Riddle's Bazaar (Open! For Business!)

[~Silly CC~]

Bubbles was not phased by the pause in the unicorn's voice, and rather followed the bag of money to the table in bewilderment. Now, she was no pony of greed or materialism, but this bag of money? It was just such a surprise! Whoah, I uh... she stuttered a little bit, wow. That was all that needed to be said, and she slowly dragged the money and list, which she had quickly examined, into her saddlebag. She patted the little pouch with a hoof and smiled with a nod, looking back to the basil right mare in front of her.

Upon the mention of her potions being used as nightlight type things, she raised her eyebrows in surprise, her face elongating a little and showing easily the irony of the "why the long face" joke. Taking mental note of perhaps a luminescence potion in the future, her face squished back up into a wide grin. That's awesome! Anything to raise sales and make ponies happy. Never thought of that, but hay, if it works, use it! She paused, her grin fading, and then she muttered something with a turn of the head. Ooh, I should use that as a slogan...

Turning back with a grin like she often wore, she twitched her ears at the kind offer from her newer friend, her grin widening at the end of that sentence. Really? Ya sure? That sounds great! She hopped just a little with that last word, and she landed with a bouncy step in her hooves. Oh yeah, they look great. Especially some of those crazier honey concoctions...mmm her stomach grumbled a little, and she sheepishly grinned back to the mare. Her cheeks tinted red, the bubbles seeming to steam up, and she giggled just a bit, adding a Sorry.

[waxworks]

Riddle let a sly smile escape. A rumbling stomach was like an alarm to any purveyor of fine food and drink. "It is alright, my friend. And I must thank you again, our arrangement has been very beneficial to both of us it seems. I have been doing well enough that I think I might finally be able to travel to the traders exchange at Rainbow Falls."

She smiled and let some of her daydreaming sneak into her business, "I have long wished to go, but to make such a trip without some small assurance of..." The unicorn hesitated. She didn't want to speak of profit and such in front of a friend and associate, "success. But lately my friend Mezcal has been more insistent I go, and with these last few sales I am thinking it might finally be time, Miss Beaker."

Riddle gazed out amongst the stalls of the marketplace somewhat dreamily, already thinking of what might be had and traded for. A clever merchant might make a wild profit with cautious and well thought-out trading, but also being prepared for any circumstance was also a tremendous aid. She could purchase a few things from the other merchants here before making her way, plan to sleep outside caravan style, eat a few small preserved things along the way, yes it should all work out well. She suddenly realized she had no idea how long she'd been dipped into her own thoughts and looked up with a small jerk.

"Ah! Forgive me Miss Beaker, I was just meditating on the trip to come. Was there anything else you wished?"

[Bubbles]

A yawn etched its way upon the mare's face.  She wasn't usually awake during daylight hours, but she decided she wanted to see her new home in ponyville at its fullest.  She had just arrived a few hours prior on the train, and had had enough time to unwind a bit at her new apartment before she decided to head out for a stroll.  She was not familiar at all with the layout of the town, so she tried her best to remember the route she was following so she could find her way back. Even if she couldn't, the faces around here looked certainly  friendly enough that she could ask for directions if she did happen to get lost.  For now, however, she didnt really care where she would end up. Curiosity just carried the Pegasus forewords.

She found herself in the middle of a busy road.  Ponies of all kinds were running between small shops and stands, many of them holding bags of various items. Not far behind her, a brown colored bat was attempting to make his way threw the crowds of ponies.  Nightwish kept this bat with her wherever she went, for the fear of being left alone somewhere if she left him behind. If he was with her she would always have someone, even if he wasn't a pony, it still gave her the same sensation as being with anyone else.  Wish stopped and whistled to him to get his attention.  He then immediately spot her and caught up, hovering directly above her shoulder.  

The mare looked around.  Unlike other sections of this town, nopony here seemed to notice her as they where all busy doing their own things.  She didn't mind, she was used to this anyways, rather then getting allot of attention.  Observing her surroundings she concluded that she was in the middle of a marketplace.   "hmm.." She thought to herself for a second.   Why not use this time to shop a bit, maybe she could find things to spice up her new apartment.  The Pegasus then headed over to a tent not too far away from her... it was certainly no fancy tent, but something about it still caught her attention.

[waxworks]

From behind a veritable labyrinth of small tables came a small green blur. It navigated each corner with surprising swiftness but without disturbing a single thing that was lying nearby. In moments in came to a stop at the front table, revealing itself as not just a window shopping blur, but a unicorn in a bowler hat. She fixed her eyes on the approaching, midnight-colored pegasus with a welcoming smile and a humble bowing of her head.

"Welcome mam, welcome to Riddle's Bazaar. Might I entice mam to notice some of our wonderful goods?"

