The Shop of Secrets

[Steam Heart]

Dec. 9th
Around 10 AM

The Wooden Crow. An old shop where ponies used to buy novelties, toys and home decorations. It was ran by a family of skilled craftsponies, and it showed in the interior with its intricate designs and fixture placements.

Before the war, this place was so heavy with enthusiasm and glee as the sounds of wood chipping, metal grinding, and laughs resounded throughout the room. Now, with just Steam there, it felt so empty.

With a sigh, she pulled on one of the levers behind the counter to switch the sign on the door to "open," taking care not to accidentally trigger the trap door under the welcome mat. That would have been embarrassing.

She levitated her cup and gingerly took a sip as she waited for any customer to walk in. That was probably unlikely, but hey, it wasn't like she could go out and play without having to worry about kicking the ball into a murderous avian's face.

[Serene Tranquility]

Main Street was alive with action. Several stores filled the streets, all offering various goods and services. Serene pushed her way through the crowds of ponies, keeping an eye out for her friend. Once she reached the street corner, the designated meeting spot, she realized that she was a bit too early. Looking up at the sun, she realized it was still quite some time before mid-day. She let out a sigh. All that rushing and preparing, for nothing. At least she still had a chance to look around. Main street had plenty of shops, and everytime she came here, it seemed she found something new.

After wandering for a bit, she happened upon a store, the likes of which she has never seen before. Curious, she decided to take a look. She opened the door and took a step inside. "Hello?" She called out.

[Steam Heart]

Her cup was eventually emptied and she made her way to the back of the shop and placed the cup on the sink. The sound of the front door opening, followed by the sound of a mare's voice had excited her. A customer already! Maybe this wasn't going to be so hard after all.

She rushed to the front and greeted the mare at the door with a warm smile. "Welcome to the Wooden Crow!" She said pleasantly, "My name is Steam Heart, can I interest you with the fine assortment of wares I have on display, or is there something you want repaired?"

Steam surprised herself with how smoothly she said it. All that time rehearsing in front of a mirror was sure worth it.

[Serene Tranquility]

The first think Serene noticed when she looked around the shop was the various gadgets and items on display. She didn't get time to further examine these trinkets when a mare suddenly appeared at the counter, frightening her a bit.

"Wooden crow?" She asked idly. Suddenly she perked up. "Oh sorry, where are my manners? My name is Serene Tranquility. It's a pleasure to meet you miss Heart." She snuck a quick glance around the room, taking a look at the stock on display. "I must say I have never seen a shop quite like this before."

[Steam Heart]

Steam beamed another smile. "Is that so? I guess its because most shops aim big in the big city. This was sort of just a small family shop my parents put up to pass the time when they weren't contracted to make anything for interior designers."

She could still remember those times when a couple of loudmouthed, but perky individuals would come in to talk about strangely themed designs that Steam as a filly could only imagine as something for a horror house, and sure enough a brand new haunted house was up by Nightmare Night.

"Business has been slow lately so I spent time restoring some of the things we left behind before we moved. Please, have a look."

Steam levitated some figurines of varying sizes from the shelves behind her to the counter. They were made of wood, metal, glass and a combination of the three. The group she showed were modeled after some famous ponies she never gave the time to actually know. They were supposed to be hotshot actors and actresses her parents liked when they were still young.

"It was always a mystery to me who these ponies were. I never really paid attention when mom and dad talked about them."

[Serene Tranquility]

Serene was intrigued by the various figurines on the counter. She recognized most of them. There were various musicians and athletes and other famous ponies that were well-known back when she was a filly. 

"My, these are wonderful!" she said as she closely examined a miniature figure of the famous Wonderbolt leader, Spitfire. The detail on the toy was amazing, and Serene noticed a few springs inside of it, so she could only assume it moved in some way. "I bet the children will love this." She said, thinking of the foals back at the charity.

[Paradox]

Quantum wandered down Main Street, his steps a little slow and erratic as he looked all around, taking in sights both new and old. There were definite changes from the Main Street of his past, especially from damages from the war, but it still maintained enough of its familiarity to be almost comforting. As he trotted on, he noticed something. That little shop from so long ago, what was it? Right. The Wooden Crow. Memories of happy hours spent ogling its curiosities surfaced. Surprising that it was still even open.

