//------------------------------// // Shop till you drop. // Story: The Royal Three // by Kingstar008 //------------------------------// November 27 1009 A.G It was a cold and snowy night in the royal capital of Canterlot. And there was a jolly mood in the air. Colorful lights decorated every lamp post, every windowsill and door had beautiful garland and poinsettias. And families were starting to buy trees for their living rooms. Heck, even Canterlot castle had a few of them in the library and the leisure areas. It was beginning to look lot like Christ- *clears throat* heartwarming. On this particular night, our protagonists are out in the cold with some friends. And they’re doing this for two reasons. First reason is because they need to get some gifts for their friends and family and the second reason is because all the stores in the country is doing the yearly tradition of drop their prices by 90% from Friday tonight to Saturday night. The deals were so good that I decided to buy some stuff as well. It was worth it despite the chaos. But enough about me. let’s get on with the story, shall we. ===•••=== 8:30 PM Outside temperature: 25°F As ponies big and small decorated their homes and communities. A carriage carrying six passengers traveled through the snow-covered roads. The passengers are the Yukon triplets, Spike, Cyclone, and last but not least Otto. After the group met up and the two pegasi got acquainted with Spike, they hopped on the carriage and started to have a nice little chat. “After we get everything, we need what should we do afterwards?” Apollo ask the group. “How about we go and watch a movie?” Spike suggested. “Wouldn’t the theater be crowded as well?” Cyclone wondered. “I don’t think so, they didn’t lower the prices so I think will be good. Especially if we get there later this evening” Otto said. After that, the carriage became silent for a few minutes, giving Spike an opportunity to address the elephant in the room. “AAA, I have a question for you three. Why are you guys have sleeveless gloves on?” “Yeah, I’ve been wondering the same thing.” Cyclone said. “Well, there’s a reason for that.” Atlas said. “It is to prevent our hands from hurting from all the bags we are going to carry. And just in case if things go south.” “Wait, what do you mean by that?” Spike asks. “Didn’t we tell you about Black Friday?” Apollo said. “I think you only mention the name once.” Cyclone said. “What is Black Friday?” Spike asks confused. “Oh, I thought we told you guys. All right gather around. This is going to be a something that you will not believe.” Atlas said. Cyclone rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on and can’t be that far-fetched.” “OK, we warn you.” Atlas said. “Black Friday is the unofficial start of the holiday day shopping season back in America. But unlike in Equestria, when you have two days and two nights good prices, for some reason, the only time is when prices are extremely low, is 11:30 PM to 6 AM.” “That’s such a small window. Why don’t they give other ponies more time?” Otto asks. “We don’t know, but all we do know is that it’s extremely profitable for stores. So much so, the government encourages it.” Artemis said. “Heck most of the time, people like to set up camp right outside of the entrance of the stores and malls. This leads to violence over their spots in line. Sometimes Apollo record the fights and put them on Facebook.” “The deals are that good?” Spike said. Before he took a swig from his soda bottle. “Yep, sometimes the deals are so good that some shopper's main objective is to get the item and get out. No matter the cost.” Apollo said. “But there is an upside to all of the chaos. When entire groups of people start to beat each other to a bloody pulp, we just go around them get our stuff and get out. That’s been our strategy for the past…. Artemis how long we’ve been doing this?” “Six years.” Artemis answered. “So, you’ve been doing this black friday thing for a while now.” Otto said. “Yeah. You can tell that it’s hard to break certain habits.” Artemis said. “Well, my experience shopping during this time is a bit hectic, but a bit more peaceful.” Otto said. “Fights still happen, right?” Apollo asks. “Oh yeah, there’s still fights. Just not as violent as you have described. Unless you’re in Baltimare.” “Ok, good.” A few seconds later, the carriage came to a halt and a fluffy looking gray unicorn mare open the door and spoke. “We have arrived at your destination. I hope your ride was enjoyable.” After the six friends exited the carriage, Artemis and Apollo gave the gray unicorn very generous tip. They each gave her three 100-bit coins. “This is too much; I can’t take this.” She spoke. “We insist. Think