Absolutely Baked

Pot Luck yawned, leaning on the counter with his head in his hoof. The store had been quiet all day, apart from a few window shoppers, and he would’ve welcomed somepony coming in for just a chat. It’d be something to do until he could close and get on with relaxing for the night.

He was a green earth pony, the tuft of fuzz on his chin matching his orange mane and tail. As he sat on the stool, his round stomach rested comfortably on his lap. On his chunky flanks were the cutie mark of a four-leaf clover, symbolising his natural good luck. Around him were shelves of jars and display windows made with reinforced glass. Inside both were samples of what he called natural herbs and remedies, some of which were nigh impossible to find in his part of Equestria, that he gave to anypony with a permit.

In laypony’s terms, he was a licensed dealer of legal drugs. And he couldn’t say he was ashamed of it. Not many ponies his age become such successful entrepreneurs. Apart from Rarity, but that wasn’t important.

He kept changing position behind the counter, trying out more and more ways of leaning on the top. But when he realised it wasn’t helping his butt from chafing on the seat, he flopped his front legs and dropped his face down flat.

“Could somepony ask Twilight to make the sun go down already?” he mumbled into the glass. “I’ve got stuff I need to do.”

His ears pricked up at the tinkle of the front door bell. He looked up, and his face brightened as two mares walked in. One was a green earth pony with thick red dreadlocks, her cutie mark being a tree with red foliage the shape of a heart. The other was a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail, her cutie mark being a trio of butterflies.

“Hey, Tree Hugger,” he said, smiling. “Fluttershy.”

“Blessings, Pot Luck,” the green mare said in her usual airy voice. Her eyelids were halfway open, like she’d just woken up not long ago.

“Hello,” the yellow pegasus almost whispered, fitting her reputation as the softest spoken pony in town, though her smile showed she was happy to see him.

“Here for the usual?” he asked, reaching beneath the counter. “Got ‘em right here.”

He reemerged with two brown paper bags. One had Tree Hugger’s cutie mark, the other with Fluttershy’s.

“Oh, I should tell you,” he said, “I’ve been experimenting with a new growth formula. Don’t worry, it’s all natural.”

“Oh, I’m sure you know what you’re doing,” said Fluttershy with a smile.

“If it’s not artificial, it’s chill with me,” Tree Hugger agreed. “I know you’re cool, Lucky.”

Pot Luck smiled and tapped a hoof on the first bag. “Tree Hugger, I’ve got your Lunar Spring Bliss and Coast Blue right here.”

“Righteous,” said Tree Hugger, a lazy smile on her green muzzle.

“And Fluttershy,” he went on, “your Mountain Garden and Canary Mellow.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Fluttershy beamed. “After everything with Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, I need something to help me relax.”

“Mountain Garden’s to help your anxiety, after all,” said Pot Luck as the mares took their respective bags. “And I slipped in a couple of salt licks, on the house.”

“Whoa, radical,” smiled Tree Hugger. “You’re a bro, Pot.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Fluttershy agreed.

Pot Luck couldn’t help but smile himself. “That means a lot coming from you. Just make sure you keep hydrated.”

“Um, if I could ask,” Fluttershy spoke up, “what’s this growth formula you mentioned?”

“Oh, just a little something I put together myself,” answered Pot. “It’s to help the plants grow faster and in bigger, healthier bunches. Like I said, it’s a hundred percent natural.”

“I suppose it’s better to have too much than not enough,” the pegasus agreed, nodding. “And it should be okay if it’s all natural, right?”

“Hey, I trust him more than I trust a ‘doctor’,” said Tree Hugger, putting a bit of spite into that last word. “With their pills and waiting lists and ‘medical licences.’” She made quote marks with her hooves.

The two mares set a sack of bits each on the counter and bid Pot Luck a good afternoon. He had to admit out of all his regulars, Fluttetshy and Tree Hugger were his favourite.

Though, it wasn’t long after they left the store that he found himself bored again. He flopped over the counter, finding himself tempted to light up right then and there. But he had to be professional. What would everypony think if he was running the store while completely blazed? More importantly, what would the Royal Guard think? He’d be closed down and left with his greenhouse, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world but he needed money for actual food.

For not the first time, he giggled at how fitting the word ‘greenhouse’ was.

Though, he found himself suddenly feeling a bit bad. He hadn’t let the two mares know that this new growth formula could have some side effects. He hadn’t tested the results on himself yet, after all. It was something of a taboo to sample your own product, sure, but this was for the benefit of science and customer safety.

He shrugged. He was sure if Tree Hugger and Fluttershy came across any dangerous side effects, they’d let him know as soon as they could. Well, Fluttershy probably would - Tree Hugger would probably be too baked to even notice any side effects.

Pot Luck, meanwhile, was a very responsible grower. He could prepare the stuff with his eyes closed, and he even has once or twice. He wished somepony was there to watch, but as a rule he didn’t let anyone but himself into the greenhouse.

He snorted again.

His ear twitched at the chimes of large bells from out in the town square, and he grinned.

“Sounds like closing time!”

He wasted little time closing up the store and totalling up the earnings, and he made his way upstairs to his apartment.

He had some testing to do.