Dubious Enchantment

by bookplayer

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Comedy, Slice of Life, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5652

Old Gob isn't just selling dubiously enchanted items, he's selling an experience. Unfortunately, it's not an experience Twilight and her friends particularly wanted.

Ponies expect certain things from a mysterious shop that appears at the end of a lonely side street, and Old Gob does his very best to provide that experience. The candlelight flickers, a thick layer of dust coats items of dark and fantastic powers, and the door creaks ominously as ponies enter and leave with their purchases to discover the costs and rewards. Of course, sometimes the costs outweigh the rewards.

They certainly did for Twilight Sparkle and her friends. So when they manage to get to the shop right before it closes and disappears, they aren't going to leave until they get a refund.

(Fic contains a small amount of comedic TwiJack shipping.)

Second place winner for the February Writeoff Association prompt "Closing Time."

Published 2015-02-16 22:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-16 22:10:01 UTC

Caveat Emptor

Old Gob stood up from his stool as if his joints felt rustier than the creaking hinges of the door up front. It took a long time to get that door creak right. For a while he experimented with a little bell, which did let him know when he had a customer, but lacked the ominous tone he was going for. In the same way, Gob wasn't really all that old, and had no problem with his joints beyond the stiffness that came with sitting behind a cash register all day. But he was too short to loom properly, and never could get the hang of sidling, so the only option was a creeping, elderly gait. The brand started with him, after all, and branding was important.

Take the dust. It made him sneeze, but who really wanted to buy a shiny new skull, or a clean and well kept tome? Dust, heavy incense, flickering candlelight, shelves of jumbled objects with a few of the exotic, higher price point items kept in an even more cluttered back room. It was all part of the appeal of a mysterious shop that appeared and disappeared without warning. He was selling more than enchanted items of a dubious nature, he was selling an experience.

Gob made his way to the door, his greasy black mane partially obscuring a gray face that wasn’t nearly as gnarled as he would have liked. The mane was a bit annoying, between that and the flickering candlelight it would have been hard to maneuver around the larger items if he didn’t know the shop like the back of his hoof. He turned the sign that hung in the foggy front window from Open to Closed, then reached over to lock the door.

The lock glowed magenta and wouldn’t budge. Then the door opened, and a purple hoof wedged in, followed by a purple face with a horn on top.

“We’re closed,” he said, offering a frown that he hoped was dark enough to make up for his smooth features.

“Oh no you aren’t.” The mare narrowed her eyes. “Do you think I don’t know what this place is? Soon as you close, it’s going to disappear. And I’m not letting you go until my friend gets a refund.”

“No refunds,” Gob snapped, trying to push the door closed. But as he did, the whole door glowed magenta and creaked open, shoving him back into the store.

He blinked, the purple unicorn was, in fact, an alicorn. And with her was the pink earth pony he’d sold a selection of trinkets to earlier. Gob snorted, he’d given Miss Pie a discount, too, for being so enthusiastic about the shop. Behind them stood four other ponies, none of them looking very pleased.

“Yes refunds!” Pinkie said. “You sold me a bunch of bad, creepy, magic stuff!”

“Of course I did. That’s what I sell.” Gob motioned around the shop. “And as the sign by the register clearly states, I do not give refunds.”

“I’m sure we can be reasonable about this. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she said with a smile. “And my friend Pinkie Pie didn’t realize what kind of shop this was.”

Gob looked around. The skulls and unsettling idols of lost tribes were still on the shelves. The candlelight still flickered. There were a sufficient number of cobwebs about, in his expert opinion. And he was sure the shop had appeared at the end of a lonely side street just that morning. He raised an eyebrow at Princess Twilight.

“I’ve been meaning to get a raven, but short of that, I’m not sure what else you expect me to do.”

The yellow pegasus smiled, her face lighting like a tzohar stone. “Oh, I have a raven you could—”

“Fluttershy!” Princess Twilight snapped, and Fluttershy slunk back behind her mane. Then the princess turned back to Gob. “You could have mentioned she was buying a bunch of cursed items.”

“Dubiously enchanted. And I’ve tried that, but it was bad for business. I think ponies expect an aspect of discovery in a shop like this.” He nodded towards where the blue pegasus was poking at the black armor of Knightshade the Mad with the tip of a hoof.

