FunBuck

By Duskhoof

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/40.....-the-minstrels

"“I cannot stop it jingling at me!”

I shook the glorified watch with a groan of irritation as we stopped on a corner. Mole’s ears were ever so slightly bigger than ordinary ponies, enough that it was noticeable to me when she swayed her head, from left to right, to the overly cheerful plinky-plonking tune from my PipBuck. It took a few shoves to get her to look at it.

“Ohhhhh! I know this one! Twist this, turn that, boop and~” my arm sang happily to her and she joined in with it delightedly.

“You did it, you did it, you really, really did it! You’re the best, you’re great! Never, ever forget~! Yaaaaaaay! ”

I snatched my weighted appendage away from her as she clopped a hoof in applause, grinning from ear to ear.

Looking down, I could see that the jolly green avatar on my PipBuck was dancing around a flapping ticket promising me, “ONE free Ice Cream! Subject to availability, terms and conditions apply.”

“Why?” I couldn’t get my mind into gear to ask a smarter question. Luckily, the mare understood and nickered gleefully.

“It’s the ‘PipBuck Boop’ game! You gotta twist the knobs when it tells you to and boop the button, so that you can get a special prize!” Her nodding was so fierce that it was making me feel slightly seasick. I grasped her head and she see-sawed ever so slightly on the spot.

“How does everypony deal with this noisy piece of shit here?” I knocked it against the wall a couple of times, and I’m certain all it did was giggled at me. Mole mimicked it.

“Oh, no, you’re lucky! That game is not on the adult PipBucks, only on the FunBucks like yours, for foals! Most ponies grow out of their first PipBuck. Mine doesn’t have any of the cute little games that yours does anymore,” she released a sullen lament, pouting, “I miss my FunBuck.”

"Fun... Buck...." Seething, I reeled my leg back and threw it towards the wall with more force this time. The blow did nothing to the device, and as an added insult sent a painful shockwave along my arm, making me squawk in fury and glare at my tingling claws.

It should not have been a surprise. Crusty seemed to have a vendetta against me from the moment my feet stepped on stable Tee-thirty’s brushed metal doorstep.

This, however.

This was ridiculous, and petty, and offensive. It was the latest nail on a spiky bed of intimidation he was making for me, to buck me out of his house, and I knew it. I growled, pulling back to go for another whack, which was quickly grabbed and halted by Molasses.

“That’s not a PipBuck game!” She whimpered, cuddling the Foal-sized wearable terminal with her lobes flat. Maybe it was just the comprehension that my anger had spooked her, but she looked really cute with her face full of worry and innocence. It was enough to reduce my frustration to a low boil of rage.

“I have a child’s plaything strapped to my arm that is itching like mad. I have ponies gasping at me because I’m not in a stupid jumpsuit. I have the biggest dick in this stable controlling my every move and~” I took a deep breath and sighed, shaking my head. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I felt her hooves slip away from my leg."

All good things
Duskhoof