Storm's wing feathers fluffed up, shielding his sides from the harsh cold of the Canterlot winter. He looked across the snow covered park to his destination, a clothing boutique that sold cold weather gear. Keeping the back of his head warm and perched behind his brown horn was an old battered cow pony's hat.
He gave his wings a few test flaps, the wind gusts blowing loose powder off the ground. As he reared up to take flight, a nearby pony gasped when she noticed him, "Oh my gosh! Are you a prince?!"
Storm looked to his right, noticing a pink unicorn wearing a wool cap, a scarf, and ear muffs. He folded his wings against his side and dropped back to the snow covered ground. "Uh..." Storm turned to face the pony and looked around. He saw that they were alone, so he smiled, his green eyes nearly sparkling in the cloudy light. "Yes, yes I am a prince! I am Prince Lightnin' Storm! Ruler of thirteen planets, conqueror of changelin' hives, and the mayor of-"
"Wait." The mare tilted her head as she held a hoof off the ground and pointed it at Storm's flank. "If your name is Prince Lightning Storm, then why is your cutie mark a violin and bow?"
Storm looked at his flank, then the mare. " 'Cause it is my special talent!" He grinned. "I'm a violinist." He quickly pulled the violin case off his back and hugged it with his forehooves. "I play fer the Hollow Shades Symphony."
"Uh-huh." She nodded. "So why didn't your parents name you String Quartet or something? And what exactly are you a prince of again?"
"Right!" Storm put the violin on his back again and adjusted the strap, making sure it did not get in the way of his wings for flight. He placed a hoof to his chest and nodded. "I am Prince Light-"
"I already know your name," she replied. Storm frowned. "Your name makes no sense, so where do you rule again?"
"As I was tryin' to say before ya interrupted me. I, the Great and Powerful Prince Lightning Storm, am ruler of thirteen worlds, conqueror of-"
"Worlds?"
Storm nodded. "Yes, up there." He sat in the snow and waved a hoof at the sky, ignoring the cold seeping into his backside. "Planets. Ya know, the thingy we live on? There's gotta be oth-er... I mean there are others and I rule thirteen of 'em!" He nodded again. "I even conquered changelin' hives an' am the mayor of a small beach front town."
The mare rolled her eyes and began walking off, mumbling to herself about crazy ponies.
Storm let out a deep sigh, slowly looking up at the clouds above as snow began to fall. "I really gotta get some winter clothes," he said to no pony in particular. He hovered up and flew towards the clothing boutique with all the grace he could muster, leaving a few brown feathers behind.
As he slowly flew through the park, Storm looked to his left, then right to make sure no pony was coming at him unexpectedly. He then glanced skyward before looking to his left again, and began repeating himself. The boutique Storm had noticed was across the street from the park and looked open.
Yet, as he drew near, his eyes slowly widened. He quickly flew to the front door and pulled on it with a hoof, the glass rattling as the door slammed against the lock. Storm landed and looked at the door's closed sign with a frown.
"No! No! No!" He stomped his hoof down, unfolding and closing his wings. "That pony back there screwed me!" Storm turned away from the closed shop and looked a around Canterlot again. The city was oddly quiet, only the sound of Storm's breathing could be heard by him.
His ears flicked left as they picked up two sets of hooves and a pair of voices drawing closer, "And I totally told the pony. Make my hooves sparkle! I want sparkles, not a flat finish!"
"Did you get a refund? Your hooficure looks like a farm pony used a cheese grater."
The other mare's voice droned on and on, "Oh, totally! I flipped their table and walked out after getting my bits."
Storm looked to his left and saw the source of the conversation. Two unicorn mares were walking along the sidewalk with boxes floating in separate magic fields. They were looking at each other and completely oblivious to his presence. He quickly looked around for any place to hide, the looked up at his horn and cow pony hat. Remembering the remarking about a farm pony, Storm quickly took his hat off and stuffed it under a wing as he fixed his mane with a hoof. Then, he took a deep breath and trotted towards them, humming quietly.
"You flipped their table?! I'm surprised they didn't call the royal guard on you," the mare on the left said in surprise, her eyes wide.
The other mare shrugged. "Eh, they couldn't do anything anyway. They..."
