A Change in Strategy

Stratus Fairweather took a deep breath and stepped into her new shop.

Her shop!

To any outside pony, the place would look how you'd expect a building that's been empty for months to look. Dusty floors and counters, cobwebs, small critters living in the attic. But to Stratus? It was incredible. The feeling of walking into a place that was truly hers to do with as she pleased was indescribable. There was excitement, of course, and fear for what was to come. But there was also a passion, a fierce desire to see her little store succeed! And that all started with a little cleaning.

"Got a little cleaning up to do...," she began humming to herself, not quite breaking out into a full song. She unfurled her oversized wings and flapped once. A white-gold aura gently curled off of them, swirling with the air and gathering up all the dust and dirt that coated the floor. She brushed a wing along the countertop she would be using to make sales, expelling the grime out of an open window with a flick of the feathers.

Moving to the stairs, she took them two at a time then slid down the railing, a whirl of golden light spinning and cleaning behind her as she went. With a powerful flap, she leapt onto the second floor's balcony and did a little twirl. The floor, railing, and doors practically shone after she was done with them.

"Well!" She said to herself brightly, "At least cleaning up won't take much - cough - time."

She sniffled a little, then coughed again. And again. Her limbs began to feel a bit weak, the effort of dancing and cleaning taking its toll on her ailing physique. She sat unceremoniously on the floorboards of her balcony until her coughing fit was done, then for a few moments more just catching her breath.

Maybe... she thought to herself, maybe she will be able to help me.

After she'd gotten up and tidied herself up a bit, she was doing a much more subdued cleaning behind the counter when there was a knock at the door. Stratus jumped. A customer? No, she wasn't open yet.

"Come in!" She called out uncertainly.

The door creaked open-

Gonna have to fix that, she made a mental note.

• and in stepped a stallion. A very cute stallion. He was smaller than her, which wasn't unexpected as she was very tall, and he had a bookish look about him. His hair was light blue, and he had a very pale pink mane of unkempt length and style. His cutie mark was that of an inkwell and quill, she noted, and his eyes were a wan yellow; bright and keen behind two large round glasses.

Awwww! Look at him! I could just gobble him up! She thought to herself as a radiant smile lit her face.

"Hey there! Welcome to Fairweather Flarket!"

The smaller stallion blushed a little, his cheeks turning a slightly darker blue. Stratus had to resist the urge to squee.

"M-Miss Fairweather, I presume?" The stallion asked. He spoke with a slight accent. Pritish, if she had to guess.

"Yes, that's me! Come in, and please call me Stratus!" She said excitedly.

As she hurried over to meet him, though, the sudden movement and flurry of emotions causing her legs to feel weak again.

She stumbled, barely catching herself on the edge of the counter, and feeling very embarrassed about nearly collapsing in front of her first ever guest.

"Miss Fairweather!" the stallion called, and he was at her side a moment later helping to steady her. He smelled like a fresh sheet of paper, and she couldn't help but notice his little nose twitch when he got close to her.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" He asked, looking quite concerned.

She tried to laugh it off, "Yes, yes, don't mind me- erm.."

She was looking down at his front hooves, still clasped tightly onto her foreleg.

He blushed again and quickly let go, "Sorry! Sorry. My name is Kraken Inkbinder, but you can just call me Ink since it's more appropriate."

Stratus blinked several times in shock. Not wanting to be rude, she said, "Oh. Kraken. What a... lovely name!"

Krake- Ink smiled shyly, "It's a family name. My relatives are mostly fisherponies, or sailors, or pirates."

With a jolt Stratus realized how close the two of them were still standing, although he didn't seem inclined to move away either.

She backed up a pace, feeling some heat rise into her cheeks as well, and said, "Well Ink, it's a pleasure to meet you. What brings you here? We technically aren't even open yet."

He nodded with a small smile, "Likewise! And I was invited over by Pinkie. She said that she wanted to throw a welcome party for you, but that it had to be small. Just your neighbors."

