Forest Shade was one of those ponies, who because you are different, others give you a hard time. She was an alicorn, but not a princess, and no family for that matter. She didn't let that bring her down, though, as she was a strong, mature pony on the verge of becoming a mare. A pegasus named Tropical Storm swooped down, just to taunt her. "You're almost a mare," she said, " and you have no family, or cutie mark. Why do you even bother living? You should just-" Forest Shade was a calm, collected pony, but she also was born with a short fuse. " Why do you bother, Trope? Shouldn't you be doing your job earning your precious bits?"
Tropical Storm huffed, and retorted, " Ew! You need hygiene. I can't stand your smell, pig, so I'm off." The other street fillies and colts gathered around her, laughing and congratulating her. "She's such a jerk!" "That'll teach her!" " Ha-ha, nicely done!"
"Guys, be respectful, but Cleanspring, you remember the paint shop?" Forest Shade playfully nudged the blue-gray colt. "Yes'm!" He saluted.
"Okay, now take this," she handed him 7 bits, and continued, " and ask for a sample of paint, and some paper." she mock saluted him back.
They spent 25 minutes practicing magic before he got back. Huffing and panting heavily, he squeaked, " H-had a-a big s-sale today. Whew!" Saved 3 bits!" As his friends hugged him, Forest Shade painted the words : LEMONADE 5 BITS! in black paint. They managed to, thanks to a young colt whose talent was repairing anything, repair a filter and use it to purify the lemon juice. Then, they purified water, and purchased some sugar and cups. All set.
The sale went swimmingly, until one black male alicorn came up. He seemed depressed, and lonely. "How much is it? It's sort of small." His gruff voice seemed familiar, but nothing too familiar. She blushed and replied, " Oh, 5 bits. Sorry, we started to run out of paint."
He shrugged, as if it was of no importance. He gulped it down speedily, but by the look on his face, she knew he liked it.
"Oh, uh, sir, that's 5 bits."
"Oh, sorry."
He took out the required bits and walked away, but then came back and added 17 more. " Think of it as more stock." He trotted merrily away, and she shrugged. "Carrot dogs for dinner, colts and fillies!" Forest announced with pride. "Hooray!" They had never eaten so much food in one day.