//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: For old time's sake // Story: Twilight Sparkle + Cuteness = Big Deals // by ThePinkedWonder //------------------------------// In Canterlot, many years and one alicornication of a certain mare later… “For the tenth time, I think this is ridiculous,” Princess Twilight ranted as she walked down Canterlot’s streets. “I’m not a cute little filly anymore, so I don’t know if my superpower still works.” “Then that’s one more reason to try!” Shining Armor said, walking beside his sister. “What’s the worst that could happen?” “Humiliation. Failure. I get laughed at. I’m sure I could think of more reasons.” ‘But aren’t you curious to find out if you still got it? Just think of this as an experiment.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Uh, you know I’m too old to bite on that, right?” “But aren’t you curious?” “Yes,” she answered meekly. “See?”  The pair arrived at the doors of Deluxe R Us. “So go in there and do your thing, for old times sake! You remember what to do, right?” “Yeah, I do.” Twilight sighed. She should hurry and get it over with, so she could return to her books in Ponyville. She started to walk to the floor, but halted right before she reached it. “Wait, I don’t think I can go in.” “Why? You feel nervous?” “No, it’s because I’m still banned. See?” Twilight backed away and pointed at a picture of herself as a filly, who was inside a “not allowed” symbol drawn on the picture. “Too cute for this world to enter” was written above the photo. “Wow. After all these years, they still have your picture up, but it’s okay.” Shining reached for and lifted one of Twilight’s wings with a hoof. “Twilight Sparkle the unicorn may be banned, but you’re Twilight Sparkle the alicorn.” “Pretty sure that’s not how bans work–” Twilight yanked her wing out of Shining’s grasp “–but if we must do this, how about we just try another store? I, or at least Twilight the unicorn, was only ever banned from Deluxe R Us.” “I checked, and this is the only one that doesn’t have any workers from back when we…visited. Just in case your superpower has weakened, you should target saleponies that didn’t see you as a filly.” “Uh, how were you able to check that?” “I’m Captain of the Royal Guards, remember?” Shining said, raising his head in pride. “Okay, but how does that help with–” “Less questions, more superpower using.” He shoved Twilight forward. “Get in there and do your thing, Twily! I’ll wait out here.” “Fine, fine.” The Princess puffed out a sharp, annoyed exhale and went inside. With some plates inside a cart, Twilight trotted down the store’s lobby, pushing the cart with her magic. “I still can’t believe he talked me into this scheme at our age. This is going to be so embarrassing, even if my superpower still works.”  Twilight willed herself to stop complaining as she got close to a counter and the unicorn stallion behind it. “Hi, Princess Twilight,” the stallion said with a greeting smile. “It’s an honor to see you shop at our little store.” “Hehe, thanks,” she said with a bashful smile, levitating her plates out of her cart. ‘I wish he recognized me from my banned picture. Then I’d have an excuse to not go through with this silly plan.’’ "Oh, nice choice. Those are some of our best plates. Anyway, they will cost fifty bits.” “Uh, I’m sorry, but I think I only have thirty bits with me. I must have misjudged the prices, but do you think you can allow me to pay with just thirty bits? Pleassse?” Twilight smiled, drooped her ears, and her eyes sparkled. She still had it. Even if she felt humiliated trying to exploit her cuteness abilities as a grown mare.  ‘Uh-oh! She must be the filly I heard stories about! Get out of here before her cuteness overpowers you!’ The stallion ran off and zipped into a room with an “employees only” sign on its door. The alicorn blinked twice in confusion toward the employees-only room. “That was weird. Did my superpower change what it does? I knew this was a bad–” A unicorn mare strode out of the employee room and took her place beside the counter. “So, did you say you wanted to pay with only thirty bits?” “Um, yes, pleassse?” Twilight repeated her ultimate move. ‘Oh Celestia it feels REALLY weird doing this to another mare.’ “Yep, I thought so!" the new mare scowled. “You gotta be that filly that got my dad in trouble years ago!” Twilight’s smile faded and her eyes ceased its sparkling. “Really? If I did, I’m so–hey!” A ball from a shelf flew toward Twilight, glowing in red magic, and whacked her on her head. “Ow! Are you crazy?!” “No, but I have been waiting years for this!” the mare said, her horn glowing in that same red magic. “Nopony gets my dad in trouble but me!” She tossed another ball, which Twilight just managed to duck. “Eep! Stop that this instant! I don’t like playing the ‘princess’ card, but I am a princess!” “Princess, sicmness! You can give me whatever punishment you want later! As long as I get in some clean hits, it’ll be worth it, just like my cuteness-resistance classes now are! Now stand still!” Of course, standing still wasn’t happening. Twilight scurried through the lobby and out of  Deluxe R Us’s front doors. She whizzed by Shining and sprinted down the streets with the furious salesmare in fierce pursuit, continuing to chuck balls at the fleeing alicorn. "I'm sorry I'm–ow, the reason your dad got in trouble, but what would your boss think of you treating your customers like this?! Ow!" "I don't care what she thinks! I was thinking of quitting anyway, and now I have a way to go out with a bang!" Shining watched the two mares slowly disappear from his view in stunned silence. He finally said, “Huh. So that is the worst that could happen. I better go save Twily, but at least she’s going to burn off the cake she ate before we left.”