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// At The Ponyville Marketplace (Optional) 
// Story: Meanwhile... 
// by WatchMeShadow 
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The Ponyville marketplace is usually a full of various venders, tents, and carts. Ponies usually can be heard bartering for products and services. Today was more chaotic than usual, thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Just about everypony in town knew about them. It might be a growing community, but it was still small enough where word got around about those three fillies. For today, they accidently destroyed a cart that got them covered in something sticky, which the latter happens to them more often than they would think possible. They apologised to the owner and he technically did say it was ‘okay’ so they left to go get cleaned; after, the owner of said cart didn’t respond much to their further attempts at redemption. 

On the ground and in sweet sticky ruins. That’s what remained of Dream Catcher’s cart. Once the three fillies left and he snapped out of his stupor, he went to work. First, he separated all the junk from the stuff he could actually sell. The roof, shelves, and wheels were all good, though he did need remove the icing that covered them. Once he cleaned them, he bunched all the wooden scraps, cinnamon rolls, and hay he couldn’t sell together. It wasn’t a difficult task as the icing covering all of those things, to some degree, was beginning to get hard while exposed to air and made them stick together. Though, it was annoying cleaning his hooves afterwards.

He left that mess there like he had no part in it, and swiftly went up to one of the merchants across from him. Well as swiftly as he could while carrying four wheels, two shelves,  a roof for a cart, and a bag of bits. The merchant could only look at him in amusement as he slowly got closer, then Dream spoke up, “Excuse me sir, sorry to bother you, but do happen to know where I could buy a decent suit by chance?”

The merchant, who appeared to sell ‘knick knacks and padded locks’ if the sign is anything go by, put on a huge creepy smile before responding, *snort* “Well, ha…” he quickly breathed in and composed himself, “As a matter of fact I do fine sir! I know for a fact you can get top quality suits, dresses, and just about anything else fashion related at Ponyville's very own ha-ahem, Carousal Boutique. The owner is Rarity and although I’ve never been there myself, word around town is that she’ll give you a nice discount if you have an interesting story to tell about, ha-hmm sorry, how you came to seek her out. So why are you looking for a suit might I ask?” He asked with more composure.

Dream felt he had no reason to lie or be secretive. After all, he planned on getting out of this town as soon as he could, “Well, I had planned to go around Equestria selling cinnamon rolls and you saw how that went,” the merchant grinned briefly, but he continued not noticing it, “Anyways, I plan on taking the next train out of here once I sell these cart parts and buy a suit. Then hopefully the suit well help me get a decent job wherever I end up.”

The merchant smile was so creepy, “Well then, I HIGHLY recommend you go to the Carousel Boutique as everything I’ve seen come out of there has been great. Do not forget to tell her your story, with as much detail needed to make it interesting. For example, it was three fillies that ruined your dream to be a traveling sales pony,” the merchant frowned, “Wow, that sounds horrible…” he resumed smiling, “but then again, I’m not a storyteller; however, I’m sure your story is worth a good discount.” Dream asked for directions then thanked him and left. As he got farther away he heard an uproarious laughter from where he was, it sounds like he just missed a great joke. He wasn’t much in the mood for jokes and games, so he just kept going.

Dream thought this stallion was a little wacky, but figured he’d give this ‘Carousel Boutique’ a try regardless. First, he went to the carpenter where he pretty much bought his cart, to sell the remains. He got a decent amount back, not nearly as much as it costed but he’ll have enough for at least a cheap suit, a train ticket, and then some. He didn’t want to think about what just happened; but apparently, he had to tell his story for a discount, and he really wanted a discount. He had no choice but to think about how to tell it. He thought as he made his way with the directions given to him. He briefly wondered if this ‘Rarity’ would even believe his story. He quickly made it there, or he was so caught up in his thoughts that time flew by.

