Twilight had seemed so eager about pointing her to the shop she found in Canterlot. Fluttershy was starting to wonder just what the fuss could possibly be about, but that could wait. She was going to enjoy her visit to the capital city first, roam a bit, see the gardens and the parks beforehand. She hadn't been here very often, apart from the Gala (which she tried vainly to repress) and some of their bigger emergencies.

It wasn't long before she realized that, amazing parks or no, she was just too curious. She had to see what kind of store got Twilight so... interested. It could be a magic shop, or even some kind of store for books or astronomical equipment... but she had a feeling it was that kind of little-known shop. Something a little more related to their newest topic of conversation- For example, maybe a little-known shop with no signs, no markers, and no publicly-displayed address. Yes, looking at it from across the street, it seemed like precisely that sort of shop. She...

Well, no sense in lying (after all, it's not as if anypony is going to hear her thoughts or anything). She's been to this kind of shop before, once. It had been a dare during Flight Camp, and she had made it roughly two steps into the door before blushing so hard her neck felt hot and running away. To this day, she remembered what she saw in there quite clearly, and... In retrospect, it was pretty tame. Maybe she'd be able to handle that kind of thing better, now that she has matured and grown. That would be nice.

----
A SHORT WHILE LATER...
----

Stuttering.
Stammering.
Shaking.
She hadn't expected everything to be so bright, or vivid, or covered in images. Not to mention the transparent cases on so many of the objects letting her know exactly what was inside, often in graphic detail, with bullet points. The owner looked a bit apologetic, and she couldn't blame him. She was a problem customer, just somepony who shows up and makes everything awkward and...
"You can relax, Ms. Fluttershy. I know how you feel."

The mare who walked out from behind the counter was smiling at her. Not grinning, not mocking, but genuinely happy to see her, and Fluttershy honestly did feel better already. Something about her was simply... calming.
"Matte honey, I'll take care of this one."

"Go right ahead, mon amour."

Fluttershy still felt a bit nervous, but this pony was being very nice, all things considered, and Twilight had said good things about the place. So she braced herself- It was getting easier, lately- and smiled in return.
"H-how do you do?"

"Very well, thank you miss. My name is Nickle- Nickle 'n' Dime. You're Fluttershy, from Ponyville, right?"

"Oh, I... yes. How, um..."

"Do I know you? I make it my business to know everypony, although in your case, it was easier than most- Not only did Twilight Sparkle come in to see us, but you and your friends are... Well, not necessarily famous, but known."

Fluttershy realized that Nickle was right- This shouldn't have been surprising. Still, it was a bit odd, but she shrugged it off- Talking to her was significantly helping to sooth her nerves. She gave the merchandise a second glance as they casually talked, and realized it wasn't nearly as bad as she first thought. Hay, some of it was honestly... tasteful, as Rarity likely would have put it.

A dozen minutes later, give or change, and Fluttershy was really managing to surprise herself today- She had actually, daringly (she was trying so hard, but it was helping so much) made a purchase or two! Nickle helping her every step of the way, of course. Their conversations were warm and friendly, and the advice matched it. Apparently her and Matte were new to Canterlot, and had spent quite some time travelling. It was odd, but Fluttershy was honestly starting to consider this couple to be potential friends. She might have to come up in the future, maybe make an excuse or even just come get new things. Now that she spent the time to really look at them, some of the things on sale were... enticing.

She exchanged her money for the goods, placed them (deep, hidden, wrapped) in the bottom of her saddlebags, and turned back to Nickle, nervously shuffling her hooves.
"So, if, ah, I came back in the future, would..."

"We'd be pleased to see you again! You're a good customer, and seem to be quite the nice mare on top of that."

"Oh, well, thank you..."
The silence went just slightly longer than was comfortable, and then she made a little half-nod half-bow and went out the door. Thankfully, the streets were empty... No wait, that's not entirely true. Rather than empty, everypony was dropped to their knees, bowing in obeisance to somepony.

That little icy clutch of fear in her gut was confirmed when she looked up the street to see the Princess of the Moon, complete with a pair of royal guards. Between Luna's ornamentation, her stunning mane, and her guards’ unique wings, it was an extremely impressive display. Fluttershy went down to her own knees out of instinct, respect, and possibly something more. That, of course, didn't stop her from emitting a squeak of surprise when a horn gently fell on her shoulder.
"P-p-princess Luna!"

