Carousel Boutique: ‘Where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique’ as the white-coated proprietor would say. Visions take form and dreams coalesce in this humble fashion shop, and not just those of the gem that is Rarity.
It was on a misplaced principle that Applejack once avoided the establishment that also served as her friend’s home. They had known each other for most of their lives and had gone to school together as fillies. Back then, they just never hit it off. Applejack had never taken well to the prissy white filly and Rarity had never understood the reasons behind the rough exterior of the tangerine workpony. It took magic to bring these two together but every day they made the most of their friendship, almost as if making up for lost time.
Applejack trotted down the road in the wake of a recent snowstorm. The clouds were thinning ever so slightly, alleviating some of the winter grey. In little patches, the sunlight peeked through, making the ground sparkle like a massive diamond. The wind was scarce to be found, and the road was bereft of sound, save for the crunch of snow underhoof. Her breath curled before her in little wisps of cloud, quickly sucked away by the thirsty air. She sang snatches of Hearth’s Warming carols as she went on her way, a scarf around her neck and a large sack on her back. Other ponies called out happy holiday greetings from time to time, that she returned in kind, but she never slowed in her trek.
Snow piled on the fanciful roof of the Boutique like powdered sugar, giving it the look of one of Bon-Bon’s candy houses or Pinkie Pie’s elaborate gingerbread castles. The farm filly marched right up to the front door and quickly went inside, making sure the door shut firmly behind her. The warmth washed over her, producing a relieved sigh from her chilled lips, but it was the melodious “Be with you in a minute, darling!” that put a smile on her face.
Applejack stomped her hooves on the rug to rid them of snow and loosened the scarf around her neck. Normally, she wouldn’t bother with the snow that had frozen to her coat but this was Rarity after all, so she made sure to scrape it off with Rarity’s purpose-made brush stand. The white unicorn came downstairs just as AJ finished getting the last bits of melting snow off.
“Oh, Applejack, what a pleasant surprise! It’s always nice to see a friendly face.” She helped AJ out of her scarf and gave her a quick hug.
The tangerine mare chuckled. “Ah reckon there’s pleny a’ those ‘round here.”
“A face that belongs to a friend, then,” Rarity amended. “Come on in, Applejack. I have spiced tea, fresh and hot. Just the thing to take the chill out. Honestly, I wonder if it was such a good idea to give the management of winter to ponies impervious to the cold,” she bantered as she led her friend to the dining room just beyond her work room.
It was a familiar little dance now, bantering with Rarity. AJ couldn’t help but grin at her friend. “Well, Ah don’t know about that. If they didn’t make it so cold, why, where’d we get all our snow?”
The white unicorn nodded absently. “I suppose. Hm, I wonder if we could convince Twilight to come up with a spell to make snow a little warmer.” She levitated the steaming teapot from her stove and set it on the table. Two porcelain teacups, chased with silver and royal purple, floated from the cupboards with little saucers, silver spoons, a sugar cup and laced napkins. The various implements for a proper tea set followed each other through the air in a neat line of azure magic. “But I guess if it wasn't cold at all I wouldn’t have a reason to make winter fashion and I must say, it is one of my favorites.”
“Well, there yah go, there’s a reason for everythin’, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she set her burden down by the doorway.
“Ever the optimist, Applejack,” Rarity tittered, letting the magic fade from the various dishes and implements. Applejack joined her at the table, sitting in one of the chairs cushioned with a spiral patterned red and green pillow. Rarity seemed to have new cushions and decorations every year, though she made most of them herself. Applejack always wondered where all those decorations went. She was on the verge of complimenting Rarity on the decorations, to use it as a segue into the whereabouts of last year’s, but she saw a furrowed brow and inward-looking eyes in the other mare’s expression that gave her pause. It was there for only a moment, quickly wiped away and replaced by a smile as Rarity poured the tea. “I see that you have quite the tote over there, have some ‘old duds’ that need some seeing to?”
The workpony blushed as she warmed her hooves on the teacup.
“Tsk, tsk, come now, Applejack, no need to be embarrassed for asking a favor. It’s my pleasure to be of service. So what’s the occasion?”
