//------------------------------// // Art of The Dress // Story: Equestrian human // by Vinyl Destination //------------------------------// I swam under the surface of the water with goggles on and yellow flippers on my feet. Laugh if you want but flippers help make swimming easier. I swam closer to the bottom and looked flipped over to look up towards the surface. I could see the rays of sunlight shining through and the shadows of ponies and animals moving around on the surface. Now I probably lost a lot of you already, well I got a clue to some magical creatures called Seaponies from Twilight’s library/house. Apparently, despite their name, Seaponies can live in any body of water. So I was swimming around in the river that went right through town. Admittedly the book I got the information from was a book of legends and myths but with Nightmare Moon I figured that anything they claimed wasn’t real could be real. Besides this is a world with so many amazing monsters and creatures, I would think a Seapony could be real. I heard some echoing from the water it sounded like muffled yelling or something but it also didn’t sound like it came from the water. I decided to swim towards the surface to see what was going on. When my head breached the water I was greeted by Colgate and Derpy. “Hi, guys.” I smiled. They both looked a little confused, and curious. “What are you doing at the bottom of a river?” Colgate asked. I pulled myself out of the water and took off my goggles. Colgate handed me the towel I brought. “Thank you, and to answer your question I’m currently looking for Seaponies. I figured this is a good place to start.” I said cleaning myself off. I pulled off the flippers and stuffed them and the towel in a bag. “What’s up?” “Bon-Bon was heading over to the Carousel Boutique and wanted us to go find you and Vinyl and bring you over.” Derpy said. I know I’ve heard of that place before but I couldn’t think of it. “What for?” I asked. I knew French because I have a grandma that doesn’t speak English too well and boutique meant literally “small shop” but aside from that I really had no idea what a “boutique” was. Also, what reason did they need me and Vinyl for? Vinyl is practically a boy in a girl’s body- or a stallion in a mare’s body, as the case was. I was literally a boy in a girl’s body… it’s still weird to think about. We both aren’t the most, as Colgate would put it, the most lady-like ponies. I was considered naïve and Vinyl was considered very loud, both were pretty true too. If Colgate is in on this- whatever it is- then it would probably take something that Vinyl and I both don’t have a lot of, if any. “It’s a secret.” Colgate grinned and walked off with Derpy following “Come on, let’s go get Vinyl.” Colgate called over her shoulder. I levitated the bag I brought and put it on and did a quick trot to catch up with them. The day was very nice and the town seemed busier than ever, as if each citizen had something important that needed to be done. A few clouds where in the sky and the sun was more gentle than usual. We traveled for a little while until we made it to Vinyl’s home and I realized something- well a few things actually. First was that, looking down the street, Vinyl didn’t live too far from Twilight. The other thing was that there were a lot of empty houses around Vinyl’s home, the houses on either side of her was empty and so was a few homes across the street from her. I didn’t even see a “for sale” sign on them; it’s as if they got out in a hurry. Derpy walked up to the door and knocked on the door “Vinyl? You home?” She called. We heard a voice from the other side of the door yell out “Door’s open!” for the first time we entered Vinyl’s home and to our surprise her home was a mess. A mess of junk from days passed, old boxes of take-out food were scattered everywhere, random pieces and wires from things unknown. Suitcases and bags and, oddly enough, a shocking amount of clothes despite the fact I’ve never seen her wear a bit of it were laying across the floor. Colgate was visibly disgusted by the mess but before anything could be commented on the mess Vinyl walked in from another room holding a slice of pizza in her magical grip “Hey guys!” She grinned seeing us “Welcome to my home! I’m almost done unpacking my stuff.” I took another look around “Yeah, I can see that.” I answered “I’m assuming that this is about the Carousel Boutique since Bon-Bon sent me a letter before I came back to Ponyville. Well make yourselves at home; I have a few things I need to take care of before I can head out.” “More than a few by the look of it.” Colgate grimaced taking another look at the disaster area. Vinyl just walked by us heading for the stairs and laughed a little. Derpy, Colgate and I were left in her mess of a house while Vinyl took care of some business up stairs. My eyes shifted from one pile of discarded clothing the other and I became more curious to WHY she had so much clothing in the