Ponyville Trash and Treasures 2 (Pigpen's Antique Shoppe)

[Mojo]

Pigpen

Mr. Waddle

Welcome to Pigpen's Antique Shoppe, just outside of Ponyville next to Pigpen's Junkyard. It is a store that offers a surprising excellent collection of rare antiques and well as some very high quaility used and new merchanidise. The propriator, Pigpen, may not be much to look at but he does have a fine eye for valuable items. Many of the things in his shop were savaged from cleanup jobs or even from the daily trash collection he operates each morning in Ponyville. With him is Mr. Waddle, an expert on antiques who helps out with his vast knowledge as well as excellent 'pony' skills. Do watch out for Rascal, Pigpen's pet raccoon he got from Fluttershy's pet adoptions. Rascail has the run of the store and is surprising helpful to his owner as well as customers. Also, there's the loyal swarm of flies that hang around Pigpen. They also help out around the store in rather odd ways too.

Today, Pigpen has just arrived to open the store. Mr. Waddle and Rascal are there waiting, taking their positions in the store as Pigpen's flies buzz over to the front door and turn the 'CLOSED' sign around to the other side, clearly displaying the 'OPEN' sign for all to see.

Pigpen's Antique Shoppe is open for business!

[Lux]

"Now, where is this place?" Scootaloo said looking around while keeping watch for any thing or anypony she might crash into with her scooter. She was given a very important task, one that the very fate of the Cutie Mark Crusaders hung in the balance! It was time for the clubhouse to be renovated! Sure the club house was fine now, but what if they got more members? What if they needed bigger room for bigger things and ideas? Above all the tree house needed to be, in Scootaloo's mind, the coolest clubhouse in Ponyville, no scratch that, in all of Equestria!

It was for this reason that she was sent to find cool things to add to her second home. The Pegasus wasn't just blindly sent out though but given information about a place that sold good cheap things to adorn the place. Why if she could find enough Scootaloo could get her cutie mark in interior decorating... or maybe not.

"Huh, this is where Apple Bloom told me it would be. But this doesn't look like a shop. It looks like a junkyard!"

Parking her scooter somewhere where a pony wouldn't mistaken it for sale or trash, the filly went on her own through the twisted heaps of junk, looking for any inspiration before entering the store.

"Um... hello? is anypony here?"

Zecora will arrive shortly after

[Mojo]

Hearing hoofsteps outside, Rascal the raccoon began to jump up and down excitedly as Pigpen's loyal swarm of flies formed an arrow pointing at the door as it opened.

Mr Waddle's and Pigpen's faces brightened when Scootaloo entered inside.

"Good Morning, Scootaloo!" Mr. Waddle neighed cheerfully. "I've seen you driving that scooter around town from time to time."

"Ah! Miss Scootaloo!" Pigpen neighed as the shaggy, unkempt stallion approached her. "Welcome to my store! I have just about anything you could ever need! May I help you find what you are looking for?"

Rascal moved over, close to Pigpen as he looked up at the young Pegasus filly. He kept a cautious distance as the swarm of flies returned to orbiting Pigpen's head.

[Lux]

No sooner did Scootaloo enter the store that he was greeted by two unique ponies. One was old, really really old, like maybe as old as Granny Smith, named Mr. Waddle. He was kind of creepy in Scootaloo's mind as he would sometimes be conducting funerals. Another pony he recogonized, more so his smell that his actual looks was Pigpen, the resident pony who helped collect trash. The smell normally caused the filly to gag, but she tried to remain calm.

"Good morning Mr. Waddle. Yeah, i've been practicing a lot with my tricks lately. And hello Pigpen. I'm actually here on official Cutie Mark Crusaders business. I'm looking for things to make our already cool clubhouse even cooler! So I really got my hooves full!"

She looked around the store, each piece of antique or regular item more amazing than the last. It was then that the filly realized that this was going to be tougher than she imagined!

[Mojo]

Pigpen smiled warmly at the Pegasus filly.

