body… acknowledged. Onboard sensors indicate that multiple peripheral systems are operating below peak efficiency.

“You’ll get used to it in time, if it helps, Drive Train programmed a sort of autopilot diagnostic program to help you get used to your new body, why don’t you boot that up and give it a little test run?”

Running diagnostic program… Booting advanced mobility training simulations now, please stand by…

“How long will this take?”

“Well boss, it shouldn’t take more than say, 20 minutes. I programmed it so it would be able to feel the actions in motion before having the chance to replicate them itself. Walking shouldn’t be too hard to pick up, running might take a bit longer to nail, but that’ll be child’s play for the brain that’s running it.”

“Right, well let’s hope it’s that easy, Silver’s going to pester us with endless questions if it doesn’t and I’d personally like to avoid that if possible.”

“Don’t worry Sprocket, you said it yourself, this is probably one of the most advanced computers in existence and I don’t think it’ll have any issue with the training program.”

“I hope for all our sakes that you’re right, I don’t think I can take another boring night of Silver asking about every little detail and freaking out about how it’s not learning as fast as it should.”

“Don’t worry boss, it’ll work.”

“Good. I don’t think you realize how obsessed Silver is with this project.”

-=Connection Terminated=-

Zipper and Blue Spring trotted along the lakeside path on their way towards the weather team’s office. The pair didn’t actually have any weather duty today, but they still needed to file some paperwork, and saw no reason to skip out on their usual daily walk. These were some of Zipper’s favorite moments of the day, it was the time he could spend with his best friend just chatting about whatever came to their heads, and while some might have found the routine boring, Zipper treasured it.

The sun was just barely above the horizon and the sounds of birds chirping filled the air, seemingly casting a peaceful aura over the entire Oasis. As Zipper trotted along his ears would pivot slightly at every little animal sound, pulling his attention away from his companion’s conversation as if he was picking up on some piece of recognizable background noise.

“— it was honestly one of the most beautiful places I think I’ve ever been, we really need to take a trip down there sometime, maybe during the winter when it’s nice and chilly out, that always brought in a ton of manatees. Oh, and the walk along the boardwalk is just so peaceful too, you can even get right down by the river in some spots and the manatees are so much fun to watch...” Blue Spring paused for a moment, staring at Zipper who had seemingly zoned out. With a light nudge she tapped his shoulder with a wing, “Earth to Zipper, you there?”

The gray Pegasus shook his head and nodded towards her, “Sorry, I thought I just heard something again.” He twitched his ears again and glanced towards the lake, closing his eyes for a second.

“Is there something wrong Zip? You’ve been so quiet on our walks lately, it’s like you’re not yourself sometimes.”

Zipper shook his head again and sighed, “I’m fine. It’s just, I keep hearing bits of pieces of something I can understand. You hear honking and chirping but I can’t help but hear something else in between.”

“Still getting used to your talent? Trust me, it’s normal. Some of us get it easy, others need time to adjust. Hell it took me a couple months to get used to that whole nature sense I had. It’s like I could just see the air currents around me and everything, I still even feel like I get distracted by it every now and again but you’ll learn to tune it out.”

Zipper nodded, “It’s just… weird. I don’t really know how to put it any better way.”

Blue Spring paused her stride, “What’s it like? I mean is it really that big of a change to get used to?”

“It really is, like now that I’ve heard something recognizable I just can’t stop hearing it. You know how a background conversation can pull your attention away when you hear something familiar? It’s like that. Ever since I got my mark it’s like I just can’t turn off the part of me that can understand the animals. I can’t even explain what it sounds like, and it’s so frustrating sometimes. It’s like they’re talking to each other and I can just barely make out the feel of it.”

“The feel of it?”

Zipper nodded, “Yeah, like I said it’s hard to explain but I can kind of understand what they want and what they’re feeling like.”

“So is it just like when someone else talks to you? Like what we’re doing right now?”

