Hood Rat

Chapters

Planning in Pink
Donning the Hood
Party Time
Post-Party
Colorful Companions, Perilous Pursuits
A Party to Remember
Returns and Revelations
The Perfect Party Plan
Rebuilding and Restructuring
The Perfect(er) Party Plan
The Perfect(est) Party Plan
Epinklogue
Something About That Mare
Pink Dreams and Ponderings

Planning in Pink

Pink.

She was delightfully pink.

Ponies had been pink before. Of this, there was no doubt.

But to place her in that category, to speak of her in the same breath as others fortunate enough to share a pigmentation with her, was akin to saying that there were ponies besides herself who were pretty. Amidst a sea of diamonds, Fleur was a perfectly-cut specimen, and Pinkie Pie was...a similar analogy in regards to pinkness. She wore the color as none before her did, as those others could only dream of doing.

Fleur's own mane was pink. Her tail as well, as those things tended to work out. They were both absolutely beautiful, even stunning. But even they did not carry the same vibrant pinkitude as Pinkie Pie did. She was the kind of pink that just made one smile relentlessly, as Fleur was rather sure she'd been doing for most of the trip home.

And it wasn't just her pinkocity that filled Fleur with a peculiar sense of jubilation when thinking about her. Her sheer vivacity was impressive, and her own gleeful energy positively infectious. She did not possess the same grace as a model of Fleur's stature, or at least she didn't in the same fashion. She had a grace all her own; she seemed to be in perfect control of every inch of her body at all times. Not everypony could claim that, but she could tell just from the way that Pinkie moved that she was one of the fortunate. Plus, it didn't hurt that she was more than easy on the eyes. Her form, while admittedly a smidge on the pudgy side, was pudgy in just the right places. And those eyes...those soft, baby-blue eyes that just drew her in, leaving her unable to speak.

Pinkie Pie was beautiful, in body and in spirit. And Fleur needed to see her again.

"Fleur de Lis! I am speaking to you!"

Fleur blinked and turned to her right. She wasn't quite sure how long Mint had been attempting to get her attention. As a matter of fact, she didn't even remember stepping onto the train, though it was clear from the fact that she was sitting on it that they had indeed done so. Either way, she felt it was probably prudent to respond to Mint immediately, lest she frustrate her further.

"Please accept my apologies, Mint," Fleur said. "I was a bit distracted."

"Clearly," Mint replied, rolling her eyes. "And what, exactly, had you so distracted that you could not speak at all on the way here, let alone answer me now?"

Fleur briefly considered telling Mint exactly what she'd been thinking about, but decided against it. She was unsure of how Mint would react to her thought patterns, and figured it safer to lie.

"I was thinking about how fantastic we shall look in these dresses, my friend," Fleur answered coolly. "The designs are exquisite, are they not?" Fleur considered herself to be quite adept at lying and subterfuge; such talents were necessary for the modeling world, where connections could be made or broken by the right or wrong thing said to the right or wrong pony.

"Mmm, they certainly are," Mint replied, buying into Fleur's fib hook, line, and sinker. "Rarity does a marvelous job. One would never know of her commoner upbringing by the quality of her work."

"Mmm," Fleur answered, noncommittal. She still wasn't too keen on Mint's assessment of the lower class, but it was far easier to appear to agree than it was to attempt to dissent. Then she looked at Mint thoughtfully. "Do you know Rarity well?"

"Not terribly well," Mint replied, the shake of her head tossing her mane ribbons about. "But we have had pleasant conversations."

"And what about her friend?" Fleur asked, doing her best to make it sound like a random question, rather than one whose answer was quite important to her. "Pinkie Pie, I believe her name was?"

"Pfeh," Mint answered, turning her nose up. "Why would I deign to associate with such a common, uncouth sort?"

Fleur's upbringing, as well as her training to pursue this career path, allowed her to hide her disappointment behind a wall of serenity. She couldn't claim to have not seen that reaction coming, but she had gambled on a glimmer of hope and lost. Her mind worked as quickly as possible to come up with a good method of recovery, and she smiled lightly to herself as a quick glance at the party invitation in her bag provided one.

"I assumed you were at least somewhat acquainted with her," Fleur said. "She seemed rather happy to extend invitations for her party to us, and I have only encountered her once."

"Watch your tongue, Fleur de Lis," Mint said haughtily. "That pony is not deserving of my attention. Besides, you seem to have garnered the brunt of her attention, based on the way she spoke. Isn't that correct, miss " really pretty?"

