[zapdragon555]

"Oi, oi! Careful now! Careful! Just a couple more steps, Wax!" Candlewix chattered from one end of the cart, his hooves poised on the edge as he 'helped' push it into the small, quaint shop. "Don't want these to spill. It's our stock, you know. Until you get back into the swing of making them, but for now we're just going to have to do with pa's help. That's fine, though, that's fine. I'm not against accepting handouts. Nothing wrong with that, nope, none at all..."

Candlewax looked a little more focused on his task, not phased by his brother's rapidfire rambling. He grunted with effort as he finally got the cart over the doorway and into the snug shop, then ducked out of the harness to peer around at the scented candles lined up in neat little rows. He let out a relieved breath, bringing a hoof up to wipe a nervous sweat from his forehead, then began the slow process of moving the candles to the shelves.

Candlewix watched him with a sort of excitement in his large eyes, and he bounced slightly on the tips of his hooves. "Need any help? I can start setting things up in the back. Ooh, or cook some lunch? I'm starving, really. Yeah, why don't I go do that. I'll be upstairs--"

"Mm mm," Candlewax mumbled behind a tray in his mouth, carefully balancing candles on it. Candlewix raised his eyebrows, then sighed and went to the cart to pick up a tray himself.

"Boshy. Sho boshy," Candlewix muttered, the candles wobbling a bit as he trotted into the back storage room. Within a few hours they'd completely emptied the cart of its contents and filled the little wooden shelves, and Candlewix was seated perched at the front desk, a bored look in his eyes. "Ehhh... is the food ready yet?" he called, his nose pointed towards the ceiling.

Candlewax winced as he heard his brother's shrill voice from the ground floor, and he sighed, carefully mixing the soup on the stove with a quiet focus. Candlewix frowned from his place at the desk when there was no reply, and he sighed loudly and dramatically, then squeaked in surprise when there was the sound of a loud, firm hoofbeat from above. "Okay, okay! Sooorry!"

[Jaykobell]

The trio made their way towards a small shop in the shopping district in town. The three friends were a group consisting of two mares and a stallion. One was an earth pony, red in color with a green mane, along with small pink hooves; the other was a pale sunny-yellow unicorn with a pink and blue mane; the last was a black pegasus stallion with a mane of teal, blue and purple.

They made their way towards a little shop, guided by the unicorn. When they reached the store, unlike the unicorn, the earth and pegasus ponies looked more confused than anything else.

"Candles?" the black stallion inquired, giving a look at the sign and then glancing at his unicorn friend. "Is that really what you want to buy them, Sunny?"

Sunny, the unicorn, gave her friend a smile and nodded excitedly. "Hmm-mm! I've been foalsitting those little cuties, and their parents have been so generous and kind to me. I want to give them a little gift," she explained, smiling with a large, toothy grin. "I'm sure the little ones would love some scented candles, too."

The earth mare looked up at the sign, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Hmm. Ah guess it wouldn't hurt tah stock up, mahself," she piped in, her voice thick with a southern accent. "Reckon ah'm not a fan o' scented ones, though," she added, narrowing her eyes and wrinkling her nose a little. Candles were useful around the farm, but the scented ones were usually too much for her.

"Come on, Deep Quill, Field," Sunny invited, taking a few steps towards the door, "let's go in! I can't wait to see what they have in stock," she added, stepping in, the black pegasus and the red mare following behind her.

Sunny was excited the moment she stepped in, but the same couldn't be said of her two friends. Deep Quill was a little overwhelmed at how many candles there were, and Field wrinkled her nose from the scents that were all around them. In the meantime, Sunny was quickly scanning the stock, her heart beating fast with excitement. "Oh! They have so many nice candles," she pointed out, trying to keep a mental note of some of the ones she wanted to look at. "I have no idea which ones to buy. I wonder which ones they would like?"

[Azura Rayume]

While the trio who entered the shop were definitely friendly, the duo out behind were definitely not so. The two looked an unlikely pair to any who might have seen them: a bat-winged Changeling sporting a unicorn horn and a teal and sky striped mane and tail and a beautiful brown Pegasus mare. One could assume the Changeling had cornered the female for some nefarious purpose. That is, until you heard them speak.

"I've told you, Demuous," the mare said, irritated. "All you have to do is steal a bit of happiness from these foals, I go in and sew a little distrust around the room, and we both reap the rewards. What is so hard to understand about this?"

"And I've told you, Pandora," the male responded with a mocking glare, belly scales glowing faintly in annoyance. "I don't care about your stupid plan, and I don't think I ever will. Go in there and try to get them riled up, but I'm not helping."

"You will if you know what's good for you." She reached toward him with a hoof, which shifted to a lion paw, digits wrapping around his bottom jaw. "Just go sit under the window. You don't even have to do anything! Or do I have to get dad involved?"

Demuous stalked off to the window, head lowered and angry. "You were always bad at being pretty," he grumbled, sitting with a heavy thump.

She waved him off, trotting toward the front of the shop. "And you were always bad at making good conversation," she chided with a smile. He just needed to do this one little thing for her, and she would leave him alone. For a while, anyway.

[zapdragon555]

With a belly full of soup, Candlewix had, admittedly, fallen asleep at his desk. When the door closed behind the three ponies who had entered, however, he snorted awake, his diminished fiery mane flickering back to life. "Ah--! Oh... wha?" he mumbled, squinting and rubbing at his eyes with a hoof, then blinked his eyes wide open to look at the three. "Oh! Customers! Heck, I'm sorry. Nodded off a bit. What can I do for you nice-looking folks?" he asked, a sort of good-natured smirk flashing over his face as he leaned an elbow on the desk. "We got all kinds of candles, for gifts and personal use, practical and decorative, you name it! The name's Candlewix, by the way, but you," he began, pointing a hoof at Field and Sunny, "as in, you two lovely mares in particular, can call me Wix," he said, a sly grin crossing his face.