“Hmm…no, that one won’t do,” Twilight Velvet mumbled to herself. With Night Light beside her and Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle behind her, she glanced at the surrounding stores and buildings, one by one, as the family trotted.
“Remember to pick an expensive place, honey,” Night Light said. “According to the ‘How to be Great Par’–uh, that is, some book, we shouldn’t be doing this at all.”
“I know. I’m only going to choose a store that her superpower is worth using in.”
“I’m still not sure what my ‘superpower’ is. Daddy, why is it so special when I smile, but not other ponies?”
“Let’s just say that you have…an effect on ponies at a level most ponies don’t. You’ll gain a better understanding of why when you’re older.”
“Ooh, ‘Deluxe R Us’ should work nicely,” Velvet said as she stopped walking, causing the whole family to stop. “Shining, I’m pretty sure you didn’t, but did you go to Deluxe R Us earlier?”
“No, but maybe we shouldn’t try this. Twily started to feel like she was doing something wrong after we left the last store.”
“Oh, she did?” Velvet laid a hoof on Twilight’s cheek, wearing a comforting motherly smile. A smile that had single-hoofly beat into submission many a worry and fear from the filly. “Listen, sweetie. All you did was ask a question, and I always tell you that there is nothing wrong with asking questions. I bet your hero Starswirl the Bearded asked them to become the strongest unicorn in Equestrian history. You want to be like him, so can you handle doing this one more time for your mommy and Starswirl?”
“Yes!” the filly answered, her joyful smile returning in full form. “I can!”
“That’s my little Twi-shine. Let’s go in, so your brother can see with his own eyes the type of deals worthy of your superpower.”
The family trotted through the store’s doors. There was a lesson to be learned, sorta.
“Hmm. That mare looked very familiar,” a male voice said. “She reminded me of that filly I told you about.”
Another male answered, “If she is, maybe that’s why it feels like we should keep an eye on her and her family while they’re here.”
With Shining staying further back in Deluxe R Us with Night Light to watch, and with Twilight Sparkle with her, Twilight Velvet floated a fittingly-named deluxe glass plate & cups set into a cart. The items in this cart, which included a pack of a rare but valuable type of flower (think of the flowers in question as the Equestrian equivalent of caviar–not cheap), promised to laugh endlessly at the cost of what Shining and Twilight Sparkle bought earlier.
And as per her lesson, that was exactly what Twilight Velvet aimed for.
“That should do it. Now, you already know what to do, but if it wouldn’t be enough, lay on the floor and ask ‘Pleassse?’ again. That will maximize your superpower. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” Velvet lowered her bag, housing one hundred bits, onto Sparkle’s back. The mother Twilight hurried to Night Light and Shining, while the little Twilight pushed her cart down the store’s lobby and to a counter–and her next unsuspecting victim standing behind it.
“Oh, look at you! Shopping at your age like a big filly!”
“Hehe, thank you. I am still struggling to use my magic consistently, but I can try to lift–”
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I can pick up those things for you.” The stallion levitated everything in Twilight’s cart out and onto his counter. He added up all the items' prices and said, “This will be one-thousand five-hundred and sixty bits. Are you sure you have enough?”
“One-thousand, five-hundred, and sixty bits? Oh no, I only have a hundred bits, but could I pay that much? Pleassse?”
Twilight summoned “the face”: she smiled, lowered her ears, and her eyes sparkled. There’s a reason her parents named her Twilight Sparkle.
“Uh, I’m sorry, but I can’t–”
Twilight lay on the floor and curled herself up in a ball. She laid her face on the floor and rolled her eyes upward in the manner of an innocent puppy–and an extremely cute one at that. In an even more endearing tone than before, she asked, “Pleassse?”
The stallion yearned to continue resisting; the sweat droplets speeding down his forehead were proof of his struggle. Yet the filly’s adorableness shredded his resistance–and whined that it was getting bored and wanted a true challenge.
“Okay, sweetie, but only this once.”
“Yay! Thank you so much!”
Twilight paid for her stuff, then pushed the cart back to her waiting brother and parents. All the while, the salesstallion left behind facehoofed, wondering what just happened.
Another twilighted pony to add to the list.
Once the family was back outside, Velvet bragged with a proud smirk, “Did you see, Shining? That is the caliber of deals that is worthy of Twilight’s superpower, if not the minimum.”
“Wow, Mom! How did you know Twily’s cuteness could be an actual superpower that ponies can’t resist?”
“Elementary, my dear Shining: she inherited her power from me.”
Two unicorn stallions, each wearing police suits, stepped to the family. One of the pair asked with a cheerful smile, “Uh, do you remember all those times you got clerks to sell you stuff here at ultra-cheap prices?”
“Hehe, I do. I guess I sometimes got a little carried away as a filly–”
The cop’s smile soured, followed by a sharp glare from his eyes. “I was right! It is you!”
“I beg your pardon?” Velvet asked in bewilderment. “Officer, have we even met before?”
“Oh, we’ve met all right! You got me fired over thirty years ago by begging me for all those crazy deals with cute smiles!”
Velvet gasped. The ragged brown mane from the cop glowering at her summoned fillyhood memories in a little more detail. Mainly who her fillyhood superpower targets looked like. “W-wait, I think I remember you! Are you one of the ponies who used to work here?”
“Yep, and I definitely remember you! We saw what you pulled in there, and while I normally hate this part of my job, I’m going to savor it this time.” He pulled out a magic-inhibiting ring and floated it over Velvet’s horn. “You are under arrest for using a filly’s cuteness for dealmaking. You have the right to remain quiet. Anything you say can and will be used against you. Now, come along with us!”
Both officers’ horns glowed white. Velvet’s body illuminated in the same-colored magic and she was carried away, flanked by the two officers.
“B-but you can’t do this to me! I had no idea it broke any laws!”
“Suuuuure, you didn’t know. FYI, you’re not getting out of this with a cute smile, so don’t get any ideas!”
As their mother/wife was taken away, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and Night Light blinked twice in confusion.
“So…now what?” Shining asked.
Night Light groaned. He would have to use up a few bits that Twilight Sparkle’s superpower had saved him. “Shining, Twilight, you two can go do whatever. I’m going to post bail for your mother once her bail amount is determined.”
As a result of Twilight Velvet's brief trip to the "big house", Twilight Sparkle was never asked to use her superpower to land deals again, with one exception. Being an innocent, non-manipulative filly, she never considered using her abilities on her own accord.
However, many years later and doing that "one exception", Twilight Sparkle's superpower would have one last hurrah...more or less.