//------------------------------//
// Episode 7: Passing the Buck 
// Story: Ponyville Pawn Stars 
// by TimidWolf 
//------------------------------//

I'm Cash Money, and this is my pawn shop. I work here with my sire, Old Money; and my colt, Big Hoss.

Everything in here has a story and a price. One thing I've learned in all my years in Ponyville, is that you never know WHAT is going to trot through that door.

This is Ponyville Pawn Stars.

Cash unlocked the back door of the Silver Saddle Pawn Shop, slipped inside, then closed and locked the door behind him. He trotted down the dark hallway of the pawn inventory room and out onto the store floor. The pawnbroker stayed behind the counter as he walked around to the office area. There he found his son sitting at his desk with his forelegs upon the desktop, his head in his hooves and his eyes shut. A guttural snore was coming out of his muzzle. Cash smiled as he picked up one of his forelegs and brought his hoof down hard on the wooden desktop. The younger stallion jolted awake and nearly bucked himself out of his chair.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Big Hoss shouted, still groggy.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Cash said. "I figured you'd be getting forty winks in right about now."

"I wasn't sleeping," the younger stallion said as he rubbed his head with a hoof. "Just resting my eyes."

"Are you kidding? You were snoring so loud I thought your Gramps had decided to stay the night," Cash said sarcastically as he opened one of his desk drawers. He picked out a ring of keys out of the drawer with his mouth, dropped them on the desktop and started, "I need-"

"Not it." Hoss said, cutting him off.

"You didn't even let me finish."

"That's because I know what you're gonna ask me," he said as he got out of his chair. "I'm not gonna do it. I'll get the rest of the store ready and I'll do it before I go home and get cleaned up, but I'm not opening that door. You do it."

"Come on, kid," Cash said, "you were on the night shift anyway. It's your job, so go do it."

"Not this time," Hoss said as he shook his head. "And by the way, that was my fourth night in a row. I'm not going on night shift again until you get somepony else to do it for at least two shifts."

"Tell you what," Cash bargained, "I'll unlock the front door this morning, even though it is your job. Then I'll get somepony else to take tonight's shift, but that's it. I'm making the next week's schedule tomorrow so we can talk about you burning the midnight oil then, okay?"

"Fine by me," Hoss said as he yawned and walked toward the back rooms. "I'm getting the jewelry out of the vault. Better open the door, they sound antsy out there."

"'Fine by me,' he says," Cash grumbled as he picked up the keys in his mouth and walked toward the front of the store. "Now I wish I hadn't given Tony the day off."

As he approached the wooden front doors, he could hear the commotion of other ponies talking loudly on the other side. Cash took the key, put it into the lock and muttered, "Here goes nothin'..." He turned the key and pushed the door open wide.

"Mornin', everypony, and wel-whoa!" was all he could say before the rush of ponies barreled into the store and bowled him over upon his back. All he could see flying past him were several sets of pastel-colored hooves and legs.

"Before the TV show, we were doing a fair amount of business," Cash explained in an on-camera interview. "We thought that the show would bring in more, but we never thought it would get this popular. Ponies from all over have been coming in to see us: Baltimare, Appaloosa, Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Canterlot, even as far as Crystal Empire. Now nopony around here can get anything done without saying hey to fans. We're all household names now. Even Derpy is a celebrity. I mean, Derpy, really? Who could see that coming?" 

In the midst of the commotion, a well-dressed brown stallion with moneybags on his flank pushed past the flood of other customers. "Excuse me, pardon me," Filthy Rich said in a staunch voice. "Move aside, please."

As Filthy made his way toward the back counter, Old Money hobbled out from the back room holding a large mug of coffee. "Hey Derpy," he yelled over his shoulder, "this is some good joe, but ya might wanna actually use that little scoop for the next pot. These tenderhooves don't like it strong like I do." Just then he caught sight of Filthy and stopped in his tracks. "You!" he exclaimed. "What're you doin' in here?"

"Uh oh," Cash muttered.

"Well now, Old Money," Filthy said, "that ain't no way to wish a fellow businesspony a good mornin'."

"That's because I didn't!" the wrinkly horse retorted. "I'm wishing you a rotten fiscal year!"

"My dad and Stinkin' Rich have had this bitter feud between them for years," Cash explains to the camera, "and it's only continued to grow by trickling down to Filthy. Don't ask me what started all of this. It must have been so long ago that reason's probably lost to the sands of time now." 

