“So, what’ll I get fer th’ shinies, mate?” Tora asked, tapping her paw on the ground as she watched the stallion look over the black opals, heavy-as-a-feather ore, and many other geodes and odd gems she’d set down on the counter.

“Hmm~” the stallion, who wore a very gaudy and fancy suit along with a twirling golden mustache that clashed greatly with his purple and orange suit, brought a monocle to his eye with a flash of purple magic as he picked up one of the gems. He repeated this with each of the more well-known ones, then looked up to her and shook his head while tapping the bundle. “These poor things aren’t worth much more than 50 bits, I’m afraid, dearie.” He paused, looking to them again and squinting his eyes. “...Collectively, I’d say.” He looked back up at her.

“...Well, that’s better than nothin’, I guess. An’ th’ other shinies?” Tora said with a sigh and a shrug.

“One moment, dear,” he said, horn lighting up as he took an opal in his magic. He hummed for a moment, before his eyes widened, and he looked to her. “Where on Equus did you get this, dear? I haven’t seen a gem like this in all my esteemed career!”

“In an ol’ abandoned mine back in Faustralia. Forgot it existed ‘til I sat on th’ pointy-arse geode there jus’ today,” Tora replied smoothly, taking a tentative step forward to look at the opals herself. “Are they valuable?”

“Valuable? My dear, these are undiscovered! I’ve never seen a black opal with this sort of luster, much less this pattern!” He pointed with a hoof to the distinct four-pointed, gold star pattern on the gem. “This pattern shouldn’t be possible!” He gestured to the other ‘opals’ and their own various star-like gold patterns, ranging from five points to six and so on. “The only thing I can think is that you found a new magical crystal! This could be worth…” He opened and closed his mouth multiple times. “...I’m not even sure!”

“...500 per lowest-quality, 5,000 per mid-quality, an’ 10,000 per high-quality shiny. As fer exceptional quality opals...eh, anywhere above 10k will do. But I’m keepin’ th’ geode, so fer all th’ separate ones...altogether, I’d take around, say, 50,000 or so, just t’ be generous an’ not bankrupt ya or anythin’,” Tora stated, only to blink in confusion at the stallion’s balking expression. “Wot? Ain’t 50,000 chump change fer y’ ponies?”

“No! That’s about the amount a noble makes!” the stallion cried.

“...Oh. Well, th’ shinies are still worth that much since they’re ‘undiscovered’ goods an’ all, right?” Tora asked with a smirk, leaning forward on the counter with her tail swishing behind her.

“I-! But you-!” The stallion was, understandably, flabbergasted, looking left and right, as if for help, emerald eyes even seeming to plead for it as if someone would lend him money for this endeavor.

“Tell y’ wot, what’s th’ average diamond or high-end jewelry worth ‘round here? We’ll use that as a baseline value. Deal?” Tora suggested with a raised brow and an amused smirk.

The stallion stared blankly at her, mouth struggling to make words, before he deflated and nodded with a sigh, straightening up his bowtie. “...Very well. Let it not be said Tacky Tim couldn’t handle a little haggling.” Shaking his head, he straightened back up behind his stall. “The typical high end jewel in these parts is about the amount you stated for the mid-end, 5,000 bits. Will that suffice?” He asked, looking a bit exasperated.

“Sure,” Tora nodded, then grabbed the geode and tucked it away as she pointed to the individual opals. “Low-end is 500, an’ you can mark-up the prices to compensate fer th’ bits ya paid for ‘em. So, how many are low, mid an’/or high-end, an’ wot’s the total value of all these?”

Furrowing his golden brows - which were as twirly as his mustache - he picked each one up in his magic and scrutinized them carefully. “Hmm, well,” he put each one down. “There’s no real difference in color, so judging by the other factors, I’d say there are about 3 low-ends, 6 mid-ends, and 5 high-ends. That makes it a total of-”

“81,500 bits, mate!” Tora gave a toothy grin, her enlarged canines on full display as she fist-pumped in victory.

Making what he hoped was a discreet gulp, the stallion nodded. “Y-Yes, quite.” He summoned a handkerchief and dabbed his sweating forehead. “By the by, you found the jewel yourself, do you have a name for it?”

