I'm a WHAT NOW?!

by Neospace0900

Shopping Time!

Chapter 7: Shopping Time!

Gingersnap slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. Same wood floor, same window... He glanced at his legs and let out a large sigh. and the same unicorn body.

He clumsily stumbled out of the bed, landing in a similar position to that of his first morning in Equestria. After standing up and stretching a little bit, he found himself staring at the blankets he had tossed on the floor the night before. To see if his magic was working the way it should, he decided to use it to place them neatly on the bed. He focused on the blankets as a light blue glow enveloped both the blankets and his horn. They slowly straightened out as they were lifted higher into the air until they were flat above him. As he was about to lay them on the bed, he noticed a peculiar pattern on the floor where the blankets were. He also noticed the shape he made on the floor when he first arrived.

Is that all... dust? I realize that ponies live here and this room hasn't seen any use in a few years, but that doesn't mean they can't clean it every now and again.

Out of instinct, he took the blankets and started dusting the floors like he would back home. As he continued to clean, his mind wandered off.

That dream was way too realistic and vivid to be just a dream. If that guy can be believed, Flapjack is trying to summon this "Justice" woman, who probably has the power to destroy the world. That means I must find him, and preferably before I need to go home. But where could he be? Dr. Redcross said there was an Equestria-wide search for him, and they got nothing. Something white in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He walked over to the piece of paper on the floor and looked it over.

This is the wanted poster. Unlike last night, this time he saw that his horn was slightly bent. Maybe Nightshade's kick was enough to break it. Is that why Flapjack needs him to cast the spell? Something else just occurred to him. Wait a minute, if posters like these are being handed out, then that must mean that he's somewhere nearby! But what is he doing here? Shouldn't he be supervising the spell or something like that? He shook out the blanket and placed it back on the bed.

"Now's not the time to be cleaning. I've got some work to do!" he said excitedly. His attempt to psyche himself up worked. He grabbed the magic guide, the poster, and his bag of bits and hurried out of his room. He slowed down when he approached the stairs. Learning from his mistakes and remembering what his dog would do, he managed to walk down the stairs without too much difficulty. As he rushed to the door, a piece of paper on the dining table caught his attention.

It appeared to be a note written in a hurry. It took Gingersnap a moment to decipher the chicken scratches that these ponies called handwriting.

Gingersnap,

Mom and Dad are taking me to the bakery to work until this evening. I think they don't want me spending time with you while they are busy with customers, so you'll need to go shopping by yourself until my shift is over. Here are some of the bits that I've been saving up for awhile. You're lucky saving the world is more important than a new dress from Carousel Boutique. Just try to pay me back after this mess is over, okay?

Tiger Lily

I'm sure I'll be able to clear things up with the Doughs eventually. But first things first, I should check out this "Carousel Boutique" to see if I can get some clothes. He glanced at his flanks and all of their blank glory. He also saw that Tiger Lily had left him some bags, probably to hold the supplies he was going to buy. These bags had a small pouch which contained the bits that she mentioned. He emptied his bits into this pouch and put on the bags before making his way out of the door.

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The town was much livelier than it looked from the window, especially as he got closer to the market. The ponies around him were all having idle conversations with their friends. Gingersnap decided to ignore this, as he doubted it wouldn't have much to do with finding and stopping Flapjack. Most of the vendors were selling fruits and vegetables. Although they might be helpful in case he gets hungry, he decided food should wait until he had some kind of weapon. He had a feeling he'd find himself fighting Flapjack in the near future, and he didn't want to be stuck with just his hooves.

If I want something to fight with, I'd probably want to look in an alley or something if I want it to be any good. He then sighed. Of course, entering an alley to get a weapon would probably be too dangerous for me to do alone. Maybe the magic guide has something I could use.

He took out the guide with his magic and started flipping through the pages. Unfortunately for him, not a single combat related spell could be found. So much for that. I'll just hope I can find a stick or something else I can levitate. He put the guide back in his bags.

