"Take old thing," explained Angel with a proud expression, her paws clapped together. "Make new thing. Shiny. Trash magic."

"Recycled," gusted the stallion with understanding. "And an excellent job too!" He leaned in over the table, examining the toys and jewelry laid out. "I used to do this myself. Why make a new doll if you can repair an old one?"

Trash perked up. They hadn't been shot down? "Y-yeah! Exactly."

"Not old doll," corrected Angel.

The stallion perked an ear up at her and sat back, looking at her. "Not old dolls? What do you use?"

Angel reached a hand into the backpack she had been wearing, grabbing some loose bits of old metal and fluff they hadn't put into new dolls, setting it on the counter.

"You made them from scratch?!" he blurted with obvious surprise and wide eyes. His magic picked up the metal that shone, already polished and made new, though not incorporated into anything just yet. "I wouldn't know this wasn't just forged."

"Trash magic," sighed out Trash with an awkward smile. "We take things past their prime and give them a new lease on life."

"You really should sell that angle." The stallion angled his hoof at Trash. "Recycled toys... That could catch on... Make them green." Both of them looked perplexed. "Green? Eco friendly. Push that and posh parents will be snatching them up in no time." He waved a hoof suddenly over the stand.

"How much to make you close?"

Angel blinked as things suddenly took a turn she didn't expect. She scowled at who she thought was a good customer. "Not make go away. We hunting!"

Trash set a hoof on her side, trying to calm her. "What do you mean by just closing?"

"I want you to close up this shop so I can get you over to my shop and we can sell these dolls, with a little tweaking of the brand." He held up both of his hooves as if framing some imaginary thing. "We're both going to make some bits and put some smiles on little foals' faces."

Angel looked ready to defend Trash's honor, but he slipped in front of her, gently holding her back. "He's on our side."

She tilted her head at that. "But want go away."

"He wants us to go to a better place. Get even more coins," calmly explained Trash, a lazy smile on his face.

"Oohhh," breathed out Angel, getting it. "That good." She suddenly slid Trash to the left, putting him out of the way with almost no effort. "Three big coin." She reached under the table and got one of the first coins they got and held it up so it could be seen.

The stallion whistled softly. "You have an eye for business. Three hundred huh?" He tapped his chin softly, considering it. "I want a doll and some jewels for it, the rest go home with you." His magic plucked up one of the tsuki as he glanced towards Trash. "That work for you?"

"Yeah," he allowed, if perhaps a bit confused at how things went. "We'll pack up once you pick your jewels." With a glowing horn he picked up a few pieces and lifted them up next to the tsuki. "These fit."

The color around them shifted as the stallion took hold and placed them on the tsuki gently. "The name's Little Surprise, by the way," he introduced himself. "We'll be working together."

"Angel." She put her paws to her chest, then pointed to Trash. "Trash Prince."

Little burst into a short fit of laughter. "You are really leaning into that already, great. Let's make that the brand." He raised a hoof to his chin. "Some of them could even have some fake damage. They'll need extra special homes to recover in."

Angel tilted her head in complete confusion. Trash picked it up more easily, sliding things away as he did so. "That could be cool. Do foals want that?"

"Are you kidding me?" He flashed a big bright smile. "Give a foal a reason to feel sorry for a doll and it's like magic. Half of them will avoid it, the other half will rush it home without another thought." Seeing everything was put away, he turned back towards the aisle. "I'm going to finish my browsing. Since you're done for the day, maybe you should too, may get some new ideas. Oh!" A card floated out from his pelt, set on the counter gently. "My card. Would be a shame to lose contact with--"

Angel's hand came just to the side of him in the direction he was turning. "Three big coins," she reminded firmly.

"Oh, yes, of course." Three of the hundred coins floated free to rest beside the card. "A deal's a deal."

Trash took the coins and tucked them away without delay. "We'll talk later. Enjoy the show." He waved softly as Little trotted down the line. Trash looked to Angel with a dreamy smile. "I can't believe that happened."

"Is good?" Angel inclined her head, great ears hanging at an angle.

"Is very good," he assured. "We made plenty of coins today, and we have a way to make more..." He pointed at her backpack even as his own magic got his own bag into place. "C'mon. Let's get it put away, then we can celebrate. What do you like to do to celebrate?"

Celebrate? "What that?" She followed him, bag slung over her.

"When something good happens, and you want to be happy about it," explained Trash as they emerged from the bazaar into the cooler and fresher air of the outdoors. "Because something good happened."

Angel looked a bit pensive as she easily kept up with Trash with little hops. "Get good food with coins," she decided with a firm nod before spotting a pony operating what appeared to be a food cart. "There!"

Trash ambled towards the cart with an easy smile. "Hey, whatcha got?"

"Hello, sir and madame," greeted the cart pony with a warm smile. "Carrots on a bun, hot and buttered. Just the thing to take the edge off a hunger."

Trash turned an ear towards Angel. "Sound good?"

"Sound good," she easily agreed.

