The Little Pony Legend: Tales of Equestria

by MaggiesHeartLove

Chapter 18–Trade Ya!

Poor little Jinora had to cover her ears due to the incredibly loud shrieking of both her little sister and Pinkie Pie, who both jumped up and down on their seats. The Mane Six, along with Korra, Bolin and the airbender kids were on their way to the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange. Since both Mako and Asami were busy with work (both getting incredibly more and more busy these past few weeks), and with Bolin having some free time, and the airbender children wanting to visit the land of rainbow waterfalls falling from the clouds, they were more than eager to tag along.

"Yes! Best day ever!" Pinkie Pie squealed loudly, "We're all going to the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange!"

Jinora only rolled her eyes and returned to reading her pamphlet on Rainbow Falls itself. "It really is exciting." the young airbender's eyes sparkled upon the image on the paper. "To think, real life waterfalls falling from the sky, made entirely out of rainbows! It's almost too good to be true!"

"That's Equestria." Korra said as she ruffled the young girl's hair. "One surprise after another."

The train came to a halt and the group exited the train. Applejack adjusted a large brown bag from a wooden wagon and hoisted it onto her back, while Rarity adjusted her saddle bag. As always, it was colored pink with a white strap decorated with a diamond, and also wearing a lovely bewailed broach styled like a flower inside a golden circle, with red rubies as the heart and slender emeralds designed like the leafs.

Bolin jumped out of the train, outstretching his arms. "Hello, Rainbow Falls! Bolin is back!"

"Bolin, do you always have to do that when we return to a previous location?" Rarity asked with an amused smile.

"If I don't, how will anybody know I was here?"

"You're one of the first male humans these ponies have seen so far." Korra stated with an amused smile, mirroring Rarity's. "I'm pretty sure you won't be easy to forget."

"Awww, thanks Korra! That means a lot."

Meelo then popped out of the train, riding on his air scooter before landing beside them. "And I'm the next male human here!"

"Don't forget the best part! We're accompanying a princess on an official royal duty!" Ikki exclaimed loudly and excitedly, starling Twilight and Korra, who was holding a wooden box filled with box for the alicorn princess.

"Please, it's not that big of a deal." Twilight said as they made their way towards a large rock with a very small cave, which was the main entrance to the Rainbow Falls exchange location.

"What do you mean it's no big deal?" Jinora asked in confusion. "You're a princess! That's got to count for something."

"Sadly, it doesn't." Korra replied. "There always has to be a princess at the Exchange. Last year was Princess Cadance, this year it's Twilight."

"Exactly. It's just a formality." Twilight said.

Meanwhile, Ikki's eyes sparkled upon seeing the first rainbow waterfall poring from the clouds above and landing on a rainbow pond nearby. She extended her hand and dipped her finger into the water. Curious, she licked it and immediately fell a chill go up her spine. Maybe she couldn't have tasted the blue color.

"Come on, Ikki!" Korra called out, and the airbender darted off behind them as the group made it through the small cave opening, where the sunlight could still be seen despite the stone cold roof above them. The tunnel itself was very small, so they made it back into the outside in a few short moments.

"I'm sure none of the other ponies will even notice I'm here." Twilight said once they made it back outside…only to be startled by the sound of excitable gasps, cheers and confetti falling all around her.

"Wow, look over there, a princess!" one pony in the crowd cried out, just as a couple of pegasus ponies unfolded a banner, hung by two wooden poles. The banner was an image of Princess Twilight Sparkle herself, and more confetti fell all around them, landing on their manes and hair, and even clothing on the human's case. Twilight remained still, her eyes widened in surprise as Korra squatted down to whisper near her ear.

"Could be wrong, but I think they might've noticed." The Avatar said with an amused smile, while the alicorn only laughed nervously. She was never one who liked being the center of attention.

Bolin then raised up his hands, addressing to the crowd. "Okay, everypony, thank you very much for the warm welcome, now please let us pass." the earthbender, using his natural charisma, managed to kindly get the ponies to obliged and clear the way for the others to walk through. "Okay, step aside, watch the tail there good sir, thank you!"

Twilight released a sigh of relief. At least that little moment of awkwardness was over. "I still don't get why you don't like this, Twilight." Bolin said, once the confetti stopped falling and the audience had calmed down. "I mean, some folks would flip to have a parade in their honor!"

"Not everybody likes the attention, Bolin." Korra said as she walked a few steps ahead of him, carrying the box of books.

"Says the most famous human being in existence." Bolin said, placing his hands on his hips, his voice oozing with sarcasm, which made Korra briefly stop in her tracks and sigh.

"Okay, so maybe a little praise isn't so bad." she said, remembering her pro-bending days. "But believe me, too much attention isn't as glamourous as you think." she knew that much.

Living at the compound, she would receive so much criticism from the other White Lotus elders, and once she got to the city she was celebrated for many of her talents. But, even that came with a price. At least pro-benders had a normal life outside of the ring, Korra didn't. She had political eyes, news reporters, and even her own mentor eying her. Making sure she succeeded or either slipped up. So yeah, while it is nice to have folks acknowledge what you are good at, too many eyes on you can be a burden. She knew that as well as anybody. In fact, if she were to received any positive feedback from anyone, she would rather it were from her friends. At least she knew their words were genuine and didn't need to prove anything to them. To her friends, she could be herself.

Jinora and Fluttershy walked towards one of the booths, where they marveled at a lovely antique glass bird. "Oh, my goodness!" the yellow pegasus said with wonder at the beautiful work of art.

"You said it." Rarity said as she modeled a lovely pink rose hat while looking at her reflection in the mirror. "The Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange is simply divine. You can get anything you want here!"

"If'n you got the goods to trade for it." Applejack said as she pulled on the wooden wagon behind her.

"I wish we brought something to trade." said Ikki, dropping her shoulders in disappointment. "But, we airbenders don't really have much anyway." she then felt Korra place a comforting arm around her.

"Don't sweat it, Ikki. Bolin and I didn't bring anything either."

The earthbender fiddled with his fingers, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeell."

"Bolin?"

"I might have brought a few things." he said and rummaged through the stuff in Applejack's wagon before pulling out a folded up paper, which was an old poster of the Fire Ferrets. On the picture, all three of them in action poses, wearing their pro-bending gear.

Korra arched an eyebrow. "An old Fire Ferrets poster? Really?"

"Hey, this stuff sells like hot cakes! Besides, I promised Pabu I'd get him something." the ferret himself squeaked as he crawled up onto his master's shoulder.

Korra only rolled her eyes as they carried on. Spike was holding in his hands a Power Ponies comic book, wrapped in a transparent case. "What's that, Spike?" Meelo asked, curiously taking the thing from Spike. The little dragon nervously snatched it away from the airbender boy.

"Careful, Meelo! One ding, nick or dent, and this Power Ponies comic book wouldn't be in perfect mint condition anymore. And if you want to trade for a mint comic, you gotta have a mint comic."

A crowd of ponies gathered around Twilight, and Korra, murmuring in awe upon seeing the princess right before their eyes. They were even more surprised to see the human girl Avatar, whom they had not expected to come. If they had, they would have had a banner at the ready. Instead, one pony handed Korra a bouquet of flowers, free of charge, much to her surprise. As kind as the gesture was, she felt it was unnecessary. As more and more ponies crowed around the two, Twilight's face flustered and she hid her face with her wings and galloped ahead. Poor pony was so self conscious about being royal now. Unlike Korra, Twilight still wasn't entirely used to all the attention. Poor thing.

