//------------------------------//
// And LAUNCH! 
// Story: The Potion Shop 
// by Ashfur 
//------------------------------//

"Something wrong, Juniper?"

Juniper Berry, a forest-green pegasus with a violet mane, shook her head as her mind snapped back to reality.  She looked over across the counter, where a white earth pony with a pink mane was restocking potions.  How nopony realized 'Sunny Day' was just Celestia in disguise continued to baffle Juniper, but having somepony else who understood her employer's… eccentricities was always a welcome boon.

"Huh?  Wha- oh.  Sorry Sunny, I zoned out for a minute there.  I feel like I've been sitting here for a year and a half or something.  Almost feels like I missed a big, world-changing event."

Sunny Day shrugged.  "In all my years of ruling, and I hope Twilight picks up on this quickly, I've found it's best to just live in the moment.  I hope she becomes a fine co-ruler to me and Luna… I enjoy these days off from ruling."

"You make it sound like working here with Arca's shenanigans, Razzle's constant crushing, and the occasional duck-related problem makes this town any less hectic.  Actually, speaking of the boss, I haven't seen him all day.  Which is concerning.  Where is he?"

"I'm right here!"

To Juniper's credit, she did not flinch from hearing a voice next to her when there was absolutely not anything there a moment ago.  Years of working under one of Equestria's most unpredictable ponies has that effect.  Juniper casually looked down.  Poking out of a cleverly hidden trapdoor was a vibrantly orange stallion.  His horn poked out from his highly unkempt purple mane with yellow tips, and his bright green eyes held a subtle hint of madness to them that most would not notice at first.  "Boss," she greeted casually.  "I thought there were no secret entrances behind the counter."

"Behind, no.  Under the counter, yes."  Arcane Catalyst, Royal alchemist and third oldest pony in Equestria, scrambled out from his entry point and dusted off his labcoat.  "Sorry I took so long.  Turns out the post office won't let you mail highly concentrated acids.  I thought it was only explosives that were banned.  So unless a certain pretty princess wants to write me a note of exception…" he glanced over hopefully to Sunny.

Not even bothering to turn away from the shelf she was arranging potions on, Sunny effortlessly switched her voice back to the of her true, motherly princess tone.  "No, Arca."

"...then I need to get to work building a really big catapult.  I'll be in my lab!"  Arca skirted past Juniper and headed through the door marked 'Lab coats required at all times' at the rear of the shop.  "And Sunny, don't forget to mark all the heat-resistance potions as 30% off! This week's gonna be a hot one…"  Slamming the door behind him and nearly toppling a shelf over, the storefront of Alchemiracles was once again quiet.

Juniper nervously looked left and right before settling her gaze on Sunny Day.  "Does… does he mean heat as in temperature, or heat as in estr-"

Sunny held up a hoof to stop Juniper with a warm smile.  "Arcane may be one thousand years your senior, Juniper, but I don't think anypony has ever explained to him the difference between heat and heat.  Luna, Discord, Cadence and I all have a betting pool on how long it takes him to figure it out."

"...Riiiight."  Juniper let out a sigh and went back to what she had been doing: counting the bits in the register.  As far as days in Rainbow Falls go, this was a fairly peaceful afternoon, and she had learned to appreciate days where no explosions occurred.

At least, that was the plan until the door jingled as two smartly dressed stallions walked in.

Juniper instantly switched to her customer service face and greeted them with a smile.  "Hello, welcome to Alchemiracles.  How can I help you?"

The first stallion, a tall unicorn with a dark gray coat and a dull brown mane, smiled back.  "I appreciate the welcome, my dear, but it should be us asking how we can help you.  My name is Secret Formula and this here," he gestured to his partner, a dull brown earth pony with a dark gray mane.  "Is my compatriot, Safe Operation.  We represent the recently-formed Royal committee of Alchemists, tasked by the crown to assist potion makers in organizing a master compendium of all potion recipes."

Sunny day, with the practice of a few thousand years of politics, looked surprised, but skeptical.  "I was unaware such a committee existed," she remarked.

"Her majesty Princess Celestia approved it last week, ma'am," replied Safe Operation with a grin.  Of course, he had no way of knowing that he was talking to Celestia herself in disguise.  "Now, may we speak to whoever comes up with the recipes around here?"

Sunny thought to herself for a moment.  Juniper as well.  Both shared a mutual nod of understanding that given their boss's nature, this was no threat at all to them.  "He's back in his laboratory, but he should be-"

"Thank you!  We'll be just a minute."

"-busy."  Sunny glanced at Juniper and quietly cast some shielding enchantments on them both from under her earth pony illusion.  "Juniper, brace for Arca."





Arcane Catalyst was having a very fun time in his lab.  Not twenty minutes and he'd already assembled a working prototype catapult capable of launching things across town!  He'd calibrate the aim later, he told himself, taking a moment to get a drink of… whatever was in the unmarked potion he was drinking from.  Tasted like citrus and oats, so probably a healing potion.  He lounged back in the bucket of the catapult as a makeshift chair, enjoying a moment of calm when the lab door opened.

Immediately, Arca's ears flipped up and his senses went on high alert.  Whoever was coming in wasn't wearing a lab coat as per protocol.  With practiced ease, he summoned a pair of coats and launched them at the intruders.  "CAN'T YOU READ THE SIGN?!  LAB COATS-"

A subtle click echoed through the room.  Arca and the two businessponies looked over at the source of the noise, only to see that the flung lab coats had hit the catapult's lever with enough force to activate it.

Arca looked down to realize he was still in the catapult.  "-required.  Oh, bu-"

WHAM!

That was all he got out before the catapult fired, spinning its arm and slamming itself and Arca through the back wall of the shop and into the ground at extremely high speed.  The shockwave shook the whole building, and several potions fell off the shelves in a series of crashes.

Safe Operation and Secret formula stared wide-eyed at the damage.  "Uhm… perhaps we will come back later."

Juniper was already getting the mop out.  "You think so, huh?"