A Limited Time Offer

"Come one, come all! Come on everypony don't be shy! Another wonderful product made by yours truly is available for your testing today!" Mendax yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice carrying over the growing crowd of curious ponies as if his voice was being amplified. He was in his element. The increasing crowd looked up at the the dark-gray earth-pony standing so proudly and surely on top of his hastily made make-shift stage. Mendax smiled slightly at the awed faces of the ponies below, he could already tell how eager they were to see his wares. "Everypony, if you've come over to me today to see something that will surely blow you right off of your hooves, you shan't be dissapointed today because what I have here under this drape will surely change your lives forever!" He waved a hoof over to a small box covered by a red drape. The sea of ponies standing beneath the stage began to chatter and stomp their hooves in anticipation, which only put Mendax in the zone even more.

Mendax nonchalantly meandered over to the covered box and slowly put a hoof on the drape. He chuckled as he thought to himself, "Heh, I could cut the tension with a knife." He grasped onto the drape and swiftly pulled it off from the box. Mendax reached in to one of the boxes and pulled out what appeared to be a bottle of green liquid. The onlooking ponies below stopped murmuring and seemed to finally be more interested in what the host had to say instead of the contents of the box. "This," said Mendax, rubbing a showcasing hoof over the bottle, "is a tonic that I made especially for you good folks of Canterlot." Mendax thought to himself with a sly grin, "That's right, give these idiots a little compliment to soften them up, then they're yours." The residents of Canterlot began to mumble in approval. Everypony was aware of how much those egotistic ponies in Canterlot liked to be complimented. A white pony sporting an umbrella asked in a snobbish voice, "Please get on with it, boy. What IS that little concoction you have there?" Mendax held out the bottle towards the inquisiting mare, and said, "This 'little concoction' is a tonic that I made myself. See, what it does, is it gives whoever drinks it the ability to become whatever type of pony the consumer wishes."

"Now to get the crowd involved," Mendax whispered to himself, scanning the mass of spectators. He quickly picked out a pony who suited the situation perfectly. A young earth-pony who didn't look too confident, the perfect example! "You there!" Mendax yelled out suddenly while thrusting a pointing hoof at the earth-pony. The unwilling volunteer jumped up and looked around at the rest of the spectators, most likely hoping the loud-mouthed salespony was talking to one of them. When all of the eyes of the other onlookers were on him, he stammered, "M-me?"

"That's right, you!" Mendax didn't have any plans for this poor pony, but it was always important to get the crowd involved, makes the whole situation that much more believable. Mendax continued, making eye contact with the young stallion. "Tell me, my fine friend, even a strong stallion like you has to wonder what it's like to have the wings of a pegasus, or to be able to move objects at will with magic, am I correct?" The nervous stallion kicked a rock and said, "Well, yeah, I guess."

"Well, my fellow ponies, now you don't have to wonder! With this wonderful remedy for the curious, you can be whatever type of pony you want! Imagine it, a unicorn that can summon pegasus wings without having to do any difficult spells or studying hours on end finding out how to do it! It's almost unimaginable!" Just then a firey-red stallion stood out above the crowd. He yelled out to Mendax, "That's exactly what I think! Unimaginable! You say that junk of yours will make everypony whatever they want to be, well I think you're full of it!" When the rabble-rouser had finished, the entire ensemble fell deathly quiet. Some ponies were nodding their approval of what was just said, and others were simply staring at the salesman, waiting for his rebuttal. Mendax simply stood there as hundered of eyes gazed up at him. The red stallion continued to push. "Well? Where's your fancy talk now?" Mendax couldn't help but notice that this particular stallion was in no way a part of the usual Canterlot crowd, but it just so happened that Mendax DID take a precaution just for this occasion.

Mendax finally spoke up, instantly capturing the attention of everypony and effectively silencing the trouble making stallion. "Well, sir, I suppose the only way to prove to you that this tonic is as great as I say it is is to give all you good folks a quick demonstration! Now who will it be?" Nopony raised their hoofs, just like Mendax expected. Not even the angry stallion stepped forward. This worked to Mendax's advantage. He quickly looked through the crowd of ponies for the face he recognized. He continued to scan, knowing that if he took too long to find the right mare, the crowd would get suspicious. He saw every kind of pony in the crowd looking back at him, but not who he was looking for. His eyes darted passed all shades of blue, pink, red, green. Manes of all different kinds of styles and clothes that only Canterlot ponies would bother dressing themselves in were assaulting Mendax's vision as he desperately looked for her. The ponies below began to mumble and look about, either waiting for that next volunteer or questioning why the salesman looked so darn nervous. Just then, a purposeful cough came from the middle of the crowd, and Mendax spotted her!