“Anticipite, since I’m anticipatin’ great things from these shinies. An’ now...th’ other ore I found needs t’ be appraised. Or didja ferget that I asked y’ to give ‘em a look, Tacky?~” Tora purred as she drank in his...wait, he wasn’t scared or exasperated. He was giving her a look that said he was confused.

“You mined this, correct?” he asked, pointing to the ore.

“The ore, yes. Th’ gems, I found back in Faustralia, as I said,” Tora said, head tilted in confusion.

“But you mined, it yes? If so, you should know, as one who mines, that assayers appraise ores, not jewelers like myself,” he explained.

“...I didn’t know that, actually. I just assumed that y’ jewelers appraised all things shiny,” Tora replied sheepishly, scratching her chin with her paw.

“There’s an assayer on the western edge of town, if you didn’t already know, dear,” Tacky said, pointing in a generally western direction with his hoof.

“Cheers, mate. First, however, m’ payment fer th’ highly valuable jewelry you’ll be makin’ out of these shinies, eh?” Tora reminded him with a sing-song voice.

Tacky Tim groaned. “Very well, very well,” his horn lit up, summoning a small card and a quill and inkpot. After using the quill to write swiftly and elegantly on the card, he offered it to Tora. “Show this check to the nearest bank, and they’ll withdraw the money from my account for you.”

“Ace!” Tora laughed happily as she took the draft and patted Tacky on the head. “Be seein’ ya, Tacky! Hooroo!~”

With that, Tora strolled out of the shop with a skip in her step.

Tacky took his handkerchief and dabbed daintily at his brow once more, a pained look on his face as he gazed at the gems on his counter. “...I’m going to have to really sell these gems…”

Tora Katt hummed like a little lass as she skipped back to the Scratch residence with a sack of bits hoisted over her shoulder and the ore she’d had appraised still in the pouch she’d originally stuffed them in.

She rapped her knuckles on the door and called out in a joyous sing-song, “Viiiinyl! Octaaaavia!~”

The door eventually opened, and Octavia stood there, smiling. “Hello, Tora. How was the trip?”

Tora took a smaller but still hefty pouch of bits and dropped it at Octavia’s hooves with a content smile on her face, “550 bits as m’ rent fer the month! Got 81,000 more bits from sellin’ the black opals - which I dubbed anticipite - and th’ normal shinies I found.”

Octavia’s face went blank, alternating between gawking at the bag to Tora’s smug, smiling face. “I...Wow, I...I’d no idea those gems were so valuable. I’d never seen them before, certainly, but...this many bits for the whole bunch? That’s…”

“They were ‘undiscovered,’ accordin’ t’ Tacky, so I was able t’ set th’ price!~” Tora giggled, scooping Octavia up into her arms and twirling around in a circle. “Ahhh, this is th’ most dosh I’ve ever had at any single point in m’ life!”

Octavia yelped, but after the first few twirls, managed a smile. “W-Well, I’m glad you’re happy. Would you mind putting me down now, though? I’m getting dizzy.”

The tigress plonked Octavia down after nuzzling her cheek, then walked inside the house, “Don’t ferget th’ biiits!~”

Octavia looked to the bag for a moment, then sighed and smiled, picking it up and placing it on her back. The weight was substantial, but, being an Earth Pony, it wasn’t too bad.

Following after Tora, Octavia soon came up next to her and said, “I suppose you have Durin to thank for showing you those caverns, don’t you?”

“I could kiss th’ bloke fer givin’ me th’ chance ta have a new lease on life! I can live comfortably fer th’ rest of m’ life out here in pony-land!” Tora sighed, her eyes closed and a dopey smile on her muzzle.

Octavia giggled, placing the bits on a table near the couch in the living room, which Tora fell back on. “You almost sound like you mean it.”

“‘Could’ doesn’t mean ‘would,’ silly tiny wingless and hornless pony!” Tora sighed happily, snuggling into the couch like a housecat would.

Octavia rolled her eyes. “I get the feeling you’ll be riding this high for some time.”