Korra gave a soft giggle as she placed the box on the booth Twilight had set up, with a banner of a book on it. "I guess a pony who's here on official princess business has to expect a little fussing." Korra said.

"But all I'm supposed to do is settle disagreements over whether a trade is fair or not." Twilight explained, now feeling a lot more at ease now that she was away from the large crowd. "And since the rule is that a trade is fair as long as both ponies get what they want, there's never been a disagreement. So there's really no reason for anypony to treat me as anything special."

"Easier said than done, sweetheart." Korra said as she nodded her head to her left, where an adorable little white pegasus filly with mint blue mane and tail smiled up at the two. Her little tail wagging like an excitable puppy dog.

Twilight happily greeted the child, who's amethyst eyes sparkled with glee. "Hi! Can I help you?" the princess asked…only to see that the filly had pulled out a picture of the princess, asking for her autograph. Twilight let out a sigh and levitated a quill to do just that.

Korra only watched. She knew how much Twilight didn't like attention, but sadly, it came with the new territory. But, apparently, she wasn't the only celebrity in town today. Korra briefly spun around and was startled to see yet another pegasus filly, this one yellow with a sky blue mane and tail, flying right in front of her and holding Bolin's poster in her mouth, hoping for Korra to sign it as well.

Korra couldn't say 'no' to this sweet little filly, so she kindly complied. Once satisfied, the two fillies flew off, giggling excitedly with their autographed pictures and Korra shot Bolin an unamused glance.

"Don't worry, I've still got plenty left!" the earthbender said as he pulled out a number of rolled up posters.

"Well, I better get started." Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings excitedly. "There's a pony here who's got a signed first edition of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue, and I'm gonna get it! I've been able to get first editions of all of the Daring Do books, except this one! Nopony's ever put together a whole set, and I'm gonna be the first!" the pony's ears then lowered down sadly, "If it hasn't been traded yet... It's the only one in all of Equestria!"

"Oh no! I'd really hate to see you disappointed." Fluttershy exclaimed with worry and pulled out a whistle from underneath her wing, with the head designed to look like a bear. "I did want to trade this bear call I've got for a bird whistle, but getting that book seems so important to you, so if you need me to help you first…"

"Normally I'd say I don't need any help, but you're right. This is really important. I've gotta get that book!"

"Can I help?" Meelo asked, raising his hand up.

"You don't even like books." Jinora stated.

"No. But I do like spending time with Rainbow Dash. She's the coolest!"

Rainbow Dash smiled and gave the little bald boy a noogie on the head. "Aww, thanks little man. Come on, guys!" the rainbow pony took both Fluttershy and Meelo and flew off to get the book, with Ikki and Pinkie Pie waving goodbye.

Jinora sighed, "I better go with and make sure Meelo doesn't do anything crazy." she said as he headed to the direction Rainbow and the others had gone.

Applejack pulled a large bag from the wagon and "Well, I'm off to take a gander at some of the vintage stalls."

"Did you say vintage?" Rarity asked, adjusting her saddle bag and galloping behind Applejack.

"Hey, wait for me!" Ikki called out and ran towards the unicorn, who now was walking side by side with Applejack.

"Why, old and rare items are so in style right now!" Rarity said with glee before looking back at her saddle bag, "I'm hoping to get a vintage item as well. I just hope I brought enough to trade."

"I know what you mean, Rarity." Applejack said with sincere sympathy.

"At least you guys get to trade something." said the poor airbender, "Must be fun."

Hearing the poor sad airbender girl sigh made the two ponies look on sadly. The air nomads were known for being very un-materialistic, so Ikki didn't really own much. They weren't saying it was a bad thing, but it was a tad depressing that Ikki couldn't at least see what it was like.

"Well, why don't we get something for you then, darling?" Rarity suggested.

"No, I wouldn't want you to waste your stuff on me."

"Nonsense! Call it a gift!"

"But, what about your vintage stuff?" Ikki asked.

"Oh, we can always get more next year." Applejack insisted, "In fact, why don't we poll our trade stashes, Rarity?"

"Pool?" Rarity asked curiously.

"That way, if one of us finds somethin' real valuable Ikki likes…"

Rarity gasped in realization, "She'll definitely be able to get it! Who could say no to exchanging a single object for such a huge assortment of items? Oh, yes! That is absolutely brilliant!"

"Wow, you guys would do that for me?" the young airbender smiled, placing her hands over her heart.

"Of course!" Rarity replied.

"We'd be more than happy to."

"Wow! I'm so glad to have friends like you guys!"

"We feel the same way, Ikki." Applejack said with a wink.

"Then let's go shopping!" Rarity galloped and took the lead, with Applejack and Ikki close behind. Ikki was already bursting with excitement.

With Korra's help, Twilight organized the books on the table when Bolin and Pinkie PIe returned. Bolin was already carrying a bagful of items he had traded to other ponies for his posters. Korra looked at the bag in surprise.

"Wow! You traded all your posters already?"

"I told you they'd sell like hotcakes!" Bolin stuck his hand into the bag and pulled out a few things, "You wouldn't believe the stuff I got! A feather duster, a spatula, some spices, a few books, this old lamp, a picture frame--"

"I thought you were going to get something for Pabu."

"I did!" Bolin said, just when Pabu poked out form behind his shoulder, wearing the cutest little soldier costume and hat. "And if I see anything else I like, I'll just trade them the stuff I already have. Man, I love this place!" Korra only rolled her eyes in amusement and continued helping Twilight with the books.

"Um, shouldn't your princessness be headed to the royal box seats?" Pinkie Pie asked Twilight, pointing her hoof to where the royal chair placed fro Twilight stood empty.

"I may be the princess on duty, but I don't think that means I have to sit up there all alone doing nothing." Twilight replied as she placed the last book on the table. "Ever since I became a princess, Celestia's been sending me more books to read than ever. The library's overflowing."

"And even with the ones she already gave me and Jinora, there's still way too much leftover." said Korra.

"So I figured while we're here, I might as well trade away some books I don't need anymore." it was then that the princess felt her stomach rumble. "Oh, guess I shouldn't have had that light breakfast."

"You go on ahead." Korra said, "I'll keep an eye on the books for you."

"Thanks, Korra. You're the best!"

Rainbow Dash gasped when she saw the object she had been dying to see all day long. "There it is! The first edition of Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue! It hasn't been traded yet!" she said, her wings flapping rapidly to showcase her excitement.

The book of Rainbow's dreams was on display, front row, on the stand of a vendor pony with a pale yellow coat and bright tangerine mane with lighter tangerine streaks, wearing a safari getup and matching hat with three teddy bears as her cutie mark. The stand was filled with an assortment of adventure themed merchandise, such as safari clothing, old replicas of ancient legendary treasures and even a few hiking supplies.

Rainbow Dash placed her hooves on the ground and spoke to the pony, "Lucky for you, because I've brought my most valuable possession to trade for it…" Rainbow Dash pulled from out a rusted old object and placed it proudly onto the table. "My lucky horseshoe!"

The safari pony looked down at the object, her brows rising and her lips pouting in disinterest. "I don't want it." she said bluntly with a shake of her head and gave the rainbow haired pegasus her horseshoe back, much to her disappointment and shock.

"What?!"

"It's just a rusty old horseshoe. That's not worth anything to me."

