//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: A little red letter // Story: No spell for that // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Drifting woke up bright and early, quickly jumping in front of the mirror before she began doing her morning routine. She grabbed a few of the products that she had been given, made a quick dash to the staff showers, cleaned up and then made a dash back. There were staff in the halls now, so all she got were a few mocking calls, she was fine with that. Soon she sat in front of her mirror, ready to begin. She started by brushing her mane. It was a little shorter now, but it was properly cut and looked fabulous. She took a deep breath and her horn glowed. Slowly she moved the ribbon through it, before tying it at the top in that adorable little bow. Just like Rarity had showed her. She sighed and put a hoof to her chin, thinking about that mare. So pretty and smart, she wondered if she could ever be like that. Maybe she could dye her mane purple and-- She shook her head. There was being a fan and then there was being a stalker. She preferred to not alienate one of the few ponies who seemed okay with her. She then began the slow process of getting into her dress before, finally looking into the mirror and pulling out all the little kits that Rarity had gotten her. Before long, she was done up just like she had been shown. She gave herself a seductive little wink and then giggled, a hoof coming up to her mouth. She took one last, deep breath, grabbed her purse and made her way out of the room. She paused as she felt something underhoof. She blinked and picked up a small red letter, staring at it curiously before putting it in her purse. It could wait. She locked her door and trotted down the hall, heading out finally. She ignored the words they spewed at her as she made her way out of the school. They hurt, but she was used to them. Most of the insults were ones she'd heard a hundred times before, so she usually just ignored them. Once she was out of the school and a few blocks away though, she felt better. She wore the princess dress and she felt amazing. Beautiful, even. Judging by a few of the looks she was getting, she looked good as well. Normally ponies just stared at her thoughtfully, as if they were trying to determine what was wrong. Today they were giving her passing glances and she couldn't help but notice a few were looking her up and down, or pretending not to. Without those looks of concentration or confusion, either. She was sexy and she knew it. Or at least she believed it slightly over fifty percent. Like, fifty-one percent. She had a big smile on her face as she pushed open the doors to the Canterlot Boutique. It faded slightly when she saw Rarity was helping a customer already. However, almost instantly Sassy was at her side. “Oh, Miss Petal, a pleasure to see you today. Are you here for the other two dresses?” “Ummm, yes,” she said, the nervousness beginning to creep over her once again. With the other, much prettier mare standing there, she felt her confidence begin to waver. She struggled to keep it standing, reinforcing it as best she could. “Do you know how long it'll be?” “Not more than half an hour, I assure you,” Sassy said with a smile. “Rarity just has some matters to attend to.” Drifting nodded. “Okay. The… ummm… princess isn't here, is she?” “Oh, no. She went home after your visit last night. I'm not sure when she's due back.” To the unicorn's surprise, she felt a little disappointment. The princess was terrifying, but it had been a little special having her attention for a while. She never thought she'd talk to a princess before, but the other day she'd actually been to the spa with her. She shook her head. “R-right. Thank you. I'll wait, thank you.” She gave a grin before trotting over to one of the chairs and sitting down, gently humming to herself. She was already feeling a little impatient, but she tried to shut those feelings down. As amazing as Miss Rarity was, this was a place of business. She'd spent hours as the elder mare's focus yesterday, it would be greedy of her to do it again. Though she still wanted to. Instead she glanced into her purse, wishing she'd brought a hoofboy or something. She sighed as her eyes fell on the red letter. She slowly scooped it up in her magic and glared at it. Red. The color of violence. It was probably another hate letter, or mild threat. She'd been fortunate not to receive any death threats yet, but she imagined it was more because the school wouldn't stand for such things. Instead, she usually received 'subtle' warnings of how things would go bad for her. She considered tossing it into the trash, but instead slowly peeled it open and emptied the contents. Dear Drifting, Huh. Better than 'Dear freak'. She quickly scanned over the contents. She then froze and read it a second time. Then a third and fourth time, her cheeks getting redder with each and every read. She kept reading it, getting closer with each go through. “Dear? Is something the matter?” Rarity asked before touching her shoulder. Drifting shrieked and leaped into the air, tossing the letter to the heavens. “What? NO! Nothing, nothing wrong, I'm fine, I'm good, how are you? I'm good! I'm good good goodie good!” Rarity cocked an eye, catching the letter in her magic. “Voice, dear.” “E-err, right, sorry,” Drifting said, going back to her feminine voice quickly. She then yelped as she realized Rarity was reading the note. “W-wait--” “Oh my. A love letter, already? From a secret admirer, no less. How scandalous.” Drifting didn't think her face could get any redder. She was wrong. “It's… it's just...” “Oh, no need to be shy, darling. You are quite the fetching young lady. It just took the proper care to reveal it.” “But… I mean, i-it's not… the pony has to know a-and I'm not even sure, I mean, it's just… i-it could be anypony.” “Oh? So you have no intentions of going to meet them on this… midnight rendezvous?” Drifting's face got even redder. She was sure the make up was boiling away. “I… I never… said that. Besides, it's not at midnight. It's at… nine… that's not so late.” “Of course it isn't,” Rarity said with a smile. “Hmmm… have you been on