//------------------------------// // A Friend in Need // Story: Odds and Ends and Even Trades // by Random_User //------------------------------// Odds and Ends and Even Trades Chapter 1: A Friend in Need I poured the coffee into a pair of mugs, preparing one with some sugar and crème. I placed the black coffee in front of Even Trade, and then took my seat across from her. The quiet between us spoke more than any words could have, as we awkwardly tried to find something to say to each other. She took a sip of the coffee and looked up at me. “You remembered that I take prefer it black. Not too many ponies have that kind of eye for detail.” “Thanks. I try to remember things like that.” She had not changed much. Her peach coat and short, dark purple mane were still well kept. Her green eyes held their intelligence and savvy. However, her typical air of lightheartedness was gone. She leaned on the table, and pointed a hoof in the direction of my flank. “What does that mark on your rear represent anyway? I don’t know if you ever told me.” I automatically looked down at my cutie mark; it showed two bookends holding up three books. “It represents my love of books, writing, and putting knowledge to practical use.” The mark stood out against my sand colored coat. My copper red tail was tucked against me, half obscuring my mark. Trade’s cutie mark of bits balanced on a scale against a diamond, an apple, and book was not as cryptic as mine. Trade had always been able to judge the value of something, no matter what the thing was. She grinned over her mug. “Now I remember. I made some joke that it was because you are always reading or writing something.” It was nice to see her smile again. She had been so lifeless when she showed up last night. “I still think that could be an equally plausible explanation for my mark.” “You want to know why I showed up on your doorstep in the dead of the night.” “I didn’t say anything.” “Your face did. You are worried about me. Whatever you think goes across on your face.” I had been told that more than once. She leaned back from the table, keeping her coffee in hoof. “To make a long and unpleasant story short, I bucked up. You know I have always been pretty sharp in business, but not on personal stuff. One of my professors recommended me to one of his friends in Manehattan as an understudy, and pushed me to take the position. I did and I loved it. I did not know it at the time, but the owner had been looking for someone to take over the business when he retired. I ended up buying out the business from him. I lived upstairs, and worked downstairs in the shop. It was perfect.” Her face hardened. “That’s when I made my mistake. My parents were going through a hard time, so I offered to bring them into the business as employees. After a couple of years, my father told me he wanted to buy into the business. I agreed, thinking I could buy his interest out later, when he decided to get back into the grocery business. I never got that chance. Not too long after that, my father began working side deals with some of my major suppliers. Eventually, he shouldered me out of my own business.” She downed the rest of her coffee, in one swig, before continuing. “Things got ugly between me and him. I sold my remaining interest in the business, to him, to end the whole thing. Two days ago I went out to get some breakfast, just like any other morning. By the time I got back, my stuff was on the curb and the locks on the shop, along with my loft apartment, had been changed.” Her story explained why last night Quill and I were awoken by somepony pounding on the door. When I opened the door, I was shocked to find Trade and a cart with some boxes in it. We brought her inside, and let her rest as we unloaded her few boxes of stuff into the den. She was so tired, we barely exchanged words before I insisted that she go to bed. Her eyes locked with the table top. “I remembered that promise you made, and hoped that you still felt the same.” “I will always help you when you are in trouble. I meant it then, and I mean it now. You would do the same for me.” “I would, but I hope that you never have to take me up on that promise.” I reached across the table and held her hoof. “Why did you not tell me about all this in your letters? I didn’t know all the details, but I knew that you bought the business. Why did you leave out the problems with your family?” She shrugged. “It was my problem, and you could not have done anything to help.” “I would have tried.” “I know. That is another reason that I didn’t tell you. You’ve had enough troubles of your own, without having me add to them.” She closed her eyes and chuckled. “Well, that did not work out either. Here I am, with what little I own in your den, and I’m taking up your bed. You’re too much of a gentlecolt; I should be on the couch.” “I can’t be too much of a gentlecolt. I didn't even change the sheets for you.” “The sheets were clean. Besides, I don’t remember giving you much of a chance to change them. I went and collapsed on the bed as soon as you offered it to me.” “Even so, I will change them before this evening.” Trade looked guilty, and let go of my hoof. “As soon as I can, I’ll get out of your mane. My father paid me fair value for my part of the business; I think he just didn’t want to get sued, so I have some money to fall back on. You have helped me so much, just by giving me a friendly place to stay last night.” “You are more than welcome to stay here. You certainly don’t need to waste