"Filthy Rich can kiss my left hoof," Old Money said to the camera. "That spoiled colt's got everything he has 'cause his pops Stinkin' gave it all to him. I never gave Cash or Hoss nothin' in this business. They had to earn what they got."

"Whaddaya want, Filthy?" Old Money asked angrily. "Tell me quick so I can start helping some payin' customers."

"Oh, I was just wondering," Filthy said smugly, "if you folks here had decided on what to put up on the auction block for the Pegasus Foals Orphanage benefit. It's coming up real soon. Y'all hadn't forgotten, have you?"

"Of course not!" the old stallion snapped back. "And it ain't no business of yours knowing what we're going to bring this year."

"Well, I just want to make sure that my fellow businesspony is prepared to do all he can to help the little ones," Filthy continued. "And, bless their hearts, they need all the help they can get. I'd just hate for one of us to come up short for them, you know, like last year."

"Quit callin' me your fellow businesspony, you rotten little-" Old Money growled before his son stepped in front of him.

"Whoa there, dad, ease up," Cash said to him before he turned to address his father's nemesis. "Filthy, you know we do the best we can. We're still the family-operated secondhand store, and you're still the big discount supercenter. Besides, the auction is for charity. It's not a competition."

"You're absolutely right, Cash Money. It isn't a competition," Filthy replied. He took a couple steps forward, looked right into Old Money's eyes and said, "It certainly isn't a close one."

Old Money coldly glared back at him.

"Well," Filthy said as he smoothed down his tie with a hoof, "I best be getting back to my store. See you around, old-timer!"

The father and son watched as the gloating pony slipped through the crowd of customers and out the door. Old Money muttered as he shook one of his hooves in front of him, "You know, boy, one of these days..."

"I know, dad," Cash agreed. "He's a jaded, privileged pain in the flank, and as long as we're all in this town then we've got to put up with his bullspit. Come on, let's go make some money."

"In case you haven't noticed, this auction is a huge deal with both my dad and Filthy," Cash explained in an on-camera interview. "Every year the orphanage in Cloudsdale holds a special benefit auction. Both business owners and private citizens are invited to donate items to go up on the auction block. All of the proceeds go toward making improvements to the building. The auction is great for businessponies like us because celebrities will come and bid on our items, which makes some good publicity. Every year they compete to see who can raise the most money at the auction. My dad always puts up the oldest, most valuable antique we have in the shop at the time, but every year Filthy has the latest and greatest must-have item that gets bought for the most money. Then his superstore is busy all year."

A short time later, a yellow unicorn with a brown mane trotted into the store. The stallion, who sported a brass scales cutie mark, trotted to up to where Cash stood behind the counter.

"Good morning," Cash greeted the customer. "How can I help?"

The customer looked at him and asked, "Do you like weddings?"

"Sure," he answered. "Weddings are nice, full of love and joy. Plus, I never miss a good party."

"Well, how would like to be invited to the wedding of the century?" The customer asked as he used his magic to open the saddlebags he was wearing and take out a small wooden box. As he set it down on the counter, he continued, "Unfortunately, you're going to be quite late to this party."

As Cash started to inspect the item, he saw that it was actually a shadow-box with a sheet of parchment inside. He looked through the tiny pane of glass to read aloud the words written on the parchment, "Honored guest, you are cordially invited to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard." He looked at the customer, nodded his head and said, "Yep, I would have loved to be at this party!"

"Royalty collectibles are big right now," Cash said in an on-camera interview, "especially in Ponyville. Ever since the coronation of our own Princess Twilight Sparkle, everypony has been going gaga over anything and everything with a royal connection to it. Not only is this an invite to one of the biggest royal weddings in the history of Equestria, but the groom happened to be Twilight's big brother. For both those reasons, I think this piece is going to be super-desirable once I start selling it in my shop."

"So this is an actual invitation to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor's wedding?" Cash asked.

"Actually," the customer clarified, "this is one of several commemorative invitations the bride and groom sent to their guests after the wedding."

"Okay, so it's a souvenir. But it's still in a very nice presentation with this shadow-box. Were you invited to the wedding?"

"No, sir, and quite frankly I'm happy I wasn't, namely due to all the chaos with those changelings and whatnot."

"Oh, I hear ya," Cash agreed. "So, how did you get this?"

"Well, I'm a lawyer," the customer explained, "and my firm is in Canterlot. One of my clients was in the wedding party. When she couldn't pay all of my fees after her court case, she offered me this to help offset her debt. Normally I don't do bartering for my services, but since it came from the royals I figured it would be a quick and easy sell. I hope you're interested."