"But, but how is Rainbow Dash going to get the book she really wants?" Jinora asked, while Rainbow's eyes shimmered and her irises increased in size, giving her a longing puppy dog look, with her ears pressed against her head in sadness.

"Well, she's not." the yellow pony replied, placing one hoof on the table and another on her hip.

Rainbow Dash sighed in disappointment and passed out right then and there. Well, maybe not pass out, more like lay her back on the grass out of disappointment.

Meelo refused to let this happen. Rainbow Dash wanted that book, and his father's beard he was going to make sure she got it. The little airbender boy aggressively slammed his hands onto the table, getting the pony's undivided attention.

"We're not leaving until we get that book!" He exclaimed boldly, increasing his tone to sound as macho and intimidating as he could.

"I"m sorry weird little human kid, but unless you guys have anything that interests me, it's not deal."

"Then we'll get something of interest! Say it and we'll get it!"

The pony blinked. "Seriously?"

"Look at my face, lady! I am being serious!" Meelo gave the pony his most intimidating frown, which only made him look rather creepy in the pony's eyes and Jinora to face palm herself in embarrassment. Still, she couldn't pass up the chance to get something she really wanted.

"Well…alright, I can give you the book." she said, which made Rainbow Dash sit back up, smiling in anticipation. "If, you can get me that."

The pony pointed her hoof to another stand nearby, which was in fact a tent sun by a very masculine pony with a beard and a buff grey colored body, wearing all sorts of chains and belts. He tightened his teeth as he tried to pull on a chain with his mouth, in an attempt to hold down a ferocious beast, slightly bigger than the pony himself. The beast was covered in fur from top to bottom, brown in color and with two barking heads, resembling two species of dogs. One head looked like a saint bernard while the other resembled a generic mutt.. This head was the tallest out of the two. Both heads wore collars and were snarling and drooling at the mouth. The tallest head broke a bone in two with its jaws.

Meelo, Jinora and Rainbow Dash were both jaw dropped by the creature. Mostly on how terrifying it was. The pony running the stand was an owner of rare and dangerous creatures, and this one was most definitely the mane attraction. How he managed to get one was beyond them.

The only pony who wasn't afraid of the beast, amazingly, was Fluttershy. "Aww, an Orthros! How cute!"

"Cute?!" Jinora exclaimed in shock at the sweet pony's comment. Naga is cute, a giant bison is cute but, this thing?…They'd be lucky if they left this place with their limbs still in tact…and with blood still in their bodies.

"The pony running the ancient beasts stall doesn't want anything I've got." said the safari pony, "But if you can get me the Orthros, I'll trade you the book for it."

Rainbow's eyes landed back onto the Daring Do book, and all of her doubts went away. She was not giving up on getting this book. She was no quitter. "You got it!" she replied with great confidence.

But Jinora was skeptical. "Um, maybe we can find you something else that you might like?" she asked the safari pony, chuckling nervously, "One that doesn't have razor shaper teeth, maybe?"

"Well, if it's too scary for you kids…"

That comment was enough to boost up Meelo's ego. "I'm not afraid of anybody or anything!" the little airbender puffed up his chest in an intimidating fashion to showcase his bravery. Even if he was still a scardy cat on the inside.

Rainbow Dash chuckled and used her hooves to turn the little boy and his sister around and gently shoved him ahead to walk. "Okay, one Orthros, coming right up!" she said as she used her wing to wave at the pony.

"How are we going to get that Orpoto--Ortures--Orpu--tor--Whatever it is!" Meelo asked.

"I don't know." Rainbow confessed, "But, somehow, we're gonna get that Orthros."

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to end well?" Jinora said to herself.

Meanwhile, Ikki was still indecisive on what to get. There wasn't really anything that caught her eye. This began to make the two ponies feel guilty. The poor child didn't know what she wanted. There were so many options, but she just couldn't decide. They were all so amazing, she just couldn't pick. Also, the other reason why she was so indecisive was because she didn't want her friends to waste too much on her.

From afar the two friends sadly watched as the poor young girl sighed in disappointment. "Oh, I fell awful!" Rarity said, her ears pressed close to her head. "The poor child doesn't know what to get."

"Bet she doesn't want us wastin' our stuff on her, either."

"Still, I really want to get her something. She's such a sweet girl. Even if she does something say things without thinking." Rarity said, remembering the time Ikki bluntly revealed to Asami that Korra had a crush on her then boyfriend.

"True." Applejack's ears perked up and a smile came across her face. "Hey, I think I got an idea!" the pony galloped towards the airbender, who was looking at a few hats. "Hey, Ikki. How's about we make this easier for you and find a gift for you ourselves. Just tell us what you would like and we'll find it for you."

"Really? That'd be great! All of this stuff is making it hard for me to pick just one."

"Well, what exactly it is you're looking for?" Rarity asked.

The little airbender pondered. "Well…I'm not sure. Something pretty, I guess. But there are so many pretty things here."

"Don't worry, sugarcube. We'll help ya find exactly what it is you're looking for."

"You guys are the best!" Ikki wrapped her arms around the two ponies, hugging them tightly. She wouldn't mind them choosing something for her. She had never had went shopping for something she wanted to get before, being raised in a very un-materialistic household and all, and if her two friends choose it for her, that would have made it all the more special. Three heads are better than one!

Twilight licked her lips as the vendor pony handed her a delicious looking oatburger and a smoothie. Her stomach was growling for some food and now she could enjoy it. She gave the vendor her bit and galloped ahead, ready to take the first bite…until she accidentally collided with somepony.

Her smoothie nearly fell to the ground until it was caught by a extended orange wing. For a moment, Twilight knew she had seen that coloring from somewhere. When she looked up she could feel her hunger temporarily leave her. Standing before her was none other than the handsome stallion whom she has had her eye on for quite some time now. She couldn't believe he was here. The stallion balanced the drink on his wing perfectly, he was so strong, and his blue eyes gazed into the purple ones of the princess, who blushed like mad.

"Oh, Princess Twilight!" the stallion greeted in surprise before handing her back her drink, which she levitated with her magic. "I--I didn't expect to run into you. I mean, I heard you were coming but I--" the stallion stammered with his words. He looked so nervous, which was odd since in the precious times they had greeted one another he wasn't this shy. "Anyway, I'm sorry for bumping into you like that, you're highness."

Twilight giggled, her face still blushing. "Yeah. We've got to stop bumping into each other like this. But, it's okay, really." the two ponies blushed and Twilight wanted to say more, but her nerves got the better of her. "So, what brings you here?" she amped up the courage to answer.

"I thought I'd check a few things out, nothing much." the pegasus pony, bit his bottom lip and trailed his hoof on the ground nervously. "I'm…gonna go over there now. It was nice speaking to you, princess." the pony started walking back, only to accidentally bump into another male pony, who glared at him in annoyance before walking off. The pony bowed and left, feeling completely humiliated.

Twilight couldn't believe he was here, and for a moment they spoke. Still, why was he so nervous around her? Did she say something wrong? Did he not like her? Was he intimidated by her tittle? She really wanted to know and she wanted to speak with him some more.

But, her insecurities prevented her from doing so. Why couldn't she form a proper sentence when around Flash Sentry?

Rarity galloped towards her country pony friend. "Oh, Applejack, I am so glad I found you."

"Me too! You're not gonna believe it!"

The two friends began speaking simultaneously, "I found the absolutely perfect gift for Ikki, and all it's gonna cost is all our stuff!" the two ponies gasped in shock upon hearing what the other had just said. "Uh-oh."

