Rares & Pie: Burgers n' Fries

by kaminakat

Rating: teen
Tags: Sex, Profanity, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Human, Narcotics, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Romance
Length: 7173

Even in this world a few removed, where things aren't so special and magic is but a dream: people need each other, and people need to eat.

Ongoing story series about Rares and friends working at a run down mall in our boring universe, and how even then the pull of friendship still brings them together.

The "warnings" tags (narcotics, profanity, sex) are all pretty mild. This is basically like a daytime sitcom.

Header art (and any drawings I put at the end of chapters) is by me :)

Published 2023-04-28 05:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-07-06 23:35:45 UTC

Ep 1 - Friendship is Something

In the back of a crummy mall food court burger joint, propping the door to the walk-in freezer open with an errant leg, a young woman lay sprawled out on the cold tile floor. Her hair, purple, but showing a bit of brown in her roots, was splayed out in every which way in a fashion most tragic.

For this was, as the young lady was want to exclaim to the world, a TRAVESTY.

Her arms flailed with a lack of purpose. The freezer echoed her exasperation back to her.

“It’s all just such a damned waste!” she declared after a deluge of whingeing groans. “A woman in her PRIME, cast into servitude to peddle BURGERS. No matter her inner world just aching to be told, her creativity boundless; never before has such a TRAGEDY befallen this weary world-“

The woman’s diatribe was cut short as she felt the bump of the freezer door pushing against her leg. She looked up.

Another young gal, this one sporting a similarly unkempt mane (curly and pink, however), stood looking down at her.

“Oh, hi!” chirped the pink-haired girl. “I thought I heard someone having a moment back here.” She leaned down a bit. “I’m the new girl, I start today. Is everything okay down there?”

She grinned with a smile that would have seemed teasing if she didn’t exude such sincerity.

Floor-bound legs kicked and the freezer girl groaned like a thousand grumpy tomcats.

“It’s all just too much. We weren’t meant to be here every day, stuck under heat lamps and cleaning out grease.”

Her arms shot up, emphasizing her screed.

“We are to be running through the grass, frolicking! Enjoying! LIVING! I shouldn’t be wearing this uniform; I should be sat under a tree in an evening gown, writing up a book of poetry. There is love in my heart, you see!! Love in my heart, weariness in my eyes, and above all an endless sonnet alight in my head.”

The girl’s arms slapped back down to the floor with pure dramatics.

Standing above her still, the curly-haired girl paused for a moment.

“...you have a sonnet in your bonnet?”

“Yes, I suppose I do.”

The new girl smiled again and squatted down to address her coworker.

“Well, maybe you can tell me that sonnet some time. Right now we have a line though, so we better get back to it.”

She offered out her hand to the weary woman.

“I’m Pinks by the way. Nice to meetcha!”

The purple-haired one sighed and took the hand.

“I guess you’re right. Call me Rares.”

As one girl helped another up, in the back of a crummy burger joint in a run down mall, things would start to move into place. Because even in this world a few removed, where things aren’t so special and magic is but a dream: people need each other, and people need to eat.

RARES & PIE: BURGERS N FRIES
EPISODE ONE: FRIENDSHIP IS SOMETHING

“Here you go, sir. Have a nice day, thank you for-“

Before Rares could finish her pre-programmed spiel, the man she had handed his tray did a prompt about-face and headed to a table.

“...nothing,” Rares finished under her breath.

She stood (feet aching) manning (womanning?) the cash register under the neon burger sign denoting her place in the run down food court of the equally run down Canterlot Springs Mall. Pinks was whistling a tune while she womanned the grill, so Rares was stuck dealing with the rubes.

Luckily for her, a more familiar face approached the restaurant.

“What was his problem?” asked a mousy looking girl with thick bangs and thicker frames on her glasses. She wore a white lab coat over her casual clothes, which in the setting of a food court just sort of made her look like someone in costume at a convention. Held against her chest were some papers.

“He eats here,” replied Rares in a tone as flat as the tile floor.

The science lady scowled.

“I eat here sometimes, Rares.”

“I’m aware, Twily.”

Her eyes rolling up and behind her thick frames, Twily handed the papers over.

“Here’s your lab from yesterday,” she stated, “everything looks to be where it should.”

Pinks popped up beside Rares behind the counter.

“Whatcha got there?”

Rares held up the paper.

“This is my Woman Stat Sheet,” she explained dryly. She put it down and pointed to the girl in the lab coat. “This is my friend Twily.” She then pivoted, looking at her friend on the other side of the counter. “This is The Pink One. She’s from out of town.”

“Nice to meetcha!” exclaimed Pinks. She pointed at the other girl’s lab coat. “Are you a doctor or something?”

“Lab aid,” explained Twily, adjusting her glasses. “I work at the Med Lab across the street.” She pointed a finger at The Pink One. “And listen, you-“

“Pinks.”

