//------------------------------// // 05 - Shopping // Story: A Very Minty Summer Sun Celebration // by Zobeid //------------------------------// When they made it back to Berry Punch’s stand, she was quick to wave them over. “Hey Pinkie Pie! A couple of guys came around here looking for you and your friend.” Pinkie blinked. “Huh? Why were they looking for us?” “I dunno, they didn’t say. I don’t think it was anything good. They had a really bad attitude. I had to smack one upside the head to get him to back off.” Pinkie and Minty and Star Catcher all traded glances, seeing if any of them knew what this might be about. “I don’t get it,” said Pinkie. “Everypony I know is back in Ponyville, and none of them have bad attitudes. They’re all my friends.” “Well, you girls just be careful, and keep an eye out. If anypony hassles you, come to me — or tell the guards. So… Would you care for some more lemonade?” Pinkie and Minty nodded. “Okay, coming right up!” After the three ponies had sat down and enjoyed their lemonade, they decided to go browsing for souvenirs and gifts among the many stalls and shops that had been set up around the fair grounds. Ponies had brought their wares and crafts from all over Canterlot and beyond: clothes and jewelry, toys and games, art and musical instruments. Although some of the shops were little more than open stalls, there were also some larger and quite permanent-looking buildings. Star Catcher sniffed at the air. “There’s an enticing odor. Let’s take a look, shall we?” She followed her nose to a nearby vendor’s stall, nestled among a small grove of trees. Minty and Pinkie followed, their curiosity piqued. They soon saw where the scent was coming from, as each corner of the structure had a bundle of incense burning. It was good advertising, since the shop was largely filled with incense and burners, in addition to candles, soaps, and numerous mysterious jars. “Welcome to my emporium!” said a cheerful orange unicorn mare wearing a gypsy scarf. “I’m Heaven Scent. Feel free to ask about anything you see — or smell — that catches your interest!” The three ponies wandered around, sniffing at this and that. Minty found herself nosing into a rack of small white jars. “What are these?” she wondered aloud. “Let me show you!” said Heaven Scent. With her magic she grabbed and opened a jar, then she carefully dipped the very tip of her horn into it. A few drops of pale yellowish liquid adhered. Then she waved her horn in front of Minty and said, “Taste it!” Minty blinked. “You… You want me to lick your horn?” “Go on!” urged the unicorn. “It’s not dirty, it won’t hurt you.” Pinkie Pie and Star Catcher were watching now. Feeling uncertain, Minty extended her tongue and licked a drop from the horn. She rolled her tongue in her mouth and then said, “Hey! That tastes like peaches. It’s nice. What is it, some kind of peach syrup?” “It’s personal lubricant,” Heaven said. “A jar of this could make your next date with your colt-friend very memorable.” Minty’s ears drooped with confusion for a few seconds, then her eyes went wide, and she blushed and started backing away. “Oh, um… wow.” Meanwhile Pinkie Pie snerked, struggling not to laugh out loud, and then gradually broke down into a giggling fit. Heaven Scent simply smiled and wiped her horn clean with a damp rag while Minty slunk away and developed a sudden interest in soap. Star Catcher, though, moved closer to the proprietor and asked softly, “How much for a jar?” After leaving Heaven Scent’s shop — having also picked up some incense to bring home for Kimono — they continued browsing among the others. After they found a shop that had colorful socks, they practically had to drag Minty out the door. Pinkie Pie bought a mustache-shaped baking mould (“Perfect for a mustache party!”) for herself, and a set of bamboo pan pipes for Star Catcher. One shop was particularly large, with a broad porch and a life-sized statue of a buffalo in front. Star Catcher paused to look at a gray kitten that was running about and playing. She looked around. “Where is your mother, little kitten?” she wondered. “Where are your litter-mates?” She watched for a few moments, then followed her companions into the store. The first thing she saw upon entering was more different kinds of candy than she’d ever seen in one place before. Minty and Pinkie Pie were already fully engaged in pointing out different candies to one another: “Jaw Breakers!” “Peanut brickle!” “Fudge!” “Gumballs!” “Look at all the flavors of jelly beans!” “Look at all the gummis!” “Whoah… There’s a whole wall covered with salt water taffy. And they have peppermint! And spearmint! And wintergreen!” Star Catcher asked the attendant for a small bag of jelly beans with mixed flavors. She watched as the sales pony gripped a scoop handle gingerly with her lips, and filled the bag, and weighed it. After she’d paid for the candy, Star Catcher ventured, “How did you come to be here in Uni…, um, Canterlot, if you don’t mind me asking?” “I grew up here,” was the cheerful reply. “My regular store is over on Destrier Drive, but this is the fifth year in a row that I’ve rented this space for the celebration.” Star Catcher nodded and asked, carefully, “What’s it like for an earth pony growing up here?” The other pony shrugged. “What, you mean because there’s so many unicorns living here? It was a unicorn city way back, even before Equestria was founded. But that’s no big deal.” “That long ago…” Star Catcher muttered, more to herself than to the sales pony. Just then everypony perked up as they heard a piercing shriek, followed by, “Oh! My! Gosh! Minty! There’s a whole room full of toys and puzzles back here!” Seeing that Pinkie and Minty were likely to be there for A While, Star Catcher told the sales pony, “If my friends look for me, please tell them I’ll be just outside, would you dear?” Then she took her bag and returned to the porch. She hopped onto a wooden bench and set her jelly beans on the adjacent table. She overturned the bag so some of the candy spilled out onto the table, and she could easily pick out individual beans with her lips. Then she settled her body down on the bench and ate her jelly beans at a leisurely pace, one at a time. Although small, they were the most flavorful jelly beans she’d ever had. While she waited she watched other ponies come and go, and casually listened to snippets of conversation. There was a scratching sound, then the kitten’s