Fleur was unable to read the exact intent behind Mint's statement. It was possible that she was merely saying that to deflect the allegations of fraternizing with Pinkie to her. Or perhaps there was some scorn behind her words, pointing out how Pinkie had designated Fleur as "really pretty rather than herself. Or it could have been a bit of both.

Whichever it was, though, Fleur cared not. Pinkie, that wonderful pink vision, had called her really pretty. She had heard such compliments many times from many ponies, but none had halted her quite as this instance had. Fleur closed her eyes, thinking about how nice it would be to be in her presence again, to be complimented on a regular basis by the little pink sweetheart. Pinkie would lavish her in compliments, and she would sit back and enjoy every moment of it, even going so far as to return a compliment here and there. Perhaps even more than here and there; she was a sight to behold, and Fleur could imagine that sweet little smile growing each time Fleur told her how gorgeous and wonderful she was. That smile...she yearned to see that smile again, to fuel it and smile herself as she bathed in the energy of the sweet smile that, at those moments, was meant only for her...

"Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur sighed lightly to herself as Mint's voice chased her pleasant thoughts away. Such an event would have caused her to frown, but doing so would have created unsightly lines in her flawless face, so her displeasure would have to be expressed in another fashion.

"My apologies once again, Mint," Fleur said, fiddling with the invitation in her bag.

"I do hope you will be less distracted when we attend Upper Crust's soirée this evening," Mint said, a hint of venom in her tone. "Ignoring me is bad enough. Doing so to Upper Crust and Jet Set would be completely unacceptable."

Fleur had to battle to keep the frown off of her face. The more she thought about it, the less inclined she was to attend the soirée tonight. She vividly recalled enjoying herself at the events in the past, but something about the idea of spending all that time engaged in conversation with the elites of Canterlot did not sound quite as appealing this time around.

Fleur began to think that she was only "enjoying" the events because she was expected to. The more she thought about it, the more difficulty she had pinpointing a moment during any of these vaunted social events where she had really and truly enjoyed herself. The majority of her time was spent caught in conversation with the other guests, often speaking about topics that she only now realized were quite uninteresting. One could only stand so many stories from the hosts about their latest purchase, and Fleur was rather positive that her limit had been reached.

But Fleur was a rich, privileged model from Canterlot. This was the social scene that she was meant to participate in. Hobnobbing with the elite was the burden that she was meant to bear in exchange for her position. She stared down at the invitations wistfully; she was not aware of what half of the things that Pinkie had described as taking place at her party were, but for some reason, they sounded intrinsically more entertaining than what her night had in store. She glanced up at Mint, trying to put her thoughts into words that would hopefully not reveal her intents.

"It is still nice of her to have invited us," Fleur said. "Perhaps we might attend a different event of hers at some point? I am sure it would delight her to have celebrities in attendance."

"Are you out of your mind?" Mint snapped. "Appearing at a common pony's silly party is career suicide. If the tabloids got word of a pony of our stature doing such a thing...why, they would become the laughing stock of Canterlot!"

Fleur's hopes sank even further. As badly as she wanted to be in the presence of Pinkie Pie again, she wasn't sure that she could bear to risk her profession. Money wasn't the issue; she was certain that mumsy and pop-pop would support her financially until she found a new career if such a thing were to happen. They certainly had the bits to spare. The true problems were the hits that her fame and her happiness would take. She had been named in numerous magazines as the industry's hottest up-and-coming model, even before her big gig with Fancy Pants a while back. She couldn't dream of losing all of that; the public eye was far too alluring to fall out of. Plus, she could think of no other job that she could possibly enjoy more. Nothing could make her happier.

Except Pinkie Pie.

Fleur had the strange suspicion that Pinkie could make anypony happy. Nopony could possibly resist that warm, infectious smile. If Fleur could be positive that she would be able to bask in Pinkie's effervescence as much as she wished, that would be all the happiness she would ever need. If only there were a way to get closer to that pink delight without ruining her reputation...

Fleur's eyes lit up. Or, to be more accurate, they showed the slightest hint of happy discovery while not going overboard on the emotional front. Exaggerated expressions, after all, were a telltale sign of a poor model. She took a small breath, then delicately lifted one front hoof to her chest and let out a petite cough.

"My word..." Fleur said, adding the slightest bit of hoarseness to her voice. "This is quite bothersome..."

"What is it?" Mint asked, sounding much less concerned than her query would suggest.

"I do believe I might be coming down with something," Fleur replied, adding another tiny cough for good measure.

"That is quite bothersome," Mint sighed. "It must have been from one of those assistants. I knew I should have requested full physicals for them before taking them on."