Princess Twilight’s horn glowed, and the pegasus was yanked away from the armor by her multi-colored tail.

“I was just looking!” she protested.

“Applejack, could you please make sure everypony keeps her hooves to herself in here?” Princess Twilight said to the orange pony directly behind her.

“Will do.” Applejack nodded and eyed her companions.

Once again, the princess returned her attention to Gob. “As for you, the reason ponies won’t buy things from you when you tell them they’re cursed is that ponies don’t want to buy cursed items.”

Gob shook his head. “Somepony created the items of dubious enchantment, didn’t they?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Then there’s a market, however niche it may be. So it’s just a matter of finding my customer. It’s simple business management.” He leaned against an old throne carved with a long litany in what may or may not have been the dark tongue of Maredor.

“Well Pinkie Pie is not your customer,” Princess Twilight insisted, eyeing the throne suspiciously. “In fact, nopony in Ponyville is your customer.”

“Once again, I believe you’re mistaken. I’ve done surveys, you see. My customer is curious, a bit naive, impulsive—”

Applejack cut in. “What Twilight is sayin’ is Pinkie don’t want the stuff ya’ sold her, and she wants her bits back. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand.” He nodded, then turned to walk back to his counter. “No refunds.”

He felt something grab his tail and stop him. He turned back to see it caught in the princess’s magenta magic. Her eyes narrowed and nostrils flared.

“Look. I don’t think you understand the day I’ve had thanks to you…”

“Hey, Twilight, I brought you a present!” Pinkie grinned, bumping something off her back next to where Twilight sat on a pillow in the castle library, engrossed in a book on cartographic spells.

Twilight glanced at it, noticed the book-like shape of the blue package with the pink ribbon, and smiled. “Thanks! Do you mind if I wait to open it? I’m almost done finding the last of the spells we’ll need to map the first sector of the Everfree Forest.”

“Whenever you want! I was surprised because I found this neat shop where there’s never been a shop there before! Or maybe it was a secret, because it was kind of hidden at the end of an alley. Oh, I know, it was a secret surprise! So I was looking around, and I decided to buy secret surprises for all of my friends, and the pony there said he had all kinds of secret surprises. Secret surprises are the best, don’t you think?”

“Uh-huh.” Twilight floated her quill to make note of a page number.

“Well, I won’t bug you, I have other presents to give out. Have fun with your present!”

“I will, thanks!” Twilight said, giving Pinkie a smile as she pranced out the door.

About twenty minutes later, Twilight finished her notations and noticed the package again. She picked it up in her magic and smiled. It was just like Pinkie to buy presents for everypony for no real reason. She untied the bow and neatly removed the wrapping paper, then sneezed.

The tome — it seemed to turn up its nose at being classified as a mere book — was dusty and beaten. It was hoofbound in some dark material, and the pages were thick and unevenly cut. She used a hoof to brush some of the dust off the cover.

“The Neighcronomi— NOPE!” Her eyes widened and she shoved the tome all the way across the library with her magic.

“Oh no, nope, bad bad bad.” Twilight's eyes darted around for someplace safe to store it until a suitable lead lined, magically sealed, padlocked, buried and forgotten prison could be found for it. Her magic opened a desk drawer and shoved the tome inside. Then she made the front of the drawer disappear, leaving only blank wood so it couldn’t be opened again. Then she turned the desk around, so that even if there had been a drawer there it would have been inaccessible. Finally, she hurried out of the library, locking the door behind her.

“Spike!” she yelled, her voice echoing through the castle.

Spike stuck his head out of the kitchen. “Yeah?”

Twilight paced back and forth in front of the library door. “Do not go in the library. Whatever you do. And don’t let anypony else in the library. In fact, don’t even think about the library. And send a letter to Princess Celestia telling her that I’m going to need a class five containment vessel for a book of dark magic. But don’t even think about that either!”

By that time, Spike was standing in the hallway, staring at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. “How’d you get something like that?”

“Pinkie gave it to me! She said she found some shop… at the end of a dark alley that had never been there before! Ugh! I should’ve known! And she has presents for the rest of the girls. I have to go!” Twilight started to run off, but she skidded to a stop on the polished stone floor. She turned around and called back. “Remember! There is no library!”