“Listen, Pinks. I know we don’t know each other, but you need to promise me something. You do NOT tell ANYONE that Rares here is my patient, and that I run labs for her. As far as you are concerned, Rares doesn’t know anything about my work. Kapeesh?”

“Yes m’am!” replied Pinks, saluting.

Rares snickered under her breath. “Didn’t you take an oath or something?”

“Turning away the poor from care IS doing harm,” Twily retorted. “Also, missy, you really shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

Rares scoffed and then reached over to the soda fountain and filled a large cup.

“And you the same,” she said, handing Twily the drink.

The two stuck their tongues out at each other, paused, then both laughed.

As they regained their composure, Twily noted a woman in her periphery who seemed to be heading towards the burger joint.

“Anyways,” Twily remarked, “I better get going. Remember to take your meds.”

Rares flinched. “Thanks for the reminder I actually forgot this morning.” She reached down and pulled up a backpack, sticking her arm in and rifling around. Producing a small pill bottle, she unscrewed the cap and popped a small yellowish tablet into her mouth.

Twily handed her the drink for a moment as she washed down the medicine.

“Pinks,” said Rares as she handed the drink back, “go grab me some fries.”

The Pink One saluted once more and headed back to the fryers. Rares dug back into her bag until she came to an unpleasant realization.

“The other one isn’t in here.”

Twily frowned.

“Well, you better find it. I can’t get you more until your refill date.”

As Rares shook out her pack to no avail, Twily turned back towards the mall entrance on the other side of the room.

“I’ll see you later. Good luck.”

Rares watched as after Twily left another girl approached, but then dropped a quarter which started rolling away. The would-be customer took notice and chased it out of Rares’ field of view.

“Same...” she muttered to herself.

“Your friend was really nice!” said Pinks, walking up beside her, chomping on fries. “See, not everything is bad. You got friendship! Oh, sorry, here’s your fries.”

“Friendship is whatever,” replied Rares, “right now I need to find some missing meds.”

“Maybe one of those two can help!”

Rares looked up just as two more customers approached. One was a tall girl with jet black hair, wearing a nice gray blouse. The other was a short and rail thin person who looked more androgynous, wearing a white tee shirt and a beanie over messy electric blue hair. The second one’s eyes were obscured by a pair of tinted magenta shades.

“Oh, those two,” said Rares with a chuckle, “nah they’re just a couple of like, mall hooligans. In 2023. It’s hilarious.”

The tall girl stomped her foot. “Rares, we are not hooligans!”

“...Octavia. Be serious. Come on.”

“I’M not!”

Rares laughed. “Yeah, sure, YOU aren’t on your own.” She smiled and gestured toward the blue haired person. “Get them involved and you’re basically aiding and abetting.”

The individual in question grinned and gave finger guns.

“Vinny does what Vinny does,” explained an exasperated Octavia, “I just try to keep them out of prison.”

“Ooo, intrigue!” said Pinks, perking up.

Vinny grinned, reaching into their pocket. Octavia smacked their hand away.

“What have I been telling you!?”

Vinny shrugged dismissively.

Octavia turned to the burger girls.

“They have been selling just random loose pills,” she started, then glared at Vinny, “to TEENS SOMETIMES.”

Vinny looked up at the ceiling, as if not hearing what Octavia had just said.

“I don’t even know where they find this stuff,” Octavia continued, “it’s like they just find them around here on the floor I swear.”

Pinks raised a finger to her lips. “Hmm, I wonder what kind of stuff she finds?”

Vinny again tried to reach for their pocket, and was again slapped by Octavia. They stuck their tongue out at her.

“You are NOT trying to sell this new chick that E,” said Octavia sternly.

Rares perked up this time. “My prescription!”

Octavia gave her a look.

“...you got prescribed ecstasy??”

Rares head slammed into the counter.

“Geez, easy there!” yelled Pinks.

“What’s the pooooOOOINT!” asked Rares, groaning as she turned her head up to look at the folks on the other side of the counter.

Vinny gave her a sympathetic look. They reached into their other pocket and produced a small glow stick attached to a plastic string. They cracked it, letting it glow to life a neon blue, and then placed the string over Rares head. It fell down and hung in front of her chest.

Looking up, Rares tilted her head.

“T-thank you?”

Vinny gave her a thumbs up, put their hands behind their head, and turned and walked away.

Octavia took a second to notice, flinched, and then walked after them.

“Oh no you don’t!!”

Pinks watched as the two made their way out of the food court. “Your friends are funny.”

Rares let her face droop back down on to the counter.

“I’m doomed. It’s all over.”

“Aw, it’ll be okay!” cheered Pinks. There was a pause, and then: “Look, that girl has a cowboy hat! Neat!”