"Two--three carrots on a bun," ordered Trash with a soft nod, gauging his large friend would want perhaps more than a single carrot, on a bun or not.

"Want anything on it?" With a gesture of a hoof he made it clear there was relish and mustard and ketchup to choose from.

Angel leaned in, nose dancing as she licked her lips. "All good. Take all!"

"The works! A mare after my own heart." The cart stallion laughed as he got to work, making carrots burdened with all the condiments he had.

"Not mare?" Angel tilted her head, only to become a frown suddenly. "Trash stallion!"

Trash gently tapped her shoulder. "He meant you, not me. She's a doe."

"Doe? That's what they call rabbit mares? Awesome." Held in his magic, he floated up the three carrots, ready to go in their bread buns. He got the coins for it from Trash, the exchange complete. "Enjoy!"

Angel accepted the carrots being held aloft in Trash's magic, one to a hand. She sniffed over the one in her right hand before chomping about a third of it clean off and chewing it with soft appreciative noises.

Trash took a more sedate chew of his. "Huh, never tried it with everything... not bad. So... this changes things."

"Carrots change things?" She peered at the suspicious food that had changed things.

"No. We hunt in a new way now." He inclined his head back in the direction of the bazaar. "We won't be going back there. Come on, we have to get ready." He took another bite, floating as it was, it waited patiently as he walked towards home.

"New hunt?" Angel stuffed the rest of the carrots and their buns in to her face, going quiet but able to keep up with her bounces as she worked on them. "Old hunt not good? Angel bad hunt?"

"Angel great hunt," corrected Trash. "So good, you got us a new hunting territory."

This made sense! "Angel help!"

Soon they found themselves not at home, but at the junkyard. Trash nodded towards it as he approached at his usual sedate pace. "We need more trash."

"For trash magic," concluded Angel confidently.

"Exactly. Now, you're still in training in scavenging." He could see her deflate a bit. "But I'm going to give you a chance to prove yourself."

She perked right up. "What do?"

"I'm letting you get out from under my hoof." He held up one of those hooves. "Take it slow. Take it careful. I'd rather you come back with nothing than come back hurt. So be careful, please. Alright, prettymomma?"

"Careful." She nodded slowly. "Careful," she repeated, bouncing in place a little. "Thank." She suddenly leaned in and smooched his cheek. "Careful." And off she went, bouncing into the junkyard with great leaps, only to transition to careful steps the moment she hit the actual junkyard, heading inside.

Trash winced when she first bounded away, only to blink as she walked so carefully. "Maybe this'll work out... Hey!" He waved towards his friend who seemed to be in a big plow of some sort. "Doin' the rounds."

"Hay's for ponies," he grunted. "Which... I guess checks out." The junkyard guardian shrugged softly. "I saw yer rabbit hopping ahead of you. Sure she'll be alright?"

"I told her to take it slow," Trash assured. "Besides, she won't learn if I never let her try... Still my responsibility, man, I promise." With a slow nod, he moved to trail after Angel.

"Don't go getting hurt yourself," shouted his friend.

Inside the junkyard, they foraged for good bits of metal and cloth. Angel kept appearing with new things she wasn't quite sure of. "Good hunt?"

Sometimes the answer was yes. Other times... "Put that down." The slimy thing she was holding would not be turned into anything useful. "If it's slimy, it's no good."

"Slimy bad," she dutifully reminded herself, wandering off to resume her hunt.

Just as Trash was pocketing the last of what seemed to be a good haul, he heard Angel for a change as she landed near him. "Got something else?"

"Yes." But when he turned to her, she was holding nothing. "Better than trash."

Trash inclined an ear with a little smile. "What's better than trash?"

She tapped her head softly. "Learn." She pointed at him firmly. "Show better hunt. Celebrate." Already she was using the word she had learned that day. She grabbed him and set him on her back. "Ready?"

Trash smiled easily. "I don't know what you have in mind, blingmomma, but I'm curious. Go ahead."

"We go." She thumped the ground, leaving a divot from the great impact that threw herself and her precious cargo into the air, soaring free of the junkyard in a single great leap. "Slow inside. Not inside," she explained as they touched down outside just to bounce right back into the air, the wind whistling past their ears as she pressed into town. "We celebrate."

She didn't bring him to a shop. She didn't bring him to a restaurant either. They ended up back home. She peeled his bag free and set it aside before taking off her own. She nodded softly with self-satisfaction before putting a finger on his nose. "Angel bad mate, get better. Angel help, now better. Better hunt. Celebrate. Tell Angel, good mate?"

"You're the best roommate I ever had," easily allowed Trash with a slow nodding. "Also the fi--" his words were cut off, his vision, and lips, filled with tsuki as she just planted a great big kiss on him.

That wasn't the sort of celebration he had in mind, but as she gently pet over his sides and the top of his head, he began to relax into it. Perhaps Angel had the right idea about a good way to celebrate.

Author's Note

Things are on a positive trajectory, and it seems their mateship has been made properly formal. A cute pair, I vote.

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