“Oooh, th’ next two hours, maybe, can’t be sure, sheila,” the Abyssinian replied, cracking open an eye to regard the cellist.

“She has a good reason to, too,” came Vinyl’s voice from behind the couch. Looking up, the two saw the white unicorn grinning down at them as she leaned over the back of the couch. “Sup? Heard Torry went and got loaded.”

“81,550 bits from th’ anticipite - black opals - an’ I gave ‘Tavia 550 fer m’ rent fer the month!” Tora replied as she leaned her back up and smooched the unicorn’s nose.

Vinyl giggled. “Good to see ya so cheerful, Torry.” She looked to the bags on the Abyssinian’s person and let out a low whistle. “So that’s what 81,000 bits looks like. Buck.”

“There’s prolly...a couple million still back in th’ mine an’ Crystal Cavern, maybe billions all around th’ place,” Tora said with a giddy little laugh as her tail and mane floofed up in excitement.

Vinyl and Octavia looked to each other and grinned. “Well, maybe we’ll join you next time you and Durin go there.”

“Please do! I could use th’ company when I’m with th’ big bloke,” Tora replied as she shifted in place to get more comfortable on the couch.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Durin isn’t that bad.”

“Female company, y’ dag,” the tigress chuckled, booping the DJ on her nose. “Bein’ around a bloke is far more awkward than bein’ around a couple o’ sheilas.”

Vinyl scrunched her muzzle up at the poke, and Octavia interjected. “A fair point.” She then added, “So, what about that strange ore? How much was it?”

“Ain’t sellin’ that, since it’s light as a fuckin’ feather an’ tougher than gold or platinum!” Tora said as she pulled the biggest chunk of said ore out of its pouch and tossed it up in the air, the stone flying out of her paw and bouncing off of the ceiling to land back in her hand. “I can make th’ lightest but toughest armor around jus’ fer m’self!”

Vinyl and Octavia blinked.

“Really? That’s pretty rad,” Vinyl mused.

“What is the metal called? Or is it undiscovered too?” Octavia asked.

“Th’ second, an’ I’m callin’ it ‘Angelium’, after th’ folklore of m’ people ‘bout radiant winged beings servin’ a benevolent god,” Tora explained, casually ‘juggling’ the ore in one paw as she talked.

“That’s pretty sweet,” Vinyl said, nodding.

A brief silence passed, and Tora soon noticed the two mares brows were furrowed and their mouths were set in thin lines. Obviously, they were pondering something.

Before Tora could ask, however, Octavia spoke up. “Tora, what do you...think of Durin?” She asked slowly.

Tora blinked at the mare’s question, face contorting in confusion as she spoke, “...He’s a nice bloke, if a bit distant an’ shite. Why do y’ ask?”

Octavia shared a look with Vinyl, before they both looked back to Tora. “We’ve been thinking of...well, trying to thank him, and we were wondering if he told you anything while you were with him in his mine.”

“Though I wouldn’t mind getting rutted by him,” Vinyl began, “I do still wanna take it kinda slow. We don’t know anything about him, after all.” Vinyl shrugged and rested her cheek on her hoof. “I can live with taking meds for it for a while yet.” She shook her head. “But yeah, still gotta repay the big guy somehow, ya know?”

“A’ight, first off, I’m so sorry that y’ have t’ deal with a root rat fer a girlfriend, Octavia,” Tora said to Octavia, ignoring Vinyl’s cry of “Hey! The buck?!” as she continued. “Second, he didn’t mention nothin’ t’ me when were down in th’ mine, so...can’t bloody well help ya there.”

Octavia frowned. “Well, I wouldn’t call Vinyl a...well, we all can assume the meaning, but still, she’s not that bad. Promiscuous yes, but not to a fault. Besides, many mares are like this when in heat.” She gestured to Tora. “Over the three, nearly four weeks you’ve been here, we know you have good control of your own heat, but you need to know not everypony can do as you do so easily.”

“It was a joke, y’ prude,” Tora rolled her eyes at the cellist. “I know that most females in heat are root rats unless they’re in bloody hellish situations or jus’ very fuckin’ focused like I can be. I know you’re sufferin’, too, if th’ damp fur between yer thighs is any indication.”

