A Bad Day at the Spa

Applejack's dream started as they often did, with her coming down the stairs to breakfast. Granny Smith had made a batch of turnovers with Aunt Brown Betty, and Apple Bloom had brought home a coltfriend. "Good morning, Applejack," he'd say, in his unrecognizable voice coming from his unrecognizable face. "Sleep well?"

"Ah did. Thank ya kindly," answered Applejack, sitting down and chowing down. "Ye'r always so polite an' pleasant."

"Eeyup," smiled Apple Bloom. "That's why Ah picked 'im!"

A knock on the door turned all of their attention. "I have a brand new desk out here," smiled the delivery pony. "Who's going to be putting it together?"

"Me!" shouted Applejack, her hoof shooting into the sky. "I'll go grab my tools!"

Before she could grab her toolbox from the cabinet, the whole thing suddenly faded to black, and she was left in a dark void, with no sounds, no light, nothing. It was just black.

And then, light. She had shifted while in the void, and had lost her sense of direction when gravity reasserted itself. Still, she managed to pick herself up, no problem.

She was in a small open lounge between two hallways with heavy hoof traffic, with stairwells leading up three floors, and several other walkways on those floors. Barring the cental kiosks, lounges and anything else between the lanes, the hallways were bordered by stores of all kinds. And to top it all off, the roof was a large glass dome.

"Well, Ah guess Ah could find a desk here," shrugged Applejack. She started down the path, looking at the various shops. They all seemed to be very fashion-oriented, boasting dresses and accessories, but that was common of malls, as far as Applejack was aware. She just had to find a directory that would lead her to a different section, or at least to the food court. She was aware that this was a dream, by this point, so maybe she could gorge herself on free food and still have a good day of shopping.

Just as she was thinking that, however, her hooves turned beneath her and carried her into one of the many dress shops. "Wait, no!" shouted Applejack at her legs. "Ah don't need these fancy new duds!" Needed or not, her hooves moved into the store, taking the rest of her with them.

"Good morning," smiled the clerk, walking up to her. "Can I help you find something?"

"I was told that your newest line was a symphony of colour," came the words from Applejack's mouth. She hadn't intended to say that, of course, as she was wanting to ask about a hardware section that she could go to. If not, the food court was her next question, or at least a pretzel stand in one of the kiosks. "I simply must try it for myself."

"Right this way," smiled the clerk, leading her back to the changing room.

Four dresses were lined up: a red one, a green one, a blue one, and a purple one. Applejack thought the green one looked prettiest, but, instead, her hoof went for the red one, first. Before it could touch, however, the dress came alive and wrapped itself around her leg, sliding across her skin and wrapping her in fabric. It didn't squeeze her at all, it wasn't ill-fitting, and it didn't try to strangle her, rather, she was now wearing it.

She looked in the mirror, and it all made sense. Every move she made was reflected in the mirror, but it wasn't her face looking back. It was Rarity's. She was in one of Rarity's dreams. That's why this wasn't any fun; because this was what was a good day for Rarity.

"No, it's too tacky," she found herself saying. "This colour is simply awful; it doesn't match me at all."

Next came the purple dress, which Applejack thought looked pretty good on Rarity, but apparently, not good enough. Then the green one, and finally the blue. Applejack, while fond of the green one and very willing to buy that one for herself, had to admit that Rarity looked best in the blue one, which is the one she was made to choose.

It wasn't too bad of a dress, she had to admit. It was a shimmery light blue material with silver lining. It started in a pleated deep V-neck that, once the two sides of the collar came together, drifted down to join with her sash in a faux surplice. Beneath that, the evening gown was soft and subtle, not calling the eye to it, but demanding that they stay on her, lost in a gradient between the light blue under the silver sash and silver at the hemline. To top it all off, a pair of white-silver evening gloves connected to the sleeves just below the elbow. This would absolutely be a dress Rarity would like. It was a gorgeous evening gown.

"This is lovely," she said in Rarity's voice, and honestly, Applejack agreed. "Now, of course, I'll need accessories."

Without paying, because this was a dream, after all, Applejack wore the dress out, and continued her shopping. The very next store she was made to walk into was that of a jeweler, and he managed to sell her cuff bracelets of gold, and some heart-shaped ruby earrings. He even managed to sell her a "Timeless, one-of-a-kind, antique diamond necklace with sapphire-encrusted inlays, a silver chain, and inscribed on the back message." The message in question, "For the eve of my return," made it clear to Applejack that this necklace was indeed the only one of its kind. It was a gift from Luna to herself, entrusted to Celestia in the hope that Nightmare Moon could and would be stopped. Still, Applejack bought it, even knowing who it belonged to.

Next were the shoes, adorned in white-gold sequins under thin silk so that they sparkled without actually being polished metal. Applejack wasn't used to wearing heels, but at least this time, she was thankful that her hooves were carrying her around without her say in the matter, because they, at least, seemed to know what they were doing.

With her outfit now decided, the door to the mall opened. Applejack had not been so happy to see a door open since she was a teen, being told that she could come out of her room to eat supper after sneaking out the previous night to break into a closed pool to go skinny-dipping with her coltfriend at the time, who she dumped the next day because he abandoned her at the guard station.