//------------------------------// // Ch 19 - Dress Up Darling // Story: A Flurry of Problems // by MelodyMori //------------------------------// For what felt like the third time this week I woke up groggy and with one hell of a headache. At least this time I was laying on a much softer hospital bed than last time. I groaned and opened my eyes, forced to squint thanks to the sunlight landing directly on my eyes. Thankfully a moment later the light was blocked by something, letting me open my eyes a second time to take a look around. On my left was Ms. Rarity, who was holding a hoof over my eyes and giving me a gentle smile. I gave a timid smile back and looked to my right to see a much bigger pony than I expected. Princess Luna winced as she rubbed her horn, clearly much more exhausted than she seemed in my head. Her hair was also a lot more....flowy than I thought, looked like a miniature version of the night sky. “Nice to finally meet you in the flesh, Luna.” I gave a happy smile to the taller alicorn. “Hopefully now you won’t have to keep saving my bacon.” “The pleasure is mine, Storm.” Luna returned my smile before yawning. “And I hope so, all of this mess has me spent. I may take a nap before we return to the Crystal Empire.” She yawned again, making me and Rarity yawn in turn. “Besides, you have some ponies to properly introduce yourself to before we leave, don’t you?” I nodded and turned to Rarity again. “Hi, Ms. Rarity. My name is Storm, it’s nice to meet you.” I awkwardly stuck out a hoof to shake, only to have that ignored as Rarity instead gently hugged me. “It is nice to finally meet the real you.” Rarity pulled back, a hint of a tear in the corner of one of her eyes. She coughed and quickly pulled herself back together, turning to Luna with a raised eyebrow. “The two of you are heading to the Crystal Empire? So soon?” Luna nodded and rose to her full height, stretching her wings as she did so. “Storm, Twilight, and I will be heading north as soon as possible. Storm needs to meet Celestia and Twilight...” Luna gave a glance at the purple alicorn, who hung her head at the acknowledgment. “Celestia and I will discuss what punishment Twilight should have for her actions.” “I see.” Rarity’s ears flicked back for a moment before flipping back up as I swear a lightbulb appeared above her head. “Wait, you’re going to the Crystal Empire and meeting Princess Celestia? You need proper outfits! Come on Storm, to the Boutique!” I blinked in surprise at the sudden dramatic flair from Rarity. “Outfits? We’ve been wandering around naked this entire time, what outfits would I need?” “Oh darling, you need to dress up to meet the princess.” Rarity rolled her eyes and waved a hoof. “A nice dress at the very least, you have to be at a polite level of formality. Plus a sweater for the Crystal Empire, it’s very cold up there. Don’t want you to get sick after all. Now come along, we have a lot of work to do!” I grimaced at the thought of wearing a dress but forced a smile on my face. Rarity seemed excited and I didn’t mind grumbling through dress and probably makeup if it made someone like her happy. She isn’t my sister but eh, old habits die hard. “Okay, but first may I have a moment?” I asked as politely as I could, moving to hop out of the bed. Rarity gave a nod so I actually hopped out of the bed, wincing a bit as the impact of my landing jostled my rib a bit. I stepped over to Twilight, who was still facing the ground in shame so didn’t notice me until I poked her with a hoof. “Twilight, my name is Summer Storm. I know you wanted me to be Flurry Heart, but I will never be the pony you want me to be. While I know you had nothing but love and good intentions for me, I feel like I owe you this for messing with my mind.”  She looked up at me with an eyebrow raised in confusion, leading her straight into the hoof hitting her in the face. She flinched back, my punch only carrying so much strength since I was a child but still. I winced myself, my hoof stinging from impacting her jaw. But damn it felt good to let all that frustration and anger out in one punch against the one who did me so much harm. “If I have the choice I never want to see you again. Whether Luna adopts me or I go back to live with Mom and Dad in the Crystal Empire I don’t care, you will never be in charge of me ever again.” I scowled at Twilight, especially the fact that she refused to meet my eyes. “I-I understand. I am sorry Storm, for everything.” Twilight sighed, her ears pinned to the side of her head. “I know it won’t make things better, but I want you to know that.” “Thank you Twilight. It doesn’t really matter to me, but thank you anyway. Apology acknowledged but not accepted.” I shook my head and turned back to Rarity and Luna. “So, the Boutique right?” Luna nodded before giving me a loving smile. “You don’t mind if I work on paperwork while you’re getting fitted, do you? I need to send a letter to Celestia about all of this, and start to figure out what legal documents you need.” I nodded to Luna, took a deep breath, and smiled at Rarity. “Alright Ms. Rarity, take me away to my first ever fitting experience.” “Storm, you have to sit still or I can’t take your measurements!” I let out a frustratingly childish whine as I tried to wriggle out of the measuring tape wrapped around my midsection a second time. It tickled and made me stand still and I