Daybreak

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 24

Even in the early morning, Canterlot’s main street was a loud, crowded place. Ponies filled the stores, street performers gathered crowds of curious onlookers, and there was always somepony trying to pass out flyers or pamphlets for whatever it was they wanted to bring attention to. It was the kind of hustle and bustle that a tiny creature like Daybreak could easily get lost in, or worse.

Luckily, Daybreak didn’t have to worry about all of that. She floated over the crowds as she scanned the stores, looking for something that might bear fruit. She was weighed down by her ill-fitting saddlebags, so she couldn’t stay in the air forever, but she was confident she could manage to fly long enough to find a destination.

The only problem was that nothing actually looked good enough.

She passed food stalls, furniture stores, boutiques, but none of them seemed like they’d have good presents. Food and furniture didn’t make for good birthday presents, and Daybreak couldn’t remember ever seeing Angel dress up. Even the shops that did stock things Angel might like were quickly ruled out. A candy store wasn’t all that appealing when the recipient’s mother was Pinkie Pie.

Eventually, Daybreak started to feel the strain on her wings and decided she needed to land, at least for a little while. She ducked down into the first store she saw that wasn’t obscenely crowded, which happened to be a little antique shop wedged between a much larger general store and a photo studio owned by Photo Finish.

She was expecting there to still be some crowd, but to her surprise, she seemed to be the only patron in the tiny little shop, at least as far as she could tell.

It had a bizarre, maze-like layout with hardly any structure to it. The whole store was a single room, much deeper than it was wide, but it was filled to bursting with shelves shoved wherever they would fit, regardless of what strange angles they made and how much they constrained the walkways. The shelves themselves were just as full, and just as unarranged, and it was a wonder anypony could weave their way through the store without knocking things down and breaking them.

Near the entrance was a checkout counter made out of short glass cases that held the store’s more valuable items. Behind the counter, sitting on a stool with his legs propped up on the glass, was an ancient-looking pony with a ball cap pulled down over his eyes.

At first, Daybreak thought the pony was asleep, but when the door clicked shut behind her he stirred and lifted his cap just far enough to peer out from underneath it.

“Well, lookee there,” the pony said with a whistle. “Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes. I woulda thought you’d be taller by now.”

“Huh?” Daybreak tilted her head. “Have we met?”

“Oh, it was a grip ago,” the old man said. “Your ma used to bring you in here with her.”

“My… Which one?”

He laughed. “Princess Twilight, of course. I ain’t sure the ol’ Queen’s ever set hoof in this place.”

“Oh.” Daybreak stared at him for a moment. “Well, uh… Sorry I don’t remember you.”

“Can’t imagine you remember much of anything from back then,” he replied. “The name’s Roadshow.”

“I’m Daybreak. Um… Nice to meet you.”

Roadshow nodded. “So, Daybreak, what can I do ya for? Lookin’ for anything, or are you just browsing?”

“I was, uh…” Daybreak hesitated a moment. “I’m looking for a birthday present.”

“Oh? Anything in particular? I oughta know if we’ve got what you’re looking for.”

“I’m not sure,” Daybreak said. “I don’t really have any ideas.”

“Well, who’s it for?”

“My friend.”

“What’s she like?”

Daybreak shrugged. “She’s kinda weird. She doesn’t really like… Normal stuff. I guess ‘cuz of where she lives.”

“Hmm…” Roadshow leaned forward on the counter and thought. “Well, if you could get her anything, what’d it be?”

“Anything? Uh…” Daybreak thought for a long moment. “I guess something nopony’s ever seen before. Some kinda magic artifact. I bet she’d have fun with that.”

“What’s your budget?”

“Uhh…” Daybreak pulled out the sack of coins and showed it to him.

Daybreak whistled. “Anything like that’s gonna be out of your price range…”

“Wait, can you actually get magic stuff like that in Canterlot?”

“Oh, you can get anything in Canterlot.”

“Well, that sounds perfect, then! Are you sure I can’t afford it?” Daybreak asked.

“Magic like that don’t come cheap,” Roadshow told her.

Daybreak pouted. “Really? Not even, like, a weak one?”

Roadshow pursed his lips and tapped the counter. “Hmm… Well…”

“Well?”

He sighed. “Look, there’s a place nearby where you could make it work, but it’s not exactly safe. I ain’t keen on sending a kid into a place like that.”

“I can take care of myself!” Daybreak said. “C’mon, how bad could it be? It’s Canterlot. Nothing bad happens here.”

“See, that’s the thing, I don’t know,” Roadshow said. “His prices change. They’re different for everypony.”

“Well, maybe I’ll get lucky, then. I can’t know if I don’t try.”

Roadshow sighed. “I… Alright, fine. I mean, I can’t really imagine he’d mess with a kid all that much. Just… Promise me you’ll make him actually tell you the price before you agree.”

Daybreak grinned. “Yeah, yeah, I promise, sure. Where is he?”

“Go out the back door,” Roadshow said, “then come back in. That should do it, I think.”

“What?”

“Hey, it’s a weird shop.”

“Um… Okay, I guess,” Daybreak said. “Well, uh… Thank you?”

“Don’t make me regret it.”

Daybreak nodded, then started to weave her way towards the back of the store. As she did, it amazed her more and more that anypony could actually shop there. She could hardly fit between some of the shelves, and she was tiny. More than once, she bumped into a shelf and felt a wave of panic as it wobbled and threatened to topple over, although they somehow never did.

Finally, the shelves gave way to a wall. It, too, was almost completely covered in shelves, but there was one small spot where a neon exit sign hung over a heavy, metal door.

Slowly, she pushed it open.