"So, where is this absolutely perfect gift you want to trade everything we have for?" Rarity asked. Applejack led the unicorn to a nearby stand, where they were selling old household items, and one item in particular was a ragged old thing, with button eyes and stringy hair.

"There!" Applejack pointed with her hoof.

"Where?" Rarity asked, already feeling overwhelmed by all of the old house items such as old chairs, furnitures, lamps and so on.

"Right there!" Applejack turned her friend's head to the object she was referring to. Rarity cringed her nose at the sight.

"But… that's an old rag doll."

"It's not ragged! It's vintage!" the country pony explained, "This here is a one of a kind "Dolly Holly"! They don't make em like they used to."

"And with good reason." Rarity said under her breath. While the doll itself was in better condition than most old toys, the mare wore old clothing that had been out of style for decades, wore an old straw hat and the coloring wasn't as bright and colorful, but was still very much in better shape than most others. It was probably the only thing that brightened up the stand itself. But, Rarity wasn't sure if an old toy like this would be a perfect gift for Ikki's first Rainbow Falls Trader's Exchange.

Applejack took the toy into her hooves and shoved it against Rarity's cheeks. "It's also the softer doll they made! Ikki only had them old air nomad toys and old straw dolls made out of wood. This would be such a wonderful gift for the young airbender. Simple, yet in wonderful condition. Not too flashy, but not too old and worn. Plus, it was adorable, which Ikki would go nuts over, and the eyes were colored blue, which was Ikki's favorite color. She would love the fluffy dress and the hat for an accessory.

But, Rarity was still a bit hesitant. As sweet as the gift was and it did carry a few aspects Ikki would indeed like, in her eyes it was still a too old toy for Ikki to have. And as vintage objects went, it wasn't exactly the prettiest.

Rarity kindly removed the toy from her face. "I'm so glad you showed that to me, darling…" she said right before she levitated the toy and placed it back on the table. "...because once you see what I've found, you won't want to waste our trade goods on that." Rarity said with a giggle as she led Applejack to another stand nearby and showcased what she had found.

Just like Applejack, it was a toy, but instead it was of a beautiful plastic, playable, pink mare with the most gorgeous dress imaginable, long and elegant and a long mane and tail, styled and brushed to perfection, coming with additional accessories and extra cloths.

"Just look at this gorgeous vintage "Mare Bonnie" doll! Complete with additional accessories and it's in much better condition than that old Dolly Holly one."

Applejack looked at the doll and arched nan eyebrow. Indeed, it was in much better condition, but it also appeared rather familiar. "It looked exactly like the one you still have from when you were a little filly that you gave to Sweetie Belle. It's even got the same outfit on her. Ikki's already seen it."

"Well, yes, they may look the same, but I know it's older, and that's what makes it so much more divine. And Ikki can have her very own so she and Sweetie Belle can play with together."

"Wouldn't she feel better with a doll that's more her own instead of a copy paste of another one?Why, I'd wager if I switched them up, you wouldn't even know the difference!"

"Oh, don't be silly, of course I would! I have an eye for these sort of things."

"What's so bad about Dolly Holly? At you won't find any other like here. They're still makin' them Bonnie Mares. They're nothing all that special."

Rarity scoffed in anger, "Well, I'd say it's at least far more presentable than that old and worn ragged thing. What kind of gift is that for Ikki?"

"It's not ragged, it's vintage! And at least you can actually play with it."

"You can play with this one as well."

"It's made out of hard plastic, at least mine if soft, and just in good condition as that one."

"Well, we'll just let Ikki decide, won't we?"

The two ponies growled angrily at one another. They both wanted to get Ikki something special. Applejack's choice was more personal, while Rarity's was newer and better. As good friends as they were, they still couldn't agree on everything.

Speaking of growling, the Orthros was able to break apart the chain with their two mouths, their collars still tied to a pole. Rainbow Dash, Jinora and Meelo gulped as they approached the beast. Meelo didn't want to show he was scared, but it was clear Rainbow Dash was just as worried as he was. And with good reason.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, approached the beast calmly. Even when it started barking, she didn't even flinch. She placed her hoof underneath the chin of the saint bernard, which immediately made the two heads calm down as Fluttershy rubbed underneath one of their chins. Both began panting and the second head stuck out his tongue in delight.

The three friends watched in amazement as Fluttershy began rubbing the creature's belly, making his tail wag with delight. "Yes, such a good two-headed boy. Yes, you are!"

"Wow. She's good." Meelo said, his eyes wide in awe.

"Yea. And I thought Korra was good with giant animals." said Jinora.

Hearing the commotion, the owner of the stall walked outside, his eyes widening at seeing the beast tamed by this gentle looking pegasus mare. Rainbow Dash spoke to the buff gray pony. "Okay, I can see you're busy, so I'll give it to you straight." she pulled out the only item she had to trade with. "I need to trade this horseshoe for…that." she said, pointing at the Orthros.

"Nope." the pony answered with a straight face.

"Why not?!" Meelo asked in exasperation.

"You're gonna have to get me something better than a--Hey! Down, boy!" the pony ordered the creature, who was snapping its jaws and shaking a tall lamp in its two mouths. "Watch out for the lamp!" upon his command, the now slightly more trained creature released the lamp, which broke and shattered. It was his favorite one.

"Well, I could use another lamp."

"You got it!" Meelo said rather quickly, before giving Rainbow Dash a hoof pump. They had seen a whole bunch of lamps when they first arrived. This will be easy to trade.

The group arrived at a stall where they sold…the most peculiar of lamps. They were almost all styled to look like the spirit of chaos himself. "A whole stand filled with Discord-shaped lamps? Seriously?!" Rainbow Dash said upon seeing the display.

"They really do have everything at the Traders Exchange." Fluttershy said.

Meelo them approached the owner of the stall, who was a chocolate brown colored pegasus with a black mane and tail, both stripped with purple and purple eyes with a cutie mark of a sun symbol, consisting of a pink circle surrounded by either triangles; four large, purple ones, and four small, light pink ones. His back were were on walking wheels, since he couldn't walk on them. The young airbender immediately got his attention.

"Can you trade a lamp for my friend's horseshoe so we can trade it for an Orthros and get a book?"

"No." the pegasus replied, making Meelo drop his jaw, dangle his arms and face palm himself. Rainbow Dash mimicked his gesture by hoof palming herself. "But I'd trade it for an antique chicken." said the wheelchair bound pegasus pony.

"Great!…" Both Meelo and Rainbow exclaimed with glee, until. "What's an antique chicken?"

"Oh, I got all kinds of antique chicken statues." the owner of the antique chicken stall said to the group. "I got your blue hens, speckled grays, your-"

"Okay, cool!" Rainbow interrupted, already loosing her patience, "So will you trade one for a horseshoe so I can trade it for a lamp and then trade it for an Orthros so I can get my book?"

The tall brown pony with glasses and sleek hair pondered. "Well, lemme think... Uh, no."

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Jinora and Meelo all groaned in disappointment. "Aww…"

"But I'd gladly trade one of my chickens for a crystal chalice."

Rainbow Dash and Meelo speeded their way towards the crystal chalice stall, owned by a lovely mare with blue eyes, pale yellow coat and light cyan hair with white streaks. She looked as elegant and friendly as Rarity. Fluttershy landed beside them a few moments latter with Jinora walking up calmly.