couldn’t have it for some reason. So instead I squirmed around and made Rarity’s life difficult in the process. Not on purpose I promise, just needed an outlet for all that energy. “Storm, please stay still, I want to make sure your clothes fit you.” Rarity sighed in frustration, dropping the measuring tape from her hooves and taking a step away from me. “If you don’t behave I’ll have to treat you like a foal so we can get this step done.” I winced internally before shrugging. “It's not my fault I’m so ticklish. Isn’t there an easier way to do this? Like eyeballing it?” “No, now hold still.” I felt my body suddenly go still as it was wrapped in a light blue aura. Rarity stepped by me, her glasses lowered enough to read the measuring tape that flowed around my paralyzed body, also held in her magical aura. I tried to wriggle out of her magical grip but found myself well and truly pinned. “There, that wasn’t so hard was it darling? So we can start the true fun, finding the right colors and designs for you!” I shivered as Rarity released me from her magic, feeling as if I was violated in a sense. I didn’t like the thought of someone being able to simply hold me down with a thought, especially since I had been a tough man a week ago. To distract myself I watched as Rarity levitated several pony mannequins over to where we were standing, one of them wearing a lime green hoodie while the other two had rough dresses on them. “That is a very green hoodie.” I frowned, tilting my head at the sight. “Are you sure that would look good on me?” “Of course darling!” Rarity rolled her eyes and lifted the hoodie off of the mannequin, floating it over to me. “That light green is a complementary color to the light pink of your coat and the purple of your hair. Here, put it on and you’ll see.” I took the hoodie in my hooves and tried to pull it on over my head as I did back on Earth. But instead of it sliding over my head and down over my torso it instead got tangled up around my head thanks to my horn. I squeaked as gravity began pulling me down, my body not used enough to being on two hooves to stay in that stance. My wings instinctively flared out to help me balance but instead just made me fall onto my back instead of my stomach. “Ack!” I squeaked out, the air driven from my lungs by the impact of me hitting the ground. I tried to untangle myself from the maze of cloth but instead just got even more stuck. “Rarity, I hate to say this but I need your help.” “Don’t worry darling, I’m here. Just stop flailing around and I’ll pull it off you.” Rarity’s voice came from somewhere above me, her presence oddly comforting considering in any other situation I’d be dying from embarrassment. “All I need you to do is raise your forelegs and fold your wings....” I followed the mare’s instructions to the letter, focusing on her words instead of the suffocating tightness of the hoodie. With her hooves and magic, she was able to free me from the fabric, holding it over me with an eyebrow raised. I couldn’t help but blush and turn my head to the side in embarrassment. I hadn’t failed to dress myself like that since I was a little kid...which I guess I was again but still! “Would you like to try that again?” Rarity stood over my prone form, a comforting smile on her face. “I’ll help you this time, so you don’t get tangled a second time.” “Thanks but I dunno if I want to try a second time.” I crossed my forelegs, pouting despite myself. “Not exactly proud of the fact I apparently can’t even dress myself. And here I thought I’d try to hold myself with what little dignity I had left....”  “Storm, Princess Luna told us that you came from another world.” Rarity gritted her teeth, her voice dripping with slight unease. I looked up at her, a bit confused at where she was going with this. “When you were dressing yourself, did you have to deal with things like a horn or wings?” I blinked in surprise at the surprisingly rational question before shaking my head. “No, I didn’t have wings or a horn back on Earth. I just kind of pulled things on and went on with my day.” Rarity let out a small chuckle and shook her head, prompting me to frown in response. “Sorry Storm, I should have realized that you wouldn’t be used to dealing with stuff like that. Don’t beat yourself up, most ponies need a bit of help at first getting dressed without getting themselves tangled up.” She waved a hoof at one of the more fancy dresses left to the side, it made of what looked like several pieces of crystal. “Most pegasi and earth ponies have the more complicated items like that enchanted to dress themselves to save time since they don’t have the benefit of magic like unicorns.” I blinked in surprise, the mental image of Rainbow Dash or Applejack having a dress assemble themselves onto them like something out of Power Rangers hitting me like a train. But the fact that it wasn’t just me who had problems dealing with extra appendages did make my embarrassment quickly fade away into nothingness. With another giggle at the mental image, I got back to my hooves, flexing my wings a bit to get the jitters out.  “Hold up your forelegs dear.” Rarity gently instructed, holding the lime green hoodie over my head in her magical grip. I couldn’t help but frown internally at being treated like a child but followed her instructions and held my forelegs up, my wings once again shooting out to help stabilize me.  