A Bad Day at the Spa

Through the doorway, Applejack found herself not in another store, thankfully, but somewhere recognizable. Rather, she didn't know what building she was in, but she could see Canterlot's streets through the window; most notably, the open marketplace. Judging by the orientation, she was somewhere in the textile district, which was about what she would come to expect, given the knowledge that this was Rarity's dream.

"There you are!" shouted a mare with a short, curly, blonde mane. "How long were you planning to keep me waiting?"

"So sorry, Darling," came the words from Applejack's mouth. "My gown only just arrived, and you know better than to do hair and makeup before the dress."

"Yeah, yeah, you better not mess up my work," she growled, pushing Applejack toward the chair. "Come on, your mane ain't gonna curl itself."

As Applejack climbed into the chair, Rarity looked back at her through the mirror. She really did look happy, and Applejack's lips were being forced to curl up to match. Perhaps this wasn't quite so bad. After all, this was what Rarity enjoyed, and it was also something most ponies derived some pleasure from. Even in her younger days, when she dreamed of being a Manehattan socialite, Applejack had tried to enjoy this. She failed, but at least she tried.

Applejack knew a few things about makeup, but not a lot. First, she was swabbed clean, and then came a layer of foundation that was blended smooth. She wasn't sure what the next two things were, but one added contours to her face where they hadn't existed before, giving her strong cheekbones and a smoother jawline, and the other made it look like she was blushing. Applejack was sure she'd used these products before under proper guidance, but she'd always left it to the more experienced.

She tried to remain still as she closed her eyes and waited for the next step, eyeshadow. She'd seen it coming, and it was the same light blue as the dress. She couldn't see the mascara before it went on, so she had to trust in Rarity's judgement. It was easy enough to trust in her. After all, she was wearing Rarity's face, and she'd never do anything to intentionally make herself look bad, unless she had lost sight of herself.

"Okay, open up," said the mare. "Let's see if it looks half as good moving around."

"Please," scoffed Applejack. "I should think I look good from every angle."

Despite the stylist's earlier assertion, Applejack's mane and tail began curling themselves as she inspected herself in the mirror. It wasn't the tight curl Applejack was expecting, but rather, a loose, smooth curl, almost like a wave. She could feel it cascading down her cheeks, but it honestly didn't seem to effect or be effected by the makeup.

"And of course, the pièce de résistance," said the stylist, shoving something in her mane behind her ear. When she pulled away, a bright orange tiger lily was resting on her brow. It was actually very odd to see in Rarity's mane, as it seemed to clash hard against the purple, being orange, but then on a second look, it almost seemed complimentary, as if the entire point of having them not match was to draw even more attention to her face, which was honestly looking pretty good from Applejack's viewpoint.

Then came a big, purple cloud of weird, unpleasant fragrance from a perfume bottle. Applejack didn't know what was so wrong with simple fragrances. Looking like a tiger lily and smelling like one, too, seemed a good idea. Looking like a tiger lily and smelling like Granny Smith's medicine cabinet did not.

"Okay, you're all set. And just in time, too; you're on!"

"On?" asked Applejack, in her own voice for once. "What do you mean on?"

Apparently, her hooves and dress knew what was happening, as they walked her over to a string of curtains. Weaving one way, and then the next, she found herself on the other side of the curtain, where a long stage was surrounded by ponies, many of them with flashing cameras.

"Finally, to present the crown jewel of our collection, the most fabulous pony in all of Equestria," smiled the hostess, "Rarity!"

Applejack walked forward as her hooves carried her. She never would have guessed that this would be for a fashion show, and she especially never guessed that Rarity would be modeling a look that she hadn't put together herself. This was the most unrealistic thing in the entire dream, and that included the hair curling itself. If Rarity was going to show off a dress, it would be one she made, not one she bought.

Still, Applejack let her high heels do the walking for her, going across the stage, turning, sashaying, posing and spinning, letting everypony take whatever pictures they wanted. In fact, when she reached the end of the stage, somepony had printed a picture of Rarity in this very dress, on this very stage, and made it the cover of a magazine that was being sold here at the event, reiterating "The Most Fabulous Unicorn in the Land!"

"Rarity is wearing our most beautiful ensemble yet, made from the most recent development in silk. Her dress was woven from the silken strands of the sash spider, a species only just recently bred. This makes it feel as if it were lighter than air when worn, but you don't have to grab it from the ceiling each morning." There was a pause for a chuckle. "Not only is it super lightweight, but it's also very stretchy and durable, meaning even if you go up a size, you're still going to be the best-looking pony in the room. It's also tear-resistant, so even if it does stretch out all the way, it's unlikely to be destroyed."

As Applejack stood at the end of the runway, the crowd cheered for her. Or rather, they cheered for Rarity. Applejack could only imagine how good this would have felt if she genuinely cared about fashion, even halfway as much as Rarity did. She would have loved this.

She thought to turn around and walk back, but some goofy-looking stallion walked up to the stage, and Applejack quickly moved down the stairs in heels, something she never would have had the confidence to do in real life.

"That was fantastic," he smiled, embracing her and pulling her into an unexpected kiss, full on the mouth. "I've never seen a fashion show so enthralling as this one. I can scarcely believe my luck at that, much less to be taking the headliner out for a date tonight."

Applejack had no clue who this goon was, and would have told him to slow down, but her lips seemed to know him well. "Prince Paramour..."