Meelo placed his hands on his knees, gasping for air, while Rainbow Dash spoke. "Hold on a sec." the pony inhaled deeply before speaking, "We need a crystal chalice to trade for a chicken to trade for a lamp to trade for an Orthros. So what are you willing to trade for it?"

"I'm guessing it's gotta be some crazy thing way across the Exchange." Jinora said, already becoming familiar with the pattern forming here.

"Please have mercy on us, please!" Meelo begged as he got on his knees and held his hands together in a prayer formation and hung his head as a sign of mercy.

"Actually, I could use a slightly rusty old horseshoe." the owner said with a smile.

"Yeah, like where am I gonna find– wait, I've got one of those!" Rainbow Dash pulled out the horseshoe and gave it to the pony, who in turn gave her the chalice.

Meelo jumped up with glee, "Yeah! Now that we've got the chalice, this is gonna be a piece of cake!"

"Do you really think so?" Fluttershy asked.

"Totally! All we gotta do is bring this thing to the chicken stand and we are–" but the moment Meelo touched the crystal chalice…it began to fracture and broke into a million pieces right before their eyes.

Upon seeing this, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Jinora and Meelo all screamed in terror! How were they going to get the book now?!

Twilight still refused to come out from behind the stall. "Twilight, you can't stay back there all day." said the Avatar.

"Is he out there?"

"No, I haven't seen any sign of him since you bumped into him." seeing the pony wasn't going to come out, Korra pulled on her tail and pulled the pony back into the open. The princess was still covering her eyes in humiliation.

"What happened back there? Did I say something wrong? Did I intimidate him?"

"Maybe he was just nervous." Korra replied calmly. "Some guys get like that. I remember my first date with Mako. The poor guy was a nervous wreck. A cute nervous wreck, but still. Why don't you go and talk to him again?"

"And make a complete fool of myself again? No thanks!"

"Twilight, you're going to have to talk to him sooner or latter. You see him all the time at Canterlot and during those royal events with the princesses."

"I know but--" Twilight was interrupted when a little gray pegasus filly came over to the stall with a broken quill in her mouth, made out of a red feather. This was the perfect excuse to change the subject. "Oh, hello there. Can we help you?"

The little filly pointed her hoof at all the books in the stall and then pointed to the broken pen in her mouth. The two friends immediately caught on to what the silent little filly was trying to say.

"You want me to trade all my books for a broken pen?" Twilight asked in surprise. The filly nodded her head in the most adorable way. Twilight and Korra looked at one another and simply shrugged. They had already given plenty of the books to Jinora and Korra already had plenty, plus the library still needed more free space, and they didn't need these anymore so…

"Okay, sure." Korra said, "You got yourself a–"

"Stop! What are you doing?!" Pinkie Pie came rushing over, coming in between the girls and the filly.

"I was trying to get rid of all the books I don't need anymore." Twilight responded.

Pinkie Pie looked at the broken pin in the filly's mouth. "For that? Do you reaaaaally want that?"

"Well, not really, but I'm running out of library space, so–"

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Pinkie Pie began jumping around frantically before clinging onto Korra's side as if she were jumping away from a spider. "I can't believe that almost happened! But luckily, it didn't happen, thanks to me."

"What are you talking about?" Korra asked as she removed the pony from her body, who them flipped out of her grasp and landed on the ground. Pinkie Pie then pulled out a long scroll from above, which listed all the rules of the Exchange.

"According to the rules of the Exchange, a trade is only fair if both ponies end up with something they want." she rose the scroll back up, making it disappear and clapped her hooves on both sides of Twilight's face, pressing her cheeks. "You can't break the rules!" the pink pony speeded away, and Twilight rubbed her cheek, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

"Did anypony see you do it? I don't think anypony saw!" Pinkie's eyes landed on the filly, who smiled and raised her hoof up. Pinkie gained up on the poor child, their noses touching. "But you're not gonna say anything, are you?!" Pinkie asked in an intimidating tone, which made the filly reel back in fear until the older pony started laughing. Switching from happy to angry in a matter of seconds. "Haha, I'm just kidding! Or am I?! Sometimes I can't even tell!"

Seeing the frightened little filly, Korra approached her gently petted her head. Korra then stuck her hand into Pinkie's mane, where she found one of her stashes of cookies and handed it to the filly, who smiled and took the sugary treat in her mouth before galloping away.

"Y'know, if you want to go check out the rest of the Exchange and trade whatever you brought…" The Avatar began to say.

"Nope, I just came to pony-watch! I'm not going anywhere. I won't let you make a mistake like that again!" Pinkie Pie zipped away, now sporting a hat and bow tie, as well as a fake mustache and a wooden podium, which had an image of Twilight on it. The pony began speaking like a carnival host and a heard of ponies came to see what all the commotion was about. Even a few crystal ponies came to see.

"Hey, everypony, step right up! Do not walk! Gallop over here for your chance to trade for authentic, one-of-a-kind, official princess merchandise!"

Twilight groaned as Korra placed a sympathetic hand on her head. "I wonder how the others are doing right now." Twilight thought out loud.

Ever so gently, Rainbow placed the last piece of the crystal chalice together. The group had their hair, cloths, fur and wings all covered in tape and blue in an effort to fix the broken chalice. The lines of the cracks were still visible, with traces of glue oozing from the sides, and the tape was visibly seen, making it look like it was bandaged.

"Well, that took forever." Rainbow Dash said while Jinora removed the tape from the pony's mane.

"I just hope it looks okay." Fluttershy said hopefully.

"Only one way to find out." Meelo gently took the chalice, nearly loosing his balance in an effort to keep steady, and so Jinora took it instead.

"Maybe I should be the one to carry it this time." the older sister gently carried the chalice all the way back to the antique chicken stall, and placed it in front of the pony, who was polishing the statues. She and the others waited anxiously for his response.

"This is perfect!" the pony said with a wide smile…right before he smashed the already pieced back together chalice with a hammer, much to the shock of the others. "Perfect for the broken chalice mosaic I'm making!" the pony showcased the group the said mosaic of a chicken laying on a sofa, modeling. Jinora instinctively covered Meelo's eyes, keeping him from seeing the strange image.

"Alright, so what kind of antique chicken do you want? I got speckled, brown, gray…"

"Oh no! The pony we're supposed to trade the chicken statue to didn't tell us what kind he wanted!" Rainbow exclaimed with worry.

"Calm down, Rainbow Dash." Jinora said, "Just fly back to the lamp stand and find out what kind of chicken he wants. We'll stay here and make sure no other chicken gets traded."

"Thanks, Jinora!" the pegasus didn't waste a second and flew as quickly as she could. Not too long after she left, one pony approached the stand, but was stopped when Meelo gained up on him.

"Keep moving, pal!" he exclaimed in the most intimidating voice he could master. It was enough to frighten the pony who then galloped away. The airbender cracked his knuckles and smiled proudly. "Alright, who else wants to mess with the Meelo?"

Jinora only rolled her eyes while Fluttershy watched in concern as they waited for Rainbow Dash.

Back with Ikki, she kept looking back and forth from the pretty Mare Bonnie to the Dolly Holly. In all honesty, she liked both. If she could get the two of them she would, but each one would require all of the materials her friends had brought. Oh, how she wished she could magically put both toys together to make a truly amazing one. Buying things was hard.

"What do you think, darling?" Rarity asked the indecisive child.

"Honestly, they're the best things I've seen all day! They're both very pretty. Bonnie has very nice hair, but Molly is so soft! I like Bonnie's dress, but Molly's eyes are my favorite color. I really don't know."