"I would like to offer a few suggestions, if I may," the shaggy, unkempt stallion said as he pointed to a nearby wall, "first, have a look at all these paintings! Would you believe I got many of these from abandoned houses I am asked to clean out? Look at this painting of Princess Platinum! Looks great, doesn't it? And here's one of Commander Easy Guider of the anceint Wonderbots! Like the way he soars in the sky? And here's a real beauty, a nice, quiet painting of a water wheel mill near the Nimbusgait Lakes! Could I interest you in any of these or the other paintings on this wall? I promise I'll give you a great deal!"

"Redecorating walls is always a great way to brighten any home, or even, any clubhouse," added Mr. Waddle. As he spoke, Rascal decided to get into the 'selling' act, the raccoon pointing to his favorite painting on the wall, a tall apple tree with a bird's nest in it. Painted with the nest was a mama bluebird with two baby bluebirds.

[Lux]

Scootaloo alternated her attention between Pigpen, Mr. Waddle and the myriad of pictures before her. They were all cool in their own way and each of them seemed to reflect each of the member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The picture of Princess Platinum reminded Scootaloo of Sweetie Belle and the image of the water mill Apple Bloom. As for the picture of Easy Glider, well Scootaloo imagined her in this pony's hoofsteps. To make matters even more complex though a raccoon, obviously Pigpen's pet began to point at another painting. Obviously he saw what he loved and want to share it with others.

"Hmm... you're right Mr. Waddle. The clubhouse is looking kind of bare. Maybe a picture will fix things. But there needs to be something that relates to all of us Crusaders. Hey, do you have something with Ponyville like a cool map or a painting of the town?"

[Mojo]

"You do have some of those, don't you Pigpen?" Mr. Waddle asked.

"Let's see, paintings of Ponyville," Pigpen said, putting a hoof to his chin as the shaggy, unkempt stallion was deep in thought. As Rascal looked up at the other paintings on the wall, the flies circling Pigpen's head flew straight up into the air towards the far wall of the store and then formed an arrow in midair, pointing at that wall. Pigpen and Mr Waddle walked over to where the flies were pointing.

"My stars! Look at that!" Mr Waddle neighed.

"Oh yeah, here they are! Over here Miss Scootaloo!" Pigpen neighed, pointing with a front hoof. "Here are three paintings that fit your description. As you can see, one is a painted, framed map of Ponyville! Got this as part of a trade with that weird Paint pony with the peace sign cutie mark, can't recall his name at the moment. And this is a bird's eye view of Ponyville painted by a griffon, so you know it's accurate. This last one seems to be a combination of both! Note the 3D effects on the map. Would you consider buying any of these?"

[SunsetSombra]

It had been a slightly trying morning for the apple stallion, Big Mac, the last couple of hours - frst of all, his cart seemed to have broken down....it's wheels all but run into the dirt and generally to a point of complere unuseability. The second part of this little disaster had been that the cart itself had wound up geting into an even more particularly unfortunate state because of the harness he used to hoist it with breaking whilst making his way to town....causing it to run wildly down a hill and into a tree.

This had unfortunately in turn caused quite the loss of apples that had been picked this morning, along with a few buckets that had been broken into splinters on the impact - so to say that Macintosh was not really in the best of moods was an underestimation on things...although, he supposed, it could easily have gotten a lot worse via the weather. Of course, there was no need to dwell on this one thought, 'lest the fates be tempted to turn the tides around on him there, too.

He was now in ponyville looking for a place to get some parts, or a replacement cart - and it just so happened that his eyes befell upon a familiar place that he'd seen many a time but had never ventured inside - a local antiques and general wares shoppe, just inside ponyville. He'd heard it was good for odds and ends, as well as bits and pieces...so it sounded very much like the kind of place he was in need of. Making his way through to the door, he pushes it open and peeks inside to see who was around - noticing a rather familiar and distinct aroma as he did so.

" Hello? "

Mayhaps, Macintosh pondered, he'd find something along the lines of what he needed in here - never hurt to try, afterall!

