Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium

Chapters

Chapter 2 - Idea!
Chapter 3 - Permit
Chapter 4 - Inventory
Chapter 5 - Greetings
Chapter 6 - Open!
Chapter 7 - Income
Chapter 8 - Travel
Chapter 10 - Adventure
Chapter 11 - Guild
Chapter 12 - Contracts
Chapter 13 - Hired!
Chapter 14 - Replacements
Chapter 15 - Business
Chapter 16 - Deadline
Chapter 17 - Rough
Chapter 18 - Diamond
Chapter 19 - Novice
Chapter 20 - Victory
Chapter 21 - News
Chapter 22 - Plans
Chapter 23 - Trust
Chapter 24 - Bonds
Chapter 25 - Trix
Chapter 26 - Payback
Chapter 27 - Clues
Chapter 29 - Preparation
Chapter 30 - The Great Retail War
Chapter 31 - Trap
Chapter 32 - Sold!
Chapter 33 - Changes
Chapter 34 - Heroes
Chapter 35 - Retirement
Chapter 1 - Debt
Chapter 9 - Availability
Chapter 28 - Competition

Chapter 2 - Idea!

Chapter 2
Idea!

Lyra thrashed about on her bed, unable to get comfortable. It wasn't fair. How could her parents not only vanish without a trace, but also leave her with a debt so large that the collection agency was afraid to tell her how much the total was? She had always been responsible with her bits, however few there may have been, and had never gotten herself into debt. It was absurd to think that she would have to deal with this. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. The more annoyed she became, the more she wanted to somehow, as ridiculous as it would be, pull it off, pay off the debts and be done with it. By the time she had finally given up trying to get back to sleep, her face had become set in a mask of determination. She would pay the minotaur and prove that she was a far more responsible pony than her parents had been.

The problem was that she didn't have much money to begin with. The lifestyle she had chosen for herself didn't require a large income to support, so she had never really needed to seek actual employment. She generally just earned some bits here and there by playing her lyre in town and getting tips. It wasn't much, even for a unicorn of her talent, but it kept her fed, happy and carefree. She would need to figure something quickly if she was going to do this.

With a small snort, Lyra hopped off the bed and made for the front door. She needed some fresh air to think things through, and being inside the house only reminded her of how much she would miss it if it were repossessed. As she neared the front door, a quick burst of magical energy leaped from her horn and pushed it open, allowing her to step out into the sunlight. She decided to head over to her best friend Bon Bon's house. Perhaps she might have an idea as to what to do.

"You want me to help with what?" Bon Bon asked, her cerulean eyes wide with shock. She set down the tulip sandwich she had prepared just before Lyra had arrived and shrugged. "What can I possibly do about it? From the sound of it, your parents were in it pretty deep. I'd like to help out, but if I loaned you any bits I'd just end up in the same situation you're in. Besides, we don't even know how much you're going to need to pay it all off!"

Lyra looked at her beige-colored friend sheepishly. "Ehehe yeah, well... I thought maybe you might have some idea as to what I could do."

"Skip town," Bon Bon suggested sarcastically. She picked her sandwich back up and took a bite.

"No, I can't do that." Lyra sighed and walked over to a window to stare outside. "The big minotaur they sent to collect the debt seemed really worried that I might try to run. Besides, he's just doing his job."

Bon Bon shook her head, exasperated. "I wasn't being serious, you know." She rolled her eyes. "Next thing you know, you'll be trying to sell off what little you own in a vain effort to try to buy yourself more time."

Lyra's ears perked up and she turned to face her friend. "That's it!" she cried. She cantered over to her friend and wrapped her hooves around her in a big hug. "Bon Bon, you're a genius!"

"Wait, you can't be serious," Bon Bon said quickly, holding up her hooves. "Lyra, seriously. Don't sell everything you own, you'll probably end up with nowhere near enough..."

"No no," Lyra assured her. She began to hop in place. "I won't sell everything I own. I'll just sell everything!"

There were times in Bon Bon's life when she had felt that her friend Lyra was a little odd. Never actually strange, mind you. Just a bit odd, as if the mint unicorn was constantly suffering the end effects of a bad sugar rush. She could go from fatigued to excitable from virtually out of nowhere, and vice versa – usually with no warning whatsoever. But Bon Bon had never really thought of her as, say, Pinkie Pie weird. Until now.

"Lyra, I think you may have finally lost it. Why don't you just come sit down and... hey!" Bon Bon called as Lyra suddenly galloped to the front door and opened it. "Where do you think you're going!?"

"I've got to get home and prepare!" Lyra responded. "You really are a genius, Bon Bon. Thanks!" Then, without another word, she turned and bolted out the door.

Bon Bon stood in stunned silence. She had jokingly imagined her friend finally going crazy and causing an uproar in the past, but she never in her wildest dreams actually thought that it would happen, and especially not because of something she had said. With a long sigh, Bon Bon slowly walked out the door after her friend.

Maybe she just ate something weird, Bon Bon thought as she made her way through the streets of Ponyville in pursuit of Lyra. There were certain flowers and mushrooms that grew on the edge of the Everfree forest that could cause a pony to suffer delusions or even hallucinations if ingested, and she wouldn't be surprised if the silly unicorn had gobbled up one or two dozen. The plants usually also came with a bellyache though, and Lyra seemed to be jumping around just fine. Perhaps she had bumped her head? It wouldn't be the first time, as Lyra could be quite excitable at times and was prone to hopping up and down; sometimes without looking to see if there was anything above her before doing so.

Bon Bon brought her attention back to what she was doing when she noticed a small crowd gathered just outside of Lyra's house.

Oh no, what has she done this time? she thought. She picked up her pace and galloped the rest of the way before slowing down and gawking at what everypony else was staring at.

Lyra was facing her home, a look of concentration on her face and her horn aglow with magic. As Bon Bon watched, Lyra levitated a large banner and moved it into place just above the front door to her home. The words Grand Opening had been hastily painted in green and gold on the banner, which was quickly nailed into place by a levitating hammer and nails. When she was satisfied, Lyra turned around and addressed the crowd.

"Welcome to the grand opening of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium!" she beamed.

Chapter 3 - Permit

Chapter 3
Permit

"Lyra!" Bon Bon hissed as she practically dragged the unicorn away from the gathered crowd. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lyra blinked and looked at her friend. "Oh hey, Bon Bon. You decided to come!" She took a step back and indicated the banner above her front door. "Isn't it great? I was going to call it LyraBon, but I wasn't sure if you'd be willing to help out with the shop or not. I really do owe you for giving me the idea though. Thanks for that!"

"The idea for what?" Bon Bon raved. "And just what do you mean, shop? You do realize you need a permit to run any kind of legitimate business here, right?"

There were times in every pony's life when he or she would learn something completely new. These times were often accompanied by a look of delight by the newly-enlightened, and an eagerness to put their new knowledge to good use.

This was not one of those times. This was one of those other times, when a pony would learn something new and it would leave them speechless. Not because of how exciting this new knowledge was, but because the wind had just been knocked out of them by the proverbial gut-punch it had unleashed upon them.

"I need a permit?" Lyra asked weakly.

Bon Bon pressed a hoof to her forehead, then turned to address the crowd. "Grand opening's been delayed due to technical difficulties! You can all go home now, nothing to see here. Sorry! Don't call us, we'll call you!" With that said, she actually did drag Lyra this time, and she didn't stop until they were both inside Lyra's home, where she kicked the front door shut with a bang. She then quickly turned back to the unicorn in order to put an end to the nonsense. Her expression softened, however, when she saw the look on Lyra's face.

"Oh, Lyra," she breathed. "I know this must mean a lot to you, but you have to think about what you're going to do before you take action. If you opened up a shop without a permit, you could be fined! Then you'd be in even worse shape than you're in now."

Lyra flopped onto her couch, laid her head on the hoof-rest and sighed. "I tried to think of what to do. That's why I came to you, remember?" She rolled over and faced toward the couch. "I just want this all to go away."

As silly as the unicorn could sometimes be, Lyra was Bon Bon's best friend. It was hard for the earth pony to see her friend having such a difficult time. She walked over to the couch and gently nudged Lyra with her muzzle until she turned around and looked up at her.

"Look, if it means this much to you, I can help you through the process of getting a permit," she soothed. "The process doesn't take very long and we can probably have one by the end of the day. Just keep in mind that they aren't free, so it is an investment, and you need to be absolutely certain you want to do this."

Lyra raised her head up slightly. "You'll help me?" she asked quietly.

Bon Bon closed her eyes and nodded. She was then promptly knocked off her hooves as Lyra leapt off the couch, wrapped her up in a big hug and then began bouncing around the room ecstatically.

"You're the greatest, Bon Bon!" Lyra exclaimed. She jumped up onto the couch and hopped in place. "Can you believe it? We're going to have our own item shop. We'll sell everything! That way, it won't matter what anypony needs, we'll have it!"

"Whoah now," Bon Bon interrupted. She put her hooves up defensively. "I never said anything about helping you run the shop. I just said I'd help you get the permit."

Lyra stopped hopping and stared at her friend, her golden eyes wide and desperate. After a moment, her ears drooped and she lowered her head. "Oh," she murmured.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and looked away. It didn't take very long for her to come to a decision.

"Fine," she huffed.

Iron Will was having a bad day. It was not an average sort of bad day, either. It was the kind of day that starts off on what one might consider a good note, and then gradually becomes more sour as the day drags on. A good day gone wrong – the worst of all the kinds of bad days.

He had thought his appointment with the unicorn had gone rather well, all things considered. She hadn't fled town, for one. Hadn't fainted, either. As far as those ponies targeted by Can't Run, Can't Hide goes, that was about as good a start as one could hope for.

Unfortunately, his employer didn't quite see things that way. Sure, their previous track record was horrendous, but it was because of that fact that they were that much more desperate to hear of immediate results from their new collector. They didn't care if the pony was conscious or unconscious. They didn't care whether she split town or not. All they cared about was the bottom line, and the bottom line was a pile of bits for the Canterlot Royal Bank with Lyra Heartstrings's name on it. Once they had that, they could collect what would end up being an enormous fee from the bank and find themselves at the forefront of the collection business. They had been sure to make that very, very clear to Iron Will when he had reported in on the morning's results.

The minotaur cleared his thoughts with a snort. He wished they would make up their minds. First they wanted extreme caution, then they wanted ruthlessness. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

How about they let Iron Will do his job and they keep their scrawny muzzles out of Iron Will's business? he thought. He was certain that he had been off to a good start with the unicorn, so he would continue the friendly method of collection regardless of what his employer said. If it came down to it and he absolutely had to get nasty later, then so be it, but he preferred to keep things simple. If it was working, stick with it.

He arrived at his destination and strode towards the small stand with purpose. A pale yellow pony with a wavy, rose-colored mane greeted him nervously.

"Hello," he barked. "Iron Will shall require one dozen of your best roses to be ready for delivery first thing tomorrow morning."

"Wow," Lyra gushed. "I can't believe how easy that was!"

She was walking with Bon Bon with the permit floating between the two of them as they made their way back to Lyra's home. The permit had cost her a fair amount, but she didn't mind. It would pay itself off soon enough. Everything was going to work out fine, she just knew it. With a little bit of effort, she would pay off her parents' outstanding debts and be free to live her life as she pleased once more.

"Are you sure you don't want me to rename the shop LyraBon?" Lyra asked. "I think it fits, since you're going to be helping out. Lyra and Bon Bon, entrepreneurial extraordinaires! Capitalism, ho!" she giggled.

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "You still want to call it LyraBon? No offense, but I think our customers might get the wrong idea about us with a name like that. Besides, as much as it pains me to admit it, I kind of like the sound of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium."

Lyra tilted her head. "What do you mean, get the wrong idea about us?"

She's truly clueless sometimes, Bon Bon thought. She shook her head gently and looked at Lyra. "Nevermind."

The two friends finally arrived at Lyra's house and walked through the door. Lyra took the permit and hung it on the wall with pride.

"Well, that's that I suppose," Bon Bon commented. She couldn't help but admire the permit as well. It might be a lot of fun to help her best friend out with her shop, after all. With a small sigh, she turned around to look at Lyra. "Well, I'm beat. You want to go get some din... wait, where are you going!?"

Lyra flinched and halted in mid-stride. She looked at Bon Bon, then at the banner that she was levitating before her, then back at Bon Bon again.

"I'm, um, hanging up the Grand Opening banner again," she admitted nervously. "We got the permit already, so I just figured..."

"You figured what?" Bon Bon interrupted. "That you would just trot out there and open up a shop with no counter, no register, no displays, and no inventory?" she asked incredulously.

"Inventory?" Lyra whined. Her shoulders slumped and the banner fell slowly to the floor. This was beginning to be a lot more complicated than she'd bargained for.

Chapter 4 - Inventory

Chapter 4
Inventory

With a final blow of the hammer, Bon Bon dropped the tool out of her mouth, gave a long sigh and stepped back a few paces to admire her handiwork.

"Not bad, huh?" she asked, turning to Lyra. "I'd say it looks pretty good for being my first time making something like this." She turned back around and indicated the rest of the room. "We'll need to make a few more things later on, but this should get you started."

Lyra tilted her head and examined Bon Bon's creation. It was hard to tell at first, but if she squinted her eyes a certain way it almost resembled a small wooden checkout counter, upon which would sit the rusty cash register they had purchased. She marvelled at the way some of the wooden planks stuck out at awkward angles, and how some of the nails protruded from it as if it were some kind of spiked beast lying in wait for unsuspecting prey. She raised a forehoof up and warily prodded the counter.

"Oh wow, it held together!" she marvelled. She turned to Bon Bon and grinned. "I was certain it was going to collapse, what with all the loose joints and the lack of any overall structure and..." she trailed off as she noticed the glare Bon Bon was giving her.

Bon Bon huffed. "I didn't see you helping out much," she scolded. "It's hard work to put something together like this you know, and swinging that hammer around has made my neck hurt! Couldn't you have just magicked one of these together by yourself?"

Lyra balanced on her back legs and raised her forehooves in the air defensively.

"No no, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful," she assured her friend. "I really am quite amazed at how well it's holding together, you did great! Besides, I couldn't have done any better myself." Lyra tapped her horn with a hoof. "My magic is best suited for small, accurate movements. That's why I'm pretty good with my lyre. Moving something heavy like wooden boards would be far too much of a strain for me to do for more than a few minutes."

"Yeah, well try doing it all by mouth," Bon Bon muttered. She took a good, long look around the room and nodded absently. "You can use dressers and end tables as temporary display areas. Be sure to put a few in front of your windows, that way potential customers can look in and see what you have for sale."

Lyra blinked. "But we're selling everything," she stated.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you don't have everything right now, do you? You can't sell what you don't have, so you're going to want to put your best items on display by the windows in order to attract customers. We can't do that until you actually have something to sell, though." She trotted over to the front door and looked back over her shoulder. "This place is almost beginning to look like an actual shop. We can sort the rest of the details out later, but for now we need to actually go obtain something to sell. We can have a good browse around town, or even head out to somewhere else like Appleoosa to find out what we can pick up at a bargain. Don't underestimate the power of convenience! Many ponies are willing to pay a little extra if they don't have to travel too far to get what they want. Now, how many bits do you have left?"

Lyra hopped over to a small shelf upon which sat a glass jar. She took the jar into her front hooves and pried the top off with her mouth, emptying its contents onto the floor. She then took a quick count of her findings.

"After paying for the selling permit, the wood for the counter and that old register, we have a grand total of fourteen bits left!" she announced happily.

Bon Bon lowered her ears with a groan. "Well, it looks like we may as well just go digging through the trash then," she remarked sarcastically.

There were times in a pony's life when he or she would be put into the awkward kind of situation in which they feel like they have to do something, and yet they would give almost anything to not actually have to do it. Perhaps they were caught in a lie and felt the need to clear the air, but were nervous about the reaction it would cause. Maybe they had to face a terrifying hydra in order to save Ponyville, and feared for their lives.

Or perhaps the pony had a friend named Lyra Heartstrings and she had made the mistake of suggesting something completely ridiculous as a joke, not expecting her friend to take it seriously.

"You do realize that I was kidding, right?" Bon Bon complained. She was having a hard time keeping the stench of the trash heap from forcing her lunch to make a sudden reappearance.

A small pile of rubbish moved and Lyra's head appeared. "But your idea was brilliant, Bon Bon!" she exclaimed. She waved a hoof at the garbage. "I know it may not seem like it, but I do know a thing or two about selling. One of the golden rules of sales is that you buy high and sell low."

"Buy low, sell high," Bon Bon corrected.

"Right. Anyway, what can possibly be lower than climbing through the trash?" Lyra asked. A banana peel slid off her shoulder and landed in the pile with a wet plop.

"You're right, Lyra," Bon Bon replied, putting on a fake smile. "This has to be the lowest of the low..."

Lyra grinned. "I'm glad you agree. Ooh! Look what I found!" She bent her neck down and dug around the trash pile for a moment, then lifted her prize up triumphantly.

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "A sock?" she asked unenthusiastically.

"Not just one sock," Lyra beamed. She bent down and retrieved another item. "A pair of socks! There aren't even any holes in them or anything," she managed to say around a mouthful of socks. "Help me find the other two!"

With a small shudder, Bon Bon began to tentatively nudge and poke at the trash with her snout and forehooves.

The things I do for her, she thought with a grimace.

Chapter 5 - Greetings

Chapter 5
Geetings

Bon Bon wearily eyed the pile of junk that had been dumped unceremoniously onto the floor of Lyra's home-turned-shop. It was difficult for her eyes to remain focused, for she had spent the better part of the previous night neck-deep in trash in a vain attempt to find the final missing sock in the set they had been trying to complete. While the elusive fourth sock had never been found, she and Lyra had come across a large assortment of items that could almost be seen as having been useful at one time or another. She gently nudged a wooden cart wheel that was missing more spokes than were left intact with a hoof.

"What are we even going to do with all of this?" she asked dully.

Lyra pranced over and settled her golden eyes lovingly on the wheel. "We're going to sell it," she announced cheerfully. "One pony's trash is another pony's treasure. We just need to find the treasure hunters so we can give them this trash." Lyra giggled and grinned at Bon Bon.

Bon Bon could only stare at her friend. She was afraid that the lack of sleep was getting to her, because something about what Lyra had just said actually made sense. Instead of thinking about it further, she decided to spare herself the headache and got to work displaying the 'merchandise' on the makeshift stands. It didn't take very long, as there weren't many things to display, and when she had finished and turned back to face Lyra, she saw her friend's eyes sparkling with excitement.

Lyra moved slowly through the room, taking it all in. What had once been her living room had been completely cleared out to give customers plenty of room to move around. Instead of a couch and chairs, there were now two large dressers that had been converted into display stands; one by one of the front windows and one along the far left wall. A few small end tables had been converted and were set up towards the middle of the store along with her former coffee table. At the back of the store was Bon Bon's makeshift checkout counter, made complete with the rusty cash register. She had already placed her remaining fourteen bits into it in case she needed to make change for anypony.

When she had finished her final inspection, Lyra allowed her horn to alight with magic and slowly lifted the grand opening banner once again. Instead of bolting for the front door, however, she cantered up next to Bon Bon and sat down. She then stared at the earth pony expectantly.

"Not yet," Bon Bon decreed with a small shake of her head. "You're not quite ready yet."

Lyra's ears drooped slightly but she recovered quickly. "Okay," she said. Her face was a mixture of disappointment, impatience and determination. "What's left to do?"

"What are you going to do when your first customer walks through that door?" Bon Bon asked, indicating the front door.

"Sell them things!" Lyra replied cheerfully.

"No!" Bon Bon retorted.

"Why not?" Lyra whined.

Bon Bon paced in a circle around the unicorn before stopping suddenly and moving her face to within a few inches of Lyra's. "Because you're going to greet them first!"

"Um..." Lyra blinked and tapped her chin with a hoof.

"No!" Bon Bon snapped. "No ums!" She turned and walked quickly to the front door, then spun back around and addressed her friend again. "The very first thing you need to do is greet your customers! This may come as a surprise to you, but not every pony who walks through that door is going to want to buy something."

Lyra's eyes widened as she considered Bon Bon's words. Why would somepony go into a shop if they didn't want to buy anything? It made no sense to her. Selling things was supposed to be easy! Somepony walks into the shop, you give them want they want, then they pay you and leave. How hard could that be? But no, it just couldn't be that simple, could it? Now she had to deal with ponies walking into her shop who didn't even want to buy anything! Why did they all want to make things harder for her? She had enough problems as it was!

Bon Bon took a few steps back when she noticed Lyra gritting her teeth and glaring at the floor. She watched with mild fascination as the unicorn snorted angrily.

"Are you okay?" she asked meekly.

Lyra immediately set her icy stare upon Bon Bon, who took another step back. Upon seeing her friend distressed, however, she blinked and seemed to come back to her senses.

"Yes, I am okay," she declared finally. "I will greet the ponies who walk through that door whether they intend to buy anything or not." She gave a quick nod of her head, as if reassuring herself.

"Good!" Bon Bon exclaimed. She moved closer to Lyra. "Because the odds of somepony buying something are greatly increased if he or she feels comfortable while they are in the shop. A simple greeting not only makes them feel more comfortable, thereby increasing your chances of a sale, but it can also help determine whether they are looking for something specific or if they're just stepping inside to have a browse."

Lyra walked over to the front window and looked outside. Her lesson in customer psychology was beginning to get interesting. "So you trick them into buying something by greeting them all..."

"Er, well..." Bon Bon began. Obviously, the point of greeting the customer wasn't quite so blatantly selfish as that, but upon further thought she merely shrugged. "I suppose you can look at it that way. The overall goal is to make the sale, after all. But it really just boils down to making the customer feel confident that this is a good place to spend their hard-earned bits. That way even if you don't get the sale today, you should have that much better of a chance to get the sale the next time they stop in."

"Repeat customers..." Lyra purred in awe. She was staring off into space again with that odd look in her eyes. Bon Bon walked over and nudged her gently, snapping her out of it.

"What do you do when the first customer walks through that door?" she asked again.

"Greet them and see if they're after anything in particular," Lyra answered quickly. "Instead of bucking the displays over if they don't want to buy anything today, I should just smile and wish them a pleasant day. I can always trick them into buying something tomorrow!"

Bon Bon gave a small chuckle. "Close enough." She then stepped back and, making sure she had Lyra's attention, indicated the banner with a small flourish.

Lyra's eyes lit up like stars and her mouth curled upwards into a big grin. She set her horn aglow with magic and levitated the banner before her, then turned to Bon Bon one more time just to be sure. The earth pony nodded and winked.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you're finally ready," Bon Bon admitted. She nodded towards the front door. "Go ahead and hang the banner up. It's time for the grand opening of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium."

Chapter 6 - Open!

Chapter 6
Open!

Bon Bon had to suppress a laugh at her friend's unabashed enthusiasm. At Bon Bon's urging, Lyra had immediately dashed out the front door with a grin on her face and the banner in tow. She had come back inside just as quickly to retrieve the hammer and nails she forgot to take with her on her first trip out the door, but eventually she did manage to hang the banner and officially open up shop.

What she lacks in sense, she makes up for with spirit, Bon Bon thought with a smile.

In a way, the mint unicorn reminded her of Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's resident party animal. Like Pinkie, Lyra often did things that were a bit mind boggling and, like Pinkie, one couldn't help but overlook her silliness for the simple fact that she was just so likeable. Both ponies rarely seemed to let bad news get the better of them, and would instead either look on the bright side of things, or create a bright side in the absence of one.

Actually, given both ponies's penchant for the strange, it shouldn't have come as any surprise to Bon Bon to see Pinkie Pie bouncing behind Lyra when she came back inside the shop. She couldn't help but think that perhaps Pinkie was like one of the ghosts you might hear about in those stories that young adult ponies like to tell scared young fillies and colts. The kind of ghost who would suddenly appear behind you if you spoke its name three times in a dimly lit room.

Pinkie stopped bouncing just inside the front door and took a quick look around. Her eyes fell upon a random piece of junk and she quickly moved in close to inspect it.

"Ooooh, you have one of those!" she exclaimed before zipping towards another display. "Ooh ooh ooh, a thing-a-ma-bob! And what's this?" Pinkie stopped in front of an old rusted spring. "A doohickey!" she breathed in awe. "How much for the doohickey?"

Bon Bon was about to speak, but she was interrupted by an almost-desperate shout.

"Wait!" Lyra pleaded. Her eyes were wide and panicked as she looked between Bon Bon and Pinkie, who stopped squeezing the spring between her hooves and looked up quizzically. Lyra walked over to Pinkie and looked her in the eyes. "I haven't properly greeted you yet," she revealed.

Bon Bon shook her head in embarrassment, but Pinkie just giggled and nodded. "Alrighty, be right back!" Before anypony could question her, she zoomed out the door and, a moment later, walked back inside and grinned at Lyra expectantly.

"Um," Lyra stumbled. "Oh, right. Welcome to Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium. How can I help you today?" She stole a quick glance towards Bon Bon as if to ask if she had done it properly, then looked back at Pinkie with a smile.

Pinkie bounced back over to the spring and picked it up in both her front hooves, holding it before her as if it were some grand artifact of times long forgotten.

"I wish to purchase this amazing specimen of a doohickey," she announced. "How much?" She placed the spring back on the display and began to hum quietly.

Lyra turned to Bon Bon and raised an eyebrow. "Um, how much should I charge for it?" she whispered.

Bon Bon trotted over to her and leaned in close so that Pinkie couldn't hear. "Well, most shops have a sort of median price for items," she whispered in return. "A base price, if you will. The shop owner then knows to buy that item at any price below the base price, and to sell it for any reasonable amount above it. That's how you make a profit, but we got this stuff from the trash, so there is no base price! It's all profit, so just name a price you think is reasonable and go from there."

Pure profit! Lyra thought. She couldn't help but to hop gently in place. "How about five bits?" she asked nervously.

"Five bits? Are you crazy!?" Pinkie exclaimed. Her wide eyes shifted back and forth between Lyra and Bon Bon. The two friends glanced nervously at one another, then hung their heads in shame.

"I'm sorry," Lyra mumbled, kicking a hoof at the floor. "I guess I shouldn't be charging that much..."

Pinkie frowned. "I'll say." She then picked the spring up in her mouth and tossed it onto the checkout counter. "But there's no way I'm letting you take it back." She shook her head and crossed her forehooves. "Nuh uh, no way! You might be crazy for selling a premium doohickey like this for so cheap, but I'm the one who would be crazy if I let you mark the price up after offering it for only five bits! I mean duh! Who doesn't love a bargain?"

Insanity is a funny thing, really. It can sneak up on what would otherwise be completely normal ponies and cause them to do some pretty weird things. The kinds of things that might cause a bystander to quickly look the other way as if they hadn't witnessed what had just occurred.

Then there were the ponies like Pinkie. Well, nopony else was quite like Pinkie, but there were a few who shared some common traits with her. These were the sort of ponies who had not only been struck with insanity, but had apologized to it for being in its way and then embraced it as if it were a new friend. In Pinkie's case, it probably was.

Bon Bon, who was an honest sort, addressed her pink friend. "Look, Pinkie, we can't charge you five bits for that. It's just an old rusty spring."

Pinkie's eyes narrowed. "Oh no you don't!" She took the spring into both forehooves and held it close to her chest. "You're not gonna fool me. No way, no how! This here is not only a doohickey, it's an S-model doohickey from a modified whatchamacallit! I know it, you know it, and I'm not taking no for an answer." With that said, Pinkie placed the old spring back onto the checkout counter and produced a coin purse from out of nowhere and began digging bits out.

"Look," she continued. "The highest I'll go for it is ten bits, and that's only because you're my friends and should have just named a ginormous price in the first place." She tossed the coins onto the counter. "Do we have a deal?"

Lyra looked at Bon Bon, whose jaw had dropped, then back to Pinkie. She shrugged. "I guess?"

Pinkie jumped over the counter and scooped both Lyra and Bon Bon up in a warm hug. "Wheee! Thanks girls! I've been looking all over for one of these things!" She set them down and picked up the spring. "Keep up the hard work, you two. I might come back later to see if you have any new stock. Bye bye!" With that said, she disappeared out the front door in a blur.

Two minutes is not a very long time, but it can feel that way when the shop you're standing in is completely and utterly silent for the duration of said minutes. When she finally recovered, Lyra turned to Bon Bon and beamed.

"I sold something!" she shrieked. She caught Bon Bon off guard with a hug. "I sold something, I sold something, I sold something..."

A fair distance away from Lyra's shop, Pinkie pranced through the lanes of Ponyville, her newly-acquired spring in her mouth. She was humming a cheerful tune around it, and occasionally stopped to wave at a friend or three. After many greetings and distractions along the way, she finally arrived at the trash heap on the outskirts of town.

Upon hurling the old spring into the trash heap, Pinkie thought back to the cheer and jubilation she had witnessed as she had secretly peered through the window of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium. Lyra had looked absolutely ecstatic over her sale.

Totally worth it, she thought to herself as she cheerfully made her way back home.

Chapter 7 - Income

Chapter 7
Income

They say that joy is fleeting.

Then again, they have said a good deal more than just that. For instance, they say that time is money, that numbers don't lie, and to be careful what you wish for. This is all well and good of course, but sometimes one wishes that they would butt out of our business and keep it to themselves.

Unfortunately for Lyra and Bon Bon, joy had been fleeting.

It wasn't for lack of effort, however. Their joy had been genuine as they celebrated Lyra's first sale to Pinkie Pie, but as time passed and the minutes built up and turned into an hour, the complete lack of any new customers had put a damper on their spirits.

"Why isn't anypony else coming in to have a look?" Lyra finally asked. She had maintained her optimism for an admirable amount of time, but even she couldn't stay satisfied without customers. Not with an indeterminable amount of debt owed and her home on the line.

Bon Bon sighed. "I hate to say it but I think we need better stock," she admitted. She came up next to Lyra and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Selling that old spring to Pinkie was great, but let's face the facts. There aren't many ponies around who are going to want half of what we have here, and the other half of what we have is in too poor of a condition to realistically expect to sell." She picked up a broken tennis racket and gave it a cursory glance before setting it back on its display.

Lyra perked up. "Well that's easy!" She trotted over to the cash register and pushed a button to open it. "We have the ten bits from Pinkie, so let's close up shop for a little while and go find something better to sell!" The bits disappeared from the register and went into a coin purse.

"Not yet," Bon Bon declared. She ignored the confused look that Lyra gave her and continued. "We need to replace all the junk that's set up on the window displays, but ten bits isn't going to buy enough to do the trick even if we get some amazing deals. We would also probably be best served if we travelled to Appleoosa or Canterlot to get something that isn't normally sold here in Ponyville, and that means buying train tickets."

"So what do you propose that we do?" Lyra asked. Bon Bon walked to the front door and turned back to face her friend.

"It's simple," Bon Bon explained, gesturing towards the displays. "All we need to do is get one more decent sale and we should have enough bits to replace a good amount of this stuff." She sat down in front of the door and grinned. "Surely we can make one more sale, right?"

At that moment the door opened with a deafening bang, startling Bon Bon and causing her to jump high into the air and land hard on the floor with her legs splayed out. It took a moment before she could compose herself enough to shoot a defiant glare at Lyra for giggling at her. She then stood up and turned around to scold whoever had set her blood pressure sky-rocketing. A large, bluish-grey minotaur looked down at her apologetically.

"Please excuse Iron Will," it said with a granite voice. "Iron Will is still not entirely used to pony-made buildings and will remember to be more gentle next time." With that said, he looked up and seemed to notice the interior of the shop for the first time, because he frowned slightly. "Perhaps this is the wrong place. Iron Will was looking for the home of Lyra Heartstrings."

"Um, I'm right over here!" Lyra chirped. She waved a hoof from her spot at the checkout counter. "I've turned my home into an item shop. Didn't you recognize me?"

