“And a half pound of chilly chili dust…” Arcane sprinkled the ingredient into his cauldron, enjoying the feel of the fine grains of powder slipping through his fur. “Ah, it's been an age since I've used a phoenix feather in a mix, let's try that.”
“Boss?”
“Oh hey, Juniper!” Arca twirled around on his step stool, addressing the visitor to his lab. “Lots of customers today?” Without looking, he uncorked a jar of phoenix feathers sent by Celestia as a Hearth's Warming present and added one to the bubbling concoction before setting the jar back in its proper place. “Or is Mayor Silver's secretary here with a bulk order?”
Juniper stretched her wings and groaned. “Neither. Emerald was here-”
“Who?”
“-offering you one last chance to surrender and move the shop before the trade exchange tomorrow. Apparently she's gonna complain to Celestia herself.”
“Why should I move the shop? You can reach it from the street just fine.” Arcane seemed perplexed about why anypony would want to move his shop after its location had been the town's only constant for around 650 years, but the mention of the trade exchange registered with him and he brightened up considerably. “Oh, and speaking of the trade exchange, I've been working overtime-”
“So nothing new there, right?”
“Shush. I've been working overtime to make less practical potions for recreational effects! This one should give you the ability to breathe harmless, colorful puffs of soap bubbles if I got it right.”
Juniper rolled her eyes. “Big ‘if’ there, boss. Your recipes are top notch and you never fail the ones you do know how to make, but your experiments have a tendency to backfire.”
“Really? Name one time, Juniper.”
“Last Tuesday.”
“Other than that one.”
“Last Monday.”
“I told you, that bubble flood was because I put too much soap in the washing machine and forgot it while I was sunbathing.”
“Last Sunday, then…”
“That doesn't count either, because… uh… I said so.”
“Ugh, forget it. Why were you sunbathing, anyway? It's the only time I ever see you sitting still.”
“These, obviously!” Arca lifted his goggles and pointed at his eyes. Upon seeing Juniper's perplexed gaze, he questioned, “Have I really never told you that my eyes weren't always green? They were blue at first, until I caught swamp fever all those centuries ago and nearly got turned into a plant. My eyes, and to a lesser extent, the rest of my body, still has some chlorophyll in it! It's nowhere near enough to replace eating, but you don't know sunbathing until you've photosynthesized at least once.”
Juniper was about to respond when the soft jingling of the shop bell called them back to attention. “Hello?” A deep voice came from the front. “I heard an Arcane Catalyst lives here?”
Juniper found herself almost knocked over as her mentor rushed past her. “NEW-CUSTOMER-I-CALL-DIBS!”
The pony in the front was a masculine looking earth pony with a dark brown coat and a slightly lighter brown mane. He stood with a regal pose, and regarded the approaching torpedo of pony alchemist with nothing more than a chuckle. “Ah, Arca. You remember me?”
Arcane scanned the stallion with a questioning eye for a moment before brightening up. “Ah, Nickel Ingot! I forgot you look like that now! Come in, come in, Celestia wrote to me all about your little potion situation. Juniper! This is Nickel Ingot, or Nick for short, and he's here as my Princess-boss's honored guest. Treat him nice, alright?”
Nickel held out his hoof and took Juniper's in a hoofshake that was strong and powerful, yet held the gentleness of a calm ocean deep within. He gazed into Juniper's soul with his piercing brown eyes. “And you must be Miss Juniper Berry. It is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Arca spoke highly of you.”
“Y-you know me?” Juniper couldn't help but blush at the kind, gentlestallionly words from the handsome earth stallion. She prayed Nickel didn't notice that, or her wings obviously twitching, but he seemed to ignore it. Arca, as usual, didn't even register her reaction. She never knew he didn't care or was just plain naive.
“Of course. I look forward to getting to know you and your boss over the next few days; I'm going to be in town with Celestia for the trade exchange. I arrived a day earlier at her request to meet with Arca here about a special transforming potion of his that had some unintended side effects. But enough of that. Perhaps a friendly dinner could get us all acquainted? My treat.”
Juniper blushed even harder and shivered in excitement a bit. A hunky stallion paying attention to her and asking her to dinner? “YES- I mean, I'd love to. I just need to clean my coat, it gets messy during work.”
“That won't be an issue, Juniper!” Arca cried out. “I left the potion bubbling for too long while we were chatting here, so in a few seconds this whole place is gonna be a bubble wonderland!”
“Wait, what?”
Razzle Dazzle dug around her attic. It contained her personal stash of rare recipe books and magical artifacts she knew would appeal to a certain somepony, also a few magazines featuring her modeling on the cover. All of those would be trading fodder for the exchange. Her eyes glanced at a sign she had made reading ‘Open for trade: Deals negotiable*’ and in fine print below that, ‘Will only trade for kisses from and dates with Arcane Catalyst’. She also prepared a bowl of candy marked ‘FREE’ in order to lure her crush in.
As she rummaged around, she came across a dusty old journal with a single orange feather acting as a bookmark. She looked at it and smiled, remembering the days long ago when she was Arca's apprentice. It had been his second gift to her, the first being her pony name. She let dozens of crazy adventures replay through her mind's eye as she hugged it close, a feeling of nostalgia washing over her.
“You know,” she pondered aloud to herself, “settling down here means I don't go out for photo shoots as much as I used to, since so many take place here in town. I wonder if Arcie-poo needs some part-time help? I'm a tad rusty, though. I'd need him to give me a refresher on some more complex potions, and he'd stand right behind me while I work, and put his hooves on mine to guide me, and kiss my ear lovingly and… uh… prepping for the exchange can wait a little, it's getting hot in here for some reason. I think I need to take a shower.”
Mayor Silver was up to his eyeballs in paperwork about the exchange. He just finished going over all the lists regarding disasters at the exchange, fair trades, and so on, and decided to step out for some fresh air for a moment. The town's liquid rainbow waterfalls never failed to put his mind at ease, although as he trotted up the path to Alchemiracles he was a bit tense. Still, he figured he'd remind Arca to check the lists of rules, and-
With a mighty woosh, the front door of the shop opened and a torrent of bubbles carried a few ponies out. Arca came to rest at Silver's hooves, grumbling that it wasn't a new distance record.
“Ah, there you are, Arcane. Laundry day, I presume?”