Author's Note

Chapter 7 is finally out!! And returning to our two Pony characters!! As usual sorry for the slowness. Working on speeding up! Lastly if you enjoy this story I did put out another one recently! A smutty one shot with Button and Sweetie Belle. If you enjoy my writing, I hope you might enjoy this one too!

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/512246/mine-tonight

Hope to have more up sooner than later! See everypony soon!

Chapter 7: Supply And Demand

Double inhaled deeply and held the wondrous aroma for a moment before exhaling with a sigh. He opened his eyes and looked down at the steaming mug of coffee between his hooves with a smile.

Perfect.

He looked up to see Aurora snout deep in a milkshake glass piled high with whipped cream, a cookie, sprinkles and all manner of other sugary nonsense he couldn’t identify.

“You are SO missing out.”

Aurora looked up from her desert and stuck her tongue out. “I’m good. Thanks.”

He shook his head, chuckled and inhaled again. With just a smell he could tell whoever was running Seabreeze Coffee knew what they were doing. Vanilla, toffee and milk chocolate hit first, followed shortly by a syrupy, almost maple body. He’d spent a good twenty minutes with the barista, asking about their different beans, roasts and methods. For her part Aurora had buried her face in her book the entire time.

He pulled the cup to his mouth and drank. He smiled in contentment. The same characteristics he’d had on the nose were expressed perfectly in the flavor. All without a drop of sweetener or milk in the glass. It was exactly as the barista had described it. The mark of an excellent coffee pony.

“Aurora how’s…” He looked up and burst out giggling at the mound of whipped cream on the tip of Aurora’s snout. She was focused back on her book, completely unaware.

He swallowed his coffee. “Auri...you’ve uh...you’ve got something there.” He gestured at his face. She looked up and went cross eyed as she stared down her snout before reaching up and wiping the cream away. She blushed and muttered a thanks before returning to her drink.

That was adorable.

He took another sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair as the warm sea air gently moved around them. Around them other ponies sat and sipped their coffee on the shop's seaside patio. Past the patio railing, a long beach stretched as far as he could see in either direction as it wrapped around the Bay of Seaddle. Ponies and other creatures played in the water or relaxed on the beach. Other seaside shops dotted the beach as Ponies walked away from them with ice cream, snacks and all sorts of other treats. A group of young Pegasi whirled above them in a spirited game of sky tag. Opposite the beach, far behind Aurora a massive mountain range climbed high into the sky. Dark green forest climbed up the side of each spiring rock before fading to white at the snow capped tips.

Beautiful day.

He looked back across the table at Aurora. She had apparently given up trying to manually fish what she wanted out of the drink and was sucking greedily through the provided chocolate covered straw.

“How’s your milkshake?”

She didn’t even bother to look up at him. “It’s not a milkshake.”

“Uh huh. What was that again? A S'more Frappuccino Deluxe? Can you even TASTE any coffee?”

She exaggeratedly shook her head. “Nope! That was the point! Coffee is gross.”

He rolled his eyes and chuckled as she returned to her cup of sugar. He took another sip of his coffee before looking up at a clock on a building down the road from them.

Almost noon.

“Aurora, what time did you say we needed to be at the wholesaler?”

“At two.” She set her drink down and leaned over to her saddlebag on the ground. She came back up with a map and rolled it out over the table. She rested a hoof on a mark on the other side of the city from the bay.

“This is where it is.”

“How long a walk is that?”

She scanned the map over and shrugged. “Twenty? Thirty minutes?”

“That’s a decent walk. Want to get a taxi?”

She shook her head. “Nah.” She flicked her head at her drink. “Wouldn’t hurt to work some of this off anyway.”

Her mention of calories sprung up something he had been meaning to ask her some time. “Auri….can I ask you a personal question?”

She looked up. “Ummm….sure….I guess?”

“How in Equestria are you so skinny?”

She stared at him for a second before looking herself up and down. “Huh?”

He waved his hooves at her. “Skinny. Thin. In shape. Look at you!”

Equestria was full of ponies of all shapes and sizes. Aurora was built pretty much in line with most unicorns he had ever met. Slightly thinner and delicately built than Pegasi and significantly smaller than Earth Ponies. It had only taken a few weeks of him seeing what she ate on an almost nightly basis before he realized something didn’t add up.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean...my parents aren’t big ponies.”

He shook his head. “Fair enough but….ALL YOU EAT IS JUNK FOOD!” He waved a leg back and forth between her frame and the almost empty cup on the table.

“It seems like you eat Hayburger almost every day! I think you drink more Energy Potion than water! I’ve seen the small mountain of candy you keep in your room! How?! Just…..how?”

She looked at her cup again. “Oh. Well….” She looked away for a second before sighing and looking up at him. “You promise you won’t get mad?”

He blinked a few times. “I mean….sure?”

“I actually don’t always remember to eat every day.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Wait….what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t mean to do it. I’ll just line up a bunch of orders to fix and before I know it it’s the next morning and I just go to bed.”

“Auri……”

She rolled her eyes. “I know Dad. I know.”

He gave her a smile. “You know you don’t have to call me that whenever I’m worried about you.”

She sighed again. “I’m sorry. I know you mean well. It’s just…..”

“Just what?”

She shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I had someone looking after me. Just not something I’m used to.”

Interesting.

“And I know my diet is garbage….it’s just…” She searched over her next words.

“Just what?”

“It’s just….I want to try and get as many repairs in as I can. If I’m not working, I’m wasting bits.”

He nodded. “I understand that. I own a business. Believe me….but…”

“But what?”

He leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his coffee. Been meaning to ask this eventually anyway.

“Why do you need all these bits?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aurora, you work more than anypony I have ever met. Literally. I’ve seen ponies pay you when they pick things up from the house. I have a pretty good idea what you make per job. You have a pretty rare skill. Not many Ponies know how to fix magical appliances. Hell I’ve seen you taking sacks of bits out from the basement in deposit bags. Are you just SAVING all that?”

She nodded.

“What in Luna’s name do you need all that money for? Are you trying to buy a mansion or something?”

She shook her head. “No no. Nothing like that.” She glanced from her saddlebag. “It’s my project.”

“Your project?”

She hesitated a moment before nodding. “Yeah my machine. Some of the materials that went into building it are….pricey…to say the least.”

“How pricey?”

“Well……the serindum alone was almost thirty thousand bits.”

It took everything he had to not spew coffee all over her.

“thirty…..thousand….?”

She nodded. “I told you it was a pretty rare element.”

“You weren’t kidding.” He rubbed the bridge of his snout with a hoof. “Ok…serious question. How much did that thing cost in total?”

She thought for a moment. “I was able to salvage some of the inner components from scrap I found but……if I had to guess maybe…..seventy…eighty thousand bits.”

He just stared wide eyed across the table at her.

Annoyance crept across her face. “You asked.”

“I know. I know. I just….wow.” He would never have guessed that gadget was that expensive. Maybe I should get a better lock for the apartment.

“Anyway that’s why I work so much. The project isn’t cheap.”

“Apparently.” Out of the corner of his eye he watched a filly trip and fall against the sidewalk. In short order her mother scooped her up and attended to the scrape on her knee. By the time looked back to Aurora she was already staring down at the same notebook she’d been carrying with her since they left and sipping on her frappuccino.

Window closed. He wasn’t going to push the issue by asking her more questions. In time.

They spent a while longer at the table as she read and he enjoyed the scenery. After a bit he looked up at the clock again.

“Auri it’s almost 12:30. When did you want to leave?”

She looked over her shoulder at the clock before turning around and starting to pack up her things. “Let’s start heading that way. I’d rather be early than late.”

He nodded and cleaned off their table as she stuffed books and papers into her bag. Before long they were making their way northward towards the industrial district of the city. He was able to get some small talk out of her as they went. As they came to an intersection a few minutes after they started she pointed at a towering Mareiott skyscraper across the street from them.

“We stayed there when I was here as a filly.”

He looked up at the towering structure and whistled. “Damn. Nice. What were you here for?”

“My parents were attending a conference.”

“Impressive. That’s way better than our little motel.”

She shrugged. “I guess. A bed’s a bed.”

“You aren’t much for creature comforts are you?”

She looked up at him. “Why do you say that?”

“You sleep on a cot….in a basement…..”

She shrugged. “Just focused on other things.”

Clearly.

He stopped and looked back. “That’s a really nice hotel.” He watched for a moment as Ponies in elaborate coaches pulled up to the front and disembarked in all their finery.

Might as well take the plunge. “What do your parents do anyway?”

Her ear twitched as he gait slowed every so slightly in front of him. For a moment he worried she was going to completely shut the conversation down. She never seemed to react well whenever he brought her family up.

Great.

“They’re professors.”

She picked her pace back up as he jetted forward to walk next to her. “Professors of what?”

“They teach magic at a university.”

“Huh…”

“Huh what?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t realize there was higher education for magic specifically.” Most ponies spent their early years learning their natural abilities from their parents. Unicorns spent time learning things like basic magic while all pegasi spent time learning flight and weather herding. Earth ponies usually spent time with their families learning their specific hyper focused skills. Schools were generally more focused on general academics and life skills rather than anything race focused.

“It makes sense. There are advanced flight academies for gifted flyers.”

She nodded. “It’s not a common thing. You have to be exceptionally gifted. Princess Twilight kind of gifted.”

“Holy shit.” Like most ponies he didn’t really have a great understanding of how magic worked at that level. To him it really stopped at unicorns floating things around. He’d given the autobiographies of the Princesses a read but that was really where his understanding of that world stopped.

“You parents must be seriously skilled with magic then.”

“They’re very skilled, yes.”

“You must be amazing too. Especially to be able to build that thing back at the house.”

He watched as she jerked a bit before responding in a measured tone.“Thank you Double.”

Okay…..time to drop it.

They made a bit of small talk as the commercial and tourist portion of Seaddle gradually faded into the shipping and industrial district. Hotels and shops waned as they were overtaken by warehouses, factories and foundries. The streets turned grimy as the sky turned dark from chimneys spewing the exhaust of production. Burly, grimy creatures clad in overalls and hard hats walked past them, covered in the grime of their trade.

“Well this place is lovely.”

Aurora shrugged. “You don’t find a lot of mineral wholesalers in the upper class shopping malls.”

Double frowned as he watched a group of worker stallions stare Aurora up and down as they walked past them. They chuckled as he moved closer to her side before throwing him a wink and returning to their conversation.

Classy. Aurora was thankfully oblivious to the stares at her flank.

Before long they arrived at a massive wrought iron gate. A metal sign above read “North Seaddle Bay Logistics and Shipping Co.” Through it he could see ships that sat docked as various creatures attended to their loading, unloading and sea worthiness. Pegasi flew around rigging, pulling ropes and attending to sails while unicorns and earth ponies hefted palettes by either magic or muscle across the yards. Other creatures helped as well. There were abyssinians carrying crates on each shoulder as griffons worked in groups to heft objects here and there in their powerful claws. He even saw a centaur pulling fruit from barrels and lying it out in piles.

