"I hereby challenge ya'll to a winner-take-all, no-holds-barred, all-day, doing-nothing-but-fun-stuff shoppin' spree!" What could possibly go wrong with that?
A entire day of low-key fun with the Mane 6 ponies, which I originally wrote as an experiment in doing an ensemble story, and also a way of exploring some of the lesser-visited locations in Ponyville. Also includes Zecora, who doesn't get nearly enough attention. And Derpy as well. Plus Celestia and Luna join in toward the end. Do we have a Mane 10 tag?
Chapters (11)
But, all the stories you've written so far seem light-hearted!
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Thanks! My mental justification for italicizing Pinkie's lines as a way of visually suggesting her machine-gun speaking style, is that where other ponies emphasize a few words, Pinkie just democratically emphasizes all of them!
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)
I just let myself go on that one. You didn't really think you were going to get out of a bookstore in this story without a paragraph like that, did you? (BTW, did you also notice what I did with Rainbow in the next paragraph?
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Not a bit! I had a blast writing it, and I'm glad for the detailed feedback. It's wonderful hearing what aspects of it work well for other readers.
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Maybe... but take a look at the section she's in, what she's doing, and how she feels about it.
I thought this said shooting spree at first
Why would we need a Mane 10 tag? Outside the Mane 7, Spike and the princesses, no one else deserves to save the world.
Hasbro had made that abundantly clear. Except for the upcoming season finale, but that is a blatent ripoff of earlier ideas.
This promises to be a hoot.
I have to say, I was a bit surprised by Pinkie's dialogue being in italics, but it does suit her to be different from the rest. XD
This was nice. Good choice for AJ's preferred store, and glad that it worked out for Fluttershy.
This was nice. Kind of wish that RD had found another book series to try, but her reaction to the signed edition was great.
And I can identify - I once found a copy of Digging Dinosaurs that was signed by Jack Horner, and I nearly danced to the checkout counter of the used bookstore.
This was also nice. Good to see Applejack find a useful time at the spa. (And the description of her snoring was also hilarious.)
One other thing, I really like the "all raight" AJ uses at one point in the chapter. That really captured her accent to me, and as a Southern-raised boy I am finicky about how stories present dialect, what sounds natural and what doesn't. That really worked for me, so congrats! ^_^
That skit with Pinkie Pie was perfect.
Really good work with Zecora's rhymes! And the way they're formatted here works quite nicely too.
And also, nice touch adding a bit of haiku at one point.
Cool to see some other poetry types in zebra language.
This was a clever solution. Of course Pinkie'd pick a bunch of stores out. XD
Twilight's letter-writing is a joy. And so is Spike's response, in having to spell and in coughing up the response. ^_^
This was lots of fun. Seeing Luna in the bath shop was a real hoot
And the toy store was also a delight.
This was a fun read, from start to finish. Just a really charming slice-of-life with the Mane 6, plus a few other characters, and it ended with a lesson that almost felt a bit like something from the early seasons of the show.
Great work!
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Yeah, I needed some way to capture Pinkie's sugar-rush delivery in prose form, and that's what I came up with. See comment #10 below for my reasoning on this.
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Waalll, shoot -- y'all are makin' me blush now, sugarcube!
Actually, I can't take all the credit -- I lived with my grandparents in SC for a while, and I got quite used to how they talk, down South Carolina way!
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(Hee!)
Pinkie is really easy to write for. You just set everything up, let her off the chain, and GET OUT OF THE WAY!
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Thanks -- I wanted to keep Zecora from sounding too one-note with her rhymes. The idea of having haiku be the "cultured" form of speech where she's from was just a bonus.
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Yeah, tell me about it.
Hush, Spike!
Thanks! I've always tried to make Twilight's letters look and read like actual letters. And it's a great opportunity to give Spike a chance at the spotlight, given how easily he fades into the background.
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And the really funny thing is, that scene was almost completely off-the-cuff, and entirely based on Celestia having come up with bubble bath as her alternate shop idea. You just never know what's going to resonate with readers!
Didn't start reading yet and I already like it.
This was funny, as if that would do much to calm the poor pony's nerves!
Curious that the salespony would feel so intimidated though, given that Celestia had indicated it was where she had previously bought bath soap... Perhaps Celestia usually has an underling acquire it for her. 
So, the world of My Little Pony actually has My Little Pony merchandise.
That was a lovely read, very pleasant and quite enjoyable. The synopsis gives one the impression that things are going to get crazy and competitive, but the story itself was rather leisurely, about our favorite ponies just turning an otherwise ordinary activity into a fun game. It had a good sprinkle of humor throughout, and was a nicely written and engaging read. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks so much for reading and commenting -- this is another story I got a lot out of writing, and wish more folks had taken a look at, because it's a really pleasant, low-key "spend all day hanging out with the Mane 6" kind of tale.
The unfortunate clerk has simply never had to deal with the Princess of the Moon and Stars before. And Luna has never been suckered into buying bubble bath soap before, so they're both on edge. The difference is, Celestia compensates for uncertainty with quiet diplomacy... while Luna goes straight for volume...
Element-of-Harmony-Bearers merchandise, but same difference. I just thought it would be fun to have Twilight unexpectedly discover that she and her friends were being merchandised... with Celestia's apparent approval, so long as the quality is kept up...
Amusing.
Pinkie made me chuckle in this chapter.
Adorable.
Nice.
Pinkie's making me crack up.
Zecora's matter of fact shopping amused me somehow.
Lovely.
Very amusing.
This is a wonderful story.
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Thanks much! It's great to hear you liked it!
Anatomically correct, of course.