Making Mayhem

Mint Twist trotted past the colourful stands at the market, the stick of a lollipop hanging from her mouth. Her saddlebags bounced joyfully as she moved, the contents getting thrown around carelessly. Excitement twinkled in her eyes as she looked around the stalls, all the different things on sale looked wonderful, except for the odd fruit salespony. Thinking hard, Mint tried to remember why she came here in the first place. Wasn't she sent to get something? Oh well! With the flick of an ear and twist of here lolly, she continued to search the stalls for something worth buying.

Leaf Gardens walked into the marketplace with her small saddlebag that had a green leaf-shaped clasp. She didn't plan on buying much, just some new plant seeds. She looked around her for the stall that would sell them. Asparagus, cherry... Where are the seeds? she thought. She hadn't bought them for a long time, last month. Going up to a bright-coloured mare with a mostly brown mane, she asked, "Excuse me, would you happen to know of a store that sells plant seeds?"

Mint spun around as the mare asked her question. She trotted a little closer the the newcomer before replying. "Seeds? Well, I'm pretty sure there's a stand just up ahead on the left. Want me to show you?" Her right ear twitched a little as Mint smiled, "My name's Mint twist, by the way. Who're you?"

"My name's Leaf Gardens," answered Leafy. "Thanks." She studied Mint, and noticed her leaf cutie mark. "You a gardener too?" she asked, pointing to the twisted leaf. It appeared to be a mint leaf, but she couldn't really tell. Cutie marks didn't usually have much detail, and it could be a coincidence that it looked like mint. Or would that mean Mint liked or made candy? That would explain her name - Mint Twist.

Shinygear sat at his booth, as he tried his best to attract attention. He had yet to get a customer at his metal-and-wood work, but he was excited none the less. "Why didn't I think of this before? Instead of ponies coming to my workshop, I'll bring the workshop to them!" he said to himself.

Mint laughed, "I guess I am a gardener. I mean, I grow my own mint to make sweets." She beamed a brilliant smile, occasionally turning her head a fraction to see exciting stalls around her.

"Oh." That makes sense, thought Leafy. "So you own a candy stall then?" Most ponies had jobs according to their talents, other than the few exceptions, so it would be logical if Mint did own a sweet stall. Leafy had never noticed any store run by this mare, but with the many stores in the marketplace - she guessed there was at least fifty - who would take note of a store they didn't often go to? She went to the seeds stall every few months, and she'd just forgotten where it was.

Shinygear watched as groups of ponies trotted past him. He had yet to be discouraged, as he still had the buzz of excitement alongside him. He decided to start a new project, and started to work on what he was hoping to be a watch with a copper wire exterior. "Oh, this is going to be good..." he said to himself as he began bending copper and going through his toolbox.

"Well, technically I don't have my own stall, but I do help out at one." Mint replied, discarding any further details as distracting thing kept popping up, things to buy, things to do. "You know, I think I was sent here to get something..."

"And you forgot what it is." Leafy stared at Mint. How responsible. She shrugged, turned around to her left, where Mint had told her the seeds store was. She passed many stalls as she did so. One caught her attention. A red pony with an orange mane was making something and looking through his toolbox. She didn't think he was done, especially since all that he had was a weird thing made out of bent copper.

Shinygear finished up his frame, then wiped his hands. As he took a quick break, he noticed a light green mare glance towards at his stall. "My first customer? Maybe?..." he said to himself, as he got back to work.

Mint glanced at the workshop, looking to the stallion running the stall. Of course, she quickly looked awa, embarrassed and scared to meet eyes. "You thinking of checking it out?" She asked Leaf nervously. Workshops were usually Mint's weal spot, but no matter how much she enjoys them, she always seemed to make a mess of things.

"Nope. Maybe later, since he doesn't seem to be finished preparing... That thing." Leafy didn't know what exactly the thing was meant to be. It appeared to be almost done. And the actual workshop. Leafy couldn't tell if it was for training other ponies to make stuff or for selling stuff that the red pony made. Seemed to be for the latter, but what she could tell from a glance was that the stallion was having slow business.

Shinygear began to finish up his creation as he closed up the hole in the back of the watch and began to sand out the rough edges. Once he had finished the sanding,Shiny put the watch down on the table alongside his other purchasable items and sat down to eat.

"Aww," Mint looked a little crest fallen. "It looks really interesting." She trotted closer to the stand, giving Leaf a pleading look.

"Sure, I guess." Looking at Mint's sadness, Leafy decided to check it out. Seemed kinda nice. She had hours of free time anyway. The main things on her schedule were watering plants, admiring plants, and cooking dinner. Other than that, she had nothing to do.

She walked over to the stand. The stallion was resting, apparently, and eating his lunch.

Shinygear looked up as the coin hit the table. Completely ignoring the outcome of said coin, Shiny hopped back into his booth. "Good morning, you two! Welcome to...well, my booth, where I sell my work with metals and woodcraft! If you see anything you like, let me know!" he said, smiling.

Mint fidgeted excitedly. "Okay!" She replied to the booth tender, looking through all the metal items first. "Oh, wow, this is all so cool!" She giggled happily.

Leaf Gardens looked through the items. There were quite a lot of them, half of them made of wood and half made of metal, as already said by the stallion. They seemed to be fairly well-crafted.

Shinygear laughed. "Why thank you!" he replied to his first two customers. "I'm glad to here my work makes some ponies happy." he continued.

"Omigish." Mint stopped searching, her eyes swerving back to Shinygear. "I won't be offended if you haven't, but have you made any music boxes?" She smiled shyly, feeling a little awkward about pestering him so much.

Leafy heard Mint ask about whether he made any music boxes. She looked up for a while, no particular reason why, before turning her attention back to the variety of items on sale. They all were great, but she couldn't decide what to buy. Looking back up again, she asked, "What would you recommend to buy?" The stallion already had a question from Mint to answer, but surely the stallion could answer two questions.

Shinygear smiled. "First off, yes! I have a few little music boxes back here." he said, as he rummaged through the collection of neatly arranged crates behind his stall, and taking out two wooden music boxes. He placed the two on the counter to show off, then looked to the other mare. "That depends, what are you interested in? I'd be more than happy to look for something." Shiny said cheerfully.

Mint gasped in glee and took to admiring the boxes. They were both beautifully crafted but the one on the left was definitely her favourite. It had a rose carved into the top with vines and leaves around the edges. Her eyes shone with wonder before she dived into the saddlebags to retrieve her bits.

"Do you have anything that would decorate a home? Like a figurine or something?" That was the first thing that came to mind. A figurine was more for playing with than decoration, but only some. Leafy's home was pretty plain, and she needed to spruce it up a little.