//------------------------------// // Ch. 9: Wait... How Much? // Story: Nothing Probably Goes on Forever Too // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// Money, money, money Must be funny In a rich man's world. Money, money, money Always sunny In a rich man's world. Chapter 9: Wait... How Much? "Woah!" exclaimed Spike. "I don't believe it," I looked with just as flabbergasted an expression. "Two hundred bits?" inquired Twilight rhetorically surprised. "Who," agreed Owloysius in disbelief before finding his perch to sleep for the day. Two hundred. That was the sum inside the thawed pouch Rarity had given me the night before. I knew she had high-paying clients but... man. To have so much on her that she was willing to give away was crazy. Clearly, her spa appointments hadn't broken her bank if she had that much to spare. "Where did you even get this?" asked Twilight still surprised. "Well, yesterday I helped Rarity as a dress model," I started, "Then as I left, I vaguely remember her putting a pouch like this into my possession. But I was so dizzy, I didn't even think to look at the contents." "Wait," pondered Twilight as she tilted her head slightly, "I thought you spent yesterday practicing your flying with Rainbow Dash." "That's how the first half went," I corrected, "The second half involved..." I shuddered a little, "dresses. So... many... dresses." I quickly shook my head in an attempt to rid my mind of the previous day's beautification. "But," I continued, "I thought I was paying Rarity back for the broken ceiling. I didn't realize that she was going to be so generous." At this time, I mentally face hoofed. I didn't expect the Element of Generosity to be generous? my thoughts asked me disbelievingly. "So, uh," interjected Spike, "What are you going to do with it?" "Excuse you?" I said with wide eyes. "The money I mean," clarified the baby dragon, "What will you do with it?" "Oh yeah," Twilight's eyes started lighting up, "That's got to be worth at least a few good books." "Now there's a surprise," remarked a sarcastic Spike. The librarian gave her number one assistant a frown of annoyance. Then they both turned to look at me expectantly. "Well...," I started to say before my stomach decided to vibrate and make a gurgling noise. "Well, first I'd like a good breakfast," I said. I swear I could feel the sheepish blush on my face right then. --- It was amazing what the animators of the show left out when focusing on particular aspects. The number of restaurants available in Ponyville was huge. Most of which weren't even two blocks away. So our party of three (I could just here Pinkie Pie somewhere shouting, "Hey! No pony invited me.") walked over to a brunch-themed eatery. I didn't catch the name of the place, so finding it again on my own would be difficult in the future. "Wow," whispered Twilight as she scanned the menu, "The prices seem a little steep." "Yeah," I whispered back in a half-agreement. To be honest, this was the first time I had seen a menu in Equestria. How was I supposed to know how cheap or expensive things usually were? "It's a good thing Tundra can cover it," said Spike in a little boy voice. That is to say, it was loud enough for ponies at nearby tables to give us stares. "Spike!" Twilight shushed him in a harsh whisper. I added in a similarly harsh whisper, "Do you want to go through another chase scene like when you had the extra Gala ticket?" Fortunately, Spike caught on quickly. He pretended to be very interested in a certain menu item and began whistling the "I'm innocent so don't look at me" tune. The parties at nearby tables ("Why didn't any pony invite me to the party?" asked the hypothetical Pinkie.) resumed whatever conversations they were having before. --- Thirty-three bits. That's how much the late breakfast had cost. I started thinking maybe the dollar to bit ratio was about one-to-one. After all, the meals at sit-down restaurants back on Earth had a rough, average cost of ten dollars. About eleven per person, er pony, for a slightly expensive place? I thought to myself, Sounds about right. Using Big Macintosh's fancy mathematics, I calculated that I had one hundred, sixty-seven bits left. Heh, that would have been enough to open a savings account back home. I wasn't sure if Ponyville even had a bank. They never revealed one in the show. Then again, I had seen a few things that the show neglected in their details. A First Bank of Equestria wouldn't be the most surprising thing I had seen today. I was kind of surprised at how easily my wing could act like a hand for certain things. The