The Carousel Boutique, a fancy and fashionable clothes store in Ponyville. The mare who ran the place, Rarity, was upstairs in her room designing her latest creation for one of her clients. It was a very flashy dress with various shades of purple and loose fabrics all around it. She was humming a little tune to herself as she was adding another piece to the dress.
“Hmm, this fabric is very divine, but I feel like I could add a little more to it,” Rarity said to herself. “Either way, Lavender Thread is going to look lovely in this piece!”
After some time, she decided to take a small break and walked downstairs to the kitchen. She made herself some tea and relaxed. She looked all around her shop and noticed how messy it really was, fabric and gems scattered everywhere.
“I suppose I should clean up. I can’t have my boutique looking like this.”
She took another sip of her tea and sighed. She then heard a faint scratching at her door. She looked up and noticed that the sign wasn’t flipped to “Closed,” so who could be scratching at her door?
“I guess Opal got out again.”
She got up and walked on over to her door. She opened it up which triggered the bell to make a lovely chime. As soon as she opened the door, she felt something zip right past her, causing her mane to flow with the sudden gust of wind.
“Opal?”
She turned around to find nothing but her same messy area. She shrugged it off and closed the door.
“That was odd.”
She sat back down at the table and continued to drink her tea. She kept on wondering if that was really Opal who was scratching at the door. Either way, she felt glad that the noise was gone. While she was drinking her tea, Opal jumped up on the table. Rarity gasped and jumped back.
“Oh, Opal darling, don’t scare me like that. And try not to get out again.”
The white fluffy cat tilted her head at her owner’s comment. Just then, Rarity heard something fall from upstairs. She faced Opal with her own head tilt. This didn’t seem right. If Opal was here, then who was upstairs?
Perhaps that was Sweetie Belle? Rarity thought.
She set down her tea and went upstairs to investigate. She went up to her room and noticed that the door was slightly open. This didn’t sit well with the designer. She knew she closed the door when she went downstairs. Perhaps her sister went into her room to borrow something? She pushed the door open and came across a peculiar sight. Her mouth dropped and her eyes shrank when she noticed a tiny fox staring at her latest dress. Raritys heart stopped when she noticed the red fox sniffing the dress with it’s tail waving side to side. The door creaked which caused the fox’s ear to perk up. It turned around and noticed Rarity, it stared at her with its big, golden eyes. The small fox formed a toothy grin on its face.
“Hiya!” the young kit chirped.
Rarity noticed that the fox sounded like a young filly. But she didn’t really care about the fox’s gender at the moment, all she could really do was scream. She scattered backwards and away from her room, holding her beating chest.
“Rarity? What’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked, who appeared out of the corner.
“Sweetie, do not go in there!” Rarity ordered, pointing to her room.
“Why? What’s in there?” Sweetie asked, approaching Rarity’s room.
“No, don’t!”
Sweetie Belle poked her head into the room and noticed the tiny vixen.
“Hi, I’m Emi! Nice to meet ya!” The young fox greeted.
Sweetie’s jaw also dropped, and her eyes lit up like falling stars.
“Oh my Celestia! Rarity, she’s so cute! Can we keep her?” Sweetie chirped.
“Absolutely not! Get away from the door!” Rarity ordered.
“But look at her!”
The tiny fox, Emi, slowly approached Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, I’m pretty great. This is a nice place you have. Do you really live here, in a thrift store? That’s so cool! You wouldn’t happen to have any cute scarves or bandanas I could wear, do ya? Or maybe some nice pheasant I could hunt? I’m starving! I haven’t had anything to eat in ages!” Emi asked, rapidly.
Sweetie and Rarity noticed how quickly she was talking, she sounded like someone who could give Pinkie Pie a run for her money. Then, Rarity realized what the fox had said.
"T-Thrift store...? THRIFT STORE?! YOU CALL THIS A THRIFT STORE, YOU UNCULTURED FURBALL?! THIS IS THE CAROUSEL BOUTIQUE!!! Ponyvilles finest clothes store!"
Emi just stared at her in confusion, not sure how to react to the pony's sudden outburst.
Sweetie injected, "Sis... Calm down. Deep breaths. Inhale... Exhale..."
Rarity managed to almost calm down, and then engulfed Sweetie in her magic and brought her downstairs. They hid in the kitchen as they tried to come up with a plan.
“Come now, Sweetie, let’s go get Twilight. She’ll know what to do.”