Hell of an operation.

They stepped up to the gatehouse where an Earth Pony sat reading a newspaper. He didn’t even bother to look at them as they approached the window.

“Appointment?”

Aurora stepped up to the window. “Aurora Burst, here to see the dockmaster at two.”

Without looking away from his paper the pony pulled a lever on the wall of the gatehouse. Ropes and gears went into motion as the gate creaked into motion and slowly pulled aside to allow them entrance to the yards.

“Yard office is straight to the right. Brown brick building. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. You might get hurt.”

With the flurry of commotion around the place, Double didn’t doubt the claim. They hurried their way to the office. Stepping inside they found a small office absolutely stuffed with stacks of papers, folders and boxes full of binders and other documentation. A quick scan of the stacks showed them to be endless piles of shipping invoices. They seemed to be sorted into piles based on whether ships were arriving or departing and location. One area of the room was dedicated to shipment to the rest of Equestria. The rest were broken into zones. Dragonlands. Centaur Kingdom. Neighpon.

They stood around the office for a few minutes before a stallion pegasus entered the office. He was a short, stout brown pony clad only in a stained tool vest weighed down by pencils, rulers, notepads and other measurement equipment. A curly, gray mane stuck out from under a well worn newsboy cap. The air he brought in absolutely reeked of cigarettes. Several half opened packs shared space with all his tools.

“Apologies. Dealin’ with a crate o’ hydra pups what just came in from tha’ Zebra Lands.”

Both wings came forward to fiddle with his vest before he pulled a cigarette out, lit it and took a deep drag as he stood up on his hind legs and sat on the edge of the office desk.

“Names Foggy Bay. So…what can I do for ‘ye?

Aurora stepped forward. “I’m Aurora Burst. I made an appointment to speak to you about a shipment of serindium arriving today.”

“You’re the lass from Manehattan.” He looked from her to Double. “Serindium eh? Sure don’t look like you’re one’a those Terra Corp wankers?”

Aurora and Double looked from each other and back to him. “Noooo. Never heard of them.”

Foggy started hoofing through a pile of documents on his desk and pulled a set of pages out. “Company out o’ Canterlot. Buncha wankers. Been buying up all the crazy shit in here.

Aurora stepped forward. “What do you mean by ‘crazy shit?’”

Foggy pulled a piece of parchment out of the pile. “Here’s one of their invoices. Serindium. Oracite. Ex…exa…zy….”

Aurora reached out and snatched the list from the pegasus. “Exazygotium. It’s a catalyst. It can help accelerate magical effects when you’re dealing with conditions outside the spell’s intended environment.”

Foggy shot a look at Double that made it clear he had no idea what she was talking about either.

“Tetharon. Required for drawing enchantment circles when you’re possibly dealing with large scale ethereal blowback. Forsic. It’s an ultra rare crystal used to store immense amounts of magical energy. The Staff of Sacanas had forsic as it’s…..”

She finally looked up and realized the two were just staring blankly at her.

Foggy ashed his cigarette before pulling the list out of her hooves with a wing. “All o’ this nonsense means something to ya?”

Aurora scanned the document again, wide eyed. “This is like a magical researcher's dream shopping list. Most of these materials are…extraordinarily obscure. I can’t imagine there would be many buyers for this.”

“Weren’t none really except for a few magic shops ‘round Equestria and Princess Celestia’s school.

Double tilted his head. “What school?”

“Ah guess Princess Celestia runs some sort o’ school in Canterlot for very gifted unicorns. Heard it’s also the leading magical research firm in Equestria. Real elite kind o’ place.”

Double looked over at Aurora as a scowl wove across her face. His mind shot to their conversation about her parents earlier. Holy shit…that must be…

Foggy nodded. “Was only a few exotic mining groups that handled this stuff. After Twilight became Princess we started splitting our shipments ‘tween Canterlot and Ponyville. Still it wasn’t much. Got maybe one shipment every few years. Until Terra Co came in. Spent the last few years buying every bit o’ this stuff I could get my hooves on. They’re paying enough that we’re getting a few shipments a quarter now.”

Double looked at Aurora. “No wonder your supplier in Manehattan ran out.”

Aurora shook her head. “What in Tartarus do they need with all these materials?”

“None o’ my business young filly. They pay. We ship. Just how it goes.”

Aurora frowned.

“So why in Luna’s perfect flank did you come all this way to ask me about serindium?”

“I was hoping you might have extra to sell.”

He shook his head. “Like I said, lass. Terra Co has been buying the whole lot.”

Her frown deepened. “Fine. What do I need to do to secure some on your next shipment?”

Foggy raised an eyebrow before butting out his cigarette. “Well that’s gonna be a problem, lass.”

Aurora shook her head. “What do you mean?”

Foggy walked over and fiddled through a stack of papers before pulling one out and handing it over to Aurora. She snatched it up and Double walked over to stand next to her and read. It was another invoice, apparently for the shipment of serindium arriving today.

Twenty five pounds coming in. Fuck me. They must really want this stuff to ship it this often if that’s all their bringing…..oh no.

At the bottom of the invoice was a note.

“Shipment paid in total and reserved by Terra Corp.” The note was dated weeks back.

“Terra Corp has paid for everything I’m gonna get for the next year. Other than what’s reserved for the Princesses, I won’t be getting any more. It’s all spoken for. They measure to the ounce.”

He watched as Aurora’s ears collapsed. “Are you serious?”

For his part the pegasus looked genuinely disappointed that he had to deliver the news.

