Patience is a Virtue (Finished)

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The day lingered on longer that usual as the daylight began to fade out of the now empty space. Shadows lined the shop as closing time grew ever closer. The figurines in the window cast ever larger silhouettes of their former selves, resembling fantasy creatures, the likes of which no one has ever seen while the back end of the store continued to be shrouded in thicker and thicker shades of darkness. Reed found himself lost in fascination of these peculiar shadows, the lights had yet to turn on which left an overlaying sadness in the once happy store.

*Sigh* went Reed as time moved forward as if in a state of chronostasis, "This place never changes... no matter whom it changes hooves with. What did Gramps ever see in this  place?"

As lights began to flicker on, Reed restocked with care the missing stock. NikNak's were dusted and floors swept as Reed prepared to close up shop for the day. "Three purchases today... *sigh* not the worst, but not very note worthy either. What am I gonna do..."

Time slowed to a halt as the clock showed the time of 5:47 P.M. Closing time was in 13 minutes, yet Reed had completed everything that needed to be done before closing. He contemplated closing up shop early for the day.

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Bon Bon tore through the market streets like the hounds of Tartarus were at her heels. Everywhere she looked, shops were closing up for the evening. Sunlight was slipping away from her drop by drop, and although she still had some time left... there wasn't a lot.

Before the last shop closed in the market, Bon Bon had to find a present for her littlest sister, Sweetie Drops. Or else she wouldn't be able to send it that day, and it would be late. For the first time ever a present from Big Sis Bon Bon would be late. Her family would forgive her—she knew that—but she had never been late for a birthday before, and darn it, she wasn't going to start!

The only problem was, barely anywhere was open! Just as she got to Lucky Clover's, the door closed and the sign flipped. It was the same everywhere she went. Toy shops didn't need to stay open past when colts and fillies went home for the evening; and when the toy shops were closed, the knick-knack shops started shutting, too. She had to run all the way to the end of the road before she finally found the one place left open—Reed's Nooks and Needs.

She stumbled into the door as she opened it, slightly out of breath. The place smelled pretty much how she expected it to, but... wait. It was kind of dimly-lit in here, wasn't it? There were strange shadows cast all over the place from the windows. Why weren't the lights on? And the floors were strangely clean, like they'd just been taken care of... Oh no, did they close early and forget to lock?!

Her fears were alleviated by the sight of a pony somewhere back there. Maybe they weren't closed, after all. Or maybe they were just about to. In either case, somepony was there, so she had hope yet.

"I-I need to buy a birthday present," she said, trying not to seem rushed as she looked around the shelves. "What kind of things do you have in stock for a filly?"

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The bell above the door chimed the familiar sound, only slightly harsher that the standard tone. The shadows stretched their way into the back as Reed heard an unfamiliar, somewhat distressed voice. "Welcome, I'll be right with you!" yelled Reed as he hit a light switch near the stock room. 

The lights began to flicker and buzz as they flashed on, one row at a time, dispelling the shadows slowly but surely as he worked his way to the door where the mysterious mare stood. "You said that you were looking for a birthday gift? Um..." What would a filly enjoy? Do they like models, do they enjoy figurines, what do they like? He stood in a daze as he fell deep into thought with this conundrum until something hit him. "Perhaps... these toys would be to her liking," Reed said as he ran to the wall showing a lackluster assortment of toys to the right of his counter, "or those dolls." pointing to the back corner at the dusty old dolls that haven't moved an inch since they were brought into the store. "Or... um... oh heavens, what do fillies like? I'm certain there is something." he stated as he grew more and more worried. "There has to be something! Um... oh... wait here, will you? There might be something nice in the back, this shop isn't quite known for it's gifts so please forgive me!"

Reed ran to the back room where boxes upon boxes sat as they awaited the day that they would leave the prison that is "Reed's Nooks and Needs". "Something... for a fillies birthday..." as he pushed more boxes aside, "birthday... birthday..."

He pushed aside various holiday items and packaging materials, but to no avail. Nothing seemed appealing. He panted from the exhaustion caused by the unexpected stress. "Nothing... Nothing at all... Really? What to do... oh, what to do? She is gonna get impatient, I need to come out with something... everything out there is to old for a filly to like..."

