We all laughed. Pinkie then stopped laughing and looked back at us. Apparently she didn't understand why what she said was so funny. She was wearing a jester cap and slowly her eyes narrowed.
"Hey, you don't think it's a cool hat, do you?"
"Oh it's not that." said Rarity "It's just that while it is cool in it's own way, it's mostly a funny hat. Such a thing has never really been in style."
"Awww, really, but it looks so awesome."
"Bwa, ha ha."
Dash pointed and wobbled in the air. I smiled. Despite what Dash said earlier she's the only one of us that bought any books. Granted the books were one on aerodynamics, a second on jets, and Soarin's biography, but I still found it amusing. AJ was currently carrying them in Rarity's saddlebags, along with Rarity's own purchase. She had bought a set of tools from the jeweler, as well as a lovely matching silver tiara and necklace. Applejack insisted she carry them once she bought a bunch of these odd painted stone figures. Said something about completing her granny's collection.
Dash of course just shoved her books in there without even asking, but AJ just glared for a few seconds, then walked on. I was impressed Rarity had no trouble summoning her saddlebags. Apparently it was close enough to being clothes it counted for her spell. I'm pretty sure I could do the same, but so far Fluttershy had only bought a small package of doilies. AJ had to practically order her to put them in the bag. Fluttershy said she didn't want to burden her anymore.
"So Twi, we about done with this here shopping trip?"
"Oh, you're not getting tired, are you?"
"Fluttershy, these days ah can only get to sleep every other day. It's a might weird truth be told, but ah sure can get a lot done."
I blinked. "Last time you mentioned something about this you said you could miss sleep, but now you literally can't get to sleep some days?"
AJ nodded. "Yea, but it ain't no big thing. Had a real nice conversation or so with Luna too. Apparently she likes to fly over the countryside at night."
I shook my head. "Anyway, onto our last stop."
"Huh, why?"
I pointed down the street. "The exit to the wind quarter is right there."
The other ponies looked to the large column in front of us. Of course I then realized from this side you couldn't see the entrance for the staircase. It was still impressive of course, but they looked confused.
"There are some stairs going up inside, the entrance is on the other side."
"Ohhh, that's much easier." Pinkie then giggled "I thought we would need to go buy some mountain climbing equipment."
"So where is the last stop."
"Halfway around the stairs, come on."
I then led the girls into forward, and into the pet store. Because the mountain quarter was carved out over time, there was a great deal of variance in store size. The pet store was much larger than any of the surrounding stores. I didn't come here too often, but I got that reptile hygiene set here, and used to buy that reptile vitamin supplement. Then I found a book that confirmed that dragons can be perfectly healthy if they eat rocks, and getting the proper amount of gems is the only thing that can effect their health, and even then that's mostly just the shininess of their scales.
It was the normal chaotic noise at first. Dogs barking, cats meowing, birds chirping, hamster wheels squeaking, and countless other noises of animals shuffling about in cages or enclosures of other types. Then suddenly there was silence. I turned and sure enough it was just as Fluttershy entered. Then briefly it was worse than ever, but the second Fluttershy cringed it stopped again.
"What the hay was that?" said the counter pony.
"I'm sorry."
Dash laughed. "Fluttershy here is really good with animals."
"That isn't a sensible answer."
I nodded. I had seen the green unicorn with brown hair before, but I didn't know her name. Really the only thing I knew about her was that she worked her and Spike liked to talk to her. She opened her mouth, then shook her head.
"Nevermind. Just tell me if you need anything, okay."
Fluttershy just nodded.
"Hmm, maybe I could get something cool for my fish."
I raised an eyebrow. "You have fish?"
"Yea. Nothing too delicate or whatever. They're still nice and colorful though."
"Oooo, what's that…"
Fluttershy nearly knocked me over to look at some animal in a small cage on one of the shelves. This store carried a wide variety of things, but specialized in exotic pets. So I was sure even if Fluttershy wasn't willing to buy a new friend, she would enjoy looking at all the animals here. Hopefully everyone else would be able to have some fun as well. The others began to spread out though the store.
Pinkie bounced up to a glass cube with no top full of puppies. She hopped up and down in front of them, smiling, and they started reacting. Slowly the noise had returned, but other than the now barking dogs most seemed somewhat quieter. Soon the dogs would jump at her in time with each bounce. I laughed, as did Applejack standing nearby in front of some shelves labeled as dog toys.