of it as an early heartwarming gift.” Apollo said. “Thank you so much for this. Have a nice heartwarming y’all.” do unicorn said as she pulled her carriage to finding another customer. “Have a happy heartwarming to you too.” Artemis and Apollo said in unison. After that, the six friends walked towards the main entrance of the worlds famous, Canterlot mega mall. And this place is HUGE. This mall has four floors. It twice the size of the mall of America. The Mall is also home to an indoor botanical garden, a large movie theater complex and an aquarium. A tourist wet dream. As they walk through the crowded shopping center Spike spotted something that would excite any child. He spotted Santa hoof’s workshop. “Oh my gosh, Santa right there.” Spike said excitedly. “Uhhh can one of you come with me?” “I don’t know, aren’t you a little bit old to be visiting Santa?” Otto said. “Dude, I’m 12.” “You’re only 12? I thought you were 16.” “Dragons have big growth spurts. You’re not the first pony that thought that I was older based off my looks. So, any of you guys are going to come with me?” “Are you sure, the line looks pretty long. How about we do this another day?” Artemis said. “But he’s right there. The more we wait the longer the line will be. Come on please?” He said as he started to use puppy dog eyes. And he looks adorable for a dragon that could put someone in a hospital with one swing of his tail. After 10 seconds of this, Artemis was the one to crack. “God dammit, I’ll come with you.” The dragon hugs the human and says. “Thank you.” “So, since you’re taking Spike to Santa we’ll go on the ahead. If anything goes down, call us.” Atlas said. “Right back at ya.” “See ya, Artemis. Bye spike.” Cyclone said as the rest of the group walked away. When they couldn’t see the group anymore, the dragon and the human walked towards the back of the line. ===•••=== 20 minutes later. 9:55 PM Surprisingly, the wait time Santa’s workshop was shorter than Artemis thought it would be. It was all thanks to a few families exiting the line because of their kids falling asleep. After spike got to talk to the Pegasus Santa and got a picture with him, one of the elves gave Spike a free candy bar. Spike split the chocolate and half gave the other piece to Artemis, and they left the workshop. “Again, thanks for coming with me to visit Santa.” Spike said. “Hey, no problem. I just was a little kid to, so I understand.” “Which store should we go into first?” the dragon asks. “I don’t know actually; I want to go to the clothing store to get Twilight something nice.” “That very nice of you, but you know all have to do is just get her a few books.” “That’s it? Only a few books. But she already has a ton of books.” “She loves getting books as a present. Especially ones about magic and science. If you get her a few new books, she’ll be happy as a clam.” “Mmmmm, now that sounds like a good idea. And speaking of books, I saw on the map that there’s a bookstore nearby on the third floor. Maybe we can go there first.” Artemis suggested. “Now we’re talking. Where are the elevators?” “They’re in the atrium.” he groaned. “So that means we have to go back to where we came?” “Yep.” Spike and Artemis looked behind each other to see the large crowd of ponies in their way. “This is going to be difficult.” Said Spike. “You can say that again.” ===•••=== 10:10 PM After 15 minutes of navigating through large crowds of shoppers, Artemis and Spike made it to the third floor. Luckily for them the third floor wasn’t as crowded as the ground level, so they were able to walk towards the store with no problems at all. When they entered the bookstore, they saw in the middle of the store, a bunch of ponies arguing with each other. And they look like they were ready to throw some hands. Curious about the situation, spike walked up to a unicorn pony employee and ask. “Excuse me sir, what’s going on here?” The employee rubbed his temples in frustration. “These idiots are arguing about who should have the last copy of the new Saturn 1 book.” “Are there any more copies being delivered?” Spike asks. “Yes actually, it should be here in 20 to 25 minutes. But when we told them that, they just went back to arguing. If they start fighting, we’re going to alert security.” Satisfied with this answer, spike walk back to where the human was standing. After Spike told him what was going on, Artemis start to think of a plan. “So, they’re fighting over who can get the last copy.” Artemis said in thought. “I remember Twilight told me that book was so popular that it was harder to find than a four-leaf clover.” He smiled deviously. “This is a perfect opportunity to get it for her.” “Artemis, what are you talking about?” Spike asks. “Spike