Ice shot down Rares spine.

“Oh no.”

She was able to look up for a split second to see the person wearing that hat walk towards the restaurant.

It was a tall, gruff woman with golden blonde hair and freckles over her face. On her head was a Stetson hat and in her right hand she held a red toolbox. Her name was AJ, and Rare knew her well. Very well. Thought about her. A lot.

A lot a lot.

Rares slid down behind the counter in an instant. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

“Pinks!” she whisper-yelled. The Pink One looked over. Rares pointed to her and then the register.

As Pinks walked over to take command of the counter, footsteps echoed louder as AJ approached.

Rares tensed up even more, wrapping her arms around herself and trying to breathe.

She perked up her ear and held her breath as Pinks greeted the customer.

A loud CLUNK sounded as AJ set her toolbox on the counter, causing Rares down below to squeeze her upper arm in her hand so hard it would leave a mark. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she listened to the two girls talk.

“Well, it’s mighty fine to meet ya,” said AJ in a slow, thoughtful voice.

Rares bit her lip.

“Not that I mind, but what happened to the other lovely lady workin’ here?”

Rares lost control and bit down too hard, nicking her lip. She yelped silently and put her hand to her mouth.

She looked up to see Pinks looking straight at her.

“She wants to talk to you!”

Infinite profanities ran through Rares’ mind. She muttered out some combination of whispering, scolding, and pleading for Pinks to stop.

“Ah,” said Pinks, turning back to AJ, “she says she isn’t here right now.

Rares grabbed her book bag and screamed into it.

Breathing heavily, she tried to calm herself to hear the rest of the conversation.

AJ was laughing. Not in a mean way, just in her usual gentle voice. “Well, that’s a shame. Tell her I said hello when you get the chance.”

Pinks looked back down at her.

Rares gave her the iciest glare she could.

“Ooookay!” said Pinks, “I’ll go get your order started.”

“Thank you kindly,” AJ replied, before leaning against the counter as she waited, causing it to creak.

Listening as AJ whistled a soft tune, Rares felt her breathing even out. She lifted a hand and placed it against the back of the counter, where she knew the other woman to be. Her eyes closed and she sighed.

Pinks brought the food out and waved off the woman who brought such a reaction out of Rares.

After hearing the footsteps fade out, The Pink One glanced down at her coworker.

“All clear!”

Letting out a breath she was subconsciously holding in, Rares shot up and flopped over the counter.

“Oh my god,” she said, letting her arms dangle over the side.

“Yeah, seriously,” replied Pinks, grabbing herself a drink. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone react like that to anything.”

A new voice came from across the counter, soft and airy yet totally monotone.

“Rares is down incomprehensible for AJ, everyone knows that. It’s practically a law of nature.”

The burger girls looked over to see a petite looking young lady wearing a hoodie sporting an inexplicable pair of what looked like droopy dog ears attached to each side of the hood, which she had up. Her face was decorated with various piercings and some sort of shiny stickers here and there. Around her neck was a faux leather collar with a small dog-bone shaped tag, which simply read: “Flutters”.

“Bark,” she stated extremely plainly, before looking up at the menu.

“Shut up shut up shut up,” mumbled Rares, still flung dramatically over the counter. She felt her cheeks burn a bit.

“Such fascinating folks at this mall!” said Pinks, before addressing the new girl. “Flutters, I presume?”

“Yes,” replied the dog-hoodie clad individual. “Wags tail.”

“So you’re like, a dog?”

“Puppy girl. Yes. I think that’s quite apparent.”

“Interesting....”

Pinks took the pup’s order and Rares peeled herself off the counter to go make it.

“So, how long have you been doin the dog thing?” Pinks asked before slurping on her soda.

“I’m trying it out this week.” Flutters watched as someone else walked by. “Grr.” she remarked, showing her teeth, but in a very non-confrontational manner.

“I see, I see,” replied Pinks. Her coworker came up next to her with a tray of food.

“She’s just like this,” explained Rares, “every week it’s some new aesthetic or something.”

“Let people enjoy things,” stated Flutters, before shaking her head and allowing her ears to flop to and fro. “Dogs, in my case. Bark. Woof, even.”

Rares rolled her eyes.

“Listen, Fido,”

“That’s not my name.”

“Flutters.”

“Wags tail.”

“Both you and I know that these constant bits are an attention thing. Just be straight up about it.”

Flutters shook her head.

“Just because you’re a drama queen doesn’t mean everyone works like that.” She lifted up a hand (paw?) and scratched behind one of the floppy ears. “The planet is going to become uninhabitable during my adulthood. I might as well have fun dressing up as a dog while I can.”

“Geez, Flutters,” commented Pinks.

Rares sighed.

“Sorry,” she said, “I’m just stressed out cause I lost my meds. I don’t know what to do.”