The two ponies finally noticed Storm out of the corner of their eyes and slowly looked towards him. He smiled, waving his free wing as he passed. "Howd-er... Heya!" Storm grinned. "How's it going?"
"Fine," the mare on the right replied, following Storm with her eyes. Then she got an idea when she saw his cutie mark and smiled. "Hey!"
Storm stopped cold in his tracks as his color drained from his face, and his ears folded back a little. "Yes, ma'am?" He tucked his left wing close to keep his hat as hidden as possible. "What can I do fer ya?"
"You play violin, right?"
Storm nodded. "Yep! I'm a violinist, but I do a bit of fiddlin' on the side if the situation calls get it. My dream's to play in front of the princesses, buuut I got a lo-"
"Do you do private shows?" The mare asked, interrupting his speech. She set her boxes down as she pulled a pad of paper from her saddlebags. "One of my friends was looking for a pony to play at a birthday party she is going to be hosting."
Storm frowned. He scratched his mane with a hoof as his free wing flexed in and out a little bit. On one hoof, a musical job was bits, but on the other it might be frowned upon by his co-workers. Storm quickly shook his head and cringed. "I'm sorry, miss, but I just can't. I ain't to sure if my boss would let me, sorry."
She quickly frowned and put her paper away. "It was worth a shot." The mare picked up her items in her magic and turned to go.
"I could give ya the name of my boss and y'all could contact 'em to see."
The mare looked at the other one before taking out her paper again. "Okay then. What's her name?"
Storm opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and frowned. "Ya know. That's a very good question." The unicorn's eyes narrowed. "I ain't never really asked 'er. I jus' called 'er Boss, but I got this!" He used his free wing to dig through his saddlebag and pull out a small business card, which he gave to the mare.
She took it and read over Storm's name and where he played. "Okay. Thanks." The mares waved and resumed walking. Their conversation quickly went back to the topic of hooficures and how badly Storm needed one.
After clearing the snow from his mane, Storm quickly placed his hat on his head and looked at one of his forehooves, frowning deeply. "I really do need a hooficure, and a massage," he mumbled to himself. Then set his hoof down and took flight in the direction of a bar he knew.
He did not get very far before an idea struck him. Storm quickly turned around and dashed after the two mares, shouting, "ma'am?! I need ta ask ya somethin'!"
She heard Storm's shout and looked back, tilting her head. She quickly nudged the other mare and pointed at the approaching Storm. "Look."
The other mare looked back and tilted her head as well, her gaze was locked on the horn atop Storm's head. "Did he have a horn a minute ago?" she asked herself.
"I don't think so," the first mare replied. Then smiled at Storm when he stopped next to them. "Hello again! What can I help you with?"
Storm looked at their boxes, then to the mare. "I need to go to a boutique and buy some winter clothes, but that one ain't open!" He waved his hoof at the closed shop. "An' I figure y'all must've come from some shop, right?"
"That's right!" The mare grinned. "It's the best shop in Canterlot. Go three blocks that way and make a left." She pointed her hoof in the direction they had come from. "You can't miss it. It's called Nightingale’s Ramients."
Storm nodded as he started hovering off the ground. "Thank you, ma'am!"
He turned and dashed off as the mare called out to him, "Anytime!"
*** ***
Storm landed outside of Nightingale's Ramients. It was a large shop tucked between two large buildings. Storm quickly pulled a piece of paper out and looked at the list of shop names he was allowed to buy from and saw the name not listed, causing him to frown. "Well that's just great."
He put the paper away, took a deep breath, and stepped inside the boutique. Almost immediately, warm air tickled through his feathers as he let out a low whistle. The shop was filled with clothes on racks with stairs leading to the second floor. Storm saw there were a few ponies walking around and one working at a central desk.
He quickly headed over to the winter clothes section, ignoring anypony if they looked at him. Storm began looking at the hats. Fuzzy hats with built in ear muffs, wool hats, ball caps, berets and even a hat inside a hat. He rolled his eyes and moved over to the scarves, grabbing a purple one.
Storm quickly wrapped it around his neck and smiled as the soft fleece tickled at his brown fur. He opened his eyes and began looking for a sweater meant for a pegasus. His trek took him past a couple ponies, who looked at the large brown pony. Storm waved his wing in a greeting. One of the ponies waved back, then turned and whispered to her friend about meeting a prince.