It was then the two ponies realized what they had done. "What were we thinkin'?" said Applejack, "We shouldn't be putting so much pressure on Ikki like this."

"You are absolutely right, dear." Rarity said with a nod. "Since we can't get both, I will gladly allow you to make the trade to get Ikki the doll she wants. Whichever one it is."

"Oh, no I can't." said Applejack, tossing their stuff towards Rarity, "You wanted to get her something as much as I did. You should get her the doll he wants. Bonnie or Molly."

"That's very kind of you, darling, but I'll be the better friend here. You take our trade goods and get your gift."

"I'm an amazin' friend!" Applejack exclaimed back, "You take our stash and so you can give Ikki the doll."

"How dare you be so giving one. What kind of friend do you think I am? You are going to be the giving one!"

"No, you are!"

"No, you are!"

Back and forth, the two ponies pushed the two stashes with their hooves in a repetitive pattern as Ikki watched. She knew they had good intentions, and now they were trying to be unselfish by allowing the other to be the one to get her a wonderful gift. Even if they were doing it in a strange way, but it was the thought that counts. Looking at the two dolls gave Ikki and idea. She smiled and quietly snuck away to catch up with a certain earthbender.

"Hello!" Rainbow Dash cried out, tapping her hoof on the table of the lamp stall, and placed the statue on the surface. "We got the kind of chicken you asked for! Hello? Where's the pony running this joint?"

"I'd say, on break." said Jinora, after reading a sign that was hanging off of one of the polls holding the tarp up/

"What?!" Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration. At this rate she would never get her book. None the less, they hurried their way to find the pony.

Back with Twilight and Korra, Pinkie Pie had turned the humble stall into a bitting circle, with ponies all around anxious to get their hooves on one of the princess's books. "You have to admit, she really knows how to reel in a crowd." Korra said. She was sitting cross legged on the ground beside Twilight, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, and her elbow on her knee as they listened to Pinkie Pie continue advertising the simple books.

"These books made Twilight the princess she is. Before that, she was nothing – a big, fat zero!"

"Hey!" Twilight exclaimed in annoyance.

"Then she read these books, and voila! Princess!" Pinkie said once she removed her hat, to reveal a golden crown to visually emphasize her point.

"That's not how it happened." Korra stated, only to have Pinkie PIe zipped towards her and whisper in her ear.

"I know, but it gets their attention." Pinkie said before zipping back to the podium. "So who wants to start the bidding?"

The entire crowd of ponies began to chatter excitedly, calling out; "Me! Me! Me!" while holding their trading goods for the pony. Twilight had had just about enough of this and walked up to the podium, raising her hoof upwards to the crowd.

"Uh, just a moment, please!" she said and turned to her friends, speaking with sincerity. "Pinkie, I appreciate your help and all, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this. Nopony should trade for my books just because I'm a princess. I'm not better than anypony else!"

Her words were enough to silence the crowd. One of Twilight's most honorable tropes was her humility and honesty. But, that wasn't going to help them get rid of the books. Pinkie PIe spoke in a hushed tone into the princess's ear. "I know you're not better than everypony! Just leave this to me!" she shoved Twilight aside and went back to the bidding. "Did I mention that Princess Twilight got these books from Princess Celestia?"

A crystal pony's eyes widened in awe. "Whoa, wait, you don't mean–"

"Oh, that's right! Double princess!" Pinkie Pie placed another crown, one resembling Celestia's, and placed it right above the one she was already wearing. Once again, the crowd cheered loudly and continued the bidding.

All Korra and Twilight could do as face and hoof palm themselves.

Rainbow Dash and Flutteshy landed on the ground, just as Jinora and Meelo arrived on their air scooters before dismounting them and the scooters themselves disappeared. The younger airbender gripped his belly. "I'm getting a little hungry too." he said.

"No time!" Rainbow exclaimed, her eyes still looking around for the wheelchair bound pegasus pony until she finally saw him in the line, waiting to buy some food from the stand.

"There he is!" Rainbow dashed ahead, not even bothering to wait for her friends, who followed shortly after she speeded away. She finally made it to the pony and tried to plea with him. "Look, I know it's your break and all, but you've gotta open your stand so we can trade you for a lamp!"

The pony heard his stomach rumble. "Sorry, guys. Been trading all day. My belly's tellin' me it's time to eat an oatburger."

"Oh come on, please?"

"Pretty pretty please?" Fluttershy also pleaded.

"Pretty pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?" Meelo said, him, Jinora, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all pouted their quivering lips as their irises increased in size, shimmering and making them look like little puppies.

"Sorry, belly says 'no'." the pony responded firmly.

"But the Exchange ends at sundown!" Rainbow reminded him, pointing towards the sun, which was already begging to lower down in the sky, signaling it was getting late in the afternoon already.

"No!"

If her patience wasn't already wearing thin, they most certainly were now. All day, Rainbow Dash had to fly from one place to another, trading an assortment of items just to get her book. She wasn't going down that easily. She was no quitter, not even in this. She looked at the long line of ponies waiting for their meals, and the pegasus pony was only halfway there. There was already a number of ponies ahead of him. It would take a while until he could attend to them, but it would be too late by then.

"I've got an idea." Rainbow Dash said and led the way once more.

"Care to fill us in?" Jinora asked.

"Just follow my lead!" the pegasus replied and they all headed to the kitchen of the food stall, where she handed Fluttershy the spatula, Meelo the frying pan and Jinora the bread buns. Her plan was to make it so they speeded up the process.

The owner of the stall was surprised to see another freshly made bag of oatburgers into the mouth of an awaiting costumer. The pony happily galloped away with her meal.

"Next!" Rainbow called out and tossed Fluttershy more oatburger patties, which she cooked with the spatula, while Jinora cooked another batch, speeding up the process even more than before, much to the vendor's delight. Both Flutters and Jinora tossed the patties to Rainbow and Meelo, who both took them into the bums, along with the lettuce and tomatoes and threw them into the bags, and each one they tossed into the mouths of the paying costumers, watch one galloping along with delight at the literal fast food.

Finally, they gave the pegasus his chicken, and the Discord lamp to the owner of the orthros, who smiled at his new item, and that meant the friends could finally have the legendary two headed creature. Meelo got himself an oatburger, satisfying his hunger.

"You know, these things aren't half bad." he said before taking another large bite.

Jinora cringed at the sight. "Whatever you say, Meelo." she said and grunted as she, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash tried to pull the creature's leash towards the stall where the book was waiting.

"Finally! We're home free!" Rainbow Dash was then pushed to the ground by the orthros, which slobbered all over her, covering her mane with drool. "As long as this thing doesn't drown us in slobber."

"Oh, he's just an affectionate little two-headed fellow. Aren't you, little boy?" Fluttershy scratched the chins of the lovable two-headed creature.

"You know, he is kind of cute." Jinora admitted, only to have one of the heads lick her face, making her giggle. It was no different from being licked by Naga or a Oogie.

"No, I insist. You get her the doll, 'cause that's the kind of tried and true friend I am." Applejack said, pushing the stash back at Rarity.

"Well! I am way too generous to let you out-friend me like that! Wait, where's Ikki?"

The two ponies stopped their "argument" and realized that the airbender was missing.

"Ikki? Where'd ya go?" Applejack asked. The girl wasn't seen anywhere. When the two ponies looked at one another, only then did they finally come to their senses.