"Oh, I am, definitely," Cash affirmed. "How much are you looking to get out of it?"

"I was thinking about one thousand bits," the lawyer offered.

Cash took a moment to look over the box again. He picked it up in his hoof and looked over it on all sides. He turned it over in his hooves to look at the back, then the front again before he put it down, looked at the customer and said, "You know, that is actually a pretty fair price for this. I would be okay with buying this off you for a thousand. That is, of course, assuming it's the real deal, you know? It looks really well made, but let's face it, anypony with a little creativity could fashion something like this and tell you it came from the royals. You know what I mean?"

"Oh, definitely," the attorney agreed. "I understand."

"I'd like to get a confirmation from somepony who has maybe seen something like this before," Cash said.

"We could always ask Princess Twilight," the lawyer reasoned. "As I've heard, she's still residing in Ponyville."

"Sorry man, but right now that princess is in another castle," Cash replied. "In fact, she and all of her friends are out at some big to-do in the Crystal Empire. I'd call one of them in to confirm this if they were still in town. Let me rack my brain and find somepony close by who can confirm this. Just sit tight here for a few minutes, okay?"

"I nearly got burned once before on a deal that involved royalty," Cash told the camerapony. "If this thing is real, I want it in my shop. But I have to know it's legit; absolutely, positively, one-hundred percent beyond a shadow of a doubt."

About half an hour later, Derpy flew into the store. She touched down on the floor and trotted up to Cash, who said, "Well, who'd you find?"

"Um, boss?" She said nervously.

"Oh no," Cash returned. "Please don't 'um, boss' me like that, Derpy. That's never good."

"Well," she explained, "I looked all over town for everypony you asked for, but none of them are here."

"Are you sure? Did you look for Vinyl and Octavia?"

"Out on a gig and a recital."

"Drat. Fancypants?"

"Canterlot."

"Double drat," Cash said. After a slight hesitation, he asked, "Trixie?"

"I didn't think you were serious about her, but I asked around anyway. She's on tour right now."

"She was my long shot. Actually, I'm glad Trixie was unavailable. Well, you tried. Thanks anyhow."

"You bet, boss," she said as she trotted off.

Cash walked back behind the counter to where the attorney unicorn patiently waited. As Cash approached, the customer asked, "So, did you find your expert?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Well, that's too bad," he said as he eyed the shadow-box, then looked back at Cash. "Does that mean you're not going to buy my invitation?"

"Now, I didn't say that," Cash clarified. "I'm definitely interested in it still, but without knowing for sure of its authenticity I'm going to have to bring my asking price down a little."

"I see. And how much exactly is 'a little?'"

"I'd be willing to give you eight hundred for it."

The attorney sighed. "That's not exactly what I was hoping for."

"I know, but without a confirmation I can't offer much more."

"Would you settle on nine twenty five?"

Cash shook his head. "There's no way I'm paying that much without knowing for sure where this came from. I'll give you eight fifty. That's cash money, bright and shiny bits. Just say the word and I'll have it in your hooves in ten minutes flat."

The attorney thought for a moment to consider the offer. Then he answered, "All right then. Eight fifty sounds fair."

"Great, let's go do some paperwork."

"I probably shouldn't have even entertained the idea of buying it without an expert," Cash said on-camera. "But let's face it; I too have been bitten by the royalty bug. I went with my gut on this one, and I'm hoping I made the right decision."

Later that day, while Cash put the invitation in the back room and straightened up the inventory, there was a large gathering of ponies in the store. Each of the other pawnbrokers had a group of customers clamoring around them and making special requests. A young pegasus colt near Big Hoss picked up a postcard from a stand sitting on the counter. It was a picture of the Silver Saddle Pawn Shop. He put it down on the counter in front of the pawnbroker, slid it toward him and said, "Yo, Big Hoss, I'd like to buy this postcard. Will you sign it for me?"

"All right," Hoss said as he took the colt's bits. Then flipped open a pad of ink on the counter, dabbed his hoof on it and stamped the postcard. "Want to me make this out to someone?" He asked as he picked up a quill between his teeth.

"Yeah," the colt said, "how about, 'to Hailstorm, the strongest pony I ever knew!'"

Hoss chuckled. "Ha ha, okay, killer," he said as he wrote, 'to Hailstorm, the funniest pony I met today.'

At another counter, two young mares approached Old Money. One of them smiled and giggled as she greeted him, "Hey, handsome." Her friend giggled a little as well.

"Well hey there, young fillies," he said with a sly grin. "What can I do for ya today?"

