Lyra's Ultimate Item Emporium

by Thunderbug80

Chapter 14 - Replacements

Iron Will was finally having a good day.

His meeting with the haughty blue unicorn had gone well, all things considered. Sure, she had resisted at first, but Iron Will could be quite convincing when he had to be. That was one of the benefits of towering several feet over the one you're speaking with, he supposed. He doubted there were many ponies who wouldn't see things his way when he wanted them to.

Well, that assertive yellow pegasus probably wouldn't. But everypony else could be persuaded, and that's what mattered. The bottom line was simple: Filthy Trix wasn't going to be a problem anymore. He had made absolute certain of that.

He stretched his great arms over his head as he strode about town, inadvertently sending several ponies scrambling out of his way. The train ride back to Appleoosa had been, as usual, cramped and uncomfortable. What he could really use was a bit of exercise and something to take his mind off this whole collection business. Despite his latest success, he still had serious doubts that the green one – he was determined to remember her name was Lyra – could pull it all off. Thankfully he had recently found a great way to deal with the stresses of debt collection.

"A good evening to you," Flam said as Iron Will walked in through the door and, after loudly pulling two chairs together, took a seat. "Would you like some cider? Something to help you wind down?"

Iron Will shook his head. "Iron Will is here for work."

Flam raised his eyebrows. "A bit late to take on a job, don't you think?" He reached under the counter and produced a mug. "Besides, all of today's jobs have been taken."

It was Iron Will's turn to raise his eyebrows. "All of them?"

Flam finished pouring the cider and trotted over to the minotaur's table to set the mug before him. "Indeed. In fact, it appears that you no longer work for my brother and I. Strictly speaking." He cleared his throat and wiped his brow before continuing. "The entire guild has been hired out by a remarkably gifted entrepreneur. We work for her now, but don't worry! My brother and I predict many more bits coming our way thanks to this deal."

The cider vanished in one large gulp. Iron Will ran the back of his hand over his mouth before asking, "And just who is it that Iron Will now works for?"

Flam gave a casual shrug. "A Miss Lyra Heartstrings. Fascinating mare, she is."

Iron Will slapped both hands down hard on the table, making Flam jump back and duck behind the counter. He stared straight ahead and gripped the edges of the table until his hairy knuckles grew sore. He then relaxed his shoulders and looked down at the floor in silence.

As if sensing that it was safe to be seen again, Flam slowly raised his head above the level of the counter. Iron Will looked his way, his eyes betraying some kind of inner conflict, then looked back down at the floor. A moment later the minotaur stood up, fished an engraved medallion out of a small travel bag on his belt, and tossed it onto the table.

Flam eyed the medallion and stared at Iron Will pleadingly. "That's your membership badge!" he cried. "Surely you can't be serious!"

Iron Will's glare stopped the stallion cold. "Iron Will is serious," he announced. He strode over to the guild hall’s exit before looking back at Flam. "And consider this his resignation."

..o0o..

"Here she comes."

At Bon Bon's warning, Lyra focused a bit more intensity into the protective shield that surrounded them both. She doubted that it was truly necessary, but it was probably best to be safe with this sort of thing. The shield glowed a slightly brighter shade of gold, and the two friends braced themselves. A moment later, a multicolored streak of light shot down from the sky, illuminating the area and striking the ground hard enough to create a large cloud of dust that formed in the immediate area of the impact. When the dust settled, Lyra saw that the shield was coated in a thin film of dirt and slime.

"Aww yeah!" Rainbow Dash cried, brushing dust out of her coat with a hoof. She stood up and trotted over to Lyra and Bon Bon, then closed her eyes and grinned smugly. "That's one less slime between me and the kinds of contracts I've always wanted to take on." When she opened her eyes again, however, the two friends were no longer standing with her. They had already moved past her and were cleaning slime off of a small silver goblet that had been left behind.

"You're welcome!" Dash shouted after them, frowning.

Lyra looked up and blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry! Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash. You're the best!" She ignored Rainbow's self-satisfied smile and levitated the goblet up with her magic, giggling. "Can you believe the contract was only concerned with the destruction of that slime? Just look at this!" The goblet floated into Lyra's bulging saddlebags to join the other items they had acquired.

Rainbow Dash didn't seem impressed. "Yeah yeah, you guys get to keep all the junk. Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "I just want to get all these boring contracts over with so we can move on to the good stuff."