In their efforts to be unselfish for their friend, they ended becoming selfish in an ironic twist. A very sad ironic twist. Now, they had to find Ikki and fix their mistake.

The group led the orthros through the crowd, only to see the safari pony at the farthest end, already packing her things. "We gotta hurry!" Rainbow said as she tried to lead the others through, but with the Exchange already almost to an end, more and more ponies were walking around, packing their things and getting ready to leave. Normally, Rainbow Dash would fly on over, but they also had the orthros, and if Rainbow showed up without it, then the pony would never give her the book now. So, unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had to walk. But this already increasing crowd was making it difficult.

"We're never gonna get to the Daring Do stand through this crowd in time!"

Fluttershy began thinking of a way to help. Rainbow Dash has come this far, she didn't want her to be disappointed. It was then she remembered the bell call whistle she had brought to trade. Inhaling deeply, she blew into it, and the small device released the most powerful bear sound anypony had ever heard. Immediately, the crowd of ponies ran off in fear, believing the orthros was going rapid, and even the safari pony hid behind her stand. With the path all cleared up, Rainbow Dash yanked onto the beast's leash and led the creature towards the stand before the ponies returned.

In the process, Fluttershy dropped her bear call whistle, and with her hoof tied to the end of the leash so she could control the beast, which was already being pulled by Rainbow Dash, she couldn't go back to get it.

"My bear call!" she said as she watched the ponies walk on by before she could no longer see the bear call anymore.

"We gotta go!" Rainbow said, not paying attention to her friend loosing the whistle as she pulled harder on the orthros with Meelo's help.

Jinora was the only other person who noticed this and was just about ready to give Rainbow Dash a lecture. "Rainbow, how can you not--"

"No, it's okay, Jinora." Fluttershy said calmly. "It's just a bear call. There's nothing I could have traded it for that's more valuable to me than Rainbow's happiness."

Finally, Rainbow had the orthros in front of the stall. "Okay, the Exchange is almost over, but we did it. We traded a crystal chalice for an antique chicken…"

"And the chicken for a lamp…" Fluttershy added.

"And the lamp for an Orthros, just like you asked." Meelo added, last, right before receiving an affectionate lick from the creature.

"So there you go! Now where's my book?" Rainbow asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Finally, after this wild and craze journey, she was finally going to get her book.

"Yeah, you know, the thing is... I don't really want an Orthros anymore." said the safari pony.

Rainbow's wings stopped flapping, but her face was frozen in her smile. Not even blinking, while Meelo was jaw dropped and Jinora and Fluttershy was baffled by this twist of events.

"But--but--but--you…" Jinora trailed off, her left eye twitching and Rainbow Dash finally unfroze and groaned before fainting. She was only woken up by the orthros's slobber landing on her face.

"Argh! Ugh…"

Fluttershy petted the creature, "Good boy!"

"Do you have any idea what we had to do to get you this thing?!" Jinora exclaimed in furry. The always patient child had finally lost it. Her eyes burned with anger and her hair was already becoming a mess. Meelo fearfully hid behind the orthros, who whimpered in fear.

"I've been watching that thing over at the ancient beast booth! It's crazy! I don't want one in my house!" the safari pony said.

Orthros growled at the pony's comment but quickly calmed down when Fluttershy rubbed his chin. "There, there, that's a good Orthros. You just have to know how to train them. With a little patient training and a big slobber mop, they can be a wonderful household pet."

The orthros approached the pony, who reeled back in fear of the beast attacking her, but instead the two heads began to lick her like a happy little puppy dog. All fears went away as the pony started to laugh at the ticklish licks and her body became slobbered with drool. "Ha, ha, ha! All right, all right. I'll trade you."

"Yes!" The pony pulled the Daring Do book from her box, and Rainbow Dash had never felt more relieved in her life. It was just so beautiful. She even began licking her lips and drooling just like the orthros.

Jinora only sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Glad that's finally over." she said.

"If she comes and stays with us in Manehattan until it's trained!" the safari pony said as she pointed a hoof at none other than…Fluttershy.

Meelo and Jinora gasped in shock and Fluttershy only stood there in shock as well, but more so with deep concern.

"What?!" the airbenders exclaimed in horror.

"You can't take Fluttershy!" Meelo said as he stood in front of the pony, shielding her from the pony.

"Who else is going to train the orthros?" the pony said, still holding the book in Rainbow's face. The pegasus's eyes were practically glued to the book, her tongue still sticking out and drooling.

Fluttershy reconsidered, "Gosh, training an Orthros takes a long time. I'll probably be gone from Ponyville for... I don't even know how many moons!" her cyan eyes looked at Rainbow Dash, who was so determined to get the book all day long. If she said 'no' then her friend wouldn't get what she had worked so hard for. Besides, Rainbow's happiness meant more to her than anything.

"Fluttershy, you can't be serious!" Jinora exclaimed before turning back to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, are you even listening? Rainbow! Earth to Rainbow Dash!" the airbender waved her wand in front of the pony's face, but she was still too fixated on the book to even notice.

"It's okay, Jinora." Fluttershy said to the child. "Rainbow has worked so hard to get that book. How can I let all of that go to waste. I'll never forgive myself if I let that happen."

"But, Flutterhy."

"So we got a fair deal?" asked the safari pony, still holding the book.

"Of course it's a deal!" Rainbow Dash snatched the book from the pony's hooves and flew up into the air, laughing with glee and doing a victory dance in mid flight. "Yeah-eah, whoo! I did it, I did it! Fluttershy, can you believe it?"

"Nooooo!! Fluttershy, don't go!" Meelo began to cry as he held onto Flutterhy's long tail, being dragged across the floor while the pony walked away with the safari pony and orthros. Rainbow's eyes widened and reality hit her like a tidal wave. She had been so entranced over getting the book that, for a moment, reality had left her. Now that she had returned, her heart broke and she felt like she wanted to hit herself a million times for her stupidity.

"Rainbow, what did you do?!" Jinora exclaimed from a few feet bellow, tears already swelling in her eyes.

"What did I do?!" Rainbow asked herself as she held the book close. Having it now wasn't as satisfying anymore.

"Who's got something valuable enough to trade for Princess Twilight's princess books that she got from Princess Celestia? Did I say "princess"?"

Pinkie Pie continued her book auction, but had yet to give away a single book. She was busy trying to make the books so desirable she was making the purchase of them nearly impossible. No other item was good enough for these "princess books". The Exchange was nearly over, and not a single book was given away.

"Over here, over here!" one pony cried out as he levitated a large ruby with his horn. Pinkie Pie inspected the jewel, but dismissed it.

"Oh, come on! These are the books the princess would sit up with all night, with nothing to read by but the light of her own horn!" the pink earth pony said dramatically while tapping the tip of an unamused Twilight's horn.

One pony rose up a green pony toy, which caught Pinkie's attention. "Ooh, now that looks fun– but not fun enough! These are the books that made Twilight the princess she is!"

Twilight only scoffed, until she noticed something strange…Korra had been silent for a while now. The Avatar had eventually resulted to reading a few of the books. The human girl laughed as she flipped through the pages. Twilight wondered why Korra was laughing since the book wasn't even a comedy, but a history book of mythical creatures. It as then when Twilight remembered when she first started reading that book. It was on the same day she, Korra and Spike were making the dragon's famous home-made nachos. She could still feel the gooey cheese in her mane and behind her ears. After that, they sat down and Korra became entranced by the book. Now she knew why Korra was laughing; The book reminded her of that moment. Suddenly, everything became clear.