Riddle slid from behind the table and towards one of the displays without turning her head from Nightwish. "You'll find all manner of magical goods at affordable prices. But if magic is not mam's wish, then you'll also find more down to earth goods. Perhaps you would like a small kit to start your own garden? Perhaps something more fashionable?"

Another swift gliding movement and she was across the bazaar in a single motion. "There is also risk and excitement on sale mam, we've strange inventions that each promise wondrous, unknown adventure with each use!"

The basil-colored unicorn was in her element, a spritely trot moving her about her collection of wondrous things. She bypassed a collection of plush ponies, coming to a stop in front of a collection of edible things. "For those ponies in search of food, we have quite a collection, lunches, sweets, all manner of tasty things for you to enjoy, mam."

[Bubbles]

Nightwish signaled for her bat to wait for her outside the tent. Upon entrance, she watched as the swift unicorn skid across the room to reveal herself, with the same welcoming smile everyone in this town seemed to have. That was one thing she liked about ponyville, was all of the friendly faces. She gave a smile back before gazing around the shop. But it wasn't long until she found her attention back on the green unicorn as she showed what her shop had to offer.

"umm... gosh, you have allot of stuff."

Wish was amazed by the variety of goods this particular shop had. She gazed, examining the objects in the tent to see if anything sparked an interest. Food sounded nice at the moment, and considering her huge sweet tooth, she figured she would ask what was here for sweets... that is if there was any.

"Do you happen to have any kind of sweets, you know, candies, cupcakes, cookies, or anything like that. "

She smiled at the thought of the sweet sugary flavor of any of the items she had mentioned. That is when she saw exactly what she was looking for at the moment. Those small candies that seemed to sparkle in the light their green and orange color. She also happened to see cookies. yes, those black and green cookies would do just great too. When Wish found herself gazing off, she stopped herself to look back at the merchant. She wondered if she had anything else to offer as well.

[waxworks]

Riddle bowed politely at Nightwish's comment about her stock, she was always exceedingly pleased to think that her humble bazaar was growing to respectable size. In her mind it was still very lacking, but it was growing nicely with every trade and every new item added to it.

"Ah, we have many sweet things mam," said Riddle, bobbling pleasantly and gently waving a hoof towards the food they had, the same way somepony would reveal an ancient treasure hidden behind a curtain. "You'll find our candied fruit peels to be most sweet, boiled in honey and sprinkled with the sweetest crystal sugar. But there are also our specialty cookies, made specifically for the bazaar and featuring a flavor and a fashion that mam will not find anywhere else in Ponyville!"

She watched the pegasus eagerly eying her wares, and thought about her a little. Riddle had been working to improve her skills on reading ponies, and in this particular situation she had a tremendous adventure. Working in the marketplace every day had given her a nice little chance to work her memory by keeping track of which ponies lived in Ponyville, and which faces were new. It wasn't too hard to try to pick out which ponies were new in town, there was a certain optimistic hesitance about them, but Riddle still couldn't figure out how to tell the difference between a new resident and a tourist that was just visiting. But she figured that playing to the tourist angle couldn't hurt.

"Perhaps mam would enjoy something to make her journey through Ponyville more memorable?" She gestured with a hoof towards the plush ponies, one of which bore a strong resemblance to herself, aside from being smaller, plumper, and with button-eyes. Another looked like a small, blazing red cow, another was an overstuffed blue pegasus doll, and one seemed to be just a generic light gray pegasus like you might find in the background of any group in Ponyville.

[Bubbles]

"Oh no you've got it all wrong..."  

Nightwish was quite impressed that this unicorn could tell apart newcomers from the old ponies of ponyville, however, Wish was here to stay for... well, she didn't really know how long exactly. However she certainly viewed this place as more then a trip, considering she had already gotten herself settled into the town a bit.  At the moment, she was content with this change in lifestyle, tho it would take allot of adjusting. 

"I'm here to stay for some time."

As she spoke, her mind raced. The ponies around here sure seemed friendly, that she was reassured of multiple times since she had arrived here not that long ago, but she would still miss her old home in Cloudsale. She would miss the familiar faces, but most of all she would miss her friends that she would not be able to see as often like she used to. Now however was not the time to be thinking negatively, as she would probably soon have candy on her whooves. She gave a nod, and tapped her way over to where the food was placed. The sweet smell of fruit  from the candies caught her attention, and the mentioned cookies also looked good as well. She could tell they were made a bit differently then the average sugar cookie... batter quality, perhaps.

"So, how much are they? "

Wish then remembered she didn't have too many bits on her, as she hadn't planned on going shopping when she left her apartment, she just happen to wind up here. She wasn't exactly sure how much she had with her, but she knew it wasn't allot. Probably, somewhere around 5 bits at the time.