-

[Lux]

It was a long shot thinking that the owner would have what Scootaloo wanted. In reality the filly didn't really venture this store with any clear cut idea what would make the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse cooler, just that she would see what she could find. A map was an interesting idea though and would really be a neat addition for the tree house. As an added bonus it would prevent the orange Pegasus from having to decide between all those neat pictures Pigpen had.

Suddenly a stream of flies, once thought to be there just by being attracted to the shaggy pony's... unique smell... now took off and pointed the way to a far wall.

"Whoa, your flies can do tricks? That's so cool!"

As luck would have it the Pegasus now had to choose between three maps, all nicely done, far better than the ones she and her friends quickly sketched when planning missions on the fly. Her eyes darted between the three, trying to picture which one would look the best on a wall of the clubhouse. Finally she reached a decision.

"I like that one," she said pointing with her hoof at the map that was a combination of an overhead and a flat map, "Err... how much is it? Our Crusaders treasury is kind of... low at this time."

With that she revealed a modest sized sack of bits scraped together by the three from doing random jobs around town and also containing Scootaloo's personal allowance. Before she could get an answer the filly's ears perked up at the sound of another pony's voice, a deeper stallion's voice that Scootaloo knew could belong to only one pony.

"Big Macintosh? Are you here to look at all the cool things too?"

[Mojo]

"Well Miss Scootaloo, these flies are my friends," Pigpen begins to explain, "I really don't know why they follow me around all the time, but they do and they're very helpful. They've been helping me at this store ever since I opened it."

When the shaggy, unkempt stallion saw the painting she wanted and her meager bag of bits, he decided to give the youngster a break.

"Tell you what, young filly. That particular painting is on sale at a discount today, it'll cost you just one bit!"

As Pigpen was talking to Scootaloo, another customer entered the shoppe. Seeing that his shaggy friend was in the middle of a transaction with the young filly, Mr. Waddle was the first to approach the newest arrival.

"Why hello there young fellow!" the elderly glasses wearing Earth stallion spoke. "Welcome to Pigpen's Fine Antiques! Everything you see here is on sale and we even have even more fine items out back! Is there something in particular you are looking for?"

[SunsetSombra]

"Big Macintosh? Are you here to look at all the cool things too?"

Scootaloo was a curious l'il filly - a rambunctious l'il thing too, he noted...her immediate attention to his presence a fairly typical reaction for a filly her age at any rate.

" Eeeeyup! " he replies with a small chuckle - sure, he wasn't here for anything quite as 'cool' as a scooter and such, but there really was no denying that to some ponies, riding in a wagon or somesuch would probably fit into the whole concept of coolness...at least, thats what he assumed anyway. Still, his attention is then drawn to the greeting the owner of the shop...and apparently, Mac noted, the source of the interesting aroma that wafted throughout the atmosphere like an ever-present phantom.

"Welcome to Pigpen's Fine Antiques! Everything you see here is on sale and we even have even more fine items out back! Is there something in particular you are looking for?"

Mac rubbed the back of his head and took a moment to think about it - did he simply want to repair the old cart, or replace it?

Sure, he could probably grab some nails and make the effort to repair the older one, but it really was rather rickety and in need of more than just a casual renailing and paintjob - much as it pained him to admit it, the old pile of wood an' wheels needed to be given it's last rites and sent to...wherever it was that old wagons went to when they were done, dusted and no longer capable of doin' the jobs asked of them. As a result, Mac sucks in a small breath and ponders another moment about what he was going to say before going ahead with it.

" Ah'm in a slight, uh...need for a new cart! " Mac says with a small shrug, looking around at the shop interior - not really seeing much of anything immediately useful for him inside.

" Not sure if a place like this actually keeps one around or whatnot, buuut...well, ah was jus' gettin' into town an' you folks were the first available place! "

He had no idea whether or not this would really work out or not, but even if it didn't...well, he could STILL repair the old cart. Well, he hoped he could at least!