first place. I didn’t even have any clothes back at Bon-Bon’s house, aside from a baseball hat that I saw at one point while wandering the market one time. “I don’t think even Dinky has ever had her room even half as messy as this single room.” Derpy said breaking the silence. “I’ve never seen a mess like this.” Colgate said. “It actually reminds me of my room when I haven’t cleaned it in a while.” I said absentmindedly. Derpy decided to head to the kitchen to get something to eat, she was certain that Vinyl wouldn’t mind. Colgate timidly started to wander the house as if a monster would jump out and kill her. My mind went back to the mysterious piles of clothes then I saw a single article of clothing on one of the piles “A sock?” I muttered to myself. It was stripped in grey and purple I levitated it closer to my face and examined it “Hmm.” Derpy came walking back chewing on the last piece of a sandwich “What’s that?” She asked. “What’s what?” Colgate asked looking back “I-is that a sock?” “Yeah,” I answered fascinated by the item “Weird, I’ve never seen one wore by a pony before.” “Ugh, what kind of weird things is that mare into?” Colgate muttered in disgust. The more I processed this information the more I was interested “Hmm… Ponies in socks… I’d like to see that actually!” Both simultaneously told me not to say “Creepy” things like that. What was creepy about it? I threw it back into the pile disregarding it for now gray and purple aren’t her colors anyways, it’s so drab and dark and not at all a good match for a bright, colorful and wild pony- and I REALLY sound like a girl right now! I wondered the house a little more, carefully stepping around the clutter and I found a room that was surprisingly well kept, even for someone that normally has a well put together house. It was filled with instruments- and her DJ equipment but I still debate if that can be considered an actual instrument- I walked in admiring how nice this one room was, the clutter of the next room didn’t even slightly touch the room like some sort of invisible force field has in front of the threshold. The different instruments where put together with obvious gentleness and care. Some hung on the walls, which were really white because I guess she like cleans them or something and the same could be said about the carpet in terms of cleanliness. Other instruments were on special racks, or cabinets. “I didn’t think she had it in her.” I heard Colgate say as she walked to the room. “But why all the other instruments? Isn’t she a DJ?” “Well she is also a musician.” I answered “A proper musician shouldn’t isolate themselves to a single thing and see the world of music for all it has to offer, rather than focus on a single bit of it.” “Oh yeah, you’re a musician too aren’t you?” Colgate said “Eh…” I said rubbing the back of my head with some embarrassment “You’d think that, but really I’m no one special. I play the lyre but I can’t call myself a proper musician if I just have the ability to play an instrument. I need to make a name for myself even if its small time.” “Huh, I didn’t think that music was that hard of an industry to get into.” I heard a laugh come from behind us “Oh, believe me, it’s tough. It’s a battle to still stay relevant at times too.” Vinyl said as we turned to see her advance towards us “Sometimes other ponies go to extremes and end up looking like they’ve gone insane, sometimes they DO go insane but that’s a different matter.” “Wow…” Derpy said as she entered the same very clean room we all were in “Sounds rough.” Vinyl walked over to a cabinet on the far corner and pulled out a small case “Also,” she said as she turned around “A musician needs an instrument.” She walked over to me and opened it revealing a shiny golden lyre that looked just like my old one. “Really Vinyl? I can have it this?” “Yeah, it’s yours after all.” She smirked. “Grandpa gave it to me while I was in Canterlot, said it was for someone important.” I levitated from the case to look it over. The strings were perfect, the frame was flawless without a dent or scratch in it and it shone bright in the light from its polish. On the back of it though was something else. There was an engraving on it: “To Leon” my heart skipped a beat when I read it. This wasn’t just a replacement lyre… it was MY lyre. Without much thought a gave Vinyl a hug “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” some people may want something bigger or fancier or stuff like that, but for me this was one of the best gifts I could ask for. It always meant so much to me and now that it’s back it means so much more, especially now that I’m so far from home. ($#@~) We wasted enough time at Vinyl’s house and we were getting right back on track. We all headed down to the boutique and while we were headed their Derpy spoke up and asked me a question “So… who’s Leon?” “Yes,” Colgate agreed “who is Leon?” “Uh, um h-he’s…” I stammered trying to think of something “He-he’s uhhh… just