It was a little outside of town and didn’t seem to have much around it. The building itself definitely made it look like it was a dresses exclusive type of business. Without much else to do he entered. A bell rang as he entered. Inside has a couple of mannequins wearing great looking dresses. The spacious circular room has dressing rooms to the right made out of elegant pink curtains, a stand with three mirrors in the far left, a staircase straight ahead, and to the right of him swinging doors. He was about to call out for somepony, but instead didn’t need to.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique!” A white mare stated to his right as she approached. She looked at him briefly, “How may I help you? Are you looking to buy your marefriend a nice dress for a date? Oh how rude of me, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Rarity and you may be?” Rarity questioned.

Dream was beginning to think that he wasted his time coming here, but he had to be sure, “Dream Catcher,” was all he could say.

‘gasp’ “What a lovely name. You know darling, I don’t get too many stallions around here looking for my services. So how may I help you?” Rarity asked yet again, but this time gave him time to answer.

“Well I was told that you sell suits?” Dream asked, this is all he needed to know at the moment.

Rarity brought a hoof to her chin, “Well, I’ll admit it has been awhile since I made a suit and they are always ever so fun to make, but I’ve been rather busy lately. I will be able to make you one. Unfortunately, it might take me about three days before I can get to it. Though, I promise it will be worth the wait, I’ll make sure everything is spectacular! Now, as far as price goes just give me an amount and I’ll make it work. ”

Dream thought for a second, did he really want to stay here for three days? No, not really but he did want a good suit and this mare was legit; if those dresses are anything to go by, “Could I maybe pay you more if you prioritized my order?”

Rarity looked up in thought, “mmmm, Yeah, I suppose I could. I like to give myself extra time with orders that have no specific deadline to make sure everything is perfect.”

Dream had one more issue to bring up, “Alright, sounds good. Thank you. Now I also heard that you give discounts to ponies with an interesting story to tell about why they’re here?”

Rarity looked hopelessly confused, “Well, I don’t know where you heard such a thing, darling. I do like a good story, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never made that offer.”

“I heard it from a merchant who sells knick knacks and padded locks,” Dream was a little ticked off by this, he was counting on that discount. He began to leave, there’s no way he could afford anything from this place.

Rarity once again brought a hoof to her chin, “Well... it’s nopony I know... Hey wait!” she quickly ran in front of him, “Although I’ve never made that offer before, it doesn’t mean I won’t just this once, and I do admit that I’d like to make another suit, it’s a nice change of pace. So tell me your story and we’ll go from there.”

Dream figured he might as well; he was just about to head off to ‘Barnyard Bargains’ for a cheap suit that nopony would be impressed by. He figured Rarity for somepony who liked things to be embellished, “Well, I recently paid off my college debt and saved up enough to live out one of my many aspirations in life. I quit my job at the Hay Burger in Hollow Stone just last week. I spent most of my savings on a food cart, it had beautiful decorations with my cutie mark as a theme,” He showed his cutie mark. Rarity seemed to be interested, so far so good.

“During my time at the Hay Burger I had perfected my very own cinnamon roll recipe, it’s a good one. My goal was to travel across Equestria and sell cinnamon rolls dipped in an excessive amount of icing. I would get to see so many wonderful sights and meet so many different ponies. Earlier today that, dare I say it?” and Rarity nodded hooked to the story so far, “that dream was proven feasible. Yet, this same day not even three hours ago it was also taken away from me.”

“Oh my, what happened? Do go on!” Rarity asked in keen interest. 

“I’m glad you asked that. At first everything was going great. I was making sales and even managed to earn a profit before it happened. I had just got done making a sale to a happy customer. Apparently word of my cinnamon rolls was travelling. Anyways, After that sale I heard a thumping noise on the roof of my cart. I naturally looked up to see what was going on and soon an an orange filly popped her head over the edge looking all around. Before I could ask her to get off my cart there was another thump and a cracking noise and yet another fillies head popped from the carts edge,” even though he learned that the merchant was lying he did suggest to be specific and he figured ‘why not’, “This other filly was yellow and had a pink bowtie.” If Rarity wasn’t already white, he would have noticed her turn paler, “I asked them get off my cart before they got hurt. The wood I used for most of my cart was weak as I couldn’t afford the tougher stuff, so naturally I was concerned for their safety. Though admittedly, I was more concerned about my cart after I heard that cracking noise. Anyways, The yellow filly answered,” he narrated as Rarity looked at him intensely, but he didn’t notice.

