Chapter one: parting is such sweet sorrow
Shady was a relatively normal stallion. A light grey coat, dull purple tail and mane in a ponytail, two bits for a cutie mark, golden eyes, a red scarf, brown overcoat with pockets and a red and yellow mandarin hat.
He was living the quiet life in Ponyville after having moved there from canterlot. But why would anyone want to move away from canterlot?
It all started with the alicorn amulet. That infernal alicorn amulet. It had started out as a normal day for Shady. But then again all day's were the same in one of the many alleyways that dotted canterlot.
Shady's shop was set up there. Arcana and mysteries, the sign read. It was a little run down building situated in the lower parts of canterlot. The parts where no respectable pony would go. The building itself was three stories high. The standard wooden frame and brick outside. on the first floor was the shop. Here Shady sold everything that was old, interesting, magical or just looked cool. He even sold some old furniture now and then. Sure some of it was fake but a pony had to make a living right?
The second floor was Shady's home. It wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination but he considered it home none the less. A little reading corner with a hearth and a comfy chair. A simple bed and some rugs here and there. Sure Shady could afford something more but why change a winning combination.
The third floor was the storage area. Where he kept all the knickknacks and some supplies to restock his shop.
No it was the nights that were the most interesting. That's when ponies started coming to his shop. Under the beautifully crafted stars that princess Luna created, stallions looked for cheap furniture. unicorns looked for rare artefacts and books to use and others simply browsed the shop to see what they could find.
This is when Shady made his bits. He could negotiate prices like no other. If it was on sale for 50 bits, he could make it so you would pay 65 and still be happy that you bought it.
On one of those stormy nights a certain hooded cyan unicorn mare came in. She immediately began rummaging through the many items that lay scattered throughout the place. Apparently searching for something in particular. Now it was time for Shady to work his wonders, he could smell profit.
Shady flicked on a light switch and said in his most charming and inquisitive tone.
"May I help you traveller?"
Beginning his art of selling he went on: "Hmm something drew you to my shop. Something powerful."
The cyan mare then pointed at his most valuable and rare possession.
"Ah you have a keen eye. The alicorn amulet is one of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms."
She didn't answer. She merely pointed at the amulet again. Signifying that it was what she wanted.
"I'm afraid this is... far too dangerous."
Shady knew that if somebody really wanted something (And this mare obviously wanted the amulet) Then the more he protested about buying it the more bits would come in.
The bag of bits that she threw upon the table was overflowing. He could not have negotiated any better seeing as he hardly had to say anything. There must have been at least 100 bits in there. He was so shocked by all of this that he dropped his act completely.
"Would you like that gift wrapped?"
He wasn't going to bother asking what she would use it for. The bag of bits had all his attention now.
The strange mare had left just as soon as she had come in and this left Shady to gather up his earnings for the day and close up shop. It was almost midnight after all.
"Not too bad of a day if I do say so myself" He thought. He mentally padded himself on the back. Fate seemed to be smiling upon him.
But fate it seemed had other plans for Shady.
One week later. Shady went to do his morning routine. This consisted of getting a cup of coffee first and foremost. After he had woken up a bit more he set his shop in order. Now as much of a chaos as it was in there, there was a certain system to it. Al of it was set just to attract every client to the best, and most expensive, of his wares.
Looking over his shop and satisfied that all was in order, He went to get the newspaper. The shop didn't open for at least 3 more hours, so he could sit in peace and read the papers whilst sipping on some more coffee.
Checking the newspaper. The headline read: Element of magic saves Ponyville from oppression, in big bold letters.
The article read:
Once again Ponyville is safe thanks to one of the six elements. After the great and powerful Trixie used a magical charm known as the alicorn amulet. She banished one of the elements out of Ponyville after defeating her in a magic duel. In this way she thought to control Ponyville and its inhabitants by sheer magic power.
However she had not taken into account the cunning nature of the elements. The element of magic persuaded her into another duel with Ponyville as the prize. The element of magic won this time and restored Ponyville to its normal state. The whereabouts of Trixie are unknown as of this time. The royal guards are still on the lookout for the seller of the alicorn amulet as well as Trixie for questioning.
It then went on to interview several eyewitnesses of the event.
"I knew I should have asked what she planned to do with the amulet" He thought to himself. But now it was too late. He was now a wanted stallion.
This thought slowly began to sink in after reading the article again.
"A wanted stallion" he thought.
The guards would surely be on his doorstep the next day. It wasn't hard locating the shop if one knew were to look. After that he would probably be thrown into jail. There was only one way he could think of to avoid this fate.
"I have to leave this place as soon as I can". He quickly decided what he would need to bring with him and what had to stay behind.
"Now for a place that I can stay at until this whole thing blows over". One after the other he thought of the places he could go.
las pegasus?
Now this was a gambler's heaven. casino's and hotels as far as the eye could see. But gamblers were interested in just that: gambling. Nopony there would visit his shop.
Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Manehatten?
These were all large cities. But that also meant it was home to all kinds of shops. Probably including several ones like his.
Appleloosa?
A small colony of settler pony's and buffalo's. It was all brand new so nopony would want to buy his old things, and the town itself had almost no unicorns in it.
Ponyville?
This was always a magnet for trouble. Whether it be dragons, Nightmare Moon or Discord to name a few. There was always something going on there. But would they need his goods?.
He decided he would go to Ponyville. Ironic since it was the town were all the trouble had started.
He started packing for the journey. His spare bits he had saved up, some of his more prized possessions, a tent and some food in case he needed to camp outside.
As soon as he had gathered all of this, he looked with a sad expression, for what would probably be the last time, into his shop. "Well girl this is it. I'm taking my business elsewhere for a while. But don't worry, I'll come back as soon as I can"
Then he started for the door. As soon as he reached it he noticed an envelope was lying on the floor.
"Huh, must have missed that this morning. Lets see what kind of good news this is" He thought a bit sarcastically.
Dear mister Bits,
We regret to inform you that we have found a discrepancy in your taxes. As such we must first investigate further into this matter. Until then you're account at the Equastrian national bank has been frozen pending this investigation. We will contact you as soon as the matter is resolved.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Penny Pincher
Equastrian tax devision
"More good news indeed" He thought as he let out a sigh.
End of chapter 1.
Author's Note
Thanks to my proofreader Chaos the Entety.
please point out any spelling and grammer mistakes that i made.
all feedback is welcome but make it constructive.