Fleur masked the roll of her eyes by closing them as she let out another cough. She took a mental note to remind herself to write in to the company that employed these assistants. After all, the team, who had stayed with Rarity as part of a business arrangement, had done a fantastic job. They deserved commendations for their work; something that they stood no chance of receiving from Mint.

"Perhaps." Fleur said, not wishing to argue at the moment. "I believe I may have to skip out on the soirée after our job."

"You're skipping Upper Crust's soirée?" Mint asked, positively aghast. "The most revered social gathering of the season? Are you mad?"

"No," Fleur replied calmly, making sure to keep the slight rasp consistent. "But I believe Upper Crust, Jet Set, and all of their other guests will be mad if I were to attend and get them all sick. Why, how would Canterlot function if all of its upper-class was infirm?" The unicorn barely managed not to wince as she finished this sentence. It was the closest thing to talking back to Mint that she had done in a while, and she fully expected an outburst any minute now. Sure enough, she watched Mint's sneer begin to appear, but found herself relieved as it faded.

"I suppose you're right," the pegasus replied. "I'll make sure to explain your absence properly."

"Excellent," Fleur rasped. "Thank you ever so much."

It took every ounce of Fleur's acting ability to conceal her excitement over her idea and keep her fake illness believable. The unicorn thanked her lucky stars that mumsy and pop-pop had enlisted her in acting classes as a child, or else her perfect plan may have been ruined. While she had been looking forward to this modeling gig earlier in the day, now she wanted nothing more than for it to be over. Soon, she would be in the presence of that wonderful pink mare again.

Donning the Hood

Acting sick was strange.

Fleur de Lis was used to acting, but her acting experience had always involved much more positive things. She was used to acting cute, or serious, or even playful on occasion. Acting sick was a completely different experience, and Fleur was sure that if her acting instructor were here, his retching in response to her performance would be far more believable than the noises she was making.

As terrible as her perception of her performance was, though, it seemed to work just fine on Mint and the ponies in charge of their current job. Perhaps her performance was better than she thought? Or perhaps the others were so invested in making sure things went swimmingly that they did not pick up on the small failures in her act. She figured the former was more likely. She was fantastically talented, after all. It was very likely that she only saw through her own charade because she knew it to be one already. Besides, to admit that the latter was true would be to say that she was not the center of attention; a grievous falsehood if ever there was one.

The shoot felt far longer than any shoot had before. Fleur loved her career greatly; she typically had very little problem with a shoot running long. She was usually very glad to continue to show off her loveliness, even though it came with the added job of keeping Mint in line when she would get angry with a worker. Today, she couldn't wait for it all to end. Every costume change took forever. Every costume required tons of poses. Every pose called for tons of reshoots. Every everything made every everything take every amount of time. Through it all, she had to act happy to be doing it, while acting serious and sexy over the happiness, and continuing to act sick all through that. She figured that she deserved a medal for her multilayered performance today, but the prize of being able to see Pinkie Pie later was all she could ask for.

Fleur headed straight home after the shoot; behavior which would have been odd for her had it not been explained away by her apparent illness. Fleur was known amongst her circle for being quite the socialite; even if there wasn't a soirée to attend like there was today, she was always up for a post-shoot meal with Mint, the shoot's organizer, and any members of the crew that Mint saw it fit to welcome along. Today, she opted to pass on the typical celebratory dinner. She was thankful for Mint explaining, albeit in a slightly demeaning manner, that Fleur was "too sick and undesirable to be around" to attend the dinner. Everypony was quite alright with her skipping out if it meant that they would not have to risk becoming sick.

As soon as she stepped into her home, Fleur bolted to the attic. She hated her attic. Granted, it was far less dusty than most attics were thought to be, but it was still dusty enough to unnerve her. It was rare than she even needed to go up here in the first place. She did not want to go there because it was too dusty, and it became dusty because she rarely went up there...it was all a vicious cycle that she did not currently have time to ruminate upon.

Thankfully, Fleur's search did not take long at all. Despite the dustiness of the attic, all the items it housed were neat and stored in a very organized fashion. The object of her search could be easily found in the drawer with mumsy's old costumes. It was at times like this, as well as any time she was able to get a look at the family's income, that she truly appreciated her mumsy's successful acting career. She also greatly appreciated how similar their builds were. Fleur's frame was distinct, but so was her lack of sewing skills; any salvation from having to alter clothing was welcome.

