Lyra really wants to go to a Yard Sale

by TheDriderPony

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Bon-Bon, Slice of Life, Lyra
Length: 5500

Not every pony's trash is another's treasure.

When their grocery shopping takes a wrong turn, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon find themselves in a world of slightly damaged valuables, well loved relics, and haggle-happy vendors.

But are they finding trash or treasure? If only they could agree...

Published 2017-07-04 14:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-07-14 16:02:57 UTC

Cremini Street

It was a crisp Spring morning, and Ponyville was waking up.

The sun had been up for barely an hour, and already the streets were beginning to fill. Farmers and craftponies brought out their portable stalls, stocked with produce and wares to sell to passerby. Coffee shops and bakeries placed fans by the windows, allowing the smells of fresh breakfast goods to entice customers to come in for a taste. Early shoppers were out as well, ready to strike deals before the best merchandise was sold. Others ignored the stalls, already on their way to jobs of their own. And amongst the growing throng, two particular ponies trotted down the road, side by side, as always.

The two trotted at an easy pace, not in any rush and content to take in the sounds and smells of the morning. The first of the pair, a green unicorn, walked with a cheerful hop in her step and a vibrant energy which could not be denied. Her eyes constantly moved about, taking in absolutely every detail of the beautiful morning. She gave a cheerful wave to ponies as she passed, using the momentary pause as an opportunity for her slightly slower friend to catch back up with her energetic pace.

Her cream colored friend walked slowly because she was reduced to balancing on three legs. Her foreleg was occupied holding up a shopping list where she could easily read it while walking. Her pace was slower, more sedate, and her gaze was fixed on the list in font of her. The writing was crisp and precise, so much so that it might be mistaken for a pain-staking piece of calligraphy. Her eyes and footing never faltered, as she murmured out half-spoken automatic responses whenever somepony greeted her.

"So we definitely need carrots," she spoke up so that her unicorn friend would hear and pay attention, "Also radishes if they have any."

"And what if they don't?" the unicorn asked.

"Then I can substitute with more carrots." the mare's eyes continued down the list before stopping at a scribbled mess of lines. She pointed it out immediately. "Lyra, did you add this part? Near the apples? I can't make out your hornwriting."

"Let me see, scooch your head over a little Bon Bon." Lyra leaned in to read the list, squishing her face in close with the other mare's. Bon Bon rolled her eyes slightly, but smiled at Lyra's antics. "Oh, right, that. So you remember how I told you I saw Berry Punch at the bookstore yesterday? Well she told me about her sister, Berry Baker, who's visiting her for the weekend. Apparently her son, Berry Punch's nephew that is, just proposed to his marefriend and so she came here to contract Pinkie Pie for the bachelorette party. Been having a great time, apparently. Loves the small town feel. Said she might consider moving out here since her son's moving out soon. Empty nest syndrome and all..."

"Lyra," Bon Bon interrupted, "If this is going to be one of your long stories, could you pull back away a bit? I can't walk like this."

Lyra blinked, momentarily confused as she exited story mode and reassessed her situation. Then with a slight giggle, she leaned back and stepped away, finally freeing Bon Bon's face from hers. "Sorry, I got a little distracted."

She continued her story, now that the two could keep on walking while she did so. "Anyways, to make a long story short: Berry Baker baked Berry Punch some berry tarts as a thank you for letting her board for a few days. BP had one saved for lunch and offered to give it to me if I lent her a few bits so she could buy one more book and qualify to get another for free. So I did and she gave it to me."

Bon Bon waited a few moments for a continuation, but Lyra seemed to be finished and her concentration had moved on to a pun on a sign in a coffee shop window. "And?" she prompted.

Lyra turned her attention back to Bon Bon, completely clueless. "And what?"

Bon Bon sighed. This was the usual pattern Lyra's stories tended to follow. Often losing focus on the point of it by the time she got to the end. "And what does your lunch with Berry Punch have to due with this scribbled writing in the margins of my shopping list?"