The minotaur squinted at Lyra and rubbed his chin. They all look the same to Iron Will, he thought. Aloud, he said, "Ah, yes! Just the unicorn Iron Will wanted to see." He strode over to the counter in three long strides and clapped his huge hands together. "As was promised yesterday, Iron Will has come to remind you of when your first payment is due. Can't Run, Can't Hide has also granted Iron Will permission to reveal how much your first payment will be." He cleared his throat and continued. "It is Iron Will's pleasure to announce that the sum of your debt has been split into multiple easy installments to be paid over a period of weeks. Additionally, because Can't Run, Can't Hide understands how difficult a new and unexpected debt can be to pay off, your first payment will be comparatively small, with each successive payment being larger until the full amount is paid off."

"Wait," Bon Bon cut in. "So you're saying that the payment for week one will be a small, easily-manageable amount owed, then the payment for week two will be a bit more, and so on for all the payments?"

The minotaur nodded. "That is correct."

Bon Bon grinned and addressed Lyra. "Well that's not too bad, it will give us a chance to build up a bit of business for the shop before having to tackle the bigger payments!" She turned around and nodded to Iron Will. "I guess your employer isn't so bad after all. So how much does Lyra owe for the first week?" she asked.

Iron Will withdrew his clipboard and examined it.

"Your first payment, due in seven days, is a mere five thousand bits!" he announced proudly.

Panic is a really funny word in that when you hear it or see it in print, you immediately know how someone, or in this case somepony, feels.

"Five thousand bits!?" the two ponies cried simultaneously.

Alarms went off in Iron Will's head. The scene unfolding before his eyes was the very kind of scene he had been warned about back at Can't Run, Can't Hide. He knew things had gone particularly sour when both ponies had their eyes become dilated. He was just preparing to block the exit in case either of them tried to flee when the door opened.

"Delivery for Miss Lyra Heartstrings!" announced an earth pony mare who had appeared in the doorway. Iron Will recognized her and allowed himself to relax somewhat.

"Ah, yes!" he said loudly. "Just in time!"

Lyra and Bon Bon allowed themselves to start breathing again and beheld the one dozen beautiful red roses that Iron Will signed for and brought to the counter. The delivery pony left, her job completed.

"Here," the minotaur said. "Iron Will knows that unexpected debt can be difficult, and hopes that these might cheer you up." He offered up a weak grin.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes, but Lyra's were wide and sparkling with wonder.

"They're beautiful..." she murmured.

"Oh please, don't tell me you're actually buying that story!" Bon Bon interjected. She bent close to Lyra's ear and whispered. "It's just a bribe!"

"No, I'm not buying it!" Lyra announced. She then snatched the roses up in her mouth, trotted up to the front window, kicked the old broken wheel off the display and replaced it with the flowers. "Someone else is going to buy it! I appreciate the gesture, Iron Will, but flowers won't save my home. Only bits can do that."

Iron Will was left scratching his head, but Bon Bon giggled. "Hey, wouldn't it be awesome if somepony saw those and..." she began just as the front door opened.

"Excuse me, miss," a short, bespectacled stallion called out as he entered the shop. "I couldn't help but notice those amazing roses in the window. How much for them?"

Iron Will's jaw dropped as Bon Bon covered her mouth with both front hooves to keep from bursting out laughing. He wasn't even offended that his gift was about to be sold. On the contrary, he was quite impressed with the unicorn's ruthless ability to turn a sudden profit.

Perhaps she can pull this off after all, he thought. His thoughts were broken by a hoof nudging his side.

"How much did you pay for them?" Lyra whispered into his ear as he bent down.

"Hm? Oh uh, fourteen bits," he answered quietly.

Lyra put both her front hooves on the counter and leaned towards the stallion. "Fifteen bits!" she declared.

Iron Will and Bon Bon both sucked in air and held it simultaneously. It was bold, if not outright ludicrous, to demand more than fourteen bits.

The stallion adjusted his glasses in thought, then said, "Well... that's fair enough, I guess. I'll take them."

Breaths were exhaled behind Lyra as she rung up the roses and took in the bits. She wished the stallion a pleasant day and watched him exit the shop, then turned to the stunned pair standing behind her.

"Those roses were from Roseluck's shop," she explained. "She only keeps a dozen roses of top quality at her stall at any given time. I know, because I like to eat one every now and then." She turned back to the cash register and opened it, then began counting bits. "Since our minotaur friend here had bought all twelve of them, I knew that her shop would be out of stock until tomorrow. As such, I was the only shop in town with top quality roses in stock." She finished counting and looked Bon Bon in the eye. "As you said earlier, ponies are willing to pay a little more if it means saving time and effort."

Bon Bon simply continued to stare at Lyra, her jaw slightly agape. Iron Will, on the other hand, was openly grinning.

"Now that's how it's done!" he roared. He couldn't help himself. With what he had just witnessed, he felt that perhaps his job wasn't in as much jeopardy as he thought it had been.

Lyra walked behind Bon Bon and nudged her in the flank. "Come on, Bon Bon, snap out of it! We've got to close up shop for a little while so we can buy some new stock." She then stopped suddenly and turned to address Iron Will with a smile.

"Hey, want to come with us to Appleloosa... partner?"

Chapter 8 - Travel

Chapter 8
Travel

"Isn't this so much fun? It's like we're on an adventure!" Lyra called out. She stuck her head out one of the windows of the Friendship Express, the train that was the main mode of transportation between pony cities and villages, and relished the feeling of the wind blowing through her mane.

Iron Will, whose huge frame was hunkered down in his seat to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, was somewhat less enthusiastic. It made sense that he should assist Miss Heartstrings in her efforts to repay her debts, and while he couldn't help but feel as if he may have been suckered in somehow, that wasn't the problem.

The real problem was that they were fast approaching Appleoosa, home of the other large, horned residents of Equestria: the buffalo.

The feud between the buffalo and the minotaurs was so intense, and had lasted for so long, that it was rumored that even the windigos had known better than to interfere, lest they incur the wrath of either species. As was usually the case with such things, however, there weren't any minotaurs or buffalo alive who could tell you what, exactly, it was that had started the feud. Rumors persisted that it had something to do with whose horns were bigger, but this was usually dismissed as conjecture. Mostly because everypony was afraid to ask for themselves.

"Lyra, any time spent with you is an adventure," Bon Bon quipped. She nudged Iron Will's arm and craned her neck to look up at him. "You know, I can't help but wonder what kind of awful things your bosses are going to do to you if the debt isn't repaid."

Iron Will looked down at Bon Bon and folded his great arms across his chest. "Iron Will would prefer not to think about it," he stated.

Bon Bon put a hoof to her chin and tilted her head in thought. "It must be pretty horrific," she wondered aloud. "Why else would you willingly get caught up in one of Lyra's schemes?"

Lyra stuck her head back inside the train carriage and spun around. "Because he's a good friend, and good friends always look out for each other!" She then turned back to the window and started humming.

The subject of one's mental health can oftentimes be a difficult one to broach, particularly when it directly relates to the sanity of a best friend. It can be even more of a sticky situation if it involves anyone else who happens to be in the room at the time, such as a large, grey minotaur who just happens to be sitting right beside you.

Somehow, that did not stop Bon Bon.

"Lyra! He's only here to take your money!" she gasped, front hooves thrust into the air. At the look Iron Will gave her, she shrugged at him and said, "Well, it's true! You wouldn't be here if you didn't have a debt to collect, now would you?"

It should be noted here that minotaurs are a fierce race. Prone to fighting and quick to anger, it is generally considered unwise to provoke, insult, annoy, harass, bite, tickle, or otherwise perform any action upon one which might cause it to tear one of your limbs off and proceed to beat you with it. This is, of course, common sense. But you wouldn't know it by the look of insult and conflict that had appeared upon Iron Will's face.

Lyra had just called him her friend, and she sounded like she meant it. Yet, the annoying pony sitting next to him had a good point. If there weren't any bits to collect, he wouldn't have shown up. He wasn't here to make friends, he was here to conduct business. It was as simple as that.

Iron Will was still trying to come up with some kind of response when the door to their carriage opened and another pony entered. She was a unicorn with a blue coat, a lighter blue, highlighted mane, and purple eyes brimming with confidence. Her eyes narrowed when she saw who was in the carriage with her.

"Well well well, if it isn't Ponyville's newest entrepreneur, Lyra Heartstrings," the unicorn said mockingly. "What are you doing here? Get run out of business already?"

Lyra brought her head back inside the carriage and looked to see who had called her name. Her golden eyes lit up when they spotted the unicorn. "Oh, hey Trixie!" she called out happily. "Enjoying the train ride?"

Trixie frowned. "Don't play dumb with Trixie! The question was a rhetorical one." She moved forward and prodded Lyra's chest accusingly with a hoof. "It is obvious that you are here in an attempt to undermine Trixie's efforts, but be assured that you won't succeed!"

"What in Equestria are you going on about?" Bon Bon demanded. She had stood from her seat and was glaring with open hostility.

Lyra, on the other hoof, was still smiling happily. "I'm not sure what's going on," she admitted, "but I promise not to undermine you!"

"Tch!" Trixie scoffed. She stepped back and looked at Lyra, Bon Bon, and Iron Will each in turn. "Why else would you be here?" she prodded. "First you decide to open an item shop on the very day that Trixie tries to get her life back together and open one herself, then you are found skulking around on the very same train headed to the very same destination as Trixie in order to try and swoop in unnoticed and obtain the best stock for yourselves!" She stomped a hoof to the ground and gritted her teeth. "Well, Trixie is being financed by none other than Filthy Rich! So go on! Go scavenge for items with whatever pittance you have earned in that run down little shop of yours! Trixie will be purchasing top-quality items that you could never even dream of affording!"

As is often the case in these kinds of situations, there was an uncomfortable silence within the carriage. Iron Will had no idea how to respond. Actually, he had never seen a pony get that angry before, except maybe back at Can't Run, Can't Hide. He found it quite fascinating. Bon Bon was too outraged to even form words for the moment. She knew, of course, that they had been attempting none of the things Trixie had accused them of, but a growing part of her wanted to see the self-obsessed unicorn fall, and fall hard.

Then there was Lyra. She had stopped smiling as she absorbed what Trixie had said, but a moment later the smile had returned.

"Oh wow, you have a shop too?" Lyra asked, grinning. "That's wonderful! I hope you do really well." Before Trixie could react, Lyra had caught her up in a hug.

"What are you...?" Trixie sputtered. "Release the Wealthy and Corporate Trixie this very moment!"

"Lyra!" Bon Bon yelped. "Don't hug the competition!"

Lyra finished her hug and beamed at Trixie. "Make sure you try your very best," she advised. "I know you'll succeed!"

Trixie's frown returned. "Enough of this! Trixie is leaving!" With a huff and a swish of her tail, Trixie spun around, rushed to the carriage door, and opened it. She turned around one last time before leaving. "You will regret the day you tried to make a foal out of Trixie!" With that said, she left and slammed the door shut.

Bon Bon and Iron Will looked at each other. Neither of them could think of anything to say, but Lyra broke the silence for them.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" she squealed, stamping the floor with her hooves excitedly. "It looks like we get to have a little friendly competition!"

Chapter 10 - Adventure

Chapter 10
Adventure

The Last Roundup saloon, a small yet well-kept place with polished wooden floors, was virtually empty. This had nothing to do with the quality of the drinks available, the likes of which ranged from golden fresh apple juice to sweet cherry cider. Nor was its quality of service at fault, as the serving ponies were quick to take an order and even quicker to take a payment. In fact, on any ordinary day the saloon would be bustling with activity. Today, however, most of the regulars had hopped onto the next train to Ponyville in order to get a glimpse of the fabulous new shop everypony was talking about: Filthy Trix.

Had the saloon not been so empty, Lyra and Bon Bon might have been asked to leave a lot sooner.

"Look ladies, I can't let ya stay in here all day if ya don't order something," their serving pony, a young stallion with a white streak through his caramel colored mane, said. He shrugged his shoulders. "A drink, some pretzels. Anything!"

Lyra lifted her head off the table and stared bleakly at the server. "Is there anything that's free?"

The server scowled, and Bon Bon swiftly withdrew a few of her own bits and set them on the table. "We'll each have a cherry cider," she said, smiling. The server, his eyes still on Lyra, took the bits, then turned briskly and left to fetch their drinks.

"Thanks, Bon Bon," Lyra mumbled into the table. Her mood had dimmed a bit with Trixie's antics at the market, and it had grown worse when Iron Will had to take his leave in order to report back to Can't Run, Can't Hide for a status update. She and Bon Bon had been sitting at The Last Roundup and trying to think of ways to get inventory ever since.

Bon Bon leaned back in her chair and crossed her front hooves. "I can't believe that Trixie," she huffed. She leaned forward again, as if her annoyance kept her from sitting still. "She didn't leave us with anything! I doubt she can even sell half of the consumables she bought before they go bad. It would serve her right!"

Lyra lifted her head off the table as the server brought them their drinks. "She's just taking my advice to heart," she said. She lifted a mug to her lips and took a sip of the sweet cider. "I told her to do her best, and that's what she's doing. It's actually kind of nice to see her doing so well." She set the mug down and gave a little smile. "Though I guess it doesn't help us much."

Friendship can be tricky sometimes. There are times when a good friend will act in a particular way that, any rational observer would know, will undoubtedly lead him or her into more trouble than it's worth. In such times, one might be tempted to point these faults out in order to protect said friend from harm, but will then remain silent for fear of putting a dent in the relationship.

Bon Bon wasn't exactly the silent type, however.

"No," she said flatly, "it doesn't help us at all."

"It's just a bit of friendly competition," Lyra said.

Bon Bon stared at her friend, her mouth agape. "In case you haven't noticed, your friendly competition is intent on bankrupting you!" she countered.

Lyra swirled the contents of her mug around thoughtfully. "Well, I can't really have much less money than I have now, and I think her success is more important to her than my failure. Besides, hoping that somepony fails is kind of mean-spirited, and I just don't see Trixie as being that kind of pony."

The hoof that found its way to Bon Bon's face probably hit a bit harder than she had intended, if the groan was any indication. She gave Lyra a look with her uncovered eye, opened her mouth, then shut it. She finally lowered her hoof back down to the table, bit her lip, and nodded slowly.

Lyra beamed. "I knew you'd see it my way!" She blinked suddenly and squinted at the wall behind Bon Bon. "Hey, look at that," she said, pointing with a hoof. "I wonder what that's all about."

Bon Bon briefly glanced behind her, then rolled her eyes. "It's a wall, Lyra. It's all about separating the indoor areas from the outdoors."

"No no," Lyra said. She stood up from her seat and trotted over to the wall. She indicated a notice with her snout. "Have a look at this," she said. "Riches galore!" she read as Bon Bon came to stand next to her. "Bit pouch barren? Tired of the mundane and crave something more? Then come one, come all to the glorious Adventurer's Guild, where fame and fortune await!" She turned to Bon Bon, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, isn't this great? We're going to be adventurers!"

Bon Bon's eyes widened and she shook her head firmly. "Oh. No. We. Are. Not!" She lowered her head and shoved Lyra's bottom, pushing her friend slowly away from the notice. "I can think of no better way to lose not only our money," she grunted, "but our lives too!"

Lyra turned around and put a hoof on Bon Bon's shoulder. "Pinkie Pie goes out with her friends to save Equestria like every other week! If she can do it, why not us?"

"Because she's Pinkie Pie!" Bon Bon huffed. "She can walk on air, for pony's sake. You can play a lyre and I can make candy, and those are not the kind of skills that make for good adventurers!"

The sudden silence caused Lyra and Bon Bon to look around in alarm. Every pony within the Last Roundup had stopped what they were doing to listen in on their argument, and Lyra's cheeks suddenly burned. She lowered her ears and stared at the floor, unable to meet her friend's gaze. Bon Bon closed her eyes and breathed slowly out her nostrils.

"I'm sorry," Bon Bon mumbled. She gave Lyra a little nuzzle. "Why don't we go have a look anyway? Looking won't hurt, right?"

Lyra's eyes lit up, but she resisted the urge to bounce up and down. She looked at Bon Bon with what she hoped was a serious expression. "Can I have another cherry cider first?" she asked.

Bon Bon grinned. "Of course," she said. "First stop: right here for one more cider. Next stop: the Adventurer's Guild!"

Chapter 11 - Guild

"I think this is the place," Bon Bon said as she and Lyra approached a dark wooden building. It was devoid of windows or decoration save for a single small wood-carved sign that hung directly over the door that read, Guild. She gave the place a quick, critical inspection and narrowed her eyes at the rough, unfinished look of the sign. The entire place looked a bit too hastily put together for her taste, but a promise was a promise.

There is a lot one can learn from simple observation. For instance, when a pony might happen to spy a beehive in the apple tree she was preparing to buck, it stands to reason that she may just give that particular tree a pass this time around.

Unfortunately, some ponies are far less observant than others.

"It's amazing!" Lyra gushed. She began hopping in place, but Bon Bon held out a hoof to stop her.

"It's something," Bon Bon said. She glanced at Lyra, but her friend seemed awestruck and wasn't paying her any attention. Bon Bon sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Inside was an improvement of sorts, at least. A few stallions and a blue coated mare played some kind of card game at one of several tables set up throughout the establishment, though none of the ponies even bothered to look up from what they were doing. In the far corner of the room was what Bon Bon assumed was a reception counter. Its wood was polished to nearly shimmering in a way that only the most skilled or bored of ponies could manage. Behind the counter was an open doorway that probably led to some kind of office. She walked up to the counter and looked at her reflection for a moment before turning to Lyra.

"Yeah... this place is kind of weird. Maybe we should just leave and–"

"Leaving so soon?" a vaguely familiar voice called from beyond the doorway.

"And before the real adventure has even started!" another voice, slightly deeper than the other, said.

Lyra and Bon Bon blinked at each other.

"Ah, but there has been an adventure!" the first voice stated.

"Indeed, for these two fair fillies have sought out..."

"Searched for..."

"And hunted down..."

"The glorious..."

"Illustrious..."

"Renowned, acclaimed, and magnificent..."

"Elite Adventurer's Guild of Equestria!" This last line was presented by both voices simultaneously as the speakers, two tall unicorn stallions wearing striped boater hats and matching bow ties, entered through the doorway together.

"The Flim Flam Brothers!" Lyra and Bon Bon said together. Lyra seemed excited, but Bon Bon's words came out in a hiss. The brothers either didn't notice, or did an excellent job of pretending not to.

"Dear brother of mine," the mustached stallion, Flam, said as he turned to his brother. "It seems as if our reputation precedes us!"

Flim, the brother with the slightly higher voice, held his hooves to his face in feigned shock. "Indeed it does seem so!" He spun around and faced Lyra and Bon Bon. "Could it be that my brother and I have had the immense pleasure of offering our services or products to these fine young fillies at some point in our recent past?"

In response, Bon Bon spun around quickly, nearly hitting Flim in the face with her tail as she started walking towards the exit. "I've fallen for your schemes two too many times," she called over her shoulder. "I'm not even going to listen to whatever you two are cooking up this time. Come on, Lyra."

Lyra looked back and forth between the brothers and her best friend before lowering her head and slowly following Bon Bon. Flim and Flam exchanged a look, and Flam sped quickly over to stand in front of the two retreating mares.

"Move it or lose it," Bon Bon growled.

Flam held out his hooves. "Please hear us out," he pleaded. "Anything that may have allegedly occurred in the past is history now." He was forced to take a step back as Bon Bon pushed forward. "Besides," he continued, "we're not selling anything at all. What we're offering is a chance for ponies such as you two to stride forth and earn riches and treasures for yourselves!" He put a hoof around Bon Bon's shoulder and leaned in close. "What do you say? Will you hear us out?"

Lyra's ears perked up. "I want to hear!"

Bon Bon wasn't having any part of it. She shook free from the salespony's grasp and glared daggers at him. "Touch me again and I will bite you."

Flim chuckled from his spot behind the counter. "So fierce, oh brother of mine! She would be perfect." He gestured a hoof toward Lyra. "And her lovely friend is a unicorn. Magic would be very useful–"

"And profitiable," Flam added.

"–in the adventures to come." Flim looked his brother in the eye and winked. "Oh, but I suppose they don't want to hear anything more," he said, putting on a dramatic flair. His eyes narrowed. "Though one would think that a pony who would be willing to risk everything she owns to pay off a five thousand bit debt within the next few days would be a little more willing to hear what we have to offer..."

Bon Bon stopped in her tracks, causing Lyra to bump into her. She slowly turned around to stare at Flim. "What did you just say?"

Flim shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I thought you two would be aware that, well, just about everypony knows about your... situation." He leaned forward on the counter. "I wonder how that competition of yours is doing. What was the name again – Filthy Trix?"

"Ah, yes!" Flam said. "Financed by Filthy Rich and run by Trixie Lulamoon. I hear the locals were quite impressed!" He looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye. "Isn't it encouraging to see how a down-on-her-luck pony who may have made some, ah, questionable decisions in her past is not only forgiven, but embraced around here?"

Bon Bon cursed inwardly, but as she turned to look at Lyra, her heart broke. Lyra stood silently, staring at the floor, and Bon Bon knew then that her friend understood the situation just as well as she did. Pride wasn't going to earn any bits or get them any closer to their goal. She swallowed hard and turned to face Flam.

"Alright, we'll listen," she muttered.

Flam's eyes sparkled as he said, "Then let's talk business, shall we?"

Chapter 12 - Contracts

Iron Will was furious.

Actually, his mood wouldn't be much of a surprise to anypony who had ever crossed paths with him. Minotaurs were one of those races living in Equestria who just seemed to have anger set as their default emotion, but in this case it was a special kind of fury that caused him to clench his fists as he strode swiftly through the streets of Ponyville.

By any means necessary.

Iron Will's superiors at Can't Run, Can't Hide had made it clear that he was to do whatever it took to get the money from the green unicorn. What was her name again? He pulled out his notepad and checked. Lyra. Whether Lyra had opened up a shop to pay off her debts or not didn't seem important to them, though the fact that another unicorn, Trixie, had opened up a rival shop most certainly had caught their attention. Anything that might hinder their ability to collect payment had to be eliminated. He had asked them how he was expected to do that, and the suggestions he received had horrified even him.

Sabotage. Slander. Robbery. Arson.

At the end of the day, they didn't care how it got done. All that mattered was that Trixie Lulamoon was in the way of business, and either Iron Will would take care of her or Can't Run, Can't Hide would take care of him.

The minotaur arrived at a building that some might call fancy, but anyone with a modicum of taste would call gaudy. The two-story tall building looked to be constructed of magically carved wood and featured several unnecessary support pillars that seemed to be more for looks than for anything else. Just above the door hung a flashing sign, likely also magical, that showed a blue unicorn dancing between two spinning bits. Iron Will knew then that this was his destination. He hesitated for only a moment more before striding through the door and demanding to see the shopkeeper.

..o0o..

"I think this is the place!"

Bon Bon took a parchment from her saddlebags and studied it for a moment before lifting her head up and looking around. "I think you're right," she said. She put the parchment back into her bags and glanced at Lyra. "I'm still not sure this is such a good idea, though. I mean, no offense, but we're not exactly the heroic type." She waved a hoof at their surroundings. "Galloping around all over Equestria searching for treasures and collecting bounties? Us?"

"Of course, us. We're going to be great! There isn't anything we can't do together." Lyra took a moment to take in the scenery. They were some distance from Appleloosa, in the lower foothills to the north. Tall cacti and short, thorny bushes dotted the landscape all around them, and the wind occasionally blew red dust up to mingle with the brilliant blue of the sky. She only noticed the monster because it had shimmered slightly. "Ooh! I think that's what we're here for." She trotted over towards the bush it was sitting under. "Aww... it's kind of cute!"

Rolling her eyes, Bon Bon walked over to have a look. The 'monster' was a little blob of slime, its translucent, gelatinous body tinted a light shade of red. Inside its body was what looked like a blacksmith's hammer. The slime quivered slightly as if in greeting.

"Right," Bon Bon grunted. "So this is it. We just squash this thing, retrieve the hammer, and then go collect the reward and give half to the Flim Flam brothers so they can find us another job." She shrugged and got into position to stomp on it. "I guess it's straightforward enough, though Celestia knows why nopony else thought to come do this themselves."

Lyra's eyes widened. "Wait! You can't stomp on Squishy!" She moved her head down to nuzzle the slime thing.

Bon Bon sighed. "Lyra, the contract specifically says that this thing isn't alive. It's just a puddle of magical components that can move around of its own accord because of some mishap, and it somehow stole the blacksmith's hammer. We just have to squish it and–"

"Ow!" Lyra shouted, rubbing her snout with a hoof. "Bad Squishy. Bad!" She looked up at Bon Bon. "Is my nose red?" She frowned and glared back down at the slime. "That was rude, Squishy. Now, apologize and give us the hammer, and we can forget this ever happened."

The slime quivered, as if in agreement.

"What happened?" Bon Bon asked. "Are you okay?"

The confusion was evident on Lyra's face. "I'm okay. But Squishy stung me! Why would he do that?" Bon Bon raised an eyebrow and looked like she was about to further explain how 'Squishy' didn't have emotions, but Lyra continued. "It's almost like he's made out of fire." She nudged the slime with a hoof. "Kind of like– Ow!" She pulled her hoof away quickly. "That is not how you make friends, Squishy!"

The slime was motionless, and they weren't getting any closer to collecting the reward money. Lyra tried using her magic to pull the hammer out of the slime, but it was no use. She was just about to ask Bon Bon for advice on what to do next when the slime shifted suddenly and leapt onto her head. The pain was immediate.

"Yow! Ooooh ow ow ow ow ow!" Lyra howled in pain. She shook her head violently and managed to dislodge the slime, but it reared back and leapt again, this time bouncing off her flank before dropping to the ground. "Okay, Squishy wins. Let's get out of here!" Lyra shrieked. She somehow managed to gallop and limp at the same time as she made a beeline straight back towards Appleloosa with Bon Bon following right behind. They ran for several minutes before Lyra's injuries forced them to slow down. They stopped next to a pair of cacti where Lyra flopped to the ground and buried her head in her front hooves.

Bon Bon drew near and gently nudged Lyra's shoulder. "Lyra?" she asked quietly.

"I can't do it," Lyra mumbled. She lay on her side, cradling her injured hoof, unmoving and defeated. "You were right," she said, staring ahead at nothing. "We never should have gone to the guild. Even if we'd retrieved the hammer, Flim and Flam would have taken half of our reward. There's no way we can earn enough bits in time; the first payment is due in a couple days!" Her eyes glistened as the sun began to set over the distant hills. "I just... can't."

Bon Bon's expression softened as she lay down next to Lyra. "Hey..." she soothed. Lyra closed her eyes, but Bon Bon wasn't deterred. "It isn't easy, I know," she said quietly. She looked up at the sky, where stars were beginning to show in the fading sunlight. "But... well, if it was easy, then it wouldn't be so amazing when you do manage to pull it off." Lyra opened her eyes, and Bon Bon continued. "You said so yourself: there isn't anything we can't do together, and I really do believe it. We'll have our good moments and our bad, but when hardships occur and luck's just not on your side, you just have to remember one thing."

"What's that?" Lyra asked.

Bon Bon stood up and held a hoof out to Lyra. "That no matter what happens, I'll be here for you."

Lyra stared at the hoof for a moment, then looked up into her best friend's eyes. She couldn't help but smile as she took the hoof and stood up. "And I'll be here for you," she said. "Let's go save Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium!"

..o0o..

Trixie Lulamoon was alone behind the counter when the minotaur strode through the door. She had just sold off another crate of goods she had picked up in Appleloosa and needed to restock the shelf, but that could wait until her little helper arrived. Celestia knows she wasn't going to lower herself to performing manual labor, even if she could just levitate the product onto the shelves. Let the little runt do it instead. The filly was far too much of a daddy's girl, and could do with a few chores, anyway. She couldn't just go and cry to her father, either. He had put Trixie in charge of the shop, and Diamond Tiara was just there to help when she could, and that most certainly worked for Trixie.

It only took one look at the expression on Iron Will's face for Trixie to suddenly wish that Diamond Tiara were there right now. She could use a witness.

"S-stay back, you!" she demanded with false bravado. "Trixie won't hesitate to protect herself! W-what do you want?"

Iron Will strode up to the counter and glared down at the unicorn cowering before him. He clenched his fists and growled, his deep voice reverberating through the shop. He stared at her for several tense minutes, but finally he sighed and unclenched his fists.

"Iron Will..." he began, seeming unsure of himself. He looked around as if to make sure nopony was watching. Once he was satisfied, he spoke five words that would completely change the fate of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium, for better or for worse.

Chapter 13 - Hired!

The Adventurer's Guild was empty with the exception of the Flim Flam brothers when Lyra and Bon Bon arrived. Flim ceased polishing the counter and glanced their way with an upraised eyebrow when they walked in.

"You've retrieved the hammer already?" he asked. He bent back down to polish a rogue spot on the counter. "You two are suited for this! I knew you'd do well." He straightened back up and levitated the rag into the back room with a burst of magic, then nodded at the two friends. "Just give me a moment and we can work out our share of the reward."

Lyra sat down at one of the tables and offered him a sheepish grin. "We don't have the hammer," she announced as Bon Bon slid into the chair beside her. "We've just come back to see about maybe taking on one of the other contracts."

"Preferably one that involves less slime," Bon Bon muttered.

Flim's grin melted away into a pool of disappointment. He cleared his throat, adjusted his bowtie, and levelled his gaze at the would-be adventurers. "My dear, young entrepreneurs. You took on a contract. Specifically, a contract stating that you were to retrieve that hammer. To back out now just wouldn't be–" he shrugged "–profitable!" Bon Bon's ears laid back, and she looked ready to retort when a newcomer spoke.

"Did somepony say 'profit'?" The speaker, a sky-blue pegasus with a shock of rainbow colored mane, swooped in through the entrance and made a landing near Lyra and Bon Bon's table, where she craned her neck back to withdraw a large sack from her saddlebags and heft it up onto the table. She then hopped onto a chair and leaned back, propping her hind hooves up onto the table's edge.

Flim's grin returned as wide as ever, and Flam called out from the back room. "Is that our star adventurer Rainbow Dash I hear?"

"The one and only," Rainbow replied with a crooked smile. She made a show of stretching and yawning. "So I took care of those contracts for you. Piece of cake, really, though I do have to wonder when you're going to let me in on the good contracts. You know, the ones that aren't such a bore?"

Flim had already trotted over to the sack and was counting bits. "My dear Rainbow Dash," he said, offhandedly polishing a bit. "Nopony here can doubt your considerable talent, but there is just one little problem. Miniscule, really."

Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before." Her voiced changed from a bored drawl to sarcasm. "I can't be given the big jobs because at any given moment I might be called upon by the royal princesses to help save Equestria, and there's no guarantee that I won't drop out in the middle of a contract to do just that."

"Excuse me," Bon Bon chimed in, looking at Rainbow Dash. "Not that it's any of my business, but didn't the Flim Flam brothers nearly bankrupt your friend Applejack last year? Why in all of Equestria would you want to work for them?"

"Oh yeah!" Lyra's ears perked up. "I still remember the song." She bobbed her head back and forth. "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy Six Thousaaand!"

Rainbow ignored Lyra's outburst and crossed her front hooves over her chest. "Hey, I'm not the only one those two hucksters fooled!" Flim and Flam, who had just emerged from the back room, raised their eyebrows in unison. "I seem to remember you two–" she pointed a hoof at Lyra and Bon Bon, "–right near the front of the line to get your hooves on my cider." Bon Bon's cheeks reddened, but Rainbow continued. "The Adventurer's Guild gives me a chance to actually, you know, earn something for doing what I already do anyway." She leaned back in her chair and tossed a bit into the air before catching it in her hoof. "Why else would I be here?"

The room grew silent, save for the occasional clink of a bit as Flim counted them out. Lyra was silently counting them too, for a plan was beginning to form in her head.

