“Who are we looking for again?” a yellow pegasus asked.
“This pony,” an alabaster unicorn said, levitating a magazine ad to her, “You'll know her when you see her.” The mare in the photo was an obviously very tall and skinny white unicorn, with a pink mane and three fleur-de-lis for a cutie mark. The stylized signature below her picture said “Fleur de Lis”. “And, don't worry, Fluttershy, she's quite nice.”
“If you say so,” Fluttershy said, before going back to watching the horizon, looking for any sign of the Friendship Express coming down from Canterlot and thinking why is Rarity so focused on how nice Fleur de Lis is?
A short time later the familiar heart shaped front window of the train popped up over the horizon. Rarity and Fluttershy watched as it approached bearing Rarity's fashion model friend who had agreed to come down and help out with a small show meant to get Hoity Toity's endorsement.
Soon, the train stopped and the doors to its six cars opened, expelling many of its occupants, and taking on more for the trip to its next destination. After a minute of searching, Fluttershy pointed and asked, “Is that her?”
“Yes. Let's go meet her.”
They trotted over to the tall unicorn who said, “Rarity! It's so good to see you!”
“It's good to see you too, Fleur.”
In person, Fluttershy had to say that Fleur de Lis more than lived up to the picture that Rarity had shown her. She was very tall skinny. He coat was snow white, just like Princess Celestia's, and her mane and tail were long and pink with a white stripe running through them. She also spoke with an impeccable prench accent. Fluttershy thought Wow, she is beautiful. And, sweet Celestia, that voice!
“And, this is the friend you mentioned in your letter?”
“Yes. This is Fluttershy. She'll be helping out with everything.”
“It's so nice to meet you Fluttershy,” Fleur said, extending a hoof.
Attempting to keep her voice from cracking, Fluttershy said, “I-it's n-nice to meet you, too, Fleur de Lis.”
“Oh, please. Just call me Fleur.”
“O-okay, Fleur.”
Rarity then asked, “Shall we head to the boutique to work out all the details?”
“Of course.”
On the way back to the boutique, Fluttershy tried to hang back behind Fleur and Rarity, assuming that Fleur would want to talk to Rarity but, as it turned out, she wanted to speak with Fluttershy instead.
“So, what is it you do, Fluttershy?” She asked.
“I uh, I take care of all the wild animals at the edge of the Everfree Forest, as well as some of the local ponies' pets,” Fluttershy said with a shaky voice.
“I see. So what do you do for them, specifically?”
“Um, let's see, I feed them, provide them with a nice cozy home for the night, and when they get sick or hurt, I help them get better,” Fluttershy said with a sudden burst of strength in her voice.
“Do you ever need help with your duties? Because it sounds like something fun I could do in the off season if you would have me.”
“Sometimes, but I usually get one of my animal friends to help me. If you wanted to help, though, I wouldn't say no. You have to be careful, though, or you might hurt them. And it would be a day or two at most. My shyer animals don't like having strange ponies coming by all the time.”
“I understand. If I come down, I'll let Rarity know ahead of time. Okay?” Fleur said.
“Okay,” Fluttershy said. She let a short silence hang in the air before asking, “By the way, do you like being a model?”
“Of course! I love the spotlight and the beautiful clothes I get to wear. The product endorsements do bore me a bit, though, since I'm just laying there, looking pretty with their product, and I'm the sort of pony that likes to move around and pose on the fly. Endorsements do pay the bills, though, so I can't complain too much.”
“Yes, I remember how you were posing for some invisible audience when I met Fancypants,” Rarity said.
“Well, that was more a case of having had too much caffeine that morning and wanting to appeal to an obviously high class dressmaker.”
“Uh huh, sure.”
They arrived at the shop and Rarity let her two friends in while saying, “I'll make us some lunch. Do daisy sandwiches sound good?”
“That sounds fine,” Fleur said.
“Sure," Fluttershy said.
Rarity nodded and went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches. Fleur, meanwhile, excused herself to the bathroom, while Fluttershy headed for the dining room.
Once their meal was served, the three ponies quickly started talking about the job ahead of them. The plan was to have ten fabulous (Rarity's words) dresses ready for when Hoity arrived a week from now, and get two more ponies to help out with the show, though they would cut it back to eight if one declined to appear. The other Rarity was sure would agree to appear because she would be bribed with tickets to the Wonderbolts air show next month.