"Oh that, right." Lyra's mental gears clicked back into place. "It was a really good tart, so I convinced BP to give me the recipe and I thought we could make it later."

Then why couldn't you have said that in the first place, Bon Bon's internal monologue grumbled, though her external response was much more friendly. "Oh, was that it then? Well I suppose we can try it. What exactly do we need?"

"Can't remember." Lyra replied, already distracted with a new banner some store was hanging. "That's why I wrote it on the list as soon as I got home."

Bon Bon took a deep breath, held it, but then let it back out through her teeth without the sarcastic reply she'd wanted to say. She took another deep breath to calm herself back down. Take it easy Bonnie, she reasoned with herself, This isn't worth getting impatient over, you're just still tired and a bit grouchy. Lyra's always been a bit scatterbrained, she's not trying to test you.

With one final cleansing breath, she let go of her anger. Bon Bon looked back down to the list in an effort to decipher Lyra's messy hornwriting. '-Berries' was definitely there, at least four times. That was probably 'Flour' and 'Sugar', crammed so close together it had seemed like one word initially. Even though writing either was redundant since she could always pull a little of one or the other from her confectionery shop's storage for personal use. Was that 'Lemon' something on the next line? Could be either juice or zest, which would make sense since the recipe is for tarts after all.

However the rest of the list would have to remain a mystery for the ages, as Bon Bon's musings were interrupted by an unexpected green wall in her distracted path. She fell back with a small yelp of surprise, dropping her list as she rubbed her injured muzzle. "Ow! Lyra! Why did you stop in the middle of the road?"

Lyra remained strangely unresponsive, staring off down the road away from them.

"L-Lyra?" Bon Bon ventured once more, more than a little confused and slightly alarmed.

"Bon Bon..." Lyra's voice was cold and flat, having taken on a tone of grave seriousness, "Do you realize... where we are?"

Bon Bon blinked, and took a moment to take in the surroundings she'd been ignoring. It was not their usual path, that much was immediately obvious. Rather than the main road, this seemed to be an area that toed the line between commercial and residential. Houses and storefronts both lined the street, sometimes sharing multiple floors of a buildings. Both sides of the road seemed to have an unusual number of stalls and street vendors, but that wasn't particularly odd. Most stores she either didn't recognize or were well known chains that didn't aid in pinning down a location. There was a clock repair shop down the road to her left, followed by a linens store and a Lunabits coffee house. The right side seemed to primarily contain houses. All were of the standard Ponyville design, with a little variance save for one. One particular house seemed somewhat bisected between two construction styles and paint jobs. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd almost think it looked like Vinyl Scratch and Octavia's hou- oh no. Oh no...

Oh no. Oh no no no no no no! Bon Bon panicked internally, I got distracted! I forgot to keep Lyra busy and stick to the main roads. Oh this is bad, this is really really bad! I need to move her before she realizes--

But Lyra was already turning to face her friend, though only her neck seemed to rotate. The wide, impossibly wide, grin on her face telling Bon Bon all she needed to know. It was too late. Lyra was fully aware of exactly where they were, and exactly what that implied.

"We're on Cremini street..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, though high and strained like it was hard to talk at all. "And you know what that means?"

Bon Bon sighed, resigned to what was to come, "A yar-"

"Yard Sale!" Lyra practically yelled in giddy excitement. The rest of her body whipped around to face Bon Bon as she jumped in the air, a look of pure foal-like joy on her face. Her limbs flailed about manically as though desperate to release all of her excited energy as quickly as possibly. Unfortunately, the duty fell to Bon Bon to squash it.

"No."

Lyra stopped her jump mid-fall. She returned to the ground at a more reasonable pace. "What? But- but Bon Bon... this is a very small window of opportunity for treasure."