"Excuse me, Rainbow," Lyra said. "Have you ever had to get an item back from a magic slime?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Yeah, those things are always making off with some kind of valuable object. Kinda makes you wonder just how many magical mishaps happen around here what with all the slimes oozing all over the place." She lowered her eyelids. "They're easy pickings and boring."

Lyra's eyes grew focused as she silently made adjustments to her plan. Flim had finished counting the bits and had given the bag to Flam, who had taken it into the back room. Everything was quiet for a moment before Lyra suddenly pushed her chair back and jumped onto the table.

"Whoah!" Bon Bon said. "What's gotten into you?"

Lyra ignored this and focused her attention on Rainbow Dash, pointing at her with an extended hoof. "You want the good jobs, you say?" She didn't wait for Rainbow to answer. "Well Bon Bon and I can get you the good jobs!" Flim's ears perked up at this, but Lyra continued. "You can't go on the big adventures because you might have to bail, right? But what if you could come and go at any time without actually having to abandon a contract?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "And how, exactly, does that work?"

"You join our team!" Lyra exclaimed. "We'll take the good contracts together. Then, if you need to leave to go vanquish a dragon or whatever it is you and your friends do, there will still be two of us on the job. The contract isn't abandoned!"

"Yes," Flim chipped in, "but you and your friend couldn't handle a single slime. How do you expect to complete a large contract if you can't even deal with the most basic ones?" Despite his misgivings, Flim seemed genuinely interested in what Lyra might have to say.

"Because," Lyra said, turning to face Flim. "Rainbow won't be the only one joining our team. We'll take everypony."

"Everypony?" the others, including Bon Bon, asked.

"Everypony. Every member of the guild. We'll hire the entire lot of them."

"With what money?" Bon Bon asked, aghast. She was used to Lyra's crazy schemes, but this was going a bit far.

"With the reward money," Lyra explained. "Whichever members of the guild accompany us on a contract will receive the entire reward to split, minus the Flim Flam brothers' share." She had the attention of everyone in the room, and even Flam had emerged from the back to see what was going on. The looks on their faces ranged from awe to horror as she continued. "Bon Bon and I won't take any of the reward money for ourselves. It all goes to the guild."

"Whoah whoah whoah," Rainbow interrupted. "You're going to take on contracts for free? That doesn't make any sense!"

Lyra shook her head. "Not for free. We'll take the items." She looked at the blank stares the others were giving her and nodded to herself. "Yes, items. If what Rainbow says is true, then there's no shortage of slimes oozing around with pony's valuables inside them."

Rainbow chuckled. "You've got that right."

The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place. Lyra grinned. "I'm willing to bet that there are some ponies who don't even want whatever it is that was taken from them once we retrieve it. Who wants to clean burning slime off of something, anyway?" The others nodded slowly as the realization of her plan sunk in. "And that's just the most basic contracts! I bet there are even better things to discover on the big ones. Bon Bon and I will take any unwanted items we find and the guild gets the reward money. To make it even better, guild members will get a discount at my shop. So what do you say, do we have a deal?"

There are times, on occasion, when something incredible happens that nopony could have ever seen coming. Things that require just the right amount of logic and madness to pull off, things that could just as easily have gone horribly wrong if everything hadn't come together in just the right way. This was one of those occasions.

Flim looked at his brother. "Well, brother of mine, it looks as if this here young pony would like to hire the entire guild."

"Without any actual exchange of currency!" Flam agreed. He tilted his head and thought a moment. "But it looks as if it will bring us in more bits in the long run..."

"Indeed it does," Flim said. "With this young filly's enthusiasm and business skills, it looks to bring us in a great many more. Do we dare?"

After a moment, Flam shrugged. "Indeed we do," he said.

"Deal!" Flim shouted, bumping hooves with Lyra.

"Deal!" Lyra squealed. "You're all hired!" She turned to Rainbow Dash and smirked. "Come on, Rainbow Dash. I know of a certain slime who's going to wish it had never burnt this pony!"

Chapter 14 - Replacements

Iron Will was finally having a good day.

His meeting with the haughty blue unicorn had gone well, all things considered. Sure, she had resisted at first, but Iron Will could be quite convincing when he had to be. That was one of the benefits of towering several feet over the one you're speaking with, he supposed. He doubted there were many ponies who wouldn't see things his way when he wanted them to.

Well, that assertive yellow pegasus probably wouldn't. But everypony else could be persuaded, and that's what mattered. The bottom line was simple: Filthy Trix wasn't going to be a problem anymore. He had made absolute certain of that.

He stretched his great arms over his head as he strode about town, inadvertently sending several ponies scrambling out of his way. The train ride back to Appleoosa had been, as usual, cramped and uncomfortable. What he could really use was a bit of exercise and something to take his mind off this whole collection business. Despite his latest success, he still had serious doubts that the green one – he was determined to remember her name was Lyra – could pull it all off. Thankfully he had recently found a great way to deal with the stresses of debt collection.

"A good evening to you," Flam said as Iron Will walked in through the door and, after loudly pulling two chairs together, took a seat. "Would you like some cider? Something to help you wind down?"

Iron Will shook his head. "Iron Will is here for work."

Flam raised his eyebrows. "A bit late to take on a job, don't you think?" He reached under the counter and produced a mug. "Besides, all of today's jobs have been taken."

It was Iron Will's turn to raise his eyebrows. "All of them?"

Flam finished pouring the cider and trotted over to the minotaur's table to set the mug before him. "Indeed. In fact, it appears that you no longer work for my brother and I. Strictly speaking." He cleared his throat and wiped his brow before continuing. "The entire guild has been hired out by a remarkably gifted entrepreneur. We work for her now, but don't worry! My brother and I predict many more bits coming our way thanks to this deal."

The cider vanished in one large gulp. Iron Will ran the back of his hand over his mouth before asking, "And just who is it that Iron Will now works for?"

Flam gave a casual shrug. "A Miss Lyra Heartstrings. Fascinating mare, she is."

Iron Will slapped both hands down hard on the table, making Flam jump back and duck behind the counter. He stared straight ahead and gripped the edges of the table until his hairy knuckles grew sore. He then relaxed his shoulders and looked down at the floor in silence.

As if sensing that it was safe to be seen again, Flam slowly raised his head above the level of the counter. Iron Will looked his way, his eyes betraying some kind of inner conflict, then looked back down at the floor. A moment later the minotaur stood up, fished an engraved medallion out of a small travel bag on his belt, and tossed it onto the table.

Flam eyed the medallion and stared at Iron Will pleadingly. "That's your membership badge!" he cried. "Surely you can't be serious!"

Iron Will's glare stopped the stallion cold. "Iron Will is serious," he announced. He strode over to the guild hall’s exit before looking back at Flam. "And consider this his resignation."

..o0o..

"Here she comes."

At Bon Bon's warning, Lyra focused a bit more intensity into the protective shield that surrounded them both. She doubted that it was truly necessary, but it was probably best to be safe with this sort of thing. The shield glowed a slightly brighter shade of gold, and the two friends braced themselves. A moment later, a multicolored streak of light shot down from the sky, illuminating the area and striking the ground hard enough to create a large cloud of dust that formed in the immediate area of the impact. When the dust settled, Lyra saw that the shield was coated in a thin film of dirt and slime.

"Aww yeah!" Rainbow Dash cried, brushing dust out of her coat with a hoof. She stood up and trotted over to Lyra and Bon Bon, then closed her eyes and grinned smugly. "That's one less slime between me and the kinds of contracts I've always wanted to take on." When she opened her eyes again, however, the two friends were no longer standing with her. They had already moved past her and were cleaning slime off of a small silver goblet that had been left behind.

"You're welcome!" Dash shouted after them, frowning.

Lyra looked up and blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry! Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash. You're the best!" She ignored Rainbow's self-satisfied smile and levitated the goblet up with her magic, giggling. "Can you believe the contract was only concerned with the destruction of that slime? Just look at this!" The goblet floated into Lyra's bulging saddlebags to join the other items they had acquired.

Rainbow Dash didn't seem impressed. "Yeah yeah, you guys get to keep all the junk. Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "I just want to get all these boring contracts over with so we can move on to the good stuff."

"Well, we have good news for you," Bon Bon said. She reached back and patted her saddlebags, which were stuffed with contracts. "That was the last of the slime contracts. From here on out, it's nothing but actual adventures!"

"Yes!" Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air. "Yes, yes, yes! Endless cider, here I come!" Suddenly, she yawned and turned her attention to the darkening sky. "It's just going to have to wait until tomorrow. I don't even want to think about how many naps I've missed today."

Bon Bon nodded. "It is getting late. Maybe it's time we returned to the guild hall. We need to get back to the shop and stock the shelves with all of our new inventory in preparation for tomorrow. I guess it's going to be a long night."

Rainbow shrugged. "Yeah, maybe for you two, but this pony's off to get some well-deserved sleep." She flapped her wings and hovered in the air for a moment. "I'll come by for my share tomorrow. Don't spend it!" With that, she took off into the sky.

Lyra waved goodbye to Rainbow Dash, then turned to Bon Bon. "Yayifications! Today went so well I could just..." She struggled to hop in place, but her saddlebags weighed her down. "Well, it was a good day! Let's go collect our rewards."

..o0o..

The stars shone brightly in the clear sky over Appleoosa by the time Lyra and Bon Bon made it back to the guild hall. They were so busy chatting away about all the great items they had found as they walked inside that they didn't even notice something was wrong until they nearly bumped into somepony.

"Oh, excuse us!" Lyra said, stepping back a few paces. "We didn't even see you there!"

"Hey, hold on just a minute," Bon Bon said, taking a step forward and frowning. "What are you doing here?"

The pony in question, who, from the looks of things, had just been in the middle of an argument with Flim and Flam, perked her ears up and slowly raised her head.

"How dare that great ox trick the Wealthy and Corporate Trixie into joining this guild," the pony sneered, "only for her to find out she has to work–" she spun around and glared at the two friends "–for you!

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other helplessly. What in Equestria was going on?

Chapter 15 - Business

The shelves and tables within Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium no longer displayed items that had been collected from the trash heap, but instead were filled with a wide variety of goods that had been obtained from guild contracts. Everything from drinking goblets, to jewelry, to the blacksmith's hammer were now available for sale within the shop. Not one to put anything to waste, Lyra had set aside a 'bargain bin' for the old trash heap items.

Yet, though the store was immaculate and ready for business in every way, the sign on the front door of the shop still read 'Sorry, We're Closed.' A few feet from the door sat Lyra, her head lowered and her eyes focused on the ground.

"Hey, the shop isn't going to open itself!" Bon Bon stretched out a hind leg and stifled a yawn. The two friends had needed an early start to get everything prepared in time for opening. "We can probably expect a big day today, so let's get started."

Lyra remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Why would Iron Will join the Adventurer's Guild, somehow talk Trixie into joining, and then quit the guild a few days later?" She turned her head to look back at Bon Bon. "It just doesn't make sense!"

Bon Bon rolled her eyes, but spoke patiently. "Whatever his reasons, it's his business, not ours." She walked over and put a hoof on Lyra's shoulder. "All that matters right now is that we open our business so we can hopefully decrease that debt of yours. There are only a few days left to pay it off, so try to stay focused."

Lyra looked at her friend. "Alright. I can do that." She walked over to the front door and flipped the sign to read "Open," and suddenly it was as if some kind of internal switch had changed her demeanor. She grinned and winked at Bon Bon. "Let's go earn some bits and take care of business!"

..o0o..

As Bon Bon had predicted, business was booming. Word had spread quickly that Lyra had hired the entire Adventurer's Guild to go out and seek rare and valuable treasures that could then be sold at the shop at discount prices. And while that wasn't entirely accurate, neither Lyra nor Bon Bon felt inclined to correct anypony on the details. Sales were steady for most of the morning, with even a few of the bargain bin items being sold.

It was about midday when the little filly came into the shop. Her deep blue eyes peered out from under a wavy blonde and white mane as she held out a knitted hat. Lyra struggled to keep smiling as she spoke with the youngster.

"I'm sorry, little one, but I'm not entirely certain you understand the concept of this shop." She reached out and picked a plate off of one of the displays. "See, you buy stuff from me. Like this plate!"

The filly looked at the plate, then back at Lyra. "Mommy asked me to see how much we could get for this." She held the hat up higher, as if perhaps Lyra hadn't seen it the first time it was shown to her.

Lyra's smile faltered. "I'm sorry, cutie, but I really don't see how that's my prob– ow!" She lifted her hind leg where it had been kicked. Bon Bon then appeared from behind Lyra with an apologetic smile of her own.

"Sorry, hon," Bon Bon said to the filly. "If you could excuse us for one moment, I need to have a quick word with my friend here, okay?" The filly's only response was to blink up at her with those big blue eyes. Bon Bon quickly whisked Lyra away and out of earshot.

"Lyra, what are you doing?" Bon Bon hissed. "You shouldn't just say 'no' to her!"

Anypony who spends a significant amount of time with Lyra Heartstrings develops the ability to decipher her odd and varied facial expressions. So when Lyra's snout scrunched up slightly and she went a little cross-eyed, it was clear evidence that she was having a difficult time understanding.

"B-but that's not how shops work..." Lyra stared hard at the floor, as if some kind of answer might magically appear. When none came, she simply repeated herself, if a bit uncertainly. "That's not how shops work?"

Bon Bon sighed. "Lyra, remember the basics: buy low and sell high. Anypony who brings secondhand goods into a shop isn't going to expect very much in return for them. As long as you have a general idea of an item's worth, it could be to our benefit to take it off their hooves for them."

Lyra looked at the little filly, who was sitting in the middle of the shop staring at them. Bon Bon had a point. The kid would probably want a bit or two and they could maybe chuck the hat into the bargain bin for a small profit. Whatever it took to get the filly out of the store so they could focus on the paying customers.

She walked over to the filly. "Alright, then," she said with a big smile. "We'll give you two bits for it."

The effect was immediate. The filly's eyes grew wide and began to glisten. She looked up at Lyra with a creased brow. "I-is that all it's worth? Mommy's going to be so disappointed in me..." A moment later she was weeping in the middle of the shop.

Lyra took a step back and looked at Bon Bon with wide eyes. "Uh...h-how do I make her stop? The other customers are beginning to stare!"

Bon Bon's eyes narrowed and focused on the filly. "This isn't good, Lyra. She's using pity to get a better price, and from the look of things, it's way too effective to just brush off." She grabbed Lyra's shoulder and met her gaze. "Quick, offer her the base price and hope for the best!"

"What's the base price of a wool hat?!" Lyra gasped.

"Anything! Make something up, just hurry!"

Lyra spun around and addressed the filly. "We'll give you ten bits for the hat!"

"Ten bits!?" Bon Bon cried out, but Lyra ignored her. All eyes were on her and the filly, the latter of whom was staring in wonder at Lyra, her tears gone and her mouth slightly agape.

The filly stepped forward uncertainly. "Y-you'll really give me ten bits for this?" She held the hat up awkwardly.

Lyra smiled. "Uh huh. Is that a fair enough deal?" In answer, the filly leapt up and wrapped her little hooves around Lyra in a hug.

"Mommy's going to be so proud of me! Thank you, Miss Heartstrings!"

Lyra returned the hug. "Anytime, little one." She looked around and all the approving smiles aimed in their direction as she gently set the filly back down. She fished out some bits and handed them to her, then watched happily as the little filly left. As soon as she was gone, Lyra turned around and whispered to Bon Bon, who was still staring blankly at her.

"Using the crowd works both ways," Lyra explained. "I'm happy to lose a few bits if it means showing the rest of the customers that we care. That filly may have earned twice what she was expecting, but we're about to earn all of that back and then some! Look around, Bon Bon. This is what loyal customers look like."

And it was true. Everywhere they looked, they were met with smiles. Lyra had somehow managed to turn what could have been a disaster into yet another way to boost sales. Nearly everypony in the store had merchandise in their hooves, and several were already on their way to negotiate prices.

Bon Bon glanced at Lyra as she moved forward to greet the customers.

You're going to do it, she thought. You're really going to do it, you crazy, wonderful mare. She chuckled to herself, shook her head, then went over to help her best friend out. There was business to take care of.

Chapter 16 - Deadline

Iron Will took a swig of cider, then stared into the empty mug and watched as some stray foam ran down its side. His drink hadn't been nearly enough to sate his thirst, but he was drinking from a pony-sized mug. It would take several more refills before he could consume an amount fit for a minotaur.

Sitting across the table, her unblinking glare fixed directly on him, was Trixie Lulamoon, partial owner of Filthy Trix, and the newest member of the Adventurer's Guild. Her drink was untouched and, while Iron Will had to admit that her leaving it in this state was effective in setting the tone of her mood, it was also probably warm by now. Such a waste of good cider.

It was she who spoke first.

"Trixie is not amused," she said, her voice dripping venom. She had not blinked once during their entire meeting, and Iron Will privately wondered just how dry her eyes must be from the effort. Perhaps that was just something ponies could do. He'd ask Lyra about it later.

Iron Will leaned forward, set his mug down, and slowly placed both hands on the table. "Iron Will doesn't care," he said, his eyes locked onto hers. If she wanted to have a competition on who could be the most intimidating, he was more than happy to play along. That was just something minotaurs could do.

Trixie's eyes narrowed. "Well Trixie thinks you had better start caring. Trixie thinks you sabotaged her intentionally!" She pointed an accusatory hoof at Iron Will. "Everypony knows you're working with her now."

There was a flurry of movement as nearby patrons leaned back in their seats or abandoned them completely to get out of the way. Iron Will had stood up from his chair, and everypony knew what usually followed whenever a minotaur abruptly stood up. Sure enough, he slammed both fists down upon the table, which certainly would have splintered if not for the protective spell that the shop owner, a brown-coated unicorn, had instinctively cast upon it from his spot behind the counter.

"You are the only one at this table who works for her!" the minotaur howled. The veins in his neck bulged as he ground his teeth together. He glared at the nearby patrons. Their wide-eyed stares only further served to agitate his already poor mood.

"Iron Will does not work for Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium!" he bellowed. Everypony in the room had long since stopped moving, as they listened in complete silence. Iron Will ignored them and turned to Trixie, lowering his voice a little. "And Iron Will did not know that Lyra would hire the entire Adventurer's Guild! He recommended the Guild so that you might have access to good stock without buying up everything in town!" He half-sighed, half-growled. "It was meant to be a win-win situation."

Trixie had endured Iron Will's tirade in silence. Though she had flinched slightly when he'd slammed his fists into the table, she had mostly observed him as a statue might: unblinking and unmoving. She studied his face for a moment before speaking.

"You don't work for her, but you do care for her," she said.

It was Iron Will's turn to look bewildered. He opened his mouth, shut it, blinked and tried again.

"Iron Will's only concern is to collect the debt that is owed to his client," he said.

It wasn't entirely true, though. He would never compromise his position as a debt collector, of course, but he had to admit that he admired Lyra's business sense. Where most of those targeted by Can't Run, Can't Hide fled or fainted on the spot, Lyra had sprung into action with a plan that might actually have had a chance to work if she'd had more than a week to prepare.

Reality saw things differently, though. Collection Day was here, and Iron Will had only one duty before him: he would collect. One way or another.

Besides, it was a well-known fact within the industry that debt collectors had no friends.

Trixie studied him a moment further, then stood abruptly and gathered her things. She stopped just before the doorway and looked back. "You do care for her," she remarked. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Trixie wonders... how much is it going to hurt when you arrive at her door today to destroy everything she has worked so hard to build?" She disappeared with a swish of her tail before Iron Will could even think to respond.

..o0o..

Iron Will had not looked forward to visiting Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium today, but his meeting with Trixie had managed to make it even worse. The irritating blue unicorn knew how to... well, be irritating.

But she was wrong about him.

Debt collectors could never allow themselves to feel any kind of emotion when it came to their jobs. At the end of the day, it all came down to simple numbers. If he could do something to increase the number of bits his client received, he would do it. If anything arose that might decrease the number of bits obtained... well, it needed to be eliminated. That's all he had been trying to do: get as many bits out of Lyra Heartstrings as possible.

So why was he walking so slowly? It was Collection Day. He should be pleased.

Iron Will rolled the thought around in his mind for a bit. The answer was simple, of course. By moving slowly, perhaps he would give Lyra time to make one more sale and earn just a few more bits that he could then collect and pass on to his client. That had to be the reason.

He caught himself staring up at the sky, and shook his head to clear it. It was time to focus, not get caught with his head in the clouds. Lyra had tried her best, but it wasn't going to be enough. He'd need to seize her earnings, all unsold stock, and her home as well. It wouldn't cover the entire debt, but that wasn't his concern. He only needed to collect as much as he could. Can't Run, Can't Hide would sort out the rest of the details with the Royal Canterlot Bank. He would earn a bonus based on how much he managed to collect, and then he could move on.

His face was set in grim determination by the time he reached Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium. He paused for a brief moment before opening the door and walking inside.

..o0o..

"Welcome to Lyra's Ultima—"

Lyra blinked at Iron Will, then grinned. "Oh, it's you. Would you like to buy anything?" She was already moving toward a display full of various odds and ends she'd collected from the Guild. "We just got these in this morning! I bet this hat would suit you well."

Iron Will patiently removed the hat Lyra had put on his head and set it back on the display. He did not return Lyra's smile.

"Good morning to you too, Mr. Grumpy," Bon Bon quipped from behind the register. She busied herself with rearranging a nearby display, not waiting for a reply.

Lyra tilted her head. "Hm, I guess that hat didn't suit you after all." She moved to another display and picked up the blacksmith's hammer. "Hey, you're big and strong. I bet you'd make a great–"

"Stop!"

Lyra halted in her tracks and looked up at Iron Will, her mouth still open.

"It's time," the minotaur said. "I've come to collect. Five thousand bits."

Lyra looked at Bon Bon, who looked at Iron Will. Iron Will just stared straight-ahead. A long moment of silence stretched on for what seemed like several minutes. Finally, Iron Will sighed.

"It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that, as a representative of Can't Run, Can't Hide, it is my task, as an immediate consequence of your inability to pay the required first week's payment, to seize all available stock and any other assets that you may have acquired as a direct result of–"

He was interrupted by a loud thunk as Lyra and Bon Bon dropped a heavy wooden box in front of him.

So they knew this was coming and they don't even need to hear the rest, Iron Will thought. It was just like Lyra, too. Just get it over with and move on to whatever awaited her next.

He waited for them to start packing away the rest of the assets, but neither Lyra or Bon Bon moved. They just sat in front of him with the box in-between them.

"And what is this?" Iron Will finally asked.

Lyra blinked. "It's what you came for."

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "Uh, yeah. Five thousand bits." She stood up and motioned impatiently with a hoof. "Now, if you don't mind, you're kind of scaring away any potential customers, and we've been really busy lately so if you could just, you know, take the bits and maybe come back later, that would be great."

Iron Will did an admirable job of keeping a straight face. He cleared his throat, picked up the box, and said, "Well then. Congratulations. I will return some time later today to discuss where we go from here." He then backed his way out the door and headed south towards Can't Run, Can't Hide.

It wasn't until he reached the outskirts of Ponyville that he allowed himself to break into a wide grin.

Chapter 17 - Rough

The next morning did not begin well for Lyra as she prepared to open up shop.

"W-what do you mean? Do you really have to leave now?" Lyra gestured with a hoof towards her newest merchandise. "But we just finished all of the small contracts! We were supposed to go do the really good ones now!" Her ears drooped.

"I know, right?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Of course I have to go off to some far-off place to save Equestria again at the worst possible time." Her sarcasm was bitter as she threw her hooves up in obvious frustration. "Just when things were starting to get good, too."

There was silence throughout the shop as Lyra, Bon Bon, and Rainbow Dash all thought about the implications of this revelation. Lyra was going to be without the top adventurer in the guild. In fact, Rainbow Dash had been the only adventurer she had used up to this point. She wasn't even sure who else, besides Trixie, was a member.

Bon Bon seemed to have read her mind, because she said, "Who's going to go adventuring with us now?" She looked at Rainbow Dash. "Can you recommend anypony else from the guild?"

Rainbow shifted awkwardly. "Well, actually–"

"She can't!" a high-pitched voice shouted.

Lyra turned to face the newcomer and only wondered briefly how she managed to get inside when the door was locked. "Hi, Pinkie Pie!" She tilted her head. "Why can't Rainbow recommend anypony from the guild?"

"Because most members keep their guild activity a secret!" Pinkie wrapped a hoof around Rainbow Dash's shoulders. "Dashie didn't even tell me she was a member until three days ago!"

Rainbow glanced at Pinkie. "Um, I actually never told you directly. You just showed up out of nowhere and asked Flam if you could request me personally for a job. Remember?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Same difference. Anyway," she said, looking back at Lyra and Bon Bon, "since nopony knows who's in the guild, anypony could be a member!" She zipped over to Lyra, her snout inches from Lyra's own. "Your own sister could be a member!"

"I don't have a sister," Lyra said.

"Or maybe somepony's brother!" Pinkie continued, apparently not listening. She gasped and rushed over to Rainbow Dash. "Maybe somepony you look up to!" She hopped away, leaving Rainbow to just stare quizzically after her. She stopped before Bon Bon and shrugged. "Or maybe just somepony trying to discover who she is. You can never tell who might be a member."

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "Or, instead of being mysterious we could always, you know, ask the Flim Flam brothers."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "They won't reveal anything," she said. "Part of the draw of the guild is that Flim and Flam have agreed to protect the identities of its members. There are some ponies who would rather keep any kind of association with those two a secret, if you know what I mean."

Lyra nodded. "Well, that makes sense, I guess." She gestured to Rainbow. "Still, isn't it a bit odd that you don't know any other members? What about all the ponies we've seen at the guild headquarters before? And what about you? Flim didn't keep your membership a secret from us!"

"I didn't tell him to. Anyway, the Flim Flam brothers will let in anyone with bits to spend," Rainbow explained. "Most of the ponies you see are just there for a few drinks." She frowned slightly. "And I actually do know one of the other members. Your buddy, Iron Will."

"Not any more," Bon Bon muttered. "He recently quit."

Rainbow shrugged. "Well in that case, I can't help you." She stretched her wings and headed towards the exit. "And Pinkie and I need to get going before we have to sit through another lecture from Twilight Sparkle on punctuality." She shuddered.

"Wait," Lyra called as Rainbow opened the door. "How are we supposed to find out who the other guild members are?"

"Just look for a diamond in the rough!" Pinkie said as she bounced outside. The door closed behind her, leaving Lyra and Bon Bon to themselves.

"Well," Bon Bon said, "I doubt Trixie would tell us who the other members are, even if she knew." Her face suddenly brightened. "But Iron Will should be here later to tell us about next week's payment. Maybe he'll be able to help!"

The two friends got to work on getting the shop opened for the day's business, unaware that the news Iron Will carried with him was nothing at all to smile about.

..o0o..

"Welcome to Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium, how can I–" Lyra blinked. "Oh hello, Iron Will! Care to buy a hammer?"

Iron Will shook his head as he entered the store. "Iron Will is just here on business today." He took a cursory look around the shop. "Not so busy today, hm?"

Lyra hung her head slightly. "Today was supposed to be an adventure day, but Rainbow Dash is off fighting monsters with her friends." She looked up at the minotaur and offered a small, hopeful grin. "Actually, Bon Bon and I were hoping that maybe you could recommend someone, seeing as you used to be a member."

Iron Will shrugged his massive shoulders. "If Iron Will recommended anyone, it would have been the rainbow pony. She is strong and self-assured, unlike most ponies." He blinked and grinned sheepishly. "Iron Will means no offense, of course."

"None taken!" Lyra said. "I don't suppose there's anypony else you could recommend? We'll take anyone, really."

"Hm..." Iron Will thought for a moment, then held up a finger, but Bon Bon cut him off.

"Besides Trixie," she muttered.

Unfortunately for Lyra and Bon Bon, Iron Will had no one else to suggest. Like Rainbow Dash, he wasn't aware of who the other members of the Adventurer's Guild were. He had only been a member for a few days, and most of his time had been spent dealing with Can't Run, Can't Hide.

"Speaking of which," Iron Will said, "Iron Will must discuss the matters concerning your next payment." He brought out his clipboard and studied it for a moment. "As you are aware, you were successful in making last week's payment of five thousand bits. Congratulations!"

Lyra smiled. Her hard work had paid off. Sure, this week might be more difficult without Rainbow Dash to collect on some easy contracts for her, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find a suitable replacement. Five thousand bits was a lot of money, but Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium had already proven itself to be more than capable of bringing in enough bits within the deadline. She would make it work.

"It is now Iron Will's duty," Iron Will continued, "to inform you of this week's payment, due in seven day's time."

Lyra saw Bon Bon looking at her out of the corner of her eye. They both knew that they already had over a thousand bits saved up to go towards this week's payment. They would be able to relax a little this week, and perhaps have enough bits in excess to purchase some upgraded displays and shelving. Perhaps a flash sale would bring them in enough bits within a day or two to pay everything off.

Iron Will looked up from the clipboard. "It is with pleasure that Iron Will announces that this week's payment is a mere twenty thousand bits!" He glanced down at the ponies and smiled.

He then blinked and scratched his head. For some reason, both the ponies had fainted.

Chapter 18 - Diamond

Lyra awoke to find herself lying in her bed. Faint noises could be heard coming from downstairs in the shop portion of her home, but what was of a more immediate concern was the lumpy object lying next to her. She turned around and had a look.

"Oh hey, Bon Bon!" she said.

Beside her, Bon Bon slowly opened one eye, blinked to clear her thoughts, then glared as realization dawned upon her.

"What happened, and why am I here?" she demanded. Her eyes widened momentarily before she resumed her glare. "Did that great ox really think it was a good idea to throw us both into the same bed?" She snorted. "I guess he thinks we're just like sacks of potatoes that can be tossed around wherever he pleases!"

Lyra blinked and looked down at herself. "I'm a very cute sack of potatoes!" she said, grinning.

Bon Bon was already out of bed, however, and was heading downstairs. She called over her shoulder, "Come on, Lyra! We need to have a few words with our friendly debt collector!"

Lyra stared after her friend. "We should sell potatoes..." she mumbled before hopping out of bed and following Bon Bon downstairs to the shop below.

..o0o..

"Just what in sweet Celestia's secret sweets stash do you think you are doing?" Bon Bon's angry voice rang throughout the entire shop. Lyra hurried down the rest of the stairs to see what was going on.

When she arrived downstairs she saw Iron Will standing before an open cash register, his huge hand full of bits. He stood there, frozen, much like a deer caught in a light spell would. In front of him, Bon Bon stood in a pose that looked as if she were ready to fight.

"There had better be a good explanation for this, or else," Bon Bon growled. "I may not look like it, but I know how to take down a minotaur. Trust me, you do not want to test me right now!"

"Bon Bon, what's going on?" Lyra asked as she carefully made her way over to her friend. She had never seen Bon Bon this angry before, and she looked a little scary at the moment.

Bon Bon's hoof shot out accusingly at Iron Will. "Just look at him!" she cried. "It's not enough that he has to go and quadruple your debt payment, but now he's stooped to taking bits directly out of the register!" She frowned at Iron Will. "He's a thief!"

Iron Will's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his hands tightened into fists so hard that the veins showed on his arms.

"When the ponies accuse–" he said, his voice rising in volume, "–then you must bruise!" He stalked towards the waiting Bon Bon, searing anger evident on his face.

Lyra feared that one or both of her friends were going to hurt themselves, but before things could escalate any further, the front door opened and an orange-coated, middle-aged mare walked into the shop and smiled when she saw Iron Will. She trotted up to him and took out a small coin pouch.

"You know, after the fantastic service you provided, I think I will go ahead and buy that laundry pole after all!" She took out some bits and gave them to the minotaur. "After I left I just got to thinking about what you said, and you're right. You never know when you might need a spare!" She smiled politely at Lyra and Bon Bon, retrieved her laundry pole, and exited the shop.

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow at Iron Will. "You've been selling things?"