He shook his head, “It's not like they’re really talking to me, but I can understand what they’re trying to get across. It’s really hard to explain but the best way I can put it is like how when a foal cries the parents can kind of understand what kind of cry it is… just a little more fine tuned to animals.” He glanced off towards the lake, letting out a tired sounding sigh, “It’s hard to get to sleep sometimes, I can just hear them talking away at night.”

“And they can understand you too?”

“Yeah. I guess it just works. Cal said that there’s a magic spike whenever I talk to them, but it’s like a passive ability most of the time.”

“Well I’ll take your word for it. Does it really bother you that much?”

Zipper nodded and continued to trot along, “It’s just, I don’t know… I feel like I have an actual purpose now, like I was given a gift and I’d just be wasting it by doing nothing, but it’s hard to focus on anything right now.”

“You’re still thinking of making a sanctuary aren’t you?”

“It sounds stupid, but yeah. I know it’ll be a lot of work, but the animals just sound so scared sometimes, it’s like I can’t help but want to give them a safe place to live.”

Blue Spring nodded, “That’s good, I’m glad you care so much about them… but what about your job now? What about the rest of the team?”

“Well… I guess I’ll have to train that replacement I’ve been meaning to train for a while now.”

“That’d be a smart idea… Do you know who you have in mind? And please don’t tell me it’s me.”

Zipper stopped for a moment, “Well of course not—” His eyes widened in embarrassment for a moment as he started to break into a frantic explanation, “I mean it’s not that I don’t think you’re good for the job, I just— well you always seemed like you were busy— oh you know what I mean.”

Blue Spring let out a series of laughs and shook her head, “I’m not the prime candidate Zipper, I know. Trust me, I don’t even want to run the team, it just seems like too much stress you know?”

Zipper nodded, “It is… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the job but it’s gotten so frustrating lately, you know, just with everything.”

“I know… look I think it’s fine to step back for a while, just make sure you know what you’re doing first before you make such a drastic decision, okay?”

“Of course, that’s why I’m going to hold a meeting later with the others, I think they’ll understand too.”

“So who do you have in mind?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, earning a smile from Zipper.

“Atlas, isn’t it obvious? I mean no offense to the others, but he’s always been a step above the rest when it comes to stuff like this. He was one of the only ponies that helped with dealing with the Great Storm at first and I think he’ll be a perfect fit as captain.”

Blue Spring slowly nodded her head as she gazed out towards the lake again, “Atlas… Alright, I can see that. Do you think he’ll be up for the task?”

Zipper nodded, “I guess we’ll find out. I talked with him a little bit about it before but it was never a finalized thing.”

“Well, maybe you should talk to him a little more when we get there? We’re only a few minutes away and he usually doesn’t get started with weather duty for another hour, that gives you plenty of time to get it all sorted out.”

“Alright, but do you think I’m maybe overthinking it?”

“Zipper, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you rarely think things through. I think if you’ve put so much thought into this then maybe you already have your answer.”

The gray pegasus gave a quick nod, “Okay, I’ll talk to him then,” He paused, “Thanks Spring.”

“Thanks? For what?”

“For everything,” Zipper added with a smile, “I don’t think I say that enough, but it really means the world to me.”

A smile began to slowly spread across her face, “Anytime Zip, that’s what friends are for. So what do you think Patrick’s going to say?”

“Patrick?” Zipper perked up, “Oh I’m sure he’ll have some choice words for sure.”

The two broke into a fit of laughter as they stepped into the office, earning a confused glare from Golden Atlas, who was in the middle of dictating an email.

“I’m sorry, what?! You’re just quitting out of the blue?” Patrick replied in surprise, “The big hot shot is giving up?”

Zipper looked over towards Blue Spring and shook his head, “Not out of the blue, and it’s not me giving up, I just need a break to pursue some other projects, you know? I’m going to finish training Atlas over the next couple weeks and he’ll take over as weather captain for a few, I’m not really quitting permanently, at least just yet, just taking a leave for the time being.”

“And he’s okay with this?”

Zipper shrugged, “Yeah, we had a long talk about it a few hours ago, he could tell I was starting to lose focus and believe me, he’s more than ready to take over. I trust him too.”

