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“Huh…They picked a pretty place to build town…”
Ashley was standing on the tallest hill among many spotted around the west of Spiral Hill Village. The sprawling fields looked like ocean waves frozen in time and coated in green. The sun, high in the sky and free of clouds, shone down on them making the grass shimmer under its glow. Ashley gazed at the town about three miles away. The mountain it stood on made the hills seem so small in comparison.
“I should go back there sometime,” she thought, “Maybe under…less…aggressive circumstances…”
She sighed, and pulled her head forwards. She squinted, and blocked the sun from her eyes. Despite being on the tallest hill, there was nothing discernible hidden in the rest. She lifted up her robot arm and tapped a button on the side, bringing up a group chat with the other Neo Diamond Cutters.
“Let’s see here…” she muttered, rereading Tangle’s message, “Go left from the pathway and…keep going until you find it?”
She looked forward again, still seeing nothing aside from grass, flowers, and the occasional tree ahead of her.
“*Sigh*…This better not be a trick to get me away so she can set up some stupid surprise or something…” Ashley chuckled tiredly, “If I walked all the way out here for nothing I’m tying her tail into a knot.”
That was a lie though, and she knew it. With a day as lovely as this, in a part of the world as beautiful as this, Ashley couldn’t be mad about a nice walk through it all. So, she kept walking. Up and down more hills and between small valleys for another couple of miles.
She crested the top of one more hill when she spotted it and stopped. At the bottom of the slope was a small building. It was mostly all white, with red accents around the windows and the edges of the walls. Atop the red door was a sign of a cartoon elephant’s head in a chef's hat, and a hand pinching the index finger and thumb together. Below the face, big red letters read “PYGMINO PIZZA.”
“Huh…this must be the place…”
She slid down the hill and quickly reached the front door. A bell rang out as she pushed it open and walked inside. A stout, gray elephant almost identical to the one on the sign jumped in surprise as she entered, and stopped wiping off the countertop with a rag.
“Oh! A customer!” he gawked, before smiling and folding his hands on the counter, “Welcome to-a Pygmino Pizza! What can I-a get for you?”
Ashley smiled, a little sheepishly, and walked up to the counter.
“Hi. Uh, I’m here to pick up an order.”
The elephant looked bewildered all of a sudden.
“An-a…order?” he asked, “What, uh…What-a was the name on that-a order?”
“Uhh. Should be ‘Tangle’, I think.”
The elephant’s face went from a neutral expression to an ugly scowl in under a second. Ashley flinched back a little.
“U-Uh…S-Sorry, is there a-… I-I can leave if-”
“No. No. No…” the elephant sighed, waving his hand while resting his head in the other, “This is just…This is just-a something she-a does.”
Ashley raised a brow in confusion. The elephant plopped both hands down on the counter and shook his head, staring down the wood finish.
“Well, uh…” Ashley rubbed her neck, “I’ll get out of your hair once I get our pizza.”
“There is-a no pizza,” he said bluntly, “There is-a no order. Tangle never-a called.”
“…Excuse me?”
The elephant reached behind the register and pulled out a notepad and pencil, “But-a, given you came out all this-a way, I assume that-a you do want that-a pizza. What-a was on your…‘order’?”
Ashley blinked in befuddlement again, but lightly shook it off.
“Just…Just a plain pepperoni, please.”
The elephant nodded and wrote that down.
“Gus!” he shouted, turning back, “Get a pepperoni in-a the oven, pronto!”
“Sorry, Pyg,” a tiny rat said as he walked out from the kitchen, “I’m goin’ on break. You’ll have to throw that together yourself.”
‘Pyg’ groaned loudly before making his way through the door to the back of the restaurant. The rat watched him go with a chuckle, before turning and spotting Ashley still standing at the counter.
“Oh! You must be Ashley!” the rat excitedly pointed.
He ran over and shook her hand, “The name’s Gus! Tangle said you’d be coming by today! She’s told us a lot about you.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Time out,” Ashley spluttered, “Slow down, dude. How do you know me? How do you know Tangle?”
“Come, come,” Gus beckoned, taking a seat in one of the window booths, “I’ll tell ya all about it while we wait for your pizza.”
Ashley stared for a second, but sat down opposite of the cheerful rat.
“So…Tangle told you I was coming here…but didn’t call you to order our pizza?” Ashley asked.