Iron Will crossed his arms and looked away. "What if Iron Will has?"

Bon Bon sighed and pawed the ground with a hoof. "So what you were doing just then... you were putting change in the drawer." When the minotaur nodded she blushed slightly. "So uh, I guess I'm sorry about the whole 'getting ready to send you to Tartarus' thing."

Iron Will nodded and twiddled his thumbs. "And, um, Iron Will apologizes for preparing to crush all of your bones."

"We good?"

"We're good."

Lyra didn't understand any part of what had just happened. One moment she was certain that they should add potatoes to their stock, and the next moment she wasn't so sure. She thought maybe she could ask her friends what they thought about stocking vegetables, but before she could do that the door opened again and a new customer appeared.

"What a complete dump," the newcomer said. She was a small, pink filly with a stylized purple and white mane crowned with a small tiara.

Bon Bon rounded on the filly. "And just what are you doing here, Diamond Tiara?" she demanded. It was apparent that she hadn't completely cooled off from her confrontation with Iron Will, if the grinding of her teeth was any indication.

Diamond tsked in apparent disgust at having to answer such an obvious question. "I'm scouting the competition, of course. Such as it is." She picked up an item and briefly examined it before setting it back down. "Why else would I set hoof in this hole-in-the-ground?"

"If you aren't buying I'll be happy to show you the door," Bon Bon said.

"My, my, is this the kind of service ponies can expect here?" Diamond asked in mock dismay. She gave Bon Bon a wicked grin. "It's no wonder my father's store is doing so much better than yours."

Even Iron Will was looking at Diamond Tiara as if he were about to throttle her, but Lyra just smiled and said, "Oh, I get it! Trixie sent you over here to buy anything she might not have in stock so she can mark it up for a small profit." She trotted over to a display and indicated some of the items. "That's a really smart idea! I have a few things here that I doubt she's been able to track down, so maybe you–"

Diamond Tiara's eyes widened. "I am not some kind of laborer to be used as an errand runner!" she sputtered. Apparently, her role within the business was a sore topic for her.

Lyra tilted her head. "So she's not even paying you? That's a bit rough." She stopped suddenly, as a thought came to mind. A plan quickly formed, and she tested her theory. "Hey, wouldn't it really annoy Trixie if you managed to find some kind of really rare item that she just had to have?"

The filly froze for a moment as if in thought. "What difference does it make what she thinks?" she asked irritably. Lyra noted that her ears had perked up, however.

"Well, I just think that anypony who was able to retrieve very rare merchandise from the competition would quickly become a very valuable member of the team. In fact, I bet your father would be quite pleased!"

Lyra glanced at Bon Bon and Iron Will. They both nodded almost imperceptibly that they understood where she was going with this.

Diamond Tiara frowned. "It's none of your business how my father feels about anything," she declared. She walked over to the display Lyra had indicated and took a look. "Still, I suppose I could deign to relieve you of a few things. It's not like you'd actually be able to sell them yourself, anyway."

Lyra smiled. "No, of course not. I can't claim to have the business sense of your father." She leaned forward. "In fact, I'm so bad at this that I might even be willing to give you a few things for free!" Lyra heard Iron Will grunt, but she was certain that she knew what she was doing.

Diamond Tiara's eyes narrowed. "Nopony is that dense. What are you after?"

Lyra shrugged. "I sure can't fool you! I'll just get right to the point, then." She cleared her throat and blushed slightly. "As you probably already know, I hired out the entire Adventurer's Guild. The problem is, silly pony that I am, I don't know who any of the members are!"

Diamond Tiara grinned. "Yes, that was an exceptionally poor business move, wasn't it?" Still, she was listening.

"It was," Lyra agreed. "I'd be willing to give just about anything in the shop to know who the other members are." She sat down with a sigh and looked away wistfully.

The thing about Diamond Tiara is that she is not a gullible pony. Having plenty of experience with it herself, she knew when she was being manipulated. The problem was that she actually stood to benefit greatly if she played along. Her father would see her contribution and maybe see how poorly that great fraud of a unicorn was managing the shop. If she played her cards right, maybe she could be free from Trixie once and for all. But how did Lyra know that she knew a guild member?

Diamond Tiara grinned again. It didn't matter. These peasants would get the information they wanted, but it wasn't useful information.

"I just might know somepony," she said coyly. "Maybe we can help each other out."

The other thing about Diamond Tiara is that she had inherited her father's eye for quality. It only took her a moment to pick out the best item these amateurs had somehow managed to scrounge up. She pointed out a solid silver tea set.

"Give me this and I'll tell you what you want to know."

Bon Bon and Iron Will both cringed, but Lyra didn't hesitate. She held a hoof out. "Deal."

Diamond rolled her eyes, but bumped hooves with Lyra. "Deal," she said. She practically pranced over to the front window and pointed outside. "I'm sure our little adventurer will be coming along any moment now." She looked around, then spotted somepony. "What timing. There she is now!"

Lyra looked out the window, then frowned. "Her?" she asked.

Diamond laughed as she trotted over to retrieve the tea set. "You're welcome," she jeered. She left the shop with her goods in tow, leaving Lyra to blink in confusion. She turned to Bon Bon and Iron Will.

"Since when did Scootaloo become an adventurer?"

Chapter 19 - Novice

Appleloosa was generally a quiet sort of town. It would get busy from time to time, sure enough, but for the most part it could be considered relaxed and laid back. Scootaloo was thankful for this as she took one last look around, then snuck, cat-like, into the entrance to the Adventurer's Guild. Once inside, she breathed a sigh of relief; Flim was the only other pony in the room with her.

"Back in record time," Flim called from behind the counter. He leaned forward and set down the glass he had been cleaning. "I don't suppose this means you've brought us good news today?"

Scootaloo struggled momentarily to remove a pack from off her back, then dropped it onto the ground. She looked up at Flim briefly, blushed, then found herself staring down at the floor.

Flim sighed through his nostrils and came out from behind the counter to stand over Scootaloo. He looked down at her, then to the pack she had been wearing. He prodded it with a hoof, then, finding the pack empty, withdrew his leg and stared down at Scootaloo again.

"I'll try again tomorrow," Scootaloo mumbled. She could feel her cheeks getting warmer as she tried to avoid making eye contact with Flim.

The former salespony gently helped Scootaloo to her hooves. "Of course," he said quietly. He looked her over and frowned slightly, then gestured toward the back room. Scootaloo followed and they were joined by Flam, who was busy studying contracts.

"Ah, our youngest adventurer," Flam said, looking up from the papers spread out on his desk. He read the mood of the others and shook his head. "No luck today, I take it?"

Scootaloo jumped up onto a table and sat down. "I just need better gear," she said. She allowed Flim to examine a hoof before continuing. "I'll complete the contract tomorrow, I know it!" She winced and pulled her hoof away suddenly.

"You're bleeding," Flim observed. He took out a cotton ball and waited for Scootaloo to hold out her hoof again, then swabbed a small cut above her knee. "You really should wait for an easier contract to come up."

"I-it's nothing," Scootaloo said. She shrugged, trying to play it off. "Just a part of the experience, right? No big deal." She looked up at Flim and grinned.

The Flim Flam brothers exchanged looks. Flam left the room and went into the front lounge area of the guild hall. A little while later he returned with a steaming bowl of oats and a glass of apple juice. Flim had just finished patching Scootaloo up when the food arrived.

Scootaloo looked from the food to the bandage on her hoof. "You don't have to keep doing this, you know."

"We don't," Flim agreed.

"I can take care of myself."

"You can."

The room was silent while Scootaloo tried to think of something else to say. Unable to find her voice, she settled down and ate her meal, thankful that nopony else would know about her latest failure.

..o0o..

The contract had not gone well.

Her failure weighed heavily on her mind as she hopped off the Friendship Express and made her way into the heart of Ponyville. Try as she might, Scootaloo just couldn't seem to figure out an easy way to get a picnic basket away from a grizzly bear cub. Not without Fluttershy's help, anyway.

But Fluttershy couldn't be allowed to know that Scootaloo was an adventurer, because then word would spread and Rainbow Dash would find out. There was no way Scootaloo was going to let Rainbow Dash know that until she was capable of completing a contract without the Flim Flam brothers having to patch her up. She could never allow Rainbow to see her like that!

It was for that reason the Flim Flam brothers had allowed her to take on a contract without the knowledge of Lyra Heartstrings.

"We'll consider it a practice run," Flim had said. "We can't charge for practice now, can we?"

Scootaloo sighed. She didn't want their charity, but she had to admit that she needed it. She had precious little experience in completing real adventures, and she wasn't exactly properly equipped to handle any of the decent contracts, anyway. The brothers had nearly forbidden her from even taking on her current contract, but she had persisted, and they had relented on the condition that they were not responsible for any injuries that occurred.

And yet they still patched her up every time.

"Hey, Scoota-goo," somepony cat-called, breaking her from her thoughts. She looked up and saw one of her classmates heading her way. For some reason, the filly had some kind of dishware in her saddlebags.

"What do you want, Diamond Tiara?" Scootaloo huffed.

Diamond grinned. "Oh, it's not what I want, it's what somepony else wants." She walked a circle around Scootaloo as if sizing her up. "Though why anypony would need you to help them is a complete mystery!"

Scootaloo frowned. Her day had been bad enough without Diamond Tiara going out of her prissy little way to make things more difficult.

"What are you talking about?" Scootaloo demanded. "I have better things to do than be seen talking with you."

Diamond narrowed her eyes and smiled. "You mean like adventuring?"

Scootaloo's eyes widened and she laid back her ears. "Hey, be quiet!" she whispered harshly. "We have a deal, remember?"

"Had a deal," Diamond announced. "Sorry, but you've been outbid." She patted her saddlebags and ignored the intense glare that Scootaloo gave her. She shrugged. "Oh, don't be such a little foal about it. I only told one pony your little secret." She saw Scootaloo advancing on her and quickly said, "Look, here she comes now!"

Scootaloo, sensing a trick, looked behind her anyway. She blinked her eyes, looked again, then felt her heart sink. Coming toward her was one of the last ponies she wanted to know about her adventuring.

"Hi, Scootaloo!" Lyra Heartstrings called out with a smile as she approached.

Scootaloo gulped. Her boss had found out her secret.

Chapter 20 - Victory

"I... can't."

Lyra stared at Scootaloo. The filly wasn't making any sense. She had always seemed to be the adventurous sort, was a member of the Adventurer's Guild, and had just been invited onto an adventure. Why would any such young pony pass up the chance? Lyra eyed the bandage on Scootaloo's knee.

"If you're not well enough to take on a contract today, I'm happy to wait until you're all rested up and ready to go!" She reached out and patted Scootaloo on the head. "We can always do one tomorrow, or even the next day!"

Scootaloo ducked out from underneath Lyra's hoof and backed up a few steps.

"You don't understand," she said. "I can't do any contracts with you. If Rainb–" she stopped herself mid-sentence and quickly changed course. "Um, if anypony finds out I'm a member of the guild..."

Lyra smiled and held up a hoof. "Okay, I get it. You're not the only one who doesn't want anypony knowing you're partnered with the Flim Flam brothers." She tapped her horn. "It's fine. I can get you out of town unnoticed."

Scootaloo blinked up at Lyra. "What's wrong with the Flim Flam brothers?" Lyra raised an eyebrow and Bon Bon looked ready to chip in, but Scootaloo shook her head. "Nevermind. Look, even if you can somehow make it so that nopony knows where we're going, it's still no use." She sighed and hung her head. "I've never completed a contract! I've been stuck on trying to complete this one contract for days now, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't do it!"

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other, and Scootaloo cringed.

"Oh, right," she mumbled, pawing the floor with a hoof. "You weren't supposed to know about that."

Bon Bon looked ready to speak, but she was again interrupted as a customer walked into the shop. She hurried forward to deal with the customer as Lyra led Scootaloo into another room.

Once they were out of the shop area, Lyra waited for Scootaloo to look her in the eye.

"So the Flim Flam brothers let you take on a contract without my knowledge?"

Scootaloo looked back at the floor again. "Yes," she mumbled. A moment later she was looking back at Lyra intently. "But it's not their fault! I'm... I just..." She closed her eyes a moment and seemed to compose herself. "They said I could practice so I could get better and, you know, it would be better for the guild." She looked back up at Lyra. "But I still can't do it. I don't have the right gear and I... I'm not sure if I even want to try anymore."

Lyra regarded Scootaloo. Here was a young pony who was trying desperately to find out where she fit in the world. It was this realization that confirmed a hunch Lyra had.

Pinkie Pie had mentioned that nopony knew who the members of the Adventurer's Guild were. She had also said to look for a 'diamond in the rough.' Lyra had found that in Diamond Tiara, a filly who, while sometimes a bit bratty, was having a rough time dealing with her father's partnership with Trixie. Pinkie had somehow predicted who to look for, and Lyra knew that Pinkie's predictions weren't something to be ignored.

She had also mentioned that one of the members could be 'sompony trying to discover who she is.' That fit Scootaloo perfectly, as not only was she always running around with her two best friends trying to earn a cutie mark, she was also trying to find a way to fit into the Adventurer's Guild. Two of Pinkie's predictions were spot-on.

That meant that Lyra just had to find somepony's sister, somepony's brother, and somepony to look up to. Unfortunately, there were a lot of brothers and sisters in Ponyville, and there were plenty of ponies to look up to. One of the princesses, perhaps? Regardless, it was going to take time to figure it out, and she had a perfectly good adventurer right here in front of her.

If only she could help Scootaloo to realize that and start believing in herself.

"So you need some gear, huh?" Lyra asked. Scootaloo's ears perked up, but she didn't answer. Lyra continued. "I might be able to help you out with that. I can't really afford to give you any gear, as the shop needs to earn a lot this week just to stay afloat. What I can do is loan you some equipment." She had Scootaloo's full attention now, and she spoke quickly. "You can take it with you on our adventure, use it, and pay for it later once you've earned some bits from the contracts. Remember, guild members get discounts, too. If you feel the need to upgrade, you can just borrow something better and repeat the cycle. What do you say?"

Sometimes, all it takes is one small victory to get one's self out of a slump. For when one is hit with hardship after hardship, what might seem to others as insignificant can often times be the spark that leads to a figurative explosion of good fortune.

And so, when Scootaloo looked down momentarily, hesitant about what may or may not be to come, then lifted her head and offered a hoof to Lyra, a spark was suddenly brought to life with the utterance of a single word:

"Deal."

..o0o..

Of course, not every spark is quick to ignite.

"Oww..." Scootaloo groaned. She lifted her face from the ground and spit out some dust before looking back at Lyra and Bon Bon. "Couldn't you put that shield around me? It'd be a– ow! –lot easier!"

Lyra raised her eyebrows with concern and shrugged. "I'm sorry. My magical talent is better when focused on small, precise movements. Trying to maintain a magical shield in motion is just outside of my capabilities."

Lyra had already considered trying to assist their newest adventurer, but decided against it. Scootaloo needed to find out her worth for herself. It would do nothing for her confidence if Lyra were to complete the contract for her.

Scootaloo stood up and brushed herself off. She was wearing what might pass for armor that had been patched together from various items Lyra had in her shop. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. It did have one benefit in particular:

"At least I'm not bleeding this time," Scootaloo murmured. She looked back at Lyra and Bon Bon who both urged her on. She sighed and walked back towards the bear cub. The cub was sitting underneath a tree, playing with the missing picnic basket. It growled a warning as Scootaloo drew near.

Scootaloo frowned. She looked over to the large mother bear resting nearby. The mother bear was watching her. It had never interfered with Scootaloo, as she was likely not seen to be a threat, and actually seemed to enjoy watching Scootaloo's struggle as if it were amusing.

Scootaloo walked within a few paces of the cub and stared at it.

"I'm not going to fight you," she said sternly. "I just want you to give me that picnic basket. It's not yours!"

She was rewarded with a paw to the flank. She yelped, but stood her ground. It didn't actually hurt all that much anymore; it was just annoying. The bear cub, used to seeing Scootaloo get knocked onto her face, blinked.

"I'm not moving. I... I'm not giving up, so if you're going to hit me, just hit me and get it over with!"

The cub swiped at Scootaloo again, but this time it was slow and uncertain. It looked over to its mother, but the mother bear gave no response. The cub lifted a paw again and gave a short growl, but this time the paw only swiped lightly at the air in front of Scootaloo. As if realizing that it had lost its dominance over the filly, the cub finally let out a cry and ran to its mother. The mother bear nuzzled her cub gently, but did not coddle it. It would need to come to terms with its defeat on its own.

Scootaloo watched the cub retreat, then realized that the picnic basket was sitting right in front of her, completely unguarded. She arched her neck towards the basket, hesitating long enough to ensure that the mother bear wouldn't suddenly attack, then picked it up in her mouth and galloped away from the tree and back to Lyra and Bon Bon.

"You did it!" Lyra exclaimed. She began hopping in place. "You completed the contract!"

Scootaloo blinked and set the basket down, and Lyra could almost see it in Scootaloo's eyes as comprehension slowly sunk in.

"I guess it didn't hurt as much as before, thanks to this armor," Scootaloo said. She lifted a hoof, admiring the lack of injuries. "That cub's little claws just couldn't get through the material, and then it just kind of gave up and..." She stopped talking and looked up at Lyra with her big purple eyes. "I... I did it! I completed a contract!"

Lyra was almost dragged to the ground as Scootaloo leaped up and wrapped her little hooves around her neck.

"I completed a contract!" Scootaloo repeated. She buried her face in Lyra's mane.

Lyra looked at Bon Bon, who nodded approvingly.

The spark had just been ignited.

Chapter 21 - News

Lyra used her magic to levitate and guide a sack of flour into the customer's saddlebag.

"There you go, Mrs. Cake," she said. She placed the bits she had received into the cash register, and leaned her forelegs on the counter. "Is there anything else you need today?"

Mrs. Cake's smile could have brightened the entire shop.

"Why, no. I believe this is everything." She brushed a stray strand of reddish-pink hair from her face. "I'm just so thrilled that Pinkie Pie told us about your little shop! My husband and I are able to bake almost half again as many cakes and pastries as we did before coming here." She gave a small laugh. "It must be really good for business being the only shop in Ponyville to supply such a wide variety of baking ingredients. Why, most of these things are only available in other towns!"

Lyra grinned. "It's our pleasure to bring together the best ingredients around to serve Ponyville's finest shops." Mrs. Cake blushed at the compliment. "Make sure to tell your friends about us!"

"I most certainly will!" Mrs. Cake beamed as she gathered her things and made for the exit. "Have a pleasant day, you two."

"Goodbye!" Lyra closed the door behind her. A moment later she spun around and trotted excitedly over to Bon Bon. "How was that? Did I do it right?"

Bon Bon laughed. "I couldn't have done it better myself. You know, you're actually starting to get the hang of giving quality customer service."

"Yayifications!" Lyra cried. "If we can get Ponyville's food sector behind us, we'll establish a long-term source of repeat business that will form the core from which to grow the company naturally!" She hopped up and down. "Isn't that exciting?"

Bon Bon stared at Lyra for a moment before blinking and shaking her head. "Has anypony ever told you that it's almost creepy just how good you can be when it comes to earning a profit?"

"Not that I can remember!" Lyra stopped hopping and shrugged. She walked over to the register and started counting bits. "I think we're making good progress toward this week's payment, but it's still not going to be enough. We need more bits!" She stamped a hoof for emphasis.

"How are we doing, anyway?" Bon Bon asked.

Lyra tapped a hoof on the counter as she thought. "We have Scootaloo out collecting easy contracts for the guild, but that's only going to realistically bring in a few hundred bits at most by week's end." She ducked down for a moment and reappeared with a chest full of bits. "Then there's the extra we had left over from last week, which comes to just over a thousand bits." She put the chest away and paced back and forth. "With the Cakes, Gustav Le Grand, and the Apple family all locked in as regulars now, we're on pace to earn an additional eight and a half to nine thousand bits this week."

"Not bad," Bon Bon said.

"Not bad, but not good enough. We're only on pace to make just over half of what we owe." Lyra blinked. "If we can't find some way to double our earnings fast, we're going to lose the shop!"

Iron Will watched the royal guards with interest. He had just finished eating a relatively satisfying lunch and was on his way to visit Lyra when he noticed them. One might see a few guards in places like Ponyville from time to time as they went about their business, but the number of them roaming about town on this day was out of the ordinary. There were too many, and they seemed to be searching for something... or somepony. Not one to beat around the bush, Iron Will approached one of the guards directly and asked what was going on.

"Official business. Stand aside, please!" the guard ordered.

Iron Will scowled, but obeyed. Once the guards had passed he decided to ask another pony what was going on.

"Word has it that monsters have been attacking ponies outside Canterlot," the young stallion who Iron Will had approached said. "Nothing major, and apparently nopony has been hurt, but I hear Princess Cadance and Shining Armor have come down from the Crystal Empire to lend their assistance."

"Nothing major, hmm?" Iron Will said. "Then why are there so many guards here in Ponyville?" He didn't wait for an answer. As he made his way to Lyra's shop, a plan came to mind. A crazy plan. A foolish plan, but a plan nonetheless.

"Welcome to Lyra's Ultimate— oh hey, Iron Will. Have you changed your mind about purchasing that blacksmith's hammer?" Lyra cantered over to the display and retrieved the hammer. "It certainly suits you. Here, take a few practice swings!"

Iron Will sighed through his nostrils and shook his head. "No, Iron Will has not come for the hammer."

A brief flash of annoyance passed over Lyra's face. "Well," she said, "okay then, but don't blame me if you come back for it later and it's already been sold! You can't just sit on these kinds of things forever." She returned the hammer to its display and smiled, the lost sale apparently forgotten. "So what brings you in today?"

"News" the minotaur replied.

"What kind of news," Bon Bon asked. She came around the counter and sat next to Lyra.

Iron Will picked up a fresh potato and briefly pretended to examine it before returning it to its display case. "Word on the street is that Canterlot could really use help clearing out some monsters from around the area. The kind of help that the Adventurer's Guild might be able to offer."

Lyra's ears perked up for a moment, then drooped back down. "That would be great news — if Rainbow Dash were around. Sadly, the only reliable member of the Guild that we know of is Scootaloo, and she's definitely not ready to handle monsters. I doubt she could even handle a slime!"

"We couldn't even handle a slime," Bon Bon muttered.

"Right. The little flying pony can't handle monsters," Iron Will said.

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?"

The popping sound of Iron Will's knuckles cracking made Bon Bon jump slightly. Iron Will grinned. "Iron Will can handle monsters."

"But, you're not part of the—" Bon Bon began, then blinked and looked up excitedly. "Wait, you're not saying..." She looked at Lyra, who was beaming and hopping up and down.

"That's right, little ponies," Iron Will said. "Iron Will has decided to re-join the Adventurer's Guild."

Chapter 22 - Plans

Lyra and Bon Bon listened with rapt attention as Iron Will unveiled his plan. With random monster attacks taking place outside of Canterlot, it meant there would be more contracts for the Adventurer's Guild to clear away the pests. Furthermore, the Royal Guards arriving in Ponyville meant that there was an opportunity to provide said guards with any supplies they might require while they were there. Lastly, though nopony would admit it, the guards' presence in town meant that the monster problem had probably grown beyond just Canterlot, so there was further opportunity for the Guild to act as protection for anypony who needed to travel along any dangerous routes.

Lyra was already mentally calculating the potential profits. Assuming that the Royal Guards' presence meant that there were more than just 'a few' monsters to deal with, and also assuming the guards didn't oppose a bit of outside help, the additional earnings she could bring in would be more than enough to cover the week's debt payment. With some hard work and a little luck, it was likely that they could get a head start on the following payment as well — something they would definitely need if it were to once again be quadruple the previous week's payment.

"This sounds really great and all," Bon Bon chimed in, "but there's one problem." She indicated the whole room with a hoof. "How are we going to do all that with only the three of us? Four if you count Scootaloo."

Lyra's ears drooped. Bon Bon was right. There was no way they could run the shop, take on contracts, and act as bodyguards with just the four of them. Not without performing very poorly at one, or even all, of the jobs in question. The shop couldn't exactly run itself, so somepony would need to stay back and keep things moving along. She was also pretty sure that Bon Bon and herself still weren't cut out to go collecting contracts on their own. Not if the Squishies of the world had anything to say about it. They couldn't really rely on Scootaloo to handle monsters alone at her age, so that meant Iron Will would have to deal with them, instead. But if he did that, then there would be nopony to take on protection jobs... unless Lyra herself took those jobs. She could cast a protective shield, but not very well, and leaving Bon Bon alone to run the shop might be okay, but if something went wrong—

"Iron Will has thought about that and has a solution," the minotaur revealed. Before anypony could say anything, he walked to the door and opened it to reveal a yellow pegasus with a fiery orange mane waiting outside. She lifted her dark purple aviator glasses up with a wing and fixed her orange eyes on Lyra.

"So you're the boss, huh?" she said casually. She stepped into the shop, taking it all in as she walked. "I've gotta admit, I wasn't expecting much. Then again, Rainbow Dash did say you've got, and I quote, "freakishly good business skills", so I suppose I should give credit where it's due." She stopped in front of Lyra and extended a hoof. "Spitfire at your service, ma'am. Now who needs protecting?"

As it turned out, Iron Will was a lot more intelligent than many might think. Minotaurs were notoriously single-minded when it came to... well, anything, and would often approach a problem with the most direct solution that could possibly come to mind. The results would often be disastrous, but Iron Will was smart enough to know when, and when not, to use the simplest solution.

In this case, he did take the direct approach. During his time with the Adventurer's Guild, the rainbow pony – Rainbow Dash, he thought her name was – would often talk about the Wonderbolts. Apparently this group of pegasus ponies acted as some kind of air force and would often come to the aid of ponies in need. So when the idea of providing protection for travelling ponies came to mind, it only made sense to ask somepony who already regularly provided such a service for free.

And as luck would have it, Spitfire – the leader of the Wonderbolts – just happened to be enjoying a drink at the Adventurer's Guild when Iron Will went there to retrieve his membership badge. Sure, Spitfire had been wary of him when he approached her, but then it turned out that Rainbow Dash had already told her all about how Lyra had come from out of nowhere and hired the entire guild — who Rainbow continuously reminded everypony she was a member of — to help bring in massive amounts of bits, and she had listened attentively. While she ordinarily would be busy training new recruits at the Wonderbolt Academy or off performing some show, Iron Will had actually caught her during a rare vacation in which she had left her second-in-command, Soarin, in charge. With a few weeks of free time available to her, she had nothing better to do, so why not help out?

With Spitfire agreeing to assist ponies who needed to travel, Lyra and Bon Bon felt that the two of them should focus their efforts on running the shop, as even with assistance they would still have a hard time making the week's payment if anything were to unexpectedly go wrong. They also still had to deal with Filthy Trix's attempts to undermine everything they did, as just that morning they had heard that the Wealthy and Corporate Trixie had slashed prices in an effort to clear her abundance of stock. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was to continue taking on minor contracts for the guild to help gain confidence and experience, as well as to provide a few extra bits. At this stage, every little bit would help.

That left the monsters. Ordinarily, Iron Will would be focused entirely upon them, as they were his problem to deal with. His thoughts, however, were on his decision to assist Lyra directly.

Though it was hard to admit it, he had initially been embarrassed to be associated with her. She was a pony, after all, and though there were ponies who worked at Can't Run, Can't Hide, he didn't have to work directly with them. Lyra was different than most ponies, though. She was small, frail, and weak like most ponies, sure. But she was also uncommonly clever, and absolutely ruthless when it came to earning a bit. She was the kind of pony who could be backed into a corner with nowhere to run and still manage to come out on top somehow... and she'd be smiling the entire time.

That was the kind of pony Iron Will could stand beside.

But no, it wasn't just her business sense that he admired. This was a pony who he had sought out with the sole purpose of... well, ruining her life, admittedly. She could have fled town. Should have, really. But she hadn't. She'd taken the challenge head-on and then had done the strangest thing of all: she had called him a friend. Stranger still, he was certain that she had actually meant it.

As he made his way to the Friendship Express on his way to Canterlot, Iron Will smiled as he realized something else. Something that might not seem that significant to anypony else, but it was a big deal for him:

He no longer had any trouble remembering Lyra's name.

Chapter 23 - Trust

"What's going on?" Scootaloo asked as she approached Bon Bon. She had just finished a small contract for the guild and was reporting in with the results, but the look on Bon Bon's face had piqued her interest.

A small bead of sweat ran down Bon Bon's brow as she stared intently ahead at Lyra, who was currently with a customer.

"She's negotiating a massive multi-sale," Bon Bon whispered.

Scootaloo glanced over at Lyra. "Oh, okay," she said. She looked back up at Bon Bon. "What's a multi-sale?"

Bon Bon looked down at Scootaloo, but didn't otherwise move a muscle. "It's any sale that involves more than one item. It's a natural way to increase bits per transaction, thereby increasing profit margins, but in this case the customer isn't entirely certain that they want to buy everything they need in one go. Lyra's going to convince him otherwise."

Scootaloo blinked, looked back at Lyra, then scratched her head with a hoof. "I'm not sure I understood all of that," she admitted. She decided to sit and watch with Bon Bon. While the intricacies of retail sales may have eluded her, she was wise enough to understand that if Lyra was successful in whatever she was doing, it would probably mean a lot of bits. That was good enough for her. She listened to what Lyra was saying.

"So with the pitted pot and accompanying pot stand, plus the I Love Cooking book, it only makes sense to grab some secret mix and the blue teacup to complete everything you need to make and enjoy top-quality tea every morning. Otherwise you'll have to wait to make full use of your purchase, and who wants to do that?"

The customer, a young adult earth pony with a peach-colored mane and blue spectacles, sized up the items and seemed to make a quick mental calculation.

"I still don't know," he said. "I mean, I'd love to get it all now, but I still need to pick myself up a scarf and some toys for the little ones, and I just don't think I have enough to get everything."

Though unnoticed by everypony else, Scootaloo saw Lyra's eyes narrow ever-so-slightly. She had seen the same look before in Rainbow Dash's eyes just before she attempted a new aerial trick.

"You can take it all now," Lyra said firmly. Bon Bon let out a low gasp, but Scootaloo was too enthralled to notice. She leaned closer to listen. "You get the pot, pot stand, cookbook, herbal mixture, teacup, plus you pick out any scarf you want and I'll give you a fifteen percent discount on the total price, which should place this all within your budget. In addition, you may choose three toys from the bargain bin for free for the children. I'm sure we have something they each will enjoy."

"No way, she's going for it!" Bon Bon whispered. "That pot and its stand are extremely rare and are often found separately, but almost never found together, and both he and Lyra know it! If she pulls this off, we're going to rake in over a thousand bits in one sale, even with the discount!"

Scootaloo's eyes widened. She could buy all kinds of stuff with that many bits. The possibilities were endless!

"Hm, that's certainly a generous offer," the customer said. He thought it over for another moment before finally giving in. "Oh, what the hay. Ring it up!"

Once the items were paid for and the customer had left the store, Lyra hopped over to where Scootaloo was sitting with Bon Bon.

"Yayness!" she cried. "That sale is going to go a long way toward this week's payment!" She stopped hopping and scratched her mane sheepishly. "I was going to only offer a ten percent discount since I'm pretty sure he would have taken it anyway, but with three foals to feed I figured he could use the extra savings, plus it guaranteed we'd make the sale."

"Wait, so you could have charged him more, but you didn't?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well... yeah. I know we need a lot of bits, but I figured—"

"Cool!" Scootaloo interrupted. "You're awesome, Miss Heartstrings!" She ran over to the door and opened it, then turned back, eyes wide with wonder. "I'm gonna go take on another contract for the guild. There's no way I'm gonna let you lose your shop. I guarantee we'll succeed!"

With that, Scootaloo bolted out the door, leaving Lyra and Bon Bon to stare after her in bewilderment.