[Lux]

Scootaloo had a funny feeling as to why the flies seemed to gravitate towards Pigpen, but it was quite a feat to see them trained. She prepared herself for the price shock, ready to hear that it was too high to adorn the Crusader's clubhouse. To her delight though she learned that the map was able to be bought.

"I'll definitely take it," Scootaloo said, "Um... can you set that aside so that I'll pay for everything when I'm done?"

It was no surprise that Scootaloo spoke to big Macintosh so candidly. Apart from him being a common fixture around Sweet Apple Acres where the Crusaders' clubhouse lay and the fact that he was Apple Bloom's older brother, the fact was that Big Macintosh was... well... big! It was very easy for him to be picked out in a crowd and as a filly the red stallion towered over her. Still she wasn't afraid as Big Mac was a softie at heart.

Her mind started turning when Big Mac said he needed a new cart.

"Hey Big Macintosh, want Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and I to make you one? We can get our cutie marks in Cart Construction!"

[Mojo]

"Sure Miss Scootaloo!" Pigpen neighed happily, "be happy to set that one aside for you! See to it, my good friends!"

The swarm of flies seemed to buzz momentarily in acknowledgment as they flew over to the painting Scootaloo wanted, gently lifted it off the wall and then carried it off, setting it near the cashier table.

"Many thanks," the unkempt stallion said before turning to the young Pegasus filly. "There are many other things here you might be interested in purchasing. Perhaps something else to help decorate your clubhouse?"

As Pigpen continued waiting on Scootaloo, Mr. Waddle was overjoyed to hear the item Big Mac wanted to buy.

"You are in luck, young fellow!" the elderly earth stallion said, "Pigpen salvaged a large cart last week from an abandoned farm building outside of Trottingham. He and I just finished refurbishing it, might be just the cart you're looking for! It's parked out in the back, if you'll follow me, I'll gladly show it to you!"

[SunsetSombra]

Mac had to admit, the older pony certainly seemed to have a good handle on how to deal with customers young and old - even managing to keep the more feisty member of the CMC's placated with the fact that the item she was after had actually been there for the taking. The look on the youngsters face made mac chuckle for a moment, before realising the young filly was addressing him directly. "Hey Big Macintosh, want Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and I to make you one? We can get our cutie marks in Cart Construction!"

Big Mac paused and rubbed his muzzle, pondering the question for the barest moment before shaking his head once firmly in reply. " Eeeenope! "

Well, much as he admired the tenacious nature of the cutie mark hunting filly group, something told him they'd probably be more about the process of building the cart itself moreso than the end result, which would probably only end up with something going horribly awry, or even with the cart simply left in a mix of ideas forced into one. " Ah'm fine, l'il missy - ah think it'd be better if this cart were a simple l'il affair...but feel free t'make Applebloom a cart, ah'm sure that'd do you girls just as well! " - His comment at the end ensured that whilst Scoots request was politely declined, it left open the idea that perhaps they could still try for the same end result by going about it differently, without involving something he needed right now!

"You are in luck, young fellow!"

Macs ears perk as the reply from Mr Waddle came unexpectedly swiftly after the momentary conversation. " Well, that's good t'hear! "

"Pigpen salvaged a large cart last week from an abandoned farm building outside of Trottingham. He and I just finished refurbishing it, might be just the cart you're looking for! It's parked out in the back, if you'll follow me, I'll gladly show it to you!"

Well, that was definitely a large stroke of luck...mac felt like his luck might just well be turning around on this little situation.

" Well, that sounds like it might do! " Macintosh says with a light nod, a slight chuckle escaping the apple stallion as he found the stress of the situation slowly beginning to dissipate - in all honesty, he wasn't really sure if anypony else in town would even have what he needed, cart shops tended to be a little harder to come by in small towns than some folks might originally think. Who knows, he might even have given into the idea of the CMC's actually doing some reparations on the old one just to have it running again rather than be forced to head out to get one elsewhere. " Jus' lead the way when yer done here, ah can wait! "

The earth pony lets Scootaloo and Mr Waddle conduct and finish their business first...although chomping at the proverbial bit to get his own taken care of as soon as he possibly could!