“Ah’m sorry lass.”

Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. “But we came all this way!” She shook her head. “There’s none left in Manehattan” She sniffed as her voice broke..”…I….I can’t finish my work without it!”

It took Double a moment to believe what he was seeing. He had never seen her this emotional. He’d seen her happy here and there. Annoyed. Frustrated even. But he had never seen her this far in the depths of any emotion, let alone despair. It took everything he had to not wrap her in a hug.

She closed her eyes, fighting tears.“I need that serindium!”

Foggy sighed. “Ah’ am sorry lass. Truly.”

Aurora stared at the ground for a moment, breathing heavily and clearly trying not to start bawling. After a few moments she took a deep breath. “Ok.” Her voice was beyond shaky as she turned to make her way out of the office.

In any other moment he would have let the situation play out. She wasn’t one to accept help without a fight.

Fuck me.

Double frowned as he reached a hoof out. “Aurora. Wait.”

She stopped and looked up at him with glistening eyes. “Huh?”

The pegasus went to light another cigarette. “I need to get back out to the yard, son.”

Double turned towards the dockmaster. “Look….we traveled all the way across Equestria cause she thought she had a chance to get some of this….magical bullshit.”

He watched the dockmaster fight back a smile at Double’s pedestrian understanding of the material.

Double held a hoof up to his chest. “My family's owned a business for over forty years. I know what it’s like to work through scarce materials.”

Foggy took a drag. “What’s yer trade?”

“Coffee. If Coltumbia’s weather burps, our bean shipments are fucked. Dad and I have had to beg and plead and steal sometimes over the years to keep the doors open.”

Double reached over and held the invoice out. “Twenty five pounds this time. What usually comes in?”

Foggy raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“If they were happy only getting a shipment of this stuff a year, I doubt they were all that worried about how much there was as long as it was close. Certainly weren’t measuring to the ounce. And the government always pays top bit for anything. Not a good look to short the subjects.”

He gestured around the office. “All those years they were basically your only customer. Princess Twilight orders ten pounds and gets nine and three quarters. Probably a weighing error at the other end.” He shook the invoice in his hoof. “Lots of things get lost in the mix at places like this. Not the fault of the dockmaster.” He pointed his hoof towards Aurora’s saddlebag. “We aren’t children. We have bits. We’re willing to pay. Maybe more than Terra Corp is.”

Double saw Aurora jerk up excitedly as she looked from Double to the elder pegasus.

After a few seconds Foggy took another drag and chuckled. “Heh. Figured you ‘fer a dumb colt. He sighed and nodded his head towards Aurora. “Don’t like sad fillies anyway. Remind’s me o’ my granddaughter.”

Using his wings he pulled a notepad and pencil out of the various pockets and started scribbling something. “Ah don’t have any here. I swear. What I’m getting, they’re measuring. These Terra Corp guys are paying more than I could afford to bother skimming anyway. Way more.” He ripped the page out of the notebook and held it out to Double. “I used to deal with this guy a lot. He’d buy what I could skim here and there. Sometimes hoards rare stuff. Might land him a pay day. No creatures have come looking so it’s possible he still has what he bought.”

Double grabbed the page from him. On it was scribbled an address there in Seaddle. Double held it out to Aurora who put it in her saddlebag.

Double nodded at him. “Thank you.”

“I warn you. His prices are likely tah be insane.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

They turned and started heading towards the door when Foggy called out. “One second lad.”

They turned and looked back at him. “Y’ah seem like decent kids. Not sure if it would happen but…avoid Terra Corp if you can. Ah called ‘em wankers for a reason. There’s something about ‘em that keeps me off ease.”

Concern washed across Auroras face. “What do you mean?”

Foggy shook his head. “Ah’m not sure how to explain it. Just….give me the heebie-jeebies. They show up with a small army of ponies. Measure the shipments like the shit is pure gold. Like it’s almost….divine.”

“What do you mean divine?”

“Just…after they measure what they buy they carry it off like it’s tha’ bones o’ their ancestors. Almost reverent.”

Something about the way Foggy said that last line made the fur on Double’s back stand up.

Foggy turned and started heading towards the dock side door of his office. “It might be nuthin. Just….avoid ‘em if you can. As ah’ said they’ve been snatching up all of this…” he smiled at Double ”magical bullshit they can get their hooves on. You foals be safe.” With that he opened the door and made his way back out to the dock.

Double turned to a wide eyed Aurora. “Ready?”

She nodded and they exited the office. They arrived outside the dock gates and Double turned and pointed a hoof at Aurora’s saddlebag. “Let’s look at your map and see if we can find this address.” Aurora nodded and floated both the notepad page to the ground in front of them.

Double leaned over and took a look at the address before turning to the map. “Ok…let’s see…...”

He scanned the map for a moment before he saw out of the corner of his eye that Aurora hadn’t leaned down to examine the map. She seemed to be staring somewhere between the map and him.

He stood back up and flicked his head downwards. “Could you….give me a hoof?”

She jerked and nodded. “Sorry. Sorry. Yeah.” They leaned back down and after a few moments Aurora held a hoof out and pointed towards an area to the southeast of where they were. “Is that it?”

Double looked at the address. “Looks like this is on the far side of the industrial district. Back towards the main city. About a thirty minute walk.”

She nodded and returned the page and map to her bag. He turned to start walking when he felt something tug at the back of him. Turning to look back, he saw a light blue aura ringed around the base of his tail. He looked up from his flank to see Aurora standing a few feet behind him.

What?

He turned and stepped toward her. “Aurora?”