The trip to Canterlot was rather uneventful for Iron Will. He had been hoping to see signs of monsters along the route there, but if there had been any near the railroad tracks, they were already cleared away by the time the Friendship Express arrived.

Under normal circumstances it might have been quite difficult for a minotaur to gain an audience with the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, but it turns out that Lyra was friends with somepony who was related to him and had managed to pull some strings. The captain, a white unicorn stallion with a wavy blue mane, was already waiting for Iron Will when he arrived at the Royal Palace.

"Welcome to Canterlot. My name is Shining Armor," he said. He then turned to the guards who had accompanied him. "I will meet with our guest in my office. Make certain that we are not disturbed."

The guards saluted an acknowledgement and escorted Iron Will and the captain to his office, then took up posts on either side of the door. The captain led Iron Will into his office and shut the door behind him.

Though small, the room Iron Will found himself in was a testament to efficiency. A desk, a few chairs, and a bookcase full of military and history books were the only furnishings. A large map of Equestria covered nearly the entire far wall, and a single high window let in some light. The captain made to offer a chair, then seemed to realize it was far too small for Iron Will and simply took a seat himself.

"So, let's get right to business," the unicorn said. Iron Will noted that a small placard on the desk indicated that his name was Shining Armor. That's right, the unicorn had already stated his name. Iron Will hadn't been paying attention.

"I hear word that the Adventurer's Guild is looking to offer some assistance to the Royal Guard with handling our little problem." He shook his head slightly. "I won't ask how you know about the monsters. What I do want to know is what, exactly, Flim and Flam have to gain by sending guild members on a mission that, for one, hasn't even been contracted; two, could prove to be incredibly dangerous; and three, is already being handled by the Royal Guard."

Iron Will crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow. "If the pony guards could handle the problem, there wouldn't be monsters just outside of Ponyville."

Shining Armor's training was too thorough to allow him to flinch, but Iron Will could see the expression in the captain's eyes alter ever-so-slightly, and knew that he was on to something.

"There have been no public reports of any such thing in Ponyville!"

Iron Will leaned forward. "Because the pony guards are the only ones who have spotted any, and pony guards don't make public reports."

Shining Armor snorted and changed the subject. "Even if monsters could, theoretically, reach Ponyville, you still haven't answered my question. What does the guild have to gain? We know the details of every contract put out for them, and there certainly isn't one concerning this. Additionally, I doubt I need to explain the difference in training between an adventurer-for-hire and a member of the Royal Guard. This task is dangerous enough for my soldiers. What makes you think any of the guild members could be of any use?" He raised a hoof up at Iron Will's low grumble. "Look, I don't mean to imply that the guild is useless. I know for certain that it serves many purposes, but I also know Flim and Flam, and the last thing I need is for them to start sending adventurers on some crazy monster hunt only for them all to injure themselves. Maybe even severely."

The room was silent as Iron Will pondered the captain's words. This pony was tasked with defending those who couldn't otherwise defend themselves, so it was only natural that he should be concerned with anything that could be considered dangerous. Then again, if the pony didn't have that magical horn of his, Iron Will was certain that he was far more qualified to smash monsters than the captain was. That wasn't the point, however. He decided to just be direct.

"The guild wants the Royal Guard to issue a contract," he said simply. Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, but Iron Will continued. "What's in it for the guild? Bits, of course. Glory too, perhaps, if some want to see it that way. What the guild gains is of no consequence. What you have to gain is a chance to get the situation under control before it does go public. Because if that happens—" Iron Will's eyes grew fierce "—the guild will get its contracts from them instead of you."

Shining Armor looked down at his desk for a moment, clearly frustrated. He looked back up and caught Iron Will's eye. "So what do you get out of this?" he asked. "Are you just in it for the bits?"

Iron Will made to answer and was prepared to say 'nothing,' but stopped himself and thought – really thought – about the answer before he spoke.

"Iron Will does this because if he doesn't..." he trailed off, but was determined to be truthful. "Iron Will must do this, or else he does not deserve a friend like Lyra Heartstrings."

Whatever answer Shining Armor had been expecting, it clearly wasn't what had just come out of Iron Will's mouth. It was obvious that Iron Will had some explaining to do, so he told the tale of how he had first met Lyra as an agent of Can't Run, Can't Hide, and how he had seen her grow more and more determined to succeed in the face of almost certain failure. He spoke of how Lyra had hired the entire Adventurer's Guild, and how he had decided to re-join as a member in order to directly support her.

When he had finished, Shining Armor stared at him. Just before things began to get uncomfortable, the captain grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"So my sister's old playmate is running the guild now, huh?" Iron Will guessed this was a rhetorical question and didn't answer. "I have to say, I never saw that coming." He looked at Iron Will and leaned forward again. "Listen, I can see that you're passionate about this, and I trust that you're doing it for the right reasons." He chuckled. "I'm also certain my sis would be pretty upset if I were to refuse to help her friend out. But—" he crossed his forehooves "—this puts me in a bit of a bind. Tell you what. I'll speak with my sister and get some strings pulled so we can get an off-the-records contract made up. But only on two conditions."

"What're those?"

"One, this," he said as he opened one of his desk drawers, withdrew something, and placed it onto the desk, "stays between us. Two, I'm coming with you," he finished.

Iron Will stared wide-eyed at the object on the desk. The card had Shining Armor's name on it, and he would have recognized its design anywhere.

The pony captain was also a member of the Adventurer's Guild!

Chapter 24 - Bonds

Flim was busy polishing an already-gleaming counter top when the entrance door swung open and a small, cloaked figure entered the guild hall. It shrugged off its saddlebags and placed them onto a table, their contents clinking as they settled onto the wooden surface. The figure then trotted over to Flim, ruffled through some hidden pockets within its cloak and, finding what it was looking for, withdrew several contracts and set them on the counter before him.

The sight of the figure disturbed Flim. A few days ago, he wouldn't have expected to see such a sight, but over the past few days it was becoming a regular occurrence. He levitated the contracts with his magic, gave them a cursory glance, and set them aside. He then leaned over the counter and pushed back the figure's hood to reveal a messy purplish-pink mane that tumbled down into the filly's eyes. He brushed the hair aside to reveal a fresh cut over Scootaloo's left eye.

"You're bleeding again," Flim stated.

"It's nothing. I'm here for another contract."

And so it had been, ever since a few days previous when the young filly had entered the guild hall with a kind of renewed determination, not to mention some proper armor, and demanded to be given a contract. Flim knew, of course, of her first successful mission. She had gained a confidence boost then for certain, but this had been different.

It had been amusing then. Now... not so much.

"Another successful contract?" Flam appeared from the back room to stand beside his brother. His eyebrows raised slightly. "You're becoming quite the adventurer!"

"Three contracts," Scootaloo corrected. "Plus another slime I saw on the way here. There wasn't a contract on it but—" she motioned toward her saddlebags "—it had some more stuff in it for Lyra to sell."

Flim looked at his brother and saw that he had just noticed the filly's injuries. He waited until he met his brother's gaze and, despite neither of them saying a thing, he knew that they'd just come to an agreement. He placed his front hooves on the counter, leaned forward, and smiled.

"I do believe you've successfully completed the last of the small contracts."

"I'm afraid there are none left to be given," Flam chipped in.

Scootaloo frowned. She walked over to the board where contracts were posted and, much to Flim's horror, pulled down one of the more recent additions. She then walked purposefully back to the brothers and placed it on the counter.

"I'll take this one, then," she said, simply.

Flim met his brother's gaze again briefly. "Well, you see, this particular contract is rather, um..."

"Ms. Heartstrings is unaware of the details pertaining to this contract, it having just arrived this morning, and—" Flam tried to assist, but was cut off by a small hoof slamming onto the counter.

"Does this mean anything to you?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes unblinking. She removed her hoof to reveal her Adventurer's Guild membership card. Her voice cracked slightly with her next words. "Am I a part of this guild?"

Flim's ears laid back, and he caught himself staring at the ground. He forced himself to meet the young adventurer's gaze.

"Of course you are," he said. He put on a smile. "It's a rather large contract. Care for some assistance?"

Large was an understatement. Somehow Lyra had managed to attract the attention, and bits, of the Royal Canterlot Guard. How the crazy mare had managed that was beyond Flim's wildest imaginings, but it had been made clear that the client was to remain anonymous. Brave little Scootaloo, then, would have no clue who she was working for, or just how dangerous the mission was. Flim had a very clear idea of how dangerous things might get, and allowing the filly to try to go it alone was absolutely ludicrous from every imaginable angle. Not to mention unprofitable.

Scootaloo snatched the contract, stuffed it into her cloak, and walked away. She retrieved her saddlebags, walked toward the exit and looked back over her shoulder. "I'll be fine," she said with confidence. "I need to drop this loot off at the Emporium, and then I'll set off. Ms. Heartstrings is not going to lose her home!" With that she opened the door and disappeared.

Flim allowed her a good ten minute head start before nodding to his brother and following after her.

The slime shimmered softly in the sun's fading light as dusk fell upon the land. A moment later it exploded from the force of a giant iron war hammer crushing it against the ground.

"Oh yeah! That swing was totally epic. Come on, partner. Hit the hoof."

Iron Will looked at Shining Armor's extended hoof, ignored it, and met the pony captain's eyes with a glare. He then proceeded to slowly clean his war hammer, his eyes unblinking.

Shining Armor sighed. "Come on, Iron Will. Do you know how often I get to just let loose and, you know, actually enjoy saving Equestria? It's always 'regulations this,' or 'you can't do that.' Please don't take this from me."

Iron Will stared a moment longer. Then, with a roll of his eyes, he reached his fist out and bumped the pony's hoof. Shining Armor grinned.

"Now that's what I'm talking about. With the two of us on the job we'll have these monsters cleared out in no time." He aimed his spear at another slime. "Then there won't be any more monster sightings, and no more questions about monster sightings–" he used his magic to thrust the spear into the slime "–and no more meetings with royalty in the middle of the night in regards to monster sightings." He lifted the spear and the slime dropped off, unaffected. A moment later he raised a hoof to protect himself as the slime exploded from the impact of Iron Will's hammer.

He held out his spear to Iron Will and raised an eyebrow. "Want to switch?"

The minotaur folded his arms across his massive chest and frowned down at Shining Armor. A moment later, he allowed a sly grin and accepted the trade. It was like the pony captain said. If they were going to crush monsters together, he might as well add a bit of challenge to it and enjoy himself.

The two partners fought well into the night, and enjoyed every moment of it.

Elsewhere, Scootaloo was also enjoying herself. She had already successfully taken out three more slimes, two of which had more loot for Lyra. It was easy, once you knew how to approach them. Besides, they weren't actually alive, so there wasn't any kind of intelligence that she had to contend with. Just wait for the right moment, then strike!

You can do this, Scootaloo thought. You are a useful member of the guild!

The sound of leaves rustling behind her pulled her from her thoughts. She grinned. If she kept defeating slimes at this rate, she would be able to pay off the improved armor she had borrowed from the Emporium. Then maybe she could upgrade to a better weapon than the old blacksmith's hammer that Lyra had convinced her to use. Yeah, so maybe Lyra had mentioned something about fillies not really being meant to wield actual weapons. That might be true for most young ponies, but surely a full-fledged member of the Adventurer's Guild would be expected to wield something a bit more appropriate.

She turned around to face the slime, her thoughts on whether she should switch to a bladed weapon, or stick with the crushing-type she was currently using. At the sound of the low, rumbling growl, she froze.

The blacksmith's hammer dropped from her mouth to the ground.

The fading sunlight made it difficult to see, but there was no mistaking it once its head appeared from within the bushes. It only took a moment for the timber wolf to crouch, its wooden limbs crackling slightly, before it pounced with a roar.

Scootaloo didn't even have time to scream before the wind was knocked out of her. The impact of the timber wolf's claws lifted her off of her hooves and sent her flying backwards, where she landed hard on her back. Her mind raced as she struggled to come to grips with what was happening. She couldn't breathe. Her face was bleeding, of that she was certain. By some miracle, she'd managed to land in such a way that didn't break her wings. That was a positive, at least. She was also still alive. Definitely a positive. She lifted her head to get a bearing on where she was.

The timber wolf was distracted by the fallen hammer. Good. She was lying in the middle of a clearing with no decent spots to run to or hide. Bad. Her hammer was too far away to be of any use. Double bad. She also hadn't told anypony where she was going, tonight. Okay, so things were extremely bad. She looked back at the wolf as it sniffed the hammer one last time, then looked her way. Well, then. Time to be a hero, or die trying.

Please be a hero.

She pushed herself back up onto her hooves. The timber wolf growled once more, then took a step towards her. It was now or never. With a bestial cry that she was frankly shocked that she was able to utter, Scootaloo rushed the wolf. She could use her wings to assist in a last-second dodge, grab the hammer, and use her momentum to gallop full-speed ahead. The wolf's wooden legs would make it difficult for it to turn around quickly, and would give her a good head start. From there, it was down to luck.

Before Scootaloo could put her plan into action, she caught a flash out of the corner of her eyes. A moment later the timber wolf exploded into branches and twigs as a pegasus collided at-speed with it. The pegasus's momentum caused it to slide through the dirt before it spun to a full halt. It then stood up, trotted over to Scootaloo, looked her up and down, then grinned.

"Wow, not bad, kid. You were gonna use your wings to accelerate a dodge to the left, right? That was gutsy. Probably would have worked, too. Didn't want to have to explain myself to Lyra if it hadn't though."

Scootaloo blinked as the realization of what had just occurred kicked in. The yellow coat, the orange mane and eyes. The Wonderbolts uniform. Her eyes began to glisten with excitement.

Spitfire rolled her eyes and smiled even wider. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Lucky I was scouting the area for ponies in trouble. The monster attacks have grown worse lately, and it's not just slimes. As you've seen now first-hoof."

Scootaloo continued to stare.

Shifting her legs, Spitfire said, "Alright look, kid. I like your style. How about you and I get out of here and, I don't know, maybe I could show you a few things. What do you say, want to be trained by one of the best?" At Scootaloo's continued starry-eyed gaze she said, "I'll take that as a yes. Come on kid, let's get out of here."

As Spitfire took Scootaloo under her wing, she looked out into the forest. A moment later, she nodded almost imperceptibly.

As he hid among the bushes and shrubs, Flim nodded back at Spitfire. Once he was certain she and Scootaloo were gone, he crept out of the woods and approached the body of the timber wolf, his own magic holding it back from piecing itself back together.

His brow furrowed. Timber wolves most certainly shouldn't be roaming around in this part of the woods. Something was wrong.

Flam would need to hear about this.

Chapter 25 - Trix

The next morning was, for most of the ponies in Ponyville, a quiet and pleasant one. The term 'most' in this case refers to any pony who was not working or shopping at the main competitor of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium: Filthy Trix. For those unfortunate ponies, the morning was anything but pleasant and, thanks to one Trixie Lulamoon, was destined to be anything but quiet.

Trixie eyed a customer from her position at the checkout counter. The customer, a tall, thin mare with a curly blonde mane, picked up a turnip. She gave it a squeeze, then put it back and picked up another one. She had been doing this for the past five minutes. Why did she always get stuck with the obnoxious ones?

With a roll of her eyes, Trixie stepped out from behind the counter and approached the mare.

"Can Trixie help you?" she drawled.

The customer frowned slightly and didn't bother to look at Trixie. "Just looking," was her curt reply.

Trixie's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? Are you looking for turnips, perhaps?" she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Because you found them five minutes ago!" she cried, all false courtesies abandoned.

The mare dropped the turnip she had been examining and rounded on Trixie. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I wasting your precious time? Because I wouldn't have to if half of these turnips weren't rotten!"

And thus, the war began.

"That's strange, they weren't rotten when you came in." Trixie held a hoof up to her chin in mock thought. "Maybe they're rotten because you've been staring at them for an eternity! How hard is to to buy a turnip, anyway?"

"Oh I don't know, about as difficult as it is for you to sell one. Which is very!"

"Have you ever tried buying one, or is turnip-staring the only thing that bored housemares such as yourself have left for fun?"

The mare's eyes widened. "Where is your manager? I'd like to offer some feedback."

Trixie grinned maniacally. "Trixie is the manager! You want to leave some feedback? Right this way." She nudged the mare's bottom with her head, pushing her all the way down the aisle until she was out the front door. "Don't have a lovely day!" she sung as she turned around and kicked the door shut.

At that point, it finally became quiet for the ponies in Filthy Trix. It did not, however, become pleasant. Things weren't going well for the shop, and Trixie had an idea that Lyra Heartstrings was to blame. How did that silly unicorn manage to gather so many loyal customers? She would need to find out.

"You there," Trixie said, spying Diamond Tiara just as she was coming out of the back room. "Gather up all the rotten fruits and vegetables and take out the rubbish." The filly made to speak, but Trixie interrupted her. "When you've finished that, the entire shop needs cleaning. There are buckets and rags in the storage room. Oh, and you'll need to deal with customers, too. I'm going on an extended break."

With that, Trixie opened the door and disappeared out the shop, leaving Diamond Tiara to brood by herself.

"Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely day!"

"You too, Lyra!" Minuette, a light blue unicorn with a blue and white mane, said as she gathered her purchases. "Ever since you opened this shop up it's even more worthwhile to come down to visit one of my best friends!" She gave an enthusiastic wave of her hoof, then exited the shop.

Lyra's smile was wide. Despite the fact that tomorrow's deadline for her debt payment was fast approaching, the shop was doing well enough that it would only really take one more decent contract to bring her to within paying it off. With Iron Will apparently off on some kind of contract already, that likely meant that any profits from today and tomorrow would go towards providing a good buffer for the third week's payment.

Bon Bon came out of the back room with new stock to replenish what had already sold. Once she'd set up the displays, she walked over to Lyra and gave her a hoof bump.

"Not a bad morning, huh?" Bon Bon said. "At this rate we might even need to close up early so we can prepare tomorrow's inventory. Maybe if we have enough time, we can prepare for the weekend as well. Can't hurt to plan early. Hey, want me to take out the rubbish? It's a bit full."

Lyra laughed and shook her head. "No, it's okay. I can't have you doing all the menial tasks for me! I have to do my part, too!"

She watched Bon Bon head over to greet another group of customers, then turned her attention to one of the rubbish bins.

"Okay, rubbish. You're too gross to sell to anypony. Not even in the bargain bin, so out you go!"

She used her magic to take the bag out from the bin and tie it up, then hummed as she took it out the front door towards the outdoor bins. A moment later, her task was complete. She took a moment to appreciate the cool breeze on her face.

It was at that point that she noticed one of the spare apple barrels she kept outside had moved.

Lyra's eyes lit up with excitement. Could there be a cute cat or dog in the barrel? Maybe some stray unicorn magic had made her apples come to life. Those would probably be worth at least twice what a normal apple would sell for! She grinned as she pulled the lid off the barrel.

"Oh, hi Trixie! What are you doing in there for?" She blinked and looked around excitedly. "Are you playing Hide and Seek? Is anypony else playing, or did I just win?"

Trixie nearly tumbled to the ground as she climbed out of the barrel. "Trixie was not hiding! She was... she—" she blinked and shook her head "—you know what, Trixie doesn't have to explain what she was doing."

Lyra was busy studying the position of the barrel to pay Trixie any mind. "Oh, I get it! You were spying on us from out here by the window!" She hopped into the barrel and then took a peek into the shop. "Wow, you had an excellent view out here. And the apples smell so nice. So did you learn what you wanted to know, or would you like me to tell you?"

Trixie sputtered. "S-s-spying!?" She adjusted her cape and took a moment to compose herself. "Trixie doesn't know what you're talking about." With that, she spun around and hastily ran back towards Filthy Trix.

Lyra waved at the retreating unicorn. "Make sure to do your best! I know you'll do great!"

An unwelcome sight was awaiting Trixie when she returned to the shop.

"And what is this, then?"

Things had been bad for Trixie, but she hadn't known until then just how much worse they could get. Standing in the middle of the shop was the matron of the Rich family, Spoiled Rich. Trixie's ears lowered at the sight.

"My daughter made to do the work of a lowly peasant! Is this what you and my husband had planned when we agreed to let our little Diamond gain some work experience here?"

Trixie's eyes darted over to Diamond Tiara, who was covered in what she could only assume was rotted turnip juice, among other things. The filly looked miserable, her eyes downcast, and looked as if she were being scolded right along with Trixie. Spoiled continued.

"Customer loyalty is down," she said, moving to pace a circle around Trixie. "Confidence is down. Productivity... down. Profits..." she paused just long enough to meet Trixie's gaze. "Down!" she shouted, causing Trixie to flinch.

"My loving husband, bless his heart, still seems to have faith that you can make this work. I, on the other hoof, never had any in the first place." She indicated Diamond with a hoof. "See to it that my daughter is given work appropriate for her stature, and get this shop to turn a profit." She beckoned Diamond to follow her to the exit, then turned around and added, "Or I'll fire you myself!"

As she followed her mother out of the shop, Diamond Tiara couldn't help but to allow a wicked grin to spread across her face. She'd be free soon. She was going to make sure of it.

Chapter 26 - Payback

Lyra had only just opened up shop the next morning when Iron Will returned from his contract. She set down the brass plate she had been polishing and greeted him with a smile.

"Oh hey, Iron Will! Welcome to the shop. I'm sorry I can no longer offer you that blacksmith's hammer. Somepony else bought it. But hey, I guess that's the chance you take when you spend too much time thinking over a purchase instead of just outright buying it!"

Iron Will nodded absently and withdrew a coin purse, which he then gave to Lyra.

"You do know that you don't have to give us your contract earnings, right?" Bon Bon said as she finished putting change in the register. "Not that we're complaining, of course. It's been an enormous help." She looked at him and did a double take. She raised her eyebrows. "Uh, long night?"

"Several," the minotaur replied. He looked down at the various scratches on his arms and legs, and the stains in his clothing. "Nothing Iron Will couldn't handle," he said firmly. He busied himself with examining some of the latest items to go on sale. He seemed to be relaxed, but everypony in the room knew the other reason for his visit.

It was collection time.

Lyra was busy counting the contract payment when a group customers came into the store, so Bon Bon hurried over to serve them. By the time Lyra finished, she had counted the payment three times. A small frown was on her face.

Iron Will said, "Is there—ahem, Iron Will means to say... this week's payment—"

"There's enough," Lyra replied, and Iron Will's muscles immediately relaxed. She frowned again, however. "I can make the payment, but just barely." She shook her head. "I overestimated how much we would bring in these past few days. I had planned to have a nice buffer of several thousand bits for next week's payment but..." She trailed off, clearly upset at her miscalculations.

"How much extra do you have? If you don't mind Iron Will asking, that is."

Lyra stared at the floor. "Less than a hundred bits. I-I don't even know where I went wrong. Business has been as great as we expected. The contract money has helped immeasurably. I mean, I ate a few extra hayburgers the other day, but that shouldn't—"

Lyra was cut off by Iron Will's hand covering her muzzle. She looked down at it, slightly cross-eyed, before Iron Will removed his hand.

"Sorry. You made this week's payment," was all he said.

Lyra blinked up at Iron Will. A moment later, her smile returned.

"You know what? You're right. We did make this week's payment." The old, familiar look of determination returned to her face. "I did it last week, I've done it this week, and by Celestia, I'll do it for—" she looked thoughtful "—um, how many more payments do I need to make, actually? I can not believe I never asked that before."

Iron Will grinned. "One."

Surprises can be wonderful things. Under the right circumstances, they can bring even the most crestfallen of ponies to smile. And as it would happen, these were the right circumstances for Lyra Hearstrings.

Lyra's jaw dropped. "One!? I... I thought it would be at least two more. You know, like a 'you've got a month to pay this off' kind of thing. Really it would make more sense that way. Kind of a missed opportunity there, but you get what I—"

Her words were cut off by an enormous crash, followed by a shriek and several astonished gasps.

And so it must be pointed out that not every surprise is wonderful. Truth be told, many surprises can be outright awful. The sort of thing that can bring the even the most jovial of ponies to tears. Naturally, it should go without saying that this new surprise was one of those kind.

Lyra looked toward the commotion and her eyes grew wide.

"Oh no..." she whispered.

Lyra nudged onlookers out of the way with her head as she made her way towards a fallen display case. Merchandise that had been displayed upon it now lay broken and scattered across the floor. It was what was trapped underneath the case that bothered her the most.

Lying with her hind legs pinned under the fallen display case, tears streaming from her face, was Diamond Tiara. Lyra was by her side in a heartbeat.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" She looked around and quickly assessed the situation. "I need to get this off of you. Are you okay with me doing that?"

A weak nod.

Lyra moved into position and, after a moment's hesitation, Bon Bon came over to assist. Together they very carefully moved the display off the young pony's legs and set it aside. Lyra swept away broken glass with her hoof and asked Bon Bon to help keep the other customers clear. Bon Bon made to say something, but Lyra's attention was back on Diamond Tiara, so she remained silent and did as she was asked.

"How did this happen?" Lyra asked. Her mind was racing with ideas on how such a thing could have occurred. None of the displays had ever shifted or seemed unstable before, so she was at a complete loss.

Diamond caught her breath between sniffles and said, "I-I don't know. I... I admit I was here looking for items my father's shop doesn't carry and... I heard a noise, and before I could move..." her eyes then welled up with more tears and she became silent.

At that moment, the front door opened and a small, cloaked figure entered the shop. It only took a second for Scootaloo to take in what was going on before she rushed over to Lyra's side.

"D-Diamond?" she asked, her voice strained. "Oh my gosh, are you okay!?"

Diamond looked up, confusion showing on her face.

"S-scootaloo? Why would... you care that I-I'm hurt?"

Scootaloo blinked. "Of course I care! We might not see eye-to-eye, but I'd never want to see anypony hurt like this."

Lyra interjected. "Are you okay to stand up? It's okay if you can't. I'll get somepony to inform your father, and—"

"No!" Diamond shouted. Her ears laid back at the surprised looks on everypony's faces. "I-I don't want my father to know. He's... disappointed in me enough as it is. I... I'll be okay. I really don't want to cause any trouble." She took a moment to wipe a few tears away. "If... if there was a way to settle this without involving anypony else... I'd be okay with that if you were?"

At that moment Bon Bon appeared by Lyra's side. "Lyra, if I could borrow you for just a second." It was apparent by the look on her face that she considered it urgent, by Lyra held up a hoof.

"Okay," Lyra said. "If you don't want your father to know, I can keep it between us, though there were other customers in the store who might tell him anyway."

Diamond allowed a small smile. "It's okay. Father will believe you. He... respects you."

Lyra blinked with surprise, but quickly recovered. Diamond held out a hoof, which Lyra grasped and then helped the filly to stand up. Though her legs were a bit shaky, and she was bleeding from a small cut where the glass had gotten her, Diamond seemed no worse for wear. Lyra was surprised again when Diamond gave her a hug.

"So...um, what can I get for you to settle this without getting anypony else involved?" Lyra asked. "I still think your parents should know, but I'm happy to respect your wishes."

Diamond sat down and put a hoof to her mouth. "Well, I don't want to be a burden on anypony. I'm so sorry to cause any trouble..."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all! I'm just glad you're alright. And really, it's no problem."

A pause.

"I don't know... is a hundred bits too much to ask?"

"Lyra!" Bon Bon wasn't taking no for an answer this time. She lowered her head and nudged Lyra's bottom, pushing her until she was out of earshot of Diamond Tiara. A moment later, Scootaloo and Iron Will had joined them.

"This is why I've been trying to get your attention!" Bon Bon whispered. She glanced over at Diamond, gave an apologetic smile, then turned back to Lyra. "Lyra... I saw everything. That little brat was eavesdropping on your conversation with Iron Will. I didn't know what she was up to until just now. Lyra... she kicked that display over and onto herself on purpose! That's why she wants a hundred bits. She knows we won't be able to afford this week's payment without it!" She frowned and kicked at the floor. "Unfortunately I'm the only one who saw her do it. And I'm not about to call her out in front of customers. We'd look bad regardless of whether we're in the right or not!"

Lyra's and Scootaloo's eyes both widened simultaneously at this revelation, though Iron Will's narrowed dangerously. Lyra's mind went into action, trying to work out a solution.

Scootaloo, on the other hoof, sat down and stared at Diamond Tiara. Her face didn't show anger. It didn't show contempt. It showed concern.

"She's desperate," she whispered.

Bon Bon glanced towards Scootaloo. "I think you used the wrong word. 'Evil.' That's the word you're looking for, kid."

But Scootaloo wasn't backing down. "No. She's not evil. Not even I think that." She nodded towards the filly, careful not to look too obvious. "Look at her. She's bruised. Bleeding. And look there," she motioned again. "She's limping. Diamond really hurt herself more than she's letting on. That's not evil. That's desperation. There's more to this than just trying to shut this place down. That's part of it, but..."

Lyra nodded suddenly, though whether it was in response to Scootaloo, or simply to herself, nopony knew. She then walked over to Diamond. Scootaloo and Bon Bon followed, with Iron Will choosing to stay out of it.

"Deal," Lyra said.

Bon Bon made a sound, but bit her lip.

"R-really?" Diamond asked, as if uncertain. "If it's too much, I'll take less..."

"No," Lyra said. "One hundred bits is the least I can do for you. Please take it with my blessing, and I wish you a speedy recovery." She then leaned in and, before Diamond could react, gave her another hug. "I'm so sorry I can't do more for you right now."

Diamond was left speechless for a moment. She eventually recovered and, moving slowly, collected her payment and left. By then, the rest of the customers had cleared out. As the last pony exited the shop, Lyra took the 'Closed' sign and hung it on the front door early. There was a big mess to clean up, and it would be too late for any more selling once they finished.

She turned around slowly and met first Bon Bon's, then Scootaloo's, and finally Iron Will's gaze. She then sat on her haunches and sighed.

"I guess... this is it. I..." The rest of her words were cut off as tears began to roll down her face.

Bon Bon trotted over to her best friend and swooped her up in a hug. "Oh, Lyra. You did amazing! Nopony could ever deny that you were the best shopkeeper in all of Ponyville. Equestria, even! Don't you dare for a single moment think that you failed in any way."

As they parted, Lyra wiped her tears away and gave a small laugh. "Oh, Bon Bon. I wasn't crying over the shop. I was crying because I think Scootaloo is right about Diamond Tiara, and I meant what I said to her. I really do wish I could do something for her, but without a home I'll barely be able to help myself. Let alone, her!"

Bon Bon and Iron Will looked at each other, dumbfounded.

Scootaloo, however, had a different look on her face. She quickly walked over to where her saddlebags had been left and retrieved a large pouch. A moment later, she tossed it in front of Lyra where it made a large clinking noise. She spoke before anypony could react.

"Lyra Heartstrings, I knew you were awesome before, but this right here has proven to me once and for all that you're a pony I'm proud to work for. That's why I'm happy to donate all the bits I earned from this week's contracts directly to you. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I am not going to let you lose your home!"

Bon Bon opened the pouch and did a quick estimate. "Scootaloo... this is more than double what Iron Will gave us!" Iron Will raised an eyebrow, but Bon Bon continued. "How in all of Equestria did you earn so much?"

Scootaloo beamed. "There's seven hundred and sixty bits in there. But... yeah." She blushed suddenly. "I guess I did have some help from a fellow guild member..." She reached into her cloak and withdrew a card, then gave it to Lyra.

Lyra immediately recognized the pony pictured on the card. She had already hired her, after all.

"I... I get to keep my shop. And Spitfire's an official guild member?" she asked. "Yayifications!"

Chapter 27 - Clues

Rainbow Dash had a problem.

She was with her five best friends. That, in and of itself, was not the problem. She was often with her best friends for one reason or another, whether it be because Rarity had stitched them all new dresses to try out, or perhaps Fluttershy had gathered them all together for some tea with her critter friends. And sometimes they all banded together to save Equestria from the brink of absolute disaster.

This was one of those times. And yet, that also was not the problem.

"Wow, Dashie! Isn't this place amazing?" Pinkie Pie said as she swam by.

