A Foalish Mistake

“It’s a very strange situation, we shall just have to deal with it as best we can.” Rarity said, though Applejack could tell she was nervous about visiting the less reputable quarter of Ponyville. It wasn’t so much that she thought the situation was strange, or weird, or unusual. But more that she’d said the same thing in a dozen different ways in the time it took them to get to the adult foal store.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Applejack asked again. “What’s wrong? Twilight’s cursed to be a foal, so we need to find some adult sized foal stuff. There’s nothing weird about that, it’s not like there’s anything else we can do!”

“Yes, helping a friend is always a good cause, and of course we couldn’t be held accountable for the effects of a curse.”

“Then…” Applejack wanted to ask why it was taking so long to find the shop they were looking for, until she suddenly made the connection. “You heard about this place, but you think if somepony sees us looking they’ll reckon we’re the kind of freaks who choose to dress up like foals.” Rarity kept silent, but that was as good as an admission to Applejack, who continued: “You’d really put your reputation in front of helping out a friend? Then just tell me where this place is, you can go back to your fancy boutique and I’ll get the things we need.”

“It’s not like I’m ashamed of… of what has happened to poor Twilight,” Rarity countered, “It was nopony’s fault. I’m sure that even if we were seen in this less than salubrious district, we wouldn’t be judged if we are only here to help a friend. But… now you mention the Boutique, I remembered that I have something there that might be useful in the situation. Why don’t I head back there, and you can proceed to the shop I had heard about. I’m sure you have more experience with foals than I do, in any case.”

Applejack wanted to argue, wanted to make Rarity admit that she was letting her discomfort about the unusual shop get in the way of helping their friend. But she held her tongue for now, contenting herself with the fact that the normally proud unicorn had acknowledged there might be something Applejack knew more about.

“Fine,” she said, “That way we’re both helping. Where is this place?”

“One of my customers mentioned it. They had heard that I might occasionally do custom garments to order, and wondered if I might be considering the place as a rival establishment, but I reassured them that there is unlikely to be much overlap between our relative specialities.” Rarity again took more words than necessary to explain her position, which Applejack mentally translated as _‘This adult foal shop also makes harness and restraints for ponies who are into bondage. They might be a rival in that field, but my stuff is prettier, and I’m not going to admit that I make those things even if everypony knows really.’_

“Right,” she said simply, hoping to avoid the arguments that seemed to crop up way too easily around Rarity, “Where is it then?”

“Somewhere on Honeytree Lane, I heard. There’s a sign in an upper window, a wooden apple and a soft toy that their customers know to look for. That’s all I know, you might have to ask the salespony at the shop downstairs, to make sure that it isn’t possible to just walk in without knowing it’s there.”

So while Rarity headed back to the comparative safety of her own boutique, Applejack walked down a narrow shopping street, with regular glances at the upper windows to see which store might conceal a second business in the back room. It turned out to be a rather shoddy looking seed merchant that had the sign above, and she dismissed the contents of the main store with a single glance.

“I saw the sign,” Applejack nodded in the direction of the shop’s upstairs window, “I gather there’s more to the store than this?”

“Did someone recommend us?” the mare behind the counter responded gruffly, not giving anything away.

“It’s not for me,” her mind raced as she tried to think of the best way to respond. Rarity hadn’t mentioned the name of the customer who’d told her about this place, who must have been known here even to be aware of it. “It’s for a friend. A foal, you know? She asked me to buy… some things.” How could she even ask, if she wasn’t entirely sure she had the right place? This must have been what had made Rarity so nervous.

“Certainly,” the mare’s tone was suddenly a lot warmer, “We get a lot of people shopping for their friends. Walk this way,” and she led the way towards a bead curtain at the back of the store. A glow like firelight from under her tousled red mane revealed that she was a unicorn as the curtain drew back. “Satin Shimmer will be waiting for you. I just take care of the store down here.”