“Wouldn't it be better to get Fluttershy? She’s the animal expert,” Sweetie suggested.
“Normally, yes, but don’t you remember? She’s on a trip somewhere with Discord.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And seeing how she’s out of the picture, we’ll have to go to Twilight. Now come on!”
Rarity was making her way towards the door with Sweetie close behind her. All of a sudden, Emi appeared right in front of the door, blocking their path. Rarity and Sweetie came to a halt.
“Hey, where’re ya going? I still have so many questions,” Emi chirped.
Rarity backed up and took Sweetie with her. They approached the broom closet and Rarity started desperately looking for, well, a broom.
“Rarity, what’s the big deal?”
“What’s the big deal?! We have a fox in our boutique! Do you know what kind of diseases those vermin could carry?”
“Vermin? She didn’t seem to be dangerous. Plus, she can talk.”
“So?”
“So, wouldn’t that mean that she’s no ordinary fox?” Sweetie tried to reason.
“If so, that just gives me more of a reason to get her out of here! Do you know what would happen if word got out that a fox was found scavenging around my boutique? I’d be ruined!”
“So? You still have the other boutiques all across Equestria,” Sweetie replied, deadpanned.
“Where is that broom?!”
“Hey, looking for this?”
Rarity and Sweetie turned around and noticed Emi with the broom under her paws, still wearing an innocent smile.
“Yeah I’d figure you would go for this thing, so I brought it out to you to save you the trouble. So, happy birthday!” Emi said.
“Oh, why thank you, darling,” Rarity replied as she took the broom with her magic.
Her eyes shrank once she realized who had given it to her. She’d been so scared that she wasn’t paying attention to who was who. She stared down at the little fox, who was still wagging her tail.
“So, what’re you going to do with that? Spring cleaning?” Emi wondered.
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
Rarity brought the broom down onto Emi. Luckily, the little fox dodged out of the way before the broom could hit her. Rarity went for another strike but missed again. Emi started running around the boutique while Rarity was constantly swiping at her with the broom. Sweetie tried to calm Rarity down, but to no avail. Surprisingly, the fox was laughing the whole time, as if it were some kind of game.
“Can’t catch me! Can’t catch me! You’re too slow!” Emi laughed.
“Hold still and I’ll get you!” Rarity retorted.
Little did she know, Rarity was making more of a mess while she was chasing the little fox. Rarity chased Emi right back up the stairs with her broom. Emi ran right into Raritys room with the designer following. Raritys eyes shrank once she noticed the fox getting closer to her unfinished dress.
“Step away!” Rarity barked. Emi turned her head in confusion.
“Huh?”
“Don’t you dare mess up that dress!”
“Why would I do that? It looks pretty.”
Rarity blinked. She was a little taken back by what this strange little fox just said.
“I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked.
“I mean look at it. The nice colors, the interesting design, and not to mention the fabric.”
Emi picked up one of the loose pieces of fabric from the dress and rubbed it on her face. Her eyes closed and she sighed as she nuzzled against the fabric.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve felt something this soft,” Emi mused.
“Oh, you really like it?” Rarity wondered. “I wasn’t so sure if I needed to add more ribbons or not.”
“No way! If anything, it doesn’t have enough ribbons. There’s nothing wrong with adding some more ribbons to life.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah! I think it’s nice just the way it is. But with a few more ribbons!”
“Well, it’s not really complete yet, but I appreciate the thought.”
Rarity slowly lowered her broom and looked down at the little fox. She was starting to have second thoughts about chasing her away. Sure, she might’ve ran all around the place and caused a mess in her boutique, but at least she had a nice taste in style and fabric.
“Yeah. Not bad for a one tail,” Emi commented.
“Thank you...I think,” Rarity replied.
She didn’t really know what to make of her random comment.
“You’re not so bad, now are you?” Rarity wondered.
“See! I told you!” Sweetie exclaimed.
“That depends, can I keep this soft ribbon? Please!” Emi pleaded.
“I’m afraid not, darling. I need that for my dress.”
“Aww,” Emi pouted. “Then no, I’m terrible! I will now bring down a horrible curse upon you! You shall go blind forever! Never to see your own work! You will never see the light of day again!”
This made Rarity giggle a little. She was definitely the energetic type. As she was looking down on the tiny fox, she couldn’t help but ponder something.
“Where did you come from?” Rarity wondered.