That. That right there was the problem. Or part of it, anyway. The fact that Pinkie was swimming in mid-air and not in water. The fact that Twilight Sparkle hadn't cast a flight spell on her. Sure, Pinkie had defied gravity in the past, and Rainbow was almost ready to say that she'd grown used to it by now.

Almost.

But this was on a whole other level. And it wasn't just Pinkie Pie. Trees, shrubs, and even buildings hovered in the air at odd angles like toys suspended by invisible wires. It reminded Rainbow of her run-ins with Discord, the chaotic draconequus who seemed to show disdain for gravity the way he could cause just about anything to float, fly, or both with the snap of his fingers.

Discord wasn't there, though. No living things were, save the six friends. The entire village looked abandoned, and rightfully so.

Rainbow met the gaze of Twilight Sparkle, who said, "Come on. We need to find out what happened here."

Twilight led Rainbow and her friends down the cliff they'd been on and into the valley below. Shivers ran down Rainbow's spine as the gravity shifted with each step. She caught Applejack looking her way and immediately straightened up and pushed forward. AJ would see no weaknesses from her this day. Nevermind the total creepiness of the place—Rainbow could handle it.

Maybe.

They came upon one of the homes that was still bound by gravity. One at a time, they entered the house and split up to search for clues. Rainbow opened up an old iron stove and found nothing of interest inside. She flapped her wings to gain height and started to search through the overhead cupboards when she heard Twilight call out.

"Look at this!" she said.

Rainbow and the others came over to where Twilight was standing. A moment later, Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Of course it's a book," she mumbled.

"But what kind of book is it?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight, apparently eager to share this information, given the ridiculous grin on her face, tapped the book with a hoof.

"It looks like a journal. I haven't read any of it yet, but look here." She indicated the small table the book was on. "This is what's exciting."

Rarity wrinkled her nose. "Darling, I might expect as much from Applejack, or perhaps Rainbow Dash, but since when do you get excited about dust?"

Rainbow glared at Rarity, but Twilight grinned. "That's just it, Rarity. There's a thick coat of dust on everything in here. Everything except this book. There's just a thin coat on it..."

There was a moment of silence as everypony absorbed what that meant. They didn't have to, however, because Twilight spelled it out for them.

"This means that somepony else explored this town well before we got here. And whoever did, might have left some clues in this journal!"

Elsewhere, Flim was in what he would call a bit of a pickle. He stood motionless, staring out into the depths of the Everfree Forest. It was what was immediately behind him, crouched and ready to pounce, that was the cause of his problems.

The timber wolf didn't hesitate. It leaped forward, claws extended...

...and flew right through the illusion, crashed against the large rock that had been hidden by said illusion, and splintered into a hundred pieces. A green aura immediately surrounded the scattered pieces and prevented them from reforming as Flim and Flam stepped out of the shadows to observe the results of their trickery.

"Gets them every time, dear brother of mine," Flam boasted. He took a look around the clearing. "I do believe that's the last of them."

Flim nodded. "As do I," he responded. He frowned as he looked at the dozens of defeated slimes and timber wolves. There were even a few weird giant mushrooms that had attacked them on sight, though they were no longer a danger to anypony.

This was a problem. Things had gotten even worse in the short time it took for him to warn Flam of what was happening and to return to the forest. It was beginning to get out of hoof... and there was nothing Flim and Flam liked less than not being in control of a situation.

"It seems you were right," Flam observed, as if reading Flim's mind. "But this doesn't make any sense. That concoction I discovered was only supposed to create slimes! They're harmless, strictly speaking. Nothing more than a minor nuisance. The perfect fodder for our little startup!"

"But then what, oh brother of mine, has the timber wolves all riled up?" Flim asked. "And why are there so many slimes? Dare I even ask what those were supposed to be?" He indicated the formerly-moving mushrooms.

The brothers looked at each other nervously. Things were, strictly speaking, getting out of control fast.

Back at the guild hall, the last of the secret guild members returned. The figure entered the hall, but there was nopony there. The main hall, the back rooms, everything was devoid of ponies. Flim and Flam were still out.

No matter. They could be found.

The figure bent down and sniffed the ground, then eyed a small rock that was ground into the soil.

Igneous. Granular and phaneritic texture. Feldspars and quartz present. Positive ID: granite.

There was a quick mental calculation of its dimensions, its weight, and the weight necessary to compress it into the soil to the degree it had been.

"They went this way," a monotone voice said. A moment later, the figure was on its way to the Everfree Forest.

Chapter 29 - Preparation

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 30 - The Great Retail War

The following morning began like any other in Ponyville. The sun was raised and the moon retired. Small creatures emerged from nests and burrows to add their voices to the chorus of morning. Young colts and fillies fidgeted groggily in their beds, their little minds disbelieving that it could already be time to wake up for school. And yes, as usual the ponies of Ponyville went about their morning routines knowing that, at any given time, things could get very interesting very quickly.

Bon Bon, freshly groomed and bundled up in a yellow sweater, stepped outside Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium and sat down on the small path leading to the shop. She watched her breath condense into vapor as she exhaled. With Autumn settling in, it was the first morning that could be considered chilly. That was good news. If Diamond Tiara had managed to pull off what she'd had in mind, it would mean that a large delivery of fashion goods would be arriving soon from Canterlot.

"With Rarity off on another adventure to save Equestria or some such nonsense, her shop here in Ponyville will be closed," Diamond had said the previous day. "My father knows some of the other designers in Canterlot, and their apparel will be the next most sought-after styles."

And so Diamond had run off to call in some favors. The filly had been uncharacteristically eager to help out, though whether that was so that she could enact some kind of revenge on Trixie, with whom she obviously did not get along with, or if it were a true sense of wanting to be helpful was yet to be seen.

Either way it was probably for the best that she was no longer scheming against Lyra, thought Bon Bon. Besides, if Scootaloo of all ponies was vouching for Diamond Tiara, that was good enough for her.

Across the street, a pony Bon Bon didn't recognize emerged from Filthy Trix. No... Not Filthy Trix. There was a new sign posted above the shop. Trixie's Rich's? The pony walked to the middle of the street and turned to look back at the shop. She looked at it from multiple angles, as if wanting to ensure everything looked perfect. She then turned around and met Bon Bon's gaze.

The stare-down was brief, and the unknown mare offered what looked like a heartfelt smile before turning around and going back inside the shop, but its effects lingered. Bon Bon somehow felt threatened. And what was the deal with Trixie deciding to re-brand just as Lyra was set for her grand re-opening?

Bon Bon frowned as she turned around and headed back into the shop. If Trixie wanted a showdown, that's precisely what she was going to get.

Trixie was busy putting the final touches on her new displays when Amber Glow came back into the shop.

"I do believe our competition is up to something," Amber said with a giggle. She picked up and admired one of the newest additions to the shop, a one-of-a-kind crystal necklace, and said, "Why, I might even be so bold as to suggest they're having a grand re-opening today!"

Trixie set down a chalice she'd been polishing and rushed over to the window to see for herself.

"Inconceivable!" she cried, shaking a hoof at the shop across the street. "How is it that Lyra finds a way to one-up Trixie every single time?" She walked over to the counter and flopped her head down onto it.

Amber Glow's smile faltered slightly as she stared at her boss. She walked back to the window and peered outside. A moment later, she turned around and marched straight to Trixie with a look of pure determination on her face. Much to Trixie's surprise, she was soon booped on her snout.

"Don't give up," Amber said, beaming. "So Lyra Heartstrings is a strong competitor? That's great!"

"How so?" Trixie asked, unconvinced.

Amber put a hoof around Trixie's shoulders and indicated the shop, now fully renovated. There was a new, more open floor plan, innovative displays for merchandise that was of premium quality, and a generally more welcome atmosphere than ever before. Trixie looked at it all as if seeing it for the very first time.

"It's a chance to show that you can be even greater," Amber said. Her smile returned and she held out a hoof. "What do you say, Trixie Lulamoon? Want to show Equestria what we're truly capable of achieving?"

Trixie eyed the hoof for a moment. Who was this mare, and how was she capable of making Trixie feel so... so worthwhile? Regardless of the answers, her mind was already made up.

She reached out and bumped Amber's hoof with her own. Ponyville would see her shine once more. But first, she had a retail war to win.

"Trixie's up to something," Bon Bon said.

Lyra didn't seem to be paying attention. Instead, she was admiring the brand new, state-of-the-art cash register that she had purchased. She tapped the touch-screen display with a hoof.

"Isn't this amazing?" she marveled. "I can't even begin to imagine what kind of spells had to go into this to make it work. Look, Bon Bon, you just tap this here, and this thingy somehow knows what's being purchased, and you can adjust the base prices of everything, and... oh, isn't it just great?"

If one were to ask Bon Bon if patience were a virtue she possessed in any reasonable amount, she would have laughed. However, it should be noted that she had spent many years enjoying the friendship of one Lyra Heartstrings and, though she likely didn't realize it, the cost of that friendship had been one long—unending, really— exercise in patience. It was directly due to this fact that Bon Bon did not resort to anything more than a tired sigh at her friend's response.

"Yes, it's great. But Lyra, please." Bon Bon trotted over to her friend and placed both her forehooves on her shoulders. "I think Trixie has scheduled a grand re-opening for today, too. And that's not all. There's this mare... I think she's a new employee. She's trouble, I can just feel it."

Before Lyra could answer, the door opened and Diamond Tiara entered the shop. She was bundled up in a pink coat with a white collar and cuffs, and the expression on her face fell somewhere between excitement at being considered a useful member of the team, and concern that perhaps she still didn't deserve to be on the team in the first place.

"Um, g-good morning," Diamond said somewhat awkwardly. She wasn't used to greeting ponies in a polite manner quite yet. "The shipment from Canterlot is confirmed, and should be delivered by mid-morning. I um, I also asked Miss Cheerilee if I could have the day off school to gain some work experience here at the shop, and after she recovered from fainting she said that it was a wonderful idea so... here I am." Her cheeks grew crimson and she stared at the floor as if she expected to be scolded for such nonsense.

"Yayifications!" Lyra said. She bent down and gave Diamond a quick hug, causing the filly to blush deeper. "You've done an awesome job, Diamond Tiara. It'll be great to have you here for our grand re-opening. What would you like to do to help?"

Diamond blinked. "I-I get a choice?"

Lyra's enthusiastic nod was all it took for Diamond's eyes to widen in joyous disbelief. Before she could become completely lost in the possibilities, Bon Bon spoke.

"Hey, do you know anything about that mare over at Trixie's?" she asked.

A shrug. "Her name's Amber Glow," Diamond said. "I only met her in passing, but there's one thing I can tell you about her." She looked Bon Bon in the eyes. "She's good at her job. Very good. I-I don't know how I know that, I just do. Something about her even made me want to purchase something from her, and I never spend my own bits. That's what my father is for." She blushed again as she seemed to realize how awful that sounded.

Bon Bon looked at Lyra, but the mint unicorn was looking out towards the window, as if she could see this 'Amber Glow' from where she was standing. Though it was barely noticeable, Bon Bon saw that Lyra's eyes had narrowed ever-so-slightly, and she knew that her friend was in deep thought. A moment later, Lyra turned around.

"Bon Bon, get the store ready to open. I have a few more preparations to make."

As the morning continued, further preparations were made for both Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium and Trixie's Rich's. Diamond Tiara's apparel delivery arrived for Lyra and was quickly set up on displays. A shipment of Gustave le Grand's famous desserts, freshly imported using the most advanced preservation magic, arrived for Trixie to showcase. Various members of the Adventurer's Guild arrived to help Lyra, Bon Bon, and Diamond. Filthy Rich himself called off an important business meeting and arrived to assist Trixie and Amber. By his side was none other than esteemed photographer Photo Finish, apparently called in to cover the news of the full re-branding into such a premium establishment. Lyra's old banner she had made upon first opening the shop was taken down and replaced with a new sign the same green as her coat, with black writing.

The ponies of Ponyville took notice. Before long, crowds of ponies jammed the street to get a look at what was going on. Everypony knew about Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium, and they all knew about Filthy Trix. But they hadn't seen Trixie's Rich's before, and it had to be worth checking out if Photo Finish was covering the opening. Then again, Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium looked different as well. The hoof-made displays of the past had been charming in their own way, but the displays set up in the windows now were nothing less than stunning. Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium was already known for great service, and now the quality of the merchandise seemed to have gone up as well. Then again, the windows of Trixie's Rich's showcased items the likes of which had never been seen in Ponyville before. Exclusive, rare items that just begged to be purchased.

As the crowds gathered and the final touches were put in place, the time finally came. Lyra Heartstrings and Trixie Lulamoon walked to the front doors of their respective shops, looked back at the ponies who were there to support them, and opened the doors up.

It was on.

"Welcome to Trixie's Rich's, my name is Amber Glow and it's my pleasure to be of service."

..o0o..

"Welcome to Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium. I'm Bon Bon, and I'll be happy to assist you!"

..o0o..

"My word, is that an authentic Wind Rider Wonderbolts pin?"

Trixie's grin nearly split her face. "It most certainly is. It's the only one available for purchase, and comes with a certificate of authenticity!"

"How much!"

..o0o..

"If you'll follow me to the checkout counter, I can get this all sorted for you quickly as I can see you're in a hurry," Lyra said. She put a hoof on the customer's shoulder. "Oh, don't try to carry all that. Please, allow us." She made a motion with her hoof and, a moment later, Iron Will arrived to carry the customer's enormous purchase for her.

..o0o..

"Well, there's deals aplenty at Rich's Barnyard Bargains, but I really wanted to offer up something for the pony with slightly more refined tastes." Filthy Rich flashed a winning smile for the camera. "Besides, what pony doesn't like to indulge a little from time to time, am I right?"

..o0o..

"I guess I felt I owed the ponies here a bit more than hoof-made display stands and a rusted old register," Lyra said, grinning. "If they want to honor me with their presence in my shop, then I need to honor them with a clean, bright, and welcoming atmosphere. I want ponies to feel at home and... hey, wait. Weren't you just interviewing ponies over at Trixie's Rich's?"

..o0o..

"Have you been helped yet? Why, yes I most certainly can assist you," Amber Glow beamed brightly. "Oh, don't worry about little ol' me. I am serving those two lovely customers as well, but I absolutely promise the three of you will find no decline in the quality of your service. What's a little multi-tasking to a mare like me, hm?" As Amber hurried to assist everypony, her warm smile lit up the shop. Why, they hadn't even been open an hour and she'd already earned herself a break. Not that she intended on taking one. There were more bits to earn, after all.

..o0o..

"Here you go, kid. Consider it my thanks for coming by my good friend Lyra's shop," Spitfire said. She gave the Wonderbolts collector's card back to the young colt who had presented it to her. He stared at the freshly drawn signature on it with a sense of childish wonder as he walked away from the table, only to be replaced by another young Wonderbolts fan immediately thereafter.

"That's right, everypony. Come get yourself an autograph with the captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire!" Flim cried out from his spot beside the table with his usual charismatic flair. "Free with any purchase!" He leaned in close to the pegasus. "Thanks for the assist," he said quietly.

Spitfire smiled. Anything for her guild leader.

..o0o..

"Is that Spitfire?" somepony asked, gawking out the window.

"What?" Trixie exclaimed. She rushed over to the window and took a look. "Inconceivable!" she cried a moment later.

Amber Glow came over to see for herself. Her fears confirmed, she turned to Trixie. "Flash sale! Offer fifteen percent off the entire store for the next half an hour!"

"Are you crazy? Trixie gasped.

"Trust me, do it!"

..o0o..

"Where's everypony going?"

Bon Bon blinked and looked out the window. Where there had once been crowds inside and out of both shops, it looked as if the majority had suddenly shifted to Trixie's Rich's.

The front door banged open just then and Diamond Tiara rushed inside, panting. When she caught her breath she said, "They're doing a flash sale! The whole store is fifteen percent off. That's why everypony's going over there."

Bon Bon's eyes narrowed as she spotted Amber Glow ushering ponies into Trixie's shop.

"Ugh, she's too... too powerful!" she said, exasperated. She turned to Lyra. "What are we going to do?"

Lyra looked back at Bon Bon and was about to speak, but she stopped and turned instead to Diamond Tiara. "What do you think would help?" she asked.

Diamond blinked. "Y-you want my opinion?" She looked out the window at the ever-increasing crowd. Ponies were beginning to arrive from out-of-town, as news spread of the two amazing shops. Were those... Canterlot elite ponies outside?

Diamond grinned. "I think I have an idea."

..o0o..

"Have you heard? Lyra from Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium is the leader of the Adventurer's Guild."

"What's your point, kid?"

Diamond suppressed her annoyance and said, "You know who's a member of the Adventurer's Guild? Rainbow Dash. You know, the self-proclaimed fastest flier in all Equestria, member of the Wolderbolts, and one of Princess Twilight Sparkle's best friends." She paced back and forth in the middle of the street, directing her words towards anypony who looked to be from Canterlot. "I have to say, to be the leader of such an esteemed pony, why that Lyra Heartstrings must be somepony. To be acquainted with a pony of such prominence would be, I dare say, priceless."

As murmurs arose from the crowd, Diamond slowly walked back to Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium, unable to hide a sly grin. Behind her, the Canterlot elite followed.

..o0o..

"What is with everypony these past few minutes?" Trixie muttered. She was sweating from running around the shop serving. "None of them can afford anything, they're all just browsing now!"

Amber Glow looked at Trixie and her brow furrowed with concern. "Trixie, please. Have a break. You look exhausted!"

Trixie waved a hoof in the air. "Trixie is fine, it's the customers that are the issue. Where did all the big spenders go?" She took a moment to catch her breath and coughed.

Amber didn't wait a moment longer. She glanced around the shop until she spotted Filthy Rich.

"Mr. Rich, sir!" she shouted, drawing his attention. "I'm sorry, but Trixie needs a break. She's overworking herself and has done a fantastic job, but she won't be any good to either of us if she collapses from exhaustion!"

Filthy Rich looked Amber up and down. "You don't look so well yourself, Miss Glow. If you want I can close up shop for a while and let you two have a well-earned rest."

Amber brushed her sweaty mane out of her eyes and smiled warmly. "I'm alright sir, but please allow Trixie to take a break. If it's alright with you, we can work together while she rests and the shop won't miss a beat."

"Why, that's a splendid idea," Filthy said. "It's been quite some time since I was on the shop floor myself. Will be nice to get back into the thick of things." He turned to Trixie. "Miss Lulamoon, you've done a mighty fine job so far. Have a rest and I'll help Miss Glow until you feel ready to come back. It's the least I can do."

Trixie's natural instinct to pretend to be invincible almost made her argue, but she relented. "Thank you, Mister Rich," she said. "Trixie will be back on her hooves in no time!" She met Amber's eye and offered a small smile. And thank you, Amber Glow, she thought.

..o0o..

The day dragged on, and yet the crowds did not disperse. By midday, word had spread all across Ponyville, Canterlot, and Appleoosa of the showdown between Lyra and Trixie. Stock flew out the door as everypony on the sales floor served multiple customers at a time. When school finished, Scootaloo rushed over to the shop and took over for Diamond Tiara, who had jumped onto the sales floor herself and had helped however she could, but quickly became exhausted and needed a rest. Maud Pie came by as well, and convinced many a customer to "just buy it." At Trixie's Rich's, Filthy Rich continued to work the sales floor long after Trixie returned from her break, and Amber Glow never took a break at all. The three of them worked together, asking one another for advice or assistance when needed, and rushing to get to each and every customer who walked into the shop.

"Thanks for coming in. I hope you have an absolutely lovely evening!" Amber said as the last customer of the day walked out the door. She turned the sign on the door over to read "Sorry, we're closed!" and slumped down against the wall, her face still aglow with a smile.

"What a day!" Filthy Rich said. "Why, I don't think I've ever had a day to compare at Rich's Barnyard Bargains! Come here, come here," he beckoned Amber and Trixie over. "I owe you two dearly for your hard work today. Now who wants to know how much we made?"

..o0o..

"Thank you so much for coming by. Have a great night!"

Bon Bon closed the door as the final customer walked out, and she turned the sign over to state they were closed. She then laid down on the floor. "What. A. Day."

Lyra smiled. As the day had progressed, everypony who came to help eventually had to go home. That left just her and Bon Bon to close up shop, but she was grateful for all the help she had received. She looked over at Bon Bon. "Want to guess how much we made?"

..o0o..

"Twenty-seven thousand, forty-two bits!"

Trixie's eyes widened. "We made that much in just one day?" She turned to Amber and surprised them both when she wrapped her up in a hug. "Thank you" she said. "Trixie couldn't have done it without you."

Amber Glow was momentarily caught off-guard and blushed, but her smile soon returned.

"Ready to do it again tomorrow?" she asked.

..o0o..

"Twenty-seven thousand, sixty-three bits!"

Bon Bon's eyed widened. "Oh my goodness. Lyra, if we make that much tomorrow, we'll be more than halfway to paying off the debt!" She hopped up and down in much the same way that Lyra was prone to doing. "This is happening, Lyra. We've totally got this!"

Lyra grinned and sat down on the floor. She looked at her new register, the freshly-painted walls, and all the new displays for her shop. She then looked at the weary joy showing on Bon Bon's face, and for the first time in weeks, she felt as if she had nothing to worry about.

Chapter 31 - Trap

Rainbow Dash stifled a yawn. There had been a moment where, as creepy as this village was, she thought that she and her friends might discover something amazing within the strange, gravity-defying buildings. Perhaps some villain with powers to rival Discord would be hiding among the chaos, or maybe even some kind of unique, long-lost treasure.

But no, all they had found was a dusty, old book. And all Rainbow could do was be bored out of her mind while her friend Twilight spent what would no doubt be hours pouring through its tattered pages in some vain effort to discover—what were they trying to discover, anyway? They'd traveled all the way out here because Twilight had heard reports of odd things occurring in the area. They'd found the odd things. It was time to find a way to fix them, and she doubted the answers were going to be found in a musty old book.

"I think I may have found a clue as to the source of this village's... disturbance," Twilight said, looking up from the book.

Of course, Rainbow thought, rolling her eyes. She should have known better than to doubt the combined might of Twilight and reading. She flew over to where Twilight and the others were.

"Listen to this," Twilight said once everypony was settled. She then started reading aloud.

"Day 42,

I think we're getting close. Sunny stopped me in my tracks earlier and gestured toward something just off the path to our right. Turned out to be a flower. It was hovering, roots and all, inches above the ground!

There can be no other explanation. We must be within proximity of its power."

Rainbow blinked. "Sooo... what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Twilight admitted. She idly scratched her chin with a hoof. "From the passages I've read, it looks as if the author and his wife were on some kind of expedition. If my guess is correct, they were also looking for a source of strange phenomena. Possibly the same source that we've come to investigate!"

"Wait just a minute," Applejack said from beside Rainbow. "So you're sayin' this here town's been all topsy-turvy like for what... years? Decades, even?"

"Well if that's true you'd think somepony would have noticed by now," Rarity chipped in.

Twilight nodded. "Rarity's right. Whoever wrote this journal did it many years ago. While this village may have been abandoned since then, I find it hard to believe that in all this time nopony would have noticed that half of it has been floating! Perhaps the ponies in the journal found what was causing the disruptions and managed to make it stop, only for it to begin again all these years later."

Rainbow indicated the journal. "Well, what else does it say?"

Twilight bent back over the book and flipped through the pages. Rainbow watched as Twilight's eyes moved back and forth over the text, and for a moment she secretly wished that she had found the book and was reading about whatever adventures the explorer ponies in the journal had gone on. A minute later, though, Twilight's eyes had widened.

"Um... Twilight?" Rainbow asked. She raised an eyebrow. "You alright?"

Twilight looked up at Rainbow, her face pale.

"No," she whispered. "This isn't good at all. And if I'm right about what's causing all of this, then all of Equestria might be in great danger!"

The slime just remained where it was, unmoving. Flim frowned, picked up his supplies, and moved several paces to the north. He set them down, combined some components, and a moment later another slime had been created.

The new slime began to glow soon after its creation.

"So the anomaly has an effect here," Flim muttered. "But it has no effect over here," he said, trotting back to the original slime.

Flam walked over and casually destroyed the glowing slime before things could get more out of hoof, and Flim did the same to the unaffected one. They looked at one another, and both shook their heads. They had been testing slimes all day in an attempt to trace the source of whatever it was that was causing them to become more aggressive. It was likely that whatever was doing that was also what had the timber wolves and other magical creatures of the forests all riled up. Unfortunately, there seemed to be 'hot spots' all over the place, and in no particular pattern, which made tracing the source almost impossible. Almost.

"Isn't that old village that was abandoned years ago in this direction?" Flim gestured a hoof to the northeast. "No more than a few day's trot, I do believe. And wouldn't it be curious if we were to find stronger and more frequent anomalies in that region, oh brother of mine?"

"Indeed it is, and indeed it would, brother!" Flam agreed. "Shall we test this theory?"

"We shall!" Flim said.

As the brothers gathered their supplies and moved further into the forest, they were unaware of the many shadows that followed.

"The entro-what now?" Applejack asked.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "The Entropy Prism. A magical artifact with the power of essokinesis." She stood up from reading the journal and began to pace around the room. "This is bad. Really, really bad! But that has to be what the ponies in the journal were after. It all makes sense! A large, multi-faceted ruby held within a golden setting surrounded by six small spheres. That's what the pony from the journal described, and that description fits exactly with the Prism!"

"Oh, that does sound bad," Fluttershy said, cringing slightly.

"Uh... I believe you when you say this is bad and all," Rainbow Dash said. "But what exactly does it do? What's esso-whatever?"

"Essokinesis!" Twilight repeated, as if it were obvious. "Reality-warping. Think your own, portable Discord!"

"Now that does sound awful," Applejack said. "But why in the hay would anypony want to go and make something like that?"

"Why else?" Twilight said. "To defeat Discord himself. The Prism was created over a thousand years ago in an effort to assist the royal sisters in their battle with him. Unfortunately, chaos magic isn't so easily contained. Activating the Prism could get it to alter reality, but only very slowly and unpredictably, making it useless in a direct confrontation. The unicorns of the time decided that it could at least be used to help clean up the messes created by Discord, but even that plan backfired. Activating the Prism would cause chaos magic to slowly disperse in an area, and a unicorn with a strong enough will could control it to an extent... but only very briefly. Worse yet, if the Prism was activated for too long, it would permanently alter anypony who deactivated it. Their appearance, their personality, even their hopes and dreams would all be changed. As such, it was determined to be too risky to use, and too dangerous to destroy. It disappeared from all records soon after its creation, and was assumed to have been lost forever."

"Holy exposition, Twilight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Do you think the ponies in the journal found it and deactivated it?"

Twilight returned to the journal and sat down. "There's only a few pages left to read. Let's find out."

"Flim and Flam! I knew you two had something to do with all of this!"

The brothers stopped what they were doing and looked up in unison. They both immediately recognized the speaker's voice, and as such both immediately recognized the enormous amount of trouble that had just stumbled upon them. Flim made an attempt to step in front of and hide the several slimes he and his brother had just created. Judging from the looks that Shining Armor and his Royal Guard followers were giving, they had been caught red-hooved. Again!

"Ah, Shining Armor. As you can see, this is..." Flim blinked, looked around, then shrugged. "You know what, it's exactly what it looks like. But not for the reason that you're thinking!"

"Our cause is a noble one!" Flam chipped in helpfully.

Shining Armor took a step forward and glared at the brothers. "You discovered a way to create these slimes that can steal things from innocent ponies, then decided to open up an adventurer's guild to collect contracts to go take care of the very problems that you yourselves had created! You manipulated your clients, you manipulated the guild members. You even managed to manipulate me into thinking you two had finally found a legitimate way to earn a profit while offering the Royal Guard assistance on smaller matters!"

"But when Lyra—" Flim began.

"And Lyra!" Shining spat with anger. "She put her trust in you when she was down on her luck, and this is how you repay her?" As Shining Armor paced back and forth, his guards each took a step back. They knew better than to interfere when the captain was this angry.

Flim and Flam looked at each other, their ears laid back with shame.

"It may have started that way," Flim admitted. "But we've changed. Something went wrong somewhere, and the slimes and other magical creatures of the forest have become more aggressive. Surely you've seen it yourself. My brother and I have been trying to determine the source of this newfound aggression, and we believe we may have—"

"Enough!" Shining Armor shouted. His guards each stood a little taller at his outburst. "I won't hear it," he said.

"But—"

"I won't hear it! It's all just another lie built around a half-truth. It's all you ever do, and I'm done listening. It's over." Shining closed his eyes and put a hoof to his forehead. "I hate to do this to my sister's friend, but you've left me no choice. I'm disbanding the Adventurer's Guild. Effective immediately."

"Day 57,

The notes from the guide at Adventure Life seem to match exactly with what Sunny found in the chest in the attic of that strange, floating house. This has got to be it! According to the notes, deactivating the so-called Entropy Prism is easy. You just place your hoof on it and think of normalcy. Simple!

We've discussed it, and we're just going to deactivate it together. We've done everything together up to this point, so why stop now? It'll be kind of cute that way. Anyway, it will be great to have completed this adventure. The reward that Adventure Life is offering will more than make up for the funds we borrowed from the Canterlot Royal Bank to pay for supplies, and will help give our young one a more comfortable life. In fact, if all goes well, our little one is reading this right now. Hello! We love you! Now you know how we ended up so well off! It was so hard, leaving you for all this time. But you've proven to be nothing if not resourceful. We knew you'd be fine.

We'll deactivate the Prism tonight, then finally head back home. See you soon,

Sunny and Tempo Heartstrings."

Twilight closed the journal. "That's it, then," she said. "That confirms what we're up against. Somehow the Entropy Prism has been activated, and is slowly spreading chaos magic, altering anything it touches for an extended period of time. If we don't find and somehow deactivate the Prism, all life in Equestria will become something else entirely."

"But uh, didn't ya say that trying to deactivate this here doohickey would change whoever did it?" Applejack asked.

"It will," Twilight said. "Unless..." She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you're the fastest one here. I need you to fly to Ponyville. Find Discord. He may know a way to safely deactivate the Prism. We'll stay here and do what we can to keep anycreature from stumbling across this place and becoming altered themselves."

"I'm on it," Rainbow said.

"And hurry! The longer the Prism remains active, the faster its effects spread!"

Rainbow was already in the air and flying at speed towards Ponyville. Things seemed pretty bad, but there was something else she'd heard that she didn't like.

"Heartstrings...?" Rainbow murmured as she sped through the air.

Chapter 32 - Sold!

"So what do you think? If we send Spitfire northeast, she should be able to quickly cover a lot of ground. That's where most of the slimes and such seem to be concentrated, anyway." Bon Bon made a few adjustments to the display she was working on. "Of course, it would be nice to send Rainbow Dash too, but she and her friends are currently off saving the world or some such thing again. Is Iron Will free to do any contracts?"

Lyra lifted her head off the counter. "I think he's checking in with the debt collectors, but he should be back soon. Diamond Tiara has already managed to call in another family favor and should be getting some fashions from Manehattan that were going to be sold in Canterlot to be shipped here instead. Should come in tomorrow." She yawned and flopped her head back down. "Maud Pie is bringing in some gemstones to sell. Scootaloo was going to go see Flim and Flam and see if they could drum up some more contracts. And I already put in an order for fresh food supplies to be delivered. Saves time having to go collect it ourselves."

Bon Bon finished with the display and walked over to her friend. She brushed the mane out of Lyra's eyes and smiled. "Look at you. Even all tuckered out, you still have a plan in motion. Honestly, I'm beat too." She stretched her back and hind legs out one at a time. "It'll be nice to get this week over with. Who knew selling could be so physically demanding?"