“Well, if Rainbow Dash doesn't wish to appear even with Wonderbolts tickets on the table, tell her that Spitfire owes me a big favor, and I would be willing to talk her into getting her and a few of the other wonderbolts to spend a day with her,” Fleur said.
“How did you get her to owe you a favor?”
“Funny story, but don't tell anyone. She and Soarin' left their flight suits at Fancy's place the day before a big show and she had to literally beg me to go get them for her.”
“Don't you live with Fancy? Couldn't you just go and get it for her?” Rarity asked
“Non. I live by myself. Fancy is simply my agent and a dear friend.”
Hearing this lifted Fluttershy's spirits a bit, and she now wondered if Fleur would want go on a date with her. Of course, her shyness and Fleur's attractiveness made her very nervous about asking. This was also not counting the fact that she didn't know if Fleur was single, just because she wasn't with Fancypants. Still, she thought it was worth the risk if she could find the courage.
“And before I forget,” Fleur said, “You did do all the paperwork for the event, yes?”
“Yes, though I don't see why they needed all that information. I mean it's not like we're doing anything dangerous.”
“As Fluttershy can probably tell you, they do random health inspections on the models to ensure we're not starving ourselves. Being too skinny, or showing signs of malnourishment earns you a one year ban from modeling work, which is as good as a blacklist,” Fleur said.
“Oh my. Do they catch ponies like that often?” Fluttershy asked
“Oui. Far more often than you might think, in fact. For example, I assume you know of Velvet Sash?”
“Yes. She was a big name model a few months ago, before suddenly dropping off the radar,” Rarity said.
“Indeed. She was caught being three inches too skinny, and basically left by the wayside, which I only know because I was there at the time. Poor thing, but there's a reason Fancy insists I have a few extra inches around the belly,” Fleur said.
“And yet you're already really skinny,” Fluttershy said.
“I am indeed, so imagine how skinny the models that get themselves in trouble are.”
Fluttershy imagined this and said, “Oh my.”
“Anyway, the health checks shouldn't be a problem, since I'm sure I'll be the thinnest one on the runway anyway and I easily passed a health inspection that caught out three unfortunate up-and-comers just last week.”
“You think they would learn,” Rarity said.
“Well, with all the unscrupulous fashion agents out there, demanding their models get as close to the margin as possible, I don't think they ever will, sadly. Anyway, what kind of dresses will we be modeling?”
“Uh, I have the designs somewhere around here if you want to look at them. I made a couple dozen for the show.”
“Certainly. What's the theme?” Fleur asked.
“The colors of spring,” Rarity said, after finishing the last bite of her sandwich.
“Sounds lovely.”
“Shall I go get my sketches?” Rarity asked.
“Sure.”
Rarity got up to leave, and as soon as she was out the door, Fluttershy thought now's my chance. Unfortunately, right before Fluttershy opened her mouth, Fleur decided to ask her own question, the timing of which sent all of Fluttershy's pent-up courage sailing in the wind.
“So what happened to your modeling career? I'm assuming you didn't get caught out in a health inspection. You were never anywhere near the limit, after all.”
“Um...I quit.”
“Quit? Why would you ever quit being a model?” Fleur asked, sounding like she had just heard somepony say they were giving up chocolate.
“I hated it. I hated the horrible schedule, the spotlight, everything.”
Fleur took a few seconds to respond, obviously trying to process what Fluttershy said. When she did speak again it was to ask, “Why wouldn't you want to flaunt that beautiful body of yours in front of adoring fans? I mean I can understand the scheduling thing. I know all too well how nightmarish it can be during fashion season, but still...”
Fluttershy took a bite of her sandwich, and tried not to remember her time on the runway, before saying, “I don't like having everpony looking at me, silently judging my every move,”
“Why would you ever think that?”
“That's what Photo Finish said when I told her I was nervous before my first fashion show.”
“That explains so much, actually. If what I've heard about her technique is true, and looking at you, I can assume it is, she knew your timidness would get you showered with love and her with money, and said what she needed for you to emphasize that aspect of your personality,” Fleur said, before taking a long drink of her apple juice.
“She does that?”
“Oui. I heard a lot of horror stories about her in my time, and they all revolve around that common thread. Honestly, I imagine that if you had an agent who respected you on some level and actually listened to your concerns you would have had a far better time of it, and might still be on the runway today. The runway is lacking without your beauty gracing it in my opinion.”
