“Two hundred bits?!” Josho roared.
“Hey.” An earth pony covered in grime and grease leaned back on his haunches, holding his forelimbs in an indignant manner. “Take it or leave it, buddy!” He gestured towards where the Noble Jury was docked alongside a metal support strut of the dimly-lit hangar. “Preferably in another sap’s station, cuz we ain’t givin’ no space for free!”
“That’s robbery!” Josho’s chins wobbled as he snarled at the equine on the loading platform. “Even in cities as stuck up as Blue Halo, they barely charge more than forty bits for a night’s docking!”
“Does this look like Ledomare to you, pal?” The pony sniffed, rubbed his muzzle, and scribbled something across his clipboard. “Don’t make me hit the ejection valves. They’ll do a number that pretty hull of yours.”
“You want ejection, buddy? I see an earth pony who could use a new blowhole himself!”
“Josho! Please!” Pilate shuffled up along with Belle and Props. Rainbow Dash hovered cautiously overhead. “No need for shouting!” the zebra said with a smile. “Let’s not get off on the wrong hoof with this proprietor. Now, what’s the reason for all this racket?”
Josho spun about. “He wants to charge us two hundred bits!”
”Two hundred bits?!” Pilate roared, his stripes positively rattling.
“Ahem…” Belle rested two hooves gently on Pilate’s shoulders as she leaned forward towards the deck’s railing. “Forgive us, sir. We’re not from around here. We’re rather shocked to find out just how… erm… inflated the economy is around here.”
“Inflation ain’t got nothing to do with it.” The earth pony pointed at the massive girth of the Noble Jury. “That’s a big vessel for a tiny station like this. Lots of well-paying pilots are chomping at the bit to park their junk here. Literally! If you can’t pay, then you can’t stay! Simple as that!”
“The hay are you talking about?!” Rainbow Dash gestured towards the wide empty slots along the breezy station’s metal support struts. “There’s plenty of space for parking here!”
“Nope. No can do.” The pony sighed into his clipboard. “Those docks are broken.”
“Broken?”
He turned around and pointed towards a high-hanging lattice where four stallions in working gear were presently attempting to pull a massive chunk of machinery towards the support struts of a gigantic platform.
“A bunch of smugglers parked their crud in here two months ago. When the station managers found out they were holding stolen goods, they sent a security detachment. The smugglers freaked out and disembarked without detaching from the docking couplers. They smashed half of the hangar in their attempt to flee. After all of their junk was confiscated, they had nothing to reimburse us with.”
“Yeesh!” Props squeaked, her face grimacing heavily. “Sleezy peezy!”
“Tell me about it,” the earth pony muttered. “I don’t know who sent you here, but until we get that junk fixed, there’s no way we’re charging any cheaper than one hundred and fifty.”
“But…” Pilate fidgeted. “What if we were to pay it over time? We could even negotiate interest.”
“Sorry. It’s all or nothing up front. Final offer.”
“I don’t suppose bartering would work?” Belle remarked.
The earth pony scratched his head. “Hmm… it depends…” He squinted and pointed the corner of his clipboard up at Rainbow Dash. “You got anything of legitimate value?”
Rainbow blinked her ruby eyes. “What, me?”
“Ahem…” Belle cleared her throat.
Rainbow looked at the mare. Belle gestured at her neck. Rainbow felt her ruby pendant. She immediately gasped. “Heck no! No deal!”
“Hey…” The earth pony shrugged. “Forgive me for tryin’ to be frickin’ flexible here!”
“Let’s just go,” Josho grumbled, hopping back onto the Noble Jury’s top deck. “He’s had his head up in the clouds too long. He’s hopeless.”
“Yo, I heard that, pal.”
Josho spun. “Yeah? Well, stick around long enough and you can also smell it, pal!”
“I’m with Josho on this one,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I don’t think it’s worth all the kerfluffle.”
“Heeeeey…” Props hopped up onto the platform suddenly. She pointed at the heavy grunt work the stallions above were going through to lift the machinery. “Why are you using a rudimentary pulley system? Couldn’t you use a quad-powered mana distributor to lift that hunk-o-junk?”
