Nothing's More Important

For the life of her, Amelia couldn’t remember how or when they had managed to cobble together the little wooden booth in the town’s market square. It was amusingly reminiscent of a classic lemonade stand, but in their case they had pressurized bottles of carbonated, caffeinated, fruit flavored soda pop to distribute. And for the low, low price of an honest opinion. That wasn’t enough to pay for the ingredients, of course, but it would do a lot to help identify which flavors would be the best sellers.

Seated there with a big smile forced on his face, Justin Thyme was on time and ready for action. When the first pony wandered past, he leaned far forward. "Hello madame! Would you like to t--" he trailed off, his overly loud greeting sending her scurrying. "Sorry…" Spokesponyship was clearly not his strength. "Next one, alright, I can do this…"

The next passerby was a large, powerful looking stallion by the name of Steady Pace. He ran the local hay mill, a dull job that mostly involved walking in a circle all day. Not to power the mill: that was wind powered; but to bring the hay from the barn where it was stored to the mill, and then carry the resultant flour to the wagon to be ready for market. Occassionaly he got to take a break from that to draw the wagon in a much larger circle, and at the moment he was on his way back to the mill. His cutie mark, a simple black circle on his hay-colored flank, inspired him with the patience his job required.

Justin smiled at the dull pony, making a mental note to keep his voice down. "Hello there, Steady. How are things going?" He leaned up, crossing his legs on the counter. "You're looking like you're working hard."

Steady nodded quietly. “The wagon’s empty going this way, so this is the easy part of the loop,” he commented. “What are you up to, Justin?” Steady Pace was still walking, though not all that quickly.

Justin grabbed a bottle. "Well, just your lucky day. We've made some great drinks to quench the throats of thirsty hardworking gents just like yourself." He held it as if displaying something of great value. "Free for today as a thank you to ponies just like you, all we want is your opinion on it."

“Oh, well.. you’re welcome?” Steady said with a hint of confusion. “I think I can afford that.” He took the sample, an apple flavored soda, and took a sip. The first sip caused an involuntary giggle as the carbonation tickled his nose, causing him to stop and consider it.

Inwardly, Justin broke into a great smile. Outwardly, he struggled to keep his expression stamped down to a general niceness, and it was hard. He kept showing little flashes of that grin before he could fight it down. "How do you like it?" He glanced towards his new wives, seeing where they were in proximity to their first test.

Amelia had a clipboard in hand, already taking notes about the pony’s reactions, an eager grin already plastered on her face. The whole scenario was almost surreal to her. Doing science on real life, honest to goodness, cutie-mark bearing talking ponies.

Alice, for her part, looked bored. And tired. Even though day here was night back home, her body insisted she should be nocturnal and was pushing her toward flipping back around. She checked and rechecked their inventory just to try to force herself to stay awake and engaged.

Finally, Steady Pace was able to get used to the bubbles enough to steadily drink down the beverage. “It’s got a good flavor. Like apples, but bubblier. Kind of fun? I think I like apple cider better though,” he offered. “Well, good luck! And thanks for the drink.” He took up his load once more and trotted toward his home with the wagon in tow, walking much faster than he had when he arrived.

Justin waved perhaps a bit overly eagerly. "You have a great day!" He swung on Amelia. "Did you see that? He was re-energized! We could emphasize that." He bounced in place with little giggles. "And he liked the taste, that's good too!"

“That would be the caffeine,” Amelia noted aloud and on her clipboard. “It’s like a cup of coffee in that sense.”

He tilted his head sharply. "Coffee that tastes sweet and is bubbly? Maybe…" His look got far off a moment. "You have something big here."

“I’m guessing not everypony cares for the taste of coffee. Oh! Here comes another customer. Look lively!” Amelia advised.

Gentle Breeze alighted before them with a graceful swoop. “Hi Justin! Hello again, Alice, Amelia,” she said, nodding to each in turn, but getting the women’s names mixed up. “This your latest potion, Justin? What’s it do?”

He leaned forward with another bottle in his hooves, balanced between them. "Taste delicious, and it'll put a pep in your step! We're sharing it with good friends, and all we're asking is to hear how much you love it." His smile came, goofy and a bit too large. "Want a cup?"

“Sure!” Gentle Breeze accepted quickly before looking at it skeptically for a moment. “It’s not going to turn me a different color, or make my fur fall out, or anything, is it?”

“No, no, no, no,” Amelia assured. “This stuff is made with science, not so much alchemy. It’s basically like a cup of coffee, but sweeter and bubblier, and fruit flavored. Which one’s that? Mango and orange? Let us know what you think. We need to know which flavors taste the best so we know what to make more of.”

Justin looked just a bit nettled at the phrasing. "As if science were so much better," he grumbled to himself, sitting down on his haunches and letting the two mares hash things out.

Alice took a moment to lick his cheek. “I’m sure she’ll come around once she learns to do some real alchemy.”