One of the mares asked, "Hey, can my friend and I get a picture with you?"

"Absolutely, young fillies," the old stallion said as he shuffled in between them.

Another mare wearing a camera stood in front of them, aimed and said," All right, smile, everypony!" The three ponies posed and smiled as the camera clicked and the flash fired. "Got it!"

One of the mares turned to Old Money, smiled and said, "Thanks so much!"

"You're welcome," he replied. "That'll be two bits."

The two mares giggled again and blushed.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

Across the showroom floor, a young colt waited patiently in a line with a brown muffin on his head. When it was finally his turn, he approached the counter where Derpy stood and asked, "Hey Derpy, will you sign my muffin?"

"Sure thing, little guy!" she said. The gray mare leaned over and took a big bite out of the pastry.

"Wow, thanks!" he exclaimed as crumbs fell in his mane. The colt took the muffin off his head, held it in his hooves and gazed at the bite mark. "I'm never, ever throwing this muffin away!"

Cash then stepped out from the back room and onto the sales floor, stopping for a moment to observe all the crowds gathered around the other pawnbrokers. He trotted up to Big Hoss, who was still signing autographs, and asked, "Hey, son?"

Hoss looked at Cash and replied, "Hey dad, I'm a little busy. What's up?"

"Look, can I talk to you for a minute? In the office?"

"Sure, pops," he said before he addressed the crowd. "Alright everypony, looks like that's it for today. But feel free to browse around and let us know if you need anything."

The two of them walked back behind the counters and into the office area. They stopped at Hoss's desk and Cash asked, "Hoss, what's going on out there?"

"What do you mean?" He returned, "It's business as usual."

"I don't think so," Cash said. "What's with the autographs and the photos?"

"Meet and greets," Hoss replied.

Cash looked at his son and raised an eyebrow. "Meet and greets?" he asked.

"Yeah, pops," he answered. "In case you haven't noticed, we've kinda become big personalities now. We've got to engage with the public on a regular basis."

"I've noticed that your head's gotten bigger," Cash retorted. He eyed several tall stacks of Silver Saddle Pawn Shop postcards sitting on Hoss's desk, picked one up and inquired, "Where did these come from?"

"I ordered them last week," Hoss said. "The printer dropped them off this morning. I've signed so many of them my jaw's starting to hurt."

"How much did these cost?" His father asked with an air of concern. "And please tell me you didn't use the store's money!"

"Dad, it's okay, we had enough petty cash to cover it," he assured. "Besides, I'm selling them for ten times what it cost to make them. And you know what? They're selling like hotcakes! I've already made back about half what I paid for them."

Cash put down the postcard, looked at Hoss and said firmly, "Look, I can appreciate the initiative in this. But we're not a tourist trap, bottom line. You want face-time with the customers? Do it while you sell them something other than cheap postcards. Now get back to work. And don't order any more merchandise." Cash started walking toward the storeroom.

"Gramps said it was a good idea," Hoss called after him. When Cash said nothing he continued, "You haven't even seen the t-shirts yet!"

"T-shirts?!" Cash's exclamation echoed through the hall.

"We've got shotglasses coming in tomorrow, too!"

"Shotglasses?!"

Later that afternoon, Big Hoss was back on the sales floor. A brown earth pony with a dusty tan mane walked into the shop. He saw Big Hoss at the counter, approached and greeted him with a loud, "Howdy!"

"Hey howdy hey," Hoss replied. "What can I do ya for?"

"Y'all buy construction equipment?" The customer asked.

"Yeah, we buy it," Hoss answered. "You got some?"

"It's out front here," he motioned with his head toward the front door. "Let me show ya."

The two ponies walked outside. The customer led Hoss to a large, four-wheeled device with a harness. It sort of resembled a wagon without any sides or bottom. A long piece of concave metal was fastened at an angle beneath the frame where it almost touched the ground. "This is it," the pony said.

"A grader, huh?" Hoss inquired. "Been awhile since I had one of these at the shop."

"We do business with construction ponies pretty regularly here," Hoss explained on-camera. "Sometimes we buy off their old equipment so they can get an upgrade. The stuff we buy gets cleaned up and resold to other guys who need it. Win, win, win."

Hoss trotted around the grader to investigate it from all angles. "It looks pretty solid to me," he said as he walked. He stopped at the back of the device, knelt down and looked closer at the frame where nuts and bolts joined the pieces. Hoss pointed with a hoof to one of the joints and commented, "This looks kinda rusty here to me. How old is this thing?"