Ban Bon sighed in resignation as she continued. "Lyra, there's always some kind of sale going on here. If it's not a yard sale, then it's a flea market. Or a fire sale, or a second-hoof tent show, or a silent auction fundraiser, or a promotional street fair, or something else entirely. " She placed a comforting hoof on Lyra's shoulder. "And I know you mean well with your 'treasure hunting', but you always just get so excited that every single time you end up blowing our budget on things we could live without."

"Oh come on!" Lyra pleaded, "We're not that strapped for bits. And think of all the great stuff I've found before. Remember that antique candy tray I found for you once?"

"You mean the one that you only knew was a candy tray because you saw me throw out my old cracked one the week before?"

"Yeah that one," Lyra remained oblivious to the actual meaning of Bon Bon's reply. "Or that sweet hoodie I got for a steal?"

"You have three more just like it!" Bon Bin exclaimed, "Literally. I do not know why so many ponies are selling the exact same jacket or why you keep buying them."

"Come on... pwease?" Lyra scrunched her muzzle and widened her eyes. Bon Bon steeled her will against the barrage of adorableness, her one weakness. Even then, she struggled against Lyra's pleading puppy dog eyes. In a corner of her mind, a glimmer of logic shined. A viable and foolproof excuse. Bon Bon grabbed onto it with everything she had.

"We can't because... I have a very strict budget. Yes, that's it. I have every bit tallied up between finances at the shop and personal expenses. With everything so precisely accounted for, there's just no way we can just start spending bits all over the place at some yard sale."

"Oh, so it was like that then." Lyra's sank deep into thought for a moment. Bon Bon sighed in relief, silently thanking Celestia for being able to pass through this trial with her bit balance intact. Unfortunately, when Lyra found a focus, she could be remarkably clever. "Wait, so you tally up all the bits?"

"Um, yes. All of them."

"Even my wages from the conservatory?"

"Ah, yes right. Those too." A nervous sweat formed on Bon Bon's brow. Had Lyra seen through her bluff?

"Okay, so how's about a deal. I'll take some of my stuff off the shopping list. I can go another week without my morning crullers. That should save us a few bits." She raised a hoof as more inspiration stuck. "Ooh, and I'll also put in some extra hours at the conservatory this week and help you out with the morning prep work at the confectionery. Then you can give Twist a few days off and save the money that you would have given her for those shifts. Put all that together, and that should be enough for little bit of treasure hunting. So, whaddya say?"

Bon Bon silently contemplated the unexpected offer. Wow, for Lyra, that's a surprisingly good deal. Having her work a bit more would certainly solve the budgeting problem. And it would be nice to give Twist a few days off. She could go on that trip to Canterlot with her friends she was talking about last week. Plus Lyra knows her way around the prep area nearly as well as I do. That could give me a chance to try one of those new recipes. Like those raspberry truffles with the imported cocoa. I could have her start setting up early while I grind the beans into fine powder, then have her select the ripest berries while I whisk in the milk...

As Bon Bon's thoughts drifted from shopping to cooking, Lyra grew worried at her silence. After a full minute of contemplation, Bon Bon had still not answered her. She began to grow nervous. Was her deal not good enough? Did she need to offer more? At the end of the second minute, she threw out her last lifeline. "You can set a spending limit! I promise I won't go over it!" More still? "You can even come with me and oversee my purchases!"

That yanked Bon Bon right out of her mentally choreographed baking scene. A budget cap? With supervision? How like Lyra to keep digging even after striking gems. Better play it cool though, Bon Bon thought, No reason to let this advantage go to waste. "Ten bit spending limit."

"Ten bits!?" Lyra exclaimed. "That's barely pocket change! Bonnie, be reasonable!"

"Well what do you think's a fair amount?" Bon Bon asked.

"Fifty bits." Lyra replied immediately, already engaging a haggling mindset.

"Fifty bits?! Not unless you're planning on abandoning the idea of groceries for the next week. Fifteen."

"Fifteen?!" Lyra reared back in overexaggerated shock, "I've seen ponies throw more than that in wishing wells. Forty and not a ha'bit less."