“Pffft! Yeah, if we could afford it!” The earth pony cackled, his greasy lips smiling. “Our boss would have to fire half the staff to even begin saving up for one of them things! Heh… guy knows he’d get too many death threats overnight if he even tried it.”
“Well, it looks like utter torture trying to heave that all ho style!” Props grinned wide. “I know the Sooters of the Bronze Blocks don’t have much to limp by, but couldn’t they at least hook themselves up with a power crystal manifold?”
“Heyyyy…” The earth pony squinted at her. “You ain’t whitewashed, are ya?”
“Twenty-two years, born and raised, and all of them bouncy! Heehee!”
“Nnngh…” Rainbow Dash looked towards the far end of the hangar, trying to hide her reddening face. “Celestia, help me.” Belle chuckled beneath her.
“There’s been a choke on the Bronze trade,” the earth pony muttered. “If we wanted to get a power crystal manifold, we’d have to send some stallions Goldside, and the mist hasn’t been too sheen on our backs ever since the Merchants Guild started dabbling with the Upper Roost.”
“Pffft! Those tropofarters!”
“I know, right?” The earth pony smirked. “Perhaps you could try haggling for a manafold yourself, bright eyes. You look like the mist would be friendly to you.”
“Ugh!” Props rolled her blue eyes. “I hate the Upper Roost! They smell like diced onions and old roses!” She smiled with a bounce. “But what if I told you that I’ve got something better than a power crystal manafold?”
“I’m listening…”
“Something that could get the job you’re doing done in hours! Not weeks!”
“Now I’m really listening!”
“Float right there!” Props frolicked off the platform, jumped onto the top deck of the ship, and scampered into the cockpit.
There was a rustling noise, and Floydien’s voice could be heard. “Bah! Boomerette! Rette of boomer, lay off your spit hooves! What is this?!”
“Don’t worrrrrryyyyy!” Props bounded back with something squirming in the crook of her hoof. She stood at the edge of the railing and held up a dangling squirrel with dimly-sparkling tesla coils sticking out of his skull. “Taaaaa to the daaaaaa!”
The earth pony’s mouth hung open. He blinked. “Is this some sort of a joke?”
“Only if you like your jokes with super mega awesome junk-lifting power!” Props shook the rodent. “Come on, Simon! Give him a demonstration!”
Simon merely let out a long, ear-splitting squeak.
The earth pony winced. “You know what, I take that back. I worry for your sheen, lady.”
“I don’t get it!” Props frowned briefly, turning the squirrel over and upside down. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Ahem…” Kera waddled up out of nowhere. “Allow me.” With a pulse of her horn, she tugged on Simon’s tail.
The rodent barked, and the clipboard levitated straight out of the dock worker’s hooves.
“Hmmm…” He rubbed his chin, squinting in thought.
“Guaranteed to be at least ten times better than normal unicorn magic!” Props grinned. “That’s like ten horns crammed inside a fluffy, furry sack!”
“No strings attached!” Belle added with a nervous smile.
“I see where you’re going with this…” The earth pony re-gripped his glowing clipboard. “But you’re gonna have to be able to lift stuff way, way heavier than that.”
“Done!” Kera hopped up and bit onto Simon’s tail.
The creature shrieked, and Josho lifted off like a rocket.
“Whoah! Frak! Frak! Frak! Frak!” The obese stallion hollered as he flailed upside down.
“Hah!” The earth pony grinned wide. “That’s more like it!”
“Who said you could turn me into a friggin’ balloon?!” Josho snarled.
“Hehehehe…” Kera grinned mischievously. “Like you need any help, old stallion!”
“This was the fruit basket’s idea! Wasn’t it?!”
Rainbow Dash flew up and settled Josho in mid-air. Slowly, she guided him back towards the docks while looking at the worker. “So, how about it?”
“How about what?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rainbow Dash pointed at the nasty labor transpiring overhead. “You let Props and her squirrely friend here help you get your stuff fixed up all nice, and then we get to stay here for a few days.”
“That’s rather presumptuous of you,” the earth pony said. “To think I’d give in so easily to something so blatantly simple.”
“Well?” Rainbow Dash leaned in with a frown. “Take it or leave it!”