"Three more days like yesterday and we can finally relax," Lyra said. She sighed softly and smiled. "Remember when I told you my idea for the shop? You were eating a tulip sandwich in your kitchen"

Bon Bon laughed. "How could I forget? 'I won't sell everything I own. I'll just sell everything!' Wasn't that what you said?" She allowed herself a short burst of giggles, then sighed and looked around the shop. "Never would have thought you'd actually go and do it. Come to think of it, I never did get to finish that sandwich."

"I'll buy you lunch when this is all over," Lyra said.

"Deal," Bon Bon replied.

The two friends remained quiet for some time, content with fond and sometimes crazy memories of this impossible task that they had somehow made possible through wits and determination. And sales. Lots and lots of sales.

Though the two would have been happy to spend a little more time relishing that quiet, peaceful moment, fate had other plans for them. For in that moment, several small, frantic taps sounded at the front door.

Bon Bon sighed and made for the door. "It's open," she called out.

The door opened to reveal Diamond Tiara, a hoof wrapped comfortingly around Scootaloo, whose face was stained with tears.

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Bon Bon asked as Lyra lifted her head from the counter behind her.

"I'm not sure," Diamond said. "I found her like this, walking all alone. She wasn't saying anything, so I grabbed her and came here straight away."

"You did good, Diamond Tiara," Lyra said. She trotted over and took Scootaloo into her forelegs, comforting the filly as best as she could. "There, there. It's alright."

"It's n-not," Scootaloo said through sobs. "It's n-not a-alright." She looked up into Lyra's eyes and renewed her crying all over again. It took several minutes before she could speak again. "I... I can't. I can't save your house," she said, her body shaking as she tried to wipe away tears.

"I can't save your house!"

"Disbanded?" Bon Bon said, aghast. "How could this even happen?" She stopped pacing for a moment and narrowed her eyes. "Flim and Flam," she growled through gritted teeth.

"It's not their fault," Scootaloo said. She was wrapped in a warm blanket and sipping on cocoa. Lyra still had a protective hoof on her shoulder. "They aren't as bad as everypony makes them out to be."

"No, just bad enough to completely ruin several weeks worth of effort to save Lyra's home," Bon Bon countered. At the sight of Scootaloo wincing she said, "Sorry. Kind of."

"Well now what do we do?" Diamond Tiara asked. "There's only so many favors I can call in. Without guild members bringing in additional supplies, there won't be anything left to sell after today."

"Honestly, I don't think our stock will last through the day," Bon Bon admitted. "Trixie went and bought up pretty much everything we didn't buy first, so we were completely relying on new items found through contracts and such until the shops in Appleloosa and Canterlot got restocked."

"We can't even buy out the stock at Trixie's Rich's!" Diamond walked to a window and pointed a hoof towards the shop across the road. "Everything over there is rare and expensive as-is, and there's no way Trixie would be willing to sell at anything less than a solid profit."

"Argh, this is aggravating! There has to be something we can do." Bon Bon looked toward Lyra. "What do you think, Lyra?"

But Lyra Heartstrings wasn't listening. She was looking off toward the back of the shop, her eyes distant, her face unreadable. It was enough to make everypony else in the room grow silent. Lyra always paid attention when there was planning to do. Even when half-asleep.

"Lyra?" Bon Bon repeated, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"I..." Lyra began. She lifted a hoof to her chest, still staring at nothing. After a moment her eyes found the floor, then finally she looked over at Bon Bon. "I don't know."

Bon Bon felt her heart sink as her best friend's eyes welled with tears. Worse, she had no idea how to comfort her. They had no stock, they had no guild, and in a few days, Lyra would have no home. Worst of all, Bon Bon had no answers.

"I'm sorry," Lyra said as she wiped her face and walked quickly to the door. "I just... I need some time to think." With that, she opened the door. A stallion was just outside, apparently waiting for the shop to open. Lyra took a step back and stared blankly at him. Before they could well up with tears again, she averted her eyes and managed to say "We're closed," before brushing past him and hurrying off down the road.

Bon Bon stared after her before looking back at Diamond and Scootaloo. Diamond nodded gently, and Bon Bon rushed out of the shop in pursuit of her friend.

It didn't take long for Bon Bon to find Lyra. She held her breath as she carefully picked her way through the various types of rubbish on her way to the top of the trash heap. Once she arrived there, she carefully took a seat next to her.

They sat in silence for several minutes. Bon Bon wanted to hold Lyra, comfort her, and tell her everything would work out just fine. But she knew that wasn't possible, and she knew that Lyra knew it as well. With the guild disbanded, there was no realistic way to raise enough money to make the final payment. All their hard work had been for naught.

She wrapped her forelegs around Lyra and held her anyway.

"I'm so, so sorry," Bon Bon said. She tried to think of something wise or profound to say, but nothing came to mind. She became angry with herself, unable to be of any use in her friend's time of need. She looked around awkwardly, trying to avoid meeting Lyra's gaze. Eventually, she resigned herself to just looking down at the rubbish.

She blinked, and stared at something within one of the piles below her. She let go of Lyra and carefully made her way down toward whatever she had seen. Lyra, who had been staring straight ahead, took notice and watched as her friend dug into a pile of trash and came up with something. A moment later Bon Bon had made her way back up to Lyra.

Lyra stared at the object Bon Bon had retrieved. "Is that...?"

Bon Bon nodded. "Yeah. It's the missing sock to that set we found all those weeks ago."

There was something about the serious tone Bon Bon had used that made Lyra's ears perk up. She looked at the sock, its three mates still somewhere in the bargain bin, at the mess of trash in Bon Bon's mane, and at the expressionless look on her face.

Bon Bon continued, her voice nearly monotone. "Now that we have the final sock, we can sell the entire set. Just seventy-three thousand bits. Your home is saved. Yayifications."

A moment later, Lyra burst into a fit of giggles.

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I don't even know," Lyra admitted, still giggling. "My life is a complete mess, and yet here I am laughing at a sock." She sighed, leaned back, and became more serious. "Honestly, though. I don't know what to do. I've done the math. It's just... not possible."

"I know," Bon Bon admitted. "Look, I realize it can never replace your house, but you can stay with me at my place until you get back on your hooves. There's no way I'll ever let you go homeless."

Lyra leaned in for a hug. "Thank you. I just... I thought we were going to make it. It hurts to have come so close just to—"

"I understand," Bon Bon said. "Look, let's head back. There's still a few days left, and I'm sure we can sell enough to at least put a good dent into what's still owed. Even if you lose the... even if we can't save everything, we can still try to save as much as we can."

Lyra gave a small smile and nodded. Together the two friends made their way down the trash heap and headed back towards the shop.

The last thing Lyra expected was for there to be a small crowd gathered outside the shop when she and Bon Bon got back into town. The two stopped and looked at each other. Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara were there, and it looked like Iron Will had returned from his business at Can't Run, Can't Hide. But Spitfire was also there, as was Maud Pie. Stranger still, Trixie, Filthy Rich, and the salespony they had hired were also present.

"There she is!" Scootaloo called out. And suddenly all eyes were on Lyra.

"Um, what's all this about?" Bon Bon asked as she and Lyra looked around at those who were gathered. Diamond Tiara stepped forward.

"Hi," she said, almost shyly. "Um... well, I may have explained your situation to my father."

"But it won't be the same if Lyra's not doing it!" Scootaloo said. Spitfire nodded sagely beside her.

"Does she have any other choice?" Diamond shot back. "I didn't tell father for any kind of personal gain, I swear it. I told him because she needs our help!"

"Whoah there," Bon Bon said. "Can somepony please just explain what's going on?"

At that moment Filthy Rich, Trixie, and Amber Glow all came forward. Filthy Rich adjusted his suit and nodded at Lyra.

"Miss Heartstrings, my daughter told me all about how you stand to lose your home if you do not come up with a sizable sum of bits within the next few days. Now, believe me when I say that had I known of your situation, I may have chosen another location for my business. It has never been my intention to run you or anypony else out of their home"

"We may have wanted to run you out of business," Trixie chimed in, "but making you homeless would kind of be evil, or something."

Amber Glow quickly said, "What she means to say is that there's a difference between healthy competition and capitalistic brutality."

Filthy Rich nodded. "So I thought about it, and I believe I have a mutually beneficial solution." He held a hoof out. "Shake on it here and now, and I'll purchase the rights to Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium for the sum of all your remaining debt, plus the value of all stock and supplies within. Best part is, you get to keep your home and go back to living your life debt-free."

Lyra stared at the hoof that was extended before her.

"Lyra, wait," Bon Bon said. "Maybe there's some other way. I know it sounds good, but maybe there's something we haven't thought of."

"What's there to think of?" Trixie asked. "You either have a home or you don't. I would think the choice is rather obvious."

Lyra hesitated and stared at the ground.

"But to sell out to the competition? That just isn't Lyra's way!" Scootaloo called out. "She can find a better way, I know it!"

"Listen, kid, I understand. But we're not trying to be the bad guys here," Amber said soothingly. "We just want to offer a solution that helps everypony."

Lyra closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.

"I was just trying to help," Diamond Tiara said. "I didn't want to start any arguments!"

"Then you could have come to us to try and find a solution instead of them!" Scootaloo retorted. Her eyes were welling up with tears again.

"I did come to you! And I loved working by your side for Lyra, but—"

Suddenly, Lyra gritted her teeth, reached a hoof out, and bumped it against Filthy Rich's.

"Sold," she breathed. A moment later, she turned and ran into the shop as fast as she could and locked the door behind her, leaving everypony else outside to stare after her in bewilderment.

Chapter 33 - Changes

The next morning, Bon Bon knocked on the door to Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium to find that it was open. She peeked her head inside to see if it was okay to enter, and saw that most of the displays had already been taken down. Boxes full of merchandise were stacked up against one wall, along with the register and some signage. In the middle of the room sat Lyra's couch, having been pushed there at some point during the night. Lying upon the couch was Lyra herself. Her head rested upon one foreleg, with the other hanging down to touch the floor. Her tail was pulled around her for warmth, and she seemed to be fast asleep.

Bon Bon made to close the door quietly, but Lyra's eyes slowly opened. Bon Bon saw that they were bloodshot and heavily lidded, and she knew then that Lyra had slept little if at all.

"Oh, Lyra. I'm sorry," Bon Bon said. "I just wanted to check in and see if you're okay."

Lyra gave a weak smile and sat up. "I'm fine," she said, stretching. "I mean, think about it. At the end of the day, the debt's all paid off. Now I can go back to living my old life again." She shrugged. "Kind of hard to find anything to complain about."

"I know. But you just seemed so determined to succeed in all this! Plus," Bon Bon indicated the room with her hoof, "you're really, really good at it. I'm actually kind of surprised you didn't end up with a giant bag of bits as your cutie mark."

"I was never really interested in sales," Lyra admitted. She jumped off the couch and walked over to one of the remaining displays. "As far as I'm concerned, you should just walk in, buy what you need, and leave. But the reality is far more complicated than that. Everypony wants to feel like they're personally being catered to. Stock needs to be rotated, expiry dates need to be adhered to, profit margins must be scrutinized on every sale, and you need to smile and make sure each and every customer who walks in feel like a prince or princess, even if you yourself are feeling down and are barely managing to hold it together. I think nopony really understands just how much of a struggle it is to do something that seems easy until they're put into a situation where they have no choice but to do it themselves." A knock at the door disrupted her from elaborating further. "It's open!"

The door swung open and Rainbow Dash stepped inside.

"Where's Lyra? We need to talk."

Lyra was silent for a considerable amount of time as she tried to come to terms with everything she'd just heard. Her parents, Sunny and Tempo, had left her all those years ago to go on a quest sponsored by some company called Adventure Life. The debt she had just paid off was for several month's worth of supplies, plus an unhealthy amount of interest. The quest her parents had undertaken was to deactivate some device that, if left unchecked, would have completely changed the reality of everything—living and nonliving—in Equestria. They had apparently succeeded and saved the world. But in doing so, they would have been altered in both mind and body. They never came home because they didn't know they had a home to come back to.

Or a daughter.

Worse yet, the same device that had taken her parents from her had been reactivated. Its power had been spreading across the land for an unknown amount of time, and was—along with Flim and Flam's scheme with the slimes—responsible for the increased number of monster attacks that had been recorded recently, as its power seemed to make magically-created creatures more aggressive in nature. Furthermore, Rainbow Dash had spotted an enormous number of magical creatures heading toward Canterlot and Ponyville as she flew overhead, and they would probably be arriving by nightfall. Rainbow would have been happy to stay and protect the town from the monsters, but she and Discord needed to get back to the Entropy Prism as fast as possible, as Discord believed that a combination of his chaos magic along with Rainbow and her friends' friendship magic could be enough to stabilize the Prism long enough for somepony to deactivate it.

"Long enough to deactivate what, exactly?" a voice said as the door swung open again.

"What are you doing here, Trixie?" Bon Bon growled. "We're a little busy here, and don't have time for unannounced guests."

Trixie held the door open and Amber Glow came into the shop as well. "Sorry." Trixie's voice was completely unapologetic. "The door was open. Anyway, we were sent over here to help sort out the stock situation. So, yeah, if you could just go ahead and prepare us a manifest report of the remaining stock that would be great."

"We're kind of in the middle of something way more important than manifest reports right now, Trixie!" Bon Bon exclaimed.

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "What could possibly be more important than that?"

As word began to spread of an impending monster attack on Ponyville, Lyra had other things on her mind. She ducked past a hysterical couple as they ran into their home and slammed the door shut behind them. Everywhere she looked, ponies were running about in an effort to do whatever it was they always did when trouble came to town. Generally, it involved panicking.

Rainbow Dash had said she would take care of rallying a defense while Lyra took care of what she had to do. With Canterlot busy dealing with their own defense, and Discord, Rainbow and her friends having to leave to deactivate the Entropy Prism, the defense of Ponyville would have to fall upon somepony else's shoulders.

Eventually, she made it to her destination and knocked on the door to Fluttershy's cottage.

"A guest? How wonderful," a voice said from within. "Come on in. I've been expecting you."

Amber Glow sighed and turned the sign in the door to read 'Closed.' She then turned and walked back to where Trixie was idly packing some saddlebags.

"I honestly can not believe how often this town ends up in peril," Amber said. "And just when we had momentum going with sales and the acquisition of Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium." She leaned against the sales counter and stared at the ceiling. "I guess the plan to have you keep running Trixie's Rich's while Mr. Rich breaks ground on a new Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium for me to manage will just have to wait."

"Mm hm," Trixie mumbled. She grabbed something and stuffed it into one of the bags.

Amber noted the move and continued. "Seems pretty terrible, huh? Whoever they get to deactivate that artifact is going to become a whole other pony, just like Lyra's parents did. If they even remain a pony."

"Yeah," was Trixie's only response. She busied herself with adjusting her cape.

"Can you imagine Ponyville without Twilight Sparkle, or Rainbow Dash, or any of the other heroes of Equestria? I mean, somepony has to deactivate it, right? Which one of them do you think it will it be?"

Trixie simply shrugged as she checked over some of the straps on the saddlebags.

Amber stared at the floor. "Hey Trixie... I think I may have left my key in the safe in the back room. Do you mind quickly checking for me?"

Trixie didn't bother to answer, and instead just turned and listlessly walked into the back room. A moment later the door slammed shut behind her, and she heard the lock slide into place.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she cried. "Let Trixie out this instant!"

Through the door, Trixie could hear Amber sigh.

"No, Trixie. I know what you planned on doing, and I won't allow you to do it."

Trixie banged her hoof on the door. "Trixie wasn't planning anything, now let me out!"

"You're packing your saddlebags, wearing your travelling cloak, and so upset you were barely speaking. I'm an observant mare, Trixie Lulamoon, and what you're trying to do is obvious."

Trixie stopped her knocking and sat down, her back to the door. "And what if Trixie were planning something?"

Amber sighed again and sat with her own back to the door. "I'd tell her she doesn't need to change," she said. "I'd say that she might be brash and a bit arrogant, and maybe not the best manager—"

Trixie raised an eyebrow.

"—but when push comes to shove she's loyal, hard working, and brilliant at advertising. She's the mare who took out Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium... arguably the best shop to ever take hold in Ponyville. But more importantly, she let me see a side of her that I don't think many other ponies know about. She showed me that underneath the costume is a pony with determination to succeed, and the desire to be a better pony. There aren't many ponies out there who realize they need to do better, and that's why you don't need to change, Trixie. You're already perfect to me. I hope you always remember that."

Though Trixie would never admit it, Amber's words caused her to tear up. She was silent for a while, pleased that there was at least one pony out there who actually understood her. Eventually, she stood up.

"Okay, Amber Glow. You've outwitted Trixie this time, and she's ready to come out." She tried the door, but it was still locked. "Amber? Hello... Amber?"

"Of course I can do that. I'm the Lord of Chaos, after all." Before Lyra could get her hopes up, Discord continued. "But even if you somehow track them down, I snap my fingers, and they return to being the ponies they once were, you still have the problem of, what? A decade or so's worth of memories lost."

Lyra's ears turned down. "So... there's nothing you can do?"

Discord frowned, as if insulted. "I believe you misspoke. There's nothing I can't do. Oh, I could fill their heads with all kinds of memories. Happy memories, sad memories, maybe a few surprising memories thrown in just to spice things up. But what you need to understand is that every last one of them would be a facade. Something false, and not earned." He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. "Believe me when I say I do sympathize. It's ironic, really. Almost as ironic as the ponies of Equestria requesting my assistance in disabling the very thing they created to defeat me." He stood up and made a show of checking the nonexistent watch on his wrist. "Oh, look at the time. I need to get going. There's some chaos that needs organizing." He gave a mock sigh. "Oh the things I do for you ponies."

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to snap away all the monsters that are about to attack, would you?" Lyra asked and put on a wide grin.

"And take away such a valuable learning experience from you all? What kind of friend would do that?" With that said, he snapped his clawed fingers and disappeared.

Chapter 34 - Heroes

After her meeting with Discord, Lyra made her way to the town square, where Rainbow Dash stood at a lectern surrounded by a small crowd of the few ponies left in town who had not yet rushed to the safety of their homes in order to shutter the doors and windows. It looked as if she was just putting the finishing touches on her call to arms.

"... and so as much as I'd love to stay here and kick some serious monster tail, Ponyville needs others to step up and help with her defense," Rainbow announced. She spoke with confidence and passion. "That's why, despite our history of anonymity, I'm calling for my fellow members of the Adventurer's Guild to come forward and reveal themselves in this time of need. I know that if you all rally behind them, there isn't anything you can't overcome!" She grinned sheepishly and quickly added, "Plus, most of the monsters are basically harmless, so it's nothing that you guys can't handle. Except maybe the timber wolves. They can be kinda tricky." She shuffled nervously. "Um, anyway, you'll all be fine. So where's my fellow guildies at?" With that said she scanned the crowd, obviously expecting somepony to stand up and help take charge.

"Didn't you hear? The Adventurer's Guild was disbanded!" somepony called out from the crowd. Others began to murmur and look around nervously.

Rainbow's jaw dropped, and Lyra's cheeks suddenly grew red. With the sudden and unexpected news about her parents, she had completely forgotten to fill Rainbow in on what had happened to the guild. The crowd was getting more restless by the minute, and more and more ponies were leaving to go hide in their homes.

"Does it matter?" a small voice called out.

The crowd quieted and parted, and a young filly wearing a hooded cloak stepped forward. She scanned the crowd almost shyly before trotting up to the lectern to stand beside Rainbow Dash.

"Ponyville doesn't need the Guild. It needs heroes. A hero doesn't do something dangerous for recognition or reward. A hero does it because it needs to be done. We're all very lucky in that we have six wonderful heroes who do just that time and time again, but tonight they can't be here and so it's up to us. The weak. The timid. The ordinary. But within each and every one of us is the strength and courage to become something greater than anypony could ever imagine... even ourselves. It's time for the weak to become strong. The timid to be bold. The ordinary to become extraordinary." The filly removed her cloak and tossed it away. "My name is Scootaloo, formerly of the Adventurer's Guild, and tonight I choose to be more than a bystander. Tonight, I fight for Ponyville!" As she finished her speech, she turned, beaming, and looked up at Rainbow Dash.

It was difficult to imagine Rainbow's jaw dropping any further than it already had, but she somehow managed it. It only took a brief moment before Rainbow's expression warmed into a look of pride. She looked up suddenly as a pegasus flew over the crowd to land beside her and Scootaloo.

"And if the town needs saving, it'll be a lot easier if we save it together!" The pegasus removed her shades. "The name's Spitfire, formerly of the Adventurer's Guild. If there's anything that leading the Wonderbolts has taught me, it's that we fail or succeed as a team!"

The crowd around the lectern began to grow as ponies came back out from their homes to see what was happening. Whispers could be heard of "heroes," or "Spitfire," and the like. Another pony emerged from the crowd and walked up to the lectern.

"I'm Maud," she said in a monotone voice. "Formerly of the Adventurer's Guild. When you're stuck between a rock and a hard place—" she casually walked over to a large boulder that was near the lectern, turned, and bucked her hind legs out at it, "—you destroy the rock."

The crowd watched in awe as cracks quickly forked along the face of the boulder, which then shattered into a mound of small pebbles. More ponies emerged from their homes as word spread of what was occurring at the town square. They stared and pointed as a war hammer-wielding minotaur made for the lectern.

"Iron Will did not come to Ponyville to be a hero or to help others," the minotaur said. Confused looks could be seen among the crowd. "But then Iron Will met Lyra Heartstrings. Lyra is a pony who is smart, determined, and relentless. But she is also a pony who will make the difficult choice, even if it hurts to do so. She taught Iron Will the value of friendship, and it is now Iron Will who is in debt to her." He looked at Lyra and gave a little nod. "My name is Iron Will, formerly of the Adventurer's Guild." He raised his war hammer high over his head. "Even if ten thousand monsters are on their way here, not a single one of them will harm anypony while Iron Will still stands!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and ponies began to stomp their hooves in support of the heroes who stood at the lectern. Lyra looked around in awe at how all these ponies, who only moments ago seemed ready to give up and hide, were now full of adrenaline and ready to fight. It took her a few moments to realize that everyone standing at the lectern was now looking at her expectantly. Bon Bon emerged from the crowd and gave her a small nudge as if to say "Go on."

Lyra slowly made her way to the lectern. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and her mind was weighted down with all the things that had occurred over the past few days. But when she arrived at the lectern and looked out at all the ponies who were now looking at her with rapt attention, she understood. Just like Scootaloo had said, it was time to step up. She looked over the faces of everypony who was gathered one more time before speaking.

"My name's Lyra Heartstrings. I'm not formerly of the Adventurer's Guild, but I think most of you already knew that. I'm... not very strong. Not like Maud and Iron Will, nor am I particularly brave like Spitfire or Scootaloo. I'm just an ordinary pony like you. Many of the faces I see gathered here today are ones I know well, for I've served many of you at my shop... which I am also no longer associated with." She cleared her throat and continued. "I... just spent the past few weeks fighting to save my home. Running the shop was never about making a profit, it was about preserving memories. Because, thanks to some strange ancient artifact, memories are all I have left of my parents." She wiped away a few tears and continued. "It took them from me, and now that same artifact is threatening to take away everything else. Rainbow Dash and her friends aren't going to let that happen. So I don't care that I'm not strong, or brave, or wise. I'm Lyra Heartstrings, and I'm not going to stand by and let the monsters it helped create come and take over our homes!"

The crowd once again burst into cheers. With the residents of Ponyville fully motivated, it was time to start planning its defense.

Once Lyra, Bon Bon, and the former guild members had discussed what needed to be done, they all dispersed in order to put their plans into motion. The moment Lyra was alone, Discord appeared in front of her.

"Congratulations. What a rousing speech. Couldn't have put it any better myself," the draconequus cried, clapping his claws together. "It's almost as if coming together for the greater good is better than relying on somepony else to do all the work for you."

Lyra smiled. "I understand. But don't you have an artifact you need to go deactivate?"

"I do," Discord said. "It's just, I got to thinking. You see, there was this one time where I used my magic to transform Twilight Sparkle and her friends into complete opposites of themselves. Even turned them grey, if you can believe it. It was quite the show."

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Um... yeah, I think everypony's heard the story. Why are you telling me this now?"

Discord put his lion's paw up to his chin in mock thought. "It's just curious, is it not? You know, despite all my efforts to completely change them, there was still... something there. Some part of themselves that not even I could take away from them. And I'm, well, me!" He leaned in close, almost conspiratorially. "I guess not even chaos magic can completely take away one's identity. Good luck with the slimes!" With that said, he snapped his clawed fingers and disappeared.

"You ready?" Rainbow Dash said when Discord appeared next to her.

"Of course! Let's get this over with. I'm getting my mane styled later, and I don't want to be late for my appointment," Discord said. Rainbow nodded, and Discord raised his clawed fingers.

From a little way behind the pair, unnoticed by either of them, a figure emerged from the trees and rushed quickly towards them. As Discord snapped his fingers, he, Rainbow, and the third figure were all teleported to the location of the Entropy Prism.

It was late afternoon when the first wave of monsters was spotted on the outskirts of Ponyville. The expected slimes and timber wolves were there, but there were also more of the strange mushroom creatures Flim and Flam had discovered. Ponies moved into their assigned positions and waited for the signal. Though the tension was palpable, the lines held. Then, just as the first of the creatures reached the very edge of town, a horn was sounded. The battle for Ponyville had begun.

Maud Pie blinked. She was part of the front line defense in the wilderness just outside of town, and even though the battle had barely begun, she was already being stalked by no less than four timber wolves. The twigs and branches that their bodies were comprised of creaked and snapped as they drew closer, mixing with the horrifying sound of their growls.

Maud blinked again.

The timber wolves hesitated. Though creatures derived from magic, they still possessed some basic form of instincts. Prey was supposed to cower and hide, not just sit there and stare at them. Still, their predatory impulses eventually won out, and they advanced again.

Maud reared up and brought her two front hooves down hard onto the ground. Somewhere beneath the surface, fissures began to form, then expand in key areas. They eventually reached the root system of a nearby tree, compromising its structural integrity and causing the ground to give way near its base, leading the tree to tilt dangerously. Maud was already walking toward the next group of monsters even before the tree fell and destroyed the timber wolves.

From the sky, Spitfire had an easy time of spotting where the monsters were coming from. Her time spent coordinating the Wonderbolts also helped her to quickly assess situations as they arose, and to work out a response to each new problem.

"You there! Got a group of five slimes just around the corner of that house on your east," Spitfire called out from above. The stallion she spoke to looked up, then nodded his head and led a group of ponies toward the threat to eliminate it. Spitfire then flew towards three mares who were holding each other and looking around nervously. "Hey, heads up! Six mushrooms incoming from the north. Retreat to your south and group up with the ponies there. You can easily take them out together!" The mares nodded and galloped away.

Terrified shrieks from nearby drew her attention toward the Ponyville schoolhouse, where a timber wolf was crouched and ready to pounce on the town's school teacher, Cheerilee. Spitfire flew toward the timber wolf at full speed, and collided with enough force to shatter its body, sending twigs and branches scattering in all directions. After accepting Cheerilee's thanks, she ushered the teacher into the safety of the schoolhouse, then took to the sky once more, ready to assist wherever she was needed.

Scootaloo had somehow managed to get herself into a sticky situation. She had seen a small group of monsters heading in the direction of Lyra's home, and she knew that she and her ex-guildmates had all come too far in their efforts to save it just to have it be overrun with magical creatures.

Unfortunately, she'd gotten herself surrounded. But she wasn't worried. She had her blacksmith's hammer at the ready, and there was no way Lyra was going to lose her home now. She rushed toward a slime and brought the hammer down hard, sending slime in all directions. Pieces of it landed on her side and burned, but she paid it no heed. She turned around just as a timber wolf pounced and the hammer connected with its mouth, sending its lower jaw flying from its head. She ducked this way and that, using her small size and great agility to her advantage. Before long, she had taken the entire group down.

Panting, she sat on her haunches and took a rest. Saving the day was hard work, and she was still a kid, after all.

A low growl from right behind her raised the hairs on her neck and back. She tried to quickly turn around, but she knew it was too late.

Just as the timber wolf prepared to leap at Scootaloo, a small form came crashing into its body and knocked it to the ground. When the small form finally rolled to a stop, Scootaloo saw it was Diamond Tiara. She opened her eyes, shook her head, and give a shy smile. The blacksmith's hammer was brought down upon the timber wolf's head before it could scramble to its feet.

"I... I'm sorry about the shop. I just didn't see any other kind of solution," Diamond said, dusting her coat off with her tail. "I hope you can forgive me."

Scootaloo smiled. "I know you were just trying to help. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was focusing on the wrong things, and it turns out you're actually kind of awesome!"

Diamond blushed, the the two friends set off together to find any other ponies in need of help.

Iron Will, Lyra, and Bon Bon were in the center of town, doing everything they could to hold off the waves of monsters. With his giant war hammer, Iron Will was an offensive juggernaut, and countless magical creatures fell to his might. Lyra, though not exactly gifted in offensive spells, did what she could to send bolts of energy from her horn into the monsters. She also created her magical shield whenever necessary until Iron Will could finish off whatever was attacking her.

Bon Bon was content to mostly stay out of Iron Will's way, though she did run in and buck the occasional mushroom or timber wolf when the opportunity presented itself.

That is, she was content to stay out of the way until one of the slimes leapt at her from behind and landed directly on her bottom.

"Oww!" she cried, her eyes narrowing. "Are you kidding me?" She craned her neck back and grabbed the slime with her mouth, completely ignoring the searing pain that it caused. With a guttural growl of rage, she galloped headlong toward one of the mushroom creatures and hurled the slime at what she assumed was its face. The mushroom squawked with pain before Bon Bon lowered her head and drove it into the midsection of the creature. It went flying backwards, directly into the path of a charging timber wolf. The timber wolf stumbled, throwing it off-balance just long enough for Bon Bon to leap up onto its back and tackle it to the ground. She raised her hooves up and smashed them down onto the timber wolf over and over again until it became nothing more than a small pile of twigs. When she finished, she looked around in all directions before locking onto another target and rushing after it, screaming the entire time.

Iron Will and the timber wolf he had been fighting had both stopped to watch Bon Bon's fury be unleashed. Iron Will raised an eyebrow and looked down at the timber wolf. It looked up at him, then back at Bon Bon, then turned tail and retreated back into the forest as fast as it could.

"Hey, who said you could have all the fun? Why don't you save some for me?" a voice called out.

Iron Will turned and grinned. He strode toward the source of the voice and folded his arms across his chest. "What took so long?" he asked.

Shining Armor laughed. "Sorry, had a city to defend. You might have heard of it. Canterlot? Anyway, I also brought some backup with me." Behind him, patrols of his Royal Guard spread out in order to assist where they were needed. Bursts of green magic could occasionally be seen as Flim and Flam joined in the effort as well. Shining Armor walked up to Iron Will and held out his spear.

Iron Will raised his eyebrow, but soon gave in. He traded his war hammer for Shining Armor's spear, ignoring the childlike joy showing on the pony captain's face. The two stood back to back, their weapons at the ready.

"Shall we finish this?" Shining Armor said with a grin.

Iron Will smiled. "Let's do it."

"So, uh, do you think you can cancel out the Prism's effect so that whoever deactivates it doesn't, you know..." Rainbow asked.

"Does he really have to? I mean, he's Discord, right?" Pinkie Pie replied. "He can just change us back to who we're supposed to be if it alters us. Right?"

"Well, I mean. Probably."

"Probably!?" the six friends cried in unison.

"Discord!" Twilight exclaimed, obviously annoyed. "How could you not know what will happen? Isn't chaos magic kind of your thing?"

"Well yes, obviously, princess, but you're forgetting just who the Prism was created to stop in the first place. It wouldn't exactly be my fault if things didn't go to plan. That is kind of the point of chaos magic, after all."

"And you're telling us this now?" Applejack blurted.

"You're welcome," Discord said.

Twilight sighed and put a hoof to her forehead. "Okay, so we combine our magic... the magic of friendship along with your chaos magic. That should be enough to normalize things in the general area. Do you suppose it could be enough to deactivate the Prism without anypony having to do so manually?"