Gentle Breeze took a careful sip before downing the bottle quickly. “Oh, wow, that is pretty good. You said you had more flavors? I want to try them all!” She started buzzing about them quickly, viewing the supply of soda from every angle and kicking up more wind than her name would imply.

Amelia struggled to keep her papers attached to the clipboard. “Woah, now. Why don’t you come back in an hour and try another? It’s probably best to space them out a bit,” she suggested.

Justin watched his friend buzz around so flightfully. "You really like it, huh?" A hoof reached out for Amelia, draping over her a moment.

“I’m going to tell the other weather pegasi!” Gentle claimed. “I’ll be right back!” And with that the pegasus was gone, disappeared among the clouds.

Justin and his mares were left in silence for a bit, left to wonder who would be next to visit their little stand. While they waited, he reached over and poked at Amelia. "You know…"

Before he could get any further, a proper looking stallion came strolling down the road and caught Justin's attention firmly. "Oh! Mister Mayor, sir."

He nodded his chubby cheeks. "Good to see you outside, Justin. Are these the odd mares I keep hearing so much about?" His eyes wandered back and forth. "They aren't ponies," he noted with a keen grasp of what was before him.

“No sir,” Amelia said, setting her clipboard aside to offer him a hand shake. “My name is Amelia, and I’m a human. And my friend here is Alice. She’s a wolf, obviously.”

Alice yawned, blinking at the chubby stallion, and shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “A pleasure to meet you, mayor,” she added tiredly.

"How can she be a wolf?" He tilted his head. "They're made of sticks and things, and they're a lot more growly…" His gaze turned to Justin. "Are you bringing trouble into our fair town?"

Justin's hooves came up quickly, waving them around. "No! No no! We're not making any trouble at all, promise!"

“I assure you, I’m made entirely of meat,” Alice said. “And I don’t eat ponies,” she said, as much as a reminder to herself as an assurance to the mayor. “But if any predators are giving you trouble, you can come to me and I’ll happily drive them off for you.”

“She’s not a timber wolf, mayor. Though she can get growly sometimes, but I assure you she won’t bite anypony,” Amelia added. “Have you had trouble with timber wolves in these parts?”

He stroked his chin softly. "Well, once in awhile, but not often, thankfully. That's why we have the sheriff and his ponies." He suddenly noticed something else. "Oh, are you selling something?" He came closer, as if forgetting the wolf issue entirely.

Justin grabbed for a bottle, some of it sloshing out in his eagerness. "Oh! It's a new and amazing drink to rejuvenate tired ponies while tasting great!" He grinned all too-widely at the potential customer.

“For today only, we’re offering it free of charge, in exchange for your opinion on it,” Amelia explained. “We’re trying to find out which flavors ponies like best. We have apple, orange with mango, rose, and prune. Which would you like to try?”

“Has anyone even tried the rose yet?” Alice asked.

The mayor thrust a hoof at the bottle from which the rose scent comes. "I'll be the first. A refined taste for a refined pony." He was as refined as their little town could reasonably expect to be, and puffed himself up with pride.

Amelia immediately handed him the indicated bottle, as soon as it was opened. “It’s carbonated, so you may feel a bit of a tickle in your nose. That’s quite normal,” she warned. Once her hand was free, she immediately picked the clipboard back up, eagerly awaiting his response.

Alice, for her part, curled back up to hide her face from the annoyingly bright sun. Though she didn’t mind the warmth one bit. Soon her muffled snores were drifting from beneath her paws.

Justin watched over Alice, becoming her protector, for all the fury that his little fuzzy body could likely muster in case of emergency. Not paying attention to him, the mayor sampled the rose 'Mmm, curious... Kick's like a mule." He licked over his lips. "Not bad."

“Only ‘not bad’?” Amelia asked. “Is it something you think you would like to have more of in the future? Would you recommend it to friends or family?”

The question seemed to throw him off balance. "Hmm? It's not bad… Maybe… As a stand in for white wine? I'd have to try it in a proper setting, but not bad, not bad." He waved it away as he turned. "Keep up the work."

Amelia nodded and scribbled furiously, recording his reactions for future reference. “Thanks for your time, Mayor,” she said.

Before the mayor could even get out of earshot, the local weather team descended upon the stand. A half-dozen ponies strong, the weather team already had a bit of a strong sweat going from the morning rush, setting the day’s scheduled cloud cover into motion.

“Is it too soon to have another?” Gentle Breeze asked over the cacophony of the other ponies’ cross talk. The next several minutes was a confused blur as they distributed samples and Amelia did her best to sort through their comments while they talked to and over one another.

Alice managed to make things a bit harder by joining in on a side conversation, chatting at first with the two stallions in the group, before one of the mares joined in, distracting them all from the taste test.

Justin did his part to help things move along, serving, smiling, and gently prying. "Isn't that a nice flavor? I thought of you when I suggested it." More smiling. He sweated a little from the crowd, perhaps overwhelmed even as he faced it.

The crowd from the weather team got the attention of more curious ponies, and by lunch time they had given out their full supply. They were finally able to relax, aside from the relatively tranquil effort to clean up the empty bottles and such.