Gus chuckled and rubbed his head, “Heh…She sure did. It’s this thing she likes to do to get us to meet her friends. She thinks we’ll become better pals if we sorta meet naturally one on one like this instead of her being a median between us.”
Ashley crossed her arms, “Of course she does. Well, I don’t think it’s a very sound strategy, based on how Dumbo back there reacted to it.”
“Oh, don’t pay any mind to grumpy old Pygmino,” Gus waved off, “He’s a nice guy, really. But yeah, he’s…not fond of Tangle springing on these surprise meetings like this. Just one of the many things she does that endearingly gets on his nerves.”
“Yeah, so…you guys know Tangle. Like, intimately, by the sounds of it. How’d that happen?”
“Well everyone in Spiral Hill knows Tangle, dear! Heh,” Gus smirked.
“…You guys aren’t really…in Spiral Hill, though…”
“But, yes,” he went on, “We have known Tangle since she was smaller than these tables. It’s not a stretch to say we’ve been a part of her and Jewel’s family for a long time. They’d come here almost everyday to play, and draw, and eat pizza of course. They were our little angels, and although Pygmino gets annoyed with her a lot, he wouldn’t trade Tangle for anything.”
“Except-a maybe a few thousand-a dollars!!” Pygmino shouted from the kitchen.
Gus laughed and smacked the table. Ashley snickered too.
“Okay, I think I get it now. So you guys know Rachel pretty well too?”
Gus gave her a look.
“Mmm-No. Can’t say that name rings any bells. We’re more familiar with Jewel’s aunt who took care of the pair of them.”
“…Huh. First time I’ve heard about her…”
“But enough about us, let’s talk about you!” Gus gestured excitedly, “Go on, dear. Tell me about yourself!”
“Oh! Uh…well I…like making origami and am a pretty big fan of some video games Tangle’s introduced to me to. Heh…there isn’t really much else to say,” Ashley smiled, rubbing her neck.
“Not much else to say!” Gus scoffed playfully, “Said the girl with a robotic arm!”
Ashley’s eyes widened, and she glanced down at her arm with a blush.
“Oh, this…I-It’s just a prosthetic.”
“Pygmino and I have veteran friends with ‘just prosthetic’s’, kid. That is something else!”
Ashley smiled, “…It was a gift. Something the people down in the Restoration’s Machine Shop made for me after I joined Tangle’s team. They’ve been doing routine upgrades on it ever since for greater functionality and combat utility. Heh, just the other day they added a feature to fire off my hand like a grappling hook.”
“Woah…” Gus marveled before chuckling, “Well don’t go shooting that off in here. Pyg’ll have a fit if you smash one of our windows.”
“Ha! Yeah, don’t worry about that. It’s a bit unruly right now. I’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
“Of course. Practice makes perfect.”
Ashley nodded. The conversation went silent for a moment, and she took the opportunity to look around the restaurant itself. She was used to charming, but greasy, fly infested joints that served either the worst or the best pizza you’ve ever had. Pygmino’s was strangely squeaky clean. No insects buzzing around, no dust bunnies chilling in the corner, and aside from the stain Pygmino was wiping up before, there were no blemishes in sight.
“So,” Gus went on, “How’d you meet our lemur shaped lump of energia anyway? She never did mention that part.”
Ashley froze up.
“Which is strange, because she usually gushes about everyone she meets,” Gus pondered, “You were no exception of course, she just forgot that one important detail. Usual scatterbrain of hers, I’m sure.”
The leopard hissed quietly and folded her hands over each other. Gus quickly caught her sudden shameful expression.
“Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Yeah…Yeah, I just…” Ashley tapped her finger on the table and took a deep breath, “I just…don’t want to talk about it, if that’s alright. I kinda…was in a bad place when I met Tangle and made…a lot of mistakes before I joined her team. It’s how I lost my arm.”
“Mama mia, I’m so sorry!” Gus apologized, “I had no idea.”
Ashley tried her hardest to not smile and burst out laughing.
“There is no way he actually just said ‘mama mia’ oh sweet Gaia!”
“I see why Tangle didn’t mention it before,” Gus chuckled softly, “You know sometimes we don’t give that girl enough credit for just how smart she is.”
Ashley snorted to herself.
“And, hey,” Gus added, pointing upwards, “You should be proud of yourself, kid.”
“Huh? For what?”