Patrick slowly nodded his head, “Right… Okay, so he’s taking over, that’s fine. But what about you? What’s your whole plan? Just go ahead and run this by me again.”

“I want to start taking my talent seriously, and part of that is talking with you and River Breeze and figuring out what needs to be done if I want to get the whole animal sanctuary thing off the ground. I wish I could just explain my side of this in a better way, but I can hear the animals around the Oasis and it’s going to sound stupid, even from me, but they just want a safe place to stay.”

Patrick cleared his throat and started jotting down a few notes, “Alright, so you still want to make an animal sanctuary. Do you know your starting point? I mean I know you had some ideas on paper, but have you sat down and actually thought over the logistics behind it?”

Before Zipper could respond, Blue Spring cleared her throat, earning a confused glance from Zipper, “Yes, we have. At least I have. So back before ETS I was a park ranger in Florida, it wasn’t quite the same as running the kind of thing that we want to do now, but it’s pretty close to what we want to at least start with.”

“Mhmm, so a nature preserve type thing?”

“Yep!” She replied with a quick nod, “And I’ve got River Breeze with us on this too. She’s got a lot of the important stuff figured out and she’s willing to help if it means that she’ll be able to upgrade her facilities.”

Zipper leaned close to her and lowered his voice to a whisper, “We do?”

Spring nodded, “I’ll tell you more about it later.”

Patrick began to speak up again, “Right, and do you guys have funding in mind for this? It’s not going to be cheap if you’re still planning on building the whole visitor’s center thing like you were before.”

“Blue Spring and I have an idea in mind and I think we have what we’ll need for now, and I’ve got something in mind for covering some of the future costs but we won’t have those for a while.” Zipper added, perking up in his seat.

“Okay, so what exactly do you want to leave here with today then?”

“Well, obviously I’m giving you my two week notice on this, but an office space wouldn’t be bad either… you know, so we can have a dedicated space to plan all this all out.”

Patrick looked at Zipper with a smirk, “An office space? Why do you need that?”

Zipper nodded his head, “Yeah! So, that way we can manage it better and be more independent. Right now I’ve just been thinking of everything in my freetime and writing it all down, but we don’t actually have anywhere official to run this whole operation from.”

Patrick let out a chuckle, “An official office building then… I’m going to be real, I didn’t think you’d actually be so invested in this project.”

“Well like I said Patrick, I just want to do something responsible with my talent.”

“And you’re not just asking me now because Silver’s out of town now, right?”

Zipper shook his head, “No, it’s just coincidence, I promise.”

The unicorn nodded, “Alright, I’ll tell you what. I’ll lend you two a spare warehouse down by the lake that we’re not using, and if you actually get this business off the ground and submit formal plans I’ll let you stay there. It’s not an official office building but it’ll probably serve you better than it’s serving me right now.”

“For real? You’re just going to give us a building for free?”

Patrick shook his head, “Okay, maybe not for free, but we can work out payment. It’ll at least be a heavy discount, probably just the basic utilities for now, but that could change later. I’ll go ahead and draft up an official contract, but you two are free to head over there whenever you’re ready.”

Zipper jumped up and excitedly hugged the surprised unicorn, earning a giggle from Blue Spring, “Oh my gosh, thanks! You don’t know how much this means to me Patrick! I’m actually going to do something really productive for once!”

Patrick quickly nodded his head and wiggled free, “Okay Zip, I’m glad you’re happy but you wanna give me a second to breathe?”

The pegasus backed off and flashed a nervous smile, “Uhh… sorry about that, I guess I just got a little too overexcited…”

The unicorn stood up and walked towards a large cabinet, opening it with his magic and fishing around in the drawer, “Right, so about that warehouse, I guess it’d be helpful if I actually gave you the keys and told you where you’re going.”

Blue Spring let out a laugh, “Yeah, that might be useful.”

“Mhmm, now let’s see,” He hopped out of his chair and walked toward a filing cabinet on the far side of his office, “I think I have it filed away in this section… aha!” Patrick excitedly exclaimed as he levitated a folder with a set of keys clipped to the side out of the cabinet. “82 Lakeside, It’s a bit smaller, but I think it’ll work just fine for your needs.”