She let her magic fade and hoofed slightly at the ground as red blossomed across her cheeks.

“Aurora? You ok?”

Her tail flicked wildly behind her. “How….”

“How what?”

“How did you know all that?

“All what?”

“About how he used to have extra? That he sold it? Coffee is really like that?”

“Oh.” Double shrugged. “Every dock on Equus skims off the top. Tale as old as time. As long as the big players get what they want, no one cares what happens to the extra.” He pointed back towards the dock. “I figured between the fact that this crap had so few buyers before and that it came from such exotic areas that no one was paying all that much attention to what went on and off the ship as long as it was close enough to the order. Not like Celestia was going to march an army down here to audit the shipment anyway. That let the dockmaster find buyers who were willing to pay extra for what didn’t make it into the purchaser’s hooves.”

Aurora shook her head in confusion. “But these materials are extremely niche. Even my supplier in Manehattan only got some every few years. He kept it more as a novelty than anything. Why would they hold onto it if only a few groups want it and have a guaranteed supply?”

Double nodded. “Circumstances change. Anything rare might eventually run out. Think about it. If the Princesses need this crap, imagine what they would pay if the supply suddenly dried up. You said it was super rare anyway. It’s like Foggy said. What if you were suddenly sitting on the last pound of it in Equestria? That attracts buyers who will hoard it for later. Somecreature might want it eventually. And now it seems like you do. And so does Terra Corp.”

Aurora shook her head. “But when did you learn…all this?”

“I wasn’t lying earlier and he knew it. You learn quickly in business or die. Dad and I had to sometimes pay two or three times the street price for beans. But as long as we had them, our competition didn’t. It’s different these days. There are a lot more coffee plantations here in Equestria now. Back then it wasn’t like that. If things went south in Coltumbia, we were screwed.”

“I just….” She trailed off as she returned to hoofing the ground again nervously.

“Auri? You ok?”

She suddenly lurched forward and wrapped a foreleg around him. Their height difference meant her head was nestled firmly against his chest. His heart thumped as he felt her mane brushing under his chin.

“Aurora?”

“Just….thank you. You might have saved this trip. I would never have been able to do that. If you hadn’t come I’d have been screwed.”

He fought back the urge to grin. He reached his wings up and wrapped them around her.

“You’re welcome. Happy to help.”

They parted as she returned the map and pad to her saddlebag.

“Like your shampoo by the way.”

She looked up at him. “Huh?”

“Your mane. It smells good. What shampoo do you use?”

She blushed slightly before shrugging. “I……” She stopped and stared ahead blankly for a second.

“Auri?”

Finally she looked up at him. “You know…I don’t really know what shampoo I use. It’s whatever’s the cheapest at the store.”

“Oh. Well it smells good anyway.”

She nodded before pulling her journal back out and floating it in front of her as they walked down the street.

He chuckled internally. Baby steps. Baby steps.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In time the factories and docks receded as they made their ways back towards Seaddle’s core. Normal shops started peppering the street as they went. Before long they found themselves at an intersection.

Button looked down at the dock pony’s note .“7487 Cinnamon Way.” He looked up at the closest building next to them. “7489.” He craned his neck around to look at the next building down the road. “7485.”

What in Tartarus?

A quick scan around the area told him the addresses at the other three corners of the intersection were properly addressed. There was nothing odd about the intersection in any way. At one end sat another coffee shop, a bookstore at another and some kind of bank at the third. Next to him on his side was…

Wow…another coffee shop.

He put the map and the note away and turned to Auri. She was looking around, clearly as bewildered as he was.

“Do you see this damn place?”

She shook her head. “No. What was it called?”

He looked back at the note. “The Seaddle Emporium of Magical Artifacts and Exotic Arcane Goods.” He looked up from the note to Aurora. “Have you ever heard of this place?”

She shook her head, scowling. “No and I’m familiar with pretty much all of the magical goods stores in Equestria. None of them had anything left. That’s why we ended up here.”

Double looked around again and pointed at the coffee shop next to them. “Want to go in and ask? Maybe they know where this thing is?”

Aurora looked up at the coffee shop’s sign and shot Double a dry look. “We’re only going in to ask, right? No sampling?”

He stuck his tongue out. “No sampling. Besides, mass chain coffee is gross.”

She chuckled. “Whatever you say.” He followed her inside the shop.

A single whiff inside the shop affirmed Double’s opinion immediately. Yup. Burning their beans. Typical.

The green visored unicorn running the register smiled warmly at them as they approached. “Welcome to Sparklebucks! I’m Hazlenut Swirl! What can I get started for you?”

“I’m sorry. We aren’t actually here to order. We’re trying to find this shop.” Double held the note up in one of his wings. ”Would you happen to know where this is?”

The pony scanned the note and shook her head. “I don’t but I just started. Can you wait a second while I grab my manager?”

Double nodded. “Sure.”

They stepped aside as she disappeared into the back of the shop. He was spacing out when Aurora tapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t know Double. You sure milkshakes aren’t real coffee?”

He looked down at her and saw her nod out across the restaurant. While a few were sipping coffee out of mugs it looked like the vast majority had their snouts buried in milkshake glasses full of ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles and other various sugary nonsense.

He sighed and shook his head. “Heathens.”

She giggled as a heavy set Earth Pony mare walked up to the counter.

“How are you. My name is Violet. I was told you’re looking for an address?”

Double nodded and held the address up again. “We can’t seem to find where this is.”

Annoyance took over her face almost immediately. “Oh. Him.”

Double and Aurora glanced at each other. “Him?”