Stratus tried not to let her eyes widen, "We're neighbors?"

He nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! I run the Quill and Ledger next door. We sell Ink, paper products, paints, that sort of thing."

Ah ha! A potential first customer! Stratus grinned.

Without really thinking about it, she leaned against the counter subtly displaying her flank and the large cutie mark of a sun behind a feathered wing. His eyes couldn't help but be drawn to it. She had yet to meet another pony with the symbol of the sun on their butt besides one very important pony in particular. And she was very good at making sure her hair was always glossy, golden, and aesthetically pleasing. If you wanted to make sales, you had to play the game.

She could see the poor stallion practically gulp as his blush darkened, and he pointedly looked her directly in the eyes. Her purple, beautifully shaded eyes. That didn't help either.

"Well then, Mister Inkbinder, I think that once I get some products in stock I'll have some things you'll be very interested in."

"O-oh? Is that so?" He asked.

She nodded, "Rare sea creatures, shells to make genuine paints, different exotic or even enchanted woods for processing. I plan to have it all."

Hehe, wood. She snirked to herself.

"Well, that all sounds very exciting!" he said, seeming to regain a bit of himself, "When do you plan to open?"

She sighed, "Hopefully within two weeks. As you can imagine shipping takes a while."

Ink was about to say something more when the front door burst open. A mare with a wild red mane stepped in with an irritated expression on her face. Her coat was an autumnal brown with hints of orange highlights.

"Alright, I'm here-" she said, then stopped in her tracks when she spotted Ink and Stratus, "Oh, uh... sorry about that. I thought this was supposed to be one of Pinky's surprise parties."

"Scarlet!" Ink said, looking abashed, "You can't just go bursting into people's houses!"

Scarlet rolled her eyes, which were a dark and honey-colored, "Oh come on, Ink! First of all, it's a store, and second I didn't know she was here yet! Speaking of which..."

The mare held out a strong looking hoof and said, "Scarlet Ember, pleased to meetcha. Since we're neighbors now, I thought I'd come and say hi."

Stratus was a bit taken aback by her tone. So far everypony here had been all smiles and kind words. This was the first time she'd seen somepony actually frustrated, or even annoyed.

"Stratus Fairweather!" She introduced herself, taking the hoof and shaking it with as much firmness as she could muster, "Do you own a shop too?"

Scarlet narrowed her eyes slightly, "Yeah, the general goods store next door. I don't really have a name for it since ponies usually just call it Scarlet's Place."

Stratus glanced over at Ink and saw that he appeared a little uncomfortable, then it clicked for her. If this mare owned a general goods store next to her, that would mean-

"I'm not too much of a fan of a... what did you call it, Ink? A World Market? Popping up right next to me. I'd prefer ponies keep shopping local, but to each their own I guess," Scarlet ended this by leaning against a wall with her forelegs crossed. Stratus had to admit that she cut a fine figure. Well-rounded and clearly muscular, she had the natural physique that a lot of Earth Ponies were blessed with from birth.

"Oh!" Stratus said in understanding, "No, of course, that makes sense. But I can assure you that no product you find on my shelves will be anything like what you sell!"

Scarlet narrowed her eyes further, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Stratus realized she'd worded that badly, and tried to scramble to make up for the mistake, "W-well, you sell everyday items, right? Flour, straw, medicine, snacks, that sort of thing?"

Scarlet nodded, "Yeah, I like to think of myself as a local distributor."

Stratus nodded emphatically, "Yes, precisely! I'm going to be selling things like rare stones found in the mountains of Tecat, or rare plants and animal parts, things of that nature. Certainly not something you'd need every day, but something you might want for a collection or decoration."

Or a spell, she thought to herself.

"Great, you're all here!" A voice called out from the upstairs balcony, causing Stratus to almost leap out of her skin. She turned and was just in time to see Pinky Pie jump the rail and somersault onto the ground. She sprung up from her roll with a bright smile on her face, "Now we can get this party started!"

