THE EQUESTRIAN VENTURE
Chapter Eleven: To Dress the Part
Written by TheCrimsonDM
A week had passed since the fight with the timber wolves. Rita sat on a pillow in Twilight’s living room where she waited for Twilight to finish her lesson for today. The clip board in Rita’s hand had a notebook attached to it. The notebook was now held a collection of messy looking notes. Although Rita knew exactly what she was reading, if anypony else looked at it they may think it more resembled a piece or art than anything else.
To Rita’s pleasure she was picking up the Equish language fairly quickly. This was mostly thanks to the fact that it was very similar to Sylvan, the language of the elves. It had been a long time since Rita used a lot of Sylvan and the Equish language although similar had a lot of different elements; mostly in the actual speaking of the language. It was hard for Rita to speak the language, her ability to imitate horse noises were…lacking.
Writing however was something she could do very easily, and she could also understand a little of what they were saying now. The written part of the language was where the similarities to Sylvan existed in abundance. According to Twilight Sparkle, Rita should be fluent in Equish anywhere between four to six weeks.
After the day’s lesson was done Rita found herself chewing on a pencil wondering what to do next. Twilight looked delighted as she began wiping away the chalk board she had been using for the lessons. Rita looked at the pen in her jacket pocket and sighed. The thing had run out of ink awhile back, she could refill it but she needed some ink.
“Hey Twi,” Rita began saying, “you got any spare ink?”
Twilight looked back at her and smiled. “Of course I do, I also have an assortment of quills to choose from.”
“I just need some ink to refill my pen. It’s been empty for awhile,” Rita explained.
“But pen’s are so…plain. Quills are much nicer,” Twilight explained.
“Pens are more functional though, you don’t need to worry about getting more ink, at least until it runs out. And you can carry it anywhere you want to. It’s a little more difficult to bring jars of ink everywhere,” Rita explained.
Twilight looked dumbfounded for a few seconds until she said, “you’re…right…I can’t believe that I have been using quills…I need to get a pen.”
Rita gave a little laugh and said, “there was a store down the way, they had a few pens for sale. A quick warning though, they were kinda expensive.”
Twilight smiled and looked away saying, “yeah, I don’t need to worry about money…but wow, I’ve been using Quills thinking that Celestia’s argument that they were better because they were classic was accurate. I guess she is just used to the old things. It takes her awhile to get used to the new stuff.”
Rita stretched and stood up. Rita looked at Twilight and said, “I’ve heard that name a few times now. Who is Celestia?”
Twilight gave Rita an awkward look and said, “how could you not know who Celestia is? Princess Celestia is the ruler of Equestria.”
Rita felt silly for not having asked before now. She could have sworn that she had heard somepony talking about this before, but she couldn’t remember who. Rita gave a smile to Twilight and said, “oh…sorry, I still haven’t learned much about this world’s history.”
Rita had felt like she had heard the name Celestia before, but wasn’t sure where. There have been similarities and familiar things all over Equestria so far. Rita felt like she was looking at small pieces of a giant puzzle, one that she couldn’t piece back together by herself. Maybe she could recruit Twilight to aid her in this endeavor.
Suddenly Rita remembered that she was supposed to visit Rarity today. Rarity had specifically requested her presence. It was probably just for some more weird measuring things but Rita was trying to befriend her so she would deal with it…for now.
***
The walk to Rarity’s was a quiet one, the ponies in Ponyville had gotten used to seeing her about town. She even knew a few of them by name. Rita waved to both Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon as she passed them. It was nice being accepted somewhere, Rita really enjoyed walking around town and talking to the pony folk. They still scared her a little sometimes but she was getting used to them now. Even Pinkie Pie’s bouncing hadn’t worried her the last time she was at the Sugarcube Corner.
Rita walked inside Rarity’s store and saw the white unicorn working on something in the corner. A gift box from what Rita could tell. Rita walked toward her saying, “hi Rarity, you wanted to see me?”
Rarity finished wrapping a bow around the gift box and turned to her saying, “of course I did darling. I have something for you after all.”