money on a hotel.” Trade came around the table and hugged me. Quill walked into the kitchen, just as Trade lightly kissed me on the cheek. Quill stood there in silence, his mouth hanging open. Trade must have sensed something was going on. She turned, and saw Quill standing in the doorway. She smiled her mischievous grin, and I knew I was in trouble. Trade had always known how to stir things up. I had a feeling that she was about to do so with gusto. Quill stammered, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt a special somepony moment! I’ll give you some privacy!” Quill had just added fuel to the fire. “Your brother is something special. He lets a down on her luck mare take his bed, offers to help her find a place, and is even going to cook breakfast. If you follow his example you can have the heart of any mare you want.” She turned back to me. “Though, I would like to ask for one thing. May I use your shower?” I nodded. “Sure. Just be careful, the hot water comes pretty fast.” She walked past Quill and headed for the bathroom. Quill waited for the door to close, before turning to me with a grin. “I didn’t know you two were that close. I remember her from when I was a foal, but I certainly can’t think of you telling me about something like this.” I shook my head. “We're not special someponies. Sit down, and I’ll explain.” It was hard to keep a straight face. Quill’s white mane had not been combed. His dark cinnamon coat was also in need of attention. The only things that seemed awake were his caramel colored eyes. I talked as I prepared breakfast. “Do you remember that little group that I ran around with?” “Yep, you guys were pretty close back then. Weren’t there four of you?” I nodded. “That would’ve been us. Me, Fair Trade, Deep Query, and Moon Shadow. I started to really feel for Trade, but I kept getting mixed signals if she liked me or not. She flirted with me; like she does everypony, but when I tried to talk to her she just dodged the issue. I basically poured my heart out to her one night. I didn’t go quite the way I had hoped. Trade told me that she liked me, but not romantically. She had a thing for Moon Shadow.” “But Moon Shadow is a mare.” A look of comprehension came across his face. “Oh, that had to be horrible.” I shrugged. “It stung, but she was kind and understanding through the whole thing. We stayed friends, and the group survived my little faux pas. However, after Trade did her own confession to Moon, a little while later, everything fell apart. Moon rejected Trade pretty staunchly. After that, Trade felt strange being around me when we were with Moon. Query, for his part, thought the whole situation was nuts.” “That really stinks.” “Well, our group would have not lasted much longer due to graduation anyway.” “What happened to…?” He stopped mid-sentence as Trade walked in, with a towel wrapped around her head. Quill’s wings started to lift, but he managed to stop them before he completely embarrassed himself. While she had dried off to an extent, Trade’s coat was still sleek with moisture, which accented her form. She gave Quill a sultry smile. “It’s nice to know that I still have that effect.” “Trade, would you not torment my brother? His mind breaks with relative ease when mares are around.” “I’ve noticed.” She turned back to Quill. “Look, I know you saw me kiss him. Your brother is very sweet, but we are not special someponies.” “I know. He just told me about you and him.” I waited, with baited breath, for her reaction. Her eyebrows rose at Quill’s statement. “Oh, what exactly did he tell you?” Quill rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. “He said that he had a crush on you a while back, and that you were nice when you let him down.” She turned to me and asked, “Is that how you explain me telling you that my barn door swung the other way, and that I planned to drag Moon into said barn?” She put her hoof under her chin, as if in thought. “I also said something about jumping your apple cart right there, had you been a mare.” Quill sat in stunned silence, and then slowly turned to me for confirmation of her words. I put my head down on the table and muttered, “I thought I would leave those particular details out.” ***** After breakfast, Trade and I headed towards the library. I had an errand to run before we started hoofing it around town. The snow made the walk less comfortable, but everything was covered in a picturesque blanket of white that made up for it. I carried along a small bag of sapphires for Spike. “What’s with the gems?” “They are a thank you to Spike for helping Quill with a problem.” “What problem?” Trade sounded like she would have beaten the stuffing out of anyone who messed with Quill. She had really taken to the maretial arts. The lessons that she had gotten me to tag along to had left me battered, bruised, and with mat burns. “I think I will let Quill tell you about it, it’s a little on the personal side. Everything turned out just fine; but it took quite a little bit of courage for him to work everything out.” “That’s good to hear, I was ready to beat the fuzz off of somepony if they were bothering him.” I smiled and noted, “Still protective as always.” She nodded. “I might not be able to solve my own problems at the moment but, by Celestia, I will solve those that I can for anypony. If I am able to let off some steam while helping, that is even better.” “I think I will wait to spar with you for a while then.” She grinned. “You chicken. What does Spike do with the