“Why don’t you look in the mall lost and found,” suggested Flutters. She then gave Pinks an aside glance. “Ruff, in other words.”

Rares perked up.

“There’s a lost and found?!”

“How do you know that?” asked Pinks, handing over the order.

“I work at the movie theater at the other end,” explained Flutters, gesturing towards the hallway with her head, “people are always leaving random stuff in there. Bow wow wow.”

As the puppy girl turned to leave, another customer cropped up. A tomboyish gal in a tracksuit, she tried to get Flutters attention.

“Lost and found is in the service hallways,” Flutters hollered back, followed by a frank “awoooo” as she power walked away.

The tomboy sighed, watching her go.

“So what, she’s a dog now?” she asked in a raspy voice.

“Apparently!” said Pinks, “although I just met her so I didn’t really have any other context. I’m Pinks, who are you?”

“Dash,” stated Rares, getting the gals attention. “Actually, I need you to do me a favor.”

Dash groaned. “Right now?”

With a hop, Rares slid over the counter. She pulled of her visor and put it on Dash’s head.

“Cover me for just a sec.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Just do it!!”

As Rares scurried toward the hallway she could hear Dash grumbling to a sympathetic Pinks behind her.

The mall wasn’t too too busy, and the echoes of her sneakers turned a few heads. Rares slowed her roll and kept an eye out for the service door. While passing the arcade, she got a peek inside to see Flutters atop a DDR machine. She had a crowd of a few people around her as she chanted “bark. bark. bark.” with each foot placement.

Right after the water fountains, Rares headed into a door marked “Staff Only.”

Inside, the echoes of mall goers was all but removed. Bleak gray walls surrounded her, with various instructions on where certain things were located notated in faded paint here and there.

She started heading down the hall when she heard some sort of rumbling that sounded like it was coming from the ventilation. Feeling unnerved, she proceeded until the noise seemed to grow louder.

“Um, excuse me.”

Rares nearly jumped out of her skin.

Turning to her side, the vents led into a large fixture on the wall. On the front of it was a grate. Behind them was a woman she thought looked familiar.

“Shoot, uh,” Rares mumbled, looking over the grate. It was held on by a few screws. “Let me try...”

They all were a bit loose and she was able to pry the thing off without too much trouble.

The woman stepped out, looking embarrassed. She had a quarter in her hand.

“Ohhhhh,” said Rares, “Oh my god it was you from earlier.” She looked over at the vents. “How...how did you even manage this.”

The woman searched for words.

“I...um. Uh.”

She shook her head.

“I can’t lie to you, I just don't know what went wrong.” She handed the quarter to Rares. “Thank you. I gotta go, my friend must be worried sick.”

Rares waved goodbye, before turning around into another familiar face.

“Well, thank you,” said AJ, tipping her hat, “did my job for me.”

Resisting the urge to scream, Rares nodded furiously.

“Pardon me,” said AJ, gently nudging Rares aside. “Was getting people sayin’ weird noises was coming from the vents. I figured it was a possum or some.” She withdrew a screwdriver from her back pocket and picked up the grate.

“Ah, I see,” added Rares, begging her brain to fire as normal.

AJ secured the gate, then turned back to the other woman. “By the by, what brings you in here? If you don’t mind that is.”

“I, uh, well-“

A strong hand reached forward slowly, softly grabbing the glow stick around Rares’ neck.

“You goin to a party?”

Rares took a sharp breath.

“I’m looking for lost and found.”

AJ nodded. “Gotcha. Need me to show you where?”

“Please,” said Rares quietly, looking at her feet.

AJ grinned and let the necklace go.

“Follow me, sweetheart.”

Rares heart skipped a beat as she followed behind her.

The walk down the hallway felt like eons. Rares wanted nothing more than to talk, but her words were lost to her. She couldn’t focus on anything but the person walking ahead of her. Her flowing blonde hair, her strong looking arms, her hands ohhhh my god oh my god.

They mercifully arrived at a table with a large plastic tub on top which housed all sorts of nonsense.

“There we are. What exactly are ya lookin’ for?”

Rares mumbled something about medication as she rifled though.

“Oh, this it?”

Rares head snapped around to see AJ holding up a small pill bottle.

“Let’s see,” she said as she went to read the label-

In a split second Rares swiped it out of her hand. She looked down, read “Estradiol” under a large Sharpie marker line and immediately stuffed it in her pocket.

“Yupthatsitokay”

AJ blinked.

“Well alrighty then.”

“Um,” Rares added, “t-thank you.” Her eyes kept drifting to the floor.

She looked up to see AJ with a kindhearted smile.

“Course. What are friends for?”

“Friends?” thought Rares. Her mind raced. She never thought of them as friends.