"You there, ma'am! Yes, how about you!" Mendax slyly wiped a bead of sweat from his muzzle as he pointed out the mare he was so desperately looking for. "You mean, me?" she asked, feigning surprise. "Yes, deary, how about you come up here and show all of these ponies the wonders of my wonder tonic!" Mendax had to admit, she was quite convincing as the light green mare nervously trotted up to the stage. She stepped up and Mendax put a hoof on her shoulder, turning her to face the crowd, a new surge of interest emitting from them. "What's your name, deary?" asked Mendax, knowing perfectly well what it was. She quickly responded, "My name is Honeydew, Mister." Mendax simply smiled and continued, "Now ma'am, I'm going to ask you, what kind of pony have you always wanted to be?"

"I've always wondered what it would be like to fly, mister." she said with a sweet, shy voice. "You see, I had a friend who was a pegasus and... well, I don't know. She always looked like she was having a real good time flying around, lounging on clouds like they were the most comfortable things in Equestria, I always wanted to join her up there." She stopped and looked down at her hooves to make sure nopony could see her expression as a mischevious grin played across her face. Mendax put a gentle hoof on her shoulder, while stifling a laugh, he said, "Well, hun, now is your day to show everyone that even a simple earth pony like yourself can, at the blink of an eye, sprout wings so wonderful that even the Wonderbolts will be envious!" The red stallion in the crowd guffawed at Mendax's words, but he paid them no mind. They'll ALL be believers soon enough.

Mendax hoofed the bottle of tonic over to the "volunteer" and she took it as nervously as she could possibly act. The crowd, once again, had fallen so silent that any passerby would think this was a memorial ceremony. She popped the lid off of the bottle and looked up at the crowd, letting the tension sink in. Mendax couldn't help but appreciate what a pro this girl was, considering he hired her straight off of the streets. She let her gaze shift slowly from the wide eyes of the onlookers back down to the bottle of green liquid, and she probably repeated this action four or five times before she gingerly moved the bottle up to her lips. The crowd leaned in towards the stage, as if they thought leaning closer would allow them a taste of the mystery tonic. Honeydew's lips finally met the bottle and she took a small sip, as if sampling it. Many of the ponies in the crowd didn't even bother to keep their mouths from hanging agape at this point. Honeydew then took a somewhat aggressive swig of the tonic and downed it all in one.

The watching ponies continued to gaze at her with rapt attention. Honeydew dropped the bottle to the floor and stood completely still, a stoic look upon her. Mendax began to feel slightly nervous as he realized how sensitive this part of the plan was. If she messed up here, it was over for the both of them, and he'd definitely have to switch towns again! Honeydew began to sway back and forth, as if she had spent the whole day chugging cider. She then stumbled backwards and fell off the back of the stage! All of the onlookers began mumbling in excitement, confusion, and fear. One elderly pony yelled out, "That witch doctor killed that poor filly with his death potions!" The red stallion began to walk up to the front of the crowd with the obvious intentions of confronting the waiting salesman. All the ponies were in turmoil, some were backing up and trying to leave the scene, while others were trying to move behind the stage to see what became of the poor mare who had been foolish enough to try the evil stallion's death beverage. Mendax tried to maintain his composure as he wondered what was taking Honeydew so long! The crowd moved in on him as he tried to calm down the crowd, "Now, now everypony, let's stay calm here, I'm sure the young mare is more than okay, I assure you." He raised up his hooves in defense and began to back up as the crowd got closer to the stage. The elderly pony was now leading some of Princess Celestia's guards over to the stage. "Oh geez," thought Mendax, "If I get arrested, I can kiss my career goodbye, oh please hurry!" The red stallion raged out, "You think you can meddle with us? Thought we were stupid didn't ya?" Mendax didn't have any clever lines for this kind of situation. There was no more room to back up so Mendax simply closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and braced himself.