At the top of the stairs was a store quite unlike the dusty and dingy one Applejack had just passed through. There was a blind in front of the window that did little to stop the afternoon light streaming in, and the whole place seemed to be decorated in white with a whole range of pastel highlights. There was no dust at all on rows of shelves filled with toys and other things that might be needed for raising a foal. The middle of the room displayed giant size cribs, a changing table, and even a couple of mannequins showing off an adult sized romper suit and an excessively frilly onesie.

Satin Shimmer was waiting at the top of the stairs, as promised. She turned out to be a pegasus with a mane as wildly bushy as the unicorn downstairs, though hers was a white so pure it almost seemed to glow. Her coat was a healthy green, so pale it would have seemed white if it wasn’t contrasted against the perfect tone of her hair.

“Good afternoon,” she said in a voice that almost seemed like she must have practised, every syllable slotted perfectly into place, “My name is Satin Shimmer, I’m very pleased to meet you. It’s always good to meet a new customer.”

“Yeah, I don’t reckon many ponies will find you, hidden away up here. I never even heard of this place, but my friend asked me to go get some things. I’m not too sure how much we’ll need, though.”

“Yes, I’m afraid some may get the wrong idea when it comes to the things we make available, so we are obliged to hide this little nook. My aunt runs a store in Manehattan, which is a lot more bustling. When we realised that the mail order side of the business had eleven regular customers in Ponyville, we thought it would be an excellent opportunity for me and Glimmer to move out here and try running our own branch. You’re only the second newcomer to find us so far, but even one new friend is enough to keep us satisfied with our jobs.”

Applejack walked up and down the shelves, looking at the merchandise on display as the eloquent pegasus rambled on about her family and the history of the store. She couldn’t help feeling a certain curiosity about the dozen other ponies who shopped here, but she knew that she had no  business asking about anyone else’s secrets. She even wondered if any of her friends had come up the stairs into this white-and-pastel wonderland. It was surprisingly easy to imagine Pinkie Pie jumping around gleefully dressed up as a foal, but quite hard to believe she’d remember to keep toys like this somewhere private.

She quickly filled a basket with diapers, powder, and all the other paraphernalia that might be needed for taking care of Twilight if she continued to act like a foal. Unsure how much would be necessary, but not wanting to miss anything they needed, she also picked out a few toys, a crib that the white mare assured her was enchanted against teleportation, a large pacifier, and some oversize jars of foal food.

“It’s for my friend,” she said again as Shimmer tried to tally up the cost of all this, “Not out of choice, you know, she’s been cursed to act like a foal so we might need some things to look after her until we can find a counterspell.”

“Of course,” the other pony just smiled, not looking away from her abacus, “I hear that kind of thing happens quite a lot.” Applejack was disappointed at not being believed, but it was just about bearable given that Shimmer clearly wasn’t judging the ‘friend’ for what she saw as preferences. While she waited, she found herself looking at the clothes on display. The onesie had a small note pinned to it, which immediately caught her eye:

~ If you would like a more bespoke creation, we would recommend a visit to the Carousel Boutique, whose owner promises to create any garment to the highest standards, and never to judge customers regardless of her personal tastes. ~

It was a philosophy she had often heard before, and probably explained why a customer would have told Rarity about this place. Still, it was a little surprising to see such a glowing endorsement. Applejack found herself wondering how many of the customers had already visited the boutique, and if Rarity had half-finished adult foal dresses hiding in the private areas of her shop. If she’d done a lot of work for these ponies, then it would be a lot easier for someone seeing her here to assume she had an interest in this herself, and that was perhaps too much for her pride to take. On the other hand, maybe she’d been reminded that she had some cute outfit that could easily be modified to fit Twilight Sparkle, and had wanted an excuse to show off these designs to her friends.  It was hard to tell with that mare sometimes.

Eventually, the best part of a month’s earnings handed over, Applejack left the store with bulging saddlebags, and headed back towards the library.