“There’s still a kitchen, right?” Spike called back, but Twilight had already taken off running again.

Once outside the castle, Twilight glanced around. The town seemed to be free of obvious disasters or eldritch horrors for the time being, so she started towards Sweet Apple Acres. She wasn’t sure what kind of present Pinkie might have given to Applejack, she assumed it wasn’t a book of dark magic, but whatever it was she hoped AJ had enough sense to leave it alone.

She crossed the bridge leaving Ponyville, and her hopes were dashed as she saw Big Mac barreling towards her at full speed. He stopped in front of her.

“Twilight, it’s AJ, come quick,” he panted.

She hurried her pace, Mac right beside her. “What happened?”

“Pinkie gave her a magic apple. Supposed to bring her true love,” he explained as they moved. “She didn’t believe it, but it looked like a fine apple. She took a bite and passed out, and we can’t wake her.”

Twilight frowned. “Great. Just great.”

“We were hopin’ ya’ could check your library—”

“There is no library!” she interrupted. Then she calmed down and thought for a minute. Apple. Coma. True Love. Twilight nodded. “But… I think I know what’s wrong with her. Has she been singing any songs about her prince coming, lately?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Did she recently spot anypony across a forest glen, or some other picturesque location, that she didn't get a chance to speak to?"

Mac thought for a moment. "If AJ wants to talk to a pony, she's gonna talk to 'em. She's got a lasso."

Twilight frowned. This might be harder than she thought. "Do you know if she has a crush on anypony?”

“Eeyup,” Mac nodded.

“Who?”

Mac bit his lip and looked down, then over at the apple trees they were now passing, then up at the sky.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, from that I’m going to assume it’s either you or me. And I really, really hope it’s me.”

Mac rolled his eyes and nodded.

They fell into silence the rest of the way. Twilight wasn’t sure she was Applejack’s true love. She’d never considered in her life if she was attracted to Applejack. She’d never considered in her life if she was attracted to mares. Actually, given her only crush so far, she wasn’t entirely sure she was attracted to ponies, but she was hoping that was a passing phase and not a life-long fetish.

But right now she hoped that she could be in love with Applejack, because the next option was to line up everypony in town and have them kiss her, which seemed both creepy and unsanitary.

They came upon the farm, and Mac led Twilight to where Applejack was lying on the grass, with Granny Smith and Apple Bloom fussing around her. When they saw her coming they made room, standing a few feet away with drooping ears and worried faces. Twilight went straight over to Applejack.

Applejack’s mane was loose and tumbled over her shoulders and the ground, her eyes were closed, and she wore a peaceful smile. She definitely looked like she was asleep, Twilight assured herself, which was a relief because when it came to uncomfortable fetishes the alternative would be one of the few things worse than being exclusively into humans.

It made Twilight wonder if there was some secondary aspect of the curse that made a pony look more attractive, because Applejack did look better than Twilight remembered. But that made no sense, ponies who made cursed fruit didn’t usually build in something that made the curse more likely to be broken. But in that case, did Applejack really look better than she usually did, or was Twilight just thinking about it for the first time? Could AJ really be her true love?

That was stupid. Kissing sleeping mares was no basis for a relationship. True love came from a steadily growing emotional connection between two ponies, not some farcical cure for cursed fruit. For now she just hoped that whatever she felt would wake AJ.

Twilight leaned over. Then she stopped and looked up. “Does anypony have a handkerchief? It’s probably not a good idea to kiss a pony who just ate poison without at least wiping off her mouth.”

Granny produced a handkerchief, and Twilight rubbed Applejack’s lips until she was satisfied that the poison wouldn’t transfer. Then she leaned over again and planted her lips on Applejack’s, counting to three because she wasn’t sure how long it might take for the spell to deactivate.

Applejack’s eyes blinked open. “Twi? What happened? You just… kissed me?”

Twilight sighed, relaxing. “Look, AJ, I’m really flattered and we definitely need to talk about this later, but this is kind of an emergency. Do you know where Pinkie was headed next?”

“Um, to Rainbow Dash.” Applejack sat up slowly, shaking her head.