"So who's got what it takes to trade for them?" Pinkie Pie asked the audience, all of which had something to trade for, but no matter what nothing was ever good enough for them.

"Well, when you put it like that…" said one pony among the crowd. The others realized that just standing around trying to get themselves a princess book was a waste of time na decided to take their business elsewhere.

Pinkie PIe frantically tried to get them all back but to no avail. "Wait, stop, come back! Uh, these books aren't that great…" she said with a nervous giggle.

"Oh, yes, they are." Korra said once she was done reading the book and placed it back on the stack of books.

"I couldn't agree more." Twilight said with a wink.

"But I thought you wanted to get rid of them!" Pinkie said in confusion.

"None of those ponies had anything valuable enough to trade for my books. Not because these books belong to a princess, but because they helped make me who I am. Just like you said." she levitated one book from the table, smiling at the memory it held. "This was the one I was so absorbed in the day Spike decided he owed Applejack a life debt."

Korra then took another book from the table as well, "And this one reminds me of the day I got it – which was the day I first came to Equestria."

Twilight held the book she was levitating close to her heart. "I may not ever need to read these again, but that doesn't mean they don't have value."

"And we never would have realized that if not for you, Pinkie."

As it would seem, Pinkie Pie did help them out after all. "I told you I'd take care of everything!"

"You sure did, Pinkie." Korra said with a chuckle. The three were about to participate in a group hug until Rainbow Dash came crashing down from the sky, and landed on Twilight.

"Twilight! I need you to say a trade wasn't fair! Fast!"

Twilight Sparkle sat at the royal box seat, onto of a regal throne while wearing her crown. Korra stood nearby with the airbender children at her side, looking in with worry. Even Bolin, with his large sack of items, was there as well. A crowd of ponies gathered as the princess tried to settle the disagreement. Rainbow Dash, the safari pony, Fluttershy and the orthros stood before the princess. After a few moment of talking about the situation, Twilight gave everypony her final say in the matter.

"I've heard what you both have to say, and I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but my hooves are tied. You said it was a fair trade."

"How is that a fair trade?!" Korra called out, only to be met by several more eyes that looked at her in surprise due to her outburst. "What?"

"No, Korra. Twilight's right." Rainbow Dash said, "I did say it was a fair trade, but I was wrong! I did want that book, a lot. I said I wanted it more than anything in all of Equestria. But there's no thing that's worth as much to me as a friend." the pegasus pony smiled at her fellow pegasus on the opposite side, who smiled in return. Throughout this entire ordeal, Fluttershy had been a true selfless friend. She realize now she never should have taken that for granted. "I might have forgotten that for a little bit, but it's true. Which means there's no way this trade can be fair!"

"Oh, come on, that's…" the safari pony spoke, sounding as if she were about to object to the matter. Only to have her eyes fill up with tears. "…the sweetest thing I've ever heard. Okay, the trade's off!"

The crowd cheered happily as Rainbow Dash returned the book and tackled Fluttershy with a hug, only for the orthros to jump onto them and both heads licked their faces.

Korra sighed in relief and Twilight levitated a gavel, "And with that, I declare this trial, and this year's Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange, over!" the princess banged gavel, signaling the end of the Exchange, and more cheering was heard.

The airbender children embraced Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash in a hug and Bolin lifted them all up, smiling happily. In the end, everybody did get what they wanted.

Well, almost everybody.

A certain young stallion watched the princess from afar. He was still much too timid to approach her, and it was already time for him to leave. He hoped someday, somehow, there could come a chance for him to bravely speak to her.

He hoped that chance would present itself one day soon, and when it did, he promised himself he would take it.

Back on the train ride home, where moon had finally made its way into the night sky, everybody happily marveled at what they had received. Spike got a brand new mint edition comic, Bolin got a bag-load of stuff, and Twilight still kept her books, for which she, Korra and Jinora were all reading together.

"You know I was never really going to let Fluttershy leave with that pony, right?" the princess said to the Avatar, giving her a knowing grin.

"I know. I just got caught up in the moment." Korra gave the alicorn a boogie, making her giggle. "You little egghead, you!"

But, the only two ponies were not so happy were Rarity and Applejack. Ikki walked up to them with her hand behind her back.

"We're so sorry, Ikki." Applejack said. "We really did wanted to get you something special for you, but we just made it about ourselves in the end."

"Can you ver forgive is?" Rarity asked hopefully, her blue eyes shimmering.

"Of course I can forgive you guys!" Ikki said with her signature wide smile. "In fact, you guys made me realize I don't need any of that stuff. I always have the best gift ever. Your friendship."

The two ponies smiled. "Awwww!"

"Besides, I asked Bolin to share with me a bit of his stuff to get you both something to show my thanks." Ikki pulled out two items, one for each of the two. "I found this rusty pie tin which the vender said was great for cooking pies, and it won't stick! And for Rarity, I found this really pretty broach and knew it would look beautiful on you."

The unicorn and country pony could only smile and cry tears of heartfelt joy as they marveled at the gifts.

"Ikki, this is so thoughtful." Rarity said, a single tear escaping her eye.

"I guess you can say I didn't get one thing from the Trader's Exchange…I got two!"

"Well, wonder what we're gonna do with this then." Applejack said once Rarity levitated what appeared to be the Dolly Holly doll, but wearing a dress that was a hybrid between Molly's and Bonnie's dresses, creating something new and lovely, and the hair was replaced with Bonnie's silky locks, and she kept the accessories. The two ponies had used their things to but both dolls to create something new and unique just for Ikki.

"But, I thought you couldn't get them both!"

"That's why we had to settle for a much less vintage Bonnie doll." said Rarity, "It still did the job." the unicorn levitated the gift to the young airbender, who hugged it tightly.

"It's beautiful! Thanks you guys!" the three friends embraced in a warm hug.

"Guess that proves who's the better friend." said Applejack, winking at Ikki.

Rainbow Dash, who was sitting behind them, smile proudly. "You guys are awesome, you know that? You each gave up what you wanted to get something for each other! That's the coolest thing a friend can do. Trust me, I know." Rainbow gave Flutterhy, Jinora and Meelo a wink in gratitude, a gesture the three returned.

"Hey, where's your double-doggie?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I traded it for something way better." Rainbow said.

Fluttershy showcased a bird call whistle and blew on it. The sound of a bird twittering was heard and a little bird flew in through the open window.

"That's good." said Bolin, "Because there was no way I was going to clean up after that thing."

"Bolin, what are you gonna do with all of that stuff?" Korra asked, pointing at his large bag. "And what exactly is in there?"

"Well, I kept on trading and trading and trading until I got all these!" the earthbender opened up his bag to reveal an assortment of little costumes for Pabu. "Wait till Mako sees a ferret now has an even bigger wardrobe than him!" he said with a laugh and Pabu stuck his head out of the bag, wearing a captain's hat and an eyepatch.

"Well, what do you know?" Twilight levitated a familiar looking book from her stash. "My copy of Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue. It's just a beat up old paperback, not a one-of-a-kind first edition…"

Rainbow Dash gasped with delight as the book was levitated towards her and she took it into her hooves. "Even better, because I can read this one with all my friends!"

The entire group laughed along as Rainbow opened the book, ready to read the first page. This most certainly was a wild and strange day. But, in the end, the friends didn't really leave with what they thought they wanted.

They had gained something so much better that no old book, doll or any other material object could ever replace.