[waxworks]

"Ah," cooed Riddle, giving off a gracious bobbling of her head and a slight wag of her tail, "then allow me to welcome mam to Ponyville."

She reflected on the idea of perhaps giving away something in honor of somepony just moving in, but then quashed the idea that she was at the moment not nearly secure in her assets or profitable enough to manage such a thing yet. With a smile she nodded towards the black and green frosted cookies. The frosting had been put on in such a way as to resemble a vague (and very sugary) caricature of Riddle's face.

"Each cookie is two bits, mam."

Riddle had a tremendous sympathy for those just moving to Ponyville as it had only been several months prior that she herself had laid claim to part of the marketplace, erecting her tent and setting out her wares. In that time she'd made some headway, gotten some contacts, made a few friends, but she was all too aware of how unnerving and frightening being in a new town could be, especially if you didn't know anyone yet. She bit her lip in thought for a moment, wondering if she should break the merchant/customer bond and be a little more helpful than just her normal salesponyship, but it wasn't really her strong suit to be social.

She took a breath, steeled her legs and gave it a go.

"Also mam, my name is Riddle Bits, proprietor of this bazaar. As I have been in Ponyville for some months now myself, should you ever find yourself at a loss as to the geography, perhaps I may be of some help?"

[Bubbles]

She looked back at the green Unicorn, and replied. "Thank you."  she propelled herself back towards the cookies.  "With that I think I will take one of these if you don't mind."  She reached into her wallet, taking out exactly four bits.  "and, While i'm at it, why not a bag of the candies too."  a slight smirk grew upon her face before looking outside.

The sky was beginning to darken, the clouds blocking the sunlight casted small shadows unto the ground, meaning, the pegasi had probably scheduled it to rain soon, tho she was oblivious to this previously.  She decided that if she wanted to get back home dry she would have to be leaving soon, no matter how much she enjoyed chatting with the ponies in her new town.  The clouds were just beginning to gather in the sky, so she still had some time to spare.  

The mare looked back to the sweets resting on the shelf.  They did look Delicious, enough that she would be satisfied by the time she had them. She tried to imagine the sweet taste in her mouth that she would soon have.  Wish loved sweets, but she knew not to get them too often, as they were not the best for your health either. She would, however, give in every once in awhile like today. 

[waxworks]

Riddle gave a gracious, thankful bow to Nightwish as she completed her order. With a slight glow of her magical aura she neatly scooped the offered bits into her saddlebags, and with neat, practiced efficiency she slid over the cookies and candy, wrapped together in a rather simple gauze with a small ribbon around them.

"Thank you for doing business with me, mam," said Riddle, bobbling happily.

The little unicorn thought to herself just how well she'd been doing in Ponyville thus far, actually making fairly regular sales and friends, and with some luck she may even be able to upgrade her tent soon to make it more liveable than it currently was. She reflected on what she'd been able to accomplish so far, looking around proudly at her shop. What had once been just a blanket spread on the ground with a few sandwiches and some paltry items had become a fairly sprawling collection of tempting goods that she could readily resupply herself with to keep her customers happy, and that was the first order of the day.

She glanced up at the clouds gathering in the sky and ruminated. It wasn't the clouds that had so occupied her thoughts, but the grand airships she'd rarely seen, occasionally even a small dirigible floating over Ponyville itself. And, as she reasoned to herself, as Ponyville is not an exceedingly... mmm... financially driven town, it would seem to me that perhaps one might acquire such things for less than in other places?

Her business with Nightwish concluded, the little unicorn resumed straightening on her shop, and eagerly looking forward to the future.

[waxworks]

(( Just wanted to let everyone know the Bazaar's just undergone a significant upgrade, and is still open for business! ))

[StormWind]

Storm Wind, with his saddlebags, decided to head out to the market to get some food. He was also gonna try out some of his Flying techniques along the way to get the hang of them. As he was on his way toward the food stands something caught his eye, a what seems to be a Bazaar. Quickly going to a full stop he hovered near the entrance and looked at it curiously. He didn't remember this being here before or he just hadn't noticed it yet, but he wanted to see what was inside and so he softly landed and walked inside. 

As The Gray Pegasus walked in he was amazed by all the stuff that was in here from food to books to neat looking gadgets, as he was looking he wondered how the gadgets worked and where it came from. He quickly Swooped over to the other strange stuff he had never seen before, though he had seen almost half this stuff from his travels. As much as these things peaked his curiosity he only came to get his food and go, but he did bring some extra bits with him. Then a thought flashed in his mind, If this place has something that would help me to fly better, that would be awesome! As soon as he thought of this he quickly dashed around the store back and forth seeing what the Bazaar had to offer in what he is looking for, though he was oblivious to the ponies that might be in the Bazaar as he was focused on finding maybe a book that had some tips in flying. So he went over to the books to see what they got.