“Good. Come on.” Twilight offered a hoof and helped Applejack up, then grabbed her hat and dropped it on her head. Applejack picked up her ribbons and started tying them as they both headed back to Ponyville at a fast trot.

Gob arched an eyebrow at Applejack. “So you’re awake now, and you found your true love? Then it worked as advertised.”

“Puttin’ a pony in a coma don’t count as helpin’ them find their true love! That was a poisoned apple!” She scowled and stomped a hoof for emphasis, rattling the black armor of Knightshade the Mad and setting the chimes of the dead tinkling.

Gob just shook his head. “I do not offer refunds, and if I did I certainly would not give one for an item that’s already been consumed.”

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes. “If it hadn’t been consumed we wouldn’t have known that it was cursed!”

“Dubiously enchanted. And that’s in the eye of the beholder. I understand the sleep is very restful,” he pointed out.

Applejack snorted and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t give a flyin’ fruit bat if it was restful, I coulda slept for years if Mac didn’t guess I was sweet on Twilight!”

“Um, actually… everypony knew,” Fluttershy pointed out quietly.

Applejack’s mouth dropped open as she turned to Fluttershy. “Y’all did not!”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “With all the ‘sure, Twi!’ and ‘whatever ya’ say, sugarcube!’ and ‘will do!’ whenever Twilight wants something? Plus you keep saving her life, and you’re always real quick to apologize to her when you mess up.” She smirked. “What I’m saying is you’re a tiny bit more subtle than Spike.”

Applejack blushed and became very interested in a display of floating stones from darkest Zebricia.

Princess Twilight shook her head. “Even so, what if I wasn’t interested in mares?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Twilight, darling, all of your closest friends and associates are female. You seem fonder of your sister-in-law than your brother is. And the only male you’ve ever shown the slightest interest in was that… monkey boy through the mirror, and that hardly counts.”

Gob wondered for a moment if there was a way to bottle the glare Princess Twilight threw at the unicorn, because that would surely be a bestseller.

Rarity shrunk back. “Of course, none of this excuses selling a poisoned apple.”

“Right.” Princess Twilight nodded.

“I don’t supposed you’d be willing to write a little testimonial for me?” Gob asked Applejack. “I could put it next to the apples… it would be a good selling point.”

If Princess Twilight’s glare would have been a bestseller, the glare Gob received from Applejack would have been one of those specialty items reserved for his most dedicated and questionably ethical customers.

He blinked. “I’ll just… let ponies know.”

“Speaking of ponies and knowing, did you know that you sold a random pony a copy of the Neighcronomicon?” Princess Twilight waved a hoof in the direction of Pinkie Pie, who appeared to have her hooves stuck in the unbreakable hooftrap of Yak-Shi, but she easily pulled one out and waved. Applejack yanked her away from the object.

“Of course.” Gob nodded. “She asked for the most interesting spellbook I have.”

“You can’t sell a book like that to a pony looking for a good read!” the princess insisted.

“Actually, I can,” Gob pointed out. “Princess Celestia has never technically banned a book, she just tries to acquire all the existing copies. And, of course, it’s quite illegal to actually summon the Old Ones.”

“You don’t say,” Princess Twilight said dryly.

“There’s a bookplate in it to that effect. But it’s entirely legal to own or sell the Neighcronomicon for research or decorative purposes.”

Princess Twilight gaped at him. “I don’t think it’s very useful for research when reading it drives ponies insane!”

“It does?” Pinkie asked. “I thought it was neat! The names were fun to say, and everything sounds silly when you try to describe the dimensions past pony understanding.”

The princess turned her gape on her friend, then shut her mouth and turned back to Gob. “And who would decorate with a book of spells for summoning unspeakable evil?”

“According to the survey, teenagers and evil wizards.” He rolled his eyes. “You should try building a display that appeals to both of those demographics. Totally different spending habits, and the teenagers all seem to have sticky hooves.”

Princess Twilight rubbed her hoof over her face. “Fine. Should I continue with my story about my day?”

“If you like,” Gob said with a sigh.

Twilight and Applejack came to the meadow outside of town where Rainbow Dash’s house floated.

“I couldn’t agree more, Twi. Poison fruit’s no good for basin’ a relationship on. So what would ya’ say to goin’ to the movies Friday?” Applejack asked.