She raised her hoof and snapped it somehow. There was a ker-thunk, and Stratus saw that part of her ceiling had opened. A disco ball slowly lowered out of the hole and began playing upbeat music.

"Wha... how?" she asked in a small voice.

Scarlet patted her on the shoulder, "You get used to it. Come on, she's probably got a truckload of sweets waiting for us."

Stratus was shocked. Happy, though, and she gave Scarlet a dazzling smile.

The earth pony blinked and then quickly removed her hoof, "Just, uh... just don't steal my customers and we'll get along alright."

Once again Stratus was reminded of her height. She towered over this earth pony who was by no means scrawny. Stratus bumped Scarlet's flank with her own and said with a grin, "Oh, I hope we can get to know each other better than that."

"U-uhh," Scarlet stammered. Stratus just gave a small laugh and said, "Come on. Don't want the cake to get cold."

The party was actually very fun. Even though Stratus normally wasn't a huge fan of gatherings, just four ponies hanging out and getting to know each other was great! She and Scarlet had started off on a bad note, but by the end of the three hour event they were laughing and kidding around like sisters. Ink was surprisingly talkative too, once you got him going. His family being primarily made of sailors meant that he had great stories about distant lands and sea creatures.

Stratus was surprised to find that Pinky had left sometime after the introductions were over. It was a gradual thing. She introduced the party games, made sure everypony got enough to eat, and then slowly faded out. Stratus thought that was sweet, and she made a mental note to thank Pinky about it later.

The evening had drawn on and now the three shopkeeps sat on the bare floor surrounded by icing, crumbs, sprinkles, and bits of disco ball that had not been secured properly. Scarlet was wiping tears from her eyes from a joke Stratus had told about life in Cloudsdale.

"Oh, Celestia," the dappled brown earth pony said, "I will never understand how pegasi live like that. No offense, I just know I'd be constantly terrified of plummeting through the clouds!"

Stratus nodded enthusiastically, "You wouldn't be alone. There's plenty of pegasi that are afraid of heights!"

Scarlet giggled again and Stratus beamed at her. She had a great laugh, deep and full, it was infectious.

The conversation hit a comfortable lull, and they all sat in contemplative silence for a moment. Stratus noticed that both of the others were looking at her, which she guessed was pretty normal she was the new one here. Still, it had a certain air about it. Something subtle and half-concealed.

"Sooooo..." she said, trying to sound purely conversational, "anypony here attached?"

The others seemed to snap out of their own thoughts, and Ink was actually the first to respond, "Not for a while, no. It's tough to meet ponies when you live in a small town like this. You kind of either met the right one already or, well..." he petered off.

"Oh, come on Ink," Scarlet said, still grinning slightly, "you know you got a crush on somepony."

That cute blue blush of his heated his face again, and he looked away from the two mares.

"Oh?" Stratus asked, leaning forward and flicking her golden tail, "Tell me, tell me!"

"W-well," he said, looking anywhere but at her, "there was a new pony that came into town a while ago. She's... different. Exotic! And she's very well-traveled, lots of wonderful stories."

Scarlet looked over at Stratus cordially, "You wouldn't know her, but her name's Zecora. She's a Zebra shaman or somethin' that only speaks in rhyme."

Stratus didn't miss how Scarlet's eyes lingered on her curved back before the other mare looked away, and she decided to push a little.

"What about you, Scarlet? If you get to push poor Ink around, then surely a little give and take is in order."

Scarlet hesitated. There was a flash of pain in her eyes, and maybe regret.

Ink spoke again, "Scarlet, it's okay if you don't want to-"

Scarlet waved him off, "It's fine. Doesn't matter. I had somepony but we broke up about three months ago. He wanted to travel, and I wanted to stay. Simple as that."

It very clearly was not, but Stratus didn't want to re-open a wound like that right now. Instead she opted to place a hoof on the other mare's back consolingly, "Sorry Scarlet. I hope you meet somepony better, you deserve it."