gems? Is he a jeweler?” “No, he eats them.” She stopped in the snow, and looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “What?!” “Spike is a dragon.” Her eyes lit up. “Do you have any idea how expensive powered dragon scales are? You are friends with a dragon, and you didn’t tell me? You are sitting on a gold mine!” She started off at a full gallop; throwing snow into the air. I caught up just as she opened the library door and stepped in. I wiped my hooves, and followed. Spike had been dusting some of the lower shelves, and turned towards Trade as she entered. “Hello, and welcome to the Ponyville library. If you need any help just ask me or Twilight, and we will be right with you.” The look on Trade’s face was worth the run through the snow. She had surprise, irritation, and fascination expressed all at the same time. “You ran off before I could tell you he was a young dragon.” She shot me an amused look. “So I did.” Spike saw me and smiled. “Hey Bookend, is this a friend of yours?” I was always glad to see Spike working the library. Twilight may have been a powerful magic user, and national heroine, but she was a lousy librarian. The last time I had come in, I asked her for a book on Neighponese philosophy. In response, she levitated a whole bookcase worth of books and all but buried me under them. As she walked off, she cheerfully told me if I could not find what I needed in those she could get more. I introduced Spike and Trade to each other, and handed him the sapphires. “These are a little late, but they are from Quill and me for helping with his letter.” He all but giggled when he opened the bag. “Thanks! I’m so glad that went well, he was pretty mad when he thought I had burned the letter and journal. I didn’t know if he was going to give me a chance to explain what I did.” He paused for a moment, putting a clawed hand up to his chin in thought. “He never did tell me what that was in that letter to Luna.” Trade looked at me, with questions written on her face, but she let the matter go. “Trade is looking for a place to live and I thought we would come see you before we really got searching. Would you happen to know where we could get some listings with town hall being closed?” He shook his head. “The only place I would know about would be at Land Grab’s, but I don’t think he’s open on weekends. Personally, I would go to town hall and work any leads myself. Grab is not what I would call a wonderful pony to work with.” “Spike! You should not talk about other ponies like that.” Twilight had just come up from the basement, and did not even break stride as she headed up to the second level of the library. “But Twilight, you know it’s true. Just think about what he tried to pull when Goldengrape and Daisy moved in together!” She did not even pause in her search for the book she needed. “That was one incident that we know of, that is not enough to establish a pattern.” Spike just rolled his eyes and cited, “And the trouble he got into with Mayor for his business not paying its taxes, and then there was that time him tried to sell a cloud house to Doodle. He’s a donkey for crying out loud.” Twilight found whatever book she had been looking for, and headed back towards the basement. “That may be, but you still should not talk about another pony like that.” As she started to descend, she added over her shoulder to Trade and me, “You will have to wait until town hall is open again.” Spike groaned. “Sorry about that. She is in the middle of some magical experiment, and she is totally focused on that.” Trade waved it off, “No problem. I could tell she was busy. I have been there myself with my own work. Thank you both for the help. Before we go, I would like to ask if you would be interested in bartering any scales that you happen to shed, with me. Would you?” Spike shrugged. “Sure, but I could just give them to you. Nopony around here uses them, and I just get rid of them.” “Absolutely not, I must make a trade with you of some kind. Maybe later, after you shed a few scales, we can get together and make out a deal.” “I like this plan. I will see you then.” We left the library and started looking for places that might fit her needs. “You certainly are quick to start making business deals.” “I can’t help it, it’s in my nature. Besides, if I’m going to start a business again I have to start working on making contacts as quickly as possible.” “So you are planning to stay in Ponyville long term?” She shrugged. “I guess so. I had not thought it through to be quite honest.” “You could do worse as far as location. Ponyville is almost in the center of Equestria, and with the railroad we get a lot of trade and ponies passing through.” “I see those business and finance courses paid off for you.” “I had a very good tutor.” She blushed, and there was a comfortable silence between us only broken by the sound of our hooves in the snow. There was a shift in the wind, and the smell of chocolate wafted over us. Trade hummed in appreciation at the scent. “That smells wonderful. Where is that coming from?” “It has to be Sugar Cube Corner. They make some really good hot chocolate.” “That sounds great right about now. Why don’t we get some? It will be my treat.” I started leading us towards the confectionary shop. “I have to warn you about something. If Pinkie Pie is the one working the counter we are in a world of trouble, especially since you are new to Ponyville.” “How bad can she be?” We came to the shop entrance and I tried one last time to brace Trade