The fashionable unicorn rummaged eagerly through the costume drawer, trying to find the perfect disguise. It was rare that Fleur did something to hide her immense beauty, but this situation very clearly called for it. If she was to go and experience the loveliness of Pinkie Pie and the alleged fun of her parties without tarnishing her reputation, sacrifices would have to be made. It was at this moment that her mumsy's job worked against Fleur's intentions; as serendipitous as it was to share a similar frame, her mumsy's beauty rarely called for costumes that would hide it. Each costume the increasingly-frustrated unicorn found was the same. Nothing obstructed her face, and many of the costumes were skimpy enough that thinking of her own mother wearing them nearly dissuaded Fleur from her plan completely.

Then she saw it.

Fleur's first instinct upon seeing the garment was one of disgust. She was a sight to behold, a beautiful vixen whose pulchritude was positively unmatched. As such, she was used to wearing outfits which fit and accentuated this attribute. This horrid number did anything but. The drab brown of the fabric was horrifying and belonged only in accents, never as the primary pigment. The ends of the shawl were ratty and frayed, as if its creator had simply not cared to fix them up. The hood was much the same, and the eye and horn holes in it were so haphazardly cut that they looked like an afterthought. It was simply awful.

And yet, at the same time, it was excellent. It covered her body completely, the back even billowing out enough to encompass her tail. The hood would be anchored in place by her horn and would cover everything but her muzzle. Its overall shabbiness looked nothing like the kind of attire that a pony of her stature would wear, so it would even throw ponies off of her scent in that manner.

Disgustingly perfect. Repulsively resplendent. Appallingly impeccable. This, undoubtedly, was the exact garment she was looking for. Fleur quickly, yet neatly, packed the rest of the costumes back into the drawer and absconded, using her newfound treasure to protect herself from any dust kicked up by her expedience.

Fleur stared at the tattered garment for some time once she was in her bathroom. She had considered bringing it to her room, but to do so would have been an affront to the rest of the ensembles there. She held her wardrobe to a particularly high standard, one that the shawl could never even dream of meeting, had clothing the capacity to dream. The thought of letting that thing touch her flawless white coat was almost bad enough to send the poor unicorn into conniptions.

And then she thought of the possible rewards. If she eschewed her usual fashion sense and donned the abomination, it would be the perfect disguise to attend Pinkie's party. She would get to see that sweet delight again, just as she'd been dreaming of all day. She would be able to spend the entire evening in Pinkie's presence, and perhaps even get closer to her as a result. Once Pinkie was given the chance to spend time with her, the two would surely fall under the spell of each others' charms, and once that was done, Fleur would reveal herself to her, and the two would be happy forever after. It would be like a fairy tale of some sort, with Fleur finally winning the heart of the pink princess she'd fawned over. And all she had to do was cast aside her shame and don the hood.

Fleur levitated the shawl closer to her. As horrible as it was, the benefits outweighed the flaws. Her muscles tensed as she floated it over her body, her reflexes quick enough to deftly dodge a speck of dust that fell from it and threatened to sully her pristine coat. She took a few breaths, preparing herself as best she could for the critical fashion error that she was about to commit. Then, with the speed and the thought processes of a pony removing a bandage quickly to get it over with, she thrust the vile thing down over her frame. Her skin crawled at the feeling of the thing touching her as she quickly worked her magic to tie the frayed strings under her breast and barrel, as well as the ones around her hind hooves. Another magical tug pulled the hood up over her long pink locks. She pulled it as taut as she could over her face until her horn found the hole meant for it. She carefully aimed her horn into the opening, then let the hood go, crinkling her muzzle as the sudden release unleashed a bit of dust over it. In hindsight, she figured she could have washed it before putting it on, but the general uncleanliness of the garment lent itself to the illusion she was trying to enforce.

The idea of seeing herself in this getup did not sit well with Fleur, so she decided to postpone it for a few moments, choosing instead to give it a quick test run first. The cloaked unicorn took a few steps looking everywhere but the mirror. The eyeholes, although somewhat frayed, did not impede her vision in many meaningful way. She supposed that made sense; although it must have been made to look shabbily-made for whatever performance mumsy wore it for, it still needed to allow her to function properly. The horn hole kept the hood right where it needed to be to obfuscate her lovely features, and the strings around her breast, barrel, and hind hooves kept the cloak from pulling away from her and revealing any part of her body. Fleur smiled and allowed herself to get a little more playful, insisting to herself that it was merely for testing purposes. She opened the bathroom door and jogged, galloped, and even briefly pronked about her home. No matter how she moved, the cloak and hood stayed in place. She sighed in relief, pleased to see the garment perform its duties so efficiently. If any of her friends were to see her moving about like she was, she would certainly be laughed at, but as it was, there was little chance of being recognized while covered so excellently.

