Title:           The Shady Triumvirate! The Captain's Lament!!
Author:          Captain_Moneybags
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/ftb62A1T
First Edit:      Tuesday 27th of January 2015 06:32:20 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Sunday 21st of June 2015 05:03:15 PM CDT

>It's already late at night
>A lone mare wanders the streets of Manehattan
>Well, more like runs
>She's using one orange wing to shield a packet of paper from the torrential rain
>"Ohshitohshitohshit, Gotta hurry!" She calls out as the water slowly defiles her drawings
>She dashes into a back alley, spreading her free wing for a sharper turn
>Once she reaches the unsuspecting steel back door, she knocks, hard and quick
>"Er, passwordpasswordpassword... Oh! Money! It's money!" The mare is tapping her hooves on the ground, waiting impatiently for the door to open
>The door opens, revealing an icey blue griffin
>"Hi, Snowglobe!" She rushes past the griffin, out of the rain, into the hideout
>Snowglobe closes the door, a confused look on her face
>"Uh, hi, Sophia. What's the rush?"
>Sophia lays her wet drawings out over the table to dry under the lamp
>"Rain, paper, they're all wet! And I've drawn an all new Grittyguts, too!"
>"Grittyguts?" Snowglobe raises an eyebrow as she wals over to view the drawings
>"Is that one of those self-made ponies of yours?"
>"She exists in my mind!"
>"Alright, alright, I didn't know you'd get angry, jeez," Snowglobe says as she looks at the comic closer
>"Artemis again? What's with him?"
>Sophia looks away, and blushes
>"O-one day I'll sell those drawings for a lot of bits and he'll see them and award me for them and tell me I'm professional and smart and pretty and that he- where're Rocket and Moneybags?"
>Sophia stifles a chuckle, and points to a door
>"Meeting room. Moneybags is a little... You'll see."
>Sophia tilts her head as she walks into the meeting room, where she meets a most uncommon sight
>Missus Moneybags is lying with her head on the table, moping, shuddering softly from time to time
>Rocket is sitting next to her, obviously torn up by seeing her friend like that, but trying her best to comfort the businessmare
>Sophia walks up to the two
>"Whoa! What's happened!"
>Rocket smiles weakly
>"I'm so happy to see you, Sophia! But Moneybags, she... She-"
>"I'll tell her myself," Moneybags says as she sits up, wiping her tears
>"You know this new business store I set up in Manehattan South?"
>Sophia nods
>"What's it for, anyway?"
>"Business. Anyway, so, a month ago, this Captain something-see-if-I-care opened up another business store right next to mine! And it's a half percent cheaper!"
>"So..?"
>"So? So?! My store only made two hundred percent profit last month! And that's gonna drop next month, too!"
>"Oh, it can't be that ba-"
>"And on top of that, last Tuesday I dropped a sack of bits, and some rolled in the sewer, and some foals picked a few up, and I lost over fifty bits!"
>Sophia raises a hoof to pat Moneybags' shoulder
>"Aww, hey. I made you a drawing!"
>"Fifty!" Moneybags crashes back down, sobbing as softly as she can
>"They were mine! All mine! Not theirs, they couldn't take them from me!"
>Sophia looks over at Rocket
>The latter wipes a tear from her eye, and turns to Sophia to explain
>"She's been like this all evening. I've offered her fifty bits of my own, but she wouldn't have it."
>"Aww... Is there something I can do..?"
>Rocket shakes her head, just as the door opens again, and a snowball soars from the doorway past Moneybags, missing her by an inch
>"Alright Moneybags. I've had it!" says Snowglobe
>"Come on, let's patch you up! I can go out and catch- er, /persuade/ a quick lay for you, always does the trick for me."
>Moneybags waves a dismissive hoof
>"Don't bother. Even if I wanted to, it wouldn't be worth because there's not enough money to do it on!"
>"Can't say I didn't offer."
>Moneybags reaches in one of her pockets, and then tosses Snowglobe a heavy pouch of bits
>"Go get me the biggest, chocolatest, most expensive sundae in this part of the city, if you're gonna head out anyway. Keep the change."
>Snowglobe looks at the pouch in confusion, then shrugs and closes the door again
>"And I'll know if you buy me a cheap one from the corner store!"
>"Hey, I know my frozen treats!" Snowglobe calls back as she leaves the hideout, the front-back door shutting heavily behind her
>Moneybags sniffles, and smiles at the other two ponies
>"Thanks for putting up with me, girls. Come on, Sophia, let's see those drawings."
>The pegasus perks up
>"Will do! I've got more Artemis!"
>Moneybags sighs
>"Why don't you just send a fan letter like everypony else?"
>"What if he doesn't write back?"
>Now is Rocket's time to shine
>"But that's part of the suspense! Those nerves when you write! Those butterflies in your stomach when you post the letter! The nerve-wrecking fear and anticipation, waiting for a reply! The joy, love, and excitement when he writes back, or the anger and sadness when he doesn't!"
>She wraps a hoof around Sophia, the corners of her eyes glistening with tears
>"The feels, Sophia!"
>Sophia blinks twice before speaking up again
>"Yes. Feels."
>Moneybags chuckles for the first time since last Tuesday, though not very convincingly
>"You two... Come on, let's see those pictures, wait for Snowglobe to get back with our sundae, and then get to business."
>She stands up, and heads for the door to - and from - the meeting room
>"Or no business. Not feeling that businessy today."