Monday Afternoon, Manehattan

“No no no, you simply can’t expect me to so much as touch something like that,” said an alabaster mare in a posh, demeaning voice. The clerk smiled awkwardly, looking down at what it was she had been talking about; a cute little beagle puppy.

“Oh, o-of course not ma’am.”

She harrumphed, continuing past the clerk as she sighed, hating her job more and more every second the mare halted her purchase. “Of all the places in the country, I would expect Manehattan to have at least one adorable puppy that meets my wants.” She glanced at a full grown retriever panting and wagging it’s tail from looking at her. “However, all you have are these...beasts.”

“M-ma’am, what breed are you looking for? If you just told me that, I could send you in the right direction,” the clerk told her, trying to sound sincere.

“Are you dumb?” the mare turned on her, “I have told you countless times what I wanted. I want a puppy that takes little effort to care for. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The clerk facehoofed, briskly sighing before donning the smile her job required. “Of course. Let me go talk to my manager.”

“Do hurry, I have an appointment at the spa in twenty minutes.” The clerk nodded, walking behind the counter and towards her boss’ office. She walked in, doing her best to sound annoyed rather than angry, and simply spoke to the mare behind the desk.

“Boss, we got another one.”

The mare raised her eyes from her paperwork to look at the mare. Clearing her throat, she got up and walked out the door, the employee following her. The two stepped out into the main area, the mare they had spoken to currently giving a menacing look to an obviously terrified bloodhound. The manager noticed exactly who the customer was.

“Emerald Gem, I understand that you are having trouble finding a dog that suits your wishes?”

“Yes, your employee simply--” she cut off when she looked at the mare she was speaking to, “Oh, thank the lord, Butterfly! Perhaps you will be able to help me where your employee has failed.” The yellow coated mare blew a tuft of her pink mane out from in front of in front of her eyes, frowning clearly at her colleague.

“I’ll do my best, Emerald” Butterfly smirked, exchanging a knowing glance to her employee, “So what was it you wanted?”

“I’d wish for a puppy, perhaps a small white one, that won’t grow much, won’t require too much attention, and certainly won’t ever lick me.”

Butterfly smiled. “Oh, I can show you straight to it,” she told her, starting the group towards the front of the store, “It’s the perfect little thing. It’s a special breed only found in the Gryphon Empire but was recently brought over to Equestria.”

“Oh really now?” Emerald asked, interested. “What breed?”

Butterfly smiled to her colleague, opening the front door as her employee shoved the mare out the door. Emerald quickly found herself on the ground. “Cement!” her employee had shouted, quick to slam the door with her magic. The two of them walked back behind the counter. Butterfly gave her employee a pat on the back.

“As quick as ever, Cash Back. I feel a little extra satisfied with this one.”

“Why’s that Butter?” Cash asked.

“You didn’t recognize her?” Butterfly look at the mare with wide eyes, as Emerald yelled at the two from outside the shop.

Cash’s ears twitched, “I suppose she did sound familiar.”

“She’s the actress for Rarity on that TV show I do.” Cash’s mouth formed an ‘o’, “Let me tell you, you can’t see eye to eye with her. It’s either she gets what she wants or she screams her infamous ‘You’ll hear this from my lawyers’ bit.”

“Well, if she’s an actress, wouldn’t that actually be bad?” she asked Butterfly with a raised eyebrow.

“There’s two reasons why I wouldn’t worry about that,” Butterfly told her while nodding her head to a large container of water under the counter. The two stepped out from behind the counter with the water in Cash’s magic. “For starters, she has what is probably the worst memory possible. By the time she gets to the spa in five minutes to clean her coat of the two specks of dirt she got from the pavement, she’ll have forgotten even being thrown out.” Cash laughed, filling up the water container for a cage of dogs.

“Sooo, stereotypical human blonde?” Cash asked.

Butterfly stifled a laugh, smiling all too wide. “Exactly. Anyway, as for the lawyers that she always mentions, she just has a really bad track record. Most ponies know about her as an actor due to her work in certain movies, and because of the controversy she has caused about being a ‘foal-friendly actor,’ most wouldn’t take her word to the fullest anyway, usually siding with the accused when she actually remembers to phone them up.”

“God, how do you manage to put up with her on set?”

Butterfly rolled her eyes, “She’s really superficial about her work. She goes into character the moment she steps into the building. I commend her for that, but it gets confusing the moment you step out of the studio, especially considering how much of a bitch she is off-set.”

Cash stifled a laugh, a snort escaping her as she put the water jug down. “What?” Butterfly responded to the outburst.

“Nothing, just,” she took a breath to compose herself, “We’re talking about Emerald’s difference between on and off set, and I have to say that you are quite the same. Two opposite ends on the same rod.”

Butterfly thought about that for a second and smiled, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. The timid pegasus that is afraid of everything.” she swept her hoof in front of her face, changing her expression. “She turns into a serious businessmare and caretaker outside of the studio.”

Cash laughed as she put up the ‘Out for Lunch’ sign on the front door of the shop. “Feed the idea to the higher-ups, I’m sure they’ll make something out of it.”

The two stepped out of the shop, Butterfly locking it. “Nah, the last time someone did that, Pinkamina was introduced.” She shivered and looked down the street. “So, where do you want to go for lunch?”

For Butterfly, time always seemed to go by slowly once lunch was past. For Cash Back, it was simply a time to do backlogged tasks such as inventory and cleaning. However, for the pegasus, it was generally rather dull. Paperwork was scarce on a Monday unless there were customers or new animals coming in.

Usually, she would simply go out and help out Cash with her tasks, but even Cash was stumped at this time.

“Alright, well, nopony is coming in anyway,” Butterfly said, coming out of the back of the shop. “We can play the early closure off as going out for the parade.”

Cash yawned and followed her boss to the front door, flipping the ‘Open’ sign over. “I never thought you’d say it.”

“It’s only a half-hour anyway,” Butterfly started down the street. “Are you cooking tonight, or am I?”

“I’m not too hungry, so I’ll just whip up some hayburgers.” Butterfly nodded at the gray unicorn.

The two had been roommates since before Butterfly got the role of Fluttershy. Cash Back was running a new job every couple of days to support the rent and bills whilst Butterfly finished off her business classes. It was once those were done that she was able to purchase the building she put her shop at. She always wanted to be able to provide ponies with that special opportunity to find their little friend. Cash, of course, offered to be her star employee upon the business’ launch. Butterfly had tried hiring shift workers and applying Cash to such a schedule, but it never seemed to work. Either the employee cared nothing of the animals or caused trouble between other employees, customers, or Butterfly herself.

Even after the famous director Film Strip offered Butterfly the spot on her show, the two remained together in the Manehattan home, simply because of the business and their friendship. They had considered moving to Ponyville, but decided that the studio and its’, as well as Butterfly’s, popularity was a bit too much to deal with for the two.

Coming up to their small home, Butterfly opened the door and the two went about their nightly routine.

Author's Note

I'll let this one ride as a short one for now, kind of a sorry for the absence. I'll do more world-building around Cash Back and Sparkler's family in future chapters.

However, next up is Miss Emerald Gem.