Ballpen

The sea wind ruffled my mane and cheekily tugged at my tail. The Flea Market may have been a block away from the embankment, but the sea breeze reached here too!

I glanced sideways at Yev'eni. He was looking at the counters with interest and not paying attention to the bad weather.

Just now we passed by a shop with some cosmetic lotions. Clay bottles, dark glass flasks, bronze bowls, silver jugs with long spouts looked very exotic. As if they had come from the pages of an adventure novel, something like "Daring Do and the Treasure of Sphinxes" or "Daring Do and the Secret of Desert"

Remy followed my gaze and smirked.

"All this stuff is bottled in Baltimare, on Small Airnought Avenue," she said. "You might as well go into Est Laud’s shop and get it for half the price."

“Seriously?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Surely.”

“Let's check!” I stopped.

The salespony, a grey-green earth stallion, darted forward.

"What do the lovely fillies wish for?" he blurted out. "Take a look at this ginger nutmeg from Somnambula, made from the Bastet's own recipes! And how about trying this Maretan shampoo with flash-bee glue? Or perhaps..."

“No, no, no!” I cut him off. “My friend and I were just arguing... Tell me, where did you get these goods? Are they Equestrian, or are they really foreign?”

The seller spread his front legs.

“Lady, I won't lie, I didn't sail for them, but I bought them with my own hooves from merchants from the East!” He grabbed the jug.

“This ointment was sold to me in the port by the venerable Al Flam from the ship "Wise Hamdani"! And this hoof balm I bought from Amenflimnet, the trader, who fell behind the Somnambula caravan! And this...”

A slight cough was heard behind me.

The seller turned his eyes to its source.

He swallowed and stepped back.

"So you trade in oriental goods?" Yev'eni asked kindly. "You know, perhaps an experienced trader like you could help me. You know what my species is called, right?"

“Y-yes, sir,” muttered the poor shopkeeper.

“Such a good merchant must know places where you can get forbidden things,” Yev’eni lowered his voice.

“I... sir...”

“You know that we humans eat meat, right?” Yev'eni said very unctuously. “You know, sometimes it gets so boring to make do with fish... You just want to bite into a fragrant, steaming, well-fried piece of steak... Beef, pork, even horse!” He smiled broadly, showing his teeth. Behind his back, Remy was openly giggling.

“I... sir... have no idea... sir... Sorry, I just remembered that I was going to close the shop for today!!!”

It seemed that the merchant, despite being an earth pony, had the gift of teleportation - he disappeared into thin air so quickly, leaving the potions and ointments he praised so much.

I snorted unfailingly at the human, trying to hold back my own laughter.

“So! What was that?”

Yev'eni spread his hands, now smiling true, not grinning.

“Well, excuse me. You know, I can tell a professional swindler by his tone. Well, I wanted to have some fun. Or were you really going to buy something?”

“Actually, no... Listen, you can get sent to a camp for jokes like that! Haven't you forgotten?”

“For what? I didn't really ask anything illegal. Meat is sold here, in a griffonian cuisine shops and so on. Damn, remember when I bought sausage?”

Remy coughed.

“Come on, people! We need to get quickly before poor Steel goes crazy from working alone! And we still haven't found the dyes!”

I quickened my pace guiltily. Indeed, we had signed up (we were co-opted, okay, okay!) to help Remy as a draft power, and not to choose cosmetics, especially of unknown origin and quality!

Remi was a couple of lengths ahead of us, and by the time we caught up with her, she had already entered a small closed pavilion at the far end of the market, topped with a sign with a barrel and a flask.

The door creaked.

“... Alemanian or from Turn Bull?” I heard a fragment of Remy's phrase.

The salespony, a light red earth pony with green hair and streaks of gray in her mane, sighed.

“You can't find an original one these days. Wait a couple of days, they say a Pindos ship with a load of paints should arrive at the port. Or take an iron one, they say it's no worse.”

Remy sighed.

“It's has wrong lightfastness, and it dries slower. For drawing, maybe there's no difference, but for us, it is. Okay, I'll take a bottle to try.”

“Whose ship?” Yev’eni asked at the same time as her, his eyes widening.

The salesmare turned her gaze to him. However, she did not become frightened or flinch – she only raised an eyebrow.

“Pindosian,” she repeated. “I don’t know the name, really. So what?”

“Eh… no, nothing,” he pulled himself together. “Stargaze?”

He called out to me because I was enthusiastically studying the side shelf with glass vials.