Twilight looked over to give her answer, but her eyes went wide and what came out was: “Zombie ponies!”

“Well, that’s… not quite the answer I was expectin’,” Applejack said slowly. Then she followed Twilight’s wide eyed stare. “But it’s a good one!”

Twilight was pretty sure that flying and shambling should be incompatible, but the three monstrous pegasi moving towards them were doing their best. They flapped wings that were hanging off their bodies at odd angles and moaned through gaping jaws drooling black ichor. The odd thing, besides the zombies themselves, was that all three zombies were wearing tattered and torn Wonderbolt’s uniforms.

Applejack stepped in front of her, readying for the onslaught, and Twilight’s horn glowed to find out what magic could do. At that moment, Rainbow Dash came racing through the sky, stopping between the zombies to buck two of them at once, sending them flying to the other side of the meadow where they landed on the ground. The remaining zombie she punched in the face before turning and offering a kick that threw it to join its friends.

Across the field, the zombies pulled themselves to their hooves and started moving very slowly back towards the living ponies.

Rainbow Dash landed, panting, her hair even wilder than usual and black ichor splattered over her hooves and coat. “Little help, you guys?”

“What did Pinkie give you?” Twilight asked quickly.

“This gross thing called a monkey’s paw! I’m supposed to be able to wish for what I want,” she pulled out the desiccated, hand-like object, all but one finger clenched, and glared at it. “So I wished to be a Wonderbolt and this guy shows up with a uniform and says all the current Wonderbolts just dropped dead!”

Twilight caught on and slapped her hoof to her face. “Then you wished they weren't dead?”

“Bingo!” Rainbow turned her glare across the meadow.

“Do you still have the third wish?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, but I’m scared to use it!” Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “What if it turns everypony into zombies, or turns me into a zombie, or turns them into super zombies!”

“Don’t worry.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I took 'Legal Drafting for Wishes and Negotiations with Extra-Dimensional Entities' back in school. If you guys can get me a pencil and paper and fight these things off for a few minutes, I should be able to write something.”

“We're on it!” Applejack said. She ran across the meadow towards the zombies as Rainbow Dash flew to her house and returned right away with a pencil and an old envelope.

Twilight got started on writing a properly closed wish, occasionally glancing across the meadow to see Applejack buck a zombie’s head off, or Rainbow Dash lift one into the air and drop it on another. Applejack really did look good, fighting with a grace she rarely showed day to day. And Twilight had to appreciate those muscles, and… this was not the time! Stupid cursed fruit. She turned her attention fully to the wish, and in about ten minutes she was fairly sure she had something that would undo all the damage, as long as the paw wasn’t a malevolent super-intelligence.

“Guys! Rainbow, get back here!” Twilight yelled. Her friends stopped their battle and hurried back towards her, easily outpacing the undead ponies.

“Here, Rainbow, hold the claw and read this.” She thrust the envelope into Rainbow’s hoof.

Rainbow hovered with the claw in one hoof and the envelope in the other and read: “I, Rainbow Dash, wish at this moment in time and for all moments hereafter that any and all prior wishes I have made using this object, one monkey’s paw, be undone completely, immediately, and without prejudice towards or continuing effects, including those of the previously mentioned prior wishes, on myself or any ponies, living or dead, currently under the effect of said wishes.”

The last finger of the claw closed. Across the meadow, Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot stood up, looking perfectly alive and very confused. They had a brief conversation and took off in the direction of Cloudsdale.

“What they hay is this thing?!” Rainbow waved the claw at Twilight.

“It’s—” She shook her head. “I’ll explain later. Do you know where Pinkie was going next?”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Fluttershy’s! Come on!”

The four ponies ran to Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight was exhausted by the time they got there, and she was happy to see that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe Fluttershy was out and hadn’t opened her gift.

As they approached the door, they heard Fluttershy’s soft but stern voice from inside.

“That’s all you’re getting today, mister. Overfeeding can be as bad as underfeeding, and I’m starting to feel faint.”

“Feed me!” A deep voice boomed.

A swarm of animals scurried out of Fluttershy's windows, peeking back inside from the safety of cover. Twilight cringed. She opened the door and she, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash rushed inside.

