The market was bustling with the mid-day rush of ponies either out to make a few bits or spend them, and over all the chatter the scent of baked goods reigned strongest. Snowdrop held onto Twilight as they weaved through this area, sometimes seeming as if she was about to fall off from an unexpectedly quick maneuver. The filly still wasn’t exactly sure where they’d be going, but she was confident the pony on whose back she sat did.
Twilight turned right after going through the main portion of the outdoor market, following around the outside of the large open street on which it sat to the few outlying buildings. Applejack and many of the other ponies that grew or made things simply set up stands in the area through which she had just passed, but others had managed to make enough that they could rent one of the shops along the outside. The quill and sofa shop seemed to be closed as they passed… good thing the Library got their orders automatically filled! Twilight was probably their best customer. Two buildings down from there was the place she had come to visit – the fabric shop. Rarity would’ve gone off on a rant about the inferior quality of Ponyville’s fabric to that of Canterlot’s if she had seen Twilight making her way inside, but to the less-trained eye, there seemed to be little difference.
With the soft jingle of a bell on the door, the air grew warmer and the scent became musty. Snowdrop remained quiet on Twilight’s back, waiting for somepony to say or do something before her. Was this even where they were supposed to be going? It seemed like it, based on the much slower pace at which they now moved.
After a quick turn to the left and a few bumps up and down from the suddenly silent step of hooves, the lavender alicorn came to a stop. “Fabric throws, fabric rolls, loose fabric… bedding!” Twilight took a moment after quietly locating the section she needed to glance up and down the shelves to make sure this is what she had been looking for, then quickly kneeled down and glanced back, waiting for the filly to hop off.
Snowdrop’s hooves touched down gently onto the soft, carpeted floor of the shop, a gentle smile growing on her muzzle from finding the ground nearly as warm as the shop itself. “Wha-what is this place, Twilight?” She reached to her left with her cheek to find the leg of the pony in the know, not entirely comfortable with yet another new setting. “Do they sell blankets here? Can I try them?”
Twilight smiled at the filly against her as she levitated down different strips of heavy, pre-sewn fabric that the shopkeeper had made into the various blankets they sold, being sure to place them on the ground as opposed to levitating them in front of Snowdrop, knowing the magic wouldn’t truthfully represent how warm they were. After a moment she nodded to herself, then nudged the first of the samples in front of the filly. “Of course! Reach forward and feel… this one.”
Rarity immediately froze and tensed up at the sound of that voice… it was one she knew well, obviously. She slipped behind a stack of uncut, coiled fabric bolts on a display table and did her best to hide behind them, trying to collect herself. Rarity, you knew you were bound to run into somepony in this establishment one day! She pushed aside two of the fabric bolts with her aquamarine magic and peeked a single, well-styled eye between them, to confirm and assess the situation. A light purple horn, flat-cut tail of a dark indigo… she was right, it was Twilight. But who was the pony she wa-- Rarity, your magic is going to give you away! You simply must be more careful… stop that at once. The mare stared at the fabric in front of her for a few seconds, trying to play the part, pretending to be interested. How hideous these designs were… patterned brown? That style was not fit for a mule, let alone a pony. No more, it’s too distasteful for even just her eyes to be forced upon! She kneeled down and peeked below the table, watching for a moment as what appeared to be a small filly brushed her chin against a vile green puff.
Snowdrop sighed, slowly growing discouraged after the fourth try came back much like the first three. “It’s… it’s not soft enough… don’t they have clouds to use here? I used to use a cloud as a blanket sometimes, but it wasn’t very warm either…” With a step back and another to the right, she tried the fifth supposed blanket Twilight nudged in front of her. “This one’s too slippery…”
Was that blob of green intended to be somepony’s blanket? It looked like something to be found at the edge of a swamp, amongst the scaly toads. Twilight should know better than to consider such inferior styles! And why was she with a filly? It was much too quick for anything of that nature... and surely Twilight would have confided in her friends about such things. Rarity sighed, tucking away the few rolls of fabric she managed to find that weren’t three seasons out of style, hoping nopony would notice the hidden gems that kept her coming here under the table of horrendous patterns. You truly cannot let your very own friends make mistakes of this nature, Rarity. It would be nothing less than criminal! The unicorn quickly cleared her throat and stepped back out from behind her shelter, looking side to side and casually trotting towards the alicorn, idly quaffing up her mane with a hoof.
Twilight silently glanced over at the next few shelves as she desperately searched for more options. Spotting a purple mane bobbing towards her, she took a step back and waited for the pony to pass before continuing her search. Wait… purple mane? Not just any purple mane, either… that purple mane. “…Rarity?” It was her. But… she despised this shop, what was she doing here?
Waiting for more samples, Snowdrop remained close to Twilight’s side, nudging into her after a minute or two without a test, somewhat confused. “W-what’s a rarity? Did you find something special, Princess Twilight? Can I feel it?” She tilted her head up and waited excitedly, hoping this would be the one.
