//------------------------------//
// 3 
// Story: A Bit Less Shy 
// by TransAlchemist 
//------------------------------//

Many months had passed since then, and the house was finally clean. Many of the animals decided that this house was now theirs as much as it was Stormcloud’s. Not that he minded, after all, they were the ones who cleaned up most of it.

But Stormcloud kept thinking back to that day. The day when he put on the dress.

He remembered liking how he looked. Since then, he had put the dress on one more time. The voice had come back on that day, and he didn’t want to refuse. He wanted to wear it, to feel that way again. 

The voice had returned today, telling him to put it on. He didn’t fight it, almost excited to put it on. So he did. He looked in the mirror, and admired how he looked, thinking that he looked almost pretty.

Suddenly, a cat burst through the door. It’s fur was white, and it was wearing a purple bow and collar. Stormcloud panicked a little when he saw the collar, thinking that the cat was lost.

He picked up the cat, and walked to his front door. When he opened the door, he was shocked to see a white pony with a purple mane standing there, hoof up, clearly about to knock on the door. The white pony recovered first.

“Hello darling,” the white pony started, “My name is Rarity, and I was- OPALESCENCE!” Her eyes became glued to the cat. “Oh thank you! That is my cat, however can I-“

She stopped suddenly, seeming to take in Stormcloud for the first time, dress and all. It was only then that he remembered that he was still wearing the dress, having completely forgotten it in the chaos.

“Oh,” Rarity started, surprised “ I don’t believe it,”

“D-don’t believe what?” Stormcloud said in a voice quieter than usual.

“I do believe that I have just figured out how exactly I can repay you darling,” Rarity said, “ I am going to give you a makeover!”

Stormcloud was taken aback by this. A makeover? Really? He had just met this pony, and now she was offering to give him a makeover? Despite this, the little voice was there, louder than usual, and it was telling him to go for it.

“O-ok,” Cloudstorm answered

“Splendid!” Rarity exclaimed, clapping her hooves together, “then let’s get started!”

Rarity brought out a series of make up supplies, and got to work.  

All of this was very new to Stormcloud, who had never gotten a makeover before. In Cloudsdale, his only friend was Rainbow Dash, and she was never remotely interested in that stuff.

But Rarity was obviously a professional. After all, who else would bring make-up when searching for her cat? She was slow in some areas, while only spending seconds on others. She worked hard, sweat on her brow, but she made sure that not a drop touched Stormcloud. But finally it was done.

“Finished!” Rarity said, “and I must say, this is by far some of my best work!”

Stormcloud finally opened his eyes, and Rarity held up a mirror for him. He looked at himself, and was amazed.

He saw a yellow mare staring back.