“Well, uh, mah cousin is gettin’ hitched, always a good reason to have a little family get-together, y’know? She’s got a seamstress out there in Manehattan but she can’t make a dress for everypony. Ah was thinkin’ that you could, uh, modify the dress Ah wore to th’ Gala.”
Rarity took a contemplative sip of tea, considered the proposal, then finally shook her head. “That simply won’t do. You need another dress, one for a wedding...” She got a dreamy far-away look in her eyes, as if she could see patterns and cloth materializing into some grand garment. In fact, she did. “And I know just the thing!” She beamed across the table at her. “Did your cousin send any swatches?”
AJ rose an eyebrow at her over the rim of the teacup. “What in tarnation would she send me watches for?”
The white unicorn giggled. “Not watches, Applejack, swatches. They are little squares of cloth or paper that they use as samples to keep the patterns consistent.”
“Ah gotcha, yeah. Brought ‘em over with me.”
“Splendid!” She gave another excited giggle. “So when is the wedding? How soon will you need them?”
“Whoah now. Them?”
“But of course, you are all going to the wedding, right? A family get-together? Naturally, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith will need outfits, it’s only proper.”
The tangerine pony waved her hooves in a defensive gesture. “Yeh don’t have ta go through all that trouble, Rarity. It’s fine, really.”
“It most certainly is not fine. A wedding is a special thing and you deserve to dress for the occasion. Honestly, Applejack it doesn’t take much to make you stand out in a crowd. Why not indulge a little and wear something special for a change, hmm?”
“B-but, that dress you made fer the Gala was special, why can’t yah use that?”
“Because darling, that is a ballroom dress, completely the wrong statement to make at a wedding. Besides, what I have in mind for your family could go well with just about anything and yet be formal enough to impress. Please, Applejack, don’t make me beg for this.” Her eyes grew wide and she thrust out her lip in a pout.
She was doomed the moment she walked in the front door. “Alright, Rarity, you win.” The fashionista’s face instantly became the portrait of smug delight. “Ah don’t want you workin’ yerself too hard though, sugarcube,” Applejack admonished. “Ah reckon you have all sorts a’ things ta be doin’ this tahm a’ year.”
“Not at all, not at all. My commissions always dry up around Hearth’s Warming.” She waved a hoof dismissively while floating the teacup to her lips. All the while, she avoided looking the other mare in the eye. Applejack may not be very good at the so-called cultured bantering, but she had an eye for body language. Not for the first time, the farm filly thought that Rarity could have done well in an acting career.
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Yah sure, Rarity? Seems like somethin’s been on your mind.”
“Hm?” she replied as a tendril of azure magic snaked its way over to Applejack’s bag.
“Ah said,” the tangerine mare leaned over the table to get into the unicorn’s line of sight, “that you’re a bit distracted. Anythin’ the matter?”
Rarity blinked at her, a split second of confusion and panic flashed across the seamstress’ face before she could reign it in. “What ever gave you that impression, dear?” The ties on the bag quickly undid themselves, allowing the little squares of color to escape along a blue corridor to the table. “Ohh, these are lovely colors! My compliments to the one who picked this palette. I do quite enjoy the play between the emerald and pastel blue, and the silver is a nice touch. Very workable. So the wedding isn’t until Mudanaes, I gather.”
It was now Applejack’s turn to be confused. “How’d you know?”
“Oh, this is a classic late-spring palette, darling. There is always a pastel and a solid along with a metal. Usually, I see pastel lavender or a darker color but I like the blue, very fetching. It’s almost like she picked them just to set off your coloring.” Rarity smiled, patting AJ’s hoof with her own. There was a hint of guilt in that smile.
The workpony snorted. “Yer not allowed to change the subject.”
“Hm? What subject? I didn’t change anything. I’m more than happy to make you a new dress, dear, you know that.”
Applejack shook her head and fixed a hard stare on her friend. All this trotting around the tree was getting her nowhere. To get the apples, you had to get right up to the trunk. “Rarity, Hearth’s Warming is less than two weeks away, Midwinter Moon is this week. Don’t you have plans with yer family? Ah don’t wanna keep yah from that by makin’ yah work on a dress Ah won’t need fer months. Ah only came by t’day ‘cuz I’ll be right busy an’ Ah wanted you ta have pleny a’ tahm ta go at yer own pace.”
