qqq

@@Skycoaster

"N... no," ​Pondah stuttered. "I haven't got anything to get out of my system... nothing that's legal." ​Taking a step away from the desk near Sky, Pondah began to dust down some other nearby desks. He wasn't doing a particularly good job, but the feeling he was helping made him feel slightly calmer.

"As for friend or boss,"  Pondah said quietly. "I'd say you're a mix of both but leaning towards boss."

'Idiot! I've just told the angry pony that he's not my friend.'

​The realisation of his believed stupidy caused Pondah to curl up in a ball with his hooves on his head and shiver with fright.

@@Skycoaster

Pondah flinched when Sky addressed him, causing him to knock his head on a shelf. He slowly moved out, still keeping low to the floor. Shaking, he stood up and began to walk slowly over to Sky. The room was silent save the soft sound of hooves on carpet. Pondah stopped just short of Sky and gulped, a nervous frown on his face.

"Wh...what do I have to do?"  Pondah queried quietly.

@@Skycoaster and

Pondah listened to the conversation as he continued cleaning the windows. Hearing Sky's angry tone encouraged Pondah to work quicker and harder.

'I hope that  anger isn't directed at me! I'll leave Bubble to calm down Sky; she's better with emotion than I am.'  

With the unnecessary worry over receiving Sky's wrath egging him on, Pondah had soon finished with the windows. They were now shining gates to the outside world. He went over to the cleaning closet, returned the window cleaner to its original place and shut the door. Taking cover in a dark corner of the closet, Pondah lay with only his flank in sight.

'I'll just wait here until Sky is finished being angry.'

@

Pondah stumbled to his hooves with a grimace on his face.  "I'm going to feel that in the morning," he muttered.

Bubble's statement elicited a shrug from Pondah. "Hey, it's better than nothing," ​he protested. "Besides, we can use this stuff. And who's to say we won't find somethingof worth? We haven't rummaged through the desks and cabinets yet." 

​After picking up a spray bottle of window cleaner and a few cloths, Pondah squeezed past Bubble and left the cleaning closest. He hobbled towards a window, closed it and sprayed some cleaner on it. The cloth and cleaner combo tore through the dirt on the window and in a minute or two, it was completely clean.

@

Pondah shielded his eyes from the barrage of dust launched into the air as Bubble jumped behind him. When the dust settled, Pondah gave the wall a nudge. Nothing. 

"Whatever this is, it's built strong," Pondah declared as he moved to the other side of the room. "I'll try a harder push. It doesn't look like the wall slides so it either pulls or pushes open. Let's try pushing."

Accelerating as fast as he could in the small space he had, Pondah galloped and jumped in an attempt to barge the wall open. As he hit it the wall, it swung open and dust poured from above, covering Pondah's entire body. He kept going through, eventually reaching a stop as he collided with the back wall with a thunderous crash.

"I'm ok!" Pondah announced with a cheery voice most ill-suited to a pony that had just slammed into a wall. "I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that this isn't the final resting place of anyone... I hope. The good news is that I've found the cleaning closet."

@

"I guess I did tell you," Pondah said. "I just can't remember when... When's your birthday?" 

Pondah began looking at how dirty the windows were and whether he'd need any cloths and water to clean them of. They were incredibly dusty but it wouldn't be too hard to clean them. As Pondah looked at other windows, he noticed a small crack in one of the walls. He put his face closer to see if he could see through it. He couldn't. Pondah tapped a couple of times on the crack and area around it with mild frustration. As he did, his ears picked up something strange.

"Hey Bubble," Pondah said, beckoning Bubble over with a hoof. "Listen to this."

Pondah tapped again. Rather than giving a solid knock, the wall emited a hollow sound. "There's something behind here."  

@

​Pondah thought about the sort of things that he could get Bubble as a present. "You're right..." ​he said. "That being said, we'd both have problems buying birthday presents; neither of us no the others birth date!"

​After taking a step back, Pondah smiled as he admired Bubble's and his work. It was still incredibly dirty in the office but now that the furniture was in one spot, they could set about cleaning the floors. "This is looking good," ​Pondah agreed. "Now we just have to do the floors, windows and dust off the furniture."

@@Skycoaster

​Just as Pondah has finished talking, Sky came into the room. "Thank you for both the compliment and the offer," ​Pondah said quietly. "But I'd prefer to stay and try and make a dent in this dust."

@

Now that both Bubble and Pondah were working in unison, all the desks were quickly moved to one side. Pondah began carrying the chairsto the same spot. As they were even lighter than the tables, he was able to move several at a time.

"I suppose I could buy a shower with the money I get from this job..." ​Pondah contemplated aloud. "Perhaps I could even buy ​you a birthday present!"

@

"You're not sure if the lake will be good enough?" ​Pondah enquired. "That sounds like a challenge to me. That being said, I haven't got a shower and unless we find one in here, I'm stuck with the lake."