"Older'n me, I reckon," the brown pony answered. "It's 'bout time I traded up to somethin' newer."

"Uh huh," Hoss said as he straightened himself up. He leaned back, put his front hooves against the frame and gave it a hard push. It rolled a couple of yards forward, squeaking loudly as it did. "Sounds like you needed to trade up a couple of years ago. How much were you looking to get out of this thing?"

"I got some bits saved up toward a new grader," he said. "Figure 'bout two hundred more'll get me there."

"Really?" Hoss asked with a raised eyebrow. He looked at the customer, then back to the grader and continued, "The way it looks and sounds right now, fifty bits would be the most I'd want to give you."

"Oh, I know she's a little dirty and noisy," the customer defended, "but she's still solid as a rock."

"I'm sure she is," Hoss said as he eyed the grader again. "If you want, I can get another set of eyes on this and see if we could meet somewhere in the middle. No guarantees, but I'm willing to work with you."

"That'd be fine," the dusty pony replied.

"Good deal. I'll be right back." Hoss turned and walked back inside the shop. He looked around the showroom and found Derpy behind the jewelry counter, securing an ornate silver necklace with glimmering white stones in the glass case. "Hey Derpy?"

She looked up and answered, "Yeah, Hoss?"

"I got a guy outside wanting to sell me an old grader. Can you fly to Sweet Apple Acres and get our tool expert?"

"Oh I don't know, Hoss," she said sarcastically and with a goofy grin, "can I?"

"Okay then," he returned, "will you please flex those wings and fly to the farm, ricky tick?"

"You got it, boss Hoss!" she exclaimed. The gray mare gave a little hop, flapped her wings, then flew over the counter and Hoss's head toward the door.

"Go around next time!" he yelled after her.

About twenty minutes later, a large red stallion walked up to the pair of ponies waiting by the grader. "Hey Mac," Hoss greeted. "Appreciate you coming here in between your chores on the farm."

"Eyup," Big Mac replied.

"Um, I'm Big McIntosh," he said on-camera, "and I know a lot about tools." He stopped, and an uncomfortable silence followed. His eyes looked to the left and the right of the camera for a moment, then finished his spot with an, "Eyup."

"So Mac, let me show you what concerns me about this grader," Hoss said as all three of the ponies knelt down at the back of the device. He pointed with a hoof to the reddened spots and continued, "So what do you make of this stuff right here? That looks like rust to me."

"Eyup," the baritone-voiced pony replied. He then cleared his throat and continued, "It looks like this piece of equipment has had more than its fair share of use, judging by the color of the metal."

"My concern is that rust is starting to weaken the frame."

"On the contrary," Mac clarified, "that right there is what I'd more accurately call patina. You were right to be concerned about the state of the metal, but this equipment is made out of good quality steel. The patina is what gives this thing its character. It shows how durable it's been over the years."

"All right," Hoss said as he and the other two stallions straightened themselves up. "I also wanted to get your thoughts on this..."

Hoss gave the grader a push. It let out a loud squeak that made Mac wince a little. "Eyowch!" he exclaimed.

"I know," the pawnbroker agreed. "Anything that squeaks that loud can't be one hundred percent solid."

"Maybe," the farmer said. He looked at the customer and asked, "When was the last time you oiled the axles?"

"Heh, oiled?" The brown pony responded with a chuckle.

"I figured it was awhile," Mac said. "Well Hoss, here're my thoughts: this grader here is no diamond in the rough, but it's not as bad as it looks and sounds. If you do buy it, definitely oil and grease the axles, but leave the patina alone. I don't think you'd have any problem reselling this for around a hundred and fifty bits."

"All right then, I'll keep that in mind," Hoss said as he and Mac shook hooves. "I'll let you get back to the farm, Mac. Thanks again for your help."

"Eyup," the stallion said as he walked off.

Hoss looked back at the customer, who looked at him with a smug smile and said, "Well, ya heard the expert! One fifty is what it's worth, so I'll take it!

"Whoa there, hold your horses," the pawnbroker said with a raised hoof. "Mac said I could sell it for one fifty, which means I have to buy it from you for less. That's how this works. I'll bring my offer up to one hundred."

"Hmm," the dusty pony said as he rubbed his chin with a hoof. "That's still kinda low. How 'bout we meet in the middle at one twenty-five?"

Hoss shook his head. "I'd like to, but I'm gonna have to stand firm at one hundred," he said. "I've got overhead and this thing is going to take up a lot of space in my warehouse, not to mention I'll be spending bits to clean it up."