He continued, “that they would but they needed a safe way down. Then they argued about a sign or something before there was another thumping noise followed by the roof of my cart ripping and destroying all the decorations. It happened so fast and it began to tip over, I backed out of the way as it fell. The fillies screamed and it sounded like a horrible wagon wreck. The icing I used to dip the cinnamon rolls in exploded and covered a lot more of the debris than I think should have been possible. I was first concerned about the two fillies, and when I looked I saw three of them all covered in the icing. I don’t handle drastic situations very well, I’m happy I was even to able to be mostly be conscious enough to make sure that they were okay. But after that, my mind shut down, I seem to remember them trying to apologize to me and answering at least one question they had, but I was so shocked I could hardly respond to much of anything at the time. It was all a blur. Eventually, they left. After that, I gathered what remained of my cart that I could sell, asked where I can buy a suit from that merchant I mentioned earlier, sold what remained of my cart, and here I am.”

He watched as Rarity put on several uniquely expressive facial expressions ranging from anger to sadness, before she settled on curious, “Well then, just to be sure you said the yellow filly had a pink bowtie and that there was three of them?”

Dream couldn’t understand why she would ask this, then he remembered what the merchant said about adding details. He might have lied but it seems he did have good advice, “yes she also had a cute country accent and a red mane and yes there was definitely three of them…” he caught up to himself, and began to think maybe she had a different reason for asking this. 

Before he could think further, Rarity interrupted his thoughts, “might I ask what this suit is for exactly? I don’t see the connection between your tragic story, and needing to buy a suit if you don’t mind my asking?” Once again Dream would have noticed Raritys coat going pale if it wasn’t already white, “Unless… unless you plan on going to court over this incident?” Rarity chuckled nervously, “surely an upstanding stallion such as yourself can see that accidents happen and that there are other ways to deal with problems such as this?”

“What? That never even crossed my mind,” Dream brought a hoof to his chin and looked up to think.

If he was watching Rarity he would have noticed how panicked she looked, before she regained some composure, “Ahem,” she said loudly before he could think about it, “well if that’s not why you want a suit then might I ask the reason?”

“Well, I’m going to need a suit for my next pursuit in life. I don’t know what it’ll be just yet, but I know I need a suit for it. After I get it I’ll take the next train out of town wherever it goes,” Rarity looked relieved for some reason then slightly horrified, “and go from there,” he finished telling his lackluster plan.

“Well then, It’s decided!” Rarity proclaimed.

“It is?” Dream questioned

“It indeed is! I will make you the best suit you’ll ever own, and I’ll have it ready for you by tomorrow!” Rarity stated with gusto. 

“What about the price?” Dream asked.

“I’ll have you pay twentyfive percent of the cost of the materials, your story has really set a fire in me, if you will. Now if you’ll stand still so I can get your measurements, I’ll begin immediately,” She said as she took out a measuring tape and begin to get his measurements. Once done getting measurements, “Now,  I’ll see you tomorrow morning at say about eight thirty?” Dream agreed and left.

When Dream returned the next morning he was presented with a magnificent black suit with elements the complemented his eyes, coat and mane. He was a little worried, as some of those little details looked expensive. He was shocked by the price, it was so low. He thanked her and tried it on, everything felt great and it actually allowed for a great deal of movement without much resistance at all, if any. His experience with suits has always been that they were restrictive and basically only useful for looking good. It made him look like somepony important, it was nice. He could see himself wearing this suit daily. He paid her, thanked her again, and left with the well wishes of Rarity.

He made his way to the train station and bought a train ticket for the next train. Turns out the next train leaves for Manehattan. Looks like he’ll still get to see some sights and he’ll have plenty of ponies to meet in that city. He could certainly find something to do there and the marvelous suit he’s carrying is going to help him. His next lifes goal awaits him in the city!

End Chapter 10