“Oh, come on, Over Easy, these ponies have already started founding the city, we need currency!”
“Isn’t that a little crazy to ask about when most ponies still offer their services for free? I think The Apple Family and the carpenter might be the only ones charging for anything! Also, don’t call me that!”
Two ponies sat in between a couple tents that hadn’t quite been repurposed as buildings yet. One was a unicorn, the other a pegasus. The pegasus was a yellow mare with cream-colored hair and slightly off-color eyes, her cutie mark an egg, sunny-side up. The unicorn was more of an orange stallion with long, crunchy grey mane, having a hammer cutie mark.
“Well, Celestia’s going to tax us eventually, we’re going to need bits,” the Rock Candy said.
“Fine, Rock Candy, do whatever you want, I just don’t want to join you,” added Sunny Side
“You’re my sister—“
“As far as we know,”
Rock Candy hesitated for a moment, “...As I was saying, I’m sure you’ll come around eventually!”
The two ponies were orphans, neither of them remembered their father, but they both seemed to remember their mother, who had unfortunately passed away on the trip to found Ponyville. She was out for a little too long and was torn apart by Timberwolves. The siblings saw it happen right behind them as the group made a swift getaway.
Rock Candy trotted away, which left Sunny Side sitting between the two tents, she had no idea what Rock Candy was doing. He’d been on about that business for the last year, even though they barely had anything to make things with. They were only given a tent because they were 18 and the founders thought that they could survive on their own, their distinct lack of any useable wood also made the task, of creating a store a little harder.
Sunny Side didn’t have much else to do, so, after an unproductive but somewhat entertaining argument against herself, she went out to see what Rock Candy was doing. Despite his oafishness, Sunny Side really loved her brother. She didn’t want to see him get torn up by a Timberwolf, or to walk off a steep gradient or anything.
She wandered throughout the early Ponyville, weaving her way around the tents still up and the houses that were being built at an awfully slow pace, they did cost a fair chunk of money, after all.
The chaotic busyness of the afternoon soon reached her ears.
“Buy some apples today! Grade A; fresh-picked! All done by yer own Apples!”
“How about a nice bucket of hay? It’ll cost you no more than a bit!”
“Get some clothing weaved for winter!”
The vendors shouted at each other across the street. Sunny Side dodged her way around some of the customers, looking for anything that resembled her brother. By the time she reached the end, with the carpenter standing silently behind a sign that said, ‘houses, 20 bits’, she had started to think that Rock Candy wasn’t around, and was wondering if maybe she had to check again.
“You here to buy a house?” the carpenter asked.
“Sorry, I don’t have any bits, I was actually looking for my brother,” Sunny Side replied.
“That one is again?” the carpenter once again asked.
“Foolish orange stallion? Grey mane? Kinda looks like me?”
“Oh, him.” The carpenter responded. “Well, I believe he went straight to the forest. Said he was off to get wood or somethin’.”
Sunny Side kicked the ground with her yellow hooves. “That idiot!”
“You really wanna go there?”
But Sunny Side was already gone.
She was flapping her wings intensely as she travelled straight to the forest. It wasn’t a very large patch of land, but it was a good dozen acres, and unnatural things happened there. It was also home to some of the deadliest creatures, such as the manticore.
Sunny Side flapped as fast as her wings could as she went barreling straight into the forest. She wasn’t a skilled flyer, but she was able to weave between trees enough to make some solid ground.
As the forest seemed to get deeper and deeper, the light being blotted out. Sunny Side slowed down, she was terrified of what she might find, and she didn’t want to run headlong into a manticore. Unfortunately, her worst fears came true when she wasn’t looking and ran straight into a muscular body while swooping down low to dodge a branch.
“No!” Sunny Side shrieked, eyes closed, “Please don’t kill me! I have so much to live for!”
“Sunny, it’s me.”
Sure, the voice sounded like Rock Candy, but she couldn’t be sure, Sunny Side started swinging punches at the muscular thing. “How do I know it’s really you, and not some imposter!”
“Over Easy, open up your eyes.”
She opened up her eyes, only Rock Candy knew that stupid nickname, and sure enough, there was the orange stallion himself. He now had a couple new bruises on his chest, a lit horn, and a very unamused expression.
Sunny Side started yelling, but it soon descended into crying, and eventually, a hug “I hate you so much! Why’d you decide to do this! You’re the worst brother I’ve ever had— I’m so glad you’re alive.”
Rock Candy let his sister hug him, he knew that the loss of their mother had taken a huge toll on her, one she hadn’t quite recovered from yet. “Hey, Over Easy, I found some wood.”
He let his magic go, and about 40 logs and a hatchet fell to the ground.
Sunny Side looked up, eyes bloodshot, and pleaded, “Please, can we get out of here?”
Rock Candy nodded, picked the wood back up again, and trotted out with Sunny Side.
When they reached the broad daylight, and the yellow mare had calmed down, they were back to their old selves again.
“And why did you steal a hatchet to create a business no one will buy from?”
“Relax, Over Easy, don’t tell the mayor, because she doesn’t know.”
“It’s still a stupid idea.”
“Say what you will, it’s going to be incredibly successful, you just can’t see it.”
The two siblings bickered into the night, as they returned to their tents. In his head, Rock Candy was planning out how to put these things together. He needed to put that hammer cutie mark to good use.