A pleasant breeze blew across the cloudtops as another 'peaceful' day passed in Rainbow falls. Which is to say, nothing had happened and everypony was on edge, but given that it was already noon and nothing had blown up yet, the tension was dying down.
There was always one exception, though. A shadowy figure darted amidst the shadows and ducked into an alleyway in the residential district. The mysterious pony was obscured by a cloak, and carried a closed basket. Had anypony noticed, they would have found this incredibly suspicious, but years of practice had given the cloaked pony the skills they needed to evade detection.
Sitting down amidst a few broken bottles and trash bins, Juniper Berry looked for any sign of being seen, took off her cloak, and opened her lunchbox.
"Finally!" She quietly cheered to herself. "I think I finally got away unnoticed. Now then, before Arca even tries looking for me, I'll get this out of the way first…" The pegasus carefully removed the crown jewel of her lunch: a delicious-looking lollipop from the local confectioner, wrapped up and ready to eat. She gently tore the wrapping away as slowly and cautiously as she could, careful not to make a noise or-
*crinkle*
"I HEARD CANDY!"
The instant the package started to tear, the door of the long-abandoned house she was sitting behind slammed open to reveal none other than Arca. "I heard candy wheres the candy. Candy candy candy can- Juniper! I knew I heard you opening candy. Wanna trade lunches?"
Juniper facehooved and let out a groan as her boss sat down beside her. "How. How did you even find me here, Boss?!"
"I dunno."
Another sigh and the beginning of a headache told Juniper that pursuing that line of thought was not a good idea for her sanity. "Whatever. And no, you cannot have my lollipop. Go buy your own."
"But I wanna trade lunches! You don't even know what I'm offering!" The alchemist whined, ears drooping. That might have worked on other ponies, but Juniper just shot a disappointed glare at him.
"And you don't know what I have for lunch, either. You just want the lollipop."
"Your point?"
"I don't want your lunch, Boss."
"But I made fresh potato soup!" Arca levitated out a covered bowl from behind him, grinning. "I spent a lot of time on it!" Curious, Juniper lifted the cover, took one look at the dish, and recoiled.
"That doesn't look like potato soup to me! It's not even warm!"
Arca rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. "Well, you eat some soup cold! And this is my own recipe." As his apprentice didn't give a response, he continued. "Well, see, I was making potato SALAD, but then I kinda spilled an entire gallon of water in the bowl. So now it's potato soup! Go ahead. Try it. Eat it. Gimmie lollipop." He levitated it closer to Juniper, who simply turned away and rooted through her lunch box for her sandwiches.
"Don't you have somepony else to go bother while I'm on break?"
"I did, but then Mayor Silver kicked me out of his office. Literally."
The pair had a brief staredown, but suddenly Arca perked up, his ears twitching. "WAIT! Hold up. I have a customer! Rgh… you win this round, Juniper! But next time I'm trading for sure!" Defeated, Arca galloped off in the wrong direction to go back to the shop. Juniper knew better, though. He'd be back before the customer reached the counter, regardless of how impossible it would be for anypony else to travel that far, that fast. Smiling in her victory, she closed her eyes, and bit down to enjoy the sweet treat that she and her boss shared an addiction to.
And her teeth met empty air. Glancing down, she found a hastily scrawled note, with the letters "I.O.U." barely legible. Clearly Arca's best display of penmanship in months. Still, that did nothing to put her mind at ease, and she shouted in defeat and frustration.
"ARCA!"
And as that noise echoed through the town, the denizens of Rainbow Falls knew that the day's fiasco had occurred at last, and they could finally relax. Until tomorrow, at least.