Chapter 9 - Availability
Chapter 9
Availability
Lyra deftly hopped down from the Friendship Express and landed on the wooden platform below, where she stopped to take a deep breath of the fresh country air.
"I'm so excited!" she cried. "I can't wait to see what Appleoosa has to offer. I hear you can get cherries that have been imported all the way from Dodge Junction!" She spun in a circle as her eyes took in everything around her, then stopped when she spotted something several carriages away. "Oh look, there's Trixie! Let's wave to her!"
Lyra happily waved first one, then two hooves, before finally hopping up and down on her hind legs in an effort to get her competitor's attention. She was preparing to shout when Trixie finally looked up from adjusting her cape, noticed Lyra, and angrily shook a hoof at her before turning tail and galloping away.
"Yayifications, she waved back!"
"Iron Will does not believe that the blue one was waving," Iron Will stated. He squeezed his large frame through the train's exit and stepped onto the platform. Bon Bon followed close behind.
"In Lyra's world, everypony is waving," Bon Bon said flatly. She took a moment to look at their surroundings.
Appleoosa Station was buzzing with activity. Important-looking ponies in suits carried briefcases as they went about official business of one sort or another, families of ponies, complete with mischievous colts and fillies, bustled to and from the train carriages, and large buffalo pushed their way through the crowds in order to get to their destination.
"So many customers..." Lyra whispered. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes were wide with wonder.
Bon Bon tapped Lyra's head gently with a hoof. "Hey now, settle down," she said. "We're no longer in the shop, so try and remember why we're here."
"You're right," Lyra said. Her eyes showed her determination. "Let's go purchase some inventory!"
It is a universally accepted fact that ponies love to shop. Whether they are getting the week's groceries, picking out a new dress, or even hiring a DJ for the next party, a pony who is parting with their bits is usually a very happy pony indeed.
Unfortunately, Lyra Heartstrings was not a happy pony.
"What do you mean you're all out of cherries?" she asked the cherry vendor. "What do you call those right there?" She pointed to a large crate of what looked to be some of the freshest, juiciest cherries she'd ever seen.
The cherry vendor, a stout fellow in a straw boater hat and a striped vest, sighed. "Those have already been sold. I'm sorry, but somepony just came by a few minutes ago and bought my entire stock. I won't receive another shipment for at least a few days."
Lyra's ears drooped. She took one last look at the delicious-looking cherries, then hung her head and walked away. It was the third stand she'd been to that had been completely wiped out. She looked up and saw Bon Bon approaching from down the lane, and couldn't help but notice that she was empty-hooved.
"Can you believe it?" Bon Bon said when she had drawn near. "Everypony's out of stock! Even the turnip stand was sold out. Honestly, who buys turnips by the crateful?" She frowned and kicked a stray pebble, then looked up apologetically. "I guess you've had no luck either, huh?"
"No," Lyra admitted. "Maybe I should have opened up my shop in Appleoosa. The ponies here sure do like to spend big."
Bon Bon snorted. "Yeah, I'm not buying it. Something's not adding up."
The two friends stood in silence for a few moments before they realized that it wasn't silent at all. Lyra raised her head and noticed that a small crowd of ponies was heading rapidly toward some kind of commotion down the lane. Angry shouting could be heard all the way from where they stood.
"Well well," Bon Bon mused, swivelling her ears to hear better. "It looks like we've found Iron Will. Come on, let's go see what kind of trouble the lug's gotten himself into."
There are times when two individuals might not agree upon something. This can lead to some very awkward situations if those who disagree can not come to some kind of compromise. Thankfully, there are quite a few calm and reasonable methods of sorting out differences.
Iron Will was not using any of those methods.
"Iron Will was here first!" The minotaur could be heard bellowing even before Lyra and Bon Bon could see him. By the time they arrived, a decent crowd had gathered to witness the spectacle. When they finally made their way through the sea of ponies, their jaws dropped at the sight they beheld.
"Well Trixie is willing to purchase the entire stock!" the corporate unicorn shouted. She jumped up onto the vendor stand they were arguing over as if it were a stage, and scowled at the minotaur. "Unless you're willing to beat Trixie's offer, she suggests you go crawling back to your master." A sudden, sly grin appeared on her face. "Though Trixie supposes she might be willing to hire you on to work at Filthy Trix. It's bound to pay more than they're offering," she said, pointing an accusatory hoof at Lyra and Bon Bon.
"How dare she!" Bon Bon growled.
"Filthy Trix?" Lyra asked, confused.
Trixie was taken aback for a moment. "It– it's the name of Trixie's shop," she said, somewhat uncertainly. "Trixie had no say in naming it," she added meekly. At the sound of a few chuckles from the crowd, Trixie drew herself up and addressed the gathered ponies with conviction. "Yes, that's right!" she cried. "Filthy Trix, owned by yours truly, and financed by the respectable Filthy Rich, has just opened up in Ponyville, and Trixie guarantees you will find no finer items anywhere in Equestria!"
Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other. Trixie had a certain kind of charisma to her, and now she had the full attention of everypony in the area. She'd turned her argument with Iron Will into an opportunity for free advertising!
"In fact," Trixie continued, growing more confident by the moment, "Trixie will offer the first fifty customers who make a purchase a ten percent discount! Consider it Trixie's gift for having to listen to such a brute," she pointed a hoof at Iron Will, "and having it ruin your day!"
