Unshackled Charge

by Zoura3025

Chapter 4: Money, Open Markets, and a Lifetime Ahead

Tincture awoke with an energy she hadn't felt in a long time. She hummed softly as she carefully organized her potions on a rack, setting it on a small cart she used for carrying her things from one place to another. It was a bit big for just a rack of potions, but at least it was low enough to double as a display counter. She would bring the cart out front, a dumb grin plastered on her face. It was a new day - no, a new life - for the unicorn.

Bottle would step down the stairs, yawning gently. "Mmm… Morning," She murmurs.
Tincture smiled, "Good morning," She says.
Bottle smiled a bit at the unicorn's energy, "Heh… Seems like someone got a good sleep," She says contently, "All ready to head out the market?" She asks.
Tincture nodded slowly. "I think so…" She murmurs.
Bottle would gaze over the cart for a moment, before shaking her head and walking away for a moment, moving into a back closet behind the stairs for a moment. "Hmmm…" She murmured, rummaging for something.

Tincture was perplexed, wondering what she could've forgot. She was reminded when the the earth pony grabbed a reasonably sized wooden box with a hinged lid and a lockless latch.
"A shopkeep needs somewhere to put their sales money," Bottle says gently, placing the box on the cart.
Tincture sighed softly, "Hah… It's always the small things," She says gently.
Bottle giggled and hugged Tincture, "Good luck out there, okay?" She says gently.
Tincture smiled softly, "Thank you, Bottle. I hope to do you proud," She expresses, hugging back.
Bottle smiled and nodded, allowing the unicorn to head out.

Tincture would walk to the market, looking around for a spot not already occupied by a stall. She found a nice corner, and would set up her cart so it stood on its own, setting her potion rack on one side of herself and the box on the other. A small sign would be set on the cart: "Ration Potions: 7 Bits".
A few other vendors would be out setting up their stalls, and one would approach her: A green and orange stallion. "Some new meat at the market, hm?" He remarks.
Tincture smiles uncomfortably at the stallion, "Well, not exactly," She says, "Rations," She explains.
The stallion rolls his eyes, "It's an expression. You're new around here, right?" He says.
Tincture blinks, "Oh, yes, I am," She says, "I'm Tincture."

The stallion nods slowly, "Well, Tincture," He begins, "You'd best keep to your own stall, get me? Unicorns like you aren't very welcome around here after last time," He says, tone suddenly much less jovial.
Tincture shrank a bit, "What… What did the last unicorn do?" She asks.
The stallion rolls his eyes and snorts, "Tried claiming our town was their property," He snarls, "Said we were a bunch of hicks who didn't know culture from a stone in the ground. We'll show 'em," He slams his hoof into the cart with a loud bang, causing Tincture to flinch.
"I-I… I see," Tincture stammers, "Well… Not to worry. I'm just here to make an honest living for myself," She expresses, ears slowly unpinning.
The stallion just huffs dismissively, walking back to his stall.

Tincture sighed, remaining sat at her stall, hoping that not all of the townsfolk would be as opposed to her presence as the stallion from earlier was. She did, however, remember the two mares who welcomed her so graciously. She smiled a bit, checking over her supply some. The batch-recipe had made around 60 mixes of the potions, so she should have plenty for her first few days.
The first few patrons in the market didn't seem very interested in her items, but eventually one would come over. "Excuse me, miss, what are you selling?" They'd ask.
Tincture would smile gently, "Ah, it's a ration spell," She explains, magicking both a bottle and vial onto the counter before her, "Just mix the two potions on a plate or bowl of some kind, and it will provide a day or two's worth of nutrition in the form of bread," She explains.
The pony across the counter thought for a moment, "Does it keep well?" They ask.
Tincture nods. "The potions are shelf-stable until opened, and the mixed bread keeps for a couple weeks," She explains.
The pony would set 7 bits on the counter, "Well, you should practice your sales pitch voice a bit more, but your honesty's refreshing. I'll take them," They state. Tincture nodded, magicking the potions into the pony's saddlebag. "Thank you… Please let me know if you enjoy it," She says.
The pony nods and walks off, leaving Tincture to stew in her thoughts yet again.

As the sun fully rose, more patrons would flood the market, and Tincture would have opportunities to sell many more of her potions. She felt herself swell with pride with each sale; it made her feel like she was finally making a name for herself.
Tincture's eyes would widen as several ponies walked towards her stall, lead by a familiar pegasus.
"I told you the farmers needed a good field ration, didn't I?" Angel asks with a giggle.
Tincture nods slowly, her stunned expression slowly curling into a smile, "Well, I've still got plenty. How many do you all want?" She asks.
Though it stressed her slightly, the massive boom in business on her first day excited her.