"Please, dear Fluttershy. We've asked that thou simply call Us Luna."
She rose to her hooves and made (futile) effort to not nervously look at her saddlebags or the shop behind her.

"It's, ah, fantastic seeing you here!"

"Much thanks, and the same to thee. We... That is to say, I, and my Night Guards, were preparing to take an early lunch. It is such a lovely coincidence to run into thee in Canterlot- Quite some way from home."

"Oh, yes, well, my friend Twilight, you know her, of course, recommended that I come... to this..."
Ohno. She had drawn attention to the shop. And now Luna was looking past her, at the windowless store front. Ohno. Ohnonononono.

The Princess cocked her head to one side, looking a bit confused.
"We do not believe We have ever seen this particular establishment."

Fluttershy let out a forced laugh, which sounded terrible even to herself.
"Well, it isn't even the slightest interesting place, or even any place you should ever consider going into, hahaha, so let's just-"

"Nonsense. We feel that any store that has received thine attention is worthy of Our interest as well. Guards? Please, allow Us this diversion."

First one, and then the other replied-- Voices shockingly deep, expressions stoic.
"No problem Princess."
"Not an issue at all."

And so she was stuck. Nowhere to run. Behind her, a shop that still required great courage for her to go inside, even alone. In front of her, the mare of her dreams... trying to enter said store.
"And would thou join Us? Being familiar with the location, and all."
Doom. There was nothing left but doom.
Horrible, blushing, stammering doom.

--------

It had been quite some time since she had occasion to enter a shop such as this one- Private, secluded. Secretly, behind the royal stance, she was overjoyed that somepony was keeping alive the traditions practiced by the less 'conventional' stores in her own day. But on the outside, she was all cool composure, and possibly a bit of additional affection for Dear Fluttershy. She had been trying to be a bit less obvious, after her retelling of the first night's events to 'Tia led to her getting the most vicious verbal assault since... Well, since the Last Long Night. And perhaps her physicality had been out of line, but... It felt appropriate. And she would likely do it again, if only to spite 'Tia, or see the reaction of the yellow pegasus mare.

The store... No. there was no store yet. Instead, a tiny antechamber, a well-barred door with a sliding shutter window. Ventilation... magical, fairly complex, well-placed. She would remember to seek an inquiry into the builder of this edifice- Strong and unique. The goods inside were masked, skillfully, keeping her from figuring out the contents before the package was open, as it were. Before she could study it further, the shutter slid open, and a unicorn stallion looked through it.
"Ah, good evening. Ages verified, and..."
He stopped.

Ah. So he saw her, or the guards, or perhaps both. Well, she sighed internally, time to endure another round of grovelling. She had thought she missed it, when she went to Ponyville on the Nightmare Night and no single pony responded with the traditional royal greeting. But in retrospect, that was foalish of her- Even back in the day, she had found such things fiddly and tiring. In her absence, she had merely... fixated on them.

And so it was to her absolute surprise when the colt at the door did no such thing, instead grinning impossibly wide and turning to face the inside of the shop.
"Nicky! Shake a leg, someone important's here."

He turned back with a faint... not a blush, really, but a rakish grin that made her imagine one.
"No offense to your esteemed highness, of course- I am not versed in the royal greetings of Equestria."

She could very well get used to such treatment.
"We would not expect thee to be- It is regrettable to say We do not recognize thou, nor thy shop."

"Ah, pay no mind to that- We're new in the area, and so's our little place of business. Care to step in?"

"Gladly- Thank thee for the invitation, Mr...?"

"Finish. Matte Finish, but you can just call me Matte."
Not ever, never, not once in several thousand years, had Luna met a pony whose name she did not know out of Royal Instinct. Which made this... a conundrum. And she enjoyed conundrums. And mysteries, puzzles, riddles, and their ilk. So she let it go without questioning, instead entering the now-open door to... ahha.

It had been just a bit more than one thousand years since she had been inside a shop of this type. Back in those days, she had actually been in such establishments fairly often- Not just in her capacity as a regulatory body for such "nocturnal" endeavors, but for her own interests. Seeing how much the, ah, industry, had changed over the years was not surprising-- Progress, after all, was normal. But still, the transition to such significantly... blatant displays was a bit of a change. And under any average circumstances, she would not be shaken by this.

