The mayor of Rainbow Falls, one Mr. Silver Scroll, sat at his desk in city hall going through the day's paperwork. The middle-aged, white and gray earth pony rubbed his eyes from having stared at the papers too long. Any hope of rest, however, was shattered by a knock on his door. "Sir? You three o'clock appointment is here," the nasally voice of his receptionist called out.
"Ah, yes. Send them in, I suppose." The door opened, and in strode two salesponies that Silver swore looked familiar. "So, I understand you two are going around selling insurance..."
One of the two cream-colored ponies spoke up, his thick mustache ruffling as he did so. "Why of course, my good stallion! We've been going around selling insurance against one of the worst kinds of natural disasters, one that could strike at any time!"
"Yes, yes!" The other chimed in. "Everypony in town was more than eager to buy our volcano insurance for the low, low price of a thousand bits per policy, and we have all the required permits to peddle our wares, so-"
"Stop. Just stop." Silver pushed a hoof to his forehead. "I don't need a headache from all your buzzwords. Look," he looked at them, noticable bags under his eyes. "I know your type. We both know that as soon as you've sold enough insurance policies, you two will skip town and never be seen again. It's happened in the past, it will happen again..."
"Sir!" One of the salesponies took a practiced step back in shock. "We are no scammers. Our insurance is one hundred and ten percent genuine, and cheap too! Why, the only pony who turned us down was the local jewelry shop owner. Tossed us out before we could even speak, that mare!"
"Trust me, miss Essence will regret that. But I'm not here to stop you. I'm giving you a warning. For your own safety, just admit it's a scam and refund everypony. It'll save us all some trouble and I'll only fine you a thousand bits. I know this place isn't near any volcanoes, but I promise you there will be one, and your so-called clients will come seeking insurance claims. Call it off before it gets worse."
"Sir, I don't think you realize exactly how vital volcano insurance is to peace of mind, even in a tectonically stable area like Rainbow Fa-" He was cut off by a flash and a loud BANG of a teleport, revealing the one pony who didn't have a concept of making appointments.
"GOOD MORNING, MAYOR SILVER!"
Silver slammed his head down on his desk, hoping against hope he was dreaming. "Arca, it's three in the afternoon. And don't yell, I have a headache."
"Don't worry! I made a potion to fix that since you always seem to have a headache when I visit! You might want to see a doctor about that."
The salespony without a mustache spoke up. "Excuse me, who are you? We are in the middle of a meeting here."
"Oh, you two have your little meeting then! I just need to speak to mayor Silver." Arca cheerfully turned to the stallion who was quickly wishing he'd called in sick that morning, and every morning. "I need a permit to gather materials under the town limits."
"If you were anypony else, I'd ask if you meant 'within' and not 'under'. You don't need a mining permit, Arca." As Arca's face lit up with glee, he added, "You don't need one because I'm not giving you one. Whatever you plan on doing, don't."
Arcane's ears flattened against his head, and he looked like a foal who just got told Santa Hooves wasn't real. "Oh." He paused, then added, "Not even a little bit? I had the incantations all set up before I remembered to check with you."
Silver let out a heavy sigh. "And did you activate them?"
"Maybe a little..."
"Arca, I want you to be honest with me. Did you try magically drilling to the bedrock in your backyard again?"
"Nooooo..." At that moment, a massive boom was heard in the distance. A flaming hunk of rock came crashing through the wall, a volcano spewing smoke, fire, and more visible in the middle of Market Street. "I did it in the front yard this time."
"Arca!" Silver pulled out a rolled up copy of the Rainbow Herald, the town's newspaper, and whapped Arcane on the head. "How many times do I have to bucking tell you to stop causing natural disasters near buisnesses!"
"Aw, crap. That's gonna ruin the begonias in the garden, isn't it? Good thing I saw a bunch of ponies buying volcano insurance today!" At that remark, the salesponies began to sweat nervously. "I hope Juniper got to them, I haven't seen her all day."
"There are more important things than your poisonous plant garden, Arca! Go get rid of that volcano, this instant!"
"Do I haaave too?" Arcane whined. He only got a hoof pointed towards the door in response. "Fine..." he dejectedly trudged over to the hole and jumped out of the building, disappearing from sight. Above the chaos and the fire, he could be heard throughout the town: "JUNIPER! GET THE BROOM! THERE'S A THING IN THE YARD I NEED CLEANED UP!"
Silver took a swig of the potion Arca had left, and turned to the two salesponies. "Now, about that insurance..."