//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Ditzy Doo // Story: But You Also Get Some Sun // by Exilo //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Ditzy Doo I never been to the Carousal Boutique. I mean, I have been there. I deliver mail there of course. Sometimes, if there is a big package, I even go in. But I never been there not for work, you know? But the prince says there is a gift certificate waiting for me. And I should have something nice for the Gala. Not like I can wear my mailmare hat and call it a day. So, when the weekend comes, and it’s my day off, I trot through the village and to the boutique. Ms. Cake offered to come with me when I told her what I was doing, but the babies were screaming and Mr. Cake was working hard on an order, and I didn’t wanna be a bother. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen, right? So I trot to the boutique, and like always, the area around it smells… fake. That’s the only way I can really describe it, even though I know it doesn’t make sense. It’s just… Ponyville smells a certain way. Everything is very earthy and natural, and I like it, cause it all smells real. But the boutique just smells off. Everything is too clean, and too powdered. It’s like Miss Rarity just sprays her whole building with perfume each morning (which… I wouldn’t put past her actually.) It kinda makes my fur stand on end, and I am actually thinkin of just leaving and not even bothering with the Gala, but I’ve come this far and… I kinda wanna go and all… Hey, what’s the harm in just getting my measurements done? I mean, I don’t really like ponies touching me, but I am sure I can just bite my lip. Cause… the prince was really nice to have invited me, and I would feel bad if I didn’t go at all and get to see him again. I wanna see him again, you know? So I go inside, and that fake smell hits me even harder. All the fake perfume and the fake incense and the fake flowers and stuff, and all that powdery clog in my nose makes me cough. I actually feel a little sick as I move up to that little counter in the front where I usually just leave the mail. Off in the back, I can hear singing, so I guess Miss Rarity is in. “Just a minute,” she calls out in that sweet tone of voice. Unsure what to really do with myself, I just sit down at the counter and wait. And I wait. And I wait. My belly grumbles. It’s lunch time after all. Reaching into my bag, I pull out the muffin Ms. Cake gave me when I stopped by. Putting my snout to it, I breathe deep and savor the sweetness, and not the fake sweetness either. Oh, Ms. Cake is really a great baker. If you’re ever in Ponyville, you totally gotta go there, and get a muffin. Today’s is cinnamon, and it just smells heavenly. “There’s no eating in here, Ditzy.” Miss Rarity is at the counter now, leaning over it, and staring at me. And… she looks kinda angry. Or, annoyed. And I feel kinda bad to be here. She’s wearing these really nice red glasses, and wearing this cute little vest that I guess is so she can hold needles and thread and measuring tape when working. “Do you need me to sign for a special delivery or something?” she asks. I frown as I put the muffin away. I’m really hungry, but those are the rules, and I am a guest here. “Uhm… no, Miss Rarity.” Rarity rolls her eyes. “Then what is it that you need?” She always talks with this very strong dictation. She annunciates every word and she talks kinda loud. I really don’t like it. Nervously, I grind a hoof into the ground. “Well… uhm… I’m just wondering if you could… uhm… See, I need a dress made…” “Oh? What is the occasion?” “The Grand Galloping Gala,” I manage to say. Rarity gives me a look of utter confusion. “I think there might be a gift certificate in my name?” Rarity reaches under the counter and takes out a large notebook. Using her magic, she flips through the pages. “Ah, yes! Flash Sentry stopped by the boutique a day or two ago and made the arrangements. You will forgive me. It is under Ms. Doo, and I simply did not make the connection.” Rarity taps her hoof to her lip. “I hope you will forgive the inquiry, but how exactly did you procure an invitation to the Gala? And, if I may further ask, why did a Royal Guard place this order? It was nice to see Flash on his vacation, but it struck me as odd he should come by on official business.” By the warmth on my cheeks, I imagine my face looks like a tomato. But, she asked. So I tell her about my entrance into the baking contest, and how I was excited, and how I spilled the coffee on Prince Blueblood, and then how he came to the village to speak to me, and how the invitation was some sort of preservation of his honor, and how he was flipping the bill for the dress. “Prince… Blueblood invited you?” Rarity asked. I curtly nod my head. Her face contorts into this really angry, almost monstrous look. “Why that stuck up, spoiled, cream