Regaining some composure, "Have you... found something you think she would like?" asked Reed as he shouted from the back room as he eyed a crate that might have some potential. "Perhaps... this... would be something." as he began to drag it out to the floor, hoping that it was what she needed.

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Oh, thank Celestia, they were still working here. She took a moment to lean against the countertop and catch her breath while the owner came over and pointed out all sorts of different things. Her eyes glanced over the stuff he pointed out—toys, dolls, other ephemera that all honestly looked kind of lacking. But she was too polite to point that out to the poor guy. He looked like the fact there was a customer here was about to send him into fits.

When he darted out to the back room, Bon Bon took a moment to look around for herself. The place was clearly not doing too great. There were a lot of dusty spots and unloved objects hanging around. Didn't surprise her since it was a bit off the beaten path, but they weren't that unknown... were they? Enough to stay in business, so there had to be something in here that ponies bought. Right?

...Jeez. She felt a little bad for coming in, probably right before they were closing. The guy was muttering in the next room like there were timberwolves at his door. But she needed a gift and she was giving him her bits, so she couldn't feel all that bad about it.

"Hm?" She turned to look when he shouted, but before she could tell him that no, she hadn't, he started dragging a big crate out into the shop floor. Okay. Now she felt properly bad. He was a pegasus, and a weedy one at that. Pushing a big ol' crate like that can't have been easy for him.

"H-hey, you don't need to do... aah... here," she said, going around to his side of the crate and helping him push. She was surprisingly strong for her size thanks to good old Earth Pony stock and decent fitness, so she managed to get the crate out in the open with him easily. "Gosh, you didn't have to do all that... what's in here, anyway? Bricks?"

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"Thanks you for the hoof, miss, and it's no problem at all." said Reed as the crate came to a halt. With a pause to catch his breath, the room filled with an awkward silence, that same one that veiled the store prior to the mares appearance. "The contents are bricks? Heavens no... or at least..." spoke the increasingly worried stallion, "I hope not..."

The look of terror in his eyes continued to grow as he opened the mysterious crate, the hopes of finding something the mare would like dwindling faster and faster. The very visible dust entered the air as the lid crept further and further open. *Achoo* the stallion sneezed, opening his wings in shock, dispersing the dust cloud among the various items in the store. What was in the box, the suspense was to much to handle.

The pegasi peered inside the crate, "It's a... Birdhouse? Just a... very large birdhouse... oh my..." The birdhouse weighed a ton and it took all of Reed's might just to removed it from the prison that it had been in for so long. It had a lingering scent of wood glue and pine that filled the air almost immediately, odd for something that had been locked away for so long. Where did it come from? How long had it been there? Adorned with various jewels and detailed carvings, and what appeared to be an ivory tiled roof, there was no way this was a recent item with the one somewhat modern item being it's tag, but it had to be expensive.

There was no way the mare would want this for a filly, what to do, what to do. Reed's eyes sped around the room trying to find something to say.  "Let me... uh... Let's see here... take a look here... yeah, at the tag. There seems to be some... information on the tag... I hope..." Reed took the tag in his hoof and read it aloud.

"Created from the finest wood in Equestria, this avian home is unrivaled by any other manufacturer. Capable of housing a pheonix, or any other bird you wish to house, you will never find anything better than this home."

"It is priced at..." Reed flipped the tag to gaze at the price, but all it did was strike horror into his very soul, and with a saddened whisper, "Two... hundred... and ninety-nine... bits..." just hoping the mare didn't hear what he said. He panicked and with a stutter, "W-was there anything you s-s-saw in the shop that would interest her... I-i-i highly doubt the filly y-you're shopping for would enjoy this..."

Why am I such a screw up, I can't even find something good in my own shop... All I want to do is help...

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"Oh... um..."

Bon Bon wasn't sure what she had been expecting to come out of the box. But an enormous and ornate birdhouse certainly wasn't it. What exactly made him think that would be a good or remotely affordable present for a little filly? Dear Celestia, was this sicko implying she should lock her sister in a cage...?

On reflection, though, she doubted that. He looked as surprised as she did at the contents of the crate. Was he new here or something?

"What... kind of shop is this, anyway? Is it an antiques store, or...?"