[Lux]

To her surprise Pigpen's flies were very strong, able to carry the picture towards where the checkout area was with little effort. Before the filly would probably have just shooed them away if they came buzzing around her or if she was really annoyed crush them. Now however the orange Pegasus thought twice about hating these creatures, Not that she'd consider having them stay around her like Pigpen did but perhaps a little more respect.

Before she could answer the store owner Big Mac replied in his usual simple replies to her request to help build a cart: " Eeeenope! " It was something that she and the other Crusaders were accustomed to when talking to him, either an " Eeeeyup! " or strangely for the three fillies a more often heard " Eeeenope! " as an answer to all life's problems. The filly wondered what life would be like living with a sibling that had such a simple way of talking like Apple Bloom had with Big Macintosh. Strangely the earth pony filly and her older sister Applejack had a sort of telepathic connection with the stallion, understanding more of what he meant behind such as simple response that anypony could.

But then he surprised her, Ah'm fine, l'il missy - ah think it'd be better if this cart were a simple l'il affair...but feel free t'make Applebloom a cart, ah'm sure that'd do you girls just as well! "It softened the blow of rejection that Scootaloo felt with this response and gave her an idea.

"Yeah, we could build our own cart, no even better, we can build a clubhouse on wheels! It'll be a base camp for all our adventures. Yeah, a Cutie Mark Crusaders Mobile Clubhouse."

Her mind whirled with images of what this base on wheels would look like until finally she realized that she had a job to do now. The mobile clubhouse had to wait for another day as what mattered was getting the current clubhouse renovated.

"Well our clubhouse does need more light, you know for night missions," Scootaloo said to Pigpen, "We really have only an old lantern and a few old jars with holes in the lids for catching fireflies but that's it. Do you have something that can light up the place?"

[Mojo]

"We've got plenty of lanterns here in my shop, young filly!" Pigpen boasted as he turned to see Mr. Waddle with Big Mac. With his keen ears, the shaggy, unkempt stallion had been overhearing their conversation while he and his 'friends' were helping Scootaloo. Quickly assessing the situation, Pigpen's face brightened.

"Mr. Waddle, you know that refurbished cart as good as I do! If you don't mind waiting on Big Mac, I'll keep assisting Miss Scootaloo. Every customer of my store is special and deserves our full attention, ok?"

"Yes Pigpen, I quite agree!" Mr Waddle neighed with a nod of his head before turning to the large red stallion. "Please Mr Big Mac, follow me and I will show you the cart I spoke of earlier."

Leading the big Earth stallion out the back door, Mr. Waddle pointed to the large cart in the center of the grounds. It had four wheels, single hitch steerbar and was yellow in color. The wheels were standard size with visible evidence that they had been newly repaired and in perfect condition.

"It took a lot of work to get this cart looking so swell," the elderly glasses-wearing stallion said, "It even has a fresh coat of paint on it! Though to be fair, Pigpen and his pets did much of the heavy work to get this cart ready for sale. Do you like it? We'll give you a great deal on it!"

Meanwhile, Pigpen guided Scootaloo to a nearby wall where about a dozen lanterns hug on nails and hooks on display.

"As you can see, Miss Scootaloo, we have various types of lanterns, some powered by lamp oil, others by fireflies. Mind you, I cannot sell you any fireflies, you'll have to catch those yourself," the shaggy, unkempt stallion said as he leaned in to whisper to her, "my fly friends would be very angry with me if I caught and sold fireflies myself, you see. These winged insects stick together."

Rascal quickly tapped Pigpen on his front leg, pointing upward at the swarm of flies who were directly massed above him. The smelly stallion gasped at the sight, but the swarm buzzed in approval of the things the pony had spoken to Scootaloo.

"Oh, you heard all that," Pigpen said, sounding a little embarrassed before he turned to his young customer, "anyway, as you can see, we have lanterns of every color, even a pink one up at the top. I hope I have one you like."

