Canterlot Nasty Business [Ended]

[Tempest Rime]

In one of the lower tiers of Canterlot, under the ever-present shadow of the higher buildings sits a run-down little house, in stark contrast to the glamor of most of the city. A sign hanging over the door says simply "Locksmith." Inside there is a small, bare front room with a few counters stocked with locks. The walls, floor, and furnishings are all unadorned wood, and only the desk in the back seems to have sanded down to a point where one wouldn't risk splinters from touching it.

It's at this desk that Malediction sat, casually leafing through a book of unusual magic spells. She'd been hoping that this book might, just this once, have something she could master, but it was just as futile as it usual. As she hit the last page, she scowled and lifted the book with her magic, throwing it violently into the corner of the room in disgust.

Then again, she shouldn't be surprised. She'd never seen her own signature spell documented anywhere, so there was no reason to think other magic she might have a talent for would be either. She bet that tyrant princess probably had some kind of secret police who hunted down any librams of black magic.

Mal sighed and slouched at her desk. Maybe she'd actually get some customers to take her mind off the disappointment. Canterlot was an orderly city with a ton of guards, and a lot of ponies didn't even feel the need to lock their houses, which meant there wasn't much business here, but that also meant she didn't have any competition, so she got enough business to get by, and she didn't particularly care about earning more than that.

[AppleNitrox]

His parents little cared when They let their son go to Canterlot, it was a long road to the city, and they wondered if it was a good idea to let him go there. But Saw Dust didn't have such concerns. When Saw Dust finally arrived in Canterlot, he went to take a look at the furniture that was made in the city. He was looking at all kinds of furniture in every shop he could find. He had brought some of his own work with him to compare.

When he had a look at all the furniture makers in the upper districts, he went to the lower tiers of Canterlot. Here he had problems with finding any shops that would live to his standard, as most of their work was disappointing. Finally, when hope had left him, he found a sign "Locksmith", he smiled again and entered with his little table on his back. He wanted to buy keys, but also thought he could perhaps find some useful tools. He took a look around the shop and approached the desk.

Hey There, You provide quite an important service. Do You make keys on demand?

[Tempest Rime]

Mal yawned in disinterest, though at least making a key would give her something to do. She sighed and addressed the customer. "I can make copies of most common types of keys pretty quick, but there are a few more complicated mechanisms that require hand-made keys, those will take at least a day. Not to mention the really fancy magic keys, which can't be replicated at all. If you don't have the original key, the best I can do is crack the lock and sell you a replacement."

She waved a hoof lazily at the rows of keys along the walls. "I got the locks for all of these if you just need any old key. Padlocks and door models. Installation is extra."

[AppleNitrox]

He looked again around the shop owned by Mal. Saw nodded slightly when he was looking at the keys and took something from his bag. It was a couple keys he wanted copied.

As You can see, i've prepared a bit already. Tell me how much it will cost, I need one copy of these keys. He put them on desk and looked again at Mal.

Tell me one more thing, do You sell any tools? You know, like a hammer or something. I need it for my work. Saw Dust turned and showed Mal the chair which was made by him, it was very well made. He again turned and looked at Mal seeking answers.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal levitated the keys and examined them. "Fairly simple pin tumbler keys. I'll get 'em cooking." That was the one thing that really irritated her about the fire she conjured up, she couldn't use it to melt things down, it just burned metals to ash. It meant she had to heat up the metal the old fashioned way, which cost her time and fuel.

She glared at the earth pony as he asked about tools. "What does this look like, a hardware store? I got locks and keys, that's it kid." She paused, grunting irritably before deciding to be helpful. "Mrrrgh, there's a hardware store 'bout a block east of here, that's where I get my basic tools when I need 'em. If you want, I'll give you a ticket, you can go pick up whatever you need over there and by the time you get back the keys oughta be ready." At least that'd get the colt out of her hair while she made the copies.

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

Saw Dust nodded slightly and was confused with the things he told to her.

I’m very sorry! Please accept my apologizes, My friend lied to me. He told me that a locksmith made tools too. So, how much it will cost? I need to know right now, to know how much I can spend in other shops cause I didn’t come here with much money. He smiled to her to help himself with apologizes, he again took a look into the shop and saw that it was a little messy. He again looked quite seriously at Mel after looking around.

It is a little rude, but Your shop has some really old furniture, maybe You'd like to repair it or buy new ones?

[Tempest Rime]

Mal rolled her eyes. "He was probably thinking of a blacksmith. Though I don't care to check up on my competition that often, maybe some of them do make some of that junk. I just do what I know how to, and that's make locks and keys. And bypass them if need be."