“Wait a second! Mare, tell me, is this damar on turpentine or pinene?” I poked my hoof into one of the vials.

“On pinene,” the salespony emerged from behind the counter. She unscrewed the tight lid and with a light movement of her hoof directed the air in my direction. The familiar resinous smell tickled my nostrils.

“I'll take it. How much?”

“Eight bits.”

Remi was already stamping her hoof angrily. I sent her an excuse look, shoved the bottle of varnish into the saddlebag and rushed after the human. Who was already holding the door, waiting for us.

Once again, the bright rows of stalls, the multi-colored bricks of the buildings on one side, the dense greenery of the park on the other. Remy glanced around the market.

“I don’t think there’s any point in wandering any further,” she said. “Time is running out, and if we haven’t found anything in three shops, we’re unlikely to find anything anywhere else.”

"Then what do we fill the stylomechs with?" Yev'eni asked worriedly.

“I'll check back with the suppliers in a couple of days. If they really do get some in the next few days, they should set aside a couple of gallons for me. We should have enough stock until then.”

“And if not?”

Remy sighed.

“Then we'll have to get the Manehattan dye and make a trial batch. Okay, I'll drop in on Dry Quarta tomorrow and ask her to keep me informed about the supply situation.”

We wandered along the market, no longer looking at the stalls so closely. There was no hustle and bustle today, on a weekday – it was crowded here on the weekend. Even the sellers praised their goods without much enthusiasm.

Yev'eni looked at Remy.

“Listen, one more time. What's the name of the ship they're waiting for?”

"How should I know?" the earth pony chuckled. "The main thing for me is whether they'll bring the right goods or not, and the name is a secondary matter, as far as I'm concerned."

“No, no... Where did you say she was from?”

“From Prance, I think. Or from Pindosia. And not me, but that pony. I don't remember exactly, why?”

“Pindosia?”

“I think so. Why?”

I had already learned to recognize this heavy sigh. It was heard when the earthling met yet another “familiar-here-very-strange-for-Earth” thing.

“What is Pindosia?”

"Some village east of Equestria. Or south. I don't really remember," Remy answered. "Equiography wasn't my favorite subject at school."

"A settlement of pegasi on the southeastern coast of Minos," I corrected her. "It was founded by pegasi who had a falling out with their kin from Pegasopolis. Either before the Hearth, or right after. I don't remember the details either."

“Why are you suddenly so interested in it?” Remy asked curiously.

“Well, you see, on Earth...” Yev'eni froze in his tracks. Looking somewhere towards the exit from the market.

“What I gonna…” he muttered. Jumping up from his place, he headed off with wide strides towards the game pavilion, around which several foals were crowded.

Remy watched him go.

It's probably a good she's not a unicorn! Even if she were a poor magician, the back of a human's jacket would already be smoking!

The tail lashed savagely across her rump.

“Okay, ponies and humans, I've had enough! We came here on business, and one of us is staring at the incense counter, and the other one suddenly decides it's time to play a game for foals! Stargaze, I'm going to help Steel before he decides to quit out of desperation! And when you drag our friend out of the market by the tail, tell him that this is not friendly!”

“Excuse me, please,” I muttered, already breaking into a trot after the human. What had really gotten into him?

When I caught up with Yev'eni, he was already standing next to the game machine, looking over the shoulder of the light-chestnut stallion. Who, in turn, was so engrossed in the game that he did not notice the appearance of a human. His companions, seeing our couple, squeaked in fear and scattered to the sides. However, they did not disappear completely, clearly not daring to abandon their comrade to be torn apart by an alien monster.

The purple box made a loud ringing sound, and the picture on the glass screen disappeared. The colt sighed in annoyance, tearing himself away from the lever. He turned to look at his friends – and finally, with a gasp, realized who was standing in front of him. He jumped off the stool and galloped away with his friends.

The owner of the game machine looked at Yev'eni with a very suspicious look.

"Want to play, mister?" he asked in a tone devoid of the slightest hint of friendship magic.

“On this?” Yev'eni nodded at the car. - Yes. Yes, I want. How much?

"Fifteen for five minutes, then another ten for every five," the pony said, clearly hoping the price would be too high.

Generally speaking, it seemed too high for children's entertainment to me... But Yev'eni meekly snatched the bits and handed them to the pony. With a sigh, he switched something on the panel, and the machine threw blue letters on a light blue background onto the screen:

"WEATHER PEGASUS"

The letters disappeared. Yev'eni lowered his hand to the lever. With his height, he had no need for a stool - on the contrary, he had to bend over.

