New Games
Sunset stared around in awe as Bookface brought them to Thorntail Hollow. The place was absolutely gorgeous, with bright green grass, flowers of all colors, and odd shaped growths Sunset instinctively knew not to approach closely, sensing the fire contained inside them. Two ancient walled structures rose, one to either side of the river running through the center of the Hollow, giving the whole area the appearance of a restful, ancient home.
The Thorntail's were dark brown dinosaurs who walked on four legs, had plates on their backs, and - unsurprisingly - thorns on their tails. They smiled indulgently as they saw Sunset and Tricky running around to explore once they climbed off Bookface's Face, but did not interfere in any way.
Eventually, Sunset decided to investigate the temple-like structure that looked in less of a state of disrepair. The path inward dropped and curved a few times, but Sunset was able to use her magic to gently guide herself and Tricky down each floor. Eventually, they entered a large chamber with several paths leading out of it, each path with a marking above the door.
Before Tricky or Sunset could explore further, a strange creature floated into the chamber. It had the green skin and upright body of a carnivorous dinosaur, but instead of legs it only had a curling tail, as though it were a ghost. It was garbed in a long flowing robe that was primarily purple, and had a large green scarab hanging around its neck. "Welcome to my store," it greeted in a nasally voice. "Feel free to look at the many wonderful items within these walls. They are all for sale...if you have enough Scarabs."
"Who you?" Sunset demanded worriedly as she clung to an equally scared Tricky.
The figure looked at them and sighed. "Children..." Shaking his head, he focused on Tricky. "<You know me as The Trader, or have heard your parents speak of me as such, yes?>" he asked in flawless Earthwalker dialect.
Tricky blinked in surprise, then nodded as he relaxed somewhat.
The figure turned back to Sunset. "I am Shabunga the Shopkeeper," he explained. "I gather useful items from wherever I find them in the world, and sell them to whoever has need. This includes food, medicine, mechanical oddities, tools, and maps. My preferred currency is Scarabs, which can be found under rocks in the Hollow and elsewhere on the planet." He held up his pendant. "They look like this."
"...sell?" Sunset asked in confusion.
Shabunga reassessed his judgement of Sunset's knowledge. "You give me scarabs," he explained carefully, "and I give you a treat from my shelves. Understand?"
Sunset gasped happily and vanished in a flare of light.
"Ah, a teleporter," Shabunga mused.
After a time, Sunset staggered back in carrying a single Scarab, which was nearly as large as Tricky. "Treat?" she asked hopefully as she held it up.
Shabunga shook his head. "I'm sorry, but even with haggling there's nothing in the store I would sell for a single scarab, ever."
Sunset started to tear up. "But...heavy..." she whimpered as she struggled to hold up the Scarab.
Shabunga blinked in surprise. "No scarab pouch, and only big enough to carry one?" When Sunset nodded, he sighed. "I wouldn't do this for just anyone...but I can't stand crying children. Tell you what." Reaching into his robes, he took out a large pouch and attached it to a nearby wall. "Say your name, and put the scarab in here."
"Sunset Shimmer!" Sunset declared proudly, dropping the Scarab into the pouch. Above the pouch, a slate appeared. On it was Sunset's name with the number 1 underneath.
"I'm going to run you a line of store credit," Shabunga explained readily. "Just drop any scarabs you gather into there, and I'll keep track of it for you. Of course, in exchange I want no haggling on prices, understand?"
"Okay!" Sunset declared happily before warping back out.
Shabunga watched in mild amusement as Sunset came back in with one scarab at a time until the slate read 10. "Would you like a faster way to earn scarabs?" he suggested curiously.
"Faster?" Sunset asked in surprise.
"Come, follow me," Shabunga explained, sweeping down towards a lower floor. Sunset and Tricky eagerly followed.
Once on the lower floor, Shabunga presented an arena. "How about a little game?" he suggested. "I will throw your ten green scarabs and ten of my purple scarabs into this arena. They will scramble around as a timer ticks down. You have until the timer runs out to try and grab all the green scarabs. My magic will port them away when you touch them. The game ends when time runs out, when you grab a purple scarab, or if you grab all your green ones. At the end of the game, you keep whatever you collected...and if you collected them all, I'll double it. Care to give it a try?" Sunset nodded eagerly. "Alright then...begin!" He tossed the scarabs into the arena.