The more she looked around, catching whiffs of stale, never-before-breathed air and seeing strangely bent figures hiding among the clutter... the more she thought about the owner, this strange and nervous pegasus who seemed like one of the most anxious ponies on the planet, but acted really earnest nonetheless... the more she began to get an idea about what was really going on.

She looked back at him, staring intensely. That was it. He could be a robber. This was a burglary and she wandered in on it—and the criminal here, the devious little fox, he was anxious to get her something and get her out before she could alert any pony. But... okay, he seemed pretty anxious and fretful for a criminal. And kind of wimpy-looking. Her gaze softened. No, more likely, the poor colt simply had no idea of what he was doing. All of a sudden, she felt a little sympathetic for the pegasus.

...Still. One could never be sure.

"Anyway, I... I don't think she'll be wanting the birdhouse," she said as she slowly wandered back over toward the dusty toys he indicated earlier. "She might like some of these. But they're kind of weird. Do you have anything, you know, 'cute'?"

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"Oh my... cute, um... cute... what is cute?" the disheveled pegasus said as he searched through the various items. What exactly was cute, he pondered as the mare stood to his side. The one thing that she wanted was cute, but what exactly was it that classified something as cute. Was it the colors that it was composed of, or perhaps the style? Yet nothing stood out to him, nothing in his eyes could really be considered cute. Row by row, one at a time, all options fading away, something had to be here, but alas, nothing that he could see.

"I'm very sorry miss... I don't seem to have anything of the sort, b-but let me take one more look around, I'm sure there is something... there just has to be..." The search continued as Reed became a cloud of despair, high and low, using his wings to check even the highest of places, kicking up what seemed to be a never-ending supply of dust.

The mare, waited and waited for him to finish his search even though the amount of time he was taking was clearly an inconvenience. "I'm very sorry miss... I'm sure I ca... *Achoo* can find something... just give me a little more time..." What was he even looking for anymore, pondered poor Reed, what is it that he would find in this mess?

The search dragged on for what seemed an eternity, until something stopped him in his tracks. Within the dimly lit store, a faint twinkle caught his eye. Upon the top shelf, something glimmered near the edge in the distance, something sealed within a bag, untouched by the age and filth within his shop. What could it have been...

It was... the quaintest stuffed animal he had ever seen, hiding mashed against the wall amongst the hundred of models placed before it. A magnificent rabbit with exceptionally plushy ear, with white fur and cerulean patches and the roundest dough eyes ever to be seen in the whole wide world of Equestria. It was almost as if it had come right out of a Saturday morning cartoon that he would watch as a foal. Was this cute? There was only one real way to find out...

"I think I may have found something!" Shouted Reed in his excitement. Something a customer may actually want, who would have thought that such a thing existed in his little shop. He brought it to the counter to get a better look.

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While the colt was flying around and knocking up dust, Bon Bon decided it was best not to just wait around. There was a lot of, for lack of a better word, junk in this shop, and even though some of it was really beautiful junk—a broken, but gilded little pendulum clock over here, a wood-carved figurine of some old unicorn hero, a bowl of hollow glass marbles that jingled like chimes when they stirred—none of it was really what she was looking for.

She rooted through some of the duskier shelves, wisely leaving the high-up places to the winged one. Jeez... does this stallion even know what he's standing around in? Some of this stuff is really interesting, she thought. But it was clear that he didn't take very good care of it. Well, heck, he didn't even seem to know what was in the shop to begin with.

A sigh escaped her as the search wore on. If the position of the sun was any hint... even if she ran, there was no way she was going to be making the shipment today. The mailmare probably punched in her card five minutes ago. Maybe it was for the best. It was better to send a thoughtful gift a day or two late than it was to send a rushed, half-thought-out one on time. Sweetie Drops wouldn't be too disappointed anyway. When there was nothing in the mail she probably didn't even think about Big Sis Bon Bon.

She was about to turn around and thank the pegasus for his time, when he cried out that he'd found something. Huh. Well, the least she could do is check it out. She turned and trotted over to the counter, where he was looking at something in a bag.

"What is it?" she asked, squinting to get a better peek at it. "It looks..." Her eyes widened. "I-it looks like..."

