>Be Anon, a perfumer. >Okay, no, that's not really true. You're actually a baker. And an inventor. You invented the Turnip Twaddler. Also, reusable dental floss. >They didn't do very well, for some reason. >And an entrepreneur. You thought you could get big in Equestria by chinchilla ranching. >Unfortunately it turns out that chinchillas are unionized here. And hoofball parlay cards didn't do any better. >You're in dire need of a score. A big score, since literally no one here will loan you money anymore. >Not even the Element of Generosity herself, Rarity, who backed your last two ventures. >"If you need it, I can supply you with necessities," she'd said. "But no more money. Because I'm afraid, darling, that as much as I like you, you're absolutely...and please forgive me for saying this...shit with money." >Applejack had made the crack that if you thought an investment was a good idea, you should do the exact opposite thing. >Fuckin' horse bitches. You don't need them. >Anyway, you sold most of your remaining assets, and sank the last of your capital into one last venture, or lose. >Bread-scented perfumes and colognes. Attar de Baguette, you were calling it. >Since there were scads of bird-pones running around Canterlot, Ponyville and most other urban Equestrian areas, you figured you were due for a stroke of luck >Bird ponies are fucknuts for bread, after all >So why wouldn't one want to smell like a loaf of fresh-baked bread? >Which is why you're not sitting at a promotional booth in Canterlot Park, trying to move ten thousand units of your yeast-scented toilet water. >You'd started at what you thought was a reasonable 5 bits apiece. You'd even asked Rarity if she could set aside some space in her shop >She'd insisted on taking a sniff of it beforehand. She'd declared it...interesting. Interesting was good, right? >She'd agreed, after a momentary look of hopeless panic, but the shop HAD been kind of busy that morning..   >You'd started at 5 bits, but after nothing moved in three days, you dropped the price to 3 and a half. >You were overjoyed when you'd finally sold a couple of them to a curious unicorn, and the same customer came back the next day. >And your hopes were crashed when she demanded a refund--it seems the stuff made her smell like tuna cannery after a couple of hours and attracted every cat in the neighborhood. >You figured that was a feminine hygiene problem and told her so. You didn't THINK it was a good sign when a unicorn spontaneously combusted. >But an amazing sight nevertheless. >Regardless, your sales were nonexistent since then, and you'd lowered the price again and again, and right now it was sitting at a bit and ten, and they still weren't moving. >You think back to all the long nights you'd spent watching Billy Mays infomercials and reruns of PITCH MEN back on Earth. >Billy would have been able to sell this shit no matter how horrific it smelled, you think to yourself >It didn't smell THAT bad, did it? I mean, it smelled kind of like fish sauce, but millions of people liked that, and it smelled KIND of like yeast, right? >Fucking ponies, man. >You're contemplating whether or not to try marketing it as a stray-cat attractant/rodent repellent when you hear a voice >"So how much for the perfume?" >You look down, and there's a seagull pone sitting there in front of you. Your first bird-pone customer. Hell, only your second customer at that.   >"I'm asking a bit and ten for it," you say. >"Yeah," she says. "Lemme have a little sniff of it. I have to see what it is I'm buying here." >You pull the top off a bottle and spritz a bit in her direction. She takes a sniff of it and nods speculatively. >"Oh nice! It's pretty potent though. It's not made with artificial ingredients, though, is it?" >"Nope, this is made with all-natural extracts of yeast and wheat," you say. "Hypoallergenic?" she says. "I have such a problem with molting and sensitive skin, you see. Like my sister--she has the WORST problem with feather psoriasis..." >she rambles on for a couple of minutes about her birb-pone relatives, her sister's skin conditions, and the topic widens into slowly widening, meandering circles while your eyes glaze. >You finally bring the topic back to the one at hand. "Sooooo...the perfume?" "Right, yes," she says. "90 cents you said?" >You clap your hand over your face. "No, a bit and ten." >"Oh, right..." she says. She starts to dig into her coin purse. "Wait, it wasn't animal-tested, was it?" >You mentally count to ten, then twenty. "No, not tested on animals at all. This is completely cruelty-free." >At least it will be until you choke her to death. >"Oh, good," she says. She starts to dig into her purse with all the grace and speed of a slug with polio and then pauses again. >"Oh, and just in case, is there any kind of money-back guarantee if I'm not satisfied with this? It's not that I think there's going to be a problem, I just like to know that I have recourse if anything should, y'know, happen..." >You fight the urge to beat her with your sign. "If you're not completely satisfied, you should feel free to bring whatever you don't use back for a refund. I can give it to you in writing, if you want..." >"That would be good, thank you," she says, smiling. Mentally cursing and praying it doesn't show on your face, you write it down on one of your receipts.   >She rubs her chin thoughtfully with a hoof. "You know, it would probably be a good idea if we could get this notarized--" >And she finally sees the look of crazed fury on your face. "Okay, that probably won't be necessary. Sorry. Hold on..." she starts digging into her coin purse again. >She stops again, and you nearly scream. "I don't seem to have enough money with me--let me just run home and get some, okay? I'll be back in a jiff!" >She closes her purse and flies off. >You're sitting there, your anger fading. You're going to make a sale >You're...actually going to sell something. You wipe a tear of joy away from your eye. Maybe this is the point when your fortunes finally... >...and you hear soft fluttering behind you. >You turn around just in time to see the last of the seagull ponies who are absconding with your perfume. Your entire stock is gone. >Your eye twitches. >.... >.... >"...and that's when I set the entire park on fire, Your Honor."