Rita wasn’t sure what she was getting at but stood there waiting for an answer. Rarity lifted the little gift box into the air with her magic and then levitated it over to Rita. “This is for you, I do so hope you enjoy it. I have a few more projects like it in mind for the future.”
Rita grabbed the box, it was light despite how big the box was. Carefully Rita unwrapped the ribbon and opened the box. Inside she found something that took her by surprise. Very carefully Rita took the red dress out of the box and took a hard look at it. It was a sleeveless red dress with a rose pattern near the bottom. There was also a black long sleeved shirt inside the box.
“Fluttershy told me you like to wear things with long sleeves. She also told me about something else you may like,” Rarity said.
Rita picked up the black shirt and looked underneath it too find a pair of red and black fingerless gloves. “Where did you learn about gloves?”
Rarity smiled and fluttered her eyes a few times before saying, “oh darling, I don’t make dresses only for ponies. I have clients of both Griffon, and minotaur relations.”
Rita smiled and asked happily, “do you mind if I try these out while I’m here?”
Rarity smiled and said, “of course not; you’re welcome to use the changing room.”
The changing room was a good and secure place for Rita to undress in. She had only allowed Fluttershy to see her body, and never wanted anyone else to see her like that ever again. Thankfully Ponies still had changing rooms, even if it didn’t make sense for them to use them. The clothing all fit perfectly surprising Rita. The dress went down just past her knees allowing her to still show off her favorite socks.
When Rita came back out she was wearing the black long sleeved shirt under the red dress. Rarity looked amazed to see Rita. Rarity walked circles around Rita while asking, “does it all fit? Is it comfortable? Do you like it?”
Rita smiled and said, “I love it. I haven’t worn a proper dress in years. Thank you Rarity.”
As Rarity stopped walking and stood in front of Rita she said, “it’s my pleasure. I love to help you.”
Rita couldn’t help but wrap her arms around Rarity and give her a big hug. Rita really hadn’t worn a dress since before the war. She was so happy to be able to wear one again. Rita fought with herself to not cry as she said, “thank you so much.”
***
Rita decided that she was going to continue wearing the dress for the rest of the day. She needed to wash her other clothes again anyway, so a change of clothes was nice. Rita was happy to hear that Rarity had already sent some more clothing to Fluttershy’s for her. Rarity had saved the best to show off in person. Despite how strange it was to be wearing a dress again Rita had to admit one thing was true. It was nice to feel pretty again.
She simply couldn’t help but walk around with a bounce in her step. As Rita continued walking she met up with Pinkie Pie who grinned wildly at her. After spending just over a week with the ponies Rita had become much more accustomed to their movements, although Pinkie could sometimes still cause a jump from Rita.
“So,” Pinkie Pie began asking, “how are you feeling?”
“Awesome. I haven’t been this happy in years. Look at this beautiful dress,” Rita proudly stated.
Pinkie Pie looked to be just as pleased with the dress as she was. And soon Rita found herself following Pinkie without question into Sugarcube Corner. Rita had spent quite a bit of time here eating cake and enjoying the company of her new friends. All seemed to be well in this world. Although she still missed home, she was content with this world for now.
Rita sat down at a table and waited patiently as Pinkie Pie brought out a piece of chocolate cake for her. Just as Rita began to eat she noticed a light blue shape out of the corner of her eye. Rita looked just in time to see Rainbow Dash flying towards her. Knowing Rainbow Dash Rita prepared to grab her cake and defend it with her life; Rainbow had a tendency to destroy things when flying too fast.
Thankfully Rainbow Dash had decided to slow down and not crash into her table today. As Rainbow Dash sat down across from Rita she said, “I have the most awesome story to tell you.”
Rita had heard all of Rainbow Dash’s “awesome” stories before, and she still didn’t find them too amusing. “Oh and what race did you win this time?”
Rainbow Dash replied, “pfft. Not a race this time. I just found out that there is a secret treasure room inside The Castle of the Two Sisters. It should be awesome to explore, ya know, if you’re brave enough.”
Rita’s eyes lit up as she heard the words, secret treasure room. This wasn’t a story, but it was an awesome rumor, and if it was true then it would be more so. Rita grinned slyly as she said, “oh yeah, I think I can handle a spooky old castle. When do we leave?”