//------------------------------// // Shopping is Magic // Story: Waking up as Rarity. // by TonydBrony //------------------------------// Bright pastel colors hit my eyes faster than a MLB pitcher's screwball as I trotted into the painfully rainbow filled store. Immediately stopped to stare at the poorly dressed cashier. My jaw dropped at the atrocity that I was staring at. This girl had the audacity to come to work wearing a nineteen-seventies daisy summer dress. I don’t mean to rant, but yellow is definitely NOT her color, and if she was going to wear heels, they should’ve matched the dress and not be the god awful cyan they were. Secondly, if she is going to wear makeup, she should’ve used colors that complemented her skin tone, but apparently all she had was jet black. Gah! My retinas! They burn! With one look around the establishment, I almost cringed at the sight of the gaudy clothing. Brightly colored sweater vests, skinny jeans, and even tutus were lined up, wall to wall. Yet, I felt compelled to look around, to see if there was anything my size. “What’s the matter, darling?” Alonso chirped in and derailed my train of thought. “Never been to such an amazing place I presume? I know it can be a bit overwhelming at first, but I promise you’ll love it here!” His smile was reassuring, although I was still unsure about the spectrum of choices this place had to offer. What are you thinking?! There is NOTHING for you in here! Leave! Now! You don’t have time to fool around looking for clothes! Sometimes my thoughts can be a real jerk. When has he ever been right anyways? I’ve got plenty of time! “Well. As a great man once said,” I said, looking up to my new companion. “Allons-y!” I just need some time to relax. Even if it is with my fruity friend. After all, maybe I can find a decent hoodie, or a nice pair of sunglasses. You aren’t going to find anything pony sized! Stop being a hard ass for once and listen to me! “Oh goodie! There is a clearance on skull caps!” Alonzo squealed in delight, clapping his hands together. He then sprinted off into the store, dragging me behind him. *** I’m not going to lie, Alfonzo is a pretty cool guy once you get past the fruitcake of a man exterior. We must have spent at least an hour talking about our favourite style of hair, before we actually started looking at anything to buy. Now, he was wearing an oversized sombrero dancing in the middle of the store just because I placed it on his head and he was reciting some song in French that I couldn’t make heads or tails of. I almost broke into one of my infamous giggle fits, but I caught myself and decided to look at what this place had to offer. “It’s probably going to be chilly in New York,” I said to myself, as I looked over various scarves, gloves, and winter socks. As I walked down the aisle, something shining in a bin that was labeled ‘discount’ caught my eye. “It’s worth a look, I suppose.” I said cheerfully as I trotted over to the bin to inspect the source of the glinting object. “Sweet Celestia of Equestria...” Before me were a worn pair of aviation goggles. They were dented, cracked and the left eye piece was missing. They were perfect. Secretly, I have always held a love for flight close to my heart and these goggles are the one piece that I had been missing to complete my bomber outfit. That I had been building over the years. Now, with these goggles I will finally complete my work! You always dress in style. Don’t you? I gave myself a nod, and went to grab the goggles in my mouth. “WHERE DID THEY GO!?” Holy shit. my goggles are gone! I frantically searched the whole bin, even diving into the massive amounts of assorted accessories. “Holy hot hell!” I screamed while swimming through the box of clothes. “Where are they?!” You find something you like, and what do you do? You lose it. Nice going, Einstein. “Not now! I need to find those goggles!” I was still scrambling to find my long yearned specs. Then I heard something that made my heart sink into my stomach. “Hey Alex! Look what I found! These are perfect for your steampunk outfit!” I popped my head out of the pile of junk to see two teenagers, both dressed up in the steampunk genre. And I probably would have stopped to admire their outfits if it wasn’t for the fact I was about to bawl my eyes out. “Dude, these are amazing!” The guy who I presumed was Alex said to his unnamed buddy. “Doug, how much are these? I don’t see a price tag.” Alex looked closer at the goggles, and flipped them around. “Ten bucks?” He said with a saddened voice. “I don’t have ‘nough cash. Doug, can you spot me a five?” Doug turned his pockets inside out. “I ain't got nothin man.” Alexs face darkened and started to walk back over to the bin I was in to put them back. Sweet! Now you can get them and complete that sick outfit of yours! Then you can wear it once you are human again! ‘Two things wrong with that statement, brain,’ I said back to my own thoughts. ‘That would be if I turn human again and I’m not buying those goggles for me.’ Tony, can’t you just enjoy something in your life without giving something up for someone else? I mean, you do this all the time! You’ve got to stop being the nice guy! Just look at this guy. He’s done nothing for you and you are telling me that you are going to buy him a pair of goggles that he probably doesn’t deserve?! ‘Eeyup.’ You are so dense at times, Tony! Why do you have to help everyone you meet? “I gotta pay it forward. Someone helped me out, I gotta help someone else.” I said aloud just as the steampunked teen got to the bin. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me. “Wait! Before you freak out, I just wanted to ask you if you would mind if I bought you those goggles.” I exasperated right as I ran out of breath. Alex only looked at me and reached a hand as if he was about to touch me. “Yes, I am real and no, I do not want to be petted.” His hand retracted immediately. “Holy moley. You’re Rarity.” He was speechless for a moment. “And you are wearing a russian winter hat.” “Yes, yes, yes. The hat is amazing, but you didn’t answer my question, darling.” “Y- yeah, s- sure! I mean, thanks man! I mean, lady Rarity.” He then proceeded to fanboy freakout as a levitated the goggles back into his hands and gave him a ten dollar bill. “Have a nice day, sweetie!” I waved him off with a reassuring hoof. “Enjoy whatever convention you are going to!” With this, Alex ran over to his buddy with his goggles in hand and was telling him how ‘he found ten bucks on the floor.’ What is your major malfunction, Tony?! You just gave away one fifth of your cash! ‘There is nothing more fabulous in the world than helping someone and making their day better.’ I could practically see my thoughts groan and flip me the bird. With a sigh, I jumped down from the bin, and walked back to Al, who was chatting with the cashier. “..and then I said, peanut? That’s my wife!” Apparently he was telling bad jokes, but he had the girl in tears. “Hey, Al!” I began pulling on his pant leg. “Can we go now? I can’t find anything I like.” Alonzo looked down at me. “Huh? What? Oh. Yeah, okay.” He said absent mindedly. I face hoofed again; this time I made sure to not give myself a concussion. “Al! I’m leaving now. Thanks for the coffee and showing me this store.” “Yeah, yeah. Sure. See you when I get there.” “Damn it Al.” With a grunt, I trotted out of the store onto the sidewalk. “Well. To the bus station, Tony.” I sighed and got a move on, trotting down the now empty streets. “At least it isn’t raining-,” a sharp crack of thunder cut me off, and it started pouring down. I looked to the now darkening skies. “Well, ain’t this something.” I instantly ran under a bus stop to avoid getting soaked any further. After all, the last thing I need now is pneumonia. “And now we play the waiting game.” I said bluntly into the now storming streets of Charleston. Why don’t we play the silent game as well? “You lose.” Touche’ A/N: Hey again readers. Bringing you all a late night chapter in my struggles to get to the big apple. Hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to comment on anything I need to work on, or just things or like about this chapter in particular. -Tony (Rarity)