head popped into view at the edge of the table. With tiny claws extended, it climbed onto the tabletop then meowed at her, loudly, “YOW! YOW! YOW!” She craned her neck and sniffed at the kitten, and it sniffed back. She tried stroking the kitten with the bristly hairs under her chin, rubbing along its head and down its back to the base of its tail. The kitten arched its back and hiked its tail and immediately purred. She giggled softly and stroked it a few more times with her chin. Just as she started to pull her muzzle back, the kitten’s paw struck out hooked its claws into Star Catcher’s nose. She gasped, “Aaah! Nono!” as she reflexively jumped to her feet and partially unfurled her wings. She brought forth a hoof and used the edge to carefully dislodge the prickly claws from her nostril. “You little monster!” she scolded, but the kitten was already batting a jelly bean between its paws. The bean bounced off the edge of the table, and the kitten followed in a flash. “You must be the most scatterbrained animal I’ve ever seen.” She settled back down on the bench, began to chew another jelly bean, and kept a wary eye on the kitten as it scampered about frantically, startling passing ponies as it frisked around their feet. Star Catcher wondered briefly if it was going to be trampled, but it seemed only ponies were at risk as the kitten nimbly dodged their darting hooves. After some time the kitten ran out of steam and stretched out on the table beside her for a cat nap. Star Catcher smiled softly, and resumed chewing on her jelly beans, one at a time, and wondered how her friends were coming along with their shopping. Pinkie squealed and grabbed Minty. “Look at this! This is what I’ve always needed so bad and I didn’t even know!” Grinning maniacally, she pushed a small tin box into Minty’s face. Minty blinked and sat back on her haunches, grasped the box between her front hooves, and squinted at the writing on it: EMERGENCY INFLATABLE CHICKEN. “What is this? I don’t even…” Pinkie grabbed it and turned the box around so Minty could read the label on the other side. Any serious situation can be deflated by the introduction of a rubber chicken, but traditional rubber chickens are so impractically large for daily use. This vinyl Emergency Inflatable Rubber Chicken slides easily into any saddlebag or purse waiting to be introduced at the exact moment a little levity is needed. Inflates to 16” long. Star Catcher had pulled out her new pan pipes and began to practice, playing softly while the kitten slumbered. It had been years since she’d played the pan pipes, when she’d learned along with Star Song and some other ponies in school. However, it was an easy instrument to play, and the memories began to come back to her quickly. Other passerby paused, pleasantly bemused by the beautiful pegasus playing her music next to a table scattered with jelly beans and an adorable sleeping kitten. “It looks like you found a friend,” one commented Star Catcher merely smiled and continued her tune. Shortly, however, an annoying mechanical sound began to intrude upon Star Catcher’s music. She stopped playing, ears perked up and looked around. Letting the pipes dangle from their cord around her neck, she slipped off the bench and moved out into the sunlight. Gazing upward she saw what looked like a massive, wide-eyed purple sea creature somehow swimming through the sky with thick and powerful flippers. It was from this monstrosity that the mechanical noises issued, along with twin plumes of white clouds that trailed a short distance before dissipating. Star Catcher froze, her mind whirling. Was the city under attack? She glanced about. Other ponies were looking upward and pointing, but there were no screams of terror. She glanced up again at the beast, which seemed on a course almost straight toward her. “I’ve got to get a closer look at that!” she muttered, and she leapt into the air. Soon she was keeping pace alongside the thing and, from this perspective, could easily see how she’d been wrong. What she’d taken for the creature’s body was, in fact, a large and elongated balloon with a decoratively embroidered cover in the shape of a sea beast. Below the balloon thick cables held suspended a graceful hull painted purple and festooned with propulsive and steering fins covered in gold leaf. Relieved, although still amazed by what she beheld, she waved at the crew ponies she could see moving about on the deck. Several other pegasi had the same idea as her and were flying along with the strange craft, although they all kept a respectful distance from the airbags, propellers and backwash. Star Catcher intercepted one of the other pegasus ponies and shouted to him over the noise of the motor, “What is it?” She waved a hoof toward the nearby vessel. “It’s one of the new steam-powered airships!” he yelled back. “They must be training to race in the Alicorn Cup. It’s only a couple of months away, you know.” “Steam powered? How does that work?” All Star Catcher knew of steam was from a tea kettle. “It’s just like a steam carriage!” the other pony yelled, unhelpfully. “They can go way faster and farther than magic propulsion.” Star Catcher nodded and then flapped her wings and swooped over and around the ship, getting a good look, and then turned to glide back to the shop where she’d left her friends. Upon landing she noted the kitten had already scampered off somewhere, so she collected the candy she’d left on the table, and she went inside. She found the pony at the candy counter and asked, “Have you seen where my friends went?” The pony nodded. “They went into the back room, down those steps and toward the end. They’ve been back there a while now; they must have found something that really grabbed their attention.” “Thank you!” Star Catcher said, and she went to track down her friends. In the darkened back of the shop, Minty and Pinkie Pie stared in wide-eyed wonder. Minty said, “This is amazing!” Both ponies were bathed in an eerie blue glow from the object of their fascination. “It’s incredible!” said Pinkie. Minty inched closer to the thing, although not daring to touch it. Her nose was close enough to feel warmth emanating from it. She said, “This… This must be the most amazingly magical thing in the world!” “I could watch it all day long,” said Pinkie. “Look at that!” Both ponies’ eyes went even wider as two globs of molten wax collided and fused together inside the lava lamp.