“Yeah!” Josho muttered, green in the face. “What she--Urp--said…”
“I’ll make sure everything gets floated safely in place!” Props said as she took a moment to nuzzle Simon like a small dog. “Heehee! I’m good at connecting stuff together!”
“Hmmm…” The earth pony eventually sighed. “Well, it’s hard to argue with a blonde goddess of a Sooter, a zebra with a metal forehead, a magical squirrel, and a horse with wings.” The earth pony flipped a sheet of his clipboard and scribbled something with finality. “Fine. You get to stay. The faster I help you guys get situated and out of here, the less I have to question whether or not I’m having a major crystal-huffing dream.”
“Sounds good to us!” Pilate said with a smile. “And Props? Do be a dear and ask Mr. Floydien for permission before abducting his rodent companion.”
“So… fuzzy… and sparkly…!”
“Ahem. Miss Props?”
“Oh… right…” Props jumped onto the dock and galloped towards the work site. “I-I’ll keep that in mind, only after we fix this crud up!”
“Props!” Belle called after her. “Don’t you want to go see your Uncle Prowse?!”
“Omigosh! Omigosh! Manesteel Reinforced Rivets! Heeeee!”
“Perhaps Rainbow Dash should go after her,” Pilate muttered.
“Let her be, dear,” Belle said with a smile, patting Pilate’s shoulder. “Once a gearhead, always a gearhead.”
“So, what now?” Rainbow Dash asked with a shrug. “Without Props, we’re kind of crapping in the dark when it comes to restocking our ship!”
“We could always ask Floydien to lend us a hoof!” Belle remarked.
“Does that space elk really strike you as a fan of bustling crowds in the sky?” Josho remarked.
“Oh…” Belle’s ears folded as she winced. “Right…”
“There’s always Ebon,” Pilate remarked. “Mr. Mane seems right at home in this atmosphere.”
“Uhmmm…” Rainbow Dash squirmed, biting her lip.
“Something wrong, Rainbow?” Belle asked.
Rainbow put on a blazing smile. “Nope! Just thinking that… uh…”
“Yes?”
Rainbow gulped. “We should… all stick together. Make sure that we don’t get lost in such a strange place.”
“Agreed. And if Mr. Mane is so willing, perhaps he can lead us around before we part ways.”
“The best thing to do is ask him,” Belle remarked. “The sooner we leave, the better. I wouldn’t mind getting some fresh air!”
“Me too! Me too!” Kera hopped in place. “I wanna see everything in this cool flying place!”
“That’s not going to happen, darling.”
“Awwww!” Kera stomped her hooves with a pouting expression. “Why not?”
“Not so soon, at least.” Belle trotted over and knelt before her. “This is a strange and potentially dangerous town, Kera. I don’t even know if other foals live here, much less if you’ll be safe.”
“But I’ll have you guys around, won’t I?”
“Still, I think you’re better off sticking around here with Floydien and Props,” Belle remarked. “For your own good.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Pilate said with a nod. “Once we’ve scouted this place out, then we can determine whether or not it’s okay to bring you on a second trip.”
“Second… trip…?” Kera’s eyes sparkled. “You mean we’re gonna be here for a few days?!”
“Seems like it,” Rainbow Dash droned with rolling eyes.
“Yaaaaay!”
Eagle Eye trotted up. “So… uhm… how’s it going? Did we find a way to dock here or what?”
“It’s your lucky day, EE,” Bellesmith said, standing up with a knowing smirk. “We’re off to go shopping.”
“Oh, please…” Eagle Eye rolled his violet eyes with a smirk. “As if I’m so predictable to go ga-ga over a thing like that…”
Josho said, “Actually, the dock worker earlier told me that they sell lavender shampoo by the carton in some place called the Gold District.”
Eagle’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. A foalish squeal came out of his lips as his hooves did a tiny dance in place. “You’rekiddingme! You’rekiddingme! Let’s go! Let’s go now--” He froze in place, then grimaced at his ears drooped. “You are kidding me, aren’t you?”
“Snkkkkt--Ha ha ha ha…”
“Ungh!” Eagle Eye trudged away, snarling. “Roll over and die, you old fart!”
“Only after I’ve lived to see your bridal shower!”