My Red Princess Chapter Three

Up in the stone tower, Ruby was overjoyed. She sat on her bed with Pearl and Amethyst, plotting for the ball. They were talking at a pitch only dogs should be able to hear. Ruby didn't even care that Green Tourmaline had forbidden her to eat all day.

"And I can't wait to-" Ruby froze.

"What is it?" Amethyst asked.

"A dress." Ruby whispered.

"Huh?" Pearl looked up.

"I need a dress." Ruby realized. "Where am I going to get a dress?! I don't have any money! You guys have dresses from when Green has dinner guests over but I don't! What am I going to do?! I ca-"

"Woah, woah, don't worry about it. We'll figure it out somehow. We've got your back." Amethyst reassured her, glancing at Pearl.

"And I think I know how." Pearl responded.

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The next day, Ruby was dusting in the kitchen when she heard the door open. Green Tourmaline, Pyrite, Carnelian, and two seamstresses made their way past the kitchen door and up the stairs. The seamstresses were carrying a bunch of fabric and sewing supplies. Green Tourmaline was going on about how they needed to impress the princess with some brand-new outfits. Ruby turned away and continued dusting.

Upstairs in Carnelian's bedroom, the stepbrothers were being fitted while Pearl and Amethyst spied. They waited for the appointment to finish, then snuck into the room to grab the extra fabric rolls, sewing supplies, and bling. Pearl started sketching out dress while Amethyst stole some money from Green Tourmaline's emergency cash stash and headed into town.

Amethyst was wandering the street market, looking for something to replace Ruby's headband. It wasn't fancy enough for the ball, but without it Ruby's hair would be a mess. Amethyst didn't know what to do. However, Green Tourmaline gave her a bunch of money each month to go shopping for food. Even though this wasn't one of those occasions, Amethyst knew her way around the street market.

"Pickles, get yer skewered dill pickles here!" A merchant shouted. Amethyst glanced, looked away, and glanced again. She was doing a good deed for one of her best friends. She deserved a pickle.

"That'll be one red jewel, miss." The purple gem slid the small stone and grabbed the pickle stick. She continued to wander, munching on her snack.

Amethyst was starting to give up when she saw it.

At the end of the street was a table. A bored woman was slumped at it, drumming her fingers. Amethyst approached the table, eyes wide at how perfect the situation was.

"You want a diadem?" The woman asked, perking up.

Amethyst nodded, almost drool pointing to a gold one with a (fake) red gem in the front. "It's not for me."

A few minutes later, Amethyst climbed through Ruby's window with the diadem in her mouth to see Pearl assembling fabrics. Amethyst picked up the drawing and whistled. Pearl was a fashionista.

"She's going to love it." Amethyst told Pearl.

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Over the next two weeks, Amethyst and Pearl worked nonstop on Ruby's surprise dress. Ruby was too busy with all the extra work from her stepdad to even notice what her friends were plotting. She got up early in the morning and went to bed late at night, so Pearl and Amethyst had no trouble hiding it from her. The dress was coming together great, and the two were proud of it. They finished it the day before the ball.

That day had been pretty uneventful until then. Ruby woke up early, got breakfast from Amethyst, performed the Heimlich maneuver on Carnelian, ate breakfast herself, mopped a floor, got lunch from Amethyst, ate lunch herself, dusted the parlor, chased out a rat, got dinner from Amethyst, ate dinner herself, and swept the pathway (a chore she no longer despised).

The only thing that changed that day was Carnelian's newfound respect for Ruby.

It happened at breakfast. Ruby brought the tray of doughnuts to him and he picked a glazed one, biting off a huge chunk.

If a customer chokes on a doughnut...

In the middle of her stepbrother's doughnut-eating experience, he began to cough violently and his face turned red.

State law requires that you assist them...

Ruby ran over. "Carnelian?!" Ruby looked around frantically, trying to remember how to help him.

Take both hands...

Ruby gained her composure and wrapped her arms around Carnelian's waist and leaned back, practically lifting him.

Push below the diaphragm...

"Hngh!" Ruby grunted as she shoved her hands into his gut.

Get them happy and breathing, as fast as you can!

The chunk shot out of his throat and across the room. Ruby set him down and got one one knee with her hand on his shoulder. She turned and handed him a glass of water. "You alright?"

Carnelian coughed, drank some water, and nodded. "Thank...you."

"It was nothing." Ruby stood up, hands on her hips, and brushed a hair out of her face.

"No, really! We've been jerks to you forever and you could've let me die as revenge!"

Ruby half-smiled and tilted her head. "Well, I'm not a very vengeful person, Carnelian."

He stared at her in awe as she left.

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Ruby opened the door to her room, exhausted. It was enough with all the extra work, but these stairs were killing her.

"Hello, Ruby!" Pearl said with a cheesy grin on her face.

"What's up?"

"We have something for you!" Amethyst squeaked gleefully.

"Huh? What do you- Oh!"

Ruby stopped in her tracks, gasping. At that moment, Pearl and Amethyst had revealed the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was a bright red gown that flared out just a little at the waist. It was sleeveless and had one thick red strap and on the other side a gold one emerging from the dress. The bottom right had a slit revealing gold fabric. It had a golden sparkling belt and another gold piece at the top of the slit. Ruby would have to wear her sandals, but the dress was long enough to cover them. Ruby was in awe.

"How did you..." She stammered, fascinated.

"It was simple, really. We just took the fabric rolls the seamstresses left behind." Pearl said proudly.

Ruby was silent.

"Is something the matter?" Pearl's pride turned to concern.

Ruby shook her head as tears welled up. "It's perfect..." She suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around the two excitedly. "Thank you!"

"Oh, well, it was nothing!" Pearl hugged her back.

"Yeah, this was the best we could do in such a short time period." Amethyst said, blushing.

Ruby squeezed them harder. "I wouldn't want it any different!"

It was perfect.