This time the hoodie slid onto me with ease, helped by Rarity’s deft grip on the fabric. It settled onto my torso in a much tighter way than hoodies did on earth, hugging my forelegs and torso but not too tight to make it uncomfortable. I could tell it had a hood on the back, but I wasn’t sure how it would work with a pony head and neck. Fitting my wings through the holes cut for them was a strange problem, kind of felt like putting fingerless gloves on I guess? “So, how do I look?” I stepped in a circle, posing dramatically. In one of the mirrors, I caught a glimpse of myself, prompting me to stop and actually check myself out. Rarity was right, the light green did go well with my coat and mane. I never really cared about how I looked but I had to admit I didn’t look that bad. “It looks great darling.” Rarity walked around me, studying my form with her tailor’s eyes. “It's missing a certain something though. Maybe some lace or gems to catch somepony’s eyes?” I shivered in dread at the thought of lace on anything I would wear and racked my mind for anything else that could be added. “Uh, that sounds cool but I have another idea! Scootaloo was telling me about this Rainbow Dash fan club. Do you have a patch or something like that you could add to give a bit of flair?”  I saw Rarity’s reflection frown slightly before she quickly covered it up. “Ah yes, her ‘fan club’. While I don’t have anything on hoof I am sure I can stitch something up to your liking.” I grinned, my wings fluttering a bit in excitement. A bit more than I was used to, but eh, this body has been nothing but an emotional mess. “Thank you Ms. Rarity!” I stepped over and gave her a gentle hug to add to my gratitude. “For everything.” Rarity giggled and nuzzled my head in response. “Don’t worry about it Storm, I am just happy you’re finally comfortable to be yourself.” She pulled back, a warm smile on her face as we basked in the moment. “Now, about the dresses...” I felt the blood drain from my face a bit as one of the last bastions of masculinity I had left was threatened. “Uh...do I have to wear a dress? I’ve never worn one before. Heck, I don’t think I ever dressed up before.” “Then think of it as a wonderful new experience!” Rarity basically dragged me over to the other two child-sized pony mannequins. Both were adorned with dresses, which basically took on an almost cloak-like appearance in the back, covering their flank with its layers. Was kind of cool to see if mildly terrifying since I would have to wear it. The one on the left was made out of a purplish-blue fabric, with frills where the foreleg would come out of the dress. The neck and midsection both had a string of pearls adorning it, and where the pearls sat on the midsection of the dress was where the more silky material came out to cover the flank and hindlegs of the wearer. Adorning the dress were small pearls like stars on a night sky, and finally, a pair of purple slippers with crescent moons on the front completed the look. The one on the right was made out of white silk, falling over the back like layers of snow. The forelegs had a design like falling snow leading to the white lace of the slippers. On the chest was a snowflake design made out of opal, with a similar design making up a belt of snowflakes around the waist of the dress. On the head was a white ribbon to tie the mane up. It looked nice, just a lot of white, which is always a bitch to keep clean.  “So, what do you think Storm?” Rarity looked down expectantly, an excited grin on her face. “Admittedly unlike the hoodie I would need to tailor it to fit your measurements but that shouldn’t take me more than a few hours.” Rarity gave an anxious look at the clock. “They look great Ms. Rarity, but is all this really necessary?” I rubbed the back of my head with one of my hooves anxiously, feeling a small blush on my cheeks. “Do I need to wear a dress when I meet Aunt Celestia? I don’t want to impose on your generosity and all.” “Nonsense darling, when anypony meets the Princess for the first time they have to look the part!” Rarity held a hoof to her chest, huffing dramatically. “Trust me, when you’re all dressed up you’ll feel amazing and ready to meet your aunt! And you shouldn’t feel like you’re imposing, I want to do this. Shouldn’t take too long after all, should have it ready by dinner.” She looked at the clock, her eyebrow-raising in worry. “Speaking of, Sweetie Belle should be home soon.” “Oh?” I took a look at the door, feeling a rush of excitement shoot through my body at the potential of friends arriving. God, I had three fillies as friends. That’s kinda weird to think about, but I ain’t gonna complain. Almost as if summoned, the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst in through the door, all three of them chatting excitedly as youngsters were prone to do. Scootaloo quickly noticed me and pointed a hoof in my direction, catching the others’ attention. All three of them cried out in excitement and concern before dogpiling me in a CMC-brand hug. My ribs hurt from the weight of the pile but I refused to complain at the adorableness of the moment. If this was to be my new life now that I probably couldn’t go home, at least I already had friends here. I felt truly loved in a way I hadn’t felt for a while. Without thinking, I felt myself smile and my worries drop away.  And it felt good.