Okay, I'll admit this haggling is actually kind of fun. Count it a point in your favor Lyra. Bon Bon thought as a small grin found it's way onto her face. "Forty? We might as well sell the house then. Twenty, and I think I'm being generous."

"Thirty." Lyra shot back just as quick, "And I'll make you dinner instead of eating out tonight."

"Ooh, tempting." Bon Bon fluttered her eyelashes, "You strike a very enticing bargain. Final offer: Twenty-six bits, and you make the dinner, but I'll handle dessert."

"Deal!" Lyra stuck out a hoof to shake on it. Bon Bon grabbed it firmly, and the deal was struck. Their hoofshake stayed together for a moment before they both broke into cheesy grins and pulled each other close as they nuzzled softly. No words needed to be spoken between them. Their moment of intimacy lasted several seconds before they finally broke it off. Bon Bon was the first to speak.

"So, I guess we're going yard saling then."

Lyra grinned her lovably cheeky grin. "Oh, we're not just going yard saling, Bon Squared," She snagged a hat from a nearby display stand with her magic, tossing a bit to the owner who nodded in acknowledgement. Lyra tugged the soft brown material down between her ears with her horn sticking out from the front brim, somewhat resembling a rather well-known purveyor of relics and antiquities.

"We're going treasure hunting."

Author's Note

Bits Spent: 1
Bits Remaining: 25

Also, thoughts on: Bon Bon, Bon-Bon, or Bonbon?

Anything and Everything

"So, how do we do this then? I mean, what are we shopping for?" Bon Bon asked Lyra as they trotted farther down Cremini Street.

It was busier than it had appeared from the start. Several ponies had set up particularly large and attractive displays for their yard sales, which had in turn inspired others to set up impromptu sales of their own. Free advertising is free advertising after all. In no time at all the whole street had become a bustling bazaar vending all manner of secondhoof goods.

"First rule of treasure hunting," Lyra replied with a grin, "Never go in looking for something specific. Do that and you'll miss out on everything else."

"What-? But we have to have at least some idea of what we're looking for. Otherwise how do we know when we've found it and can move on?"

"You going about this the wrong way," Lyra replied as she walked between the tables of the first stand. "This isn't a job that you can schedule and optimize to get the best deal as fast as possible. This is about having fun. Finding new and unexpected things, and maybe buying them. Look for things that, I don't know, jump out at you."

Bon Bon raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Okay... I'll try. Just remember your promise; don't buy anything before showing it to me."

Lyra saluted smartly before turning back to the table she was investigating. Bon Bon sighed and turned to look at the array of junk to her left. Find something that jumps out at me? What does that even mean? Whatever, I guess I can try looking for something for the shop.

The section before was mostly housewares and cutlery, with a few misplaced odds and ends from where earlier visitors had changed their minds on an item and set it down wherever they felt like. Bon Bon analyzed it all with a critical gaze, her judgments came quick and harsh. Boring. Boring. Heavily used. Bland. Missing part of the set. Have one already. Boring. Ugly. Overpriced. She took a step forward to see the next section. Also boring. This should go with that piece from before, but I still have one already. Don't need it. Would never use it. Don't want it.

She sighed. This was not nearly as fun as Lyra had made it out to be. If anything, it felt like doing inventory in her store. Going row by row, checking what items are selling well and what aren't, which are about to expire and which should be moved to the discount shelf. Yes it was quite like that, except everything here she would place in either the closeout tray or the donations box. She turned to see if Lyra was having any luck. Maybe it was just a bad yard sale?

Lyra, however, seemed to be having the time of her life. Her eyes flittered across the tables in front of her, resting for a moment on one object like a butterfly on a flower before off to the next. She picked up seemingly random pieces in her magic, bringing them in close for a more detailed examination. She spun them around in front of her, taking in every detail, every angle. Soft 'oohs' and 'aahs' fell forth from her mouth on occasions. Most items she put back after looking, others she placed nearer to herself; a short list of sorts of items to compare against later. Teacups, books, linens, there seemed to be no pattern to what struck her interest.

