//------------------------------// // I Hate Tuesdays... and Dresses // Story: Across the Dimensional Divide // by StrawberryGamer //------------------------------// That little bell that store doors had jingled as the door shut behind us. Even if it was for a few minutes, I was glad to get out of the rain. When pegasi make it rain, they make it rain. Looking around, I didn’t see Rarity. Maybe she wasn’t home. Though what I did see were a few of Rarity’s products on display. “Rarity? Are you here?” I heard Starstreak call out. “Coming! Just a minute, dear.” The unmistakable voice of Rarity came from upstairs. Shortly after, she trotted down into view, levitating a few rolls of fabric behind her. “Sorry, just rearranging some of my materials. What can I do for you?” She asked. “My name is Starstreak. I was in here a couple days ago about a damaged dress. We’re going to Canterlot, so I thought I’d come by and see if it’s ready yet.” Star explained. Rarity nodded. “Ah, yes. Nothing I couldn’t handle. I was wondering when you’d come to pick it up.” She levitated a black and white dress from one of the display racks and gave it to Star. “You sure you want it back now? It’s raining quite hard out there.” “Yes, I’m sure. I got an umbrella. I’ll be fine.” Star assured her. I called bullshit. “Until someone splashes you from the side, where your umbrella doesn’t protect you.” Star frowned. “Oh yeah. Hmm… You got any sort of way to waterproof the dress?” She asked the only unicorn in the room. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve been using a spell that repels water from fabric. Just in case I have to go out in the rain for something. Here, let me cast it on your dress.” I watched as Rarity casted the spell. Star’s dress seemed to have a glossy sheen for a second when then disappeared, leaving the dress looking like it normally would. “And there you go. It’ll wear off in a few hours. Plenty of time to rush off to the train station.” “Thanks a bunch Rarity.” Star said happily, trotting over to the dressing room to put her dress on. Rarity levitated a piece of paper over to her and looked it over for a second before turning to me. “Oh, pardon me. I never got your name.” “My name is Sunshine. I just arrived in town yesterday.” I said, lowering the hood of the poncho down. Rarity seemed to have a moment of realization upon hearing my name. “Oh, you must be that pony Twilight and Pinkie mentioned. Leaving already? Pinkie hasn’t even thrown you a party yet.” I shook my head. “I talked to Pinkie already. I’m only gonna be in Canterlot for a couple days. Princesses are curious about me. I’ll come back when I’m done and Pinkie can throw her welcome party for me then.” I explained. “Ah, I see…” She looked me over. “And you’re going to see the princesses in that?” She asked, pointing at the poncho I was wearing. Uh oh. “Well, no…” I began, but was swiftly cut off. “Well then, you need something much more stylish than that baggy poncho. I know!” She started getting that excited look I get when I have a great idea. Needless to say, I didn’t think any idea she had would be “great.” “But I don’t plan on wearing the poncho-” “I know. That’s why I’m going to make you a dress! I’m thinking pink. Pink definitely seems your color.” “No!” I shouted, trying to get her crazy idea to stop. I don’t think she was listening though. “No, you’re right.” Oh thank her ears. “Pink is too much. Blue though.. yes, goes great with both your mane and your eyes!” Shit, she really is stuck on the idea, isn’t she? “Rarity, I don’t want a-” I started to say, but then she grabbed me with her magic, pulled the poncho off, as well as my bags, and set me down on that little stage she had. “What are you doing?” “I gotta take your measurements dear. Now do please hold still.” And before I knew it, she started using her magic to move a measuring tape around me, writing down the measurements she was taking. It all moved so fast. She really is a pro at this. “There. Now don’t go anywhere. This won’t even take an hour.” She then rushed back upstairs, presumably to make the dress. I sat there on the stage and grumbled. “Well this is just fucking great…” I looked to the door. Maybe I could run now while Rarity was busy. Just grab my stuff, get Star out of the dressing room, and run. As I got off the stage to find where Rarity threw my