I have an idea of how to get the Saturn one book and all the other books we want to get.” “How?” “It’s very simple really. I have to do is to wait for them to start fighting and when they do, I’ll get the last copy and leave the story before they even notice.” He said, as he put his earbuds in his ears. “Before I forget, can you pass me the list of books you want to get for Twilight?” Spike pull the list from his jacket pocket and handed it to the human. “Be careful.” “Don’t worry my little dragon, I got this.” As he walked into the store, he started his playlist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zBwRDEFMRY&pp=ygUSb25lIHdheSBvciBhbm90aGVy Picking up a shopping basket, Artemis walked into the store as the ponies continue to scream at each other. He spends about two minutes, jamming out to the song as he browses through area the store that was nearby the screaming match. During that time, he picked up three books that was on Spike’s shopping list. His moment to strike came earlier than expected when he heard some pony slapped another pony followed by. “THAT’S IT!” *CRASH* The sound made Artemis turn around to see the pegasus stallion grab the earth pony stallion by the shoulder, and slam him into the bookshelf, causing books to fall all over them. The earth pony responded by kneeling the Pegasus in the stomach. To his horror, he didn’t even flinch. Then the rest of the ponies join in and descended into a full-on brawl. Without skipping a beat, Artemis sneakily made his way towards the table, grab the book, placed it between two of the books, put a third book on top of it to hide it, and made his escape. After he went to the counter, and paid for his items, he speeds walked out the store. “How in tartarus did you do that?” Spike said with shock etched all over his face. “When you live in a city filled with people like that, you learn a thing or two. Before we go, let me record this. Apollo is going to love it.” The two friends stayed for another minute or two before security came to arrest the troublemakers. When they ended the fight, the ponies finally noticed that the book was gone. “Where is the book?!” The silver Pegasus said in confusion. “Whoever has it better fess up before their flank gets beaten into the ground!” The brown earth pony said with anger in his eyes. Despite the large crowd that was separating the deranged earth pony from the human and the dragon, they felt like they needed to get out of there. “Spike we need to go, now.” “Agreed.” ===•••=== 10:30 PM Apollo’s POV Indoor botanical garden. Peace and quiet. Apollo never thought he would get those two things in a crowded mall. Yet here he was. In the botanical garden. He was not the only one in here, heck far from it. They were either relaxing or exploring the gardens. Apollo is in here because he wanted to get a little present for Crater from the botanical shop. After all, that sugar glider deserves something for heartswarming. Right now, Apollo is relaxing on a bench on one of the above ground walkways. Watching the waterfall and the gardens below. His peaceful moment was interrupted when his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He grabbed his phone and answered it. Artemis: “Hey Apollo.” “Hey Artemis, what’s up?” Artemis: “Nothing much I was just wondering what you were doing.” “I’m just sitting in the gardens.” Artemis: “Wait, why are you in the botanical gardens?” “I decided to get Crater a little present.” Artemis: “Oh, for a second there I thought you already got tired of walking already.” Apollo rolled his eyes. “Ha ha very funny. Anyway, what are you and Spike doing?” Artemis: “We are walking through the mall right now trying to choose another place to shop at. And you won’t believe what happened a few minutes ago.” “What?” Artemis: “We found a copy of Saturn 1.” “……No fucking way.” Artemis: “Yes I did.” “Prove it.” Artemis: “Are you crazy? I don’t want this thing to get stolen.” “Now that I think about it. That’s pretty stupid of me to suggest. But how did you get one?” Artemis: “It was really simple. Actually a group of ponies was fighting over it and I took it.” “Wow, that’s really lucky you. Should play the lottery.” Artemis: “With the amount of money I get from my job. I don’t need to. I need to call you back Spike and I just found the store to go into. See you later.” “Later.” After that, he ended the call. 10 seconds later he received a text from Artemis. It was a video of the fight with a text underneath it that read "I recorded this for you. This fight is insane. Pay attention to the silver Pegasus.” “Hmm, this is going to be interesting.” (Four minutes later.) “Damn, he should be an MMA.” ===•••=== 10:50 PM While the rest of his friends