​Pondah began to move the desks and chairs outside of the office. As they were made of a very light wood, even Pondah could move them by himself. A large dust cloud obscured Pondah's vision but he could see the cause. He walked towards Bubble and extended a hoof to help her up.  

@

Following Bubble's advice, Pondah made his way into the office. He worked his way round the edge of the room, opening the dust smothered windows as he went. The windows opened one by one and the room was flooded with light. Silvery particles of dust floated in the light. "Much better!" ​Pondah exclaimed. "Now we can actually see what we're doing." 

​The number of draws and cabinets in the room gave Pondah a sneaky idea and a devious grin spread across his face. "Hey Bubble," ​Pondah said. "Let's add an incentive. Anything interesting you find, you keep."

@

 

"Aaaah, I see! Then do come in and make yourself at home." The blind Master of peace said sweetly, opening the door wider for Glacier to enter. "Mind telling your name my dear? Tell me how is Manehatten been? It has been quite some time since my last arrival here." Vedana asked, wanting to know what has happened since he was last here.

Glacier nudged past Vedana. "My name's Glacier," ​Glacier said. "I haven't been here long so not much has really happened. I did carry a nearly dead body through a packed city square. Other than that, it's been quite dull."

​Standing near some chairs, Glacier fidgeted with boredom. "Now, we could stand here all day and discuss what we've done today or we can get down to the real business of why I'm here."

@

Pondah coughed and covered his face as dust flooded the air. "Urgh!" ​he protested. "This is disgusting! You're so lucky have those goggles." ​Looking inside, Pondah saw that the office was just a regular office with desks, chairs and a hideous amount of dust. "Where do we even start in here? There's more dust than things of worth!"

@ and @Skycoaster

"Where is this office?" ​Pondah asked. "I can probably do more to help on the admin side of things. I might struggle with the whole flying thing."

​Pondah looked skywards at the dark clouds drifting their way towards the three ponies. They were already beginning to leak rain onto the ground below. Suddenly, a flash followed by a deafening crack bombarded Pondah's senses.

"So what needs doing?" Pondah queried with a quivering voice. "It doesn't look like we have very long before this storm arrives."

@,

 

"We wont be late!" Grinned Bubble as she bounced after Pondah, thoroughly enjoying having a reason to burn off some energy as they raced through the hotel and out from the lobby. Passing a few of the colts who had helped her carry her most recent purchases as they did. 

The sky had started to become dotted with clouds as Bubble and Pondah left the hotel lobby. He ran ahead and began leading Bubble to the point he'd met Sky. The day was still young and as a result, the streets were very quiet. With the local area drilled into his mind and the bare streets, the pair reached the meet-up point in a very short time.

@@Skycoaster

"Sky!" ​Pondah shouted. "We're here!"

@ and

"We don't want to be late," Pondah said in a blunt but determined tone. "There's too much riding on this for us to be late."

Taking a glance over his shoulder, he caught a full glimpse of the shadowy smudge blemishing Bubble's face. He almost pointed out to her but the thought of appearing late kept him hurrying.

'Must not be late, must not be late. I can't appear sloppy and set a bad first impression. This may be a one-time chance and I can't let it slip away.'

After what seemed like eons, the trio finally reached the hotel lobby. It was almost completely desolate, spare the trio and  a single, young stallion spinning on a swivel chair behind a desk.

@ and

Pondah was the first to answer Thunder's question. "We're off to get signed up for a job!" ​ Pondah replied. ​The corridors and stairs out of the hotel seemed much longer after Pondah's high speed dash to give the employment news to Bubble. He turned back to face her and give another piece of information. "The arranged meet-up point is in a quiet and rather secluded park a few minutes from him here," ​Pondah told her. "We won't be going for too long."

@

The happiness drained from Pondah's face when Bubble turned down his offer to help. Before he replied, he shrugged. "Ok," ​he said quietly. "I understand. If that's her will, that's the way. But anyway, are you going to finish whatever it is you're doing and then I'll tell Sky that you're up for the job or are you coming now?"

'One moment... she said 'I'm not supposed to show anypony my sister's things' but previously said that it wasn't something she'd made or something her sister had made. I knew she wasn't giving the full story. I love being able to spot lies. It preserves the sanctity of truth.'

@

Bubble's positive reply made even happier. "Great!" ​Pondah replied. "We just have to go and tell Sky that we're both up for the job. Then we can start earning! I don't mind buying lunch but I will need to start hoarding my money."

​Pondah was about to leave before he took another look at the bits and bobs cluttering Bubble's floor.

'Say... whatever machine that Bubble's working on looks quite interesting. I wonder if I can have a look or even help?"

"Do you mind if I help you do whatever it is you're doing with that machine? I'm hoping I can be of some assistance."

@

As Bubble gave a very sketchy and suspicious reply, a 'hmm..." escaped his lips and his brow furrowed. 

'I can grill her on this later. She's definitely hiding something. For now, act natural.'

Pondah quickly changed his face to one that more suited the eagerness of receiving his first job. "Yeah," he replied. "Both of us. Sky offered me a job and said that you can help me if you wanted to. If you feel up for it, he'll probably find a way to fit you in as well. There must be something else available that you can help with. Apparently, the weather team round here is really bad. Perhaps you can do something for team morale?"

