Christmas Spirit / Shop Till You Drop
Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve is not particularly fun. It is even less fun when it is freezing cold with chilling wind gusts cursing its unfortunate victim.
Sunset tucked her face into her coat, blinding herself as she approached the mall entrance.
The automatic doors bid her entrance, and she was enveloped in the welcoming embrace of a heated building.
Sunset Shimmer was not planning on doing her shopping last minute. Normally, she would be long done by now. But...she had been delayed.
Sighing in relief upon making it inside, she freed her face from the small enclosure, and made to begin her shopping expedition.
The Anon-A-Miss debacle had been resolved only the other day, and the girls had showered her with apologies. Despite the hurt still being fresh, she had assured them that she forgave them.
She hadn't bothered to buy any of them gifts, seeing as up until yesterday, they weren't exactly friends with her anymore.
She wasn't actually planning on getting them any gifts, this short of notice. But she figured that if she said that she forgave them, she might as well prove it to them...and to herself.
So, here she was on Christmas Eve, looking for a gift for each of her friends.
Nothing major, she didn't have too much money from her work that she could just spend willy-nilly. The most she could afford to spend on any of the girls was 10 dollars each.
As she was walking, she felt an overwhelming urge to sit on a mall bench for a moment, and rest her legs.
I haven't even begun shopping, and my legs are killing me already... Sunset complained inwardly, as her legs ached, as if she had already been walking and shopping for hours...possibly even days.
I must be getting out of shape...
She got back up and continued trudging, entering into a large store and took out a shopping cart. She already knew what she was going to get Dash, so she made her way to the music section and picked up a Bustin Jieber CD.
Rainbow Dash was always buying them prank gifts, so she figured she deserved it.
She wasn't quite sure what she could afford to get Rarity at such a low price, so she settled on travelling to the sewing section of the store, to pick out a few thread spools for the fashionista.
Fluttershy was next on her list as she migrated over to the pet section to pick up a few toys for her animals and some cat nip.
Pinkie Pie was always easy to buy for. Just get her a bunch of candy, and she'd be your best friend forever.
Sunset chose a variety of sweets that she knew Pinkie would like, and were in her price range.
Only one left... Sunset thought to herself. She was quite pleased that she had managed to find something for everybody in a single store. That didn't happen too often.
What to get Applejack... She wondered.
She didn't exactly want to get her the obvious gift, being apples. She had a ton of those anyway.
She happened upon some cases of earbuds as she travelled down the isle. She decided to pick those up for Applejack to use with her phone.
Looking over the items she had acquired, Sunset felt satisfied that she had found something for everybody on her list and proceeded to the checkout counter line to pay.
There were a few people in line, and directly in front of her, a little boy was looking antsy.
When it had reached his turn to pay, he put a pair of fancy looking shoes on the counter, and told the cashier that he wanted buy them for his mother, who, by what he was saying, sounded like she was going to die soon...
The boy put his money on the counter, but just by looking at it, Sunset, and the cashier could easily tell it wasn't near enough.
Not wanting to disappoint the child though, the cashier counted each coin the boy had put on the counter, but in the end, had to break it to him.
He sighed. "I'm sorry son...there's just not enough here."
"But momma's got to have them!" The child insisted.
Sunset glanced at the price on the computer.
$50
Exactly the amount she had.
She could choose to either spend her money on what was basically junk anyway, or she could make this child's day.
There was no contest. She reached over and put her fifty dollars down on the counter. Both the cashier, and the boy looked at her.
"Momma's gonna look so great!!" He threw his arms around Sunset, thanking her, before taking the shoes and running off.
Sunset watched him leave happily.
"Young lady," The cashier began. "You just gave the best gift anyone will give this Christmas."
"Aww shucks," Sunset waved him off. "I only did what any decent person would do. You make it sound like I changed the world."
"You did. For that little boy."
Sunset smiled.
She looked down at her cart. "I'll just leave this here, if that is alright." She turned to leave, but came face to face with a familiar blue girl.
"Trixie...Trixie saw what you did and...she would like to pay for your purchase."
Sunset looked at her for a moment before breaking out into a smile.
"Oh, Trixie...You DO CARE!!" She threw her arms around Trixie.
"Unhand Trixie!! The great and powerful Trixie does NOT like warm hugs!"
"Yes, Trixie does! And I'm not letting go until Trixie admits it!"
"Ahem." A nosy customer interrupted. "We're waiting to pay here..."
"Oh, right." Sunset apologized.
Trixie eyed one item as Sunset unpacked the cart.
"You...listen to Bustin Jieber?" She asked.
"Eh heh...it's a prank gift for Dash." She defended.
"Ah, Trixie sees."
Trixie paid, and they left the checkout.
"Don't think this changes anything." Trixie stated as they were parting ways. "Trixie will still ridicule you and your friends at every opportunity."
"Old habits die hard, huh? Later Trixie, and thanks again."
Sunset exited the store, being blasted once more with a howling gale, causing her to drop her bag.
Christmas shopping on Christmas eve is not particularly fun. It is even less fun when it is freezing cold with chilling wind gusts cursing its unfortunate victim.
Sunset tucked her face into her coat, blinding herself as she approached the mall entrance.
The automatic doors bid her entrance, and she was enveloped in the welcoming embrace of a heated building.
Sunset Shimmer was not planning on doing her shopping last minute. Normally, she would be long done by now. But...she had been delayed.
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Did this really need to be connected to the Anon-a-Miss story? The small mention at the beginning barely made an impact, plus it comes off as having the incident being too quickly forgiven.
11213356
This. People just refuse to let that thing die and keep bringing it back like it's actually worth keeping around.
11213569
They keep bringing it back because it's terrible and want to "fix" it, not realizing that usually they just make it worse.
Sighs...... I wasn't going to say anything but...now i am.
There a simple thing you two can do.
Don't read them, just don't, see it avoid it that simple.
If they bother you that much just avoid the fic, don't read just to complain about them.
11213598
All I asked was if it needed the connection. The story is still nice.
Nice story
I'm confused as to how this is a horror? It just looks like Sunset is doing some Christmas shopping.
11213955
The secret is in the beginning, and in the end.
Also, the chapter title is another hint.
It's a subtle horror story.
O… Kay…
11213976
So, is she dead?
11214009
The idea is that she is stuck in a time loop. This is why, before she even begins shopping, her legs ache, and she needs to sit on the bench. It is because she has already done this shopping fiasco for an undetermined amount of times, as seen at the end, with the story ending the exact same way that it began.
There is something going on in that storm happening outside, and everytime she goes out there, she loses her memory, heads back inside the mall, and begins shopping all over again. Living the exact same scenario. It's another geoundhog day story.
idk, I mean I thought this qualified as one of those subtle horror stories...did I make a bad call? How are time loop stories usually categorized?
11214264
I did not pick up on that at all. And if that is what's happening... why?
11214264
Yeah, I had to go back and reread the beginning to fully realize that. It's an interesting idea, but maybe you were a bit too subtle, especially with the plot of "Christmas Shoes" playing out with the kid, Sunset, and Trixie. Maybe some greater explanation or built-in metaphor (like the idea of replaying a song that's gotten stale) could help the story hit harder...
11213570
This is what I'm thinking though, when I say this is like a metaphor for overplaying something. That trope, like the song "Christmas Shoes", is done over and over until it loses impact. IDK that it works in this story either though... really, what this story needs is context to what's actually happening, like, some sort of brief moments where it's alluded to in a way that fleshes it out. The "Anonamiss" story is only seemingly relevant in that it happens in December, though this story feels like it might actually conflict with that timeline.
I’m confused on the horror tag.