Chapter 25: Tis the Season For Shopping - Part Two [The Two Sisters]
I tried not to think about the fact that I was missing out on a nice, hot bath with Rarity and Octavia, and instead I focused on the matter at hand. I had gotten gifts for both Rarity and Octavia, and I was still searching for a good present for Luna and Auntie Celeste.
“So, we’re looking for a present for the royal sisters, huh?” asked Vinyl. “Not gonna lie to you, man. That’s gonna be a challenge.”
“I know, but we’ve got all day,” I said, trying to stay positive. “We’ve only been out for just over two hours, and we already have gifts for two of the four mares I’m shopping for. If we keep our heads up, I’m sure we’ll find something.”
“Someone’s feeling really optimistic.”
“It’s probably that ‘Hearth’s Warming cheer’ I keep hearing about.”
Vinyl rolled her eyes and smiled, and then my phone started vibrating again.
“Are the mares calling you back?” she asked.
“No, I got a text message from… Luna?” I said in surprise.
“Why do you sound so shocked?”
“Well, Luna’s not the best when it comes to any piece of technology that isn’t a video game,” I explained. “According to Auntie Celest…ia, she’s had a phone for months, but she’s never used it.”
“Then how would she get in touch with her friends?”
“She finds telepathy much easier.”
I looked to see the message that Luna sent me, which read:
“Finally learned how 2 text! I asked Tia 2 teach me.”
I chuckled and typed a message back.
“Good 4 u. Maybe Celeste will teach u how 2 use the internet next.”
“Baby steps, Marcus. Anyway, look what I got in the mail!”
Attached to the message was a picture of a cardboard standee of a character from one of Luna’s favorite video games, Chimera Hunter, which wasn’t really surprising. For the last week, Luna wouldn’t stop talking about the latest game in the series: Chimera Hunter IV. Vinyl and I passed by the nearby video game store, and there was a poster hanging in the window saying:
"CHIMERA HUNTER IV:
AVAILABLE NOW!"
A million and a half signals began to fire in my head at that moment.
“Vinyl, I think I know what I want to get for Luna,” I said as I walked into the store.
“Interesting. I never thought that the princess of the night was a gamer.”
“She’s full of surprises, even more so than her sister.”
Vinyl and I walked up to the front desk and got the attention of the clerk, a unicorn mare with a black mop-top and a pair of thick glasses.
“Hey, there! Need anything?” she asked.
“Yeah, I was wondering if you had any copies of Chimera Hunter IV left,” I told her.
“Well, we did get a lot of orders in for that, so I’m not sure… Give me a minute and I’ll check for you.”
The mare ducked behind the counter, looking through the many games that were stored there, and she continued to look for almost two whole minutes. I became increasingly worried as each second passed, the chances of there not being a copy left becoming more and more likely, but then!
“Found it!” the mare said, and she rose up from behind the counter. “You’re in luck, there were only two copies left.”
Two copies, huh? I guess I should pick up a copy for myself, too.
“I’ll take ‘em both,” I told the mare.
“Great! Would you like season passes for both games?”
Eh, why the hell not?
“Sure,” I accepted, and the clerk put the games in a bag along with the season pass codes, and she handed the bag to me.
With the bag in hand, I left the store with Vinyl following right behind me. “Alright, now to figure out what to get for my aunt,” I thought out loud.
Just then, a low rumbling sound caught me by surprise, and Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Maybe we should get something to eat first,” she suggested. “It wouldn’t be a good idea to try and think on an empty stomach.”
“Good idea.”
The two of us left the shopping district and found a small fast food joint near the city square. I was actually pretty relieved that Vinyl wasn’t as high maintenance as Rarity and Octavia. Don’t get me wrong, I love those two to death, but there was still that constant worry about something or someplace not being “good enough” for them.
Of course, this might just be me being paranoid, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Vinyl and I ordered our food and took a seat by the window, which had a nice view of the fountain in the city square, and we engaged in a bit of small talk.
“Okay, stop me if I sound like I’m prying,” the unicorn began, “but how long has it been since you admitted your feelings to Rarity and Octavia?”
I stopped eating for a moment. That was a really good question; how long had it been since I told those two that I liked them?
“I think it’s been almost a month now,” I answered.
“You plan on making a choice soon?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna tell them on the night before the party, although a part of me wants to make a choice and tell them sooner than that.”