The pony gestured behind her. “Go to the back of this building. The shop is in the alley between this one and the next one.”

He put the note away. “That’s confusing. Why isn’t it on the road?”

She shrugged. “Not entirely sure. The owner said something once about it being an old apartment or something like that. I guess they never decided to scrub the address entirely.”

They were turning to leave when the coffee pony called out. “Hey! Don’t let him sell you anything. It’s all garbage.”

Aurora turned back. “What do you mean garbage?”

“He’ll set up a stand on the corner sometimes and hock…all kinds of things. Potions that reverse aging. Amulets that will make you look like Princess Twilight. Trinkets. Bullshit. From what I’ve heard it’s all garbage.”

Aurora looked up at Double glumly. “Do you really think this creature might have the serindium?”

Double shrugged. “We came all this way. Might as well try.”

She nodded as Double turned back to the unicorn. “Thanks for your help. Really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

She nodded as they exited the shop and walked to the back. Sure enough there was a small alley between it and the next building over. At the end Double could see a gigantic door with a wooden sign over it. Random garbage and other junk lined the alley between them and the door.

Aurora huffed. “Well this is encouraging.”

Double reached a wing out and squeezed her shoulder. “At least worth a try.”

She sighed. “True.”

Why in Tartarus is that door so large?

Weaving their way around the detritus in the alley, they stopped at a door. A shabby wooden sign screamed the name of the shop in florid, golden letters.

He looked down at Aurora. “Should we knock?”

“She said it was a shop right? It’s the middle of the damned day. Should be open.”

With that she reached a hoof out and pushed the door open before proceeding inside. He grinned and followed her into the shop. She had clearly gotten completely over her earlier disappointment.

As he stepped past the creaking door, he was immediately overwhelmed by two sensations. The first was that the shop was incredibly dark. He stood in the doorway for a few seconds, blinking as his eyes slowly adjusted. He stepped up next to Aurora and looked around. The shop was much larger than he would have thought. The back wall was easily forty feet from the front door. Through the dark he could see a display case of some kind with an antique type cash register resting on it. Behind that was another shockingly large door that must have led to a back room. He looked up to see the ceiling was easily fifteen feet above them.

The second sensation was the smell. He was nearly bowled over by an almost tangible wave of odor. The entire shop smelled overwhelmingly of what he could best describe as a mixture of his Grandmare’s perfume and incredibly pungent incense. He felt his snout wrinkle up in protest at the olfactory assault.

He looked around the cavernous space. What kind of creature owns this shop? He’d assumed it was a unicorn given the magical wares but you could fit five unicorns stacked on each other through both the back and front door.

He whistled. “Would you look at this place?”

No matter what owned the shop, the place would need to be as big as it was to contain the mountain of wares crammed into the place. Every inch of wall, floor and ceiling was absolutely bursting at the seams with merchandise. He took a quick scan around the room and saw the shelves lined with everything from golden chests, skulls, bubbling flasks and every kind of gemmed trinket he could imagine. He saw peytrals, rings, horseshoes, saddles and crowns glitter in the dark as the sparse candle light that illuminated the shop danced across them.

The floor was no better. Piles of fabric and rugs sat nestled against racks of crystal topped staves, rods and random weapons. A small pathway snaked it’s way through the chaos towards the back door. He took another look up and finally figured out where the overwhelming odor was coming from. No fewer than 5 braziers hung at various points from the ceiling. If he and Aurora had been any taller they’d have likely walked through a cloud of smoke as they entered. Fortunately it seemed content to cling to the ceiling. Hanging among the incense burners were various other baubles, including a cage with some kind of skeleton in it, a dreamcatcher in the shape of Princess Luna’s Cutie Mark and some sort of large crystal suspended by a golden chain.

“This is…uh…..wow.”

He looked down to see Aurora looking over the shop, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“The coffee pony was right.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is all…garbage. All of it.”

He looked around the shop. “How do you know?”

He almost stepped backwards as a cocky grin spread across her face. In all the time he’d known her he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen her this confident.

Uh-oh.

She held a hoof up and pointed at one of the racks next to them. “See that staff on the right?” He looked over to see a metallic silver staff topped in some sort of purple crystal. He leaned in to read the item tag beneath it.

STAFF OF KETRAX: THIS MIGHTY STAFF WAS USED BY THE HIPPOGRIFF MAGE KETRAX IN THE EQUESTRIAN-HIPPOGRIFFIN WAR OF 437 P.B. IT’S SAID THE STAFF WAS USED TO RAISE ENTIRE FERTILE VALLEYS OF FERTILE CROPS FOR THE HIPPOGRIFF ARMY ON THEIR LONG MARCH TO EQUESTRIA. WHILE THE STAFF MIGHT SEEM SPENT, ITS EFFECTS CAN STILL BE FELT TODAY IN ITS ABILITY TO NURTURE CROPS AND GUARANTEE GOOD HARVEST! ONLY B399.99!

“Ok? I’m assuming it’s a fake?”

She snorted. “Fake? It couldn’t be any faker if it tried.” She gestured excitedly across the staff. “Just look at it! First of all the Equestrian-Hippogriff War started in 435 P.B not 437. Secondly it didn’t raise entire valleys of food. It had minor time altering properties. Ketrax used it in combat to slow down oncoming soldiers. Beyond that he could use it to ward off spoilage of food as they marched, not raise entire valleys of food. Third history largely agrees it was most likely stored in the vault under Canterlot Castle after Celestia accepted their surrender.”

He nodded like she was describing the weather. “Well of course. How did I not notice all that at first?”

She nodded. ‘Right?”