money pouch was tucked under my right wing at the moment and it felt only marginally uncomfortable. I wasn't flying, so thinking about my wings didn't make them stop working. "Hey, TS!" shouted a familiar, slightly raspy voice. Speaking of flying... "Hi, Rainbow!" answered Twilight and I at the same time. Both of us waved a hoof. My would-be flight teacher looped around once before hovering by within a couple ponies' worth of distance from us. "Hey, Tundra, you're not mad that I had to bail on you yesterday, right?" asked the Pegasus straight out, "I had... uh... emergency weather to handle. Yeah." As tempted as I was to use my frost magic and create a makeshift Pega-popsicle, I thought against it. Instead, I decided to play it off smoothly. "Nah, don't worry about it," I replied with a straight face, "Besides, I got paid for the trouble I brought Rarity." "Really?" asked RD. Her expression looked like she was taken aback, "What did you have to do?" Keeping the straight face, I told her, "I stood still for her for ten. Hours. Straight." Okay, granted I also lost some male dignity. Dash didn't need to know that. "Oh my gosh," said Rainbow with a concern that looked kind of strange for her, "I am so sorry." "Like I said, don't worry about," I waved a hoof dismissively. "I gotta make it up to you," decided Dash determinately, "Just name a favor and it's yours." I rubbed my chin in thought for a moment. After remembering my current discomfort with the money pouch, I asked, "Do you know if there's a place around here that makes custom saddlebags?" --- One guided trot later, I exited the store with some comfort-fit saddlebags. They were white with a personalized clip in the shape of a blue musical eighth note. Best of all, they left room for my wings to stretch and fold properly. Currently, the inventory consisted of one pouch filled with one hundred, twenty-two bits. Luggage was not cheap. "So, are we cool now?" asked Rainbow Dash. I could of sworn I saw visible sweat beads drip off her head. "Yes, Rainbow. We're cool," I replied with a gentle smile. "Whew, you have no idea how good it feels to get that off my chest," she sighed in relief. Apparently, she had been rather worried about me being upset. I could tell this was new territory for her, being the provider of comfort instead of sweating her usual awesomeness. "All right, I gotta get going. Later TS!" she hollered before zipping away in a stream of 7 colors. "Did I miss something?" asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, what was that about?" added Spike who was currently riding her back. "Oh, just a settlement of differences," I replied in a vague fashion, "Nothing you need to worry about." "O... kay," said Twilight as we continued our trot, "Anyway, I decided to send news to the Princess about recent events." "Let me guess," I attempted, "Those 'recent events' involve me and that Nightmare, right?" "Well, yeah," she avoided eye contact as she said that, "And I got word back that she'll be meeting us at the library soon." "Eh, it's probably a good idea," I confirmed, "If any pony knows what to do, it would be Celestia." "My thoughts exactly," the lavender unicorn nodded. --- The day sure went by quickly. I vaguely remembered having Hay Fries for dinner. (By the way, Firewall was right. The human mind does not like the taste of hay at all. Since my mind was a human's, well, put two and two together.) I was practically ready to fall asleep in the guest bed at the library. "Hey!" shouted a high-pitched voice. Needless to say, I jumped into a sitting position. This would be the first time I had ever experienced a heart attack. But quickly, my blood kept pumping properly as I stared into the bright blue eyes of the intruder. "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here?" I asked from fatigue, "Do you have any idea what time it is?" "It's 10:37 and twelve seconds, but that's not the point right now," countered the mare with cotton candy for a mane. "Then why are you here?" asked my exhausted mouth. "Why didn't you invite me?" she asked with a miffed look of a hurt animal. "Invite?" I raised an eyebrow. "You set up at least two parties in this chapter alone and I wasn't invited," complained Pinkie Pie as if what she said was the most obvious thing in the world. "Parties? Chapter? Pinkie you're not making sense," I said while I performed a slow face hoof. "Well," said Pinkie, "Just don't let it happen again." With that conclusion, she hopped off to who knew where. I chalked it up to Pinkie Pie just being Pinkie Pie before lying back down to get some sleep.