“Why?”
“Well, I’ve been looking at it from their perspectives, and the way I’ve been treating them seems a little unfair.”
“Unfair? I’m not following you.”
“Think about it, Vinyl. Because I’ve been taking so long to make a choice, Rarity and Octavia have been waiting for an answer from me for almost a month. I don’t think any mare would want to be kept waiting for that long. I kinda feel like I’m stringing them along, you know?”
The unicorn took a sip of her soda as she thought about it, and once she finished, she shook her head with a chuckle. “You are so clueless,” she told me.
“Clueless?”
“You have no idea how much those two love you, do you?”
I continued to give her a confused look.
“You’re right, no regular mare would hold out for a guy this long,” Vinyl explained, “but those two are something special, Marcus. They must really love you if they’re willing to wait a whole month for you to choose one of them. When you left the dorm room yesterday, they couldn’t stop talking about you. They went on and on about how nice you were and how cute you were and how good of a kisser you were…”
My face went a deep shade of red. “They said all that?” I asked her in disbelief.
“Not only did they say it, but they wouldn’t stop talking about it. Trust me; those two will be willing to wait ‘till the twenty-third.”
I sighed and gave her a smile. “You seem to be pretty sure of that,” I told her. “Thanks for talking to me about this, V.”
“No prob, man, now let’s eat!”
I laughed and dug into my food, my mind cleared of my nervousness over my two mares. With our hunger quelled and our minds focused, we left the fast-food joint and headed back to the shopping district.
“I think I’ve figured out what I want to get for my aunt,” I said to Vinyl.
“You have, huh? Well, where to?”
“You’ll see. C’mon.”
I led a confused Vinyl through the district, and when we reached our destination, she became even more confused.
“The hobby store?” she asked, tilting her head. “Why here, of all places?”
“There’s something specific that I need to get from this place.” I answered as we walked inside. We wandered through the aisles as I searched for the aforementioned “something specific.” Finally, I came across what I was looking for.
“A large picture frame?” Vinyl asked. “Okay, now I’m really lost.”
“Instead of just buying something for Celestia, I’m gonna make something for her. It’ll mean a lot more to her that way.”
“A gift made with your bare hands, huh? I like it. Let’s go buy this bad boy!”
I chuckled at the unicorn’s sudden enthusiasm as I carried the frame to the register and bought it. We were in the store for less than fifteen minutes.
“So that does it for your Hearth’s Warming shopping, then?” Vinyl asked.
“Yep. Thanks for helping me out, V.”
“No problem, man.”
“So, how are you doing with your holiday shopping?”
“I’ve already got my gift for Octi picked out, but I think I should get something for Rarity, too. I’m not worried about it, though. She seems like an easy pony to shop for.”
“Easy for you to say,” I chuckled.
“And maybe I’ll get a little something for you, too.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. You helped me out a lot today. That’s a present to me.”
The unicorn laughed at me. “Ha! Don’t give me the whole modesty act! I’ll get you something nice, ‘kay?”
“If you insist,” I shrugged. “I’ll see you later, Vinyl.”
“Later, Marcus, and good luck with Rarity and Octavia,” she said as she walked off and put her earbuds in.
Despite the fact that she could no longer hear me, I still thanked her as she walked away.
It was five minutes after three when I got home. I walked in quietly and made an effort to stay silent. I didn’t want Auntie Celeste or Luna to see me and ask me about the curious bags that I was carrying. Thankfully, I made it to my room without being spotted.
Once inside, I reached into the bag I got from the video game store, took out my copy of Chimera Hunter IV and put it in my disc cabinet. I then took Luna’s copy and hid it at the bottom of my sock drawer.
Now where to hide the picture frame…
It was half my size, which really made it hard to figure out a place to hide it. At first I considered hiding it in my closet, but there was a good chance that she’d try to look there while I was gone.
Then an idea hit me.
I walked over to my drawing table and opened the drawer underneath it, taking out a roll of the ultra-strong tape that I use for emergency sketchbook repairs. I then took the frame out of my bag and slid underneath my bed, taping the frame to its underside.
“You’re a freakin’ genius, Cortez,” I said to myself.
“I’d have to disagree,” a voice interrupted.
I let out a surprised yelp and hit my head on the underside of my bed. The sound of giggling reached my ears as I slowly crawled out from under the bed.