were either shopping or wandering the mall. Otto was on a mission. Why may you ask? Well, it’s because ever since September, Otto has been seeing someone. By that, I mean dating. It all started when he bumped into the special lady after watching a very entertaining play. Thanks to his tall and muscular build. (He’s 6’4 by the way.) He accidentally knocked her to the ground. Feeling bad for what happened, he helped her pick up her sheet music and offered to carry the rest of her music sheets. Since she already had her hands full with her cello. She gladly accepted. After that incident, they started to meet up in a coffee shop three time a week. Despite being from different worlds, they discovered that they had a lot in common. Like favorite foods and hobbies. Heck, they even discovered that they were both from Trottingham and born in the same year. (They’re both 19 years old.) Eventually, these two friends start to have feelings for each other, and the rest was history. That’s why he was in this fancy department store, waiting on a long line for the customer service desk. He was here for a very important package. Days before, Otto was wondering what to get her for heartwarming. At first, he thought a new bowtie could be a good present, since she likes to wear them to work. He shot that idea down since she already has a ton of bowties. Then he thought of a perfect gift. After waiting on the line for 20 long minutes, he finally got to the front of the line and was greeted by a cheerful red seapony. “Happy heartwarming. How can I help you tonight?” She spoke. “Happy heartwarming to you too. I’m here for a custom order under the name Otto von strike.” She looked down at her clipboard for a second. “I’m happy to inform you sir, that your package arrived this afternoon. Just give me one sec.” 30 seconds later, the sea pony came back with a box in her hands. “Here you go, sir. And have a nice evening.” “You too.” Otto said as he walked away. When he exited the store, he couldn’t resist the urge to open the box. Inside was a white and purple purse and satchel bag with a purple treble clef symbol on both bags. “Oh, she’s going to love this.” ===•••=== 11:20 Meanwhile with Atlas and Cyclone. They were in a sporting goods store, looking for some new fitness gifts for Lydia. Well Cyclone was looking for fitness gifts, while Atlas was along for the ride. “So should I choose this pair?” He pointed at a pair of red and black shoes. “Or this pair?” he pointed at another pair of sneakers on the left that was black and white. “Hmmm, go with the black and white ones they look nice so match with the rest of the outfit.” Atlas said. “Black and white it is. He said, as he picked up the shoebox. “Thanks for helping me out.” “Hey, it’s no problem at all. If I was a store filled with nice things like this, I would ask for help as well. Now all we have to do is to find a cash register.” The two friends walked around the huge sports store for a few minutes until they found what they were looking for. Unfortunately, there were two kirin mares arguing with each other. While there was a seapony behind the counter trying to defuse the situation. She surrounded herself in a water bubble, just in case. “Should we try this register?” Cyclone asks. It was at this moment when the two kirins burst into flames. “No. I love life too much to get involved in that mess. Let’s go to the front desk instead.” Cyclone stared at the two arguing mares and said. “Why did I even ask?” ===•••=== 12:00 A.M 40 minutes has passed since our six friends got everything on their shopping list. Since they had time to spare, they went back to the castle, put away their things and came back to the mall in record time. Now they were in the packed theater waiting for the new movie “Derring do and the magical pearl” to start. “Hey Otto.” “Yeah Apollo?” “Do you know who this is?” Apollo ask, showing the white Pegasus the paused video, he got from Artemis. “Yeah, I know him, that’s Silverwing. He works at that nice coffee shop down the street. Why you ask?” “Next time you see him, tell him to go to martial arts, boxing, anything fighting related, tell him to do it.” “Why?” “Watch this.” (Four minutes later.) “I knew he likes to work out sometimes, but I didn’t know he was able to do all that.” Otto said in shock. “I know right. Who knew someone like this is working at a coffee shop.” “You can say that again. When I see him on Monday, I’ll recommend some gyms to him. And if he’s up to it, maybe he’ll become a part-time fighter.” Otto said. “Good, because talent like this shouldn’t go to waste.” “ I couldn’t agree with you more.” A few seconds later, the lights in the theater turned off, and the movie started to play.