Scarlet looked up into Stratus' violet eyes and smiled, "Thanks Strat, that's nice of you to say."

"Wait, what time is it?" Ink asked suddenly, "Oh, bones, I need to go close up the shop! I'm supposed to meet with the Alliance in an hour!"

The small blue stallion got up and brushed himself off, stopping to give Stratus a quick hug on the way out.

"It was great to meet you Stratus, I'm so happy you came to town!" He said, with a wide and open smile. He didn't give many of those, so she felt touched.

"Likewise, Ink. I'm very happy to have met you."

With that he hustled over to his shop next door, and then it was Just Scarlet and Stratus.

Scarlet was looking around the empty place, kicking one hoof distractedly against the floor. Stratus gently shut the door and walked over to the smaller mare. She brushed the others' flank, looking down into Scarlet's deep brown eyes and asked in a soft almost whisper, "Did you want to go, too?"

As she made the motion, she felt a small twinge on her back. She did her best to ignore it, though. Random pains like that were just one of the joys of being her.

Scarlet actually shivered slightly. To her it seemed like the whole room had just gotten a lot smaller, and her body had gotten much heavier.

"W-well," she said, stammering and blushing a little, "I can stay a little longer, I want to know about you!"

"Me?" Stratus asked, pulling away and settling down on the floor in front of Scarlet.

The earth pony nodded sluggishly, her face seeming a little flushed, "Yeah, like you said. Give and take, right? I told you about me, so..." the poor earth pony looked away, face afire, "Celestia, why am I getting so embarrassed about this? We were just talking about it with Ink, but now..."

"It feels more personal?" Stratus purred, leaning forward on a front hoof and looking Scarlet over. Her body really was impressive. Smooth and sleek, but well rounded and with an ass you could grab.

Down girl, you just met, Stratus chided herself.

Scarlet gave a nervous laugh, "And you talking like that is not helping." Her words were harsh, but she was smiling.

Stratus' eyes continued to wander over the contours of the other mare as she answered, "I'm not in a relationship, no. And I also don't really do the whole attachment thing." Stratus' heart skipped a beat when she saw Scarlet look visibly disappointed by that statement.

She coyly added, "By that I mean, I grew up in a more traditional household."

Scarlet looked at her with surprise, "You grew up in a herd?"

Stratus nodded, "Yep! I had three dads and four moms. And a cart load of siblings, as you can imagine."

Scarlet blinked and was silent for several moments.

Finally she just said, "Huh."

Stratus nodded, and then decided to take a risk. She leaned forward to the other mare conspiratorially, as though she were whispering a secret, and said, "If you ever want me to tell you more about it... my door is always open."

Scarlet went crimson at the combination of proximity, scent, and insinuation, "Thanks," her voice fluttered, "I'll, uh, keep that in mind."

Something wafted over Stratus' nostrils. She could smell the other mare. Had she actually gotten wet from just a bit of talk?

She'll be putty in my hooves in a week, Stratus thought with a sly smile, which she let Scarlet see.

Stratus got up and stretched, giving Scarlet a full view of her smooth legs, luxurious coat, and slim figure, before saying with a sigh, "Alright Scarlet, I think it's probably best if you head out. I still need to keep cleaning, more so now with the mess from the party, and it's getting late."

Scarlet stood as well, eyes glued to Stratus' body, "Are you sure? I could stay and help."

"No, darling, but thank you. I really do appreciate the offer," Stratus said, leading the way to the door. She made sure to give her tail a few tantalizing flicks for the other mare's benefit before opening it.

Always leave them wanting more.

Scarlet trudged out, but hesitated.

She asked, only half-joking, "What, no hug for me?"

Stratus laughed out loud to break the tension, and gave the other mare a very chaste hug.

"Have a good night Scarlet!" She called.

"You too! Let me know if you need anything!" Scarlet said as she scooted back to her store, tail desperately clamped between her legs.

Stratus watched her go for a few seconds, then turned and closed the door.