Lyra awoke to find herself lying in her bed. Faint noises could be heard coming from downstairs in the shop portion of her home, but what was of a more immediate concern was the lumpy object lying next to her. She turned around and had a look.
"Oh hey, Bon Bon!" she said.
Beside her, Bon Bon slowly opened one eye, blinked to clear her thoughts, then glared as realization dawned upon her.
"What happened, and why am I here?" she demanded. Her eyes widened momentarily before she resumed her glare. "Did that great ox really think it was a good idea to throw us both into the same bed?" She snorted. "I guess he thinks we're just like sacks of potatoes that can be tossed around wherever he pleases!"
Lyra blinked and looked down at herself. "I'm a very cute sack of potatoes!" she said, grinning.
Bon Bon was already out of bed, however, and was heading downstairs. She called over her shoulder, "Come on, Lyra! We need to have a few words with our friendly debt collector!"
Lyra stared after her friend. "We should sell potatoes..." she mumbled before hopping out of bed and following Bon Bon downstairs to the shop below.
..o0o..
"Just what in sweet Celestia's secret sweets stash do you think you are doing?" Bon Bon's angry voice rang throughout the entire shop. Lyra hurried down the rest of the stairs to see what was going on.
When she arrived downstairs she saw Iron Will standing before an open cash register, his huge hand full of bits. He stood there, frozen, much like a deer caught in a light spell would. In front of him, Bon Bon stood in a pose that looked as if she were ready to fight.
"There had better be a good explanation for this, or else," Bon Bon growled. "I may not look like it, but I know how to take down a minotaur. Trust me, you do not want to test me right now!"
"Bon Bon, what's going on?" Lyra asked as she carefully made her way over to her friend. She had never seen Bon Bon this angry before, and she looked a little scary at the moment.
Bon Bon's hoof shot out accusingly at Iron Will. "Just look at him!" she cried. "It's not enough that he has to go and quadruple your debt payment, but now he's stooped to taking bits directly out of the register!" She frowned at Iron Will. "He's a thief!"
Iron Will's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his hands tightened into fists so hard that the veins showed on his arms.
"When the ponies accuse–" he said, his voice rising in volume, "–then you must bruise!" He stalked towards the waiting Bon Bon, searing anger evident on his face.
Lyra feared that one or both of her friends were going to hurt themselves, but before things could escalate any further, the front door opened and an orange-coated, middle-aged mare walked into the shop and smiled when she saw Iron Will. She trotted up to him and took out a small coin pouch.
"You know, after the fantastic service you provided, I think I will go ahead and buy that laundry pole after all!" She took out some bits and gave them to the minotaur. "After I left I just got to thinking about what you said, and you're right. You never know when you might need a spare!" She smiled politely at Lyra and Bon Bon, retrieved her laundry pole, and exited the shop.
Bon Bon raised an eyebrow at Iron Will. "You've been selling things?"
Iron Will crossed his arms and looked away. "What if Iron Will has?"
Bon Bon sighed and pawed the ground with a hoof. "So what you were doing just then... you were putting change in the drawer." When the minotaur nodded she blushed slightly. "So uh, I guess I'm sorry about the whole 'getting ready to send you to Tartarus' thing."
Iron Will nodded and twiddled his thumbs. "And, um, Iron Will apologizes for preparing to crush all of your bones."
"We good?"
"We're good."
Lyra didn't understand any part of what had just happened. One moment she was certain that they should add potatoes to their stock, and the next moment she wasn't so sure. She thought maybe she could ask her friends what they thought about stocking vegetables, but before she could do that the door opened again and a new customer appeared.
"What a complete dump," the newcomer said. She was a small, pink filly with a stylized purple and white mane crowned with a small tiara.
Bon Bon rounded on the filly. "And just what are you doing here, Diamond Tiara?" she demanded. It was apparent that she hadn't completely cooled off from her confrontation with Iron Will, if the grinding of her teeth was any indication.
Diamond tsked in apparent disgust at having to answer such an obvious question. "I'm scouting the competition, of course. Such as it is." She picked up an item and briefly examined it before setting it back down. "Why else would I set hoof in this hole-in-the-ground?"