Octavia blushed, closing her hind legs, and Vinyl laughed. “Ha! She got you good, Tavi!”

Tora donned a smug little smirk with one of her fangs poking out over her lower lips as she nodded, “Mhm, but back t’ th’ matter at ha- er...fuck it, appendage, yer reaction t’ me not knowin’ anythin’ useful?”

“Well, if he didn’t say any of his interests, did he at least hint at anything? Like, did he have a weird reaction to something you said or did at any point?” Vinyl asked.

“...Oh! He likes tits,” Tora nodded sagely. “He always got flustered whenever I mentioned he had t’ pay t’ look at them. Plus, he hates me callin’ ‘im a hairless ape, th’ subject of his race, his homeland, somethin’ called ‘Hardmode’, and th’ subject o’ children. Ah, an’ he said he has a thing fer construction an’ architecture...and cats, apparently.”

The ponies once again looked to each other, brows furrowed. Then, they looked back to Tora. “It almost sounds like he thinks he has to be a gentlemare, along with having…” Octavia paused, trying to find the words.

“A storied past where he lost his kids and his race and was bullied for it?” Vinyl supplied.

“Well, I wouldn’t put it like that, but yes,” Octavia said. She frowned, looking to the floor. “Still, the fact he likes...ahem, mammaries shows he still has interest in females, and his liking of construction shows he has either some experience or general fascination for the field. Cats...well, I’m not sure that’s really telling of anything but wanting comfort.”

“Apparently, on his world, it’s th’ males that act like th’ gentlemares an’ shit,” Tora said...before clapping a hand over her mouth in shock.

Vinyl and Octavia stared at Tora with eyes as large as saucers. “He’s from another world?!” They cried in unison.

Then the tigress slapped a hand over each of their mouths, “Shut th’ fuck up! Ya don’t know who th’ fuck is listenin’! But yes, Durin’s from another world. Might explain his general attitude, at any rate; he is th’ last o’ his kind on this world, because he’s th’ only one on Equus.”

After the tigress removed her paws from their mouths, Vinyl asked the next question. “Okay, but why the buck does that not surprise you? I mean, seriously! He’s from an entirely different world!”

“Them Elements o’ Harmony sheilas do weird shite all th’ time, if’n what I heard was deadset,” Tora pointed out with a raised brow.

“Yes, but still!” Octavia hissed.

Tora scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Is it any weirder than th’ fact that you lot have had three invasions on Canterlot in th’ past...wot, four years an’ yet yer Princesses don’t up security?”

The two made to speak, then stopped short. “Okay, fair point.” Vinyl conceded. She hummed. “Though now that I think about it, him being so exotic really fits now.”

“It does,” Octavia looked to Tora. “How did you find out he was from another world, though? I doubt he’d be forthcoming with that information.”

“He let it slip when I asked about...somethin’, can’t remember wot, exactly, at th’ mo, but yeah,” Tora replied, scratching the back of her head with a paw.

The three fell into a short silence, before Vinyl sighed and hopped off the back of the couch and started to trot past it. “Right, well, me and Tavi have a lot to think about now. We’ll be upstairs.” She stopped by the edge of the couch, looking back at Tora with a grin. “Managed to get some fish from Flutters, so you and me can have some good shit when dinner comes around.”

Tora pounced on Vinyl and licked her face all over with her rough, sandpaper-like tongue, “I loooove ya right now, Vin!”

Vinyl laughed as she pushed Tora away gently. “Alright, alright, enough of that, I got enough licking from Tavi earlier, and I doubt you wanna add.”

Tora froze, then started clawing at her tongue with a disgusted look on her face, retching and heaving all the while.

Vinyl laughed again. “Hahahaha! Oh, oh, that’s good!” She shook her head, then waved Octavia over. “Come on, Tavi, let’s head upstairs.”

Nodding, Octavia followed after her marefriend, and they both disappeared up the stairs.

“...I wish Durin was here fer me t’ complain t’ him about those two,” Tora sighed, getting up from the couch and making her way back to the guest room.

Can anyone guess the reference hidden in this chapter?