coated, scruffy looking drunkard!” She slams a hoof onto the ground. The sharp thud makes me jump a few steps back. “If he had an extra invitation, why wouldn’t he invite me? If he were seeking reconciliation with someone, why not me?! He has only ever offered a token apology for how brutish he acted. Where is the grand gesture on my behalf?! When does he seek to regain his status in my eyes?!” “Uhm…” I manage to whimper. She trots around the counter and walks right past me. Some part of me hopes she is going to leave (why she would, I haven’t a clue), but she turns on her hooves and trots past me again as she starts to pace. “Just the nerve of him! He acts so brutish at the Gala: throws my hoof stitched scarf in the mud, uses me as a shield against flying confections, and just acts like a royal pain! Then the next time I see him, the most he can do is shrug and say he’s sorry! You know, I thought he had changed. Sure, he was still a royal bore when I saw him again, but it wasn’t as if he was acting antagonistic. But no! “I know, I know, he did all that for Equestria. By the sun, he saved Princess Celestia! I understand, but…” She lets out a snarl, kinda like a dragon roaring. If she is trying to say something, or it’s just a release of her anger, I am honestly not sure. I’m kinda too afraid to ask. In a huff, she goes on. “This would have been so romantic! Him, inviting me back to the Gala and showing me a magnificent night, the sort I deserve. But instead… he invites you?” “I… uhm… I don’t really wanna go,” I say. “And the prince said I could give the invitation to someone. Please, take it.” “Oh, I already have one.” I’m not totally sure how to respond to that. Thank the sun Miss Rarity can’t keep her trap shut. “I made a dress for Fleur de Lis,” she says proudly, “and a matching tuxedo for Fancy Pants. Fancy Pants requested I come with him so when ponies ask about the seamstress, he can introduce me. I swear, Fancy Pants is more of a prince than Blueblood could ever hope to be!” Turning to me, her head cocks to the side. “Darling, where are you going?” I realize my rump is pressing against the door of the boutique, the door I came in through. I look behind me, at the doorknob, and then back to the creamy mare. “I uhm… I…” “Come along, Miss Doo. I will require your measurements if I am going to design a proper dress for you. Really darling, come along. No need to worry. I finished the decorations for the Gala, and after Fleur de Lis’ dress, yours will be a pleasant trot through the park. Come along now.” I wanna just leave. I wanna run to the Sugar Cube Corner, or my bedroom, or Turner’s house. I wanna run and hide, but I don’t. Cause I’m excited, I guess. Cause, the more I think about it, the more I know I wanna go to the Gala. To be totally honest, how much Rarity goes on and on about it, it just kinda makes me wanna go more. And, if I go, I wanna be really pretty. So I trot with Miss Rarity into the back of the boutique, where she seems to have several mannequins, one of whom has really long limbs and is wearing, what I guess, is Miss Fleur de Lis’ dress. And… it’s beautiful… The dress is long, and flowing, and smooth against the mannequin’s body, so I can’t imagine how utterly stunning Miss Fleur de Lis will be when she’s wearing it. The rear of the dress parts at the lower back, so her tail will be able to stretch out and not be obstructed, but there will still be a covering on her butt cheeks. The whole dress is mostly pink, though there are one or two white streaks over the sides, and on the center breast is the fleur-de-lis symbol, sewn in gold. That symbol is inside a large crown, like it’s the crown’s jewel. And it’s just beautiful, and now I really, really wanna go to the Gala just to see her wearing it, and I wanna wear a dress of my own too. I won’t be nearly as gorgeous as Miss Fleur de Lis, but I can come close, right? “You like it?” Rarity asks. I realize I’ve been staring, and I’ve probably been staring for a while. “By the sun, it’s incredible. It’s… you made this?!” “Oh yes,” Miss Rarity giggles. “The material is a special silk that Fluttershy gave me. She procured it by feeding several web spinners a special cherry paste. The cherry paste was given to her by Pinkie Pie, who prepared it special just for the occasion. Pinkie Pie procured the cherries from a tree Applejack has been tending to, a gift from some old friend.” She smiles, and reaches a delicate hoof out to softly stroke the silk. “Just feel the smoothness tickle your skin. Oh, Fleur was in modeling the other day... Go on darling, touch it.” I look down at my hoof, ugly and grey and covered in blemishes since I don’t really fly if I can walk. Knowing me, I’d probably catch a snag and end up tearing the whole dress in half, so I just put the hoof down. She does frown when it’s clear I’m not going to touch it, but shrugs just the same. Miss Rarity has me stand in the very center of her workshop, on some sort of elevated platform. I don’t like being touched, but she says there’s no other way to get my measurements. Honestly, you’d think by now all those super smart unicorns would have figured out a better way? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Miss Rarity is super gentle, but I just can’t help cringing each time her hooves squish into me. And she makes all these weird little noises. It’s like… she measures my rear leg, and she goes, “Mmmhmm,” and… what does that mean? And she measures my barrel and goes, “Uh hu, uh hu, ah!” And she tugs my tail to get the measurements, and goes, “I see, I see.” I don’t like it, and I’m really thinkin about just leaving when she says in her sing-song kinda way, “All done, darling. Thank you for tolerating it. I am aware that measurements are far from enjoyable, but I should have everything I need.” “I… uhm… I hope I’m not a problem.” She laughs in this kinda regal way. I don’t think she’s laughing at me though. “Not at all, not at all. Your dimensions are actually quite close to Rainbow Dash’s. I am making a dress for her as well. Yours will be no problem, I assure you. Fleur de Lis on the other hoof… oh, she is the picture of elegance and beauty, but so unique in shape, it is difficult to determine where the breast will hang, where the garters will settle on her slender legs, how wide to part the rear for her dock. You’re measurements are… forgive the term, but average.” “Oh… OK…” She turns around and scribbles a few more notes on the clipboard she has been holding with her magic. We’re done, I guess. I think of leaving, but there is something I wanna ask. “Miss Rarity?” Her ears perk. “Yes, darling?” “What was that you were saying about the prince? If you don’t mind, I mean.” “Oh, forgive my outburst. I suppose I am perhaps just a little bitter about what happened. It was quite a bruise to my ego, you see.” “What happened though?” “Well, he just acted in a very unprincely manner. Sometime later I returned to Canterlot as a guest of Fancy Pants, and met Blueblood again, and he at least tried to make amends. To invite you and not me though… well, oh, you really must forgive me. The prince has just been on my mind as of late.” She sighs, and attempts to resume scribbling on the notepad. I’m turnin to leave when she starts talkin again. I knew I shouldn’t have come here alone. I could really use a buffer right about now. “He hurt me,” she says. “That night of the gala, my hopes were as high as Celestia’s sun, and then they just came crashing down. None of the others were that bothered. Twilight got to see Celestia later that night, Fluttershy got to meet the animals on better terms, Pinkie Pie threw a party the very next day… But I dreamed of the day my Prince Charming, my High Class Hero, would sweep me off my hooves and… Well, have you ever had a dream come crashing down?” Yeah… I have… “Uck, by the sun. I sound like Sweetie Belle whining she didn’t get the last cookie.” “What about that other thing, though? Did you say he saved Princess Celestia?” Rarity looks at me with wide eyes. “Oh, that’s right. It was kept out of the papers, wasn’t it? Oh, it was a dreadful affair. Princess Celestia was trapped in some secluded cave in the middle of Everfree Forest, but the prince swept in and saved her. Twilight has been talking about him quite a bit as of late. It’s why he has been on my mind.” “Why… why was it kept out of the papers?” “Oh, for any number of reasons, I would guess. It is quite a mar on Princess Celestia’s reputation, and I imagine she wouldn’t want the changelings or the griffons to know about the tainted water.” Rarity ponders something. At least, I think she does, since she puts her hoof on her chin and tilts her head back. I’ve seen Turner do it a lot when he works on his clocks. Mmm, Turner. I’m going to go see him once this is all done. And, maybe we can get some lunch at Sugarcube Corner. That’d be really nice. “I would imagine she was looking out for Blueblood as well. I somehow doubt he would like all the attention that a hero of Equestria would receive.” Miss Rarity scribbles something on her clipboard. “Now darling, I have all your measurements. I should be able to come up with some sketches for you to approve by tomorrow, so you can stop in when you deliver my mail. I would just like to ask, do you have any preferences? Would you like something bubbly or conservative? Do you often get chills? I can design something a little heavier for the night, or something nice and airy. Would you like your wings showing, or tucked in? Oh! And what sort of color would you like?” I put a hoof under my chin like Miss Rarity had done when she pondered something. I’m curious if it might help me think, and, it kinda does. I get a little bubbly as a thought comes to me. “Well… how bout somethin blue?”