for what was coming. “She is the town’s party pony. She will have a fit, and throw you a party just for moving here. She can do all sorts of wild stuff; you never know what is going to happen around her.” “She sounds like my kind of pony.” I opened the door and let her head in first. “I warned you.” Over an hour, two hot chocolates, half a dozen cupcakes apiece, and a cake to go later, we staggered out of the shop with Pinkie inviting us to come back as we shut the door. “What just happened, and why do I feel that the laws of nature and physics no longer apply to this dimension?” I grinned. “I tried to tell you. If you think that was something, just wait for the party. She had not even gotten warmed up when we left.” “I think I’m scared now.” We wandered around the business section of Ponyville, and saw a couple of places with for sale signs in the windows. Trade looked them over with her keen eye, and jotted down notes about a couple of them. The cold began to get to us, and we headed back home. Quill asked from the kitchen, “What took you guys?” “Pinkie Pie happened.” Trade and I unwrapped ourselves from our scarves, and made sure that no snow had stuck to our hooves. “Say no more.” He stuck his head out, and saw the cake. “Good, I’ve about got supper ready. Soup and daisy sandwiches I can do. Bake a cake from scratch like Pinkie, not so much.” We joined Quill in the kitchen. “Who taught you how to cook?” “Mom started to, and Bookend finished.” “I remember your brother’s cookies. If you are anywhere as good as he was with those, this is going to be wonderful.” The meal was great; Quill had outdone himself with his mixed veggie soup and sandwiches. For dessert, we made short work of the cake. We gathered back in the den. After we moved Trade’s stuff around a bit for safety, I started a fire. “So, your brother told me that you ran into a bit of trouble. Would you care to tell me who I need to beat into the snow?” Quill laughed. “No, it was nothing like that.” As Quill began his story, I got blankets for everypony. We all nestled down in front of the fire, and it turned into one of the most pleasant evenings I could recall. Quill told about his inadvertent adventure, and I occasionally added my own parts to it. Trade would ask a question every now and then, but for the most part she just absorbed the story in silence. At the end of Quill’s tale, Trade looked over at me and asked, “He’s not kidding, is he?” “Everything he said is true.” She turned back to Quill. “I don’t even know what to say. Can I ask a favor?” Quill responded, “Sure.” “May I see the feather?” Quill smiled, and got the display from his room. He put it down in front of where Trade had curled up on the floor. She looked over the display intensely, never making a move to touch it. After almost a full minute all she said was, “You have a priceless treasure there, take good care of it.” “I will.” ***** There was a bit of a debate as to who was going to sleep where. I tried to take the couch, Quill offered his bed to Trade, and Trade told us the couch was her’s. Quill came up with a solution. “Look, I’m a pegasus. Let me sleep outside on a cloud, the cold won’t bother me. You can have Bookend’s bed again, and he can have mine. I grumbled about him sleeping outside, but Quill insisted. Just him opening and closing the door for a moment, and feeling the cold air he let in as he left, made me worry about him freezing. I had just begun to drift off, when I was poked in the shoulder. “Move over you big lug.” I flipped over, and came nose to nose with Trade. “What are you doing? Besides, I’m not that big.” She lifted the blanket, and made a show of looking down towards my hindquarters. “I’ve never heard a colt belittle their own virtues before. Shall we have a peek and find out?” As I stuttered, trying to think of some response, she pushed me over and slipped under the blanket. “May I ask, what prompted this?” “I just needed to talk.” Despite her words, neither one of us said anything for a couple of minutes. Trade broke the silence. “Thank you again. I would have been in some rat infested motel had you not taken me in.” “You have to have other friends that would have helped.” “Nah, I was too wrapped up in my business to make friends in Manehattan. You and your brother are all I’ve got now.” Another few silent moments passed. She squirmed uncomfortably. “Do you regret helping me?” “What do you mean?” “I know you loved me, but I don’t see why you are going so far out of your way to help me. You know how I am, that we will only just be friends. Why are you doing this for me?” I kissed her gently on her forehead. “I would help you, no matter what. You are, and always be, somepony I care for.” She hugged me, and I returned the embrace. “Please, don’t feel bad about being who you are. I would not change one thing about you.” She laughed softly. “That was really sappy. You realize that, right?” “I meant it, even if it was.” “I know.” We fell asleep, still holding each other. ***** The next morning the bedroom door opened, waking me up. Quill asked, “Have you seen Trade? She wasn’t...“ I quickly sat up, inadvertently taking the blanket with me. Trade was still mostly asleep. She reached out for me and said, “Hey, get back here. It’s not nice to leave a mare alone and cold after sleeping with her all night.” She could not have chosen worse words. “Bro! I’m glad that you got her barn door to swing the other way, but not in my bed!” I put my head in my hooves. Trade laughed her flank off.