“Well, for picking yourself back up. I’m sure that no matter the rut you were stuck in it wasn’t easy to climb back out. Even with the likes of Tangle or Whisper or whoever else may have been there with you. But you did still get back to your feet and dusted off your shorts, just to prove to life you’re strong enough to see another day. For that, you should be proud of yourself.”
Ashley was speechless.
“Wha…I…Th-Thank you, s-sir,” she beamed.
“Now, now, kid,” Gus waved, “You know my name, so use it. Or Gustavo if you really prefer. No need to be formal here, heh heh.”
Ashley’s smile grew wider. It was strange, but just sitting in this quaint little pizza joint, talking to this little rat, made her heart swell with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Despite her rocky welcome through Pygmino, she felt really accepted here. Like she was already part of the family.
“This is…really great.”
*Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling*
Ashley twisted herself around and leaned over the booth, towards the source of the noise. A lanky purple hedgehog looking guy in a red cap and open jacket walked through the front door. He stopped midway through, with a look on his face like he forgot something. He quickly leaned back and put out his cigarette in the ashtray right outside.
Once he walked back in, his eyes almost immediately landed on the only other people in the dining area.
“Nick!” Gus greeted cheerfully, “How’d the deliveries go?”
Nick shrugged, “Pretty good. Still in one piece.”
Nick looked over to Ashley. He pointed at her.
“This her?”
“Tangle’s newest pal, yup,” Gus nodded, “Nick, meet Ashley. Ashley, this is Nick, our delivery driver.”
“Yo,” Nick flashed her a peace sign.
“Hey,” Ashley waved.
Suddenly, there were several, rapid fire bangs and clangs coming from the kitchen, accompanied by loud, passionate swearing.
“Oh boy,” Gus chuckled knowingly as he scooted out of the booth, “Excuse me, you two.”
Nick and Ashley watched, with amusement and worry respectively, as the rat disappeared behind the counter and into the kitchen. Ashley kept looking off in the direction he went, until two pairs of thumps pulled her attention forwards again. Nick had his feet propped on the table, and pulled out a toothpick from a cup sitting against the wall.
“So,” he said, biting into the pick, “Thoughts on the shortstack grandpa’s?”
Ashley wheezed and slammed her fist on the table. It took her a long while to calm down from her laughing fit.
“Haha…ha…Hoof,” she gasped, “Gus is nice. He’s very friendly. But Pygmino’s, uh…”
“Say no more,” Nick snickered, putting up a hand.
Ashley grumbled and crossed her arms, “Gus says he’s nice, but…I don’t know how much I believe that.”
“You’d be surprised.”
A long and loud word that would make a sailor blush echoed around the building. Ashley gave Nick a look. He just shrugged with a smirk.
Ashley took a moment to really observe all of Nick’s features. It wasn’t just his arms and legs that were lanky, but his quills too. They stood out maybe a foot longer than Sonic’s. His snout was similarly extra long. Nick turned to the side to stare out the window, and his side profile was quite the sight. He could skewer someone with that schnoz.
“Sorry, are you a hedgehog?” she asked suddenly.
“Porcupine,” he corrected, “But I get that a lot.”
“Got it. Sorry.”
“It’s chill. It’s basically part of life’s contract. If you’ve got long quills, people can and will confuse you for a world famous hedgehog. No matter the style or color.”
Ashley giggled. Nick just kept his smile planted on his face. His eyes wandered upwards, and soon locked onto her bright pink hair.
“Is that a wig?” he asked, pointing.
“A wig?!” Ashley grabbed at her hair, insulted.
“Hey, if you get to ask about my species, I can ask if your randomly discolored fur is fake or not,” Nick said smugly.
Ashley blushed lightly, and put her hands down.
“It’s not fake…But it is dyed,” she admitted, “I-It’s a little…gaudy I know, but-“
“It’s nice.”
“…What?”
“It’s nice,” Nick pointed, “You rock it pretty well, I think. Makes ya stand out in a way that screams ‘you’, you know?”
“Uhh…yeah, yeah! …Thank you.”
Nick just winked.
“So, you’re the delivery driver?” Ashley asked, “Like, the only one for a place this far out from…everywhere?”
Nick shrugged, “It’s a good gig. I’m not exactly gonna turn down an excuse to get paid to drive my scooter around.”
“Niiice. Have you gone anywhere cool?”