The customer was silent for a moment. Then he nodded his head and said, "Well, a hundred'll get me closer than nothin', so I guess I'll take it."

"Excellent," Big Hoss said as they shook hooves. "Let's go in and do some paperwork."

"I'm glad I called in Mac on this one," Hoss said on-camera. "This thing will take up quite a bit of real estate and some of my time to fix, but it'll be worth it. The problems with this equipment aren't anything that a good spit-shine and a five-bit can of grease can't fix."

Later that evening, Big Hoss entered the back office area and found Cash sitting at his desk. He appeared to be deep in thought while staring at a sheet of paper and scratching his head with a front hoof. He walked up to his sire and asked, "What's going on, boss?"

Cash looked up at Hoss. "Colton's sister just came in and told me he's got the trots," he said. "He's going to be laid up for the next few days. It figures, I was about to call him in to cover for you tonight."

"Well, that stinks."

"Yeah," Cash sighed. "So it looks like-"

"Oh no!" Hoss exclaimed as he put up a front hoof in front of Cash. "You can stop right there, because I said I wasn't going on night shift again!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do, son? I'm trying to run a business here!"

"You said you'd give me at least one shift off," Hoss said firmly. "So you're down one pony, big deal. Go get somepony else to do it."

"There's just you, grandpa and Derpy," Cash said. "And I just trained her on working the night shift. I'd have to get somepony to work with her."

"You could always do it," Hoss retorted.

"Yeah, I could, but I've got a million other things to get done here."

"Whatever, pops," Hoss said. "You figure it out. I'm going home." He turned and walked out of the office.

Cash got up and went out to the sales floor. He found Derpy, who was just cashing out a customer. "Enjoy, have a great day!" she said as the customer left. When Cash walked up she said, "Hey, boss!"

"Hey Derpy," Cash said. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure boss, what's up?"

"My night shift guy just called in sick. I know you just got trained up on it, so do you think could work tonight if I found somepony to shadow you on your first time?"

"Oh, sorry Cash, but I can't," Derpy said. "Dinky's foalsitter is keeping a strict schedule with me this week. She needs to study for exams, so I have to be home early so she can go. I told you about that last week, remember?"

Cash nodded in realization. "That's right, you did tell me. I forgot, sorry I asked."

"It's okay, boss," Derpy said. "Maybe I can start next week."

Cash turned, walked around the counter and spotted his father. He went up to Old Money and said, "Hey, dad-"

"Whatever it is, the answer's no, son," the old stallion interrupted.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask you."

"Well, what're ya gonna ask me?"

Cash sighed. "Can you work night shift tonight?"

"Oh, I see. Well, in that case...buck no."

"Oh, come on!" Cash yelled, exasperated.

"Son, I ain't worked night shift since I gave you the reins to this place," Old Money grumbled. "I gave you that responsibility so I wouldn't have to work nights one second longer than I needed to. Now if you excuse me, it's almost closing time and I gotta get home. Your ma and my easy chair are callin' my name." He pushed past Cash and shuffled toward the back office. Cash was left alone at the counter. He sighed in dejection.

"Well, that's it," Cash confided on-camera. "The buck got passed to me. I guess if you want a job to be done right, you have to do it yourself."

About an hour later, the last customer left. Cash closed and locked the front door behind him, which left him alone in the shop. Cash walked to the back of the store and behind the counter to a peculiar window with heavy wooden shutters. Cash opened the shutters to reveal a window crisscrossed with a thick iron bars.

"Yes, I know it looks like a jail window," Cash said on-camera. "It's kind of depressing when you're on this side of it looking at the night sky. Everypony who works the night shift feels like a prisoner."

The breeze of the cool night air slipped through the bars and blew against Cash's face. He looked over at the clock on the wall, which happened to be the wooden antique clock he bought during the first episode. It was about quarter to nine, and the small picture on the clock face depicted a serene night sky over the sleeping village. Cash yawned and let his heavy eyelids close for a second.

"Dad...Dad, wake up!"

Cash was jolted awake by the sound of Big Hoss's voice. "What? I'm up, I'm up!" he yelled. Cash looked around and found the shop brightly lit, and it was daylight outside. "Oh, crabapples...did I sleep through the whole night shift?"

"Yeah, but that's not important," Hoss said. "Get your flank outta that chair and help us take care of all these customers!"

Cash looked toward the sales floor and found it was teeming with ponies. He looked outside and saw a huge line of customers stretching clear across town.