He fought back a smile. She was too invested in the fakes around them to even notice his sarcasm.

“So is everything in here like that?”

“Everything I’ve looked at is.” She gestured up to the bird skeleton in the cage. A sign below it read: PHOENIX SKELETON, SHAVINGS OF THE BONE BREWED IN TEA CAN ASSIST WITH STALLION VIRILITY! B499.99/oz

“Can you figure out what’s wrong with that?”

He stared at the cage for a moment before it came to him. “Wait…I thought Phoenixes burnt up when they died? Even if they’re killed early. They just vaporize into ash. There’s no such thing as a Phoenix skeleton.”

She beamed up at him. “Very good.”

He looked around again. “So you’re sure this is ALL junk?”

She scanned a few more items and nodded. “This is all just….tourist trap, peddler…nonsense.”

Double sighed. “Sucker born every minute.” He scanned the shop again. “Do you think he actually has the serindium? I’m not seeing a ‘rare elements shelf’.”

She shrugged. “Like you said. We came all this way. I’m not the best at reading other ponies but…I don’t feel like the dock pony would have lied to us.”

He nodded. “I don’t either.” He held a hoof up to his mouth. “HELLO!”

From behind the back door they heard something call out nonsensically before the entire shop vibrated in tandem with a loud crash.

A booming voice called out from the back. “My apologies!! Coming! Coming!!” A few seconds later the back door burst open and the owner of the shop burst through.

Oh….grand.

In seconds he had spanned the distance across the shop and stood before them bowing.

That explains the door…and the shop.

Minotaurs were rare in Equestria. Very little was known about their country and even less about them as creatures. They were legendary xenophobes and getting to their lands was an incredibly dangerous journey. Other than being very large, the only other universal trait among the creatures was that they were incredible opportunists. Most were business owners and pursued the accumulation of wealth above all else. Double had heard that for every one of them that ran a legitimate operation there was another that was looking to earn every bit he could get away with. It seemed this one was the latter.

“Welcome my friends to the Seaddle Emporium of Magical Artifacts and Exotic Arcane Goods! I’m your humble purveyor of all things mystical and strange, Fair Deal!”

What in Equestria is that accent? It sounded like some sort of odd mixture between Prench and Double’s cousins who lived in the southern swamps of Equestria.

He was actually slightly smaller than the few other Minotaurs Double had seen in his life. Maybe a head shorter and noticeably less muscled. Still he absolutely towered over the two of them. He was clad in some sort of body length, gold accented red robe cinched at the waist with what looked like a strand of golden silk. Various gems and baubles hung off each of his horns and waved chaotically in the candlelight.

Before they could say anything he clapped his hands and gestured around the shop. “What could I help you find today! What enchanted wares could a young Pony couple like yourselves need? Perhaps a charm to bring good luck or…” He scanned them over and waggled his massive eyebrows. “A draught that can boost virility?”

Out of the corner of his eye he watched Aurora’s flush crimson from snout to tail. He fought off a flush himself and stepped forward. “Can’t say we are. We heard you have might have serindium for sale?”

The fake salesman smile evaporated from the Minotaur’s face instantly.

“Oh.”

He straightened back up and started walking towards the sales counter. The unidentifiable exotic accent had disappeared in an instant. “And what could young ponies like yourselves want with serindium?”

Aurora moved up to join him as they followed him to the back. “What do you mean ‘young ponies’?”

He shrugged. “Foggy had told me it was just the Princesses and older unicorns that ever messed with this stuff.”

He looked them over. “Do you two have bits?”

Before Double could say anything Aurora lurched forward and levitated a sack heavy with bits in front of them. “Is this enough”

It took everything Double had to not groan. Great. Already gave away the store.

Fair Deal looked the bag over, clearly impressed. “Fair enough. Wait here.”

He walked around the counter and returned to the back room.

Double leaned over to her. “You shouldn’t have brought the bits out.”

She turned, clearly confused. “Why? He wanted to know.”

Double gestured a wing around the shop. “He already knew we had bits. I’m guessing no one knows he has the serindium unless the dock pony tells them. And since Foggy mentioned no one had come asking, I’m assuming we’re the first since it dried up. Why would Foggy have told us if we clearly weren’t willing to buy? I don’t think he’d waste this creature’s time.”

He pointed a hoof at the sack. “I don’t know what this stuff goes for normally but now he knows you have at least THAT much and he can probably make a pretty good guess at how many bits that is. Three quarters of that is probably his new minimum.”

Aurora sighed. “Great.” Before Double could say anything, the minotaur emerged from the back with an old chest almost as large as Aurora was. He set it on the ground before stepping behind and lifting the lid.

He heard Aurora gasp and he leaned in to scan the chest’s wares.

That’s….it?

For all of the effort they had put into getting to this moment, he really had expected more out of their elusive bounty. He knew serindium was just another element, albeit magically useful. Still he had expected something at least moderately impressive. Something glistening. Something vibrant.

You have got to be kidding me.

At the bottom of the chest sat a jagged, lumpen pile of dirty green crystals about the size of his hoof. Next to it were a few other various gems and lumps of metal he didn’t recognize. All of them were filthy, oddly-shaped and very unimpressive to the eye.

He turned to ask Aurora if this was what they were actually looking for but the look on her face told him everything he needed to know. If Princess Celestia herself had descended from the ceiling and greeted them he didn’t think she’d look this starstruck.

I’m not sure she’d even notice at the moment.

Fair Deal smirked at her and gestured at the trunk. “Two pounds of pure serindium, a half pound of forsic and a pound of aggtrium.”