“Ah, sorry,” said AJ, shrugging, “guess I never really clarified.” She held out a hand, gently. “Would you wanna be friends?”

A stone dropped into Rares ‘stomach. Just friends. That’s what was happening. It was just as well, the poor girl wouldn’t want to put up with everything Rares had going on. She was a lot.

Something came across AJ’s face, and she looked down for a moment in thought. After a second, she smiled again and looked back up.

“Like to get to know you better, if that’s okay.”

Rares mind burst alight with color.

She forced her hand against its will into AJ’s. It felt like grasping a warm piece of leather pulled taught. After a moment she was able to muster out a single word: “same.”

“I look forward to it, Rares.”

AJ tipped her hat, then turned to leave.

After holding it together while the other woman took her exit, Rares let out a squeal of excitement/terror.

“Oh my god oh my god,” she muttered to herself, “oh I hope she didn’t hear that.”

Whatever, she felt charged up beyond belief.

Leaving through a different door, she made her way back down the mall hallway towards the door court. It was about time to wrap up the day anyways.

Dash was sitting on the counter as she waved Rares over.

“Bout time you got back,” she said, placing her visor back on Rare’s head. “What took you?”

Rares hopped over the counter, feeling newly invigorated. “I got my medicine,” she said, “and...more.” She felt her lips curling up into a smile.

“God you are such a sappy dweeb,” said Dash with a raspy laugh.

“Aw!” added Pinks.

All thee girls’ attention was grabbed as a giant plush cat made its way up to the burger joint.

Flutters set down the giant plush on the counter.

“Hello again,” she said, before turning to Rares, “and also, woof.”

She pointed at the colossal plush. “Some guy won this for me in the arcade. Due to my canine persuasion, I find this creature offensive. So you may have it, Rares, since you’re having a bad day.”

Rares blinked.

“Gosh I, I don’t know what to say.”

Pinks threw an arm around her shoulder.

“Told ya your friends were nice!”

Rares looked at her coworker and smiled.

“Yeah. Friendship is...something.”

“At least there’s that.”

In this world a few removed, where friends are peculiar and your new cat plush takes up half your dang bed: things were looking alright, and at the end of the day that was enough.

Ep 2 - Conquest of Bucks

“That’s 120. Double check 2?”

“120!”

“Good.”

It was a brisk morning in the early spring. The god-forsaken, decaying Canterlot Springs Mall was at the very least a warm place on mornings like this. The large glass entrance that went out to the parking lot was slightly foggy as the various food workers prepared the various restaurants for the day ahead.

Rares let out a sigh as she slammed the drawer shut on her cash register. “God, could I use 120 right about now. Hell, I could use 20.”

Pinks followed suit, then filled a cup with water and took a sip.

“Hmm,” said Rares, scratching her chin. She looked over to her coworker. “If I ran with 240 you wouldn’t stop me, right? On principle?”

Pinks leaned over the counter. Her eyes looked up in thought.

“Hrmm, I mean I guess?” She raised a finger: “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do in case of a robbery? Just let em go?”

“I mean this wouldn’t be a robbery, right,” replied Rares, digging into her bag and grabbing her medicine. “I’m not forcing you in this hypothetical.”

“Is there another word for that kind of crime?”

“Not sure.”

Rares took a pill, then grabbed a granola bar from her pack and chomped into it before taking the rest.

She had a thought. Turning around and reaching her arm up, she tapped on the lens of a tiny security camera surveying the restaurant.

“Hey dumb-dumbs,” she said, “this is a joke. Twas but a farce. A jape.”

She looked over to Pinks.

“Right, Pinks?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a joke. Laugh.”

“Oh! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-“

Rares quickly put her hands over the other girls mouth. Her fake laughter had been incredibly loud and disconcerting.

“Jesus, Pinks,” said Rares, still shaking off the willies, “you gotta warn me about stuff like that, you scared the crap out of me!” She removed her hands. “You got a creepy-ass laugh.”

“My laugh lights up a room!” retorted Pinks, folding her arms.

“Lights up a madhouse, maybe.”

Pinks shook her head. “That was a fake laugh. You have to hear my real one!”

Rares gestured with her hand.

“Go on then.”

“Tell a joke!”

The neon burger up above flickered on. Rares smirked.

“Wanna open this place?”

“Har har har.”

As the two girls continued to bicker, they grew closer still. Because even in this world a few removed, where things aren’t so special and magic is but a dream: people need each other, and people need to eat.

RARES & PIE: BURGERS N FRIES
EPISODE TWO: CONQUEST OF BUCKS

“Rrrrrr...”

Rares placed a hand over her stomach as it growled at her. She was standing, sweating over the grill while she leaned over a bit in discomfort.

Pinks peered back in from the front.

“Captain, we have an issue,” reported The Pink One.