“Yes, darling?” Rarity tried to reply as nonchalantly as possible, hoping it wouldn’t seem like she knew Twilight had been there and certainly not like she had been spying on the mare. “What brings you to a fabric shop, dear? I didn’t know you were one to consider purchasing these sorts of things at all!” She looked down at the filly for a moment, not questioning anything aloud, but certainly curious. The little one’s coat matched beautifully with her mane, the combination reminiscent of the sky and clouds, but… her eyes seemed to be under a sort of fog. Somewhat peculiar.
Twilight giggled weakly to herself, giving Rarity a quick smile before leaning down on her forehooves to be level with Snowdrop, replying first to the curious filly. “Rarity is certainly an interesting noun to use in that way, Snowdrop, but in this case, the ‘rarity’ is not a what, but a who!” With another quick chuckle, she continued, “Rarity is one of my best friends here. Maybe she can help us with what we’re looking for? She certainly knows how to make wonderful things with fabric, why don’t you tell her what you’re looking for!”
Rarity curiously jutted out her bottom lip as she waited quietly, still watching the young pegasus with a certain sense of interest. Snowdrop… that name seemed familiar from somewhere, though it certainly didn’t belong to anypony she’d known personally. It almost seemed like something heard in passing, perhaps something somepony had brought up at one point? Winter Wrap-Up was a passing thought in her mind, but it still seemed odd. She was usually good with names.
Snowdrop smiled weakly, yet leaned back and nudged herself closer to Twilight mostly as an unconscious reaction. Princess Twilight’s friends might be as nice as Princess Twilight, and this one supposedly could help find a perfect blanket! “Um, well… I- I wanted… something warm, a blanket… could you make a soft, warm blanket that doesn’t want to fall off?”
Rarity pondered the filly’s question for a moment, grinning at the fact she had intervened in what might have been a pitiful mishap, and nodded. “I’m sure we could whip something lovely together back at my workshop. I think I know the perfect combination of fabrics and fillings for what you’re trying to find…” The fashionista glanced at the shelf begrudgingly, hoping to hold up her original claims of this shop being inferior. “…but you’ll never find them here.” The unicorn kneeled down to the filly’s height much like she had just witnessed Twilight doing, and gave a warm smile. “I take it you’re Snowdrop, dear? My name is, as Twilight has just explained, Rarity.”
With a hopeful grin, the blind filly hopped forward a step and accidently bumped into the side of somepony’s mane. From the sound of a mare’s voice a moment ago in this direction, it must have been Rarity. Her mane didn’t feel quite like Twilight’s or really anypony else’s, and it definitely had a bit of a scent that wasn’t familiar. It was almost like a fruit, but it made her want to sneeze. She blinked and stepped back after a moment, “Oops… s-sorry… I couldn’t tell exactly where you were…” She took another step back, finding the safety of Princess Twilight’s foreleg once more. “But, you can… you can make blankets!? Would you do that? Or, well…” Snowdrop peeked her head up to Twilight, “…it’s okay if, um… Rarity helps us, right?”
Twilight reached her foreleg up and around Snowdrop, taking a second to wait for Rarity to confirm that would be okay. “It sounds like a plan to me! Would it be okay if we followed you back to Carousel Boutique now, Rarity?” She smiled weakly, “Unless we can find something for Snowdrop by the end of the day, she’s not going to have any blankets to sleep under, and… you know how cold the Library gets sometimes.”
Rarity blinked a few times after nearly having her mane trampled and took a moment to check for damage before standing back up on her hooves, but figured it’d be best to not make a scene and ask questions later. Most ponies didn’t greet each other by trotting up close enough to bump into one another. Perhaps that was why the filly’s eyes seemed hazy? Though, how would that explain her being with Twilight and, apparently, staying with her at the Library? It didn’t matter, really. Regardless of all that, the small pegasus had something about her that reminded Rarity of her own sister when she had been a little bit younger, before she got obsessed with figuring out her cutie mark. “I think I’ve got just the style in mind! It might even compliment your coat quite fittingly, if we’re lucky.” She looked over to Twilight, gesturing towards the door with her head, “Well, shall we? This establishment, of course, has nothing worth even a slight investment on.”
Hearing those words, Snowdrop waited only a second before Twilight instinctively kneeled down for the filly to hop on. After finding her spot once more upon the mare’s back, they were off, turning around and quickly going to the left before taking a few more steps straight, as the jingle of a small bell went off once again. A moment later the sound of hoofsteps returned, along with a chilly breeze that certainly felt like the early spring day it was, much different than the comfortable shop they had just been in. She leaned her head forward and found a warm spot in Twilight’s mane, trying to stay there while also keeping her balance and waiting for the next stop.