Next: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/61266167/

If this is what what was necessary to finally close in on her ultimate goal of finding out the elusive identity of that shadowy mage, she would do it. Gritting her teeth and rolling her eyes so hard she almost had to readjust her glasses, Ande wandered into the discount store.

"Hello, Ma'am!" An energetic lad from behind the depths of the counter uttered. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

At that, Ande returned the boy's mannerisms and brightened her mood to match. "Oh, I think I will just be perusing your galleries for the time being. Thank you."

Come to think of it, this really was an interesting little nook. Flanked by daunting department stores and category killers on every which side, this feeble little boutique must have possessed some amazing arrangement to have stayed operational against such outrageous competition. From within, one could start to surmise why.

Scattered throughout the corners of the homely building and piling out of the shelves laid a jarring assortment of eye-catching knickknacks and trinkets just screaming for an owner to rescue them from their undusted containers. Tassels bore witness to gaudy signboards that proudly hung in seemly random locations throughout the store, often fighting desperately for advertising space with the arachnids that had moved in sometime after regular cleaning became a less-than-obligatory task.

While being dully within the consideration of the feline, the offered goods almost appeared to inhibit her passage as she made her way inwards. Stopping just short of the back of the store, Ande gave the opposing door a careful inspection. After appearing to stare a little too long at what she understood to be the manager's quarters, the feline's attention was suddenly uprooted by the sole other occupant. "Sorry, my boss isn't around right now. But don't worry, he trained me pretty well, so I'll do what I can to assist ya!"

Beguiling an innocent shopkeeper wasn't exactly within the day's agenda for the slightly-downcast girl, so instead she defected from her primary task and decided to give the eager worker some attention. Briefly tugging her head back and forth for a quick item, she noticed an odd heart-shaped letter resting on top of a loose stack of sickly copy paper. What drew her attention especially was the odd choice of coloration: Instead of a typical red or pink scheme to revel in the affection of another, this bizarre little note bore hues of orange and purple all over the top in a twisted double-arrow configuration. After gunning for the price tag, she decided that even a semi-reasonable explanation for the tacky design would be worth such an insignificant amount.

"Why does this bear such strange symbols? Is it for a foreign holiday of some kind?" Ande quizzed as she drew close to the checkout kiosk.

"Oh no, miss." The boy replied with somewhat of a laugh. "That's a bit of a gag gift. How it works is you write some silly things on the blanks and mail it to somebody you wanna prank. However..." He flashed an expression that the felid almost missed. "Something seems to be up with that brand. I can't explain why, but those have been associated with some, complications."

Ande was taken aback at just how forward this little fellow was willing to go to disparage his own store's merchandise, but then a reasonable conclusion soon began to overwrite such trepidations. This was how they stayed in business. The draw of the place was to look as unkempt as possible in order to gain a bit of a creep-factor going and then dispense wild tales of intrigue about anything that people were willing to question, all in a gambit to justify their lowest bidder looks. She nodded knowingly in her head.

"Sounds interesting!" She purred as she handed him the letter. As he scanned the item, she couldn't help but notice his head cock again in some sort of uneasy thought, this time without looking up.

---

Back at home, the cat forwent both responsibility and caution as she amusedly filled the "From:" blank with "You" and the "To:" blank with "Maid!", thinking to herself as she scribbled just how confused somebody would be to get all this random nonsense. Maybe it would brighten up the gloom of the city a bit more.

At least... that is where her intentions were as she flipped up the red flag on her mailbox and inserted her letter.

---

Another day was about to go as well as all of the rest. Mallory did not hate her job by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes even the comfort of routine could yield itself to a bit of a drab, muted existence. Especially hard were the times when she lacked any of the more interesting packages, as those were always colored with enjoyment when it was revealed what shock and horror awaited each unsuspecting victim of whoever had masterminded the opposite side of the postal system. Lately, however, even those seemed to be thinning alarmingly like the head of a middle-aged alcoholic.

Shrugging slightly, her duties still awaited regardless of entertainment value as she gathered a sizable stack of outgoing correspondence. In the action of trotting up to her delivery bag, a strange orange slip garnered more of her attention than she could realistically afford to give, as her feet soon found out first... If only doorstoppers were located in areas that did not include generous room for tripping, crashing to the floor, and vacating your arms of any sort of materials that are not meant to be treated as such, but alas.

Gathering her quashed pride from nearby her own low position, the dog gripped around for some nearby assurance that at least some of the letters had not careened straight into the local interplanetary boundary. What she found instead was that same filthy culprit that had deprived her of just enough of her mental resources to accomplish even the most remotely simple of tasks. That alone was worth at least a glance at the cover.

But, what had appeared between her hands had no logic to it at all. "'From: You To: Maid!'?" She asked no one in particular. "What does that even mean?" An answer came fast.

The arrows began to dart in a circle around the heart outline in a rhythmic pattern until they made the maildog too dizzy to even peek. A bright pink generously heaped itself onto the surroundings until every surface reminded the canine of Valentine's Day. Her body began to glow an iridescent purple as the heart letter tripled in size and devoured every aspect of her within it.

Gone was her uniform! So too joined her beloved coloration! The thoroughness of the operation made her recall something out of a science fiction novel as her heartbeat multiplied in an all-consuming vivification. Something swished between her hips as it built up into a monochromatic hoop. The lowest portions spread out in a poofy manner as the top grew upwards until it met her arms and fanned out at each side.

Matching her developing dress, her fur metamorphosized into a series of white tones with occasional grayish-black splotches. Enhancing her figure slightly, a small corset manifested underneath her increasingly complex set of clothes, being topped in its enchanting qualities by a much more visible set of gray panties underneath. As both new developments made her gasp from their collective restraint, little details about her completed the look. A bit more height here, a dash of mascara to enlighten the eyes a bit, oh, and of course, a much more coiffed overall look about her! Must not appear anything but her best for the nearing date of her service, of course.

As she turned around in mild confusion, a mirror caught one of her more unflattering angles as she slowly puzzled what had just happened to her. "From: You To: Maid... hmm, oh!" She put it together in her head, a feat that would soon become increasingly difficult. "From you, to maid! From me to maid. Hee hee hee. I'm a maid!"

She smiled as if caught in the throes of a vodka-induced stupor. "Maid maid maid!" She trotted about the building, offering to help anyone with tasks that would rather suit the jobs in a manor. Much to the amusement, but soon the chagrin of the occupants, her wish to work was granted... so long as it was not here in the Post Office.