Aurora shook her head. “How….how do you have this much?”

Double raised an eyebrow at the minotaur. “Amazing what falls off of crates right?”

Fair Deal nodded. “Took you for just a dumb kid.”

“Heard that a few times today. Why you, though? Rare magical elements don’t exactly seem like your stock in trade.” He waved a wing around the shop.

“Anything rare right? Foggy and I are old drinking buddies. One night he mentioned all this stuff. I took a gamble.”

Called it.

“He got some extra bits in his pocket and you might be sitting on a cheap gold mine.”

The minotaur smirked. “Something like that.” He looked over at Aurora. “I have a chisel in the back. How much were you loo…”

Aurora cut him off. “How much?”

Fair Deal shook his head. “How much? For what amount?”

“All of it.”

“All of the serindium?”

“No. All of it. The entire trunk.”

Fair Deal chuckled. “Little mare you can’t possibly affo…”

“HOW MUCH?!”

Double and Fair Deal jerked back as she yelled the question across the shop.

The minotaur collected himself and looked over the contents of the trunk again. Before long he snorted and looked up. “Four hundred thousand bits.”

Double sighed inwardly. There’s no way she has anywhere near that much.

“Will you take something other than bits?”

Double jerked and looked over. “Aurora…what?”

Fair Deal raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”

Before he could say anything she produced a small black sack from her saddle bag.

What in Equestria?

She held the sack up and pulled out a tiny purple gemstone.

Fair Deal leaned down and examined the rock. “Is that?”

She nodded. “Pure musgravite. I’ll trade you six of them for the chest.” She floated five more of them from the sack to her hoof. The bulge in the sack told Double she must have had many more.

Double shook his head. “What is musgravite?”

Fair Deal whistled and looked over. “Rarest gem on Equus son. Dragons will pay a fortune for them. Put’s them in a blissful trance. Basically a drug”

Why in the hell does she have….

Double looked back at her. “Aurora wait! This can’t be worth..”

The glare she shot Double nearly took the breath out of him.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Fair Deal turned back to her. “Are you sure about this?”

Aurora nodded.

He shrugged and pulled the pile of gems out of her hoof. “Fair deal. The chest is yours.”

Double stared in disbelief as Aurora nodded, closed the chest with her magic and gestured to Double as she started dragging it out of the store.

He looked and forth between her and shopkeeper. “Aurora!” She paused halfway out the door. “I’ll be right there.” She nodded and pulled the chest out the front door.

Double turned back as the minotaur stared down at him. “Why did you do that?”

“Did what?”

“She was clearly desperate. Why sell it for the first offer?”

The minotaur shook his head. “I already made a profit. And besides….not going to tempt her wrath.”

“What do you mean ‘tempt her wrath’?”

Fair Deal tilted his head. “You really don’t have a clue do you? I might have made a mistake here. Aren’t you two…together?”

Double shook his head. “No. I’m just her friend.” He sighed. “Her land lord really.”

The horned creature chuckled. “Ah. That explains it.” He put the gems in a small bag and stuffed them into a drawer below the cash register. “Son…has she told you what some of these materials are used for?”

Double shook his head. “No. I just know she’s using it to build…something.”

Fair Deal gave him a sad smile. “You’ve got some street smarts kid. I’ll give you that. Way more than she does anyway. But you’ve still got a lot to learn.” He held up a finger. “One, I might be a scam artist but I’m not a monster. She offered me what I asked. Fair deal.” He held up a second finger. “Two, I wasn’t going to push my luck.”

“What do you mean?”

He snorted. “Do you really think I wasn’t listening when you walked in the shop?” He waved a hand across his wares. “Your friend knew immediately all this was junk. I sell to unicorns all day long who don’t have the slightest clue what any of this stuff is. I make copies out of some old history book I have in the back and embellish what it did. Most ponies don’t have a clue.” He pointed at the door. “Most ponies don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground when it comes to magical relics. She knew on SIGHT. And on top of that she’s asking about serindium?”

“So?”

“I bought those materials on the gamble that someday they might net me a nice payday. Now that’s happened and I’ll be honest, I’m kind of glad to be rid of them.”

Double’s ears perked up. “Why?”

“I asked Foggy once what the Princesses use this stuff for. I guess he’d wondered the same. Asked one of the guards who came to get the shipment. Even he wasn’t entirely sure but he knew a little.”

“And?”

“And apparently it’s some pretty crazy shit. Spells that can reshape terrain on a massive scale. It’s used to power the enchantment that keeps Cloudsdale afloat. He said something about a watch that can replicate Celestia and Luna’s powers. Time travel. And that’s just what this guard had heard. This isn’t your everyday unicorn buddy floating a tea cup over to you. A lot of this sounded pretty dangerous.” Far Deal nodded his head towards the door. “Your marefriend there seems to know a shitload about magic. More than any unicorn I’ve ever met anyway. AND she wants serindium? For all I know she could have vaporized me and taken the goods. On top of that I hear some weird company is buying up all this shit and nocreature knows why? I’ll pass on getting involved in that, thanks.”

The fur on Double’s back stood up. There was no way Aurora was involved in anything like that.

The minotaur sighed. “Let me give you a piece of advice. You’ve clearly got it for her. Pretty bad too.”

Double blushed. “That obvious?”

He nodded.

Double sighed.

“I don’t know how you got roped into this but it’s clear you don’t have a clue what it is she’s messing with here. I’d start asking some tough questions before she goes much further. For both your sakes.”

Double turned and stared at the shop door. Great. Just. Fucking. Great. Aurora…what have you gotten into?