Fluttershy was standing in front of a plant… at least Twilight guessed it was a plant. It was in a flower pot, and it had a stem and leaves. But on top of those seemed to be a pod-like head, about the size of a watermelon. The animals left inside the cottage were peeking out from behind furniture and from inside mouseholes and birdhouses. Even Angel was crawling out from under the sofa. More disturbing, though, was the bloody bandage around Fluttershy’s hoof.

“Now, now, you don’t have to yell… oh, Twilight, I’m glad you’re here.” Fluttershy smiled at her friends. “This plant and I are having a bit of a disagreement, and I was wondering if there’s a spell in your library—”

“There is no library!” Twilight insisted reflexively.

Fluttershy looked startled and nodded. “Um, okay. A spell… somewhere? that could turn something else into pony blood.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Fluttershy, have you been feeding this plant your blood?”

She looked at her hoof and blushed. “He seemed to want some very badly, and the only pony blood I had around was, well, mine…. but he perked right up after that!”

Twilight looked at her flatly. “This is a pony-eating plant.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Well, yes... but that’s not his fault.”

“No, but you can’t keep a pony-eating plant,” Twilight pointed out.

“Um, why not?” Fluttershy tilted her head, seeming confused.

“Because it eats ponies!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Different creatures have different dietary needs, you know. Not all animals are herbivors like ponies,” Fluttershy explained. “This plant just happens to eat, well, ponies. Pony blood, specifically. I was thinking—”

“Nope!” Applejack cut in. “I’m puttin’ my hoof down! Y’all are not keepin’ a plant that could have my sister for a snack.”

“Well, what do you expect me to do with it?” Fluttershy frowned.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Get the prunin’ shears.”

Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open, then she moved between Applejack and the plant, spreading her wings to block her friend, and looked at Applejack sternly. “That’s awful! This little plant never did anything to you!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s been drinking your blood!”

Twilight sighed and covered her eyes with a hoof to think for a moment. “Fluttershy… I have something that I need to talk to Princess Celestia about containing. Maybe I can talk to her about someplace safe to move the plant.”

“Where somepony can feed him properly?” Fluttershy asked, with large, sad eyes.

“FEED ME!”

“That seems to be all he really wants.” She laid a loving hoof on top of the plant, then removed it quickly when it snapped at her.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes. I don’t know how, but we’ll find some way to feed it properly. But it can’t stay here.”

“Well… I guess that would be okay.” Fluttershy nodded.

“For now…” Twilight looked to the sky for strength. “Let’s take it to the library. Which isn’t there. I’ll put a few more locks on the door. Then we’d better go see Rarity…”

Gob rolled his eyes. “Oh come on now! The monkey’s paw is a classic! How could anypony not know how it works?”

“Well I obviously didn’t!” Rainbow Dash flew towards him and glared.

“Your lack of cultural knowledge does not require me to offer a refund.” He shook his head. “Next you’re going to want me to put a warning label on the magic lamps, beware of djinn?"

“So you’re selling cursed mustard now, too?” Rainbow Dash poked him in the chest with a hoof.

Pinkie frowned. “Hey, I like mustard! You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“He means genie,” Princess Twilight explained. “And he shouldn’t be selling those, either!”

Gob ran a hoof through his stringy mane. “I’m not entirely sure you understand the nature of this business, Princess.”

“I must not, because from what I see, the nature of your business is selling cursed items to unsuspecting ponies that cause a bunch of magical problems!” The princess waved a hoof at the shop in general.

“Items of dubious enchantment. And I suppose that does sum it up,” Gob agreed.

“HOW IS THAT A REASONABLE BUSINESS MODEL?!” Princess Twilight shouted, earning excited squawks and calls from the covered birdcages in the corner and several other objects around the store.

“It's not about the items, it's about the experience. For a few bits, my customer gets something that makes the world more interesting, teaches lessons, rewards the clever and punishes the greedy,” Gob said calmly. “In Equestria, a shop like this is almost necessary. And somepony has to manage it, so here we are.”

“None of us got rewarded! Or learned anything!” Princess Twilight pointed out.

“I believe you have a date Friday night?” Gob raised an eyebrow.

Twilight glowered, and Rarity offered her a sympathetic look.

“He does have a point, darling.”

Gob went on, “And Miss Rainbow Dash has learned about taking care in making wishes.”

