It's a sunny day in the Crystal Empire when Sunburst starts up his new motor cart and heads out in search of treasures and antiques across the country. While he's on the road through town, he comes across a house with an old building out front that he can tell is bulging at the seams with stuff. "I wonder if they have any good finds for my new Crystal Mountain Pickers Store," Sunburst says to himself. He then pulls up at the house, gives a knock, hands a flyer to the guy, and the pony, whose name is Daxin, lets him in. Once inside, the two begin to go through all of Daxin's collection.
After a few minutes of searching, Sunburst finds something interesting. "Where'd you get this sword?" he asks.
"It was my grandfather's," responds Daxin, "from the Great Pony Changeling War way back when."
"Well, are you interested in selling it?" asks Sunburst.
"Sure, for five hundred," responds Daxin in a shout.
"You've got a deal!" responds Sunburst. He puts it in his pickers' bag. He then spots a small item out the corner of his eye. He goes over and picks it up. "It's a music box."
"I'll sell it to you for fifteen bits," says Daxin.
"Deal!" replies Sunburst. He sticks it in the bag as well. He then looks around for a few more hours and leaves with five other items aside from the sword and music box. He then heads off to the next stop, a call he just got from a mare named Glisten, whose mother passed away and left her all her collection.
After he finishes up, he gets the bits and hands them over to Daxin, who gladly takes them with a smile. Sunburst then thanks him for his time and heads off in his motor cart. He's now on his way to meet up with Glisten.
A few hours later, he arrives in Crystal Haven, not far outside the Crystal Empire, at Glisten's house. She then happily lets him in. "Everything is for sale. I just want to be rid of it," Glisten tells him.
"Thanks," responds Sunburst with a smile. He then begins to look through all the stuff. "How much for the antique ceramic doll, it looks like it's from 1920's Equestria," says Sunburst. "I'd give three hundred," for it.
"Deal," responds Glisten. "And I'll throw in the clothes for it for free." She then brings over a box of doll clothes that went with the ceramic babe. He then promptly puts both in the bag before continuing his search for treasures. A few minutes later, he finds a mini carousel with the Crystal Heart emblem on it.
"How much for the mini carousel?" asks Sunburst.
"One fifty," responds Glisten.
"Deal!" Sunburst yells back. He then sticks it in the bag. He then spots a small object out the corner of his eye and goes and picks it up. "How much for the Crystal Heart pin and its matching banner?"
"Three hundred!" responds Glisten.
"I'll give you two fifty!" responds Sunburst.
"Deal!" Glisten responds.
After three hours, he leaves with a good amount of things from his two stops of the day. He then heads towards his next location in search of more items for his shop. "Man! This picking thing is fun!" sighs Sunburst. "Now off to Sun Mountain to meet up with Glory Day and her grandfather. This is going to be interesting."
The next day, around noon, Sunburst arrives at Glory and her grandfather's, where they eagerly let him in. Once inside, he goes right into digging. He soon comes up with several items including two wooden wheels from 14th century Equestria. He ends up paying three hundred bits per each wheel. He then spots something interesting in the back corner. It's an old Pony Cola sign. He then spots another sign, an old Ponyco one not far from it. "How much for the two signs?" he asks. "I'd pay one fifty for the Pony Cola one and three hundred for the Ponyco one."
"Deal!" hollers back Glory's grandfather. Sunburst then brings the two signs down and puts them next to the wheels in a clear corner near the door. He then goes right back to digging and picking.
A few minutes later, he finds an old Pon-Oil brand adornment for the common cartwheel. "This is interesting, but it isn't worth its bit," sighs Sunburst. "If it were for a carriage, that would be a different story altogether." He then puts it back in its drawer.
After several more hours of picking and digging, he comes across one of the same brand adornments, but this time, it's five of them, and they're all for the carriage. "How much?" he asks.
"Fifty bits an adornment!" hollers Glory.
"Forty bits an adornment!" Sunburst hollers back.