Bon Bon turned back to her table. Maybe she was still doing it wrong? Maybe a more analytical approach was needed. She focused on the items once more, this time giving each object a full cost-benefit analysis.

Item: Three piece lavender Princess-size bed linen set. Estimated price new: Fifteen bits. Asking price: Five bits. Conclusion: Don't own a Princess size bed. Pass.

Item: Weathered book titled Adventures of Dr. Expedition, Spymaster. Estimated price new: Twelve bits. Asking price: Four bits. Conclusion: Spy thriller targeted at teenaged stallions, likely full of inaccuracies. Pass.

Item: Wing preening brush. Estimated price new: Unknown. Asking price: One bit. Conclusion: I am not a pegasus. Pass.

Item after item passed beneath Bon Bon's machine-like gaze, each summarily analyzed, quantized, and passed over. It wasn't long before she fell into a steady pattern. Observe, estimate, conclude, pass. Observe, estimate, conclude, pass. She likely could have continued on through the entire table if it weren't for the small portion of her brain not dedicated to value analysis detecting a voice calling out to her.

"Bon Bon? BoOOoon BOOooOOn...? Hello, Equis to Bon Bon. Bon Bon do you copy?"

She snapped out of her concentration to find that Lyra had finished looking things over and had come over to her side. "You okay in there? You've just been staring at the table with this kinda angry expression for a solid three minutes." Lyra giggled. "Find something interesting?"

Bon Bon sighed. "No... I'm sorry Lyra, but I just don't think I'm cut out for this. I tried and tried, but I look at this table and all I see is junk. Then I look over and see you so invested in everything you find like it's the coolest thing in the world, and I just can't see any value."

Lyra glanced at the items strewn before them. "I see your problem. It's cause all that's on this table is junk."

Bon Bon's mental gears ground to a halt. "What."

"Oh yeah, nothing interesting here at all." Lyra's eyes passed over the whole table in seconds. "Nothing we don't need, already have, or can't use."

"But- but-" Bon Bon's brain tried to turn over. "But you seemed so interested in everything!"

"Uh yeah, that's because my table had cool stuff on it." She placed a hoof to her forehead. "Okay, maybe I started too fast on you. Let me try hitting you again with the basics." In a sudden move, she grabbed Bon Bon's shoulders with her forehooves and pulled herself in close until their muzzles nearly touched. Lyra looked deep, deep into her eyes as though about to part some world changing wisdom. "You're not going to find something interesting every single time." She lowered hooves. "Fact is, most yard sales are ninety-five percent junk. A good hoofful are a hundred percent as well. You don't have to force yourself to find value in stuff. Just take a look, and if you see something you like, take a closer one."

Bon Bon smiled meekly. "Thanks, but I think I'll just let you handle it, and I'll stick to supervising to make sure you don't get swept away in your own enthusiasm."

"Me? Swept away in enthusiasm? Pshaaw!"

"A-huh, right, sure." Bon Bon replied with a small smile. "So, did you find anything worth our time after all?"

Lyra's ears perked straight up as her eyes widened. "Oh yeah! I did find something neat. Super neat in fact. Just wait right there, I know you're going to love it!"

Bon Bon sat where she was pushed, content to wait for the big reveal. It didn't take long, as all Lyra had to do was step back to the other stand and remember where she'd set down her find, and within moments Lyra was back with a wide grin on her face. "Okay, are you ready?"

"Sure, why not. Hit me with your best shot."

With a dramatic flair, Lyra whipped around the item she'd been holding in her magic behind Bon Bon's back. And before Lyra could even begin, Bon Bon settled back into her old familiar role as the voice of reason.

"It's-"

"No."

