Product of Friendship (My Little Pony)

10 Candy Shop (3/5)

"Pick up the pace!" Diamond Tiara commanded Wisteria, who was lagging behind her. Wist and Luster followed the business mare through the streets of Ponyville after making their unfortunate visit to her office. The devilish smile painted on Diamond's face left Wist to only dread her fate.

Wist observed the paths around her. There were so many escape routes she could take. Neither Luster nor the earth pony could do anything to stop her if she went now. But then, she wouldn't get her potion-making lessons.

Wist let out a sigh. "Can't you just take an apology? Aren't you ponies supposed to be the forgiving types?"

"Oh ho ho," Diamond chuckled. "You have quite the imagination. I don't know what ponies you've met, but if you want me to accept your apology, you're going to have to work for it."

"Oh c'mon," Wist complained. "So, I sapped a little love out of you; at least I didn't leave a mark on you."

"On the contrary, you did." Diamond stopped to leer at the faltering changeling. "Not only did you rob me of my time, but also of my wallet. You think I didn't notice you taking bits out of my registers?"

Wist could only give a sheepish smile at the angered mare. "Oh, yeah...that."

"You stole bits from her!?" Luster shouted. "Why would you–"

Wisteria immediately pounced before Luster to clamp her mouth with a hoof. "Hey, hey, don't go saying that out loud. I have a reputation to repair, remember?"

Luster pushed Wist's hoof away and sneered at her friend, "Why did you do it? Don't you know that's a crime?"

"Because I needed the bits, okay," Wist confessed. She then approached Diamond Tiara and lifted her pouch to pull out dozens of bits. "Look, I've barely used any of them, so how about I give you back the rest, and you can be a little bit easier on me. Sounds good?"

"Oh no," Diamond rejected. "I'm not letting off on this. You're going to work off every bit you took from me, plus interest."

Wist gritted her fangs at the smell of vengeance seeping out of the business mare. She could tell now that there was no hassling her way out of this predicament.

Diamond guided the two into a building with checkered tiles and isles of candies. Wist found baskets, containers, and pots of candies laid around her. A creature could spend an entire month feasting upon this ridiculous mass.

"I was hoping to open this last week as a special event for a friend," Diamond said. "I had everything set up nicely, but then I was ambushed by a certain changeling before I could arrive for the ceremony." Wist averted her gaze from the mare's glare.

Luster on the other hoof began to explore around the store, observing the diverse number of candies. "You opened a candy shop?" She wondered. "If I can be frank, this is not what I would imagine a pony like to be running."

"Oh, I'm not the owner. I simply made an investment to get the cogs started. The real owner worked for a long time to get to this moment."

"Hello!" a voice echoed into the room. "Is someone there?" A thin mare with glasses emerged from a door to the backroom.

"Good, there you are." Diamond waved her hoof at Wist and Luster. "Twist, may I present to you your new employees."

The three mares among Diamond gaped at her declaration. Twist was the only one to curve to a smile. "Did they answer my poster?" Twist asked. "That's such a relief. I was getting a bit worried that my advertisement was lacking."

"Unfortunately, it was lacking," Diamond said. "I told you that you should've delegated that task to me. But moving on, these two inspired creatures that are looking to help with the cause."