Storm smiled. He eventually made it to where the sweaters were. Storm did not notice the clerk at the desk watching him, neither did he notice another stallion slowly walking closer. His gaze was too focused on the dark green fleece hoodie in his hooves. Storm quickly checked the size tag and put it back when he found it was a small. Scratching the back of his head with a hoof, Storm frowned deeply.
Before he could grab another sweater, the green and red unicorn stallion nudged Storm. Storm quickly looked to his left and gulped. The other stallion wore a dark blue shirt with a name tag that said 'Apple Cinnamon. Store Manager.'
"Heya!" Storm waved his hoof as he stood up, slowly taking the scarf off. "I... I was gonna pay fer this," he said. "L-look, I know I ain't allowed here, but can't ya cut me a break?"
Cinnamon looked to the scarf, then to Storm as his eyes narrowed. "You nearly gave some poor mare a heart attack last time," he said with a stern voice.
Storm gulped, setting the scarf down as he began backing away. "Look. I just need to buy some winter clothin', and then I'll be on my way."
"Rules are rules. Don't like it? Take it up with the head manager," Cinnamon replied. He looked to the pony at the center desk tending to a pair of customers, then looked at Storm and smirked. Storm tilted his head. “But I'll tell you what. If you manage to convince her,” he pointed at the pony, “to sell you the scarf and sweater. I’ll pretend like you used an invisibility cloak and weren't here.”
Storm smiled and nodded. “Ah! Yeah, that could work. I ain't never thought about an invisibility cloak.” He took the scarf, a random sweater, and headed for the desk.
The silver and yellow mare at the desk smiled at Storm as he approached. “Good evening, sir. Did you find everything you needed?”
Storm set his items down with a nod. “Yup!” He turned his head to the side and smiled at the mare.
She took the items from him, wrote down what they were and said, “That will be forty bits.”
“Alright.” Storm nodded. He used his wing to dig around his saddlebag for a smaller bag, smiling when he found it. “Here ya go!” He smiled as he tossed it onto the counter.
Slowly, the mare pulled the bag over and looked inside. She tilted her head, glanced at Storm, then the bag, and finally looked Storm in the eyes as she pushed the bag back to him. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"Uh, no?" Storm's smile slowly faded as the mare narrowed her eyes. "Yer manager over there said I could buy these items here."
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, nodding. "Sir. We don't accept buttons as currency. Do you have bits?"
Storm glanced at Apple Cinnamon, then looked to the mare and slowly waved a hoof across her face, "Buttons will do fine."
"No they won't," she growled, nearly grinding her teeth together as she clamped her jaw shut.
Storm frowned and, again, waved his hoof across her face as he said, "Buttons will do fine."
The mare quickly grabbed the clothing items and pulled them close, glaring daggers at Storm. "No. They won't! Who do you think you are waving your hoof like that?!" Storm looked at Apple Cinnamon again as the mare continued, "No bits, no sale. Now get out before I call security."
Apple Cinnamon was smirking. He waved at Storm and headed off to another section of the store. Storm sighed deeply, slowly taking his bag of buttons and putting them into his bags. "Alright. I'll just go."
*** ***
Storm sat on his haunches with his eyes shut, a light hum could be heard only by him underneath the ponies stomping their hooves on the wooden floor. Warmth filled his muzzle where it was pressed against the chin rest of his violin. His left hoof held the instrument and pressed on each string as the bow cradled in his right fetlock moved back and forth, producing a beat to match Storm's humming.
A few of the closest ponies in the room could see the smile on his face as he played a fast paced song meant for dancing. Storm was too lost in his concentration to open his eyes. If he had, he would have seen a pair of unicorns dancing nearby, but he heard them. He heard their melodious hoof beats almost in time to the music playing out from the violin. Somewhere in the room, he could hear a pony playing a piano to match the song, but they were two steps behind and always trying to keep up with him.
A slender blue earth pony walked over to Storm's table, smiling at the musician even though she knew he couldn't see the smile. She took the tray off her back and set his ordered drink into the table, before picking up his empty glasses. She smiled again as she placed the tray onto her back and walked off. Storm kept playing his violin, unhindered by the earlier encounters of the day.
His hat sat on the table next to him, along with a plastic horn that had been attached to the piece of clothing when he had pretended to be an alicorn prince.