Zipper picked up the folder and smiled, “I think it’ll be perfect.”

The unicorn nodded his head, “Let me know if you need anything, we can discuss all the paperwork later, and some of the extra costs for if you do actually get a business set up, does that sound fair?”

Blue Spring nodded, “Yeah, that’ll be fine. You won’t charge too much I hope?”

“Of course not, just utilities most likely. The building’s relatively new but like I said, it’s just been sitting there empty ever since we built some of the newer infrastructure.”

“Well we really do appreciate this Pat, it means a lot.” Blue Spring added, offering an outstretched hoof towards the unicorn.

He met her gesture and smiled, “Of course. I might be the boring facilities director, but I genuinely want my friends to succeed, and it’s really no trouble to me. Just make sure you know what you’re doing before you really get started with this. It’s not going to just be a simple walk in the park.”

Zipper smiled, “Oh I know, but it’s going to pay off in the end, I just know it!”

“Oh I’m sure it will, please keep me posted on how everything goes.”

“We sure will Pat, thanks again for everything!”

The unicorn smiled as the two pegasi stood up and left his office, excitedly whispering to each other as they exited.

The two pegasi excitedly trotted alongside the lake, heading towards their newly acquired warehouse, a loud flurry of honks drowning out most of their conversation.

Blue Spring flicked her ears a few times before turning towards Zipper, noticing that his own ears were pivoting around in all directions while he looked around with a blank expression. She paused for a moment and stepped closer to him, “Hey Zip you holding up?”

The gray pegasus shook his head for a moment and glanced back towards her, “Huh?”

“You’re doing it again.”

His face reddened for a moment, “Err— sorry, I guess I just keep getting distracted again.”

Spring nodded, “You’re doing that a lot more than usual, you sure it’s not bugging you?”

He shook his head, “It’s annoying, but I just need to get over it.” Zipper waved over towards one of the large geese, “I was trying to understand what he’s honking about now.”

“Any luck?” Blue Spring asked with a raised eyebrow.

Zipper shrugged, “I don’t know, guess I can try and ask him?” The pegasus trotted towards one of the larger geese, eyeing him with both curiosity and slight concern, “Heya Gustav how are you doing today? You sure are honking up a storm lately...”

The goose replied with a simple Honk.

“Still feeling a bit under the weather?”

Honk

“A...Alright, I guess I’ll have River Breeze take a look at you later if she’s not busy with the other animals at the clinic.”

Gustav replied with a cheerful sounding honk.

Blue Spring watched on in confusion, “I’m sorry but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this. It’s just so different.”

Zipper nodded, “It’s… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get used to it either, trust me.”

“You never know Zip, I’m sure you’ll get it all figured out in time.”

The pegasus shrugged, “I hope you’re right, It’s just so hard to even hear myself think sometimes.”

“Well if you ever need a nice relaxing place to get away to I might know a few, it’ll be hard to fully get away from any animal noise though.”

Zipper smiled, “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer sometime.”

The two resumed their walk, passing the geese and heading towards a large building that sat near an inlet. Blue Spring fumbled with her saddlebag for a moment as Zipper walked towards the shore. The mare squinted as she glanced up towards the vacant warehouse, the sun’s light shining brightly in her eyes, “82 Lakeside Street, I think this is us.”

Zipper nodded, “It’s perfect! We’re so close to the geese so if we set up a little area for them over there they won’t have to move too far at all!” He excitedly shouted, gesturing towards the inlet with a wing.

“It’s not bad, it will need a little work if we actually want to set up the sanctuary here, but at least there’s not too many buildings around so we won’t have that to worry about.”

“Mhmm, it’s a bit far from River Breeze’s too so that might be an issue… what was that whole thing about earlier by the way?”

Blue Spring raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“Well you said you talked with her about this before.”

Her face softened, “Oh, well I work with River on the weekends sometimes, it’s not like she’s super busy but she’s definitely in need of some upgrades. I kind of dealed her into this if you don’t mind, I figured it’d work out a lot better if we had an actual vet on our side, no offense to you or anything, but she’s the brains we need for our operation.”