“Did I scare you?” the voice said, and I turned around to see who it belonged to.
“Oh, Luna. It’s you,” I sighed. The princess was outside my window, smiling at me as she hovered in the air with her wings. “I was worried that you were Auntie Celeste. What are you doing here?”
The princess smiled and her mane began to rustle, which looked weird since it was already perpetually moving. Not a second later, a familiar face popped out of Luna’s mane.
“I was taking little Tibbles for a fly,” she told me as she sat on my windowsill. “He likes to feel the wind in his fur every now and then.” She giggled as her pet opossum grabbed several strands of hair and swung back and forth holding onto them like they were a vine. “Why were you so worried that I was my sister? You’re not keeping secrets from her again, are you?”
“I am, but it’s the good kind,” I insisted. “I was hiding her Hearth’s Warming present.”
“You already went shopping for the holidays?”
“I figured that I should get it done before the holiday rush started,” I explained as I got walked up to Luna.
“Well, at least you were able to figure out what gift to get for Tia. I’ve been trying to come up with a suitable gift idea for over a month, and I’m coming up small.”
“Coming up short,” I impulsively corrected.
Luna shot me a glaring look.
“Sorry, sorry. Force of habit… Wait a second…” I looked out the window towards the ground and saw somepony walking towards the royal gardens.
“Look down there, Luna,” I said, subtly pointing in the pony’s direction. “It’s Celeste.”
“Really? I wonder what she’s doing at the gardens.”
“I dunno. It’s kinda hard to see from up here.”
Luna lit up her horn in response and cast a spell on herself and me. “This eyesight charm should help.”
We watched Celeste as she walked into the gardens, and as we watched, we saw that she was carrying a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She continued into the gardens until she reached a small mound in the ground that had a small pole sticking out of it. Celeste then knelt down and placed the flowers on the mound, staying on the ground for a few more moments.
“Oh, no…” Luna said.
“What?” I asked.
“She’s paying her respects to Orion.”
“Really? How do you know it’s him and not somepony else?”
Luna paused to take a deep breath. “In Equestrian society, a mother honors their unborn foal by designating a spot for them to… to pay their respects. It’s customary to place a bouquet of flowers at the memorial, replacing them whenever they rot away.”
“Wow…” I said, practically speechless.
“Ponies value the lives of foals dearly, even those that never had the chance to take a breath in this world. Because of the value we place on the lives of the young ones, losing one’s foal is the greatest pain a pony can bear.”
I said nothing. I was too taken aback by Luna’s words. I knew that Auntie Celeste was in an incredible amount of pain, but hearing what Luna said made me understand just how terrible my aunt’s anguish was.
“I always wondered why Tia was so unusually ecstatic the day she came home after you parents agreed to have you stay here. I always thought she was overreacting, but after finding out about Orion, it all makes sense now.”
“Did you two talk about it after we saw her dream?”
“Yes. Surprisingly, she wasn’t too upset with me for invading her privacy. I suppose she needed somepony to talk to about it. It saddened me to see her so distraught, but then she told me how much of a difference you’ve made in her life.”
“A difference? Me?”
Luna nodded her head. “She told me that just seeing you would make her smile on the worst of days, and I can understand why. For so long, she’s had a hole in her heart that she believed could never be filled, and with you here, that hole has filled, and she’s become a lot happier. It’s as if you were her own flesh and blood.”
I continued to look at Auntie Celeste, who was still knelt down in front of Orion’s memorial. She finally got up and turned around, and then I saw her face.
She was smiling.
“She’s finally at peace,” said Luna. “Knowing all the pain she went through only makes me want to find a perfect present for her that much more.”
“I know what you mean. Celeste is always putting others before herself. She even told me that she wouldn’t have another alicorn bear her child because of the pain they would go through in labor.”
Luna looked at me with widened eyes. “She did?”
I nodded my head.
The night princess lowered her head in thought for a moment, and then she looked at me with a smile.
“Thanks for telling me that, Marcus,” she said as she tucked Tiberius into her mane and took off without another word.
“Umm… You’re welcome?” I muttered with a confused look on my face.
I had no idea what she thanked me for, but something told me that whatever it was, it was something important.
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Oh, I don't know who you'll pick for Marcus! Dang it!