She almost dismissed his offer to fix up her furniture out of hand. She didn't really care about the state of her house, and she tried to keep from getting attached to any of her material goods, but on the other hand, there was no reason not to take advantage of an opportunity to improve the place a bit.

"Hmm... they're still functional, but they are a bit splintery. I suppose they could do with some repair. How much capital we talking? I'm not exactly rolling in bits here."

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

Saw looked at Mal when she started explaining her stop, he wasn't interested about it but nodded to not be rude. When she started to think and talk about his repair of furniture, Saw's lips slowly started to make a smile and he looked at Mal.

If You will give me the tools for repair I can do it for free, the only thing I ask You in return is to make one copy key. No pay for my job, just tools and a free key copy. And if in the future someone will ask about Your furniture, can You tell them that Saw Dust did this? He again smiled but He started to think about one thing, that she can't agree with the last thing He told her.

Of course, You don't need to say so if You don't want to! It is just my request, not my requirement. He was very disappointed at the quality of this shop and wanted to give it a better look.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal hated the idea of investing in her shop, since the more she put into it, the more she always felt like it was tying her down. However, she knew a deal when it was offered. "Done. And if anyone asks, I got no reason to lie. I told you where I get my tool, didn't I? Only if they ask, though, I'm not in the business of advertising."

With that, she threw open the door into the backroom, where she began the process of copying the key. She left the door open, so she could still converse with the carpenter if need be. Making keys was easy for her, and she'd done it hundreds, if not thousands of times before. Her locksmithing skills were one of the few things about her old life that didn't fill her with disgust. She mused on that for a moment as the heat built up. Perhaps if her magic had worked properly, she might have come back from the university with all manner of lock-related spells. She might even have had a lock for a cutie mark, instead of the unsightly brand she'd ended up with.

She quickly dismissed such notions. No sense wasting thought on what might have been. She snapped out of her daydreaming and got to work.

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

He looked at Mal and nodded slightly with a smile.

Yes, I remember where your tools are. He put his chair on the ground and moved to get the tools. When Saw Dust picked them up, he started to remove splinters that stuck out from the floor. He looked at Mal, he always liked to talk with another pony while doing his job but wasn't sure if she will be ok with it.

So, how long are you in the business already if I can ask? Saw asked Mal while he was sawing off splinters. He knew ponies can easily get hurt because of them, he wasn't sure why Mal wouldn't want this place to be nice. It was obvious ponies prefer to go to safe and good looking places, but it wasn't his shop so he didn't need to care about it.

Started to slowly move around to find any other splinters and tried to remove them. He looked at Mal.

If I may ask another question, is your business doing well? I mean, do you have many customers or is it boring? Then he returned to his job, as he didn't want to miss anything and wanted to perform his task perfectly.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal shrugged. "Eh, business is ok, I guess. With those obnoxious guards everywhere, there are plenty of ponies who don't even bother to install locks. Makes me wish somepony would start a crime wave, make those idiots wake up and realize that the lawponies aren't actually out to help anypony but themselves." She snarled resentfully.

"But I don't have a lot of competition either, so I get by just fine. I'm not really interested in being much busier, anyway. I've got plenty of free time to pursue my actual interests this way. Mostly I just use the money from this to fund book purchases and trips out to old ruins. Making keys is just what my dad..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable for a moment.

"W-why don't you mind your own business!?" She snapped suddenly. Her family was a very touchy subject. She started focusing on her key-making, not wanting to make eye contact with the carpenter right now.

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

Looked at Mal, sometimes nodding a bit and stopped his work to hear what Mal has to say. He was very interested in what she was telling him, finally he found a pony that knew what is business and who he could learn a few things from. he didn’t even think about stopping her and asking her something while she was talking, he even smiled when Mal told him about starting a crime wave so that she will have a better business. No competition was too great in his opinion, he was making furniture so he had a lot of competition in it and he knew he will need to be the best if he wants to be famous and see his furniture in every pony house. When Mal asked about his own business, he continued to repair Mal's shop and for a while was quiet. He thought he was quite rude to Mal, but started to quietly talk to her.

You… You know, I don’t have money to start my own business… And no one needs additional help in furniture shops around, I just asked for it so maybe it would give me a clue on starting my own, where it would be the best.. I need to thank for Your help, cause now I have some clue about how to start. I don’t want to give You any advice, but did You think about hiring some, You know. Robber ponies? It could help You with Your business.