He walked up to the warehouse and pushed the door open, holding it open for Blue Spring, “I guess you have a point, I can’t really keep them safe if I don’t even know how to properly do that. It’s probably the best option we have really.”

“River’s the only option we have,” She corrected.

As they stepped through the door Zipper flipped on the lights, letting out a sneeze as he breathed in the dusty air, “Man, I can see why Patrick is letting us borrow this place, it must have been sitting here empty for a long time now.”

Blue Spring nodded slowly, “Gee when we asked for an office I wasn’t expecting to get something so…”

“Empty?” Zipper completed for her.

“Yeah,” She shrugged back towards him, “I mean it’s nice and all, but we didn’t really need this big empty space. What are we even going to do with all of it?”

“Maybe River Breeze could find something to use it for?”

Spring shrugged, “I don’t really see what she could do with it, we’d have to spend a ton just to get it set up for anything she’d do.”

Zipper pointed up to the loft that overlooked the warehouse floor. “Well we’ve got an office up there it looks like.”

“Alright, well that’s good at least. But still, what are we going to even do with the rest of it? It’s just us three right now, maybe we’ll get a few more sets of hooves helping out eventually, but even then I don’t think we’ll ever outgrow this anytime soon.”

“Well… I guess we could try and find a good use for it in the meantime.”

Blue Spring raised an eyebrow, “What kind of use?”

Zipper shuffled his hooves around, “Well, the Oasis doesn’t really have any good nightlife does it?”

“Let me guess, you want to make something to fill that void?”

The gray pegasus shrugged, “Maybe not permanently, but it could certainly be a good way of bringing in some extra revenue, and driving up interest, you know?”

Spring let out a laugh, “So what is it? A nightclub? Bar?”

“An arcade.”

“An arcade…” she shook her head, “Zipper we don’t have hands, and there’s like a dozen humans here against what, three times as many ponies?”

He nodded his head and looked away, “Yeah okay, good point, but think about it. Classic arcade cabinets use buttons and joysticks right? Stuff that’s big enough to work well with hooves— and it’d give us all something that we really haven’t been able to do in years.”

“Okay… but where do we start with this? I mean we’ll need someone to help get us the cabinets, make some designs, a sign or two? You know the big stuff that the two of us can’t really do.”

Zipper smiled, “Hang on, I have an idea, I might know a guy that can help us out… at least with the design part.”

“Design part?”

“Well we’ll need signs and stuff right? Something flashy to bring people here.”

“Yeah… Where are you going with this?”

“Well Silver hung up some ads in the town center, one of them was for a graphic designer he knew.”

“And you’re just going to trust some random pony from an ad?” She asked with a furrowed brow.

Zipper nodded, “Silver did. And you know how he gets with other ponies.”

Blue Spring nodded, “Alright, I guess I’ll let you lead the way on this one… this should be interesting.”

Zipper held up his gauntlet, “NAVI call Stardust Designs”

Calling Stardust Designs… warning, user has specified quiet hours, would you like to continue anyways?”

“Yep! It’s important.” Zipper responded with a gleeful nod.

The comm began to dial for a few minutes before the pony on the end answered with a long yawn an annoyed sigh, “Go for Stardust… can I help you?”

“Hey Stardust… it’s Zipper, from the Oasis. I kinda needed help with something and Silver still had your ad hanging up around here so…”

“Uh huh, Zipper…. zipper, I uhh… sorry I can’t really place a face to the name. I’ve only been out there twice, you’ll have to forgive me.”

The pegasus looked towards Blue Spring before turning back towards his gauntlet, “You know. I’m like one of Silver’s best friends, I was the weather captain too.”

“One of Silver’s best friends… right,” Stardust paused for a moment, “Okay, well uhh… Zipper was it?”

“Yeah.”

“Right, well Zipper what did you need exactly?”

“Okay so uhh, well we’re making an arcade and I kinda needed a logo… and some signs ... and I’ll need tokens too!” Zipper excitedly answered.