"Well, we have good news for you," Bon Bon said. She reached back and patted her saddlebags, which were stuffed with contracts. "That was the last of the slime contracts. From here on out, it's nothing but actual adventures!"

"Yes!" Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air. "Yes, yes, yes! Endless cider, here I come!" Suddenly, she yawned and turned her attention to the darkening sky. "It's just going to have to wait until tomorrow. I don't even want to think about how many naps I've missed today."

Bon Bon nodded. "It is getting late. Maybe it's time we returned to the guild hall. We need to get back to the shop and stock the shelves with all of our new inventory in preparation for tomorrow. I guess it's going to be a long night."

Rainbow shrugged. "Yeah, maybe for you two, but this pony's off to get some well-deserved sleep." She flapped her wings and hovered in the air for a moment. "I'll come by for my share tomorrow. Don't spend it!" With that, she took off into the sky.

Lyra waved goodbye to Rainbow Dash, then turned to Bon Bon. "Yayifications! Today went so well I could just..." She struggled to hop in place, but her saddlebags weighed her down. "Well, it was a good day! Let's go collect our rewards."

..o0o..

The stars shone brightly in the clear sky over Appleoosa by the time Lyra and Bon Bon made it back to the guild hall. They were so busy chatting away about all the great items they had found as they walked inside that they didn't even notice something was wrong until they nearly bumped into somepony.

"Oh, excuse us!" Lyra said, stepping back a few paces. "We didn't even see you there!"

"Hey, hold on just a minute," Bon Bon said, taking a step forward and frowning. "What are you doing here?"

The pony in question, who, from the looks of things, had just been in the middle of an argument with Flim and Flam, perked her ears up and slowly raised her head.

"How dare that great ox trick the Wealthy and Corporate Trixie into joining this guild," the pony sneered, "only for her to find out she has to work–" she spun around and glared at the two friends "–for you!

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other helplessly. What in Equestria was going on?

Comments

[the other sans]

It's just have to wait until tomorrow

1. Err... I think you meant; It's just going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Yayifications!

Ahh, this brings back fond memories... Save for those real frugal customers at times... and that one ridiculous one who wants to sell things at horribly exorbitant prices and break my xp chain...

Wonder how Trixie managed to get convinced to join the guild? Intimidation?

[Booster Spice]

Iron Will uses Intimidation +4 Its super Effective.

Flim and Flam have been so worked up in scamming peole, they dont realise when Oroubourous came to call.

<Discord>

You called?

Meh, Close Enough.

[Brickman]

I'm loving this story. The tone of Recettear is translated seamlessly into ponies, and it had me smiling the whole way through. And giggling aloud at many parts.

Shouldn't this have the adventure tag instead of slice of life though? It seems like a pretty drastic break from Lyra and Bonbon's routine.

[PiMan]

5548091
I get the feeling it will return to a slicier style from here, even if not quite as slice-like as some stories.

[Themaskedferret]

Bwehehehe. Things just keep getting better an better.

[Bugsydor]

What in the wide, wide world of Equestria did Iron Will do with Trixie? And why did he hang up his adventurer's badge?

Questions aside, this remains fun.

[SIGAWESOME]

Needs more pudding farming...

[Thunderbug80]

5547640 Fixed. Thanks for the heads-up!

[TonyTheMage]

>>SIGAWESOME Hehe..... I like pudding......

[FanOfMostEverything]

I suppose Iron Will can't abide the conflict of interest. And how did the Flimflams convince Trixie to join the guild?

In any case, I'm always happy to see this update. Especially that Slimy Rainboom. Looking forward to more.

[Cerulean Voice]

Awww shiet. So not only has Iron Will resigned, but Twixie has entered the fray. Awesome.

[Alondro]

And so Lyra went from being in debt to ruling the world from a vast corporate adventuring empire.

Then she became crazy and corrupt and died muttering one last word: "Roseluck..."

[Pogosticksforbreakfast]

This story is amazing, not to mention the first fic I ever read. By the way, what game is this kinda crossover with? I'm sorry, but I'm totally out of the loop.

[PoisonJoker09]

... Uh, what just happened?

And what were the five words?

Why is there so much coincidence?

...

[IXOHOXI]

6259680
"Go join the Adventurer's Guild."

[Dashie04]

5562578
It was her sled

((Did I get the reference right?))

[Enderstorm]

I can't tell if Iron Will just did something really stupid or really smart but for some reason I'm laughing anyway.