“You could have just told me!” Rainbow Dash insisted.

“And Miss Fluttershy had an interesting experience in horticulture.” Gob nodded at the yellow pegasus. “It’s always good to find out more about this amazing world of ours.

“Yes… but, um, now we have to find a home for a plant that eats pony blood,” Fluttershy said with a worried frown.

Gob shrugged. “Any plant you purchase will have special care instructions.”

“Oh… well, you’re right,” Fluttershy agreed. “Except ‘needs full sun and rocky soil’ is a little different than ‘feeds on pony blood.’”

“Well it comes out to the same thing, doesn’t it?”

Fluttershy considered. “Um… no.”

Gob sighed. “Look, I’m sorry ladies, I don’t have all evening. I was supposed to be closed forty five minutes ago, and it remains my policy not to offer refunds.”

Princess Twilight smirked mirthlessly. “Oh, but I haven’t even gotten to the part about trekking through the entire countryside to find the right swan and then waiting for Rarity to take off her cloak.”

“It really was a beautiful cloak. Had I know about the side effects, I would have simply reproduced it.” Rarity frowned at Gob. “I am not pleased that such a beautiful and unique item had to be destroyed.”

“And just so ya’ know, swans bite,” Applejack added.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I said I was sorry.”

Gob quickly calculated the price of the items versus the time he was spending arguing about this and slowly developing a headache he was sure to have all evening. The no refunds rule had to remain firm. Otherwise he’d constantly have customers tracking him down after some scheme failed, he might as well go into the rental business. Of course, there was always another option: the secret weapon of retail managers everywhere...

“Fine. Fine, I... suppose I can offer store credit for the value of the items.”

Princess Twilight looked at him sternly. “We don’t want any more of—”

“Where is your jewelry?” Rarity cut in.

“In the glass case by the register.” He nodded in the direction. “May I recommend the amulet of Malfortuna? There’s no other diamond like it. It's only slightly more than the Swan Maiden's cloak cost.”

Princess Twilight stared in shock as her friends scattered throughout the store.

Applejack went straight for a pail by the door and looked over at Gob suspiciously. “You sure these beans are magic?”

“I’ve seen the results myself,” Gob offered. “100% magic, I don’t even cut them with a few kidney beans like some of my competitors. I'll give you the whole pail for your store credit, plus ten bits.”

“Are these treasure maps? Awesome!” Rainbow Dash said, unrolling parchments she found on a lower shelf.

“Oh Pinkie, look at this cute little thing!” Fluttershy said, holding a furry, brown and white creature the size of a teddy bear, with big eyes and huge pointed ears.

"What do you all think you're doing?!" Twilight shouted. Her friends stopped and blinked at her as she went on, "We just finished cleaning up after a bunch of cursed magic items from this store, I can't even open the door to my library right now, the owner has all but admitted that everything here is trouble, and you're all happy to just take something else to cause a whole new bunch of problems?"

There was silence for a few seconds, then Rarity held up ruby pendant in a black metal setting. "Darling, these are clearly vintage. This is practically a rescue mission!"

Applejack at least had the sense to look embarrassed as she muttered, "I reckon magic beans can't be much different from Zap Apples."

"He's so adorable!" Fluttershy said, cuddling the furry creature. "I know he needs a home."

Rainbow Dash shrugged, looking between two maps. "Sometimes you've gotta roll the dice, Twi."

"I mean really, what's the worst that can happen?" Pinkie asked with a grin.

Gob couldn't help smirking. "Perhaps you'd be interested in a one-of-a-kind copy of The Unending Tale, Princess?"

“Forget it,” Princess Twilight grumbled to Gob. “Girls! We’re leaving right now, and nopony is taking anything!”

Reluctantly, the other ponies set down or were pried away from their replacement items and ushered out of the store. After making totally sure that all her friends had left empty hooved, Princess Twilight frowned at Gob.

“I don’t want to see you in Ponyville again. And I will be writing a very strongly worded letter to the Magical Retailer Licensing Board.”

As the door creaked closed behind her, Gob sighed and walked over to lock it. Just typical, a bunch of ponies come in right before closing and don’t even buy anything. Tomorrow he’d have to try a new arrangement for the impulse items.