Having "checked" finding a weapon off his imaginary list, he moved on to the next thing he thought he might need: clothes. He looked around in hopes of finding the boutique mentioned in Tiger Lily's note. After looking around for a few minutes, he found what might be the building he was looking for.

The upper part does look like a carousel, and it does stand out a bit compared to some of the other buildings around here. Let's just hope this is the right place.

He casually strolled up to the door and opened it. As the bell chimed, he could hear a voice from inside. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chique, unique, and magnifique! I'll be out in a second." Some of the outfits on display were a little to fancy for his tastes.

Must be a store for the ponies with a little too much money to spend. I hope there's something that fits my budget.

As he continued to browse the outfits on display, a certain white unicorn emerged from a set of curtains off to the side. Her mane was a bit messy, as if she's been hard at work for a few hours and didn't have the time to fix it. "Do you see anything you like?"

"I'm sorry, but would you happen to have something a little less... extravagant? I can tell you worked very hard on these designs, but I need something that won't make me stick out like a sore thumb."

She seemed to be confused as to what a thumb was, but she ignored it for the time being. "Are you sure? I think you'd look simply dashing in something like this." She pulled a rope dangling by one of the curtains, revealing a well made tuxedo. Gingersnap liked the idea of wearing a tux ever since his parents took him to a 007 marathon. However, he pushed the idea out of his head.

"I'm sure. I just want something simple to help... cover up a bit." He twisted enough so that the white unicorn would be able to see his cutie mark, or lack there of, as the case would turn out. She immediately understood what he meant.

"I understand completely. I think I have some garments that might be what you're looking for in the back. Follow me please." She led him to a small room near a staircase. Inside was a rack with a few simpler garments including cloaks, coats, and saddles. As he looked at some of the clothes, the entrance bell chimed.

"Excuse me for a moment," she told him before leaving him alone in the room. "Coming!" she announced to the new customer.

Gingersnap looked through the selection until he found something that he felt would work for him. It was a simple brown cloak that had a circular blue gem where he'd tie it around his neck. With some difficulty, he managed to put it on. When he looked in the mirror, he was pleased with the result, so he went to go find the shopkeeper to find out the price. When he walked out, he found her talking with a certain orange mare with a Stetson hat, and neither of them looked too happy. He decided to listen in on their conversation, hoping he wouldn't find himself in an awkward situation because of it.

"Missing? What do you mean missing?" asked the white unicorn.

"What Ah'm sayin is that Applebloom didn't come back home last night. Have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't. But she was with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo yesterday, and Sweetie Belle came home. Were you fighting?"

The bell rang again, this time revealing a certain pegasus with a pink mane, looking rather distressed. "Applejack! I'm glad I found you!" She then noticed the shopkeeper. "Oh! Am I interrupting something?"

"It's quite alright. What's the matter, Fluttershy?"

"It's just that I saw a weird unicorn carrying Applebloom into the Everfree Forest a little bit ago." The other two were shocked by this.

Weird unicorn? Could she mean Flapjack? He walked up to them and said, "Sorry for interrupting, but this unicorn, would he happen to look like this?" He took out the poster and showed them to the pegasus, who's name was apparently Fluttershy.

She carefully looked over the poster. "Yeah, that's him. Are you friends with him or something? You know, if you don't mind me asking."

So that's where he's hiding, eh? The Everfree Forest... I need to find Tiger Lily. "Just the opposite, actually." He then turned to the unicorn. "I'm really sorry about this, but I need to go right now. I promise that I'll pay for this later. For now, I really need to go." With that, he dashed out into the streets of Ponyville, leaving the poster with the mares, who were calling after him.

Author's Note:

Any comments, questions, critiques, etc. are greatly appreciated. It also wouldn't hurt to like or favorite. Sorry for the wait. I was busy with some new games, Youtube shenanigans, and a bit of laziness. I'll try to get the next chapter out a bit quicker next time.