"If you aren't buying I'll be happy to show you the door," Bon Bon said.
"My, my, is this the kind of service ponies can expect here?" Diamond asked in mock dismay. She gave Bon Bon a wicked grin. "It's no wonder my father's store is doing so much better than yours."
Even Iron Will was looking at Diamond Tiara as if he were about to throttle her, but Lyra just smiled and said, "Oh, I get it! Trixie sent you over here to buy anything she might not have in stock so she can mark it up for a small profit." She trotted over to a display and indicated some of the items. "That's a really smart idea! I have a few things here that I doubt she's been able to track down, so maybe you–"
Diamond Tiara's eyes widened. "I am not some kind of laborer to be used as an errand runner!" she sputtered. Apparently, her role within the business was a sore topic for her.
Lyra tilted her head. "So she's not even paying you? That's a bit rough." She stopped suddenly, as a thought came to mind. A plan quickly formed, and she tested her theory. "Hey, wouldn't it really annoy Trixie if you managed to find some kind of really rare item that she just had to have?"
The filly froze for a moment as if in thought. "What difference does it make what she thinks?" she asked irritably. Lyra noted that her ears had perked up, however.
"Well, I just think that anypony who was able to retrieve very rare merchandise from the competition would quickly become a very valuable member of the team. In fact, I bet your father would be quite pleased!"
Lyra glanced at Bon Bon and Iron Will. They both nodded almost imperceptibly that they understood where she was going with this.
Diamond Tiara frowned. "It's none of your business how my father feels about anything," she declared. She walked over to the display Lyra had indicated and took a look. "Still, I suppose I could deign to relieve you of a few things. It's not like you'd actually be able to sell them yourself, anyway."
Lyra smiled. "No, of course not. I can't claim to have the business sense of your father." She leaned forward. "In fact, I'm so bad at this that I might even be willing to give you a few things for free!" Lyra heard Iron Will grunt, but she was certain that she knew what she was doing.
Diamond Tiara's eyes narrowed. "Nopony is that dense. What are you after?"
Lyra shrugged. "I sure can't fool you! I'll just get right to the point, then." She cleared her throat and blushed slightly. "As you probably already know, I hired out the entire Adventurer's Guild. The problem is, silly pony that I am, I don't know who any of the members are!"
Diamond Tiara grinned. "Yes, that was an exceptionally poor business move, wasn't it?" Still, she was listening.
"It was," Lyra agreed. "I'd be willing to give just about anything in the shop to know who the other members are." She sat down with a sigh and looked away wistfully.
The thing about Diamond Tiara is that she is not a gullible pony. Having plenty of experience with it herself, she knew when she was being manipulated. The problem was that she actually stood to benefit greatly if she played along. Her father would see her contribution and maybe see how poorly that great fraud of a unicorn was managing the shop. If she played her cards right, maybe she could be free from Trixie once and for all. But how did Lyra know that she knew a guild member?
Diamond Tiara grinned again. It didn't matter. These peasants would get the information they wanted, but it wasn't useful information.
"I just might know somepony," she said coyly. "Maybe we can help each other out."
The other thing about Diamond Tiara is that she had inherited her father's eye for quality. It only took her a moment to pick out the best item these amateurs had somehow managed to scrounge up. She pointed out a solid silver tea set.
"Give me this and I'll tell you what you want to know."
Bon Bon and Iron Will both cringed, but Lyra didn't hesitate. She held a hoof out. "Deal."
Diamond rolled her eyes, but bumped hooves with Lyra. "Deal," she said. She practically pranced over to the front window and pointed outside. "I'm sure our little adventurer will be coming along any moment now." She looked around, then spotted somepony. "What timing. There she is now!"
Lyra looked out the window, then frowned. "Her?" she asked.
Diamond laughed as she trotted over to retrieve the tea set. "You're welcome," she jeered. She left the shop with her goods in tow, leaving Lyra to blink in confusion. She turned to Bon Bon and Iron Will.
"Since when did Scootaloo become an adventurer?"