a guy.” “It’s doesn’t sound too much like a pony name though, does it?” Derpy wondered out loud “Is he a Griffon?” I mentally stepped on the breaks and even stopped walking “Wait a minute… there are Griffon’s here?!” “Well, there aren’t that many living in Equestria most of them live in the Griffon Kingdom, but yeah.” Sweet! I hope I get to see one of those! Griffons are awesome! “I think we can rule out the possibility of him being a Griffon.” Vinyl said with a strange smile on her face. You could tell even with her glasses on that there was some something moving around in her mind. Whenever Vinyl gets all mysterious on me I wonder just how much does she know or thinks she knows and how much she actually reveals. We entered the market place and it was really busy this time of day. Everyone had some kind of business to take care of and I even noticed Fluttershy in the crowd doing some shopping of her own while Rainbow Dash sped across the sky. I also saw Twilight walking around while spike trailed behind carrying a rather large list and Twilight was just chatting away to Spike. It was moments like this when I saw portions of the main cast that reminded me that I was in a world that was supposed to be a cartoon. The moment was ruined when two ponies I never met before walked in front of me from the corners of my eyes. It was strange I didn’t even notice the from my peripheral, it was as if the appeared out of thin air. The others were ahead of me and didn’t even notice that I was stopped. The two ponies had strange colors, both were Earth ponies, the Stallion was white with a black mane and tail and was fix up really proper like they just came from Canterlot, his cutie mark was a simple black dot and he held a plate with a bit sitting in it. The mare right next to him was black with a white mane and tail and also looked very proper; she had a simple white spot for a cutie mark. She wore a chalk board thing around herself and had to columns with the words “Heads” and the other “Tails” the heads side was filled with tally marks and the other column was strangely empty. I don’t think probability supported that. “Heads,” the Stallion spoke “Or tails?” the mare finished “Excuse me?” I wondered “It’s simple,” the stallion spoke in a very calmly “heads,” “Or tails?” it was strange how they kept on finishing the sentence for each other, it felt so rehearsed. I picked up the coin and rooted for the underdog. “Tails.” I flipped it and it landed on heads. “Hmm, fascinating.” The stallion spoke as he put up another tally to the heads column. “Fascinating that nothing changed” the mare spoke. “Though everything is different.” The stallion said “And yet nothing is.” Said the mare “Or was” Stallion “Or has been.” Mare “I don’t believe the proper syntax has been invented yet” thought the Stallion. And then they both walk back into the corners of my eyes but when I tried to find them the just didn’t seem to be there. I thought only unicorns could teleport, where did they go?! I looked side to side, all around me and even tried above me… nothing they freaking vanished! “This some Doctor Who bullshit going on here.” I muttered to myself irritatingly. Not a single trace could be found. There were a lot of colorful ponies doing whatever they were doing but I didn’t see a single black and white mare or stallion. “Hmm…” I hummed to myself feeling a little confused. “Lyra!” Colgate called to me snapping my attention back into reality “come on she can’t wait forever!” the rest of the trip went on without any more strange ponies coming from nowhere and no other interruptions. We eventually came up to a purple house that stood out from many other buildings. It actually reminded me of a tent almost… and it looked very familiar. I think I saw it at one point before even though I’ve never come out this way before. It was out near the edge of town before it got into the more rural part of ponyville like were Fluttershy and Applejack and Carrot Top lived. We walked in with the ringing of a tiny bell to welcome us. As we entered I realized that I have seen this place, it was a brief moment in the first episode, Rarity’s home. Bon-Bon and Rarity were sitting down on rather comfortable cushions talking with each other when we walked in. “Finally,” Bon-Bon breathed “What kept all of you?” “We had minor detour.” Vinyl answered simply “Well what matters is that you’re here now.” Rarity smiled. I had been living in ponyville for a while but I’ve never talked to one of the main characters before. I wonder if Bon-Bon and I were ever caught in an episode scene. “Oh, I so do enjoy this part of my job.” Rarity beamed “Since you’re all such good friends of Colgate, I would be more than happy to make personalized dresses for the Gala.” Normally I’d be interested in how Colgate and Rarity know each other so well but my heart sunk when I found out this was about dresses. I’d take a guess that Rarity usually makes dresses for the Gala but there were