"Is that your last one?" A customer asked about an antique vase eagerly. "I'll take it!"

"Oh no, you don't!" another chimed in. "I'll give you ten bits more than what she's offering you!"

"Oh yeah?" Another butted in and challenged, "I'll give you double the sticker price!"

Derpy walked up to Cash wearing a set of saddlebags stuffed with bits. "Um, boss?" She asked weakly as she strained under the bags' immense weight and teetered from side to side. "The register, safe and vault are all full. Where can I put all this money?"

"Um, I dunno. I think-" Cash was interrupted by the sound of gasping ponies and stomping hooves. There was a great commotion at the front of the store, where the strong voice of a regal mare called out, "Cash Money!"

Ponies stepped aside and created a clear path to Cash's counter. A dark blue alicorn with a flowing mane the color of the midnight sky strode forward toward the pawnbroker with narrowed eyes. "Cash Money," Princess Luna repeated, then continued, "I implore a question."

"Princess Luna?" Cash asked in amazement. "I never expected to see you here today!"

"Good pawnbroker, I must pose you a question. Are you open?"

"What? Of course we're open! Don't you see?"

"No," Luna said. "I am afraid it is you who do not see."

"Uh oh," Cash said as he thought aloud. "My store is full of more customers than citizens of Ponyville, I'm loaded with money and Princess Luna is in my store? This is a dream, isn't it?"

No sooner than he had said the words did Cash snap awake. His head bolted upright, then looked about and noticed it was still nighttime, and the clock on the wall read nine-thirty.

"It figures," he sighed. "That dream was too good to be true."

"Excuse me?" A mare's voice said.

He turned back around and nearly jumped out of his chair. There before him on the other side of the iron bars stood the actual princess of the night. Several yards behind her, Luna's elegant yet somewhat macabre chariot was parked, in tow by her two bat-winged guards. "Excuse me, good pawnbroker," Luna said, echoing his dream in a softer voice, "but are you open?"

"It's not every day - or every night, in this case - that a princess comes to your place of business, much less completely unannounced," Cash said on-camera. "Needless to say, it was the last thing I was expecting to see on the night shift."

"Princess Luna!" Cash said as he hurriedly scooted out of his chair and bowed his head in respect. "I had no idea you'd be coming by tonight."

"Naturally you would not," Luna said. "I was out patrolling the skies with my detail when I recognized your shop down below. I am quite a big fan, and my schedule does not usually permit me to visit during the day, so when I saw your shop tonight, I thought-"

"Whoa, stop right there, your highness," Cash interrupted. "Forgive me for stopping you, but did you just call yourself a fan? As in a fan of the show and my store?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Luna exclaimed. "After all, there are about a thousand years of history that I have missed out on, and I get to see some of it piece by piece on your show. Plus, that father of yours and Derpy are just plain hilarious!" she laughed.

"This is incredible!" Cash exclaimed on-camera. "Not only am I talking to a princess of Equestria, I find out she loves watching my store?! This is way beyond cool!"

"Wow," Cash breathed, dumbfounded. "Your highness, I am-"

"Please," the princess said as she raised a hoof clad with a sparkling, black chrome shoe, "call me Luna."

"Very well, then," Cash concurred. "Luna, I am honored by your patronage. You know, normally this window is the only place where we do business after hours, but I would be willing to let you come in and browse around the store if you want. Let me get my keys and I'll meet you at the front door."

A few moments later, Cash let Luna inside of the store. She walked slowly along the counters and looked in all directions with wide and wondrous eyes. Cash watched her browse from behind a counter near the night window, which he occasionally glanced at in case a customer approached.

"Your selection is incredible!" she remarked. "Such a great mixture of things new and old, all right here before my eyes! I recognize just about everything in here from your shows."

"Yeah, I don't think enough ponies buy it," Cash remarked. "If you don't mind me asking, which episode is your favorite?

"Oh, I have enjoyed all of them," Luna said as she continued to look about. "Although the one that really caught my attention was the one with that unsavory con pony peddling that ridiculous forgery of my sister's shoe. Oh, that really got under my skin! The nerve of some ponies, attempting to exploit others with such lies! I mean-" her rant was cut short as she spotted something glimmering in a glass case. She trotted over to it, gazed inside and breathed, "Oh, by the stars, what is that?"

