Fallout Equestria: New Horizons

Charity: Employee of the month

“Charity, I think I deserve a raise.” I put my financial reports down as I looked at the fool that said those words to me.

Sitting across the desk from me was the cybernetic mare I had created to flourish my business, the same mare who was the worst fuck up in every job that didn’t just involve killing something, the idiot Blackjack. “Excuse me? Do you want to run that by me again?”

“I think I deserve a raise.” This fool folded her forehooves at me, she was staring me down like she was actually going to get me to say yes. “My work over the past few months shows I deserve a reward.”

I leaned back in my chair, crossed my hind legs, and gave her my deadpan stare. “And what makes you think you deserve a raise? What makes you think you need a raise above Lacunae?”

That’s when she proudly stood up and began marching around. “I took out the pirates raiding Golden shore bay. I opened the 75 and stopped the Hell’s Nightmares. I stopped the bandits of the Smoky hills.” She pointed a talon from her hoof at me like she had scored a victory. “And I did all this without Rampage or Lacunae. I worked twice as hard with no help boss, isn’t that deserving of a raise?” She gave me filly eyes, me, the filly who mastered that look when bartering with consumers.

“Oh, oh really. You think that deserves a raise?” I put my hooves on the desk as I leaned forward ready to tear her down. “You think you need a raise?! Well, Blackjack let me tell you how much you've been costing me.” My horn lit up as I lifted a special book just for Blackjack’s fuck ups. “On your recent job you lost another new Highmare motorcycle that would have cost 4,000 caps to make.”

She tried to cut me off. “But, I brought in another bike I took from the Nightmares.”

“You brought a shitty 200-year-old relic. That thing costs half as much as your ride.” I ended that protest before it happened.

“On your Golden Hills job you blew up half the docks. I had to pay 10,000 caps in damages. On the Smoky Hills job you unleashed a feral ghoul horde, the client only paid half the price for that job.” I gave her the hardest evil eye I could, she started looking ashamed, good. “And all of that’s was in the last three months, you want to go back through the last year of fuck ups?

She shuddered as she tried to come up with a defense. “But boss, it's not fair! Why do Rampage and Lacunae get paid more than I do!”

She wanted a reason, I’d give her a reason. “Oh, I will show you.” I hopped from the chair and trotted past the cyber pony to the door. “Follow me.” As we walked through the newly flourish and clean halls of the O.I.A. hub we came upon the employee break room, entering the large room one sight caught our eye. The employee of the month wall.

“See that?” the Cyber Mare nodded. “I want you to tell me the order of ponies on that wall.”

Blackjack groaned in annoyance but obliged. “Rampage, Lacunae, Rampage, Lacunae, Lacunae, Rampage, Rampage, Lacunae, Lacunae, Lacunae.” She let out a loud breath.

“That’s why they get paid more.” I stomped to emphasize the point.

“Being a suck up.” she tried to grumble under her breath thinking I couldn’t hear her.

“Oh no no no my little pony.” I trotted up to the wall to make a little point that even Blackjack could understand. “All of these photos are for more than just impressing me. Every time Lacunae or Rampage gets employee of the month that means they have done something to help or improve the company.” I pointed to the first frame. “Rampage made deals with a town that’s now a partner of ours.” I pointed to the next one. “Lacunae found a more sound route for transporting our goods to our clients in the north.” And the next one. “Rampage unlocked a warehouse of old world-building material that we can use in our construction projects.” I stomped a hoof making sure my words were heard. “They did not simply do a job, they pushed this company forward.”

And here came the whining. “What? Boss, how am I supposed to do any of that! I’m not good at getting ponies to work for us.” Every time she did it just ended in them shooting at her. “Come on, there has to be something I can do.” She got on her knees, clapping her talons together in a begging pose with sad filly eyes again. “Please boss there’s gotta be something I can do

“No.”

“Come on please?”

Celestia damn it, of all the ponies I get cursed with as an employee it’s the crier. Memories of her whining her way out of a debt she owed me years ago came crawling back. If she put that crying to use I could make a cap off it. And that’s when it hit me.

“You know what Blackjack, you can become an employee of the month if you do a little job for me.” I smiled evilly at her.

She hopped to her hooves in childish joy. “YES! Thank you, boss, I will do anything you tell me.”

“Guns, Armors, Foods, bullets. We have all newly created goodies at the Crusader shop.” Blackjack shouted while spinning a sign around with a huge arrow on it. “Your one stop shop of fine products in this dead Wasteland.”

She stood in front of the shop, occasionally having to move around to make sure passersby saw her. Most of the customers at my sister’s trade hub built around an old world supermarket would pay little attention to my shop. But having a Cyber Mare running around while spinning a sign and wearing clown makeup got quite a lot of eyes and quite a lot of paying customers.

And Blackjack for the most part seemed to be enjoying her new position. “I hate my job.”

I watched my little clown bring in the caps from my viewscreen, sipping a fresh glass of apple juice with my legs crossed on the desk. “I have such good employees.”

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