[SunsetSombra]

Mac nodded, following behind Mr Waddle with a slow stride - he wasn't entirely sure what he was about to get shown, but he had to assume that perhaps this would lead to something entirely useable...well, truthfully just about anything was more useable than the pile of scrap that was his ex cart. Keeping that in mind, Mac was prepared to check out the offere with an open mind - there was nothing to gain in going in with expectations that could never be met afterall!

It didn't take too long to get to the cart, and Macintosh takes a moment to survay the potential wares - it was certainly a workable deal alright...4 wheels, a decently sturdy frame and an overly cheerful color scheme...although he probably wasn't sure just how old it was, or if it was really in as good condition as it appeared to be. regardless, he knew never to make too much out of a situation that may well be beneficial...and another nod of the head signals the bigger ponies interest in the presented item as a result.

" Looks like ya'alls did a fine job on this! " Macintosh says with a small chuckle. " lotsa folks get sloppy when doin' a cart sometimes, but ah see a lotta attention paid to the work ya did, even if it ain't a professionals touch...no offense intended, 'course. " The stallion comments, looking at the cart with an interested glance. He decides to stop beating about the bush and ask the most obvious 'next question' with regards to his next move in this little conversation - the most necessary one whenever dealing with something you intend on purchasing!

" What kinda great deal ya'alls have in mind, anyhow? " asks Big mac, giving Waddle a sideways glance.

" ah'd certainly be prepared t'take it off yer hooves for the right price! "

[Lux]

Scootaloo excitedly followed Pigpen, the swarm of flies and the raccoon through the shop to where the lanterns were.

"As you can see, Miss Scootaloo, we have various types of lanterns, some powered by lamp oil, others by fireflies. Mind you, I cannot sell you any fireflies, you'll have to catch those yourself," the shaggy, unkempt stallion said as he leaned in to whisper to her, "my fly friends would be very angry with me if I caught and sold fireflies myself, you see. These winged insects stick together."

Before she could decide Scootaloo heard an ominous buzzing above her head. She looked above to see the flies in a storm above her, clearly upset. It wasn't that the filly thought that the flies could serious harm her but they could prevent her from shopping further. But soon the flies did calm down and gave a sign of approval.

"Oh, you heard all that," Pigpen said, sounding a little embarrassed before he turned to his young customer, "anyway, as you can see, we have lanterns of every color, even a pink one up at the top. I hope I have one you like."

"Oh, well I kind of figured that you wouldn't sell the flies," Scootaloo said before looking up at the flies, "And don't worry guys... girls... um I not sure what you are but when we use fireflies for lights we release them after we complete our mission. As for lanterns... I guess I'll take two oil lamps for the clubhouse and one firefly lantern for each of us. But what colors?"

She looked at the options and then a thought came to mind.

"Ok, how about red oil lanterns, and for the firefly ones there will be one that's orange, one that's yellow and one that's white, like the three of the Crusaders."

[Mojo]

"No offense taken, Big Mac," Mr Waddle replied with a warm smile. He realized that at best, he and Pigpen were not expert craftponies. After all, at his age, the best he could do was paint and plan. Then Mr Waddle went into a moment of deep thought pondering the answer to Big Mac's question about price. Then the elderly stallion remembered the instructions Pigpen had given him earlier about pricing the wagon.

"Well sonny," Mr Waddle began to speak, "for you, how about the entire wagon and hitch for, ten bits?"

Meanwhile, Pigpen and all his 'friends' continued to assist Scootaloo. The 'pet' flies seemed very pleased with the young filly's response, so they buzzed with one loud BUZZ to confirm their approval.

"Ah! You have a keen eye for lanterns, Miss Scootaloo," Pigpen said with a smile. "Ok my friends, help me to give the young filly a closer look at these lanterns, ok?"