A blue pegasus figure appeared on the screen, the clouds slid from top to bottom, imitating flight. The human moved the lever to the left - and the figure, swinging, lay down on the wing following his movement. To the right - and it obediently slid to the right.

Right, left... The fluffy cloud, having met the pegasus, crumbled into golden horseshoes. A black cloud, sparkling with lightning, appeared, collided with the pegasus - and sparkled with bolts, and in the upper right part of the screen the line of hearts became one heart shorter. Yev'eni quickly led the pegasus to the right, to the left, picked up the cloud...

He straightened up abruptly and turned to face the pony.

“What does it run on? Is it a processor device? Or some kind of tricky electromechanics? The screen is glass, but it's clearly not a CRT, it looks more like some kind of projector...”

“What?” the earth pony's eyes widened.

"What's inside this thing?" Yev'eni demanded. He leaned down, trying to peer through the crack between the screen and the body.

"A magic crystal, what else?" the merchant shrugged. He glanced at the screen, on which a drawn pegasus was surrounded by black figures of changelings. "Mister human, if you've don't want to play more, don't scare the kids away."

Yev'eni gave him a crazy look.

“How much do you want to open this thing?”

The earth pony quickly stepped between him and the device.

"Mister," he said with a quiet threat, "Get lost before I call the guards."

“Yev'eni!” I intervened, tugging the human by the sleeve. “What happened?”

He looked at me, at the owner of the machine, and seemed to come to his senses a little.

“Oh. Sir, I'm sorry. You see... I used to deal with such devices in my home land. And I became very curious about how it was constructed, whether it was the same as the ones I knew, or somehow different. I apologize if I scared away your customers.”

“It’s nothing,” the merchant said warily. “Listen, all I know about them is that they’re made by unicorns in Canterlot, that they cost a Discord ton of bits, and that they run on unicorn magic. I’m not even the owner of this machine, Apricot Branch hired me, if you want, wait for him and have a chat with him when he comes to take over his shift. Until then, please don’t scare the foals.”

“But can you give me the address where they sell such devices?”

“Also to the owner.”

“Okay. Okay,” Yev'eni pulled himself together. “We're in a hurry. But I'll probably still drop in to see you this evening. Good luck, mister.”

“Good luck to you too.”

Already behind the shopping arcade, cutting through the park, I lightly nudged Yev'eni with my shoulder.

“Listen. Did you really like this game that much? It's just that the foals were really scared, and Remy got angry...”

The human looked at me, absentmindedly ruffled my mane, then, realizing that we were not at home, he pulled his hand away.

“The game itself is a simple arcade game...”

“Simple what?”

“It doesn’t matter... Listen, if these crystals of yours can really work not only as lights and holograms, but as a processor... Stargaze, this is...”

“Yes, yes?”

“Listen. When we invented similar devices, it was a real revolution. They were used everywhere - in computers, in managing complex systems, in communications... Hay, I can't even explain it briefly! In just half a century, microprocessors have changed everything! I don't understand how you can use such things in children's entertainment - and nowhere else!”

“Well, not exactly nowhere...”

“Yes, yes, lamps, decorations, holograms... You don't understand. And I don't understand. They should be found at every step, and not like this!”

I shrugged.

“Well, crystals are expensive, and enchanting them is also expensive and time-consuming... Yev'eni, I can't answer you right away. I myself am very poorly versed in magic, and I don't quite understand what you're talking about. You'd better find out about this from some real wizards, for example, in Canterlot.”

The man huruffled his hair.

“Maybe, maybe. Stargaze, if no one has figured this out yet, it's a gold mine!”

I responded with a laugh.

“Listen, let's deal with the stylomechs first! And come on, think of how we're going to sorry to Remy!”

“Oh, yes, Remy...” Yev'eni's gaze fell on the ice cream stand. “I think I found the way.”

The earth pony standing behind the counter gave us a stern look.

“So?” she said sternly.

We bowed our heads in unison.

“We have ice cream,” Yev’eni whispered conspiratorially.

“Hm. Is this a bribe?”

“No. Bonuses for good work.”

"Pfft," Remy lightly kicked the counter. "Okay, you're forgiven. Better yet, give Steel a bonus - he's been torn between the counter and the workshop all morning."

Indeed, from somewhere in the depths of the shop came the hum of a machine. Muffled – it was not for nothing that we were fiddling with soundproofing!