“Maybe,” Fluttershy said. She called me beautiful!
Rarity then came in and, with a chuckle, said “I may have misplaced my designs. If you want to wait a bit, I should be able to find them.”
“Of course, but while you're looking around this mess of a boutique, I think I'd like to take a tour of Ponyville. It is my first time here after all,” Fleur said, before covering her mouth with her hoof.
A brief glare went across Rarity's face and her tail twitched upon hearing this, but she simply said, “Oh, of course. Feel free.”
After Fleur left the boutique, Fluttershy asked, “Did she just call your store a mess?”
“Well, yes, but that's something you get used to dealing with with Fleur. She's really nice, most of the time, but sometimes her mouth works faster than her brain and things like that come out. Not that the boutique is very organized right now.”
“That's true.”
“By the way, how do you like Fleur?” Rarity asked.
“I like her. She nice, beautifu-” Fluttershy cut herself off, with a very luminescent blush crossing her face.
It seemed to take Rarity no time at all to figure out what Fluttershy was saying. “So you like her like her?”
Fluttershy hesitated before saying “...yes.”
A big smile formed on Rarity's face, as if playing matchmaker as well as dressmaker was the most exciting thing she could think of. “So, are you going to ask her out?” she asked.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? Whatever do you mean maybe?” Rarity asked, her smile disappearing from her face.
“I'm scared to,” Fluttershy admitted, nervously.
“Why?”
“Well, what if she has a coltfriend, or hates me for being a fillyfooler, or laughs in my face, or-”
“Fluttershy, she wouldn't hate you or laugh at you. She might make an insensitive remark, but she wouldn't purposefully try to hurt your feelings. Just ask her out and if she says no then that's that,” Rarity said.
“If you say so,” Fluttershy said, butterflies still dancing in her stomach.
“Okay. When she gets back to the boutique, just ask her out, okay? I know for a fact that she is single, so don't worry.”
Fluttershy sighed and said, “Okay,” while thinking how does she know Fleur is single?
Fluttershy heard Fleur return to the shop an hour later. She looked up from Rarity's designs to see her in the lobby with a cupcake in her magic field and watched as she looked look around the shop. “Rarity? I'm back,” Fleur said.
“Oh, hi Fleur. I found the designs, if you want to look over them.”
“Of course. But first, do you have somewhere where I can put my cupcake? Somepony named Pinkie Pie gave it to me, thinking I was moving to town.”
“That sounds like Pinkie,” Rarity said, “I'll put it in the fridge for you.”
“Merci.”
As Rarity left with the cupcake, Fleur took a seat near Fluttershy, and gestured to the sheaf of papers she was looking through, asking, “Are those Rarity's dress designs?”
“Yes.”
“So where were they?”
“In a drawer in her desk,” Fluttershy said, focusing more on the dress designs than the other mare.
“Why would she put them there?”
“I don't know. She does get a little absent minded when she gets 'in the zone,' though.”
“Reminds me of a few Canterlot seamstresses I know, actually. One of somehow them managed to misplace five rolls of fabric when she was making a dress I commissioned from her, then found them in her laundry room three days later. I still rib her about it when I see her,” Fleur said with a chuckle.
Fluttershy chuckled a bit as well but said nothing, and Fleur seemed content to let the silence reign for the moment. She did remember that she told Rarity she would ask Fleur out, but her mouth didn't want to work in the manner necessary to say those words, no matter how hard she tried. She eventually gave up for the time being, despite knowing how Rarity would feel about that.
Eventually, Fluttershy slid the designs over to Fleur, two of the pages dog-eared. Fleur asked, “The folded pages are for the dresses you want to wear?”
“Yes.”
As Fleur began looking over the dress designs herself, Fluttershy excused herself to the bathroom. While doing her business there, she thought It's just 10 words, "would you like to go on a date with me?" and I nearly said them over lunch. Why can't I bring myself to say them now? Why can't I find the courage?
Washing her hooves, she looked in the mirror and vowed to ask Fleur out when she got back to the sitting room, no matter what it took.
When she arrived back in the sitting room, she saw Fleur laying on the floor, still looking over the packet. Rarity was sitting nearby, listening to Fleur's commentary on various designs. Rarity looked up at Fluttershy, her face showing no emotion, then turned back to Fleur as the pegasus sat down nearby.