Just then, Honeydew sprang back onto the stage, stopping all of the potentially rioting ponies in their tracks. She was staring dramatically down at her hooves with her eyes closed. Mendax couldn't help but let out a sigh as he saw a slight smile dance across her lips. The confused ponies all stared at her. The usually hot-headed stallion nervously asked, "Hey, miss, a-are you okay there?" He moved closer to the stage, but almost instantly began to back peddle when Honeydew allowed her beautiful pegasus wings to spring forth to the amazement of the onlookers! She allowed her wings to stretch to their full length, then she flapped as quickly as she could, going airborne almost at once and shooting like a star across the sky, carving the very air as she flew. She spun clouds, like she had seen a particular mare do at a certain flying competition, she then kicked them away like a kung-fu star and flew back towards the center of the sea of awed ponies. They hurriedly cleared an area for her to land, and she did so gracefully, not even stirring the loose soil beneath them. After she landed, she was once again dramtically staring down at her hooves, then she looked up at the shocked ponies. She winked.

All at once, the newly inspired ponies casted their attention from her to the dark-grey coated salespony standing proudly by his tonics. They immediately swarmed him, brandishing their bags of bits in the air for the salespony's taking. Mendax grinned brightly and yelled out, "Now, now, everypony! I have more than enough for all of you! Just hand me your bits and you will all have your wishes fulfilled! Easy now! Single file, how about that?" Mendax looked up over the crowd of customers and saw his accomplice, Honeydew smiling up at him. He quickly winked over to her, and she returned it. "I think this may be a start of a beautiful friendship," thought Mendax as he continued piling the ponies hard-earned money into his greedy pockets. Little by little the insane line began to wittle down and only the last pony remained. Mendax stood, once again, face to face with the ill-tempered red stallion.

The stallion stared menacingly at Mendax, who tried to keep an emotionless face while he suppressed a gulp. Suddenly, the stallion softened and an embarassed grin invaded his features. He apologized, "Look, pal. I'm sorry for being such a mule earlier. I just can't believe that a tonic this helpful could exist. You know, I've always wanted to fly like a pegasus." Mendax simply nodded and waved a unworried hoof, "Don't sweat it, it IS hard to believe, but hey, I'm a genius."

"No argument there," agreed the red stallion, laughing slightly as he hoofed over the bits to the salespony. "I'll see you around then?" asked the now friendly stallion. "You can count on it." said Mendax, winking at him while trying to give the friendliest smile he could muster. He thought to himself, "This guy is a real creepazoid." The stallion waved a friendly hoof and began sauntering away with his new treasure.

When she was sure everypony was gone, Honeydew trotted up to Mendax, who was hurriedly gathering his things to begin traveling home so he could begin counting his earnings. She slightly brushed up against him, and he acknowledged her by saying, "Eh, hello there, Zoan." She put a silencing hoof to her lips, "Shh, my name is Honeydew, remember?"

"I'm more than sure that all those 'fine folk' are in their homes right now trying out my 'miracle tonic.' laughed Mendax, rolling his eyes. Zoan, the light green mare, shiftily looked at all of the bits that Mendax now had with him. He had bags upon bags full of Equestrian currency. Needless to say, he would be well off for a good while. Her thoughts were interrupted by Mendax's intruding voice. "What in Equestria took you so long to get back on stage?"

"I couldn't undo the saddle, you strapped it too tight! You're lucky I was able to get back up on stage at all. After all that panicking I did, I was sure that I wouldn't be able to put on a good performance for those good ponies." she laughed and said dramatically, "Perish the thought!" Mendax was hardly listening. He recalled putting the saddle on Zoan. The saddle wasn't anything particularly special. It was large enough to keep her wings hidden but discreet enough to go unnoticed if it was the same color as her coat, which of course, he made absolutely sure of. Now it was Zoans turn to interrupt a thought process. "So what was that stuff you sold to everypony, really?"

"Oh, I don't really know. I just smashed up some berries, plants, grass. It looked real legit, so I figured it would pass for tonic, even if it didn't taste too good." Zoan's face scrunched up as she recalled the taste, "I can't believe you made me drink that." Mendax, who had finally finished gathering his goods, began to trot away. He said over his shoulder, "If you didn't drink it, our lovely customers wouldn't be so convinced." He quickly added, "Perish the thought!" She caught up to him and inquired, "Where are you going to, Mister? What about my cut?" Mendax stopped trotting and said nonchalantly, "You know, I was thinking. We made quite the pair back there." Zoan's eyes widened as she began to imagine what he was about to impose. Mendax continued, "I think you and I should travel together for a while, it's always nice for me to have an extra hoof around."