Lyra's mouth hung loose for a moment, her train of thought delayed at the station. Fortunately, the engineer kicked the engine a few times and managed to get it back and running promptly. "No? But you don't even know what it is yet!"

"I don't need to know. I can see it just fine."

What Lyra held aloft in her magic could most simply be described as a fish. It's body was long and flat, with bands of white, black, and yellow that formed triangles close to the tail. It was mounted on a slab of polished tan wood with a blue gemstone inset beneath it. It was also very ugly.

"Ah, taken an interest in that one, have you?" A rickety voice called out to the pair. They turned to see an elderly stallion who owned all the items they'd been pondering over. "Yes'm, I remember when I got that'un. The missus an' I went to the Bovinian Islands for our thirtieth anniversary. Bought it from a local bull there." He gestured with his cane. "You can press that button an' it's got a spell which'll predict the weather."

Mildly curious, Bon Bon raised a hoof to the stone and pressed it. With a slight creaking sound, the fish turned it's head forward and spoke in a strange unidentifiable accent. De weatha today will be... cloudeh, wit a nice lite rein in de evenin'. Bon Bon looked up at the clear blue sky, then turned back to the seller, visibly unimpressed.

The old earth pony shrugged. "Eh, he's old. The spell's worn off a bit. But he's still right about seven times out o' ten. Six bits an' he's yours."

Bon Bon laughed awkwardly for a moment before putting her foreleg around Lyra's shoulder. "Heh heh, right. Could you give us a minute?" He nodded as Bon Bon whipped Lyra around so they faced away.

"We are so not buying this."

Lyra's ears lowered. "But why not? Just look how cute he is." Lyra petted the fish lightly with a hoof. "And so useful too. How else will I know if I need an umbrella?"

"Oh, I don't know, ask any random Pegasus in town maybe? They're likely to be just about as accurate as that thing." Bon Bon replied sarcastically, "And if you really care about the weather, you can stick your head out the window and ask Sassaflash next door. She's vice chairpony of the local weather council for goodness sake!"

"But it's so foreign and exotic!" Lyra pleaded, putting a bit more force into her voice, "Where else can you see fish like this huh? Nowhere. Not unless you go all the way to-" she glanced at the maker's mark on the back of the wooden plaque. "Honomoomoo."

"I don't care if it's from the lost temple of the First Ascendant!" Bon Bon hissed, "Foreign junk is still junk." Seeing that there was still light in Lyra's eyes despite her arguments, Bon Bon tried a different approach. "And besides, where would we even put it? It doesn't match the house's color scheme, and wall space is at a premium due to all your... other purchases."

"Well," Lyra began wistfully, pictures forming in her mind, "I was thinking of hanging Mister Weather-fishy here right by the door, off to the side. Then we could check the weather just before leaving."

"A-huh, I thought it'd be somewhere around there." Bon Bon replied, "Unfortunately, that area is already occupied by your stuffed boar head that you use as a coatrack."

Lyra snapped out of her musings in surprise at her own forgetfulness. "Oh yeah, right right. How could I possibly forget about Rear Admiral Boaregard?"

"Excuse me, missies," the stallion chimed in from behind their backs. Lyra and Bon Bon turned around to face him. "I'm thinkin' you must've either underestimated my hearin' or overestimated your ability to whisper." He continued as the mares' cheeks reddened. "Let me tell you somethin' that might change your minds a bit. My missus and I, for all our faults, tend to agree about most things. With the exception bein' that fish there. For thirty years I've held the same thoughts as you young miss," he nodded to Lyra, "While my missus thinks like you." He nodded to Bon Bon. "But despite all I've argued, lately I've been startin' to see what she's been sayin'. The long and short of it is that we need to sell some clutter, and Mr. Huma there is on the choppin' block. I've made my peace with it that he's got to go."