"Deal!" responds Glory with a shout. He then nods and brings it down and puts it in the pile then heads back up and continues to dig. He ends up buying an old Crystal Heart stone carving, an ancient pharaoh statue from the town of Somnambula, and an old shield from 12th-century Ponasia for an overall total of seven hundred fifty-two bits. He then thanks them for their time and heads out in search of more antiques and treasures after loading all the things he bought from them in his cart and giving them the bits he owes them. He then heads to a motel where he spends the night. Maybe this pickers business will work out for him after all. He has found several amazing pieces of history and he can't wait to find more. Tomorrow he's off to Canterlot to search through an old avid Pony Golf Team player's sports collection. He can't wait. He wonders what all sports he collects for. For him, that'll be an experience he won't soon forget.
The next day, Sunburst arrives at the golfpony's house and the golfpony lets him inside to look around. "Wow! Nice sports collection!" says Sunburst with eyes wide in surprise and shock.
"Thanks," responds the golfpony, "I played for several years and I've kept every single club I've used."
"That's impressive," responds Sunburst, "but are you willing to sell anything from your collection?"
"Not from my golf collection, no, not from my sports collections," responds the golfpony, "that's not the reason I called you here. I actually have an old set of armor I was hoping to sell you. Follow me." Sunburst nods and follows him into a back room where they find the armor.
"How much do you want to sell the armor for?" inquires Sunburst.
"Three grand," responds the golfpony.
"Well, that's half of what it's worth. I'll give you three grand for it," responds Sunburst. "I'll have my moving cart buddy come and pick it up. He'll be here to get it in three days tops."
"I can agree to that," responds the golfpony. The two shake on it and part ways.
Three days later, Sunburst's moving cart buddy comes and picks up the armor and takes it to the shop. There, he drops it off to a happy Sunburst who shines it up then puts a price tag of seven grand on it. He then can just hope and pray it and everything else he's bought over the last few days will sell. Hooves crossed. Hooves crossed.
A few days later, a pony enters Sunburst's picking shop and asks him an important question: "My grandfather passed away recently and my granny wants me to sell off his things, you interested?" Sunburst nods and follows the pony to his truck and they head towards the pony's home. A few minutes later, the two arrive at the pony's home and begin to search through the recently deceased stallion's things. After an hour of digging, Sunburst stumbles across something interesting. "Where'd he get this?" asks Sunburst.
"That coin. That's an old Royal Army coin. He got it during the Pony Changeling War," responds the young stallion.
"Cool, how much for it?" asks Sunburst.
"Fifty bits," responds the stallion.
"Sure!" responds Sunburst. He then puts it in his picker's bag. He then continues his search. He eventually stumbles across a Royal Army uniform and sword. "How much for the uniform and sword?"
"One seventy-five!" hollers back the stallion.
"Deal!" hollers Sunburst back. He then brings it out of the room and lays it on the kitchen table. He then goes right back to digging. After digging for a few more minutes, Sunburst stumbles across something unexpected. He looks at the item puzzled. He then pulls it out and brings it down to show the stallion and his grandmother. "What is this?" inquires Sunburst. "I've never seen anything like it."
"That's an old Coltinka plated ceramic basin. It's worth around 1000-3000 bits today," responds his grandmother. "My husband brought that back with him as a gift for me after the war."
"Then it should stay here," responds Sunburst. The grandmother nods in agreement. Sunburst then gets back to searching. After a few more hours of searching, he finds a Coltinka dagger which they sell to him for only five hundred bits. He then gladly sticks it in his bag. He then continues his search. He soon stumbles upon a Coltinka sword and sheath that they sell him for seven hundred bits. After another hour of searching and buying, Sunburst bids the stallion and his grandmother goodbye. As he rides off with all his purchases, the two wave goodbye. A few hours later, he arrives back at the store and adds the items to the store and prices them. He then begins to dust everything up before the store officially opens for the day. As he dusts, he breathes a sigh of relief. He's glad he got some more historical items for the store. He can't wait to see who they go to.
