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// 4 - Marketplace of Ideas 
// Story: Swapping Perspectives 
// by David Silver 
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They dropped off some of the cherries they had gotten, just one of them actually. Swirly had insisted that was enough for them, and it was difficult to argue with each being bigger than their own head. "And now, marketplace! That is where we are going!" She led the way, but only partly. "There." She pointed to the collection of tents and stalls. "You can be doing it!"

"Huh." Apple Bloom hefted her share of the bag, holding her ring up. "Well, ah done run a stall before, and ah'm better than the first time."

Sweetie cheered. "Go Apple Bloom! We're right behind you."

"I'm right behind you." Scootaloo poked at the bag of berries. "Sweetie's to the side. Let's sell some cherries!"

With the communal cheer, they advanced as one, tied together by the bag they hoped to sell. Conversations began to reach them, but they were not in ponish. Not even the heavily accented ponish that Swirly used. The breezies there were shouting at each other in high pitched gibberish that none of them could understand.

Apple Bloom pressed a hoof to the side of her head. "Uh..." She glanced at the other girls. "This may be trickier than ah thought..." Despite that, she advanced to a clear spot. "Let's set up."

The others nodded along with that, and they got to putting together a simple but serviceable stand, one of the cherries out on display, shiny and tempting, they hoped. "Vad är detta?" asked a new voice, a male breezie trotting up to the stand and coming to a stop, eyeing the big cherry with thoughtful noises. "Säljer du? Jag har inte sett dig här förut."

All three crusaders blinked helplessly at the inquisitive newcomer. Apple Bloom tried to marshal herself. "We are... hopin' to trade... ja?"

"Ja!" The breezie bobbed his head. "Hur många har du kvar?" When Apple Bloom looked lost, he inclined his head, one brow raising. "Vad är fel? Är det här något nytt sätt att pruta?!"

"Ja?" tried Apple Bloom. She knew exactly one word. She'd have to maximize her mileage with it. She gestured over the big cherry with, she hoped, a winning smile.

"Ja?! Jag förstår inte." He turned away from the confused Apple Bloom. "Goddag till dig." Lifting on his wings, he drifted away, a scowl on his face.

Sweetie slipped in from the side. "That could have gone better."

Apple Bloom grabbed Sweetie by the shoulders. "Yer a walkin' dictionary! What did he say?!"

Sweetie squeaked, brushing off Apple Bloom's desperate hooves. "This dictionary's only written in one language."

Scootaloo snickered at the exchange. "Yeah... we need to take a different approach. Selling to creatures that can't understand us is hard. I though they'd talk Ponish."

Apple Bloom sat back on her haunches, twitching her breezie tail. "There's gotta be a way! We can't learn a language  like that. Is Swirly the only one that speaks Ponish?"

Sweetie inclined her head. "Swirly's friend spoke Ponish. I remember that."

"I am also speaking the Ponish." Another breezie approached at a casual walk. "And you are not speaking the Breezie, hm? Perhaps we are helping one?" He gestured between himself and the girls. "A fair trade?"

Scootaloo hopped up, hooves on the counter of their stand. "Now you're talking!"

"Yes, I am talking Ponish," agreed the new breezie. "Is fair trade, ja?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "Ja!" One word, but they knew that word. "What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing in mind. Is back there." He pointed the way down the aisle he had come from. "Come."

The girls got to packing, stuffing away the cherry in their bag and hefting it up to follow the breezie that they could at least understand. "Should be working!" The male nodded as he walked. "Making you speak the good."

"A book?" proposed Apple Bloom with uncertainty. "That'd be a start, but it takes a while to read those."

"Neigh!" he said, even if it was spelled differently, sure sounded like it. Good thing spoken words didn't come with spelling attached. "Now is not time being for books. Now is time for drink!" They went past quite a few stalls with breezies excitedly extoling their wared in their funny language. "Here." He pointed to one in particular, no breezie behind it, at least until he hopped up over the counter.

The girls looked to one another as he rummaged around, grabbing some bottles. He sprung back up, three bottles, each a different bright neon shade of fluid within. "You are trying this, ja? Drink and speak good." He nodded all the more firmly. "Drink and trade done."

Scootaloo squinted a bit. "Huh. He's like you." She looked to Apple Bloom. "We found another potion maker. You know, like Zecora."

"Gonna bet there's less apples in there than ah usually make." Apple Bloom was approaching despite that. "You sure this works?"

"Nay." He shook his head. "That is what trade is being. You are testing, ja? Drink."

Sweetie pointed at herself. "And what do we get for testing this?"

"If work, you are speaking good, ja? Is what want!" He clapped his hooves together excitedly. "Winners, all being."

Apple Bloom allowed an explosive sigh. "Well, alright! Ja." She took a bottle at the end of her hoof and upturned it into her mouth, chugging down the stuff quickly. It didn't taste as bad as she had feared, like a sour fruit that tingled on the way down. "Där. Hur... Vad?"

The breezie began clapping all the more wildly. "It working completely, ja ja?! How are you feeling?"

"Jag känner att jag inte kan prata normalt!" Apple Bloom was looking around in a mild panic, unable to speak Ponish.

The breezie inclined his head. "You are speaking well." He danced in place, clearly satisfied with his creation. "Trade is being complete!"

Sweetie set a hoof on Apple Bloom's slender side. "It's alright. We're here. You can understand us, right?"

"Ja," sighed out Apple Bloom, that one cursed word remaining steady. "Se, om jag kan prata kan vi åtminstone sälja körsbäret." She pointed at the bag with the cherries in it, then back towards the stand they left behind.