“Of course,” Yev’eni promised. “What, a lot of sales?”

“About twenty in just one morning,” Remy said proudly.

I smiled. The hand-drawn inscription on the sign "Wonderbolt Supplier" was doing the magic! If this continues, we will cover the loss from the reduced prices in a one day!

“Okay, are you going home? Stargaze and I will cover for you.”

Remy shook her head.

“I need to experiment with a new dye. I want to know in advance whether it is a suitable replacement or not.”

“And then I'll get to coloring.”

“Well, as usual, I’ll be at the counter,” Yev’eni summed up. “Okay, girls, to your seats!”

The work was going well. One by one, the smooth wooden blanks were varnished and painted and put into the dryer. First, I varnished the stylomechs that had been painted yesterday, then I started painting those that had just come out from under Steel’s hooves. I painted the main batch (sometimes allowing myself variations in colors and patterns – I have long been convinced that differently painted stylomechs sell better than the same type of carbon copy coloring!). I took on the personalized one – this still required hoof labor. Bronze and I thought about a version of a round stencil where stamps with hoofwritten letters would be inserted – but the device, even in sketches, turned out to be complex, required fine work itself, and somehow we haven’t gotten to the embodiment in iron).

In her pen, quietly grumbling - apparently, something was not working out with the reagents - Remy's dishes were clanking and solutions were bubbling, she have dragged away the day before yesterday's batch with the carvings sealed with plasticine. Steel had long since finished gluing, turning, sanding and cutting the blanks and now took up the caps. Every now and then he yawned infectiously, covering his mouth with his hoof. I mentally sympathized with the poor colt - I knew very well what it was like!

Finally, I straightened my hurting neck and legs. I stuck my head out into the sales area, saw Yev'eni actively extolling the advantages of stilomech over a quill for ten pony, and decided not to interfere. I slipped through the back door, went around the building, and, with a satisfied face, glanced at the sign once more, reached the very coffee shop. The coffee from which Yev'eni had given me a drink after my nightly gatherings.

Levitating a donut and holding a thermos with my hoof, and managing to chew on the way (some acrobatics, I tell you!), I returned to my workplace. I stuck my nose into the hall again - making sure that the flow of customers had subsided. Judging by the satisfied face of the human - not empty-handed.

“Hey! I brought coffee!”

"Well, the debt is repaid," Yev'eni grinned and bit into a donut. I sighed, thinking how quickly the coffee-and-donut diet would ruin our stomachs. And how quickly it would affect my flanks!

The door creaked. Yev'eni overcame the donut with the speed of a parasprite and quickly turned to face the newcomer.

“The Stilomechs of Stargaze welcome you, Gentlecolt!”

The dark green earth pony looked around the room.

"What unusual devices you have for sale here, mister," he said enthusiastically. "What do they do?"

"It's a writing instrument," Yev'eni responded readily, and launched into an explanation of the working principles and advantages of human device. Pony listened, his ears twitching, his gaze sliding over the shelves.

"What an interesting time we live in," he said. "You know, mister, I'm something of a stranger in Manehattan myself. I'm originally from Los Pegasus, but my job as a traveling salespony keeps me on the road a lot.

– You must have seen all of Equestria.

“And not only. I have been to Maretania and Prance, I have sell my goods to so many places. And everywhere I have passed, I have tried to buy some souvenir that would remind me of the trip.

"Sir," Yev'eni's voice dropped, "I believe you've already found a suitable place to purchase a Manehattan memorabilia."

“Your shop? Yes, that would be nice. Do you mind if I examine these mechanical quills of yours?”

“Stylomechs, you mean? Yes, of course. Our entire range is at your service, and for some twenty bits - we are ready to paint the stylomech in your colors and write your name on it!

“Oh, that sounds interesting,” the pony walked along the display case, poked a hoof at one of the stylomechs, a light green one. “You know what? I'll take this one as a gift for a friend. And for myself, I'll take advantage of your generous offer and order one painted to match me.”

“Excellent solution! Mister, please state your name.”

"Glue Mane," the pony turned slightly, showing his side with a mark in the form of a flowing mane. "By the way, sir, about names... Can I ask you to leave me an autograph? I take them wherever I buy souvenirs to remember my travels.”

“Yes, of course,” Yev’eni opened the stylomech so that the client could see his actions.

"Here, please," the pony produced a notebook with a wave of his mane. Imitating Yev'eni, he used our sample, scribbling a few lines on the open page. "Here, here, please."