But right now, she was visiting this particular shop with her (which is to say "her friend" not "her" as in a possession or some sort of established relationship, of course not) Dear Fluttershy. Who was uniquely flustered, blushing, mane slack and completely hiding her face. And this made Luna feel rather eager to take advantage of that wonderful shyness. Going too fast, of course, would be a significant problem, so she could not actually do so, not here, not now, not yet. But she was, of course, making a crisp index of mental images and notes for future ‘perusal’. Let it never be said the Mare of the Moon did not know what she desired.

Examining a row of (relatively tame) phalluses, she began speaking again- More information could never hurt.
"Have thou been in Canterlot for long?"

He fires off a quick telekinesis (grey aura? Hmm- A note to file away) and turns the display to show her a few of the more exotic items on display-- She actually blushes, for the first time since entering.
"A year now, or possibly a bit less. I've never been the best at timekeeping."

"Well then. We would be interested, perhaps, in what thou sold to my fellow customer-"
She stopped when she heard the horrified squeak of the pegasus pony, and realized she had made a terrible error- She hadn't meant she wanted to know what Dear Fluttershy had bought, she had wanted to buy the same thing herself. But it must have sounded like she was the most brash and nosy... Before Fluttershy could turn and run, she raised a hoof without looking, pressing it to her cheek-- It was bold, yes, but she had to take a risk to repair this before things went wrong.

"Mr. Finish, if thou would excuse Us for a spell?"

"Natch."
The owner headed off past them, stepping behind the counter and going far enough away to be out of earshot.

Dear Fluttershy was shaking, and Luna felt awful. She had to explain.
"W... I. I did not mean to press into thy personal matters. That was not at all Our intention."

"But..."

"What We had meant was... Thou know how long We have been gone for. And... I feel like I should treat this like a new experience. Come back fresh, correct? And so I wanted to know what thou had purchased. It was not out of nosiness or anything of the sort... It was because We might consider the same items, or similar."
Waiting for a reaction, Luna attempted not to wince-- In situations like this, her own slides in and out of the Royal We became even more obvious, and grating to her ears.

She saw the mare's eyes soften, and they leaned into each other, sharing a short nuzzle.
"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I just, uhm, it took a lot out of me to even come in here."

"We understand, Dear Fluttershy, and... I am sorry."

"Oh Luna, you... you don't need to apologize to me. I was just being foalish."

"Well then, may We make it up to thee? We had been hoping to visit Ponyville again soon, and... Perhaps We could spend time with thee? Personally?"

The risk paid off-- Her mare friend (with a space, not one word, nope) reacted with gleaming eyes and a bright smile, nodding before she even replied.
"Yes! O-of course! I mean, if that's OK with you, and you're interested, and..."

She laughed, making a respectful bow. She nodded to the shopkeeper, who nodded in return as the two of them went to leave. It was good to know that he was a pony of the sort to understand such situations- Running this kind of shop requires discretion, after all.
"Then it is agreed."

The two of them walked outside, as it was probably for the best for the other mare's nerves to get out into the fresh air. Her guards followed, having never once cracked a smile or said a word. Their discipline was admirable, even if they were... less versed in certain traditions than she would have liked. But that could come later. For now, she had to wish her friend on her way.

"So I'll see you again soon?"

"As soon as We can free ourselves from Our schedule. Should nothing else arise, perhaps this coming weekend?"

"Oh! That sounds fantastic."

They shared a grin, and the pegasus left, head darting this way and that to make sure nopony saw her as she headed back to the flight port overlooking Ponyville. With a sigh, Princess Luna dismissed her Night Guards, telling them to go ahead to the restaurant and make sure their lunch reservations were properly set up. A quick glance up and down the street, a brief magical scan to make absolutely sure nopony could see her. Secure and unseen, she pumped one hoof in the air and giggled with maniacal glee.

"Yesyesyes she said yes!"

However, thinking about Fluttershy had lead to her remembering a somewhat... pressing issue. A moment to regain her composure. Double-check the street again. Step back into the shop. The shutter slid open, followed by the door as Matte looked at her in confusion.
"Welcome... back?"

She smiled at him and looked past him to the merchandise.
"Excuse Us, Mr. Finish. We would like to procure some of thy wares after all..."