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// I'll Trade Ya For Some Bits of Common Sense 
// Story: Letters from an Irritated Princess 
// by Tired Old Man 
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Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I thank you for overseeing the nightmarish bartering bazaar that is the Rainbow Falls Trade Exchange. I was concerned when I'd heard rumors of a trade ending with indentured servitude as a bargaining chip, but thankfully, common sense prevailed at the end, and the trade was called off.

Unfortunately, it seems nopony there had the good sense to take my darling Cadance's suggestion and use an established medium of exchange to get the things you want if you don't have what they're looking for. Or Luna's. Or mine. 

Especially mine, because I've been attending this Trade Exchange for far longer than anyone else, and I've seen more than enough stupid decision making for amazingly petty reasons.

It's made me cry tears of pain. Pure, indescribable pain.

"Nobody at this exchange has anything I want? Well, I guess nobody gets my stuff, regardless of any that want it!"

This thought process sums up the entire problem with the Exchange. Because there is no established medium, or rather, no medium is allowed, so many ponies come here looking for something and either walk away unsatisfied with what they came in with, or stuck doing an insane trading quest with ten-plus vendors to get what they want from just one vendor. Sure, there are ponies that come in with the right thing at the right time, but they are few and far between when the wants of the vendors are subject to change at any time, for any reason. Items once desired may not be after just twenty minutes, and such traders caught up in this runaround get screwed due to fickle desire.

And that's "okay" according to the rule, because the trades got them closer to the goalpost at the end, only for the vendor to just up and move it once they get there. This is why I prefer agreements in writing, and not verbal.

Just... how hard is it for this place to just buy and sell items with bits in addition to bartering? The versatility in using this method would allow for more trades at prices they deemed fair by both parties involved in the exchange. Stuff would actually get sold and traded with significantly better turnover than limiting to just whatever garage sale items litter our home! And if for some reason there's nothing to interest a seller in terms of items, why should they object to some extra weight in their coinpurse?

This traditional Exchange has been around since the Unification, and its showing its age VERY openly. Yet much like Winter Wrap Up, this highly inconvenient thing refuses to adjust to the modern times, hailing from an age where food for cloth and other amenities was acceptable. But now that ponies these days are far pickier, this simply doesn't work as well as it could.

I just hope that next year, some ponies will actually see sense when it's... ugh, my turn to oversee the Exchange. It's unlikely, but we'll see.

Also, if you happen to be interested in a strange glove I have collecting dust in my closet, please let me know.

Love,

Princess Celestia

Oh, you wouldn't be interested, Luna. It's just a sock I got from a wizard a century ago.

Well, of course I didn't want a sock! I wanted a nice hat, one that could work around my horn, but the vendor closed up shop before I could make the trade! 

Now look at it! What am I supposed to do with ONE sock?! It's not even a pair or a full set! I mean, maybe a stallion could use this as is, but I'd need to remake this into a scarf or something to make it practical!

But, well, lesson learned. You can't always get what you want when the one offering it changes their mind last minute.