a date before?” The mare slowly shook her head. “Such a shame. Well then, how about we make it extra special, no?” “Extra… special?” “Indeed. You still have two more dresses, no? I was planning to have you choose two… but...” A wide grin formed on her lips. “How about I make you something extra special for your night tonight? Something to… truly wow this mystery pony? And you hold onto your third for now. Hm?” “I… I think you're brilliant, Miss Rarity.” “Good. Now, come along. As this is your date, I think it best you give some feedback as we work. I think… white should be the color of the evening. After all, a young maiden's first date, is there anything more pure?” Drifting squirmed and got to her hooves, following after the other mare. She couldn't deny she was excited. Very, very excited now. She could do this. She would do this. Eeeeeee. Best weekend EVER! ------ Drifting glanced towards the small bag laying on the table besides her. She was all gussied up and ready for the evening. Her purse had everything she'd need in case there was any trouble, a brush, some make-up, a few bits. There was no need to head back to her room, and therefore no need to go near the Starswirl Wing. She knew it would have been easier to go there and wait, but she just couldn't risk them finding out or blockading her in her room, waiting for her to try to sneak out. No, instead the library turned out to be a much safer location. It would be easy, the moment she returned, she went off to one of the quieter sections, pulled out a few books and studied, though she couldn't remember anything she read. She was just far too excited. There'd be a librarian here til almost midnight, so she didn't need to worry about leaving late or getting in trouble. She wore the princess dress, but it would only take her a moment to try on the other dress. She'd have to dip into the bathrooms for a few minutes to do it, and fix her appearance, but that would be fine. She had a date. Sorta. She'd never had one and she couldn't wait. But she had to be patient or she might not even make it. Still, her eyes kept drifting to the bag that housed her dress. She wanted so, so desperately to put it on. Compared to it, the princess dress almost felt cheap. A dress made just for her, to celebrate her first date. She couldn't dare risk anything happening to it. But she wanted to go nowwwwww! She looked back to her book and she tried, once again, to do the impossible. Study. Normally transformation spells would have been so fascinating to her(especially long term ones, such as this one that could last up to a whole day), but now all of the magical theory flowed in one eye and out the other. Was her secret admirer a stallion? A mare? Maybe it was somepony like her? Well, she knew that wasn't the case. If there was somepony else like her, then they'd have been outed by now. Unless maybe they lived off campus or were really good at hiding it. Why did they choose now to act? Was it the dress? The make up? It was probably all of it. Eeeeee! She rocked back and forth in her chair, looking to the clock. Ugh, only a minute and a half had passed since she last looked. Come oooooon. ------ Drifting raced through the halls, as fast as she dared. It was almost time. Well, okay, she was still really, really early. But it was close enough she didn't have to feel too self conscious about it. She made her way straight to the teacher's rest rooms and quickly unlocked the door, before stepping inside. She let out a sigh of relief as she moved to the mirror. She looked at herself, adjusted her make up, fixed her mane, then slowly began to take off her dress, folding it as neatly as she could before, with great trepidation, drawing out the beautiful white gown. It was, by far, the most pure and beautiful thing she owned. Whiter even than her coat, it flowed down around her back, just above her hooves. The front went over her chest into a small, silver petal that dangled around her throat, where the fabric went up to loop around her neck. It left her back bare, letting her mane and ribbon shine brightly through. It shimmered as well, every few streaks of thread seeming to have been made of silver, making it glimmer with each step. It also had four little silver horseshoes, shaped like vines that flowed up her legs. To most ponies, it probably wouldn't have seemed like much. But to her, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was hers, and hers alone. She doubted anypony would ever have such a gown like it, even if it was a bit simple. She could barely contain herself as she got dressed, did one last look at herself, then grabbed her bag and quickly made her way to the school field. It was empty tonight, so she knew the two of them would be alone. She wondered if the pony was shy? A new thought occurred to her as she stopped by the bleachers. What if the pony was embarrassed by her? That's why they wanted to meet her alone? She looked down at her hooves. “Of… course they are. I'm embarrassed by me. Who wouldn't be?” She sat on the bleachers and sighed. “W-well, who cares? It's not like… anypony else is looking at me. So what if they're a little embarrassed by me? They… they are interested. That's all that matters. That's… all I could ever hope for, anyway...” It still didn't make it hurt any less. She heard hoofsteps and looked up, a wide grin on her face. It evaporated quickly when she saw the three stallions walking towards her. “Well, hey, tranny. What brings you out here?” Drifting instantly started looking around for a way out. There were three of them and they had her surrounded. Going through the seats wasn't possible, at least not fast enough. She stared back at them, trying to look as confident as she could, though her heart hammered in her chest. “You… you sent the letter?” she asked softly, her mouth dry with fear. “What letter?” the one in front of her asked as he stopped, only a few feet from her. She couldn't move, she was too scared. “Why you dressed up like you're getting married, freak? You hoping to trick some stallion into the altar?” His friends laughed at the joke, but all she could do was frantically move her eyes, looking for some possible way to escape. She was trapped.