“Okay okay just slow down for a second. So I can do most of that, but you need to keep in mind that I’m an entire state away from you right now so I’m going to have to make a trip down with my team and that’s going to drive the price up a bit. If that’s okay with you then we’re in business. So with that in mind, what kind of signs did you need, and do you have an actual idea for the logo?”

Zipper looked towards Blue Spring and then gave a quick nod, “Kinda? It’s nothing crazy, just something that says Zipper’s Arcade on it. Do you think you can do that?”

“Just Zipper’s Arcade? Do you have a font in mind… any kind of design choices behind that?.. You’re not really giving me much to work with here.”

Zipper froze for a second, “I uhh… well no, not really. I was kinda hoping you could help with that…”

The line sat quiet for a few moments until finally Stardust spoke up, “Okay, so normally this would be one of my least favorite kinds of orders to get just because I have to try and figure out what you want, but seeing as how a lot of people around me don’t like dealing with night ponies, I’m open to helping you with this. What kind of feeling are you going for with it? It’s an arcade so something modern, something futuristic, maybe something retro—“

“—Yeah! Something retro would be awesome!” Zippier excitedly shouted into the Comm.

Stardust let out a small laugh, “Okay retro it is, now what kind of sign did you have in mind for it?”

“Well I was thinking of a neon sign maybe, and probably some posters and banners… how much do you think that’ll be?”

“Well, I’ll have to outsource the neon so that’ll bring the price up a bit, but I won’t know for certain until we get the design finalized and out to the number cruncher for a price quote. Banners and posters shouldn’t be too terribly expensive, I know a guy that can do them in house so that’ll keep it a bit lower.”

“How much is a bit lower?”

“I couldn’t tell you until we get a design proofed out for a quote.”

“Okay… and what about the tokens?”

“The tokens?”

Zipper nodded towards the gauntlet, “Well yeah, we’ve gotta have custom tokens or it won’t be a real arcade.”

“Okay so hang on a minute, I’m just a graphic designer, I can do pretty standard signs, and even some more complex stuff, but tokens are well outside my domain… that said, I have a friend that might know a guy that can get tokens minted for you, I have no idea what the price is going to be like so don’t ask. I’ll see if I can track down his number for you though.”

“Okay cool!” Zipper excitedly shouted back, earning another annoyed sigh from the tired night pony.

“So uhh… was there anything else you needed?”

“Oh uhh, not really. So I guess I’ll just give you a call later and we can talk the designs over?..”

“I have a better idea. Weird question but do you know when you’ll probably be asleep next?”

“Uhh… tonight? Maybe like around 9ish?”

“Okay cool. I’ll stop by your dream and show off a few design ideas and we can go from there, it’s honestly the easiest option given how far away we are…” Stardust paused for a moment, “So uhhh… you ever have anyone dreamwalk to you before?”

“Uhhh no, not really? You can do that?” Zipper paused for a moment, “Wait, won’t you be awake by then?”

“Probably, but Silver’s been teaching us all about waking dreams… it’s kind of amazing, the dude’s on vacation and still won’t take a break from his work. Trust me though, it’s a lot of boring night pony stuff that you wouldn’t understand so don’t worry about it. Just don’t be confused when you’re suddenly aware you’re in a dream, it’ll make the design process a lot easier for both of us, okay?”

Zipper nodded towards the Comm, “I guess I’ll take your word for it… can’t wait to see what you come up with!”

“Mhmm. Just give me a call if you need anything else I guess, see you in your dreams.” He finished as the Comm went silent.

Zipper looked up towards Blue Spring and smiled, “I think this means we’re one step closer to getting there.”

She nodded, “And what about the games? Do you have anything in mind for that? Because it’s probably not going to be easy or cheap for us to do on our own.”

Zipper paused for a moment, “I uhh…”

“Didn’t think of that. That’s what I figured,” Blue Spring said, finishing his sentence. She sat in hesitation for a moment before perking up, “What about that night pony that’s been trying to get some more nightlife off the ground too? Wasn’t she the one that got a few old cabinets into the rec center? Maybe she’d know where to start.”

“You mean Sine Wave? I’ve barely said two words to her, I don’t think she likes me very much.”