"I don't know," Discord admitted. "I've never tried. Let's give it a go, Worst case scenario, I'll see what I can do if anypony gets altered."

"That's not very reassuring, darling," Rarity sang sarcastically.

"Well it's not going to fix itself. Let's just get on with it," Rainbow said.

"Agreed," said Twilight. She and her friends moved into position and joined hooves. A moment later, they were all levitating off the ground as colorful bursts of magic appeared around them. Nearby, Discord closed his eyes and added his magic to theirs. As soon as the powers combined, the trees and buildings in the area that were floating began to drift to the ground as the normalizing effect took place.

Unseen by any of the gathered friends, Amber Glow watched from within one of the buildings. She thought about what she'd just heard. If the Entropy Prism didn't deactivate on its own, somepony was going to have to do it manually. There were no guarantees that Discord could assist in changing them back, being that the magic within the Prism was meant to stop Discord in the first place.

She took a look around. Things were normalizing, but it didn't look like it was going to be enough. Equestria couldn't afford to lose any of these six friends, but there was no way any of them would allow Amber to try if they knew she was there. That was just the kind of ponies they were. She stealthily left the building she was in and made for the one that the others had indicated held the Prism. Once inside, she tread carefully around various floating chairs and other things until she saw what she was looking for.

The Prism wasn't glowing, and there wasn't any kind of power that she could sense emanating from it. It wasn't even floating.

It terrified her.

She closed her eyes and, after she managed to stop her legs from shaking, reached a hoof out and touched the artifact.

Nothing happened.

With a small sigh of relief, she picked the Prism up. It seemed as if it were safe to carry. Good. If she were to try and deactivate the Prism and fail... she didn't want Twilight and her friends to be affected by whatever might happen. She quickly fled the building and disappeared back into the surrounding forest. Once she felt she was a far enough distance away, she set the Prism down and stared at it.

This was it? This one small thing was responsible for so much danger in Equestria. How many more dangerous artifacts just like it were out there?

She reached her hoof out, intent on deactivating it, but she hesitated. Her heartbeat increased, her breathing became heavier, and sweat dripped down her forehead.

What was going to happen to her?

With a sigh, she thought back to the speech she'd heard earlier from one of the old Adventurer's Guild members who was just a filly.

A hero doesn't do something dangerous for recognition or reward. A hero does it because it needs to be done.

She smiled. Such wise words from one so young.

"I'm sorry, Trixie," she said. She then touched a hoof to the Prism and thought of normalcy.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She looked all around, but there wasn't anything floating in the air that shouldn't have been.

"It worked!" Twilight Sparkle cried. "The Prism must have been deactivated. Everything's back to normal!"

Discord shrugged. "And here I was looking forward to seeing if I could reverse its effects on somepony." At the glares he received he held his paw and claw up. "I'm kidding! Sheesh, tough crowd. Really though, can we go home now? As delightful as its been to save the day, I do have other things to attend to."

"I can't believe it, but I'm gonna have to agree with Discord," Applejack said. "Y'all run along now. I'll go get that Prism thingy so we can hide it away somewhere safe."

A few minutes later, however, Applejack came back empty-hooved. "It's done gone and vanished! Must've vaporized when we combined our magic or the like. I looked all over, and it just ain't there!"

Somewhere in the forest, somepony slowly stood up on sore legs. She tried to think of how she ended up where she was, but no answers came to mind. In fact, everything about what had just happened was hazy.

She concentrated and searched deep within herself for something... any kind of answer to hold onto.

Glow.

Her name? No. At least, that wasn't all of it. What had happened to her? She stumbled over something and looked down. Some kind of brooch or pendant was on the ground. A multi-faceted ruby set in gold with six small circles surrounding it. What was this?

Magic.

Magic. Yes. It had done... something to her. Something she couldn't explain, but she knew it was terrible. Magic was mysterious. Dangerous. The world would be better off if magic were to disappear before it could harm anypony else.

She picked up the object and carried it with her as she walked further into the forest. Nothing about her felt... right. She couldn't put her hoof on it, and it was infuriating.

She stumbled onto a lake. She was thirsty and needed water. She walked to the water's edge and bent down for a drink, but she paused when she saw her reflection.

She was... small. A filly. Her peach colored face was freckled, and a shock of blue curls hung from her mane.

She didn't recognize herself at all.

"I'm... tiny," she said. She looked at her reflection again, and tried to reach once again for something of herself. Anything.

Optimism.

Yes, she shouldn't be so pessimistic. She might not understand what was going on, but she should try to see the bright side of things.

"No, I'm not tiny," the filly said. "More like... cozy."

With that said, the filly drank her fill and disappeared further into the forest.

It was several days after the Battle of Ponyville when Shining Armor came to visit Lyra. The battle had ended abruptly when all the monsters suddenly lost most of their aggression. From there, it was an easy matter for the combined forces from Ponyville and Canterlot to clean up what was left. In the end, nopony was badly hurt, and the town was already starting to get back to normal.

"Shining Armor?" Lyra blinked. "Um, come in! Sorry, I just wasn't expecting any more official visits. Not that I don't appreciate the medal the princess awarded me, but I kind of figured the celebrations were all finished and everypony had moved on."

"Oh, my visit isn't about anything like that." He stepped inside and took the seat that Lyra offered. "It's about your debt."

Lyra's eyes widened. "Wait... I paid that off! There's no way that after all we've been through—"

Shining Armor held a hoof up. "No, it's not like that. See, your debt originally came from your parents, correct?"

Lyra shrugged. "That's what I've been told."

Shining nodded. "They took out a loan from the Canterlot Royal Bank to fund what was supposed to be a short, easy quest offered by a company called Adventure Life. We learned as much by studying the journal your parents left behind at the site of the Entropy Prism. Adventure Life was a company that offered such quests for large rewards. Or... that's what they wanted everypony to think."

Lyra blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Adventure Life was just one of many names the company went by. We've done some digging, and it turns out that the folks at Adventure Life had what they thought was a fool proof plan. One of them found an artifact... one that could alter reality. The Entropy Prism. As it turns out, they knew exactly what they were sending ponies out to do. They knew that ponies like your parents could never complete the quests they sent them on, because anypony who completed the quest would become somepony else entirely, meaning they would never have to pay out a reward."

Lyra put a hoof to her mouth. "That... that's awful!" she said. "But why would they do that?"

Shining Armor leaned forward. "That's where their sister company would come in. You may have heard of them. With ponies disappearing, it would leave large debts in their names that were unaccounted for. Enter a little startup called Can't Run, Can't Hide to sweep in and collect the debts from unsuspecting family members. It didn't take them long to realize that if they waited a few years, they could collect a large amount of interest as well. The entire thing was a get-rich scheme!"

The room was silent while this information was absorbed. Finally, Lyra said, "B-but... Iron Will?"

"Completely unaware of what was going on. He'd only been on the job a few days when he came for your debt, and had no knowledge of anything other than their urgency at getting him to collect."

It took some time for Lyra to fully absorb what she'd just learned. But Shining Armor wasn't finished.

"So that's why I'm here today. The criminals behind both Adventure Life and Can't Run, Can't Hide have all been apprehended. They have a lot to pay for, and the princess will make sure that justice is served. And that leads to the matter of your debt. Upon learning of what these two companies have been up to, the Royal Canterlot Bank has waived all debts related to the matter."

"Well, that's nice of them," Lyra said, "but I already paid off my debt."

Shining Armor smiled. "I don't think you understand. You paid one hundred twenty-five thousand bits to a company that doesn't exist, for a debt that has been forgiven in its entirety. I know it can't bring your parents back, but... " He whistled, and the door suddenly opened. Several Royal Guard ponies entered bearing multiple chests between them. They set the chests down and went back outside.

"Here it is now. All one hundred twenty-five thousand bits. I believe that makes you the second or third richest pony in Ponyville, Lyra Heartstrings."

Lyra stared at the chests. Admirably, she lasted a few moments before she finally fainted.

Chapter 35 - Retirement

"So do you enjoy running the inn together? It doesn't look like you get many customers up here," Lyra said. She took a sip of warm cider and looked out the large window at the spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and lake it provided. It truly was beautiful here.

"Oh, yes," the elderly mare said. "It's a simple life, but it's a happy one." She and her husband had been happy to sit and chat with Lyra for well near an hour by the time Lyra asked the question. In all that time, nopony else had entered the inn.

"Wouldn't trade it for the world," the old stallion said.

The mare looked at Lyra, and a genuine look of concern appeared on her face. "Oh my, Miss. Are you alright?"

Lyra smiled and wiped away the tears that had appeared on her cheeks. "Yes. Sorry, I'm fine. More than fine, actually." She stood up and looked at each of the ponies for a moment before saying, "Would you mind... do you think I could come stay. Regularly, I mean?" She patted her saddlebags and the clink of many bits could be heard. "I'm good for it, trust me."

The couple looked at each other.

"I don't see why not," the stallion said.

"You seem like a lovely young lady. It would be our pleasure if you came to stay again, Miss..." the mare blinked. "Sorry, what was your name?"

"Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings."

The mare smiled again. "What a beautiful name. You come and visit whenever you like, Lyra Heartstrings."

Lyra said her goodbyes and left the inn. Outside, Iron Will and Bon Bon were waiting.

"That took longer than usual," Bon Bon said. "So... what do you think?"

Lyra wiped another tear from her eyes and nodded slowly.

"No way! Seriously? You really think it's them?" Bon Bon put a hoof on her head and stared up at the sky. "After all this time. You're pretty certain? I mean... are you going to ask Discord?"

Lyra shook her head. "No. They're... they're happy. I can't quite explain it, but there's something still there. I know it's them."

"So what do you plan on doing?" Iron Will asked.

Lyra smiled. "We're adventurers, so it's onward to wherever our hooves take us. And when it comes time for a rest, I now know of a great little place nestled within the mountains that's run by a couple so friendly, you'd swear they were family." She adjusted her saddlebags and checked some supplies. "Maybe someday I'll tell them. I have a feeling they'll know it even before I bring it up. But I won't try to change them. That shouldn't be my decision to make, it should be theirs. But for now," she fished out a contract from her bags, "we have a Royal Guard-approved quest to take care of. You two ready?"

"Ready," Iron Will said.

Bon Bon smiled, and came in for a group hug. "Ready," she said.

"Adventure, ho!" Lyra cried. With that, the three friends traveled onward, toward another adventure.

The End

Chapter 1 - Debt

Chapter 1
Debt

Lyra Heartstrings was sleeping peacefully in her warm, soft bed when opportunity knocked at her door. It did not knock heavily, nor did it knock gently. It knocked in such a way as to produce a very reasonable level of noise and, in fact, was just loud enough to wake the mint-colored unicorn from her slumber without startling her. Stretching her back and shoulders, Lyra half-opened her eyes, took a sleepy glance around her room, then promptly flopped her head back onto her pillow and went back to sleep.

It is said that opportunity does not knock twice, but in this case it did, albeit a bit more firmly than before.

Lyra grabbed her pillow in her hooves, flipped over onto her side with a swish of her tail, and pressed it firmly over her head. Although her display of dissent was admirable, there was nopony else around to see it, and she could not block out the offending noise. With a small sigh, she leapt out of bed and trotted through her house and to the front door. Despite her earlier protests, she put on a big smile as she opened the door.

"Hello!" she beamed as the door swung open. Her smile faltered only slightly when she realized that it wasn't one of her many pony friends waiting outside to greet her, but was instead a large, bluish-grey minotaur studying a clipboard. He looked over the top of the board when he noticed Lyra had opened the door.

"Good day there, pony," the minotaur said in a gravelly voice. "I, Iron Will, am looking for a Miss..." he trailed off as he quickly brought the clipboard back up. "Lyra Hate-strings." He brought the board back down and scrutinized her. "If you would be so kind as to show Iron Will to this unicorn, Iron Will would be most pleased."

Lyra scratched at her white and green mane with a forehoof. "My name is Lyra, but my last name is Heartstrings, not Hate-strings..."

The minotaur quickly looked back down at his clipboard. "Is that so?" he asked. "Well then, Iron Will will just make a quick adjustment here and... there we go. Lyra Heartstrings it is, then," he said with a satisfied grin.

"Thanks, I guess," Lyra quipped. She raised an eyebrow at the minotaur, who was staring ahead blankly and still grinning. "So, you needed to see me about something?" she queried.

"Ah, yes!" he said, suddenly coming out of his trance. He briefly glanced back down at the clipboard again before continuing. "Iron Will is here as a representative of Can't Run, Can't Hide, a collection agency working on behalf of the Canterlot Royal Bank. We have been informed that your parents have been missing for several years. Is this correct?"

Lyra's ears lowered. "Yes, that's correct," she murmured. Then her ears shot back upwards and she looked up at the minotaur excitedly. "Wait, have you found my parents?" she asked, hopping up and down gently.

"Hm? No, that's not the kind of collection we do," the minotaur replied. "Iron Will is here to inform you that due to their unexpected disappearance, in lieu of your parents, you now have the responsibility of paying off their debt to our client, the Canterlot Royal Bank. Congratulations on your new and sudden responsibility!" With that said, he clapped his large hands together and grinned down at her. "You can make your first payment now, or within a week. And please do not worry, Iron Will will make every effort to remind you each and every day when your payments are due so that we do not have to repossess your home. Any questions?"

There was an awkward silence as Lyra stared open-mouthed at Iron Will, who was smiling nervously down at the stunned unicorn. After his disaster with that assertive yellow pegasus a while back, the minotaur was quite self-conscious about upsetting his clients. Technically this Lyra Heartstrings was not his client, but it would do him no good to upset her and cause her to flee town. Despite its name, Can't Run, Can't Hide had a laughable track record when it came to reclaiming debts. It was something they preferred to keep quiet, and it was this fact that had led them to hire on Iron Will with the hope that no one would dare try to flee from him. If he couldn't even get his first target to pay up, he would have no hope of retaining his new job. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Is there anything Iron Will can do or explain for you?" he pressed.

Lyra snapped out of her stupor and blinked a few times. After a moment, she found her voice again. "My... parents had a debt, and I owe it? But I haven't seen them in years! I didn't even know they had any debts. I don't even have that much saved up," she admitted, shaking her head. She looked back up at Iron Will. "How much did they owe?"

Iron Will's chuckle sounded like crumbling granite. "Now, now. Can't Run, Can't Hide has discovered that the best policy is to ensure that the full amount of your new debt is not revealed on the first day. It keeps ponies like you from fainting or fleeing on the spot. Tricky business, that," he muttered to himself. "What I can reveal is that the number is incredibly large, and that we will be forced to claim your home, and possibly all of the possessions within it, if it is not repaid in full in an efficient and timely manner." At the look of despair on Lyra's face the minotaur quickly added, "But we are willing to work with you to ensure that the transfer goes smoothly. And remember! Iron Will shall visit daily to ensure that you are fully aware of when you must pay. We are aware that there is nothing worse than forgetting a due date."

There were plenty of things that Lyra could think of that were worse than forgetting a due date. For example, being woken up by a large, yet strangely polite minotaur who states he's here to inform you that you owe an incredibly large mystery sum of bits that your parents failed to tell you about before they decided to suddenly and mysteriously disappear from your life. She supposed things could be worse. Besides, maybe she could just take out another loan to consolidate the debt and buy some extra time, then she could...

"Oh yes," the minotaur added suddenly. "Iron Will forgot to mention that because this debt has been outstanding for a very long time, you've been black-listed by the Canterlot Royal Bank and all banks within the surrounding territories. You should probably be aware of that."

"Arrgh!" Lyra screamed and slammed the door in frustration. She did not answer the tentative knocks that followed.

"Um, Iron Will shall return tomorrow to remind you of your due date," the minotaur shouted through the door. "Iron Will wishes for you to have a nice day!" Lyra could hear his departing hoofsteps.

What am I going to do? she thought miserably.

Chapter 9 - Availability

Chapter 9
Availability

Lyra deftly hopped down from the Friendship Express and landed on the wooden platform below, where she stopped to take a deep breath of the fresh country air.

"I'm so excited!" she cried. "I can't wait to see what Appleoosa has to offer. I hear you can get cherries that have been imported all the way from Dodge Junction!" She spun in a circle as her eyes took in everything around her, then stopped when she spotted something several carriages away. "Oh look, there's Trixie! Let's wave to her!"

Lyra happily waved first one, then two hooves, before finally hopping up and down on her hind legs in an effort to get her competitor's attention. She was preparing to shout when Trixie finally looked up from adjusting her cape, noticed Lyra, and angrily shook a hoof at her before turning tail and galloping away.

"Yayifications, she waved back!"

"Iron Will does not believe that the blue one was waving," Iron Will stated. He squeezed his large frame through the train's exit and stepped onto the platform. Bon Bon followed close behind.

"In Lyra's world, everypony is waving," Bon Bon said flatly. She took a moment to look at their surroundings.

Appleoosa Station was buzzing with activity. Important-looking ponies in suits carried briefcases as they went about official business of one sort or another, families of ponies, complete with mischievous colts and fillies, bustled to and from the train carriages, and large buffalo pushed their way through the crowds in order to get to their destination.

"So many customers..." Lyra whispered. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes were wide with wonder.

Bon Bon tapped Lyra's head gently with a hoof. "Hey now, settle down," she said. "We're no longer in the shop, so try and remember why we're here."

"You're right," Lyra said. Her eyes showed her determination. "Let's go purchase some inventory!"

It is a universally accepted fact that ponies love to shop. Whether they are getting the week's groceries, picking out a new dress, or even hiring a DJ for the next party, a pony who is parting with their bits is usually a very happy pony indeed.

Unfortunately, Lyra Heartstrings was not a happy pony.

"What do you mean you're all out of cherries?" she asked the cherry vendor. "What do you call those right there?" She pointed to a large crate of what looked to be some of the freshest, juiciest cherries she'd ever seen.

The cherry vendor, a stout fellow in a straw boater hat and a striped vest, sighed. "Those have already been sold. I'm sorry, but somepony just came by a few minutes ago and bought my entire stock. I won't receive another shipment for at least a few days."

Lyra's ears drooped. She took one last look at the delicious-looking cherries, then hung her head and walked away. It was the third stand she'd been to that had been completely wiped out. She looked up and saw Bon Bon approaching from down the lane, and couldn't help but notice that she was empty-hooved.

"Can you believe it?" Bon Bon said when she had drawn near. "Everypony's out of stock! Even the turnip stand was sold out. Honestly, who buys turnips by the crateful?" She frowned and kicked a stray pebble, then looked up apologetically. "I guess you've had no luck either, huh?"

"No," Lyra admitted. "Maybe I should have opened up my shop in Appleoosa. The ponies here sure do like to spend big."

Bon Bon snorted. "Yeah, I'm not buying it. Something's not adding up."

The two friends stood in silence for a few moments before they realized that it wasn't silent at all. Lyra raised her head and noticed that a small crowd of ponies was heading rapidly toward some kind of commotion down the lane. Angry shouting could be heard all the way from where they stood.

"Well well," Bon Bon mused, swivelling her ears to hear better. "It looks like we've found Iron Will. Come on, let's go see what kind of trouble the lug's gotten himself into."

There are times when two individuals might not agree upon something. This can lead to some very awkward situations if those who disagree can not come to some kind of compromise. Thankfully, there are quite a few calm and reasonable methods of sorting out differences.

Iron Will was not using any of those methods.

"Iron Will was here first!" The minotaur could be heard bellowing even before Lyra and Bon Bon could see him. By the time they arrived, a decent crowd had gathered to witness the spectacle. When they finally made their way through the sea of ponies, their jaws dropped at the sight they beheld.

"Well Trixie is willing to purchase the entire stock!" the corporate unicorn shouted. She jumped up onto the vendor stand they were arguing over as if it were a stage, and scowled at the minotaur. "Unless you're willing to beat Trixie's offer, she suggests you go crawling back to your master." A sudden, sly grin appeared on her face. "Though Trixie supposes she might be willing to hire you on to work at Filthy Trix. It's bound to pay more than they're offering," she said, pointing an accusatory hoof at Lyra and Bon Bon.

"How dare she!" Bon Bon growled.

"Filthy Trix?" Lyra asked, confused.

Trixie was taken aback for a moment. "It– it's the name of Trixie's shop," she said, somewhat uncertainly. "Trixie had no say in naming it," she added meekly. At the sound of a few chuckles from the crowd, Trixie drew herself up and addressed the gathered ponies with conviction. "Yes, that's right!" she cried. "Filthy Trix, owned by yours truly, and financed by the respectable Filthy Rich, has just opened up in Ponyville, and Trixie guarantees you will find no finer items anywhere in Equestria!"

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other. Trixie had a certain kind of charisma to her, and now she had the full attention of everypony in the area. She'd turned her argument with Iron Will into an opportunity for free advertising!

"In fact," Trixie continued, growing more confident by the moment, "Trixie will offer the first fifty customers who make a purchase a ten percent discount! Consider it Trixie's gift for having to listen to such a brute," she pointed a hoof at Iron Will, "and having it ruin your day!"

Cheers erupted from all around Lyra and Bon Bon, who couldn't believe it. In one fell swoop, Trixie had not only cleared out Appleoosa of any usable inventory, but had also stolen away any potential customers there may have been.

Lyra looked at Bon Bon. "What are we going to do now?"

Chapter 28 - Competition

Author's Note

NOTE: The song in this chapter is a direct parody of The Other Side from The Greatest Showman. If you know the song, sing along. All credit goes to Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for writing the original. Unfamiliar with the song? Get the original by clicking here.

Chapter 28 - Competition

"Good morning. My name is Amber Glow, and I'm here about the sales position that's been advertised."

Amber was slightly shorter than your average mare. Her golden mane shimmered and flowed over a brown coat that sported a single white streak from her neck to her chest. She was more cute than elegant. Her pose was confident, her face kind.

Trixie already didn't like her.

"The shifts are every day, early morning to early evening until either we run Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium out of business, or we run out of funds and go into bankruptcy ourselves. If you want a break you have to earn it, and don't expect any discounts on products. You'll earn a small commission on every sale, and that's it. No sales, no pay. If you can't handle that, I'm sure you can find the door yourself. Any questions?"

Amber blinked. A moment later she asked, "Can I earn more than one break each day?"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Sure you can. You can have one for every, oh I don't know, three thousand bits worth of merchandise you sell." With that said, she turned her back on the potential hire and busied herself with adjusting her cape. With any luck the foolish young mare would leave her to enjoy some peace and quiet before she had to deal with some annoying customer.

The moment she had that thought, the bell over the front door rang. Wonderful! For once something had gone her way. She turned back around only to experience immediate disappointment when she saw that Amber had not, in fact, left the store. She was still standing there with that ridiculous smile on her face. Worse, now there was a customer in the store.

"Um, one more question. When can I start?"

Not even silently counting to five could hide Trixie's annoyance. She indicated the customer and skeptically said, "Let's see what you've got."

Amber's smile widened only slightly, then she turned to face the customer: an elderly stallion with a curly white mane and spectacles.

"Welcome to Filthy Trix. My name is Amber Glow, and it's my pleasure to serve you. Might you be interested in anything particular this fine morning?"

Trixie mentally gagged and turned her attention elsewhere. If this Amber Glow was actually going to stay and work, she needed some excuse to leave the store. Anything would be better than hearing that sickeningly sweet voice any longer. She spied Diamond Tiara coming out of the back room and had to physically stop herself from cringing. Whenever the filly was around, it felt as if her mother would suddenly appear at any moment, intent on firing Trixie for even the smallest of infractions.

She needed to get the kid out of the store before that could happen.

"Oh Diamond Tiara?" Trixie asked as nicely as she could. "Would you mind accompanying me to... um—" suddenly a brilliant plan formed in her mind "—to the Adventurer's Guild? I have some... business to attend to there."

Diamond backed a step away, only to have to catch herself as her leg gave out. She bit back a verbal response to the pain and faked a smile. "Are you sure there isn't anything around here I can help with? I'd rather not go out if—"

"Oh just come on!" Trixie interrupted. She glared moodily towards Amber Glow as the new hire piled items onto the checkout counter for the customer before looking back at Diamond Tiara. "I'm giving you a break for... reasons. Now come along. We're leaving."

With that, Trixie left the store quickly, and Diamond slowly limped after her.

Flim and Flam returned to the guild hall with an unwelcome guest following after them. Sure, they had signed her up as a guild member, but there was something unsettling about Maud Pie.

"You did something wrong."

That right there. That was the problem with Maud Pie. One of the problems, anyway. Had the duo been aware of her uncanny ability to seemingly read their minds, they certainly wouldn't have had any dealings with her at all. It was all very disconcerting, and probably would do no good for their profits, either.

Truth be told, however, Maud hadn't needed to read their minds. She happened to have stumbled across them just as they were testing Flam's slime concoction. Caught red-hoofed! And after they had been so careful about everything to that point.

"Fix it."

Flim placed a hoof over his face. "My dear, sweet Maud. We've tried fixing things! This whole monster business isn't our fault." He swallowed as she stared, unblinking, at him. "Not entirely our fault, anyway. And we've been looking out for anypony who might be, er, inconvenienced. Surely you realize we're not to blame here, right?"

"Fix it."

"Alright! My brother and I are looking into it. Believe me when I say that although our original intentions may not have been, ahem, entirely virtuous, ever since Lyra Heartstrings took over the guild my brother and I have seen things from a different perspective. We're trying to be, er, 'good.'"

To their great relief, that answer seemed to satisfy Maud. She turned around and headed straight out the exit without another word. Before the door could close, two more ponies entered the hall.

"Trixie Lulamoon," Flam said as he moved behind the counter and prepared to give it its daily polish. "What brings you to our humble hall?"

Trixie wasted no time. She walked over to the job board and scooped up every job there was. She then cantered proudly over to the counter and placed them all upon it. Diamond took a seat and watched.

"Trixie would like to take on these contracts," she announced.

The brothers looked at each other, then back to Trixie.

"My dear," Flam said, leaning on the counter. "You've never gone on a single contract, and now you want to take them all on? I know you call yourself great and powerful, but you may wish to gain a bit of experience before taking on most of those. Besides, you do recall who runs the guild now, correct?"

Trixie's grin was wicked. At that moment a cloaked figure entered the hall and stopped short at the sight of Trixie and Diamond Tiara. It moved over to the job board and let out a small gasp as the realization sunk in that there were no jobs available.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Trixie said to the cloaked figure. "There aren't any contracts available if that's what you're after. Such a shame, too." She looked at Diamond Tiara. "You know, Flam's right. You never know how long it will take for Trixie to become experienced enough to finish any of these. It could be a while." Her last words were spoken with mock sweetness. With that, she gathered the contracts and left the shop.

Diamond Tiara made her way slowly towards the exit of the guild hall. Trixie was already outside, but Diamond's injuries slowed her down too much to follow closely. She was finally nearing the exit when the door suddenly slammed shut in front of her and the cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows to block her way.

Diamond frowned. "What do you think you're doing, Scootaloo? Get out of my way."

There are times in in everypony's life where they might disagree with another pony. Perhaps they are fans of rival authors, or maybe one pony's favorite food is another's nightmare. On occasion, these disagreements can lead to arguments, or in some rare instances, even physical conflict.

And sometimes, conflicts were resolved through songs. As music began to swell seemingly from nowhere, it became apparent that this was one of those times. Scootaloo crossed her forelegs. It was on.

"Right here, right now. I'll help you to get out. You won't admit it, but you know I see it." She walked past Diamond and moved towards the counter where Flam stood watching.

"You run, with us... we'll save you from the fuss... and all the misery that you've been feeling." She knocked on the counter and Flam slid a small mug of cider her way. She caught it and downed it quickly, then continued.

"So take your stubborn pride, and just throw it aside. You think it's too late, but it's never too late. You can keep up your facade, or break free from that old fraud. Just take a little risk and see..." She suddenly jumped up onto one of the tables and stood on her hind legs.

"Don't you want to get away from this uptown part you have to play? Can't you see that you and me, we can finally be unified? Come and join the other side." She pointed a hoof at Diamond.

"You can do like you do, or you can do like me. Take charge of your life so you can be free. See now, we can overcome this great divide... if you join the other side."

Diamond Tiara backed away, but stumbled over her injured leg. Scootaloo's eyes widened and she jumped down from the table to help her up, but Diamond held out a hoof and shook her head. It was her turn to sing.

"Okay, my friend, you want to let me in? Well sorry to say it but it just won't happen." She stood up and turned to leave.

"So thanks, but no. I think I'm good to go. And I quite enjoy this life you say I'm trapped in." She rolled her eyes as Flim and Flam moved to block her retreat. She turned around and poked Scootaloo with a hoof.

"Now I admire you, and this whole thing you do. You're really something, and I'm not judging. But I live in luxury with no interest in drudgery... I guess I'll leave that up to you." With that she pushed Scootaloo back into a chair and hopped up onto a table herself.

"Don't you know that I'm just fine, with this life I live by my design? I've got all that I need and I don't need to have a guide. I don't need to join the other side." She began to mimic Scootaloo's moves on the table.

"So go and do what you do. I'll have to disagree. Don't pretend like you know what's best for me. I don't need my life modified. I don't need to join the other side."

With Scootaloo on the ropes, Flim and Flam quickly swooped in on either side of Diamond Tiara. They had their own verse to sing.

"Is this really how you want your life to be?" Flam asked.

"A lonely journey through hyperbole?" Flim chipped in.

Diamond frowned and shoved past them. "If I were mixed up with you it'd be the start of the end. Disgraced and disowned, a pain that I could never mend."

Sensing an opening, Scootaloo closed in. "But you could finally live a little..."

"Finally laugh a little," Flim added.

Scootaloo continued. "You'll have the freedom to dream. We can see that it's, your heart that's aching. Your old life just needs forsaking..."

Flam grinned. "Now that's a deal that seems worth taking!"

Flim then opened the doors to the guild hall. "But I guess we'll leave that up to you..." Then he, his brother Flam, and Scootaloo all stepped back respectfully.

Diamond looked outside. Trixie had apparently just realized that she was missing, and was stomping back toward the hall. She wore a frown on her face. Diamond glanced down to the floor, deep in thought, and pondering possibilities that she had never before dared to imagine.

A moment later she slammed the door shut in Trixie's face and turned to the three ponies who had had the tenacity to allow her to hope.

"Well it's intriguing but to join would cost me greatly. So what percentage of the gains would I be taking?"

Scootaloo sighed, but Flim stepped in and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. He addressed Diamond.

"Fair enough, you'd want a piece of all the action. We'll give you seven, strike a deal and make it happen."

Diamond laughed, but it seemed strained. Her hooves were shaking almost imperceptibly. Almost. "For all the risk I'm taking, eighteen is only fair."

Flim smirked. "Or we can call it quits and all you'll be left with is air."

Diamond's eyes grew wide. "Fifteen!"

Flam shrugged and addressed his brother. "Shall we go?"

"Twelve!" Diamond shouted as Trixie began to bang on the the guild hall doors.

"I think we're done," Flim casually remarked.

"Ten!"

The sound of desperation that accompanied Diamond's offer gave pause to Scootaloo, and she pushed past Flim and Flam to be beside Diamond Tiara. Diamond was huddled on the floor, her forelegs covering her head. Her entire body was shaking, and Scootaloo looked back at the brothers and shook her head slightly.

The brothers nodded. No words were needed. For once in their lives, this wasn't about the money. It was about breaking a child out of a life of feeling like she were above everypony else, and taking her away from a path that was going to lead her to...

...well, becoming like them.

Scootaloo wrapped her forelegs around Diamond Tiara until she calmed down. She then helped her former enemy to stand and, after a moment's hesitation, helped wipe the tears from her eyes.

She then held out a hoof.

Diamond stared at the extended hoof, even as Trixie pounded away at the now-locked doors. When she raised her eyes to meet Scootaloo's she was wearing a genuine smile. She extended her hoof and bumped Scootaloo's, sealing the deal.

She was finally free.