Scootaloo seemed to get it. "You wanted to be the salespo--breezie before, now's your shot." She grabbed her loop and hefted. When the others took theirs, they began their way back to their stall. "It'll wear off, hopefully."

"Förhoppningsvis? Det är bättre snart!" Apple Bloom set the bag down and pulled out a big cherry to set out on display, the stand officially re-opened. "Få din körsbär!" She gestured emphatically at the cherry. "Stort och gott. Rättvis handel här!"

Sweetie gave an unsure giggle. "She already sounds like she's making a sale... even if I have no idea what she's saying."

Whatever she had said, it seemed to work as a female breezie wandered up, a little baby breezie attached to her back. "Sa du körsbär? Åh, vad stor och glänsande!" She reached out, feeling the cherry. "Ja. Det blir en fin middag. Tack. Jag är Windy Shine." She was pointing at herself as she gave the name, then began gathering up the cherry with a joyful expression.

"Glad att stå till tjänst. Ha en bra dag." Apple Bloom nodded confidently. "Vad är det du gör?"

Windy paused, then applied a little hoof to her face. "Dumma mig! Jag är snickare." She smiled sheepishly, but then fled with her cherry, floating off.

Scootaloo gave a soft huh... "Did... she just steal our cherry?"

Sweetie giggled at that. "Remember what the teacher said? We're trading for favors. She looked happy, and so did Apple Bloom, so I guess we've earned a favor. Whatever it is she can offer back."

Apple Bloom was gathering the second of three cherries, setting it out. "Det här är inte så svårt! Förhoppningsvis tar det slut när vi är klara med handeln."

Scootaloo cycled a hoof. "Yeah... I didn't catch a word in there, but you sound happy, so keep it up!"

Sweetie pumped a hoof emphatically. "Go AB!"

Apple Bloom, with her newly given linguistic skills, traded the other two cherries away, but not both for favors. The third, instead of simply giving their profession, instead produced a great walnut. "Du vill ha det här, eller hur?"

Sweetie sniffed at the air. "Huh... Walnuts must  be good to breezies."

"Gonna agree, that smells great." Scootaloo bobbed her head vigorously. "Take the trade!"

"Titta hur bra skalet är borttaget." The breezie ran a hoof over the bared nut, the shell entirely removed, ready to be devoured. "En bra affär, eller hur?"

Apple Bloom considered it critically. She waved at her cherry. "Titta på glittret på det körsbäret! Du har tur, det här är den sista jag har." She patted it gently. "Men du verkar trevlig. Och det är en fin nöt."

He leaned forward, pressing the nut into Apple Bloom's grip. "En affär då? Det är ett nöje att göra affärer med dig." As soon as Apple Bloom took hold of the nut, he was grabbing up the cherry. "Ha en bra dag." He  waved as he floated away with his cherry.

Sweetie clapped excitedly. "Two favors and a big walnut! I call today a complete success."

Apple Bloom hopped down, setting the nut between the three of them. "Ja." She was specifically avoiding speaking more, lest more of the strange breezie language spill from her. "Vi går hem?"

Scootaloo perked an ear at that. "Vi... we? go.... home? I understood that one!"

Sweetie nodded softly. "Home sounds good. We have a nut to eat." She worked herself under the nut, lifting it up on her back. "Scoots, grab the bag."

Without the cherries in it, the bag was much easier to pack up and stuff away. The girls headed home, a spring in their step.

"There you are being!" And there was Swirly, descending on them as they left the market. "Without any cherries. Is that a good sign? Ja?"

"Vi bytte mot två tjänster och en stor valnöt." Apple Bloom was waving at the walnut atop Sweetie Belle.

Swirly's eyes went wide. "Du kan prata! Detta är mycket överraskande. Genom vilket mirakel hände detta?" She inclined her head as she asked her question, peering at Apple Bloom with clear wonder. "Jag visste inte att ponnyer lärde sig så snabbt." She could see the lost looks on Sweetie and Scootaloo's faces. "Oh, only the Blooming Apple? Hm. How curious."

Sweetie advanced towards their new home. "She tried a potion some breezie was selling. He said it'd make her speak, and it did."

"But it also made her not talk Ponish, which is less cool." Scootaloo was snickering a bit at the situation, walking alongside Sweetie.

"A sort of good. You made good trades? That is nice looking walnut you are having there." Swirly nodded at the big nut on Sweetie's back. "How did it go, leave nothing out."

So they gladly told her, some of them in Ponish, some in Breezie. Fortunately, Swirly knew both and could follow along even as the language being used swayed back and forth.

"Åtminstone middag ready--" Apple Bloom blinked, fluttering her big lashes. "Ready? Ja? Ist ready?" She had some Breezie accent, but Ponish words were escaping her. "Yay!"

Sweetie thumped against her, the nut jostling and threatening to fall. "That's quite a relief.  I was worried you'd have to teach us the language just so we'd understand you."

"Pass!" Scootaloo cut a hoof through the air. "It was hard enough learning Ponish."

Sweetie rolled her eyes at that. "Don't be close-minded. Learning a new language from a native speaker sounds like fun to me."

"Ja?" Swirly circled around Sweetie. "I can be teaching, if you want. Not so fast as potions, but lasts longer, ja?"

"Ja!" agreed Sweetie with a big smile. "I would be delighted."

"Mycket bra." Swirly nodded with a big smile. "For today, we eat and rest. We had many adventures."

They had survived their first day in the land of the breezies. Surely it would be downhill from there.