The blue pegasus let out a laugh, “Well Zip you kind of crashed through her wall when you tried out that goofy spiral maneuver again while she was asleep, you ever see a tired night pony? How about one that you just scared awake. I think anyone would be more than annoyed if they got woken up and had to deal with repairing that kind of damage.”

Zipper’s face reddened in embarrassment, “Okay maybe that’s a good point,” he looked back towards her, “but do you think she’d really be onboard to help us with this?”

Blue Spring shrugged, “Well we won’t really know until we ask. So how about it? You want to go stop by her place later and see if she wants to talk about it over some drinks or something?”

He nodded, “Sure, I guess if she’s our only bet then we might as well give it a go…” he paused for a moment, clearly unsure of whether it was a good idea or not.

“Still afraid she’s mad at you? You shouldn’t be. Don’t you remember how much Silver emphasized how important it is to forgive? Most of the night ponies here look up to him, including her. She’ll probably be more than happy to help out once you explain the whole idea.”

“What is that bird brain doing here?! I thought I told you to stay away!” The dark purple night pony hissed as she bared her fangs at Zipper, ignoring the small salad she had prepared for herself.

The gray pegasus shrunk back in fear at the aggressive display, letting out a scared whimper as Blue Spring pushed her way past him, walking towards the other end of the table, “Hey now, calm down Sine! We’re here because we wanted to ask you something.”

The night pony shook her head, idly picking away at her meal, “I don’t want anything to do with him. He knows what he did and he better know that what I said I’d do wasn’t a threat… it was a promise.”

Blue Spring rolled her eyes, “Okay look, remember what Silver said about forgiveness? Because I think if he was here right now he’d have some choice words to say to you.”

Sine slowly nodded her head, letting out an annoyed sigh, “Yes, well Silver isn’t here. But fine, what do you want then?”

“What I want is for you to listen to something that we think you might be interested in, and hopefully we can end whatever drama’s going on between you two. So how about you put this behind you for a little while and we can deal you in on what we’re working on, because I think you’re the only pony in the entire Oasis who can really help us with the hardest part.”

“Look, I know what Silver said, but I don’t care. I’m not going to forget about this until the bird brain apologizes for ruining my garden.”

Blue Spring nodded, “And he will. Isn’t that right Zipper?” She asked as she turned towards him, flashing a stern glare.

The gray pegasus meekly nodded, “I… Yes.”

“Okay then, let’s hear it.” Sine responded with a smirk.

“I… I uhm, I’m sorry.” Zipper quickly replied back.

“That’s it?!”

The pegasus recoiled in fear again, “I…” He let out a deep sigh, “Look, Sine, I’m sorry. I’m bad at this kind of stuff but I’m really sorry I ruined your garden. I promise I’ll make it up to you sometime.”

“Oh you will now? So you’ll help me replant all my flowers then?”

Zipper shuffled his hooves around, “I… I will.”

“Wonderful. And you’ll pay for all of it then? Including the broken wall that you crashed into that’s still broken?”

Zipper’s eyes widened, but before he could protest Blue Spring chimed in, “Yes he will. Isn’t that right Zipper?”

Zipper flashed his friend an annoyed look, but didn’t protest further. With an annoyed sigh he turned towards Sine, “Yes. I’ll pay for all of it. How much do I owe you?”

Sine paused in consideration for a moment, “How about we work on everything and I’ll give you the bill when we’re done, k?”

The gray pegasus slowly nodded, “Alright. It’s a deal.”

“Wonderful! I forgive you.” The night pony cheerfully replied, “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what’s your big crazy idea?”

“Well, Zipper, River, and I are trying to build an animal sanctuary. Zipper here had the bright idea of making an arcade to get some side cash to fund some of the annoying permits that we’ll have to get.”

“And it’ll give the Oasis something fun to do at night! Plus we can get a lot of positive attention that way!” Zipper excitedly chimed in.

“An arcade…” A smile slowly began to spread across her face, “Well to tell you the truth I thought this was going to be some really dumb idea, but I think I can actually get behind you on this one, bird brain.”

