>>393903"You might be a Crispy's cousin then! I've seen some of them inhale Rime powder without getting a little horse."
>Cheerful sparkles dotting her eyes, Rubelime's light, faux-sassy tone ends with ear twitches in the helmet."Eh? Not one I can think of in the Empire. All the Consortiums share portable Lava or Magma Core heating units, variable of course! There's a bunch of gemwork shops spread across Industrial Sectors too, they do quite a bit of melting and refining using smaller ones. Lorekeepers refuse to create extras because of something that happened a couple weeks ago.. and Cady is still aneighed at them."
>Wincing slightly, the young mare's gaze travels left and down while shuddering."I'd hate to be immortal.. just thinking about piles of crystalwork or forgetting where stuff is would be awful, although hanging around a bunch of bats and learning more about about Equestria
would be great. Empire might have the best colleges but there's nothing like learning first hoof."
>Helmet turning enough to present a squished pouty face in return, she switches to sharply toned snickering with a quick head shake."BAH! You are too cute for words! I'm a marecenary though, best I can do is get a small discount sometimes. Would have to take a LOT of classes to help you in that regard. The big Consortiums though, their traders are strict for good reason. They have to produce huge amounts up front so costs can be reduced quickly.
A lot of that problem comes from maintaining all the Cores and keeping them from degrading. The rest is.. well, when the Palace was destroyed in Canterlot a couple years ago, that disrupted everypony's trade routes, and when Las Pegasus left to Saddle Arabia we started making offers to the Moors, Navarchs, and some cloud cities. We're mostly self-sufficient, yeah, but without reclaiming more mines, or finding new ones, we're kind of stuck."
>Making a humored 'shush' motion at Rubelime, Celery nickers under her breath before leaning in to speak quietly, eyebrows raised in mischief."What this incredibly appealing young mare means is to keep most of this silent until Tartarus is open, then use knowledge of stockpiles on both sides to secure truly equal trade deals rather than be given disrespectful offers.
You see, achieving a two to three percent profit margin allows one to hire, stockpile, experimarent, test, and expand until reaching equilibrium, which is where each party is inherently satisfied with the flat rates of offered goods and services. That way we all benefit."
"Uh.... damn. Knew I should've taken Advanced Economics 3."
"Trade Systems 5 is a little better, that class covers the important aspects of Advanced Economics until 6."
>Head cocking, the mature unicorn's snout twitches spastically for some time before deadpanning."Why is that so painfilly familiar to me?"
"Sounds kinda how Druidry works."
"Fairly sure it is nnn.. then again, it may be. However, few outside the still missing Lunar Cults know
their mysteries. Nopony knows where the majority of them left to in the 400's. And I now fully comprehend why nearly all hyper-specialized and advanced eso-tech production ceased."
"What do you mean?"
"In the few available records my Order still retains, Tartarus is defined as the central inner realm of Tallus where physicality is from one-tenth to wholly insubstantial. Specific combinations of each with solid matter enhances and improves the resulting meta-composite.
In my sister's odds and ends collection is a single plate of highly reflective armor paneling. It required a mixture of a three-quarter percent low grade half meta-metallic flakes, a three-point-five percent high grade arch corporeal metallic powder, added to a medium-high grade refined molten kanpri slurry.
The process has not been repeated since the original forgeworks was destroyed. None have tried to rebuild it due to lacking the most important components, which Tartarus was clearly the sole supplier of."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Yes. It is no question why most ponies consider ancestral methods to have significant importance. Th-"
>Interrupted by a loud click from her prosthetic, the older mare's head tips, ears swiveling around like radar dishes before flicking, then delivers you a hurried, low and informal bow while smiling in triumph."Apologies, I must take my leave to inform the buyers of what I have ponifally seen and appraised, they will be most enthusiastic! Amy, should you require anything else search my name through InterPony Direct Services, they will share my CrystalNet hololith code. As well I shall ensure my courier has a trade notice.
A wonderful Night to the both of you and may the Moon shine on your hooves!"
>Watching the Lunar actually scurry off, the Lancer's snout crinkles, emitting a faint snerk before clomping around right to face forwards."Heh, rare to see her that excited. So, where do you wanna go? I'll stop at a Crispy fountain to fill those canteens too, my internal cells ran out a while ago and I'm starting to get thirsty. Also-"
>Whistling in a low, flat tone, a new screen pops above her saddle to display a large, collapsible 10-section hoofband, which could make a decently wide bracelet, primarily light blue and purple."One hundred thousand mile CrystalNet range, fast uplink rods, harmonic buffer bands, and compatible with all micro devices. Also has two micro-plate storage slots, most have one. Two thousand gems though.
Others are similar but this is the best I've seen so far without getting a custom version. Lemme know if you wanna order one, there's a lot of Crispy couriers around right now, and I'm getting us some takeout! Should be ready in twenty to thirty minutes, they'll ping me if it's done sooner."
>Requesting InterPony control of the Floatblade, it raises smoothly to three hooves above ground, gliding left into the street, then forwards at a jogging pace, Rubelime checking each of the nearest tent stalls and small Consortium signs.[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <E.Scouting
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9][1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]