Oh sweet Celestia, it was. It was a Mr. Harestyle! A new one! Bon Bon quickly snatched the bag up in her hooves, looking closely at the bunny.

Her grandma had bought a Mr. Harestyle when she was a little filly. That bunny had then passed to her mom, then her brother, her sister, herself, and down along the line—except her second youngest sister had lost him during a trip to Manechester. Sweetie Drops had never even heard of Mr. Harestyle. But now, she could... she was a little old, sure, but this present was going to mean so much. Not just to Sweetie, but to the whole family.

"Sir," she said, staring with an intensity the shopkeeper had probably never even known in his poor little life, "I'll take it. Did this rabbit come with anything else?"

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"Nothing else was on the shelf..." Reed stated a bit disappointingly as he searched the package, "but it does have a brush in the bag... Why! Is there something it's missing! I'm s-sure it's here somewhere!" The pegasus flew off in a rush to continue his search even though he would never find anything more. It's unfortunate that he would try so hard just to fail but it was inevitable.

He returned to his counter with a frown and looked to the mare, "Nothing more... I guess" as he let out a huge sigh. "That will be... 15 bits." as he checked the price tag that had been caked with dust. "If you would like I could wrap it, you did say it was a birthday gift..."

He waited for a response, as the day started to draw to a close. She does like it, right? It sounded like she liked it... I hope she likes it.

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"No, no. Nothing's missing, The brush is enough," she said, smiling even though he was rushing off to look. It was actually pretty sweet that he was so intent on giving her what she wanted. She smiled and waited for him to return, deciding then and there that he poor fellow needed a tip. Just for being so dang earnest.

"It's alright... here." Bon Bon snuck a glance at the window as she dug into her meager saddlebag. The sun was dimming down to a golden orange, sending long shadows and dust-filled light into the air. So much for getting on time... but it was okay. That she had managed to find such a rare, thoughtful gift was well worth all the stress.

"15 bits, plus 3 for wrapping, and tip." She smiled at him, dropping 22 bits onto the counter. "Because you were so helpful. We, um... we had a rabbit just like this passed down in my family, but he got lost before my youngest sister could inherit him. So this is actually a really, really great gift. Thank you for finding it."

Maybe it was a little more information than he would've wanted, but the poor guy looked so anxious about making a sale... it might do him good, she thought, to let him know that not all this stuff was useless junk. Just lost little things that hadn't found the right home yet, like Mr. Harestyle was about to.

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"That's wonderful, I knew you would like it!" as a smile came to his face. His frazzled mane left him looking to the counter through a jungle of tangles. He counted the bits to be sure that everything checked out but something was wrong, 22 bits... "That's to much, miss..." and then it dawned on him. "15 bits, plus 3 for wrapping, and tip." Tip... Tip...

"Tip... tip... uh... nononononono, I can't accept that, n-nononono. I mean... oh... It's a very nice gesture... b-but that would be against regulations... oh my, uh... here take your change please, I'd have to cut my pay if I start taking tips. No no no, just uh... take your change and I'll go wrap this up for you." *KACHING* The register opened to the sound of the change rustling, and the 18 bits owed were thrown in, leaving the last 4 to be reclaimed by the generous mare.

He returned to the back room in a rush hoping she would reclaim her bits, whilst accompanied by Mr. Harestyle, and proceeded with the adventure that was wrapping. Without magic, this task was much more difficult than it needed to be. A dusty old plastic bag was bad enough, let alone trying to wrap around it so he took his wings to it like a feather duster to remove the residue of ages from the relic. A roll of paper sat upon the wrapping table, adorned with various gifts of many shapes and sizes, a very generic paper but it served its purpose. After removing a large rectangle of paper he wrapped it similar to one of the candies on the nice mares flank, that he noticed when he took a glance when he shouldn't have. "I'm certain this will be good, lets slap a ribbon on there... and... Success!"

He returned the present to the nice mare, with a magnificent smile, "I hope it's to her liking... so here!"

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Oh. Right. Things were very different for non-food shopkeepers, she supposed. Bon Bon's tip jar went largely ignored, but it was there. But at least he was accepting the bits for the wrapping—paper wasn't free, and he had that whole table set up for it, from the looks of things. It saved her a good five minutes or so... which she could use to maybe take just a little peek around while he was occupied. For curiosity's sake.