Heading up to the counter, a middle-aged woman stood on the other side with a puzzled look on her face.

“What seems to be-“ Rares started, before looking down at the point-of-sale screen on the register. A window with a big red “X” had popped up in the center of the screen.

“Oh no...” she muttered. The woman was continuously swiping a credit card through the card reader to no avail.

“It’s not working,” said the lady.

“No, I don’t think,” Rares started, before looking over at the Pizza shop across the way and noticing the guy that worked there giving a shrug to a customer.

“Crap. I think the whole food court’s things are down.”

She put a hand up, gesturing at the card reader the woman kept trying. “It’s down, we’ll only be able to do cash right now.”

The woman blinked.

“But I want to use this card.”

Rares scratched at the underside of the counter with her fingernail. “I understand m’am, and I’m very sorry, but-“

“I’m going somewhere else.”

As the lady walked away Rares squeezed her nails into her palm, then took a deep breath.

Her stomach growled again.

“You okay there, partner?” asked Pinks, holding the abandoned tray of food. “You wanna eat this since they left?”

“Pass,” said Rares, holding her stomach. “Just behind on bills and I don’t have money for groceries right this second. She tapped around the POS screen to no avail. “Ah, this is gonna be a long day.”

Pinks set the tray down on the counter. “You really should eat, Rares.”

“Listen,” replied her coworker, pushing the tray away, “I already eat this stuff too much. Im really not trying to heighten my stroke risk higher than it already is.”

“I still think fed is better,” replied Pinks, looking a bit worried. “Seriously. Even if it’s fast food.”

“You’re not my mom, Pinks,” said Rares with a sneer. The other girl frowned, and Rares exhaled. “Sorry. Yeah just been rough. Just gotta make it to payday.” She grabbed a water bottle from her bag and took a swig. “How do you manage off this paycheck?”

Pinks shrugged. “I mean yeah it’s not good, but I live with my older sis and she makes good money.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your sister do?”

“She’s a professor!”

Rares was surprised.

“Dang, really? What’s she teach?”

“Geology!”

Rares grabbed a napkin and then a sharpie marker out of her bag. She wrote “NO CARD” on the napkin and placed it next to the card reader.

“I thought you told me your whole family was like, Amish?”

Pinks shook her head. “Everyone but Maud, she moved out before me.”

“I gotcha,” replied Rares. She watched two people in a row start to approach, read the sign, and walk away. “So you grew up in that, though. Can you like, build me a house?”

Pinks took her cup and filled it with cherry soda. “Ehh, that was more for the guys,” she explained. “I could sew you something!”

Rares grinned.

“Oh, sewings actually kind of my wheelhouse.”

“Yeah?”

Reaching down into her pack, Rares pulled out a three-color scarf. She handed it to Pinks. “Been sewing since I was a little kid. Almost got to go to school for fashion, but it fell through. If I had my way that’s what I would be doing all day, instead of rotting here with you.” She felt a pang if guilt. “Ah, I mean, I would rather both of us be in some boutique together. It’s not you, it’s this place that sucks.”

“No worries, I know what you meant,” said Pinks, flashing a smile. “This is really good though, I’m impressed. She wrapped the scarf around her head. “I kind of expected you to be an English major or something.” Her voice was muffled by the scarf.

“I considered that too,” replied Rares, “I would have liked to be an English teacher, I think.” She sighed. “I mean, writing is just sewing with words. Or, that is, sewing is writing with a needle.”

Her hair drooped over her face as she looked down in thought.

“It’s all sort of awash in the same sea, inspiration. I’ve written, I used to sing in the choir, hell I even used to write music myself. Any kind of art has always been something I found myself in.”

“Wow, that’s really beautiful, Rares.”

The two burger girls turned to see Flutters standing on the other side of the counter. She wore a black cloak which had a hood pulled up over her head, and some kind of metal cross necklace around her neck. She had a smattering of dark eyeshadow on, and thick eyeliner on her upper and lower lash lines. Her lips wore black lipstick to boot.

“Can I get a large fry?”

Rares gave a thumbs up and stepped back to the fryer, while Pinks took off the scarf and examined the new Flutters outfit.

“Cool threads,” stated Pinks, “so, Halloween in March?”

“Dungeon-core.”

“Is that a thing??”

“It is now.”

Walking up behind Pinks, Rares set down the order on a tray an placed it on the counter.

Her stomach growled again, and she sighed.

“How do you always afford all these wacky outfits?” she asked the hooded girl. “You only work at the movie theater, right? Plus you skip out on work like, constantly.”

“Our kiosk is down, so there’s no point in being there right now,” Flutters stated plainly, “and I make that money, that’s how.”

She then proceeded to reach into her cloak and withdraw a pin, then attached it to the front of her outfit. It read “Flutters” and had an image of a light bulb next to the name.