Quantum smiled and pushed his way into the little shop. To his surprise, or, if he was a little more honest with himself about the state of things, not to his surprise, there were only two ponies in the shop. The one with the heart-wrenching ((sorry couldn't help myself)) cutie mark was presumably the owner now and the other one, with the heart of gold, perhaps a relative? Nonetheless he drew in a breath full of a nostalgic scent and cast his eye over the shelves.

[Steam Heart]

Steam couldn't help but smile again as her handiwork was praised. "Thank you. Our family takes pride in putting all we have into these little novelties." At the mention of children, she remembered that one panel her mom had made to entice the younger generations to stay a while longer.

"Children? That reminds me of a little trick my mom used to pull." She trotted out of the counter and towards a bare wall to the left. But before she could open the panel, she heard the sound of her front door open again and in went a stallion that seemed strangely familiar.

"Good morning," Steam said with a warm smile, "welcome to the Wooden Crow. Please, feel free to browse."

She faced the wall again and pressed on a raised plate a couple of inches to the side. *Click* She heard as the panels pushed out a few inches and moved to the sides. Behind the fake wall was a set of shelves, all dusty. It was a solid few years since that was last brought to light.

"This is where we'd put some of the 'limited' edition works." She giggled. The shelves suddenly began to moan, and a few seconds later it just collapsed, sending a dust cloud into the air.

Steam was quick enough to create a magic bubble to keep the cloud from spreading to the rest of her shop. "Whoops." She said as she forced the bubble of dust out through the chimney.

Her face began to redden and an embarrassed smile appeared on her lips. "I should have known that would happen." Oh dear. This was not looking good for a first impression. "I didn't get any dust on your coats, did I?" She asked the ponies.

[Paradox]

Quantum smiled; he had forgotten that it could do that. He ran a hoof briefly across the front of his cloak. "It's no problem. In fact, I seem to recall it doing that the first time I saw it. I do hope that the figurines are alright. They were rather fragile if I remember correctly." He moved to help her clean up the mess.

[Serene Tranquility]

Serene was quite surprised when the shelf collapsed. She raised a hoof to cover her face, preparing for the incoming cloud of dust. When she realized that the cloud never reached her, she opened her eyes again to see that Heart used her magic to trap the dust cloud. "Thank you, I'm quite all right" She replied gratefully, she really didn't want to appear at her meet-up all covered in dust.

"This place must have quite the history." She commented. Shifting her focus to the new unicorn, she offered him a smile and a hoof for a hoofshake. "Hello, my name is Serene Tranquility, pleasure to meet you."

[Steam Heart]

So that's why he looked familiar; he'd been here before they moved out. Regaining her composure, Steam picked up the items off of the floor with her magic, placing them safely on the counter. "They may just be novelties, but they don't break so easy. Most of the time..."

It looked like she found something to do tonight. Some of the figurines were simply too deteriorated to be saved, but she could possibly copy the design. It shouldn't be too hard to fill in the blanks.

She closed the panels to hide the mess before any either of the two felt the need to help out. "I'm sorry for the ruckus. Uhm, I'll be right back, just have to clean myself up before anypony sees me like this, after all, we all still need to look presentable despite our predicament. I shouldn't be long. In the meantime, you're free to browse."

She turned towards the back room but looked back to warn the two, "Oh, and try not to press any buttons or pull any levers on the shop, who knows what might collapse next."

Steam proceeded into the next room and pulled out a piece of cloth to dust herself off with. "I should be more careful around other ponies. That almost ended in disaster."

[Paradox]

Quantum shook the proffered hoof.  "Pleased to meet you too.  My name is Quantum Flash.  And incidentally, yes this place has quite the history.  A small family owned store and always stocked with the most interesting little figures and gadgets.  I actually just stopped in here to see how it was doing.  It's been years.  What brings you here then?"

[Serene Tranquility]

"Oh I just happened to be in the area and decided to have a look." She responded. "I have been all over Equestria, but shops like this are... rare nowadays." She looked at all the toys on the shelves with a solemn look. "Most toy stores ran out of business because of the war, and I haven't seen a store quite like this before."

"I run a charity organisation down in the Eastern residential district, where the conditions are the worst. The children down there, the orphans, I think they would love this place. But I can barely provide them with food, much less toys." She thought back on the foals at the charity. The only toys they had were plain wooden building blocks and maybe an old teddy bear that can barely hold itself together. The foals could certainly do with something new and exciting.

[Steam Heart]

Thanks to the shop's architecture, Steam heard what the other ponies were talking about clearly. It delighted her to find out somepony still remembers the place, and she was saddened to learn that the children Serene mentioned were actually orphans that had almost nothing.