The red oil lanterns were easily within Pigpen's reach, so the shaggy, unkempt stallion went over and retrieved them by the handle with his teeth. Rascal climbed up the wall to fetch the lighter, orange firefly lantern. Pigpen's pet flies flew upward to retrieve the yellow and white firefly lanterns and gently sat them down in front of Scootaloo.

"Here they are, all that you asked for," the messy maned stallion announced. "Take a good at them, I'll make you a great deal on the entire lot!"

[SunsetSombra]

Mac watched the old pony doing a moment of thinking - he couldn't help but think that the way he was making facial expressions as he thought looked like he was sucking on a lemon sherbert or something....which only prompted a small chuckle from Macintosh before clearing his throat with a hoof, putting the silly humor aside for now to deal with the acquisition of a cart that would, he figured, do entirely nicely as a replacement for the one that had wound up as so many bits of scrap just a short time ago.

" Well, that's a pretty reasonable number indeed, ah reckon! " Mac rubs his muzzle in ponderence - the figure being a very light enough sum on the ol' bits to not leave a bitter aftertaste. " Gimme a moment, ah can't remember how much is in the ol' sidesaddle right now...lemme check whats here!. "

And so, he takes it upon himself to place his sidesaddle down with a little effort, flipping it open and rummaging around inside - a few apples, a couple of pieces of fluff, a small sweet, family pictures, and a few other small assorted items were contained, and he ignores all of them as he finds the small bag of coins he carries with him. deftly opening it, he tips the contents onto the nearby counter and counts them up quickly.

" 4, 5...6...7.......9....10 - No, wait, that's a button...9 bits. " Well, this was a little awkward!

Macintosh grimaces slightly, rubbing the back of his head as he looks back at Waddle...giving a small shrug. " Uhh, willya take 9 bits an' an apple? "

Hey, totally worth a try, right?

[Lux]

It was interesting seeing the team effort of Pigpen and his crew of unlikely pets. They all had a sort of mental connection with each other as they all sprung to attention and went exactly to what was needed to be done. In an instant all the lanterns were brought before her, ready for the filly to inspect. She wasn't looking for anything fancy as most likely they would all get banged up during the Crusader's missions. The colors were just a nice touch to identify which ones could be used for each member and which ones belonged in the clubhouse. Unlike the maps, these would be more functional than fashion in general.

"The all look fine for the missions and clubhouse," Scootaloo said after finishing her checking of them, "How much would it be for each of them?"

[Mojo]

Listening to Big Mac and watching him counting his bits brought a smile on the face of Mr. Waddle. His mind quickly flashed back to a time when he was a eager young stallion, trying to make ends meet for himself and his wife. The elderly stallion could relate to times when he had to carefully count his bits in order to maintain his household. His smile grew wider at Big Mac's counter offer.

"Of course we can accept nine bits and an apple, Big Mac!" Mr. Waddle neighed happily. "Or, if you don't want to spend the last of your money now, I'll accept the apple and you can return to pay the nine bits at another time! The Apple Family is known far and wide for it's honesty, so if you'll promise to pay later, I'll happily extend you credit! If you can't trust a member of the Apple Family, who can you trust?"

Meanwhile, Pigpen, Rascal and his fly friends were helping young Scootaloo with her lantern needs. When the eager filly asked for a price, the shaggy unkempt pony lifted a front hoof in the air.

"Please wait a moment while I consult my staff," Pigpen said with a smile as he moved to the counter with his pet raccoon and flies following him. After a minute of 'conversation' (more like nods and signals exchanged between the group), Pigpen returned, Rascal riding on his back and his flies orbiting his head.

"Thank you for waiting, Miss Scootaloo. We have a package deal to offer you. Since you are buying these items for your club and since we want to do all we can to encourage young ponies to achieve their best, we will give you all of these lanterns for the price of, two bits. What do you say?"

Rascal nodded with agreement and the orbiting flies also did a quick 'fly by' over Scootaloo as their way of signaling their approval for the deal.

[SunsetSombra]

" ...If you can't trust a member of the Apple Family, who can you trust?"