As Rarity and Fleur worked out some changes to the dresses Fleur decided that she would be wearing, Fluttershy sat down and opened her mouth to ask again, but the words died on her tongue. Her wings twitched on her back, and her hooves itched to stomp out her frustration. She didn't move a muscle in the end, and instead plastered on a false, contented smile.
After a few minutes, Fleur had worked out the details of her dress choices, so she excused herself to move her luggage to Rarity's spare bedroom, and, when she was out of earshot, Rarity asked, “So did you ask her out?”
“...No.”
“No? Why not?”
“I was scared to,” Fluttershy admitted.
Rarity gave a loud groan and said, “Fluttershy, I know you're nervous about this, but it's just one sentence. If worse comes to worse, I'm here for you, but I don't think it will. Just ask her.”
“Okay. I'll try.”
Fleur returned to the room several seconds after Fluttershy said this, apparently unaware of the conversation that had transpired in her absence. Fluttershy said, “I, uh...I...need to get back to my cottage to feed my animals.”
“Will you be back for dinner?” Fleur asked.
“Actually I was thinking we could eat dinner over at Fluttershy's cottage tonight. She is a wonderful cook, after all,” Rarity suggested before Fluttershy could respond.
Fluttershy hesitantly said, “Well I guess I could have you two over. Just come by around six,” while thinking, why are you doing this to me Rarity?
“Okay. We'll be there.”
At six the two unicorns knocked at Fluttershy's front door, causing her to yell from the kitchen, “Come in.” She heard the door open and close and two sets of hoofsteps moving in different directions, with the quicker set of hoofsteps indicative of a shorter legged pony heading into the kitchen. She turned to see Rarity, who asked, “So, what's for dinner?”
“I thought I'd try a new recipe I found. Tomato lily soup.”
“Tomato lily soup? Would this have anything to do with the fact that Fleur's full name means 'flower of the lily'?”
“It does?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes widening a bit.
“Yes.”
“...I didn't know that.”
“Right,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes, “But I have to say, it smells really good.”
“Thanks. It should be ready in a few minutes.”
Five minutes later, they were all sitting around the table with their soup and some slices of buttered bread in front of them. After Fluttershy sat down, a smiling Fleur quickly ate a spoonful of soup and said, “This is quite good. What is it?”
“Tomato lily soup. I thought I'd try a new recipe since you two were coming by.”
“Can you give me a copy of the recipe before I leave? I'd love to make some for my next big party.”
“Sure, I'll make you a copy after dinner,” Fluttershy said.
“Merci.”
“Also, before I forget, while you were unpacking, Fluttershy told me there was something she wanted to ask you,” Rarity said.
“Really? May I ask what?”
Fluttershy turned her head, half-hiding behind her mane. She couldn't keep a slight quiver from her voice as she said, "I was just wondering if...if you wanted to go on a date with me...if you don't mind...”
Fleur's smile grew a bit as she almost instantly said, “Sure.”
It took a second for Fluttershy to realize that she had accepted, but once she did it felt like a great weight was being lifted from her shoulders, and she asked “You would? Really?”
“Certainly. After all, if a shy, beautiful pegasus wants to go out with me, who am I to say non?”
“See, Fluttershy? I told you there was nothing to worry about,” Rarity said.
“I guess you were right,” Fluttershy said, a big smile dawning on her face.
“So when at?”
“Does tomorrow night around six sound good? I know a nice little place near Rarity's boutique.”
“That sounds lovely,” Fleur said.
Author's Note
Despite the fact that this is marked complete, I may do a chapter on the fashion show. Personally, though, I would bet against it, because any little difficulty with this story sent my stress levels shooting up for some reason (my inner perfectionist is going nuts, I think), and I'd like to say I'm done with it, but you never know.
Also, originally, I was going to have Fluttershy and Fleur know each other, but having them just meeting now created so many new opportunities for the story that I chose to change that. It was also supposed to take place over several days, but the way the plot insisted it be written, well, it took place over about six hours and ended up a few hundred words short of being featurable. Oh well.
And, lest I forget, (like I will), I have another story with this pairing in the works. One where Fluttershy's last fashion show is Fleur's first, and they don't get the chance to speak before Fluttershy leaves (it's going to be a headache going from there, though).
BTW, non isn't a typo but the French form of no.