When he rushed back, she quietly scooped the four bits back up and started exploring the further depths of this dusty little den of secrets. Bon Bon had always liked finding diamonds in the rough, so to speak, and if Mr. Harestyle was any indication then the place was practically full of them.

... And yet, a lot of it wasn't. There was more "rough" than "diamonds" as far as she could see. Yellowed books, outdated figurines, scraps from attics and hard-to-love treasures... she felt a strange need to save them all. Like that movie she always used to watch as a filly. Atreyu pulling Artax from the Swamp of Sadness.

She spent a bit too long browsing, and by the time the stallion came back, she was contemplatively holding a weird glass sphere. It was cracked, and old, and the stand was gone, but there was this little gem inside. It looked clear from far away, but the closer you got, the more you could see it was actually refracting a gentle aqua-blue color that diffused in the glass, almost like it was glowing.

"H-huh?" She looked back up when he walked in, practically beaming with the present for Sweetie Drops. "Oh! Thank you so much, that's a beautiful little ribbon."

With a last fond little look at the sphere, she set it down and trotted back over to the counter, smiling sheepishly. "Thank you so much, sir. You really saved my flank. She's going to love it, I'm positive." She took the present and tucked it into her bag, where it would be safe until she shipped it off tomorrow morning. "I'm sorry, I never even caught your name...?"

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"My... name?" He stood there puzzled as the mare asked a question he was certainly not ready for. Why did she want to know his name, it wasn't very important, just making sure she was satisfied with the service mattered. Why would she want his name? "Uh... Reed, miss, Reed Valour. It was a pleasure helping you, but... if you wouldn't mind, I'm sure we would both like to call it a day. It is after closing after all, and I need to get some groceries while I still can, or else I wont..." He stopped in his tracks, what if she took what he said the wrong way, it was to much work to make this right just to screw it up, "I MEAN... Not that I want you to leave! It's just I figure... Both of us are busy, or at least you are probably busy, Butthatdoesn'tmeanIambecauseIneverhaveanythingtodoexceptwatchoverthestoreand *Large Inhale* nowI'mramblingandyoudon'treallycareaboutwhatI'msayingsoI'lljustshut... up... now and let you be on your way."

His eyes began to scan the room in a frenzy, trying to find anything to focus on besides the mare in front of him, just to try an keep the largest fake smile on his muzzle. There was no way in Tartarus that she would ever come back to the shop after that. "Wonderful Reed, good show as always" he thought to himself, "Nothing could have possibly went wrong with that little performance." He released a large sigh and regained his composure putting on a straight face once more.

"Sorry... As long as you are happy with your purchase, then everything is fine. My name is Reed, is there anything else I could help you find today?"

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Oh, right. That was silly of her. Just because she had more time now didn't mean that he did. It was getting later in the evening, and gosh if he didn't look stressed out. It must be a pretty hard job to get him this keyed-up all the time... or maybe he was just a keyed-up pony in general, she didn't know. Either way, she stood there and quietly fretted while he stood there and loudly fretted.

"O-of course, Mr. Valour," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to impose or anything... I was just very grateful to you for helping me find this." She tapped the gift in her bag to indicate her point, a sympathetic little smile crossing her face. "I know it was kind of last-minute. I'll let you get on with your evening, so... have a good one, okay? And thanks again. I think I'll be coming around again soon."

With a friendly smile, Bon Bon turned to go for the door and leave Reed in peace. If the stallion needed groceries, then he needed groceries, and who was she to stop him?

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He waved good bye to the friendly mare as she walked through the door, "Have a nice evening, Miss. Hope to see you again soon!" As the door closed, he looked to the clock in hopes that there was still time. He shuffled over and locked the door but it didn't really matter.

"6:43... No one would be open by the time I got done in here..." as his muzzle twitched to a frown. His head drooped to the floor as he shuffled his way to the backroom, "Carrot soup *sigh* again, I suppose."

He flipped the light switches, locked the windows and readied himself for the walk home. As the door slammed shut behind him, the bell above chimed it's same song one last time til mornings return.

"I hope she likes her gift..."