He said this with a smile. Saw Dust didn’t like this idea, but if this can help in business then maybe it isn’t bad at all.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal snickered a little. "I like the way you think. But no, there's a good reason there aren't many robberies in this town, and that's the number of guards. And any pony who'll steal from another pony is also a pony who won't think twice about selling you out if they get caught. A little business isn't worth getting thrown in jail. Besides, I'm perfectly happy not having tons of bits. Money is a trap. It tricks you into putting its own value on yourself, and it ties you down to the material possessions you worked so hard to acquire. Before long, you've sacrificed your very freedom for some worthless chunks of metal and a big, fancy prison of your own design. No thank you. I just work enough to make the bare necessities and buy the things I need to advance my actual learning."

She sighed. "I kinda got off on a tangent there. Anyway, when I was just starting out, I started with services. Opening locks is a rare skill, and it doesn't take any real tools for most of them. A few are magically warded, so I gotta use lockpicks instead of just picking them with magic, but they aren't hard to make. From there, I just saved up til I could get this shabbly little place. A few of my specialty tools I had to make myself. Not like, hammers and stuff, those I just buy from the hardware vendors. I make things things like skeleton keys and lockout tools, stuff for bypassing locks."

As she spoke, she finished molding the key and dropped it into a bucket of water, where it hissed noisily. "Now the hard part," she said, and she took a file and levitated both the original key and the duplicate in front of her. She began to shave off tiny amounts of excess metal, to make sure the copied key was formed exactly right.

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

Saw looked and nodded all the time to Mal, he was very curious pony about own interest and he wanted to know all she was talking. At the end he smiled and looked at her. Yea I can understand why there are not so many robbies, I'm near of ending my job anyway so I will stop bother You with these questions. He smiled to her and continued to repair entire shop. It already looked without not so much splinters at ground. He dediced to make even new thing for Mal shop. Table and two chairs so ponies who will wait for locks will can sit without getting hurt. He smiled to himself as he was doing this chair. He tried to make it perfect, so it won't look like terrible or something like this, he loved making things like this and don't wanted to stop now.

[Tempest Rime]

Mal finished her work, smiling in satisfaction as she held the keys side by side, double-checking that they were exact duplicates. She stepped out with her finished work, and did a double-take at how fast Saw had worked. "Wha-woah, you did that much already? I mean... I guess it's not fine detail work like making a key, but that's still a lot of surface area." She ran her hoof across the countertop, impressed with his work.

"Um... thanks. Anyway, here's your copy. There shouldn't be any problems, but just in case, you can always bring it back." She handed him the two keys, which were identical enough that you couldn't tell them apart. "That one there's the original," she said, pointing a hoof at it. "I'm open all night, Wednesday to Sunday, usually, Monday and Tuesday I usually reserve for trips to ruins or other cities or whatever. If I'm out on a house call, I'm usually back in an hour tops." She sighed. "I should really make a sign for all that."

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

Looked at Mal and smiled that she was happy with his work, Saw ended already everything he was supposed to do for today. He looked at her and with nod approached her to get his keys.

This was no problem, I'm really happy You like it. Thank for the keys, I don't need anymore to wait till my parents will come to house laughed a bit to her then nodded when she said about sign. Saw looked how many things he still had to make it and smiled to Mal again, he took all things that left and started to make some signs. After couple of minutes he smiled to Mal and show sign that she wanted, it had all she wanted on it and it looked very good atleast.

Here You go, made it for extra.

[Tempest Rime]

"Uh... th-thanks?" Mal was unsure how to react to Saw's charity, and she began to fidget nervously. "Now go on, get out of here before you make me anything else. I mean... it's not like I don't appreciate it, but you're trying to start up a business. Don't go undermining yourself by giving so much away for free. Guh, wait, at least let me give you a few bits for the sign." She opened her cash box and dug out what she'd made for the day, not really caring much about how much she was overpaying him. "You oughta be able to buy some decent tools with that, and get your business started."

"Ok, now you can go. Come back if you ever need anymore keys made, or whatever." Mal shuffled back to her seat sullenly, mumbling cantankerously under her breath. With any luck, this pony would just leave without trying to be friends with her or something annoying like that. This was purely a business relationship, friendship had no place in it.

[Parodius]

((Nevermind. Deteted.))

[Tempest Rime]

(Deleted)

[AppleNitrox]

Saw Dust

Saw looked at Mal and nodded a bit to her, he was surprised that she paid to him especially that he don'tw anted money. Especially that with these money he will really can buy some decent tools and maybe rent something to start his own business. He smiled to Mal and again nodded to her.

Thank You very much but I told You it wasn't necessary, but really thank You and I appreciate it. With this I will buy indeed decent tools. Saw took all money to his pocket and started slowly to head off from the shop. While he was near door he again looked at Mal with a smile.

Thank You for letting me try with repairs and thank for the keys, now... Goodbye and see You someday I think.