In the city of Canterlot, where ponies of high society go about their day in the fanciest place in Equestria, a young orange dragon rested against one of the many clean white walls. Smolder waited with patience draining by the minute, her arms folded tight and her foot rhythmically tapping on the cobbled ground beneath her.
“Ugh, where is she?” she groaned and asked herself. Her friend Ocellus told her to go to Canterlot so they could have an outing together and a picnic in the park, she even brought a bag of gems from the Dragon Lands for her to snack on. Clearly, those plans were going off schedule for somecreature. “I won’t be too long, just need to sort out some books at the school library” she mimicked her friend’s soft and timid voice.
Although she could complain all she wanted, there wasn’t much she could do aside from remain part of the wall decoration. She just needed to remain in and around the town square, and either Ocellus will find her, or she will find Ocellus.
It was easy for them to find each other; amongst all the ponies the pair would stand out. Painfully so, as Smolder watched the ponies in the square, many wearing suits or dresses with their manes curled and finely combed, walking or standing with their noses pointed towards the sky. Even if Smolder was a pony, her rough edges would make it impossible for her to fit into these crowds.
She took a stroll around the perimeter of the square, walking past many of the shops, cafes, and restaurants, most painted bright white with roofs painted purple and gold, some with spires that scale high but shy in comparison with the Royal Palace that towered over the square.
However, one building stood out in the square, its cylindrical exterior was a pale orchid colour with large windows between a doorway with a heart-shaped glass front. Smolder furrowed her brow, for some reason this building gave her a sense of familiarity to something in Ponyville, the town where she was studying at the School of Friendship. Finding a signpost nearby, the inscription that pointed towards the building gave her some confirmation, The Carousel Boutique.
It hit her, one of her teachers at the School of Friendship was Professor Rarity, who taught about generosity. The elegant white unicorn was obsessed with fashion and design, with her mane having a constant purple wave and often modelling outfits on a mannequin inside the classroom. Rarity also lived and owned a fashion business called the Carousel Boutique, so this must be the Canterlot branch of sorts.
Out of curiosity, Smolder considered going in to have a look. It would pass the time, although there was the off chance that Ocellus might turn up at any moment. She shrugged and made her way up the stairs and through the door, at least the indoors would be a different scenery from outside.
Inside there was more orchid, although dark purple drapes hung down from the ceilings and white marble columns stood against all sections of the wall. The two-story boutique had racks of dresses and outfits both around and behind the main counter where a tall turquoise unicorn was making her inspections, and there were areas for huge displays and private changing rooms and designs.
Smolder browsed the boutique, carefully poking her way through the dresses on the available racks. They were the exact kind of outfit that she could find outside, vibrant, frilly, and heavy enough on the touch. She didn’t see the big deal in wearing outfits, perhaps for special occasions or performances, but for everyday wear? When every creature, pony or otherwise, never wore clothing as the default, it felt rather excessive.
It didn’t take long for that tall unicorn to notice Smolder, as she scanned the next rack of dresses out in the open. As unusual as it might have been, the unicorn was barely phased by the presence of a dragon in the boutique. In fact, this was just a new opportunity for the staff pony, and so made her approach towards the dragon, making sure she stood tall, ensured her collars were tidy and had a welcoming smile on her face.
“Well, bust my buttons!” she remarked out loud, “Do forgive me for my intrusion, but it looks like somecreature has a keen eye for clothing, those are some of the finest dresses in Canterlot!” Her upbeat enthusiasm and classy Trottingham parlance caught the attention of Smolder, who wasn’t taken in by the compliment.
“Meh… they’re alright,” she replied with a shrug. While she didn’t have a high interest in fashion as the unicorn imagines, she didn’t want to be rude or cynical considering she was only browsing and passing the time.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the unicorn followed, grabbing one of Smolder’s clawed hands to politely shake it. “My name is Sassy Saddles, manager of Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. By perchance, what brings a young and pretty dragon-like yourself to the boutique?” Sassy was trying to use one of her sales techniques to find what her customers are looking for, buttering them up into a casual conversation.