Sunset leapt down racing around to lightly touch the green scarabs. Between her natural speed and a bit of magical assistance, she was easily able to grab all ten before time ran out and without touching a purple scarab.
"Well done, well done," Shabunga praised as a slate in the corner showed 'Sunset Shimmer: 20'. He turned to Tricky. "<Would you like to try, Highness?>"
Tricky bounced eagerly, and Shabunga let him play. Unfortunately, Tricky wasn't as agile as Sunset and wound up getting hit by a purple scarab almost immediately. He drooped over to Sunset, who patted him gently to reassure him.
"I suppose it's not everyone's game," Shabunga allowed...only to be surprised as Sunset leapt into the arena again. "Want to play again? Alright."
When Sunset's ledger once more read 20, she turned an innocent smile up at Shabunga. "...double or nothing?" she asked, remembering a phrase from when the adults on the Great Fox had played cards.
Shabunga tilted his head thoughtfully. "Oh, a risky player, are you?" he asked curiously. "Alright, but I'll need to up the challenge then. An extra purple scarab each time?"
"Okay!" Sunset declared happily. Tricky hid a wicked grin.
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Sunset is gonna be an ace with poker.
Sunset's gonna own the store before long.
HAH! Awesome update!
Go sunset! Great chapter
Let's hope our poor Trader won't be Beetle Juiced by the end of this.
Sunset is a divius little lady.
I have a rather madcap teori:
Dinosour planet is Equestria a few millionyears in the past and Equestria is near "The End of Time", hens why Luna needs to put stars in the night sky and Celestia needs to move the artificial sun.
Any sugestions?
I'm just imagining Shabunga curled up on the ground. "They took everything...I'm ruined..."
Shabunga is going to be broke by the time Sunset is done with him!! How long until she owns his whole shop, he's paying her rent, and making her a ton of money???
Seems I'm not the ONLY one who thinks Shabunga is going to get hosed... provided...
Wait, he? I thought The Trader was female...
Back to my point, assuming he doesn't wise up and stop playing, Sunset will own everything he has before the day is out.
He's gonna wish he didn't do that~!
I love this story.
Next chapter...
He's in debt to a child
This was cute, and I'm glad to see he's not an ass like some stories depict him as. Or at least not an ass to children, Watching him run Fox ragged will be fun.
Also, I'm calling it. He somehow plays a part in the final fight before the return to Equestria!
She is gonna clean him out isn't she?
Games are fun, but the most fun is when you win.
Pfffffft!
Sunset is gonna walk out of this festooned with leis, necklaces, bracelets and wearing obsidian sunglasses, and when Fox asks she'll be like "When we going to Space Vegas, daddy?"
Oh that poor, poor trader!
8428140
when she buys stuff he'll get it back... eventually
8427795
Why so many down votes on this? Nothing inherently wrong or offensive here.
Personally I prefer the idea that she went to another universe entirely with its own time line, but anything is possible.
8427795
I can dig it.
8427793
It looks like he has a good head on his shoulders.
8428517
i think its because people dont like that theory
8429047
That's a silly reason to down vote. Just don't up vote, the neutral state. I reserve down votes mostly for people being mean or rude. Besides that, only the most idiotic of statements get it.
8429068
as do I but not everyone is like that
8427735
That's if the trader's lucky
It seems more likely our trader will be in debt for a good while afterwards.
So sunsets gonna clear the trader out of sweets by the end lol
8429175
Hardly. He'll charge double for Fox when he begins exploring.
Those maps should have been 5 Scarabs instead of 10...
8428014 And thus the pony Mafia was created...
8431842
With a single pony? More like the toddler maggia!
8751913
Suddenly I see years later after Sunset manages to find an army of monsters...
Door slams open to an abusers house
monster: who toucha da child!
fingers are pointed
Slap!
Monster: don't toucha da child!