I have a hunch...but, i'm not going to spoil it. Great story, so far!! Can't wait for the next chapter!!
Is Luna thinking about taking the 9 month hormone ride for her sister?
Marcus rejects both, thinking it impossible to pick.
my humor isn't funny.
I say embrace polygamy and pick both of them.
4296952 obvious choice his dear auntie... or maybe a plot twist and he goes with vinyl
4297058I was thinking the same thing.
4297058
Depending on how much they share with earth Equins, it could be an 11 month hormone ride.
Plot twist: Marcus chooses Orion.
I must have more, your writing is so well thought out with very little mistakes, I always rush with my phone to read the next chapter. Just keep doing what you do that helps make these stories and keep writing, good job my friend
Je why I have this feeling that Luna would try to convinced Celestia to try to had a child again?
Luna no... no getting pregnant as a holiday present for your sister... that's just weird
... Oh Luna...
it seems a lot of people have the same hunch about Luna, hmmm we'll see if their theories are correct soon enough
4297445 wtf
Plot twist: Lunas gift is zombie Orion
The kid's an artist, and that frame is about the size of his canvas. I think I know what he's doing.
Same here. My phone's only worth about £10. I don't use it much since there's no signal for miles.
That and no one ever calls me anyway. 
And the government monitors them.
4298433 NSA we are looking at you XD
4298475 I was expecting GCHQ.
4298510 Who says both organizations don't delve into other countries network traffic? They are already infringing on our rights to privacy XD
4298528 Having studied SIGINT extensively, I can safely say that at least one organisation is monitoring us now, and they probably also monitor each other as well as various political and domestic targets. GCHQ recently revealed that they frequently monitor private webcams, and then complained about the number of explicit videos they found.
Quit leaving me hanging! My hands are getting sweaty!
Get it? Because this was another cliffhanger? And I made a joke about hanging from a cliff?
...sorry.
So, if Luna wanna have child as present, who's gonna be father?
The only male who's she know well enough for this is
... Run Marcus, RUN!!!
4298147
... just... no... 
No...
I dare marcus to give Celly/Luna/Octi/Rarity a Dildo (horse/human which ever you like), That would be freakin' Hilarious! LoL! XD
*nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*
4298574
Isn't a baby mama basically just a mama?
4299020 but I don't think he will do it cause he doesn't have The Bawls XD! (Plus he will make a picture of celestia as a gift so...he doesn't need an extra gift... Does he?)
Is Marcus going to draw Celestia's cutie mark?
I finished this chapter at 3:30 AM.
Sleep Is For The Weak.
4299131
true dat, i haven't slept in 53 hours. i am far too busy reading to sleep
4299024 Holy Luna, I get what you're trying to say... That would be awesome!
4299879 What all have you read?
4300685
more stories than i can fit on this comment page, i know all the good good ones
4300695 Have you read Undead Equestria?
4300717
is that a HIE? if so then HOLY SHIT I HAVEN'T READ IT. if not then i probably don't want to.
4300720 It's not HIE but it is really good. Its plot is very well done. The sad parts are pretty sad, like this one part where something happened, and I cried. To put that into perspective, I have shitty things happen to me all the time and yet the last time I cried was at my grandfathers funeral in July. Even if you don't think you will like it I recommend reading a chapter or two. If you notice I am amazing at summarizing.
4300797
i'll give it a try when i get time, i'm busy with man of war and after iv'e got diaries of a madman. you should check them out, 'cause i like them and everyone knows that anything i like is amazing.
4300819 Crap, as soon as I start reading Man of War I am going to be making the best-worst decision of my life. I will wait till I get home, and I will pick up not sleeping.
4300898
are you a fast or slow reader
4300903 I am a fast reader.
4300913
oh good then you should be just fine, exhaustion with little to no sleep can put you in a coma, trust me it can, you ever gone to sleep and woken up 2 weeks later, it's f**king creepy.
4300935 I do not think I would like that very much... But if it comes to that then I will deal with it.
4300943
you say that now but if it happens, oh also drink water, lots of water, i'm told you can stay awake much longer if you drink lots of water
4300961 Ok, and when people don't go looking for me if I go into a coma state I will survive longer.
4300969
precisely
4300973 Would caffeine do more harm than good?
4300976
only if you have more than 3 strong cups of caffeine. otherwise it'l help you stay awake much longer