The Legend of Friendship: Linked Horseshoes
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Linked Horseshoes trotted through the market of Ponyville carrying a large wagon full of a various assortment of gems. He'd come a long way from where he had once lived, but he was on a very important quest and needed to purchase gear and supplies to continue on his important journey.
Trotting through the crowd of mares and stallions with a determined look on his face, he came up to an area with stalls lining the roads on both sides selling goods of all kinds. Unfortunately, he had lost his wooden shield due to a close encounter with a fire-breathing dragon the day earlier. Deciding that going through wooden shields was getting old, Linked Horseshoes chose to look for a metallic shield crafted by a master forger.
Except all he saw in the market were stalls with assorted vegetables and the odd vendor selling something random.
"Excuse me," said a particular vendor as Linked Horseshoes trotted by, growing annoyed at the lack of proper adventuring supplies in this particular outpost.
"Excuse me, sir?" The vendor continued. He turned his head back and some of the gems in his wagon jostled around a bit. "You look like an important pony with an important purchase in mind, do you not?" The vendor eyed his wagon full of gems with a sparkle in his eye.
Linked Horseshoes sighed and rolled his eyes.
"I'll take that as a yes, fine sir. Please, allow me to show you what I have to offer!" The vendor quickly scrambled from beneath the stall to locate a particular item and Linked Horseshoes begrudgingly strode up to him.
The vendor popped out from beneath the stall holding a jar between his hooves. Inside was a parasprite with a sad look on her face. "Check out this one, ain't she a beauty?"
Linked Horseshoes recognized a fairy in a bottle when he saw one. But more importantly, he recognized the bottle itself. There was nothing more convenient than an empty bottle. He immediately grabbed several gems out from the wagon behind them and offered them to the pony.
The pony looked at him and then back at the gem-filled wagon. Linked Horseshoes sighed and pulled out a few more gems and threw them on the counter, and the vendor snatched them up with a sweep of his hoof. Linked Horseshoes took the bottle with parasprite inside and tucked it away into storage.
Satisfied with his purchase, Linked Horseshoes continued trotting down the road until another stall caught his eye.
"Get your bags here!" A mare called out loudly over the low roar of the crowds in the street. "Top quality bags! Small, medium and large! Also selling hoof-crafted wallets!"
A bag would certainly be nice, as would a wallet. After all, he thought, having a bigger wallet would eliminate the need for him to carry around all of these gems in a wagon behind him. He trotted up to the stall.
"Hello there, handsome, what can I sell to you today?" The mare leaned on the counter with a hoof beneath her chin, looking up at Linked Horseshoes with fluttering eyelashes.
Linked Horseshoes stepped back slightly and made an audible noise of embarrassment in his throat, then pulled out a few gems to offer the vendor for a bigger wallet.
"A big wallet for a financially well-off stallion, eh?" The mare said flirtatiously, "I think this one will do ya just fine." She pulled out the biggest wallet she had and put it onto the counter. It was still only about the size of a pony's hoof.
"Oh don't worry darling," the mare continued, "this wallet is magically enchanted. It's a lot bigger on the inside that it looks. Ain't that a wonder? Price is 100 bits."
Linked Horseshoes looked back to his wagon. After buying the fairy in a bottle, he was starting to dip deeply into his funds, but he had just enough gems to purchase the wallet. He begrudgingly retrieved them and put them on the counter and grabbed the wallet, placing the remaining gems he had into it.
"Thank you kindly, stranger," the mare said as he left the stall without a word.
Linked Horseshoes counted the remaining gems and sighed. He wouldn't have enough to buy the metal shield, but that was no problem. Back where he lived, ponies would often hide gems in tall grass and pots, so he would just go to the fields outside ponyville to gather some more. That was, until he saw somepony carrying a large vase out of a building.
Now, Linked Horseshoes was a good-natured stallion, but often thought of himself as a vigilante of sorts. There were plenty of rich ponies in the land of Equestria, but not many of them used their good fortune for the good of others like he did. He was, after all, on an adventurous quest of the utmost importance. He watched the pony for a few seconds until he was out of sight from the buildings entrance and then slipped inside.
Inside, Linked Horseshoes found himself looking at a room full of ceramic pots. His eyes gleamed, and without a second glance he began to smash them all to pieces with great ferocity.
"Hyah! Hwap! Sshaa! Hyyah!"
Linked Horseshoes didn't cease until every last pot was shattered to pieces. He was breathing heavily. The floor was covered with bits of shattered ceramics and grey dust, but no gems. He sighed and began to leave the building, until the pony who left earlier came through the doorway to see Linked Horseshoes surrounded by the destruction of his home.
"What in Celestias..."
Linked Horseshoes froze in place.
"Did YOU DO THIS?" The pony yelled out in anger.
Linked Horseshoes immediately bolted towards the window, jumping through it and shattering the glass.
"Get back here you hooligan!" The pony yelled with an angry hoof in the air as he galloped off back through the streets through the market. When he had gotten far enough away from the angry pony, he stopped to regain his breath. Above him, he heard the sounds of somepony who sounded upset.
"Of all the things that could happen, this is the...worst...possible...thing!" Rarity exclaimed from inside Carousel Boutique.
Linked Horseshoes knew the sounds of a damsel in distress when he heard them and immediately dashed inside to help the poor pony. Inside the boutique, he saw the white mare with purple mane rolling about on the floor next to a dress with a small stain on the side. Linked Horseshoes stood for at least 6 seconds until Rarity opened her eyes from wailing to see him standing with mouth agape.
Suddenly, Rarity rose to her hooves and smiled. Is it finally happening? Is my prince finally here to whisk me away to live happily ever after? "Hello there, darling," Rarity said as she strode over to Linked Horseshoes. "Is there something I can help you with?" She put a hoof on his cheek.
Linked Horsehoes said nothing and stared ahead blankly, then to the stained dress.
"Oh, that old thing?" Rarity said. "Don't worry about that, it's just a dress."
And then Linked Horseshoe's eyes drifted towards something that caught his eye inside of a chest in the far off corner. A shining red, crystal heart. A whole piece of heart! What a lucky find! Linked Horseshoes immediately forgot about the damsel in distress and hastily moved towards the piece of heart.
"Darling?" Rarity said.
Linked Horseshoes grabbed the piece of heart, holding it above his head in his hooves with great exuberance.
"You've got my favorite gem!" Rarity exclaimed, rushing over to him in surprise. She had just met this peculiar pony and already he was rummaging through her gem-closet. "Please, put that down!"
Linked Horseshoes paid no attention to Rarity and instead put the gem into storage.
"What--" Rarity stammered. "Where did you put that? Where did it go? It just...disappeared out of thin air!"
Linked Horseshoes shrugged his shoulders and made his way out of the boutique without saying a single word, Rarity following him slowly with mouth agape until she reached the door, and watched as he walked off into the sunset. He may have not found his shield, but Linked Horseshoes was perfectly satisfied with the wares he acquired.
Now, time to go to Laneighru...