“Uh… thanks.” The dragon started to feel nervous, however, not experiencing being referred to as pretty. She decided just to be upfront to avoid this manager from wasting her own time. ”I’m waiting to meet with someone, so I’m just looking around for-“
“-a dress to impress your date with! Denim and Daisies, that sounds wonderful!” elated Sassy Saddles, her smile widening to a grin.
“What?”
“Come with me! Sassy Saddles will make sure you look spectacular!”
Smolder was still wide-eyed and blushing, with not enough time to react when she was feeling pulled by a bright yellow aura that emitted from Sassy Saddle’s spiralled horn. She only broke out of her trance when she discovered herself standing on a round podium in a side room, surrounded by dresses and measuring tapes wrapped around her arms and body, all the while Sassy Saddles was joyfully humming and taking notes.
“No wait, you don’t understand.” Smolder hastily called out. “I’m just seeing a friend, we’re not da- “
Sassy Saddles interrupted her, with a single held-up hoof. “Don’t you worry young lady, being a dragon doesn’t mean it's impossible to find a dress that can impress.” She hopped her way over to one of the racks, looking through the dresses available while checking her notes. “Now we need to think of what dress would work, perhaps one that would impress your “friend”?”
She unhooked a bright cyan dress from the rack and moved it right in front of Smolder’s chest to line it up. “What do they like? Perhaps a favourite colour?” she questioned the dragon.
Seeing the detail from the top and sides, the dress was bright cyan with pink frills. Although the appearance did coincidentally remind her of Ocellus somewhat, Smolder pushed the dress aside. “I mean it, we’re just friends, and I don’t- “
“Actually, that might give the impression of being obsessive,” she uttered to herself, ignoring the dragon. “You need something that fits you… Oh, you like gems, right?” She swapped the cyan dress for a new dress off the rack, a dark purple one that sparkled in the light. “Every Dragon I know loves gems!”
Smolder raised her eyebrows when she saw this new dress, the sparkle effect it had did intrigue her, it reminded her of the amethysts that jingled in the bag right next to her. “Well, I like to eat them…” she uttered but then she shakes her head to get the thoughts out to get back onto her point. “Hold on, no! I didn’t come here to- “
The unicorn suddenly pulls the dress away and shakes her own head in disagreement. “No wait, that feels a bit too sweet. Plus, I shouldn’t generalize when I only know one dragon second-hoof from my boss.” Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open, and her face started to glow, an idea had appeared.
“Paisley and poplin, I got it! When I see you, I imagine flames of passion.” She was half-right in her description, Smolder’s eyes were blazing in frustration as she glared at the unicorn after numerous interruptions. With her hands on her hips and the sound of aggravated groans coming from her breath, she was ready to spew out flames. “we have the most perfect dress that’ll accentuate that fire within you.”
In her anger, Smolder recognized the oblivious glee, “Miss Saddles, you’re excited, but I’m trying to tell you, I’m not here to- “. She was once again interrupted. Not by Sassy Saddles talking over her, but by a mountain of fabric that had fallen on top of her, smothering her.
The gleeful unicorn calmly and carefully pulled a new dress over Smolder, blissfully unaware of her muffled ranting. “Raise your arms, please.” After a short struggle, Sassy was able to get Smolder’s head through the neckline and arms through the sleeves and bounced around her as she made tiny adjustments to it as Smolder’s expression dulled.
“And voila!” she remarked as she finished, “What do you think of this?”