“Oh that’s easy! I came from your front door,” Emi replied. “I scratched and scratched until you let me in. And here I am!”
“No, I mean where did you actually come from? We normally don’t get foxes around here. Especially not ones that talk,” Rarity explained.
Emi perked up and looked at Rarity. She then scanned her surroundings, swinging her head side to side. After that, she faced Rarity again.
“Ok, come closer,” she ordered. Rarity did so and lowered her head towards the fox.
“Closer.”
Rarity leaned in more.
“Closer.”
Rarity was at eye level with Emi. The young fox walked up and placed her mouth mere inches from Rarity left ear.
“It’s a secret,” she whispered.
Rarity blinked and stared at the fox. Emi tried her best to hide her smile, but it proved to be impossible. She burst with laughter and landed on her back. Both Rarity and Sweetie Belle cocked an eyebrow at the laughing kit.
“Well, this was interesting, but I really must be getting back to work now,” Rarity said.
“Do you have to? I was just starting to like you,” Emi whined.
“I’m afraid so, darling. Besides, I think you should head on home. I bet your family misses you.”
“Haha yeah, home,” Emi chuckled.
She looked down at the ground afterwards. Rarity didn’t know why, but she couldn’t help but detect a small amount of solemn from the fox. Something was a little off with this fox, apart from being, well, a talking fox.
“Darling? Are you Ok?”
“Never better!” the fox chirped. “It was great meeting you! Miss...?”
“Oh, My name is Rarity,” Rarity introduced.
“And I’m Sweetie Belle,” Sweetie added.
“It was nice to meet you both. We should hangout again sometime!” Emi replied.
“But maybe with less broom swinging,” Sweetie teased, earning an annoyed grumble from her sister.
With that, the little fox was making her way towards the front door. Rarity couldn’t help but feel a little mixed at the moment. She didn’t like the idea of a fox finding her way into her boutique, but was surprised to see that she had some decent taste. Then there was that moment where she was silent, considering she’d been making nothing but noise since she entered Raritys home. Something wasn’t right with that fox. Rarity turned back and looked at one of the loose ribbons on the dress. Emi was just about to walk out the front door.
“Wait!” Rarity called out.
Emi turned around and looked up at the unicorn mare.
“I think you should have this after all.”
Rarity levitated one of the violet ribbons from her unfinished dress. It came as no surprise to her that Emis eyes lit up.
“You mean it?”
“I do. Here.”
Rarity used her magic to tie the ribbon around Emis neck to make tiny bow. Emis wide smile was enough for Rarity to know that she loved it.
“Thanks lady! You know, even though you tried to kill me, I think we’re going to be great friends!”
Rarity chuckled and rubbed the back of her head nervously. She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about her previous actions and blushed a little. Emi ran around in circles happy to receive her new gift.
“Well, consider it my way of saying, I’m sorry.”
“Aw, it’s ok,” Emi replied. “I would’ve tried to kill me too.”
Rarity blinked, she wasn’t exactly sure she heard that right.
“What?”
“And I’m sorry I called your boutique a thrift store. There was a big mess, so I honestly couldn’t tell.”
“Yes, well, I’ve been meaning to clean up. So, I guess that’s understandable,” Rarity admitted. “Just be careful with your words next time.”
“That room is almost always messy like that,” Sweetie added.
“Pff, quiet Sweetie Belle. It is my WORK room after all. Work rooms are supposed to be a bit messy,” Rarity explained.
“A bit maybe. But yours looks a war zone sometimes,” Sweetie retorted.
“It’s called ‘Controlled Chaos!’ I know exactly where everything is in there!...Well, almost everything, anyway.”
Emi couldn’t help but laugh at the sisters little banter with each other.
“Anyway, it was nice meeting you both. Have fun with your not-thrift store. Bye!”
With that, Emi exited the boutique and ventured into Ponyville. Rarity couldn’t help but crack a smile as she watch the little filly disappear into the distance. Her sister, Sweetie, soon joined her.
“Well that was fun,” Sweetie commented.
“Yes. However, there’s still something I don’t understand.”
“Like how there was a talking fox in our home?”
“Other than that. She behaved rather strangely when I told her to go home.”
Rarity tapped her chin in thought. She obviously knew this was no normal fox, and she could’ve done a lot more damage to her boutique. This whole situation was very peculiar to Rarity.
“I think I should probably tell Twilight about this after all.” she thought to herself as she closed the door to the boutique. “After I’m done with the dress.”