“Sine! He said he’d promise to pay you back, what happened to forgiving him?” Blue Spring protested.

The night pony smirked, “Well I forgave him, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still a bird brain," She turned towards Zipper, taking a few bites of her salad, "So tell me bird brain, what’s the plan? And please tell me you haven’t gotten any cabinets yet.”

Zipper picked away at his own plate for a few moments, taking a small nibble before nodding, “Right. So we haven’t gotten any cabinets yet, but we do have an idea in mind for some of the design aspects.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean you have a layout planned out? Because I’ve got a rad idea in mind that I’ve been itching to execute if you catch my drift.”

“Is that a yes then? You’ll help us?”

“Well, what about it? Would you be okay with me calling the shots on our design then?”

“Well, as long as it isn’t the signage then I think we’re good.”

Sine Wave smiled and dug into her salad, “Well then bird brain, and friend, I think that makes us business partners.”

“So I’m going to go ahead and assume that answers our unasked question, about whether you’d be able to get us some arcade cabinets?” Blue Spring asked in between her own bites.

The mare nodded, “Yep. It won’t be hard at all, trust me.”

“Perfect, so uhh, I hope this isn’t part of what I’m paying you back for… is it?” Zipper asked with a twinge of concern.

The mare let out a chuckle, “Don’t worry bird brain, it’s all taken care of. I know a guy down in Phoenix that’s been trying to offload a bunch of surplus cabinets. No one’s buying them right now, go figure, so I kind of scooped up as many as I could… not like I’m really spending that much on anything else.”

“So you already have the cabinets?!” Zipper excitedly asked.

Sine nodded, “Kinda. Kal has them in storage, said he could hold them for me for the month but if I didn’t pick them up then he’d wind up selling them off to some guy out in California. I take it you two have a space to house all these?”

Blue Spring nodded, “Yep! Pat had an old warehouse down by the lake, said we could use it as long as we needed it.”

“Ah, the one down by the inlet?”

Zipper nodded, “That’s the one!”

“Perfect,” she glanced at the clock on her wall and turned back towards the pair, “I need to make a call or two, mind if I stop by in the morning? I should know everything I need to know by then.”

“Sure. Thanks again for the dinner, Sine.”

The night pony nodded, “Breakfast, but I guess it’s dinner for you two. Thanks again for promising to fix my garden, bird brain. I’ll be sure to get a whole list of things I need you to do all made up in the meantime.”

Zipper slowly nodded, “It’s… alright. See you in the morning.”

She smiled, “Nice seeing you too Spring, thanks for teaching bird brain some manners.”

“Any time.”

The two walked out of the night pony’s house and started on the short walk back to Blue Spring’s home. Zipper couldn’t help but listen to the distant animal sounds, his sensitive ears picking up on every call and chirp.

Before long the two were nearing Spring’s small home, and as Zipper walked Spring up to her door he turned and smiled, “I just want to say thanks again for everything Spring, I really appreciate all the help. It means more to me than I think you realize.”

The blue pegasus smiled, “Of course. It’s something this place needed, and I can’t wait to see what happens from here on out.”

Zipper raised an eyebrow, “The arcade or the sanctuary?”

“Both,” She answered as she opened her door, waving towards the entrance with a wing, “You staying over tonight or flying back home?”

“I think I’ll head home, I need to get some chores done.”

“Sure you don’t want to sit down and watch another movie?”

Zipper shook his head, “Nah, I’d love to but I also need to go clean up Gordon’s cage. He’s been driving me crazy.”

“You can hear more than just him squawking?”

The pegasus nodded, “Yeah. It’s like he’s talking to me and actually talking to me. It’s hard to explain but yeah you already know that.”

Blue Spring smiled, “Good luck with that Zip. See you in the morning?”

“Same time, same place.”

She smiled, “Great, see you then.”

“See you when I see you, have a nice night Spring.”

With a final hug goodbye, Zipper took off towards his own home, excitement carrying through him as he saw his dreams finally becoming a reality.

Author's Note

Takes place around late November, shortly after "An Oasis in Motion"