Meanwhile, Bottle had set up some rocks to use as targets, readying her magic. Just because Tincture wasn't around the house didn't mean she could stop training. She felt there was something more to her magic… She shouldn't get winded as fast as was, right? Was she really that out of shape?
Regardless, she began slinging bolts at the rock pile, trying to push herself harder than she'd gone before. She picked up the pace, throwing bolts that forked and twisted towards their targets. She felt fatigue pull at her, but kept going. Her mane tried to fizzle out, and she managed to push herself further, throwing more bolts, even if they were wimpier than before.

She bore her teeth, trying to keep going, "C'mon…" She murmurs, "I need to- Ugh!" She yelps in strain as she fizzles out, losing her footing and winding up on the ground, panting. Okay, now she felt the fatigue pains. They radiated out from her hooves, creeping back into her body. "Uurgh…" She groaned, rolling over onto her front and standing up slowly, wincing a bit as she felt her weight rest on her now aching legs, "Yup, that did it alright," She whined, walking back to her house, posture sagged.
She didn't even make it up the stairs, just crawling onto the couch and passing out.

An exhausted Tincture would come in some hours later. She had had a very busy day; a little too busy, actually. She'd left the market somewhat early, in need of some quiet time. Her potion rack was more than half empty; what she thought would've been a substantial batch turned out to only kind of be enough. She looked around the front room of the house as she entered. "I'm home!" She says.
The house was silent in return, save for the soft snoring of the sleeping earth pony on the couch.
Tincture smiled softly, "Looks like I'm not the only one who had a busy day," She says, settling the now overflowing box of bits next to the door to her room.
With nothing else to do, Tincture would look to her recipe book, bringing it, her alchemy station, and the ingredients for the salve she wanted to make outside. She'd need a good natural breeze without Angel here to fan the flames.

Sometime later, Bottled Lightning would stir awake. Her hooves still ached some, but she at least wasn't as tired, and managed to get up to follow the fruity smell outside.
She opened the door, stepping out, to see Tincture checking over the boiling pots of tonic.
"So, how'd your first day go?" Bottle asks, smiling.
Tincture would look up, sitting back on her haunches and chuckling a little. "Well, I certainly have a reputation already," She comments, "Angel held true on her word about the farmers… I won't have enough potions for tomorrow, if today was any indication," She says with a soft laugh.
Bottle smiles, "Don't overexert yourself, okay? You're only one pony, no one'll blame you if you can't have everything in stock all the time," She expresses.
Tincture nods a bit, her ears drooping slightly. "I… I know. Thank you, Bottle," She says, voice noticeably lower.
Bottle would gently pat the unicorn's back.

"Changing the subject, I've been thinking about going back to the lumber mill to ask for an extra room on the house," She explains, "I figure it'd be nice for you to have your own space, especially if Angel's going to be staying during the winter."
Tincture blinks, "You don't expect to pay for it all yourself, do you?" She asks abruptly.
Bottle smiled sheepishly, "Actually, I was hoping you'd be willing to pitch in, as a part of the household," She expresses, "I… Don't think I'll have enough bits saved before the cold season rolls around. The hospital hasn't been very busy lately."
Tincture nodded, "I'd be happy to; it's only reasonable I contribute, if you're permitting me to stay," She says, "I'm sure between the two of us, we'll be able to make it work."
The rest of the evening would go by fairly smoothly. Tincture would finish and bottle up all of her potions, and the two mares would go out for dinner. After that, they would head home, spend some time training, and then they would head to bed.

The next day would be a relatively standard day for their new lives; Tincture would head to the hospital to offer first pick of her salves to the nurses and doctors, before heading to the market with her merchandise to sell. Thankfully, the threatening stallion from yesterday didn't come to try and scare her away again.
Bottle would do some magic practice, though she'd be more careful than yesterday so as to not completely exhaust herself. Life needed to go on, after all. She'd head to the lumber mill for a quote on some new walls and whatnot for her house.

The foreman stallion thought for a moment, "Just a couple ground level floors, eh?" He says ponderously.
Bottle nodded, "Enough space for some guest rooms… I'm going to have a few housemates come cold season," She expresses.
The stallion nodded, looking over a pre-existing blueprint for the house; the lumber mill also doubled as the primary construction firm for the small town, so they kept prints on file for the instance where people wanted additions to their homes.
"That's doable… We can work from that multipurpose room at the back of your house; an extra room should fit on there no problem…" He thinks for a long moment, "We could make some adjustments to your front room so you can have another room off there. Another fireplace to heat the rooms on the far end of the house is probably out of your budget, eh?" He supposes.
Bottle winced slightly at the mention of a budget, "I'd… Like to keep it under 300 bits if I can; your folks do quality work, though, so don't short-change yourselves," She replies.