Lyra opened her mouth to speak but the stallion cut her off with a raised forehoof. "Now don't go thinkin' I'm tryin' to guilt you into buying somethin' just for the bits. Or that I want you to treasure it forever or some nonsense. Keep it, give it away, toss it over a fence the moment you turn a corner if you want. I just need to be rid of it." He noted the still skeptical look on Bon Bon's face. "I'll even cut the price, just to show I'm bein' sincere. Three bits only, just for you fillies. How's about that?"

Lyra and Bon Bon met each other's gaze through the corners of their eyes. It was an unexpected situation to be sure. Lyra heard a heartfelt farewell between owner and treasured possession. Bon Bon heard a very well emotionally choreographed sales pitch. Either way, they both heard the price drop by fifty percent. And as the price dropped, their endorphin levels rose. The idea of a personalized discount, even for something one of them hadn't really wanted in the first place, triggered the parts of their brains responsible for rewards and accomplishments. The strange fish slowly became more and more of a tempting offer in their minds.

"Well..." Bon Bon began, breaking the silence as she turned more fully towards Lyra, "Do you know any animal lovers with a birthday coming up?"

"...Fluttershy, I guess?" Lyra offered with a hesitant shrug, not entirely confident with her own suggestion.

"I don't know..." Bon Bon mused, "I know everyone says she loves all animals equally, but I'm pretty sure she prefers fur and skins over scale and fins." Her ears perked up as an idea came to her. "Oh, what about Sea Swirl?"

"Sea Swirl? You mean with the double dolphin cutie mark? Doesn't she usually deal with live fish?" Lyra retorted.

"Yes, but she decorates her store with all sorts of fake sea life as well. I don't know about her birthday, but I believe I heard somepony mention that the anniversary of her shop opening is in a week or two. I wasn't really planning on going, but if we have a present..."

Lyra nodded slowly as the good sense of the idea became clear to her. "That does some like a pretty good plan," she admitted, before letting free a halfhearted sigh, "And I suppose I can agree to not keeping Mr. Weather-fishy if he's going to be a present to somepony who'll appreciate him more."

"Fine. So long as we're not keeping it permanently." Bon Bon lowered her voice so Lyra couldn't hear it. "Stars we have enough talking stuff on the walls as it is." She turned back to the stallion who had been kind enough to wait patiently while they hashed out a decision. "I guess we'll take it then. Three bits you said?"

The earth pony nodded and grabbed a simple lockbox and set it in front of him. Opening it revealed a decent pile of bits and a notebook containing a simple ledger. "Yes'm. Three bits for one weather predicting fish." Quill in mouth, he jotted in his notebook with a penmanship that made Bon Bon cringe. "Since you said you were gonna give it away, you want it gift wrapped for a bit more? I got an old hat box. Nice blue ribbon on it, eh?" He held up the cylindrical box teasingly, but Bon Bon waved it off immediately.

"No thank you, we have plenty of boxes at home."

He shrugged as he set the box down. "S'fine. No fur off my muzzle." He snatched the three bits Lyra had been levitating to him with a hoof and practically slammed them into his moneybox, locking and returning it to it's place at his feet. "Thank ya kindly, missies. An' remember, if you recall anythin' else that struck your fancy, I'll be here every couple o' days until I get rid of enough stuff to satisfy the missus."

"...We'll keep it in mind." Bon Bon turned to walk away, "Come on Lyra, better get going if you want to visit too many more spots."

"Coming~!" Lyra trilled as she happily placed her new acquisition into her saddlebag. She paused before leaving to thank the vendor. "Thanks for the deal mister! I'll make sure to find you after we give Sea Swirl the fish and let you know what she thinks of it!" She continued to walk away while still spouting thanks and goodbyes.

The old stallion chuckled in return and waved lightly as Lyra left, before turning to greet the next set of ponies who'd wandered into his domain. "Morning lads, jus' let me know if you see anythin' you wanna know more about. All prices negotiable."

Author's Note

Bits Spent: 4
Bits Remaining: 22
Acquisitions:

-One (1) explorers hat

-One (1) wood mounted weather predicting fish