Big Mac lets out a small sigh of relief - the stallion hadn't been entirely sure if he'd be able to wrangle some kinda workable deal from the older pony, but it seemed as though his moment of desperate haggling had given Waddle something of a warm memory or thought, and thus...a gracious acceptance and proposal. " Glad ah can rely on folks t'understand that it ain't always easy to be prepared for absolutely positively everythin'! " Macintosh says with a small smile. " I'll leave ya 5 Bits an' the apple, an' will deliver the rest to ya in a couple hours - I know I gots a few bits kickin' around back at the house. "

It was generally true - Macintosh was rarely out of bits where it was needed, but he didn't tend to carry around any because it wasn't often necessary - of course, this wasn't something that had helped him particularly on this day as he had certainly noted. He may well have to consider changing the habit slightly to make sure he wasn't taken by surprise by anything like this again...but such a thought was best saved for later on - right now, the only thing that mattered was making sure things were taken care of neatly here - Waddle seemed a nice enough merchant, and that was always something worth keeping track of.

" Either way, ah definitely think this'll do me nicely - it's pretty sturdy lookin', and that counts a whole bunch more than 'bout how pretty to the eye it is! " Macintosh states with a matter of fact nod, passing over the relevent payments towards waddle.

" Ya'alls seemed to know that too, so m'reckonin' this l'il shop might jus' be worth makin' a note of in future for our general needs, Eeyup! "

[Lux]

Scootaloo waited as the shaggy stallion consulted his pets. The filly didn't really know how this worked exactly. She heard once that there was something called telepath that certain unicorns had, but Pigpen was not a unicorn. The orange Pegasus also knew that Fluttershy had a talent for communicating with animals too. Still this didn't explain what was going on.

"Thank you for waiting, Miss Scootaloo. We have a package deal to offer you. Since you are buying these items for your club and since we want to do all we can to encourage young ponies to achieve their best, we will give you all of these lanterns for the price of, two bits. What do you say?"

Scootaloo was floored by the good fortune she was getting! She imagined that each lantern would be at least a bit but instead it was like she would get all of them for way less.

"It's a deal!" Scootaloo replied as she looked at her new purchase, "Alright Mr. Pigpen if you were a colt, which I know you were of course, and you had a super cool clubhouse like my friends and I do, what would have in it that would make it extra cool?"

[Mojo]

Mr Waddle was delighted that Big Mac was going to buy the wagon, and the offer he made to the elderly Earth pony was quite reasonable.

"You've got a deal, young stallion," Mr. Waddle said, "I know you're good for the rest, so don't worry. You can drop by and pay the balance the next time you and your familiy happen to be in town! Now, you did mention something about, an apple? I hadn't had my lunch yet and if you like, I'll split it with you! After all, it would be impolite for me to eat in front of you."

Meanwhile, back in the showroom, Pigpen was happy to see that Scootaloo had agreed to his proposal lantern deal. The shaggy, unkempt stallion then listened to the eager Pegasus filly's next question.

"Ah! Thinking of my youth brings back a lot of fond memories," Pigpen said, pointing out an open window towards a grove of trees on the far side of the junkyard. "When I was your age, I built myself a small treehouse in that large oak tree over there! It wasn't very fancy, since I built it out of discarded lumber and old, unwanted items. Hmmmmm. I think I may still have some of those things around here."

As he spoke, the loyal flies orbiting the stallion's head sprang into action, flying upward in the formation of an arrow, pointing at a cardboard box behind a bookcase.

"Oh! There they are! Thanks friends!" Pigpen neighed as he and Rascal pulled the box over to where Scootaloo stood. Opening it, soon the smelly stallion smiled widely. "Take a look in here, Scootaloo! There's yo-yos, streamers, old horseshoes I painted different colors as wall decorations, even some small figurines I put on shelves! Nick-knacks are always cool! Especially some of these I carved myself, like these Wonderbolt figurines here! Check out the box, but if nothing in there appeals to you, I know there's other things in this showroom that will!"