times that I forgot certain details about my interesting situation. It was moments like this that I was reminded my remaining masculinity was being threatened. Everyone else felt it was a good idea though, even Vinyl, I honestly couldn’t imagine her in a dress. Rarity asked if she do some measurements on Bon-Bon first and she agreed. I don’t understand the concept of dress making so I won’t go into too much detail. Though it did take a lot of different measurements and some weird cloth things on certain portions of her body and marked with marker (probably to memorize the shape?) The process was not a fast one, I know I’m in a world that was previously only a TV show but things didn’t run in TV time here. Colgate and Derpy sat on the rather comfortable cushions next to a small table passed the time with conversation and Vinyl, who sat apart from everyone else on a fancy looking couch Rarity had, had carried some magazines, again not something I would expect. She held it at an angle that I couldn’t read the title and I couldn’t sneak a peek either. She seemed oddly excited for reading a stupid magazine. I decided to use this moment to take out my Lyre. I pulled out the case from my bag and opened it levitating my favorite lesser known instrument. Honestly hardly anyone remembers what lyre is and when they see one they call it a harp, that’s one thing that really irritates me. It’s like saying a turtle and a tortoise are the same thing, there is a major difference despite them looking similar. I paused for a moment pondering exactly how I would play it, I didn’t have hands after all. I couldn’t use my hooves, it requires precise grip of each string as you pluck it, and I didn’t even understand how a pony could pick anything up with their hooves besides they were too big to do anything precise… I guess if it can pick things up with telekinesis then, in theory, I could play it with magic as well. I tried it, it was my talent according to what my butt says. I played tunes that I could imagine clearly, I didn’t expect much but, to my amazement, I played the songs flawlessly with my magic. It wasn’t like the magic was doing it for me, I had to remember how to pluck each string but I was playing music again. I felt at peace and fell into an almost Zen like peace as the calm melodies left my head and played through my instrument. It was hard to play fast paced music on a lyre but if you did it right you really didn’t need to. I don’t know how long I was playing but when I was done several impressed faces were looking at me. “What a lovely song, dear.” Rarity spoke up. “Thank you.” I answered with pride welling up inside. “In fact,” Rarity added “Seeing that harp-” “Lyre.” I corrected sternly “Yes, seeing that instrument has given me an idea for your dress. I’m done with your friend, if you could so kindly step up here I can start with yours.” My heart sank at the thought of having to wear a dress bit it wouldn’t even appear for another couple days. I timidly stood up on the stage thing and the process started all over again. It involved a lot of touching and I really felt like my personal space was being invaded, but I tried to remain as still as possible. It was Colgate that spoke first through this process. “You’re really good a that instrument, lyre right?” “Yeah it’s a lyre.” I answered still trying to stay still enough for Rarity to do her work “This Leon guy gave you that instrument, right? It says it was his, did he teach you to play it as well?” “No I’m self-taught.” “I don’t believe I’m familiar with a Leon, is that a Griffon name?” Rarity asked “I would love to meet a Griffon, they are so rare in Equestria.” “Uh.. er-um.” I stammered trying to think of something, Rarity seemed to pick up on that. “Is he someone special to you, like a special somepony?” “No! Never anything like that! I don’t even have a special…somepony.” My imagination took over as I tried to imagine how something like that would work with a pony and a griffon, I felt a little sick with more of the thought entering my mind and I think it showed on my face a little which is why the subject got changed. Rarity smiled happily “Anyways, these dresses will blow you horseshoes off.. So to speak” that’s a new expression I’ve heard since being here. After I was finished Rarity did the same for Colgate, I found myself eventually looking back at Vinyl who was still enthralled in her magazine, or magazines as I found out there were many. A small pile had formed since the beginning. Curiosity finally taking hold I walked over to take a look, for the briefest of moments I caught a glimpse of two mares with socks on, I was sure more was happening but I didn’t get to see it because she quickly caught me and closed it hiding it inside her bag. “What was that?” “None of your business!” this was… oddly defensive. “Ok, sorry!” I was hurt by her snapping at me like that and was just going to leave her being. “No wait a moment!” Vinyl called back to stop me. “This