She hadn't had the time to see much of the city and she was afraid for her life to go strolling about by herself, not that she couldn't take care of herself. But she did hear that the place was mostly made up of shacks lying in the ruins of buildings destroyed during the war. It must have be hard living there.

"I'm back, sorry I took so long" She said as she made her way back to the counter.

"Excuse me, Miss Serene, you said you ran a charity for children, right? I'd love to come visit sometime and help out if I can."

[Serene Tranquility]

Serene brightened up at the mention of her charity. "Why yes! I'm in charge of The Harmony Foundation situated in the Eastern Residential District. And we don't just help children, we offer food and shelter to any homeless ponies." 

Taking out a piece of paper, she started writing out the address down to offer Steam Heart. "We work mainly on donations and volunteers, so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated."

[Paradox]

Quantum smiled somewhat wryly.  "I would like to help as well, but have little to offer since I just arrived here a few days ago.  However, I could try to help out when I have a little free time.  I'm also a glass smith by trade, perhaps I could make some stuff you could give to your children. Perhaps some magnifying lenses for telescopes and microscopes and such.  I could even make some simpler games, including a few chess sets."

[Serene Tranquility]

Slipping the piece of paper across the counter for Steam Heart, she turned to Quantum Flash. "Would you? oh thank you sir, we are barely getting along as it is, so every little bit helps. I'm sure we can find a good use for your talents." 

Taking out another piece of paper she began copying the address down on that too. "I'm not sure about glass toys, but we help others of older ages too! I'm sure we can find something to put your talents towards." Finished writing the address, she handed the piece of paper to Quantum.

"I can't tell you two how thankful I am for your help." She said, looking at both ponies with a look of gratitude. "I must also ask that if you two know anypony that has any medical training, please try convince them to volunteer. We are really understaffed at the moment." But thankfully, medical supplies are not so much an issue at the moment, thanks to a particular group of individuals, but Serene decided not to voice this comment.

[Steam Heart]

"It's no problem, really. I'm just happy to help. Although, all I can do for now is to help with minor repairs and probably add some decorations to the place. And unfortunately, I don't know anypony with medical training." She sighed.

"But if you need to get in contact with somepony outside of the city, I know a stallion who can help with that." Steam was sorry that there wasn't more she could help with other than what she promised. She did plan on a surprise, but until the day comes, she'd just have to wait for it.

[Paradox]

Quantum nodded to Serene.  "Glad to help however I can."  He turned back to the contents of the store and looked over the marvelous works again.  He turned to Steam Heart.  "So, how much for these?" He inquired as he indicated a group of figurines.  They would, in his estimation, work well for one of the chess boards he could make for the charity.

[Serene Tranquility]

"Thank you, both of you." She replied. "Your support makes all the difference." She turned to Steam and said, "I also have friends, and I'm sure they would very much like to meet your friend. But we should continue this discussion at a later date." She gave the mare a final nod and began wandering the shop, looking at all the trinkets and toys.

[Steam Heart]

Steam nodded to Serene and turned to the stallion. "Hmm, I can give them a price tag of 5 bits each. But I can give you a discount for them. Which ones are you interested in?" Steam levitated a box on the counter with a roll of ribbon so she can pack them up for the stallion.

[Paradox]

"Hmm. This one, this one, this one, and... That one." Quantum replied as he indicated four regal looking figurines. He levitated out a bag of bits and began to count out the payment. "I know that times are hard and I can't really expect too much, so how about 18 bits for them all?"

[Steam Heart]

Steam nodded at the stallion's purchase and placed them in the box. She levitated the ribbon and made a nice bow to wrap the box in. "Very well." She said with a smile as she nudged the box across the counter. "Will that be all?" The mare inquired.

[Paradox]

Quantum passed the bits over and took the box. "No, this is all for now. It was wonderful to be able to relive such happy memories. Thank you. Good luck with the store and stay safe." He turned to Serene. "And I will try to stop by your charity soon. I really can't stay forever however, so goodbye to both of you." He turned to leave the store.

[Serene Tranquility]

Serene gave Flash a nod. "Thank you and farewell, I hope to see you soon." Turning back towards the counter, she scanned through the various toys on display. She could possibly afford to purchase one toy to keep the foals happy. "How much for this Spitfire toy?" She asked, pointing at the figure that she was looking at earlier.

[Sponsored content]