Cash walked around behind the counter, opened the back of the case and took out the item Luna had found. In his hooves he gingerly held a long silvery necklace adorned with several smoky white stones, most of which were either circular or crescent-shaped. The pawnbroker laid it flat on the glass countertop so the princess could admire it. "I'm glad you saw this," Cash said as he described the item. "This is called the Moonrise Necklace. The metal is all 24-karat silver, and the stones that look like white quartz are actually moonstone. Each moonstone has been expertly carved and polished to resemble the moon in its various phases. I have all the paperwork with this that dates when it was custom-made. The pony who commissioned this work of art clearly had a great love for the moon. Interesting fact about moonstone: one of its nicknames is the traveler's stone, because it is said to bring good luck during a journey if worn."

"Fascinating," she breathed at she studied every detail of the necklace. "It is almost as if somepony borrowed pieces of my night sky and created a work of art. Is it for sale?"

"It is," Cash said. "Luna, I think this necklace was made for you. Now I know the price tag is somewhat, well, astronomical, but for you I would be willing to adjust the price."

"Absolutely not, Cash!" Luna said firmly. "I would like to purchase this from you, and I insist upon paying full price! Allow me a moment to retrieve my money from my guard."

Luna turned and left. Several minutes later she returned with a somewhat dejected look on her face. "Well," she said, "this is unfortunate. It seems as if the guard responsible for keeping my funds forgot them at the palace. I am afraid I cannot buy the necklace at this time."

"Oh," Cash said with an air of the same disappointment, "that's too bad."

Luna looked to the floor for a few seconds, then back up at Cash and said, "Now, just a moment. Your establishment does accept trades, does it not?

Cash looked at her incredulously. "Well, sure," he said. "Is there something you would be willing to trade?"

Luna slipped her right forehoof out of her shoe, then her left followed by her hind hooves. She stepped to the side of her shoes, then motioned to them with a naked hoof. "I was reminded of what we were talking about earlier," she explained. "Since you encountered such aggravation over a single faked princess's shoe, how would you like to have a set of - as you might say - the 'real deal?' These are genuine silver onyx shoes, and I would like to offer them as a trade for your Moonrise Necklace."

"Oh, crabapples! Luna, you don't have to-"

"Again, I insist," she said firmly. "I feel it is the least I could offer. After all, I am one of your biggest fans."

"Thank you, Luna!" Cash exclaimed. "Thank you so much! You know, we're participating in the benefit auction for the pegasus orphans coming up. These would be the perfect thing to bring to it. That is, if you wouldn't object..."

"Oh, by all means, please do so!" she agreed. "I would be honored if you did."

"Excellent. Let's go do some paperwork."

They finished the sale at the back counter. The shoes were placed in a canvas security sack and Luna wore the glittering necklace. She looked down and admired how the stones twinkled like stars in the light of the shop. Cash signed the paperwork, slid the papers away and said, "Well, that about wraps things up." He paused for a moment, then added, "Wait a minute, Luna. I just remembered there's this thing I got that I could really use your help with. Would you mind you mind helping me with just one thing before you go?"

"Not at all, Cash," she replied.

"Great! I'll be right back." He turned and trotted into the back room. Cash came back a few minutes later holding the wedding invitation in a forehoof. He put the wooden box down on the counter in front of Luna and said, "I bought this today off of a pony from Canterlot."

Luna took a closer look. "Ah, yes," she said, "the Mi Amore Cadenza-Shining Armor union. A lovely yet tumultuous occasion."

"My problem is," Cash explained, "I bought this without making sure that it's real. I couldn't find a good expert in town, so I took a gamble. Think you could confirm this for me?"

"Oh tsk tsk, Cash. Such gambling can be quite foolhardy," she said as she examined the box. After looking closely at the script inside, Luna added, "But fortunately for you, the gamble has paid off. This is definitely real. I have the same one in my possession."

"Whew! That's a relief!" Cash sighed. He bowed his head again and said, "Thank you, Luna, for everything."

The pawnbroker was then startled to see his right forehoof surrounded with a midnight blue aura. It was raised up in front of him as the princess of the night extended her hoof to his. They shook as she smiled and said, "It was my pleasure, Cash. Take care, and enjoy the rest of your night."

"I sure will!" he called after Luna as she departed. He watched from the night window as she boarded her chariot and took off to the inky sky. Soon she was a black dot in front of the silvery moon, then she disappeared.

"Wow," he breathed. Cash turned his head and saw the canvas bag that contained the priceless shoes. He walked over to it, slipped the carrying strap over his head and started walked toward the back room. "Better put these babies in the vault before I forget," he said to himself. "The guys are never going to believe this in the morning."



In Memory of Hiroshi Yamauchi



1927-2013