Yev'eni glanced at the page.

“My apologies, Glue. There's a slight inaccuracy here. I'm not "the best mechanical quill trader in Equestria." I'm the best stylomech trader.”

"Oh, I'm not good at technical sciences," the pony waved his hoof dismissively. "They write with ink on paper, so they're quills."

“And yet,” Yev'eni made a few quick flourishes. “Let me make it better this way. "From the first seller of stylomechs in Equestria!" The corrected version is to be believed, signature.”

The pony looked from the page to him.

“Something wrong?”

“What? Oh, no, everything is great. Thanks for the autograph, mister. I'll try to pick up the order tomorrow.”

“And the one you wanted to take for your friend?” Yev’eni called out to the pony who had already stepped towards the door.

“For a friend? Oh, yeah. You know, actually,” the pony lowered his voice, “I just remembered that I'm not quite sure about the color of his fur. You know what? I'll meet him today, take another look, and then I'll make both purchases at once. Goodbye!”

The door closed.

“Well, there you go,” I summed up in a satisfied voice. “Two sales from one client.”

The human looked thoughtfully at the door.

“Somehow...” he broke off. Because it opened again, letting in a trio of ponies - two earth and one unicorn. Remembering that my work was not finished, I hurried back to the workshop.

Here, still yawning infectiously, Steel finished his work, said goodbye and left in the company of Remy. Before leaving, our chemist reported that the replacement reagents did not meet expectations, and tomorrow she plans to visit a couple more shops just in case. The flow of customers was decreasing, although at least once every half hour someone would drop in to the shop.

Here is the last of the personalized cases in the dryer. I carefully, so as not to leave a mark, felt one of the dinner blanks. About five of them were dry enough to apply varnish. All that was left was to seal them and carefully dip them into the container with telekinesis, and then return them to the dryer.

Yev'eni sat behind the counter and studied the contents of the cash register. The drawer, pulled out a third of its length, glittered with gold coins, and three large rubies sparkled in the compartment for stones.

“Wow!” I couldn't help but say, as soon as I glanced over his shoulder. When I was an artist, that amount would have been enough for a month of very comfortable living - or three months without excesses!

Of course, I understood that most of this money would go the same way - to pay rent, to pay off a loan, to buy reagents... But it was still nice to look at the golden shine.

“Oh, oh,” Yev’eni agreed absentmindedly. “You know, Stargaze, we need to think about cash collection…”

“About what?”

“We need to talk with the bank. Maybe they have ponies with security who take money from the shops? I feel uneasy about keeping such money in a simple safe, and it’s getting a bit difficult to transport it by hand…”

“With security?” I laughed. - Look, this isn't dragon’s land. The guards mostly deal with pickpockets and tipsy sailors. There haven't been any major thefts in Manehattan...” I wanted to say "never", but I remembered the city incidents section at my previous place of work “… for quite a while!”

“Once a year even the poker shoots. And it wouldn’t hurt to have a chat with the solicitor… I’m not too strong in your legalese. And it’s stressful for me to sign something whose meaning I don’t understand. It’s okay if it’s the city weatherponies or your special forces, whatever they’re called – I don’t think they have any reason to screw us over. But if we continue to grow…”

I sat down next to him. Yev'eni clicked the lock on the cash register and put his arm around my shoulders.

“We can’t afford to keep a guard and a solicitor yet,” I stated the obvious. “We’ve only just reached the planned level, and even then – we were incredibly, incredibly lucky with the Wonderbolts! Maybe in the future…”

The human smiled.

“When will we fill all of Equestria with stylomechs and push quills and inkwells out of the market?”

I snorted.

“Why not?”

"Indeed, why not?" Yev'eni pulled me close. "When we have such a wonderful pony like you with us?"

I blushed.

“Flatterer.”

“Just a little bit,” Yev’eni leaned towards my lips.

I closed my eyes and moved towards...

The door creaked.

We jerked back sharply and in unison.

Yev'eni turned towards the entrance.

"The Stylomechs of Stargaze welcome you, filly!" he blurted out. The skill of a trader was evident. I would not have been able to switch to a working mode so quickly.

Especially now.

Especially now!!!

"Stylomechs"? Stargaze?!!”

"Yes, lady pony! Human writing devices at reduced rates…" Yev'eni followed the unicorn's gaze as it bore into me. He saw my cheeks flush and my eyes widen, and finally realized that something was wrong.

“Stargaze?”

“Mom?!”