Beyond the door was just an alleyway. Some birds took to the sky as she walked out and the door slammed shut behind her. Up and down the alleyway were more, nearly identical doors, and near the far end she saw a unicorn in a chef’s hat carrying a heavy sack of garbage. It was, as far as she could tell, a perfectly average alley.

She turned around. The door was the same as it had been a moment before, solid and imposing. She started to worry she was being pranked, but she pushed the thought aside, took a deep breath and walked back inside.

The building had definitely changed. It was a lot darker, and a lot larger. Row after row of packed shelves stretched on as far as she could see in every direction, displaying an endless supply of clearly powerful magical items, along with a fair assortment of other, seemingly worthless junk. The rows even extended backwards, past the door she’d just come in, which was now standing freely, not attached to any wall.

As she was looking back, a voice came from behind her. “Well, well, well. Now isn’t this a surprise. The shining sun of Canterlot, in my humble establishment? Whatever have I done to deserve the honor?”

Daybreak thought she recognized the voice, but she couldn’t quite place it. She turned back around to look at who was talking to her, and recoiled in surprise when she saw the strange, cobbled-together creature that grinned down at her.

“Discord?”

“In the flesh,” Discord said. “Or the stone, depending on who you ask.” He crouched down and coiled around himself so he could lay on the floor and be level with Daybreak. “How can I help my favorite little hybrid?”

“You can stop being weird, for one.”

“Sorry, no can do,” Discord told her. “It’s part of the job.”

Daybreak groaned. “I thought my mom told you she didn’t want you talking to me without a grown-up around.”

“Please, I’ve been around since that old bug was just an inkling of a thought in the universe. Who could be more grown-up than me?”

“Anyone, probably.”

Discord laughed. “Fair. But, hey, you walked into my shop. Not much I can do about that, now is there?”

“Was that antique shop even real?” Daybreak asked. There was an annoyed edge to her voice.

“What, Roadshow’s place? Yeah, we go way back,” Discord told her. “We were college roommates. Oh, he was such a party animal, I couldn’t get a lick of studying done.”

Daybreak glared at him for a moment, then huffed and turned away. “Whatever.”

Discord frowned and swiveled back in front of her. “Why the cold shoulder? It’s positively frigid in here.”

“I don’t wanna talk to you.” She turned and started towards the door.

When she got near it, the door wobbled and hopped a few feet away, and Discord slithered into its place. “Oh, I’m hurt,” he said. “I thought we were friends.”

Daybreak narrowed her eyes. “We were. That’s why I know if I talk to you you’re just gonna lie to me.”

“Lie?” Discord put a paw over his heart. “Why, I would never—” He saw a frown start to form on Daybreak’s face and caught himself. “Okay, maybe I have a tendency to fib.”

“Yeah, and I’m sick of being lied to.”

Discord shrank in on himself a bit. “I’m sensing some animosity. Did something happen?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Fair enough. Still, you came here for a reason, did you not?” He put his arms behind his back and tried to look compassionate. “Will you stay if I promise not to lie?”

“Why would I believe you?”

“Here, how’s this.” Discord clapped, and a huge gong fell from the air and landed beside them with a booming crash. “If I lie, this gong will sound.”

“You could just be lying about that,” Daybreak said.

“Well… I’m not,” Discord said. “Here: My favorite food is bland, flavorless tofu.” As he finished the sentence, the gong beside them rang out with a deafening noise. “See?” He shouted over the echoes.

After the noise died down, Daybreak sighed. “Fine. I’ll give you a chance.” Then, a moment later, she added “do you even have a favorite food?”

“Probably,” Discord said with a shrug. “Let’s see…” He pulled out a small desk calendar and started ripping pages off of it. “That was last week… That’s next week. Wow, I really haven’t been keeping up with this. Ah! Here we go,” he said as he stopped on the right date. “Today’s is… Huh. Calendars. I guess I’ll save this for later,” he said as he put the prop away.

Daybreak was watching him impatiently. “So… Do you have a gift I could give Angel?”

“Hmm…” Discord tapped his chin as he thought. “Oh, I know! How about this?” He pulled out a little vial of shimmering liquid and showed it to Daybreak.

“What is it?”

“This, my darling little friend, is pure, unrefined chaos magic. Quite a bit of it, in fact. Used right, a drop of this could level a forest. Or grow one, I suppose.” He shrugged. “Angel’s quite the little deviant, is she not? I imagine she could find a use for this.”

Daybreak’s eyes went wide. “Woah. And I can have the whole thing?”

“I don’t see why not,” Discord said. “I’m getting old. Stale. A fresh outlook on chaos could really liven things up, don’t you think?”

“Didn’t you use this stuff to be evil?”

“Yes, well, I didn’t have Fluttershy as a mother. I don’t believe we’ve much to fear on that front.”

“What if it gets stolen or something?”

Discord shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to get it back.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, I guess you could just let it go, but that seems inadvisable.”

Daybreak sighed and shook her head. “Whatever. How much does it cost?”

“Oh, please, you don’t owe me anything,” Discord said. He tossed the vial over to Daybreak, and she caught it with her magic and stored it in her saddlebag. “Like I said, it’s getting more chaos into responsible… Hooves. What more could I want?”

“Money?”

Discord laughed. “See, thinking like that is why this gift is for Angel.”

“Uh… Okay.” Daybreak walked around him and towards the door again. “Thanks, Discord.”

“Enjoy your party!” Discord grinned sinisterly. “I do hope it’s nice and chaotic.”

Comments

[psodude]

Well this is going to go swimmingly! *insert fish with Discord's head in a fish bowl*

[Warden of All]

“What if it gets stolen or something?”

“Enjoy your party!” Discord grinned sinisterly. “I do hope it’s nice and chaotic. ”

I detect foreshadowing. The only question is, who is going to at least try to take it. Or maybe someone could accidentally break the vial and release it all. Can't wait to see what happens!