The stallion nodded, grabbing a piece of tracing paper, quickly copying the blueprint and then beginning to draft out some further expansions. "300's a bit on the shallow side, but we're lucky you're working from an existing house…" He hums, "If we…" He'd go into an in-depth explanation about expanding the front room so the fireplace was in its own nook of the room, with two rooms wrapped around the back of the house, "Opening up the far side of the fireplace will be a lot easier and cheaper than building another one; looping the rooms around like that should keep them warm during the cold season. It'll be a bit pricier than 300 bits, but it'll fit a good few more bodies. 330's my guess," He says.
Bottle smiled gently at him, "I'll talk it over with my housemates," She says, "Thank you for being such a big help."

Bottle would then go to the hospital to put a few hours in; she smiled as she saw a small rack of Tincture's red potions on the wall. There wasn't anything particularly crucial to do around the hospital, but the other nurse seemed thankful for an opportunity to take a break.
After getting home, Bottle and Tincture would converse about the housing plans over dinner.
"The foreman says it'll be around 330 bits for everything," She explains, "It's… A bit more costly than I'd hoped, but it'll be enough room for the three of us and then some."
Tincture nodded, "I made some more good money from sales today," She expresses, "The salve wasn't as popular as the rations, but I've still made over 300 bits in 2 days," She says, "Discounting all the materials I've used, I've managed around 150 bits of profit."
Bottle nodded, "That's very good for your first couple days," She says with a smile.
Tincture nodded. "I'm going to make more rations tomorrow; I'm almost out. Business was a bit slower today, though," She says.
Bottle would smile gently, "I still have a tidy sum of my savings stashed away; don't be afraid to pace yourself," She says.
Tincture nods a bit, "I know, thank you," She says, before remembering what Bottle had said last night about savings through the winter. Tincture appreciated Bottle's care, but couldn't help but wonder about the conflicting statements.

Bottle then sighed slightly, "If we want the house renovated, we need to make a decision soon," She expresses, "I don't want the house ripped open when the first frost comes," She says with a small chuckle.
Tincture nods, "Can we agree on it at sundown tomorrow?" She asks.
Bottle nods in agreement. The two mares would hug, and then head to bed, in preparation for another day.

The next day came and went without event; a nice, quiet day in a quiet town. Some overcast skies had Tincture worried about rain, but thankfully, nature had mercy on her, and the sky was simply greyed over.
Bottle decided that, after some training, she'd go and put some more time in at the hospital. There were a couple of ponies who would come in with small injuries, but otherwise, it would be easy money for the earth pony.
Come dinner time, Tincture sighed gently as she sat down, set in her decision.
Bottle would sit across from her, "Well… We've both come to a decision?" She asks softly.
Tincture nodded, magicking a large pile of bits onto the table. "This is 200 bits, to pay you back for the investment you made in my potion ingredients, plus some extra to repay your hospitality," She declares.
"Tincture, I-" Bottle began, but was cut off.

"I pass this money onto you as my landlord; I give you the final say in whether we expand the house or not."
Bottle looked at the large stash of bits. "Well… I'd like to go through with it," She expresses, "You deserve your own space; real space, not a crammed-up room."
Tincture looked away a bit. She felt a twinge of guilt that Bottle was putting herself before her own needs, but the conviction in the earth pony's voice was particularly resolute. Tincture simply nodded, "It's your home," She replies softly.
Bottle shakes her head. "No. It's our home. You can stay as long as you want," She says, placing a hoof on Tincture's.
Tincture blushed faintly, "I… Thank you, Bottle. I'm sure this is just an act of kindness to you, but believe me, it's… It's gigantic, in my head. Everything you've done has been," She expresses.
Bottle smiles gently, "You're welcome, Tincture; I stand by what I said: You have rights. If I have to prove each one to you, one by one, I will," She says with a small laugh.
Tincture smiles softly, "I… Alright," She says gently.

The two mares would eat dinner, before heading to bed. Bottle couldn't help but have a little trouble sleeping. It would be nice to have a housemate, really, and enlarging the house just settled it. Sleep would eventually come to the earth pony, though, and she would sleep soundly through to the morning.

The next few days would come and go; Bottle would approach the foreman with the money, and construction would begin. With a full crew, a few extra rooms shouldn't take long; though of course, the wall of the house that had been ripped off would contribute a bit of draft. However, the builders worked quickly, and things were already mostly framed by the second day.
Tincture's potion selling had slowed to a more steady rate; not enough that she was worried about starving, but enough that she didn't have to make fresh batches of potions every single day.

Bottle would spend a good amount of her time at the hospital, taking over for the other nurse. She'd keep up with her training as well, and the two mares would occasionally spar to see how she'd come.
Angel would even come to visit once or twice, joining the mares for dinner or a game of Coltan. She seemed almost as excited for the enlarged house as Bottle had; an undeniable light in her eyes, with plenty of excited hoof-bouncing.