//------------------------------// // Forbidden Fruit // Story: The Potion Shop // by Ashfur //------------------------------// “Alright, Juniper, I'll see you tomorrow!  We have plenty of potions to restock, so the lab will be pretty busy!”  The orange pony readjusted his lab coat as Juniper put the broom away. “And don't worry about counting the bits today, you've earned some relaxation!  I'll take care of it.” Juniper turned around, causing her light purple mane to obscure her vision for a few seconds.  “Are you serious, Boss? What are you up to?” “Nothing!  I swear.” “Boss.  Which of your new potions are you testing?”  She deadpanned. “We both know you don't just let me leave early like this.” Arca threw up his hooves in exasperation.  “Must you always question my acts of kindness?  For buck's sake, Juniper! I'm trying to be nice here!” “Promise me you aren't testing one of your potions, and I'll be out of here.  Deal, Boss?” Arca sighed, then raised his hoof.  “I, Arcane Catalyst, solemnly swear that I am not sending Juniper Berry home early in order to test any potions of my own creation today.”  Lowering his hoof, he leaned against the counter and opened the bit drawer to start counting. “There. Happy?” Juniper took a step back, stunned.  “Actually, since you can't lie to save your life, yeah.  Thanks, Boss. Sorry I doubted you.” “No problem, Juniper.  Now get outta here, it's a beautiful day and I'm sure your wings are itching to go fly… or whatever it is you pegasi girls do.”  Juniper smiled, packing up while her mentor counted the bits earned that day. She flew off into the sky, silently thanking her mentor for being as generous as he was. To his credit, Arca waited a good ten minutes before checking to make sure nopony else was in the shop.  With no other souls present, he reached down and opened a secret compartment under the counter not many knew about, and withdrew a small covered cup.  Lifting the lid and dispelling the preservation charm, he found himself gazing at a cup of hot liquid. “Yes, I'm not testing my own potions.  But nopony told me the doughnut store made potions too!  Let's see just what this ‘ex-press-oh’ potion does!” With no hesitation, he downed the cup's contents in one go, and waited. And waited… And waited. “Wow, this thing does NOTHING!”  He cried out. “Stupid, useless piece of junk!”  He tossed the paper cup behind him angrily. “Should've known better…”  He turned to leave the counter and go brew some potions in his lab, but when he turned he got a faceful of the paper cup still floating in the air. “Wait, what?”  He poked at the offending beverage holder, but it seemed that it wasn't moving unless he moved it.  Reaching over, he picked up the nearby jug of water Juniper kept to stay hydrated and tried to pour it out.  It didn't work, but as he moved it around the water stayed floating in the air. So naturally he used it to doodle a smiley face. Looking out the window, he saw ponies milling about the market in the distance, none moving.  A few pegasi were stopped mid-flight. “I take it back, this is gonna be fun to test…” Juniper trotted along the market street with a spring in her step, hoping to get some shopping done early so she could make something complex for dinner.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and with all the free time she now had there was nothing that could go wrong! Then everything went wrong. In the time it took her to blink, everything changed at the same time.  The fountain’s water exploded outward in a meticulously designed pattern.  The stone pathways suddenly had doodles and alchemical formulas appear on them in chalk.  Shops all had their doors swung open, and several had merchandise vanish and the equivalent amount of bits appear on their counters.  Juniper's shopping list had disappeared, replaced by a bag full of everything she planned to buy with ‘#1 best apprentice’ scrawled on it in marker. And looking to her left, Arca was passed out facedown in the flowerbed outside the doughnut shop, next to an empty box of the confections.  He was snoring softly into the dirt. Juniper warily walked over to her mentor, noticing a list in his hoof labeled ‘ex-press-oh expresso good shit test one two twelve’, followed by observations written in Arca's notoriously sloppy hoofwriting. The mare sighed, motioning for other ponies to just leave the stallion be for now.  “Boss, I'm cutting you off.”