He seemed to be at a loss, maybe I should go look for some help, it would be quicker and easier that way. Still staring at the merchandise as he was thinking.

[waxworks]

The Bazaar had become much bigger recently, wider aisles, more products, more twists and turns, and more to keep track of. Riddle Bits had originally been somewhat hesitant to make such a dramatic expansion, but with the help of her friends and the constant letters of support from her family she was feeling supremely confident in her booming, blooming business.

It was even a glorious day, with the wind whistling around her ears. Rather quickly. Riddle glanced up as her ears fluttered violently in the onset contrails following a pegasus flyby. Her mind, geared for business as usual, entertained the idea of making a billboard for her bazaar and suspending it via balloons for pegasus ponies to spot. With a nod to herself to think about that more later, she expertly wove her way through the aisles to appear beside the browsing pegasus with a polite smile and a humble bow.

"Hello sir, welcome to Riddle's Bazaar."

A greeting she'd rehearsed so many times that she sometimes muttered it in her sleep. Those who heard her remarked she still sounded very polite, even unconscious.

"We have all manner of things sir may be interested in. If you're in a hurry and looking for lunch we have a wide selection of foodstuffs that can suit every pony's need and budget, with our helpful boxed lunches guaranteed to stay safely packed even in flight."

Not an entirely substantiated claim, but Riddle's bound the little pink boxes so neatly with string and paper that they'd likely survive a few impacts that some ponies wouldn't.

"But if sir is looking for anything else, perhaps I might be of service in that regard?"

[StormWind]

Storm Wind wasn't much for shopping, it was boring to him, and would rather get things done quickly so that he can do the things he wants to do. But this place was interesting and he likes seeing things he has never seen before, and this place was not boring to him because of its diverse items that it has in store. The pony who owns this Bazaar had to of gone places considering Storm had traveled around Equestria before and has not seen half the stuff here, and he wondered about what places this pony had gone to. He was interrupted from his thoughts as he hears sompony say "Hello sir, welcome to Riddle's Bazaar." Storm looked over to see a green unicorn with a neat looking tail and as he listened to her he realized that she had this accent that seemed familiar to him but couldn't quite place it. He also realized that she sells food, and if that's so he would rather just get the food here instead then go back out and head on over to the stands, he forgot that this place had food.

Storm wondered about the boxed lunches and would probably get a few depending on the price that is, and noticing that they stay safely stay packed when flying, which is something he would rather get if it doesn't end up everywhere when he decides to do some flying along the way back to his house. 

Then something popped back up in his mind, so he smiled back and replied, "Well, I was wondering if you had anything that might help improve my flying." Quickly he corrected himself from giving her the wrong idea, "Nothing that would help me cheat my way to being better, like maybe a book that had some lessons in techniques and stuff like that." Though he might not find anything in a book that she might have, but who knows considering that he hasn't seen some of this stuff he would probably end up seeing a book that he has not seen before and have all kinds of techniques that he could learn from when he decides to go out and practice his flying some more.

[waxworks]

Flying... the little unicorn pondered that for a moment, bobbling like an inverted clock pendulum. Riddle herself had no real means of flight herself, although she'd always been enchanted with airships and balloons. On those rare occasions that one would arrived at or depart from Ponyville, Riddle could often be seen staring, slightly agog, at the simplest of crafts.

She came back to reality a moment later and nodded to the pony with a mane like a warning sign.

"I believe we have a number of things that might assist you, sir."

With a whisk of her tail and a quite movement around the pegasus she was standing beside the seemingly random pile of books at the Bell, Book, and Candle section of the Bazaar.

"Sir will currently find two books in our selection that might fit sir's needs. The first is Flip This, Flap That: A Starter's Guide to Trickflying. The second is an autobiography of famed stunt-pony Revel McBevel, Broken Bones and Broken Records. While I cannot attest to how helpful it might be, sir, it may contain a few hints and secrets from a masterful stunt-flyer."

Riddle was a little proud of herself. Stocking books was intimidating because, as she reasoned, she needed to be familiar with all of her products. Typically in her mind that meant reading each book cover to cover which was terribly time consuming for any given product.

"Then again, sir might find use in our collection of potions. I believe several of these might temporarily increase the size of sir's wings, or sir's weight. Increased wing-size should help work the smaller muscles, increased weight should help increase sir's strength training."

Testing these potions one by one had also been a rather harrowing day.

"Finally, sir might find this invention useful," she bobbled, gestured to a small thing look a miniature catapult, encased in a tiny glass dome. "When this miniature catapult is loaded with any object, it will... ahem... propel the user of the catapult into the sky, instead of the loaded object. While many view this as a design flaw, I think sir might find some use in an assisted take-off for achieving higher speed."