@

 

Vedanaears picked up the noise of somepony knocking on his door. The blind Grandmaster trotted towards the door and began to slowly open it. Vedana smiled towards Glacier, but could not see her due to the bandage that was covering his eyes. "Why hello there~ May I help you with something?" The well renowned Grandmaster of peace asked, as he began to wonder just who he was talking to.

(If you want to mention me, my username is "Sir. Loin")

@@Vedana Purity

Glacier looked around the penthouse before responding to Vedana's question. The room she could see was rather well decorated and had a great view of the city below. After her eyes had done a scan of the room, her gaze snapped back to the pony in front of her. "Yes," Glacier said in a blunt tone. "I've been sent here after checking in at a rehab centre not too far from here. The pathetic oaf behind the desk said you had some useful purpose that, apparently, will help." 

@ and

As the door to the room opened, a slightly sickening feeling washed over Pondah. The last time he'd been in Bubble's hotel, he'd almost been burnt an unknown amount. Pondah struggled to restrain his excitement as Bubble started talking to him. "Don't worry!" ​he said eagerly. "I've just come to say that we've been offered a job by Sky, the pegasus who took us to his hotel. Apparently, it's easy money and we have to do barely any work."

​Pondah's curiosity soon got the better of him. It had seemed odd that Bubble was wearing goggles whilst she was surrounded by various components of machines. He noticed Thunder was walking away from the room."Oh, hello Thunder," ​he said in a less eager voice. The excitement of a job opportunity had began to lessen after he told Bubble and he was finally able to in a more traditional, analysing way. He faced back towards Bubble and resumed speaking. "You're surrounded by pieces of what looks to be machinery, you've got goggles on and if I'm not mistaken, that's the notebook that attacked me earlier. I'm going to take a guess you're building one  of the projects in there or fiddling with one that either you or your sister made earlier."

@@Vedana Purity

There you go. I've put a post up for you. This should be good.

@@Mint Drop

Whilst waiting, Glacier looked around the café with impatience. Everything seemed so manufactured and unnatural to her. As her disagreeing gaze scanned the room, one thing caused great alarm. "What!?" Glacier said with emphasis. "I need to go! Now! I'm going to be late for check-in at the local rehab centre. I've got to go. I'll see you around perhaps?"

Glacier's powerful legs fired her from the café and towards the centre. Before the beginning of her rehabilitation, Glacier was shown and told several times where the centre was and Glacier's earlier tour had only helped drill its location into her head. Within moments of high-pace galloping, Glacier charged through the door. She slammed a hoof onto the check-in desk.

"Don't worry! I'm here!" Glacier said whilst panting for breath.

"Right on time," the yellow pegasus from behind the desk said. "I'm surprised you turned up. You are full of surprises."

Glacier growled and bared her teeth. "I've killed a lot of things in my past. Don't make me make you the first pony on the list."

"And there was me thinking you had changed.  But that's for a less important time. I'd recommend you go to this address. There's a guest there I recommend you visit. She may be useful to you."

With a scowl, Glacier looked at the address on a piece of parchment she'd been given. Charging back out of the centre, Glaicer hunted for the address and a new place and pony of assistance. In a few minutes of eagle-eyed searching, she reached the building that the "useful pony" was residing in. She trotted to the door, knocked and waited for a reply.

@@Vedana Purity

@,

Skycoaster

"Look, Baltimare's weather team is in desprate need of help, and since we are low, I just thought you would like to help out. It's a very simple job. All you have to do is report, in a letter, if the weather matches the forecast that Cloudsdale has set for the day, and mail it to the weather factory."

 

Skycoaster looked up at the could filled sky and just shook his head. "I can't do this myself you know. These weather ponies are going to be the end of me." as he looked back to Pondah. "I'll take care of the flying and training, and cloud clearing. I just need help with the paperwork park. OK? Maybe you can get that cute mare that hangs around you to help you?"

A smile spread across Pondah's face as he nodded his head. "Yeah..." ​Pondah announced. "That's sounds easy enough. I'm not concerned about the pay; I'm just happy I've got a job. I would like to earn at least one bit a week though. I'll go ask Bubble now!"

​Turning back towards the hospital, Pondah began to gallop towards Bubble's hotel with the offer of a job. Strangers shot disapproving glances at him as he tore through the streets but Pondah had more important things on his mind. In record time, Pondah was in the lobby of the hotel.

"Um... excuse me," ​Pondah asked at the reception. "Which room is Ms. Bubble in?"

"Room 1022," the receptionist replied in a robotic, monotone voice. 

​Like a missile, Pondah screamed through the corridors and up stairs with eager agility. Almost colliding with several room service trollies, he reached Bubble's room. He paused to gather his breath before knocking.

@

@

Ok. I can see this being quite fun. If Mint Drop doesn't post today, I'll have Glacier swing by the penthouse.