is actually a good time to show you something.” “Show me what?” “I can’t really say in our current company but just sit here and look.” I took a seat next to her and let my hind legs dangle over the edge. “What?” I asked when I saw her looking at me with a confused look. Vinyl sat upright on the couch too but had her hind legs brought up to rest on the couch cushion whereas mine just dangled. “Never mind that’s not important.” She dismissed quickly and begun to dig through her bag. “I bought this one when I was still… discovering myself when I was younger.” She pulled out a magazine with unicorn stallions, there were some interesting looking pictures in here but for some reason a lot of them involved their horns. Just their horns you could barely see their face. I only got through the first two pages before I looked back at her with a confused look “I don’t get it. They just take pictures of their horns and nothing else?” Vinyl had a smile on her face it wasn’t one of her really big smiles I usually saw but a smile of amusement “Among other things.” I looked down at it and just stared at the page I was on trying to figure out what this was supposed to be all I could must was a slightly bewildered “huh” I flipped the page to see a weird looking comic with actual pictures but no words. There was a beige colored mare with black and hot pink sock and a spiked choker collar and a red stallion that had a spatula and he slowly inched towards her but it looked like it continued on the next page “What is this?” I wondered out loud “What’s he gonna do with that spatula?” “Keep going.” Vinyl said as she was getting back into her own magazines. Before I could flip the page Bon-Bon came over. “What are you two- what in Tartarus are you two reading?!” She screamed as she looked at the magazine I was holding. I took one more quick look at it to figure that out myself and quickly tried to come up with a conclusion “Lonely stallions expressing themselves in the only way they know how?” I guessed. She quickly yanked the magazine from my hooves and half-heartedly threw it at Vinyl. Her anger seemed more directed at me than her and I had no idea why she was angry. “You shouldn’t be reading that crap!” Bon-Bon quietly yelled apparently having the presence of mind to not disturb Rarity. “I admit it’s crap and honestly not far too interesting either.” Vinyl answered “You stay out of this!” “I was curious to see what Vinyl was reading and then she handed me this… thing. But, you know curiosity killed the cat, so I’m sorry.” “You’re forgiven,” she said still looking angry “But I’m still mad with you.” And then she marched off and I could just feel anger rising from her body. “Dude, your ass is grass.” Vinyl snickered. I just sat their stunned thinking about what just happened “You really felt nothing looking at that?” She asked under her breath referring to the recently confiscated magazine. I just shook my head “Interesting.” Vinyl said simply and then dropped it. Thankfully Colgate was the last one and with final thanks and good byes. We left. I looked up into the sky and say that nearly half the day had gone by. “Well not that it wasn’t completely boring but I say we have some real fun.” Vinyl suggested. “What did you have in mind?” I asked “Nothing, I came up with the concept why doesn’t one of you try thinking of something.” A moment of silence passed and no one could think of anything. “We could try the Bowling Alley” Bowling? But their ponies, they don’t have and form of fingers. Spike has the closest thing to hands in this entire town and that little dragon is the biggest minority in all of Ponyville. I had to see this! Bon-Bon looked unsure “I don’t know, the game is a little hard.” “I’m in for it.” I said “But it’s still fun in its own way.” Bon-Bon quickly said. Everyone else agreed so we all headed towards the Bowling Alley. But not more than a few minutes after we decided to head over there a mail man- er, pony?- ran up to me. “For Lyra Heartsring.” he said handing over an envelope. I took it and the pony ran off. I was curious about this. I don’t know anypony well enough to mail anything to me. As I opened it there was a short, direct but still cryptic message. ‘Ms. Heartstrings, take care in the passing days. The small are not always weak, especially in a group. Steel your mind as the rage grows.’ That was strange, it doesn’t even say who it’s from. I checked it front and back for a clue but no such luck. The others looked over my shoulder. “What in the name of Celestia is this even supposed to mean?” Bon-Bon wondered. “Maybe it’s one of those weird horoscope things.” Vinyl suggested “Perhaps it’s a prank.” Colgate offered “I have no idea but it’s probably nothing.” I dismissed. “You’re right, besides we have to watch as I completely destroy you guys at the Bowling Alley!” Vinyl smiled. “Prepare to eat those words! Bon-Bon and I will kick your white flank!” I challenged. All five of use raced all the way there.