A vein popped above one of the corners of Smolder’s eyes, “FOR THE LAST TIME,” she yelled, “I DIDN’T COME INTO THIS STORE TO BUY ONE OF YOUR POMPOUS, LOUSY…” but as she yelled at the unicorn, she sees the reflection of the mirror in the corner of her eye and stops. In the reflection, she saw herself in a ball gown, its blood orange fabric covering her from the sleeves to the bottom of the skirt, layered with yellow frills surrounding her, giving her the appearance of lava dripping off her scaley body after a swim. She twisted her body from side to side to see the dress in full detail, her eyes fixed to the very reflection.
Sassy Saddles was pleased to see the reaction, “For a gown designed for a young pegasus pony in mind, I have to say it looks brilliant on you, the colour really compliments your scales.” At that moment, Smolder twirls around in a pirouette, the pair watching as the skirt twisted and flew around the dragon. “So go on, be honest, you really like it, don’t you?” asked Sassy, getting giddy at the positive sign.
Just then, the ends of Smolder’s curls began to curl upward, “Yeah… this is nice…” she calmly acknowledged, though the smile quickly disappeared when she realized who else was in the room and begins to blush. “I-I mean, for a pony dress, that is…” she pouts and folds her arm.
Sassy squeed with delight, “Raving rick-rack that’s splendid!” she brought back her papers, confident that she got a sale. “We can get this totalled up right away, now will you be paying in bits or credit?”
That was when the thought had set in, there was one other reason she didn’t come into the boutique to buy something. It left her downcast, as the thought that she liked what she was wearing, deep down she had a desire to take it with her. “…I can’t afford it,” she quietly confessed with a gravelly voice. Sassy became baffled, leaving her papers to look at the dragon. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, I didn’t come in here to buy a dress,” Smolder explained. “I only looked around because I wanted to kill time before I met up with my friend for our day out, even if I brought my bits with me, I doubt it’d be enough to get this.” She felt a hint of guilt as she had her hands behind her back and looked down towards Sassy’s hooves “Sorry for wasting your time…”
Sassy herself reflected on the exchanges leading up to that point. Upon realizing that this could have been avoided if she listened to Smolder from the start, she could have avoided the misunderstanding from the beginning. “Oh, pins and needles… I must apologize too.” She calmly admitted, taking pity on the dragon. “As embarrassing as it is to admit, this isn’t the first time I’ve jumped to conclusions and went ahead of what another creature wanted.” She sighed and gave a comforting smile. “No harm done, if you need any help getting the dress off, feel free to ask. Otherwise, you can leave it on top of the rack with the others before you go, so I can put it away properly.”
The unicorn made her departure towards the main room, leaving Smolder to continue to stare at the reflection in the mirror with disappointment. The dragon knew she’d have to take the gown off and leave it behind eventually, but that liking she has kept holding her back, reminding her that there could be another way, deep within the bag that she had been carrying around all day.
A pale blue changeling rushed off the train at the station and frantically made her way into the main square with a sense of panic as she is late. She promised Smolder she only needed to sort out a few books, not get distracted by the newest batch of books on arrival.
When she arrived, she looked around, no orange dragon in sight. Now her panic turned to worry, perhaps she left after waiting too long. She disagreed with that idea to reassure herself, Smolder wouldn’t do that, she’s a good friend. Maybe she is just hiding somewhere or has gone into one of the stores to browse and pass the time.
“Hey, Ocellus…”
The changeling turned around, and the recognition of Smolder’s face gave her relief, but the rest of her friend’s appearance left her stunned. She was wearing a blood orange gown with yellow frills; it was a surprise to see from someone who would never wear something so expensive and fancy. “Wow Smolder, you look amazing,” she exclaimed as she happily examined the details of the skirt, “did you just buy that dress? It really suits you!”
Smolder quickly started to blush, folding her arms, and trying to look away to hide her face.
“Uh, yeah… thanks.”
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, but you know you didn’t have to dress up for our picnic, right?” she asked, smiling with a raised eyebrow.
Smolder looked back at the Carousel Boutique, and then observed the lack of a bag in either of her hands.
“If you promise not to tell anycreature and get me food, I’ll tell you how this all happened.”