“Speaking of,” Flutters continued, shifting focus to Pinks, “let’s talk about you paying too much on your electric bill.”

“I am?” replied Pinks.

“Oh indeed you are,” said Flutters, pulling a clipboard out of her cloak.

Rares snatched the clipboard and looked over the papers attached to it. “Oh for Pete’s sake,” she said with a groan, “this is just one of those power scams. Don’t push this on our poor Pink friend.”

Flutters gently but firmly took her clipboard back.

“You’re just upset that you’re not saving money.”

“Flutters, this is a pyramid scheme. I’m pretty sure I’ve dealt with this exact company before.” Rares rubbed her forehead. “God. How do you even make money with this, have you duped anyone today?”

Tucking away her items back in her cloak, Flutters cleared her throat. “I’ll have you know I sold the owner of Canterlot Springs a package today.”

“The...owner of the mall??”

“What!” exclaimed Pinks.

Rares stared at her hands. “How...how did you even find...”

The gothic looking saleswoman chomped on a fry. “I told you, I make the money.” At that, she turned and walked away with her food.

Across from the food court, Rares watched as three women ran out of a shoe store in hysterics, belting or something akin to “the horror!!!”

“Maybe everyone is having technical problems,” posited Rares.

As the three panicked women ran off, AJ and Dash walked into view. They were chatting, though AJ looked stressed out. Her hair was messy, more so than usual, and she didn’t have her tools with her. Dash seemed oblivious to the state her friend was in.

They turned to head towards the burger joint.

Rares felt herself start breathing faster. Pinks placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You need to go hide?”

Rares shook her head.

“No, I’m okay. I’m okay.” She took a deep breath then looked over at Pinks. “I’m okay, right?”

“Yyyyyes?”

AJ and Dash walked up to the counter, the former giving a head nod to Pinks and then addressing Rares.

“Well I’ll be,” she said, sounding out of breath, “you’re a sight for sore eyes miss Rares.” She briefly withdrew her hat and wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Ah, y-yeah,” managed Rares, stammering. She felt her cheeks burn but held it together. “What’s wrong?”

“A/C system is messing up,” explained Dash. She smirked and gestured to the woman next to her. “This turkey has been in the oven all morning trying to fix it.”

“Shuddup.” AJ looked up at the menu. She paused, then squinted.

“I’ll have uh...number...twenty-two...?”

“D-do you mean number two?” asked Rares, feeling concerned now as well as flustered. She instinctually took a lock of her hair in her fingers and begun fidgeting with it.

“We’ll have two number two meals,” stated Dash, “large WATERS, to drink. Before this one hits the floor.” She snickered to herself. “It would be like a redwood falling, there would be collateral damage.”

“No, I don’t care about the calories,” mumbled AJ, before turning to Dash and raising a finger. “Let me pay for mine.”

“No.”

“Uh, girls,” interrupted Pinks. “We’re cash only right now, just a heads up.”

AJ blinked. She dug into her back pocket and produced a leather wallet. Opening it revealed a single dollar.

Dash reached into her pocket and took out a twenty, handing it to Rares.

“Keep the change.”

Pinks gave a thumbs up and headed back to the grill.

Opening her register, Rares felt her stomach make itself known again. She winced and placed a hand on her abdomen.

AJ had been pretty out of it, but she took notice of that.

“Hey,” she said, getting Rares’ attention, “you okay, sugar cube?”

Rares looked down.

“Oh, uh...yea, I mean-“

Pinks walked up next to her with the order on a tray.

“She hasn’t eaten.”

AJ swayed a bit before straightening out. “Now, I may be well and surely out of sorts,” she stated, “but I do believe that is a problem within the jurisdiction of your current location.”

“I know that, just,” started Rares, before trailing off. She looked down at the floor.

AJ hummed to herself quietly.

“Trying to stay healthy?”

Rares looked up.

“Yeah, I mean...”

“Money tight?”

“...yes...”

AJ nodded. She grabbed one of the cups off of the tray as Pinks handed it to Dash, and lifted it to her lips. Placing her other hand on top of her hat she threw back the drink. Some drops of water ran down her chin as she gulped the whole thing down.

Rares twiddled her hair in her fingers faster.

After finishing the whole thing in one go, AJ let out a satisfied “ahhhhh” before crushing the cup in her hand.

Some hairs wrapped around Rares finger tore out as she flinched and accidentally pulled them.

“Alright,” said AJ, grabbing a burger off the tray, “I’ll see you later on, sugar cube.”

She gave Rares a wink before she scooted off, throwing the crushed cup in a trash can and munching on the burger.

“Wow, that sure was something” stated Dash, giving Rares a knowing look. “Hey, have you guys seen Flutters? What’s she look like today?”

“Halloween lawn decoration grim reaper,” replied Pinks. She pointed across the room to the black robe at one of the tables.