If sighs were apples, Applejack would have a hefty basket from the one that deflated the white unicorn. “No, Applejack. There wasn’t anything I was planning on doing with them. It isn’t a bother at all.”
“But they are doin’ somethin’... aren’t they?”
Rarity let the colored squares fall to the table, her face blank. “I’m sure they are.” Her voice was hollow.
“But you aren’t goin’.”
The tea cooled in the silence. Rarity gazed into her cup as if the secrets to life lay hidden beneath the amber liquid. “I haven’t done much with my family since I came back from college. When I left, Sweetie hadn’t even been born yet. I don’t think I got to see her until she was a year old already. I’ve always felt... apart from my family, as if I weren’t really one of them. They do what they do. I do what I do. That is just the way it has always been. Even when I moved back home, it didn’t feel like home. That’s why I bought the Boutique, you know. I never thought about it, it was just a fact of life. And to tell you the truth, Applejack, it didn’t matter to me that I was so distant from them. Not until last summer and the Sisterhooves Social, that’s when I realized how much I was missing.”
“Why not just jump back in? Ah’m sure they’d love ta have yah.”
The white unicorn let out a single, defeated laugh. “It’s not so simple, I’m afraid.”
“Well, Ah’m not needed anywhere fer awhile. Go ahead, sugarcube, Ah’m all ears.”
Another bumper crop of apples flew across the table. “I suppose it won’t hurt. Several years ago, just after graduation, I let my parents talk me into going to a reunion. I had forgotten how... strange... my extended family was.” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and took a quick sip of her tea. “I didn’t set out to make a scene, understand, but I couldn’t take much more of their... antics. Tempers got out of hoof. Regrettable words were said. I vowed to never return. Basically, I told them what I thought of their behavior, in no uncertain terms, and left. I haven’t spoken to any of them since.” Porcelain clinked faintly as she poured more tea into both of their cups. “After cutting myself off so thoroughly, I’m doubtful that I could just trot right back like nothing ever happened.”
Applejack sat back in the chair. “You think you’ve fallen pretty far from th’ tree, huh?” The white unicorn nodded. “That’s not always a bad thing.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at her. “No? That just sounds like you’re trying to cheer me up, which is kind of you, darling, but.... I see you, and your family, so happy, so close,” she hung her head, “and I wonder if perhaps I’m depriving Sweetie Belle of something important. I see too much of myself in her, I don’t want to lead her into making the same mistakes I did.”
“Rarity,” Appljack said gently, “you are somethin’ special. There’s no way you’d be bad fer your sister. Take it from me, it ain’t such a bad thing you’re different from the rest of yer kin. Not every family has ta be like mine ta be happy. I’ll tell yah a little secret about apple farmin’. Y’know that phrase ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’? Well that may be true, but it doesn’t mean that’s the best thing fer the seeds inside. We’ve learned a thing or two about how things grow, and there’s no better way to hurt an orchard than t’ plant seedlings too close to their parent. If yah hadn’t a’ left, Rarity, yah probably wouldn’t have this here Boutique, and yah might not be as happy as yah could a’ been.” She leaned over the table and laid a hoof on the other mare’s shoulder, peering into her eyes. “What’s important is that yah know there’s somethin’ that’s gotta change. Tahm’s on yer side, sugarcube. Sweetie’s still a filly and you’ve got lots left ta teach ‘er. It’s great that you can go on yer own, that’s what makes an apple tree strong, gotta have its space. But yah can’t forget yer roots; without those, you’ll shrivel up and get blown away by the first little puff o’ wind that happens on yer way. You’ve got a good heart, Rarity. Ah think that yer kin’ll see that and forgive yah, if yah only try. Ain’t nothin’ like family, an’ that’s the honest truth.”
Rarity smiled. “Thank you, Applejack. It’s just what I needed to hear.”
“Ah mean every word of it.”
“I know.”
With a few last sips of tea and another hug, Applejack was wrapped up in her scarf again, leaving the Boutique much warmer than she arrived. All the way home, it was like the cold wasn’t there at all.