“I’ve seen a good few places of interest, yeah. There’s this one awesome canyon I’ll sometimes deliver to. Rainbow Ravine I think. They got tons of little tourist shops there, and the vendors get a bit peckish. It’s beautiful. Tangle and Whisper should take you there sometime.”
“Sounds cool,” Ashley smiled.
It was then she noticed that the left sleeve of his jacket was completely torn off.
“Heh, that is unless it’s chock full of jagged rocks,” she joked, pointing at his bare fur, “Is that how you nearly lost your arm?”
Nick looked down at his torn shoulder.
“What, this little thing? Ah, I thought you’d never ask. It was a death defying feat! I had to fend off this very restaurant from a mighty, fire breathing dragon and a rabid, mad ogre at the same time!”
“Really?” Ashley raised a brow, jokingly.
“Nah. Some mad old lady tore it off when I ran from her. She was miffed about her order.”
Ashley laughed, “I prefer the first story.”
“Right?!”
“We could have been missing arm buddies,” Ashley lifted up her robot arm.
“I was freaking waiting for you to bring that up, because that’s the coolest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Aw, thanks,” she smiled, caressing the prosthetic, “It’s weird, y’know? I never would have imagined something like this just feeling so…right. So me.”
Nick’s smile faltered slightly. He stared at Ashley’s arm. Her hair and her other features. His smirk quickly returned.
“Hey, speaking of Rainbow Ravine,” Nick held up a finger and dug around his jacket pockets, “There’s this one vendor up there who was giving out these little pins, and they gave me a couple as part of my tip.”
Before Ashley could reply, Nick flicked the button towards her with his thumb. It spun around in the air before Ashley caught it, clapping her hands together. She pulled her hands down and opened them. Inside her palms was a trans flag pin.
Ashley gawked at the pin for a moment. She slowly brought her head back up to stare at Nick. He just winked, more broadly this time. Ashley smiled from ear to ear, and tucked the pin away in her pocket.
“Alright-a…Order up!”
They both turned to see Pygmino exiting the kitchen with a pizza box in hand. Steam rose out from the edges of the lid. Gus followed closely behind, smiling widely.
“Well about time!” Nick called dramatically, “We’ve been waiting ages for this pie! Ashley’s practically skin and bones!”
“Hey! Feet off-a the table!” Pygmino snapped his fingers, “And if you’re-a so concerned about-a timeliness, why don’t-a you get on-a the three deliveries waiting for-a you?!”
“Aw well. Sorry Ash, but duty calls,” he said getting up, “I’ll see you around, k?”
“See you,” Ashley waved.
Nick hurried to the back, scooching past Pygmino and Gus, and sliding over the counter. Ashley lifted herself out of the booth and began digging around in her pocket.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” Pygmino replied.
Ashley paused.
“…Nothing?”
“Nothing!” Gus confirmed, “It’s our little family discount!”
“A one-a time thing,” Pygmino clarified, “But-a yes, everyone Tangle inducts into this-a little ‘family’ of ours gets-a their first pizza free of charge.”
“Oh…thank you,” Ashley said, still befuddled, as she took the pizza.
“Hey, if-a you’re so concerned about-a payment, just-a bring Tangle here next-a time,” Pygmino smirked, “She’s in-a need for a good-a noogie after today!”
Ashley chuckled lightly. Pygmino smiled for another moment before a frown crossed his face.
“I’m-a sorry for being-a so…stand-a-offish earlier. Again, Tangle just-a springs these-a things on me, and I wish she would-a just introduce her friends normally once in a while.”
“It’s okay. I get it,” Ashley smiled, “But, asking anything ‘normal’ of Tangle is a fool's errand.”
“Ha! Don’t I-a know it,” Pygmino rolled his eyes, “But-a seriously, you’re-a welcome here any-a-time Ashley. For food or for-a someone to talk-a to. You’ll always find-a me, or-a Gus, or-a Nick whenever you-a stop by.”
Ashley’s smile widened, “Thanks. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
“Safe travels, Ashley!” Gus waved as she left, “It was lovely meeting you!”
Pygmino waved too, and Ashley waved back until she was out the door. She made her way across the rolling hills a good while before she stopped. The pizza in her hands was warm, and it smelled delicious. She looked around, making sure no one was there, before opening the box and taking out a slice. One bite, and she was in heaven.
“Woah! No wonder Tangle loves those guys!”