"You mean, we should be partners?" Zoan asked, the excitement in her voice building. "More like travel companions." Mendax corrected. He had a "partner" once, and he wasn't going to allow another pony to get that close to him again. "The moment Zoan's uses are exhausted, I'll ditch her." thought Mendax to himself. Mendax continued walking to his home while Zoan followed. She practically bounced circles around him as they meandered home. "GOSH!" she squeeled, "We're like partners in crime! Swindling the stupid out of their money so we can get by! Just like the characters of some kind of novel or something!" She continued babbling about somepony who robbed banks with his marefriend and how we were alike.

As the sun began to set over Canterlot, Mendax finally approached his tiny shack of a home. Zoan stopped her ecstatic chatter and her face sank slightly. "THIS is where you live?" Mendax trotted nonchalantly passed her and opened the door to his tiny one-room shack. "It's not a matter of where I live, really." he said cooly. "It's more of where I am at the moment, and this place meets my needs until I have to move on to another town. " Zoan still looked unimpressed so Mandex simply stated, "If you don't like it, you can leave and go back to begging for bits on the streets." Zoan straightened up quickly and threw a saluting hoof to her head. "No, sir! This is fine with me."

Mendax chuckled at the energetic con-artist of a mare he's found and looked out the window at the fully lowered sun. "We should get some sleep now," he began to yawn halfway through his sentence, causing Zoan to giggle slightly. Mendax ignored her and said, "I think tomorrow we just lay-low, spend some of our money on the east-side of Canterlot, where we probably won't run into any of our 'clientelle,' then we'll worry about our next scheme." He then planted his plot down against the shack wall and began to fall asleep sitting up.

Zoan smiled softly as she watched Mendax sleep. She had a partner in crime. Well, a travel companion, but that's all the same, really! It was at that exact moment, as she watched him lull himself to sleep, that she made a promise to do whatever it takes to make sure Mandex and her spent the rest of their lives swindling people! Though she had only done it "professionally" this one time, it felt right. It was her place, beside this odd, smooth-talking earth-pony. Besides, anything was better than her previous situation. Sleeping under whatever she could find, begging for bits as the snobby Canterlot ponies mocked and guffawed at her. "Mendax may be the one to save me from that life," she thought to herself affectionately. She then closed her eyes, leaning against the opposite wall and began to let herself fall asleep as images of the days ahead danced through her imagination.

--

"Yessir, he was really something!" the red stallion exclaimed. "His product was completely bogus, anyone with two eyes could see it! But here's the thing, boss, everyone bought it! I swear, it was like he had them entranced or something!" The red pony quieted down to gauge the reaction of his boss, a dark green pony wearing sunglasses. (Even though it was well passed midnight.) The "boss" spoke in a raspy, deep voice, "I see, did this pony have anyone with him? An accomplice?"

"I'm not exactly for sure, but I think he had this mare working with him. I can't be too sure, she was a much better actor than him, in my opinion, jabbered the stallion. The boss held up a silencing hoof, and the red-stallion sat back in his chair. The boss didn't say anything, but continued to look down at a map of Ponyville he had placed neatly across his desk. What a fine mess of a town it was, Ponyville. So close to Canterlot, yet it's main use to anyone is the surplus of apples they send. "Butch," the boss finally said, staring menacingly up at the red stallion, "Are you sure this...salespony can get me what I want?"

Butch, the red stallion, rapidly nodded his head. "Yessir, without a doubt! Like I said, he practically had them eating out of his hoof!" The boss chuckled to himself and growled, "Good, then I want you to gather a few of our men," he spoke slowly and clearly, "then I want you to go collect the two con-artists, then I want you to deliver them back to me." The boss sat back in his seat and and touched the tips of his front hoofs together. Butch jumped up and called out, "You can count on me, sir!" Before Butch could run out to begin his task like the loyal pony he was, the boss stopped him, "Butch," he hissed, "I don't want any of you to harm one hair on their manes. If you do, I swear..." He ended that sentence by slamming his hoof down on his own desk, the sounds of splintering wood pervaded the air.

Butch gulped and stammered, "S-sir, before I go, can I ask you one last question?"

"Yes, make it quick."

"What makes you so sure that they'll accept to help us?"

The boss leaned up onto his desk, and looked down at the map of Ponyville and growled, "I'll make them an offer they can't refuse." He then slapped his hoof across the desk, sending the map of Ponyville onto the ground.