Dash looked over then nodded. “Cool. See you kids later.”

As she walked away, Rares relaxed and let go of her hair. “I hate when she says that,” she mumbled, “she’s like three years younger than me.”

“Hey,” said Pinks, tapping Rares’ shoulder.

Rares looked over. “Yeah?”

“Good job!” said Pinks, giving two thumbs up. “That was a big improvement!”

If it was coming from anyone else it would have sounded condescending. Pinks wasn’t like that.

“Thanks,” replied Rares with a smile, giving her a light bop on the arm. “Glad that if I’m to be stuck in burger hell, it’s with you.”

Pinks nodded. “Poetic.”

Twily walked up to the counter. She was dressed in her usual lab coat and eating a banana.

“Hey burger girls,” she said, in between munching, “what’s goin on at the mall today? There was some sort of mechanic people on the roof.”

“Seems like there’s been a whole host of issues,” replied Rares, looking down at the POS screen displaying the same error message.

Twily hummed in thought. At the same time, a gray haired-older woman walked up. She looked like she was searching for something.

“Everything okay, m’am?” asked Rares.

“Oh, hello,” she said, turning to address her, “have you seen a young woman named “Flutters” around?”

Rares looked over to the table where the girl in question had been sitting across from Dash. Upon looking up, Flutters eyed the old woman, got a panicked look on her face, and promptly got up and ran towards the entrance.

“Ah, I haven’t seen her today yet,” stated Rares.

Pinks walked up beside her while eating some fries. “Isn’t she-“

Rares elbowed her coworker.

“Oh yeah,” said Rares, “she works at the uh, shoe store. I think.”

The woman groaned and walked back towards the hallway.

Twily shook her head.

“Pinks, no snitches.”

“I’m sorry guys!!!!” said Pinks, pouting with extreme exaggeration, “I have a hard time keeping secrets!! I’m too pure!!”

Finishing her banana, Twily laughed to herself as she turned to throw the peel into the trash.

All at once, the lights in the area cut off. Several gasps and yelps followed.

AJ’s voice cut through the darkness: “It’s okay! Generator should kick any sec now!”

After this, Rares heard a “WOAH!” from the other side of the counter, and then a thud.

The lights snapped back on.

Rares peered over the counter to see Twily sitting on the floor next to a banana peel that had not made it to the trash can. Her glasses has fallen off and she looked bamboozled.

Looking down at her register screen, she gasped: the error was gone.

“It’s fixed!”

She turned to Pinks.

The Pink One looked at Rares, then the register, then Twily as she picked her glasses up off the floor.

Then, she laughed.

This one wasn’t like earlier; she had to hunch over slightly from the force of it. Her voice squeaked in a way just under annoyance, but instead sounded jovial and full of life. She lifted a finger up to wipe a tear away.

Rares hopped over the counter and reached down to help Twily up.

Twily stood back up, adjusting her glasses. She was, surprisingly, not mortified.

She was smiling.

“Wow, her laugh,” she said under her breath, “it’s adorable.” She looked at Rares. “Is she like, seeing anyone?”

“Har har,” replied Rares.

“No I’m serious!”

Rares’ eyes widened. “Oh, uh, I think she’s single?”

Twily hummed to herself. “Excellent, excellent.” She then paused and pointed behind Rares. “You have a visitor.”

Rares turned around into AJ, who was holding some containers of food under her right arm. She stepped back out of instinct and promptly slipped on the same banana peel. AJ lunged forward and put her other arm under her back, lifting her back up.

“Gosh, I don’t know how you survive when I ain’t here,” said AJ with an enormous smirk.

Rares was paralyzed with embarrassment.

AJ motioned with her head towards the tables. “Why don’tcha step into my office, sugar cube.”

The two walked over to an empty table. Rares sat down meekly and watched as AJ set down her food.

“Now, after hearing about your predicament,” explained AJ, opening up Tupperware full of casserole, “I just so happened to have a bunch of leftovers from last night.” She pulled out a couple forks, and handed one to Rares. “Dig in.”

Rares felt dumbfounded. Looking down at the casserole in front of her, steam rose out of it; she heated everything up. Where did she even do that??

After taking a bite herself, AJ gave her a gentle smile.

“I know this ain’t quite dinner and a movie,” she said, “but right now we just need you fed.”

Rares bit her lip. “Dinner and a movie,” she thought as she forked up her own bit of the spread. She took a bite and “mmm’d” before really digging into it. The food was good; AJ made this?

The two sat and ate. For just a moment, Rares felt relaxed. She looked over and watched as Twily chatted up a still-wheezing Pinks and felt herself smiling.

In this world a few removed, with laughter in the air and fresh food in your belly: things were starting to make sense, and that was a pleasant thought.