Sprout's Second Chance

"Alright, pizza's on me tonight, Sunny," Izzy told her friend a couple minutes after they left the Cloverleaf residence for the evening. The sun was beginning it's final descent towards the horizon as the two mares headed towards their downtown hotel room that they had gotten long term while Sunny's lighthouse was undergoing repairs.

"Sounds great, Izzy, but I've got a stop to make before I turn in for the night. You think you can hold off for about thirty minutes?" Sunny asked.

"Yeah, sure. Still got a little bit of lunch in there. Want me to tag along?" Izzy asked.

"No, no, that's alright. I'll see you back at the room," Sunny replied, and at the pair of ponies split at the turn off towards the hotel. Sunny headed towards the northeast end of town, mentally recalling the short conversation she just had with Phyllis barely five minutes ago...

"I hope this isn't too forward of me, but I was... I was wondering if you might tell me where you got Sprout his... Supplies..." She asked Phyllis, as Izzy waited for her down at the end of the walk.

"His supplies? Oh, oh you mean... You...?" Phyllis trailed off, and both mares showed hints of embarrassment at the topic.

"I'm... Admittedly a little curious, yes," Sunny replied, feeling her cheeks warm.

"Hm. Well, maybe I need to give Hitch a little more credit when he said that it's more common than I thought. Well, it's a little corner shop on East Second Street and Bayside Avenue, called My Inner Foal. I think they're still open for a little while longer. Not exactly easy to spot from a distance, so keep an eye out," Phyllis told her.

"Thanks, Phyllis. See you later!" Sunny said with a smile, then turning and walking down to where Izzy waited.

Sunny walked up a couple more blocks up to Bayside Ave, and made a right. She kept her pace at a healthy trot, as it was approaching 7pm, and from the sound of it, this place had limited hours. She also didn't want to keep Izzy waiting too long.

She went up two more blocks, and there it was. The signage on the door was pretty simple, and certainly didn't grab your attention. Almost like you had to know what to look for, and if you weren't, you'd pass it right by.

It occurred to Sunny that that was probably the point. She looked at the hours on the door, and saw that she had arrived just in time. She would have just about ten or fifteen minutes to take a look around. She took a deep breath, and put one hoof in front of the other, and made her way towards the door. She pulled it open, and there was a chime that announced her arrival.

"Hello, and welcome to My Inner, oh, Sunny! How are you?" The olive green-coated proprietor greeted. She was a middle-aged mare with a purple mane and tail, and Sunny had to internally confess that she didn't know her by name. She, on the other hand, was pretty much famous to the entire town now.

"I'm good. I'm wondering if there's time to look around before you close," Sunny replied, shifting her front hooves around.

"Yes, certainly. My name is Mayflower, and I'm assuming you know what I offer here?" she asked.

Now she placed the mare. She was one of the ponies Hitch greeted out in front of CanterLogic.

"Y-Yes, I do," Sunny answered, her cheeks growing warm.

"Well, thank you for getting up the nerve to come in here and take a look around. Don't worry, most of my first-time customers are as nervous as can be. I do close in about twenty minutes, but feel free to use all that time to look at what you might like. All of the clothing and outfits I offer are here on the left, and all of my available diapers are here on the right." Mayflower told her.

Sunny felt her cheeks flush again when Mayflower mentioned diapers so casually. She glanced at the outfits, which consisted of onesies, pajamas, skirts, dresses, and denim overalls, but that's not what she was here for today. She made her way over to the rows of shelves on the right, and sure enough, every single pack of diapers was much, much larger than you would find for foals, but the packaging was certainly the same style.

She silently made her way down the right wall, glancing at the packages as she went. There were quite a variety of patterns and styles, from simply pull-up training pants, plastic pants, and most commonly, tape-on disposable diapers, both plastic and cloth-backed. Her gait came to a standstill when she found a pack of ten plastic-backed ones with wands, shooting stars, and fairies patterned on it. She didn't remember much from her foalhood, but something about these spoke to her, and as she pulled the appropriate size from the shelf, she felt a tingling in her hooves.

She didn't want to spend too much on a mere curiosity, so she stuck with just the single pack, and returned to the register up front.

"If this is your very first time, do you want to include some powder and wipes?" Mayflower asked her.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, probably a good idea," Sunny asked, still very self-conscious, wondering how she was going to get these back to the hotel room.

"As a complete newbie, if I may offer some advice? I know you're probably excited to get back home and try these on, but if you take them out of the pack and let them rest for twenty or thirty minutes, they'll expand and become considerably fluffier, thicker, and thus more absorbent. I won't assume what you're planning on doing in these, but you won't need to change them with every use; they're for heavy use, and can take multiple wettings." Mayflower told her as she rang up the pack of Little Fairyz diapers, a bottle of foal powder, and a pack of adult-sized wet wipes.

"I... See. Thank you," Sunny said with a nervous smile, completely unprepared to talk about something like this with a complete stranger. To her relief, the items were placed in a completely unassuming paper shopping tote, which was then folded at the top and slid across to her, with the contents completely hidden.

"Alright, Miss Starscout, that will be 28 bits, please," Mayflower told her. Sunny reached into her saddle bag to get out the required amount, and slid across three 10-bit pieces, and got two bits in change.

"Thank you very much, and I sincerely hope you enjoy exploring this curiosity. If you do, you are welcome back absolutely any time. Please enjoy your evening," Mayflower thanked her.

Sunny smiled as she took the shopping bag and hooked it onto her saddlebags, turns, and left the store, having to make a conscious effort to not head back to the hotel at a full gallop...