shit, Star exited the dressing room, wearing her dress. “Sooo? How do I look?” She asked, clearly happy to have her dress back. “Looks good. Now, let’s get out of here before I have to put one on.” I said, spotting the poncho by the wall. “What? You have a thing against dresses?” Star asked. “As a matter of fact, yes. Now let’s go.” I insisted. I wanted to be out and at the train station before Rarity came back to force me into that dress. “What’s wrong with dresses?” A high pitched, somewhat squeaky voice said from the stairs. “My sister puts a lot of effort and care into her work, and it’s rude to just run off like this.” Oh come on… Now I’m getting lectured by Sweetie Belle. Just what I fucking needed. “I never asked for a dress. I just want to get to Canterlot.” “And Rarity wants you to look good when you do it.” Star countered. “After all, it would be weird if we showed up and only one of us looked presentable.” “What do you mean? It’s not a formal gathering. I can get away without a dress.” “That’s not what I meant. Your mane is a mess.” Star pointed out. “It is?” I looked at one of Rarity’s many mirrors. My mane still looked like it did the day I got this body: blue, pink, and not styled at all. “Looks fine to me.” Star gave me a deadpan look. “Sweetie, get me a brush.” I saw Sweetie went back upstairs to fetch a brush. And I regretted looking in that direction instantly because at that point, Star tackled me to the ground. “This is for your own good!” She then started to tickle me. I tried to squirm free and get back at her. “No! You’ll never take me alive!” … “I hate you.” I growled as Star finished brushing my tail. All the messiness my mane and tail had accumulated over the past few days was gone. They now looked like I had put half an hour into brushing and slightly styling them, which was exactly what Star had done. The tail looked neater than it did before and my mane now covered half my face, only allowing my left eye to have the benefit of vision. “Oh shush. You look adorable.” Star said, smiling proudly at her torture. “For the fifth time, I don’t want to be adorable!” I snapped back. “I don’t want to be attractive, or cute. I just want to be me.” And when I said “me” I meant “not a fucking pony.” “Well you are you. And you are attractive. So deal with it. Rarity should be done any minute, then we can go.” I sighed and waited as Starstreak and Sweetie Belle debated on whether or not to add a ribbon to my hair, then groaned when they debated what color to use for the ribbon. I’m honestly considering just turning myself in to Hitlestia at this point. At least it would be over quickly. This is just prolonged torture. This is all somehow Twilight’s fault. I’m positive that my gender problem is definitely her fault. Maybe. After another struggle, in which Sweetie Belle used her cuteness to distract me long enough for Star to jump me from behind, I now had a light blue ribbon tied to my tail and another one in my mane. “There. Now you look even cuter. You could almost compete with Sweetie Belle.” Star commented. “Pssh. She has got nothing on me.” Sweetie bragged. “Though she could definitely beat Scootaloo. Don’t tell her I said that. She’ll take it as a challenge.” I let out a chuckle at the thought of Scootaloo in a cuteness contest. “Just for that, I’ll definitely tell her now.” I said. Just then, we heard Rarity come down the stairs, levitating a blue dress behind her. “I’m doooone.” She said proudly, in a singsong-like tone. “Tell me, what do you think?” It was a simple design, nothing fancy or extravagant. It had a lighter shade of blue, somewhere between cyan and periwinkle, in the front part… I forget what that part is called… Bodice? I think? Or isn’t that what it used to be called? Fuck, I’m no expert on fashion. I’m even less of an expert on pony fashion. The skirt part of the dress was a darker shade of blue, which looked nice with the rest of it. Needless to say, I didn’t want it anywhere near me. It’s not that I hated it. Dresses look great on others. It’s just that I hated the idea of wearing it myself. “It looks beautiful, Rarity.” I heard Sweetie Belle say. “Yeah. Come on Sunny. Try it on.” Star nudged me forward. “Or am I gonna have to tickle you again?” … “I hate everything.” I grumbled as I fidgeted in the dress. I dunno how, but as Star was holding me