Cheers erupted from all around Lyra and Bon Bon, who couldn't believe it. In one fell swoop, Trixie had not only cleared out Appleoosa of any usable inventory, but had also stolen away any potential customers there may have been.
Lyra looked at Bon Bon. "What are we going to do now?"
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
1,104 users online
2,028,361 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
*Snerk* Yes, good ol filthy trix.
What are you going to do now? Why, head off into the desert for an adventure and sell whatever item you can find!
Tumbleweed? 2 bits worth! A cactus part? 5 bits because it still has water in it! A buffalo skull? It's worth 5- yeah, on second thought, wait till yer out of Appleoosa before selling that
find some bat wings and maybe just maybe, Luna might pay a visit.
cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/882985537618460965/B4AEA7318D981DDC4940B83C113C5D39A8E499EA/
I know it's a one-off gag and all, but doesn't Filthy Rich canonically insist on others not calling him Filthy? Why would he insist on putting that on the store sign?
So, they managed to steal all possible customers, eh?
i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab187/TomasRichards/ILoveCapitalism_zps51ac1a21-1.jpg
There's no way Trixie could hope to sell off that entire inventory before it goes bad. At least, I don't think there is...
May her underhoofed tactics prove to be her undoing. Down with Filthy Trix!
50 bits says that Lyra turns this into a positive outcome through dumb-luck.
Now that I've placed my bet, I'd like to say that I really like this story and how you don't have Lyra as some weird human obsessed anthophile (not sure if that's the real word) and thank you for the good chapter.
Good chapter. Filthy Trix sounds exactly like a Captain Planet corporation.
So, the Everfree seems like it would be a high level dungeon, but then again in the comics the Badlands are pretty terrifying (Giant spiders, cave trolls, vampiric jackalopes...). What would be the starter dungeon? Diamond Dog caves, or maybe Canterlot's crystal caves?
Wonder how much Zecoras second hand potions go for. You know, the ones made for her by the CMC?
How about easy mash apples for preserves and cooking, so soft they droop just by picking them up?
Sun dried carrots, just right for temporary staking your vines?
Manticore dung, for keeping Everyone away from your property? I bet Fithy Rich would love that security option. Poor Trixie.
Edit. Falling asnore typos.
Yay, update. Yay, fun little read.
Can't really think of anything else to say. Happy writing.
4422294
The basement at Twilight's treehouse. The starter dungeon is always having to kill vermin for someone - rats, bugs - in their basement. Since Twilight is a high-level wizard, her basement will be more interesting than Sweet Apple Acres, so it's the starter dungeon.
4419637 Filthy Rich actually has nothing to do with the store other than partial ownership/budgeting purposes. The joke is that Trixie is the one who gets associated with the name 'Filthy,' while Mr. Rich himself does not.
Well, this is proving most enjoyable, especially since the rival is actually rivaling our heroine. Looking forward to more, especially if you give Lyra more of Recette's vocabulary.
Dungeon = badlands changeling hive?
[Item: Queen Chrysalis' Snot, 600BP]
The Synopsis makes me think of Recettear...
Love this story
I need to play Recettear and actually get through to the end now...
4434613
That's what it's crossing over with.
4436401 then shouldn't there be a "crossover" tag? or at least something in the synopsis mentioning Recettear?
Nevermind, I'm simply blind...
Lets just hope nopony shows up that constantly wants to sell Lyra stuff at 500% base price, i heard her name is Euria McRuinYourMerchantExpCombo.
I'm going to guess the deals at Filthy Trix are so sweet it fails to turn a profit as a result.
Doesn't necessarily help with Lyra and Bon Bon's problem, though...
Just wondering, is this story going to go back to regular scheduled postings? I love this story, and was so excited to see another new chapter recently :D
4454229 I planned on updating yesterday, but I was in a bit of drama and it killed my will to write.
With luck I'll have a new chapter up on my next day off work.
Loving the new chapter.
4420519
That's what I was thinking.
I think Lyra needs to be introduced to the wonderful world of wholesalers. Don't buy retail to sell retail; buy wholesale.
Yep, I'm dead of laughter.
4966354 Fixed, and thank you!
I can't tell if I'm crazy or not I coulda sworn there was a chapter up I hadn't read but it seems to be gone now. Oh well guess I'll just reread chapter 9 to be sure.
4968811 Whoah! Chapter 10 is unpublished for some reason. Not sure how that happened, but I'll repost it once I finish chapter 11 since I'd rather avoid Feature Box abuse drama.
4970526 Hmm that's weird. Good to know I wasn't crazy though.
I'm imagining Trixie and Filthy Rich deciding to buy everything that Lyra and Bon Bon sell in order to sell it cheap and force them out of business.
This actually works since Lyra's only running the Emporium so that she can pay her parent's debt and will close shop once that's accomplished.
In the end, everypony's a winner!
(I'm interested to see where this goes.)
4500130
That, or judging from Reccettear, the joys of Dungeon Crawling. It's how I financed my victory over the game- beating up monsters to take their stuff is cheaper than buying it.
... I'm done, I'm so done right now. How did that name sound good to ANYONE!
And now we have a new ship name, great.
6259636
Your talking about a family with ponies named Sticking Rich, Filthy Rich, and Spoiled Bitch ... *Coughs* Spoiled Milk.
I don't think they have a grasp on how good names work. At least not in generations.
That just sounds dirty.