down, Rarity got the dress on me. I was too busy being tickled to pay attention. Then she got me in front of the mirror so I could get a good look at myself. Looking at myself in the mirror, I didn’t really see “myself” anymore. I just saw a disgruntled, yet attractive mare in a blue dress, with a blue ribbon in her hair, which half-blinded her. I nearly felt sick thinking of myself as attractive. Not wanting to look at myself anymore, I looked away from the mirror, only to find myself looking into another one. I just sighed in defeat. Rarity, who was looking over my dress to see if it fit well, looked up at me. “Is something wrong dear? Is the dress not to your liking?” She asked. I was about to say yes, and complain about the whole ordeal I just went through. How I wanted to just run away from the girliness I was being surrounded by. I wanted to rip this dress off, jump out the window, and disappear. But I know that wouldn’t get anything done. Rarity had spent the better part of an hour quickly making this dress for me, and I just didn’t have the heart to throw her generosity back in her face. Though maybe I can try a gentler approach. “It’s fine, Rarity. It looks… good.” I had to force that out of my mouth. Tasted bad. “But I don’t think I could afford it.” Rarity waved a hoof nonchalantly. “Oh, think nothing of it. This one’s on the house.” She said. Yeah, somehow I knew she’d say that. “Also, I love what you’ve done with your coiffure.” She added. “Well… it wasn’t my idea. You can thank Star over there for that.” I said, tilting my head in her direction. “Hey, I’d give myself that look, but my forelock just isn’t long enough.” Star said defensively, pointing to the top of her mane. So it’s called a forelock? Huh, learn something new every day. EDUCATION’S A BITCH! I rolled my eyes. “Right…” I rubbed a hoof over the dress. It felt soft, but… odd. “It feels strange. I’ve never worn a dress before.” Because I’ve never been a girl before. “Are they supposed to feel this way?” I asked. Rarity seemed shocked. “Never worn a dress? Well I guess that explains your hesitation to wear this one. But don’t worry dear, you’ll enjoy it. I’m sure.” Rarity tried and horrifically failed to reassure me. “But about the strange feeling, please describe it.” “Well, um… It’s a soft and smooth feeling, but also a little tight, yet not quite. It’s hard for me to explain, because I don’t understand it.” I tried to describe the feeling, but I think it just came out as gibberish. “Oh, I think it’s just the fabric. Don’t worry. I made sure it would be comfortable to wear for long periods of time.” Rarity was really keen on having me wear this all the way to Canterlot, huh? “It is comfortable, right?” I reluctantly nodded. “It is comfortable, but I don’t really feel comfortable wearing it.” I tried once more to talk her out of the dress. “Don’t worry, dear. I’m sure you’ll come to like it. It just takes a bit of getting used to, if this is truly your first time.” If you say so, Marshmallow. “Riiiiight… So can we go now? We’ve been here an hour now. I’d really like to get going. Ya know, places to be, ponies to meet… Kinda important.” I didn’t want to be here any longer. They had their fun in torturing what little masculinity I had left into dust. Rarity nodded. “Sure, darling. Here are your things.” She levitated my bags and poncho back to me, and was even nice enough to help me put them back on. The poncho fit nicely over the dress, which helped a little. I also didn’t need to be told that the waterproofing spell had been cast on my dress as well. “Alright now, have fun!” “Uh huh. We’ll make sure to.” I said, with no excitement at all, as Star and I walked towards the door. Though I was was stopped by Sweetie Belle. “Huh? What is it?” “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for kicking you yesterday.” She apologized. Well that was nice of her. I gave her mane a rustle. “It’s okay Sweetie Belle. It only hurt a lot. Though, for future reference, try a nudge next time to find a sleeping pony.” I demonstrated by giving Sweetie a friendly nudge. We both laughed a bit. “Alright, I’ll see you later. Maybe.” I said my goodbye, and followed Star. Star gave me a smile as she opened the door. “Hey, look at it this way. At least your day can’t get any worse.” She reassured. I gave a glare in return. “You have no idea…”