Fleur put off a viewing of herself just a bit longer, opting instead to work on her voice. She had not spoken a single word to Pinkie in their meeting earlier, as her vocal cords had utterly failed her upon setting sights on the enchanting earth pony. Rarity, however, knew her voice, and if she were to speak as she always did, it would be a dead giveaway. the unicorn cleared her throat, trying a few words in a slightly different voice. When she decided that this voice sounded far too much like her own, she altered it another time, lowering her pitch slightly. When that was not satisfactory, she added a slight gravel to her tone. Her vocal cords would not be happy with her and would require a nice soothing tea once she returned home from the party, but the gravel truly did the trick, masking her voice just enough to make it difficult to tie back to her usual voice.

Fleur noticed the time and sighed lightly to herself. She could put it off no longer; she had to see what she looked like. As she set eyes upon one of the many full-length mirrors strewn about her house, she bit her lip, almost forced to tears. She looked absolutely abhorrent, a far cry from her usual state. Her immaculate hooves and muzzle and her deep purple eyes were the only parts of her that were at all recognizable, everything else ensconced in sickening brown. She allowed a single tear to fall, one which was quickly absorbed by the greedy fabric of the hood. It hurt to see herself looking so drab and unattractive, but in truth, it was exactly what she had wanted from this whole situation. Nopony would expect a pony who looked so blasé to be a stunning model in disguise, and she was counting on exactly that. This knowledge, though, did not dull the visceral reaction to her appearance in the slightest.

"I look like a common hood rat," Fleur said sadly to her reflection. She sniffled lightly, then hesitated.

"...I look like a common hood rat," she repeated, this time in her manufactured voice from earlier. She had figured that she would need a fake name to go under, and it appeared that she had stumbled across it by accident.

"Hood Rat," she said once more. The words sounded so alien, especially in that tone of voice.

"My name is Hood Rat," she said again, starting to build a little confidence despite the disappointment of seeing herself. No, that wasn't good enough. She had been taught by her speech coach that speaking in contractions was not befitting of a mare of her stature, but she was no longer bound by the restraints of that stature.

"My name's Hood Rat," she spoke, nearly stumbling over the casualness of those words. "And I am...I'M...here for the party." She perked up slightly, remembering her acting lessons. She had to push her earlier sadness away. Fleur de Lis was sad over her appearance. Hood Rat was not. Hood Rat did not...DIDN'T...mind looking a bit dirty. In fact, Hood Rat would likely be enthusiastic about it. Hood Rat's lack of concern for her appearance was clearly due to the fact that she was more concerned with having a good time, which was exactly what she planned on doing tonight. Yes, that was perfect.

"My name's Hood Rat!" she said, beginning to smile. "And I'm here for your party, Pinkie!" Fantastic! For the rest of the day, Fleur de Lis would not exist. There would only be Hood Rat.

Hood Rat glanced at the clock. Pinkie's party was starting in an hour! If she caught the train right now, she could make it on time!

But Fleur de Lis would arrive at the party on time. Hood Rat, though, would probably come just a little late. Hood Rat was the type of pony to relax and take her time, not worrying too much about putting on appearances and arriving at the time she was expected. Hood Rat would probably oversleep, having been ravaged by partying too much the night before, and would make it to the party an hour late, offering a few apologies.

Perhaps she was too in-character, though. She wanted to see Pinkie as soon as possible. And, upon thinking into it further, Hood Rat would feel the same if she intended to win the fair Pinkie's heart. She quickly galloped out the door and towards the train station. By the end of this evening, Hood Rat would win the heart of her princess.

Party Time

Hood Rat had never realized how long a walk it was between Fleur's house and the Canterlot train station.

In truth, it wasn't a terribly long distance. The walk from the location of Fleur's earlier shoot to her home was only slightly shorter. The primary difference between then and now was the fact that Fleur hadn't been wearing the same ugly brown tunic that Hood was wearing now. Ponies in general were not accustomed to seeing one so shabbily dressed trotting about, let alone the high-society ponies who called Canterlot their home. The number of times that Hood found herself stopped and asked if she needed money was humbling indeed.

But it was a necessary evil. Had Fleur approached the train station without a disguise, ponies would have been questioning where she was going. Had she answered, they would have questioned why she was going to Ponyville, and had she answered that honestly, her reputation would surely be ruined. Lying was an option, but she hadn't the forethought to come up with a good one, and right now, her thoughts were elsewhere.

Visions of that pink delight danced in Hood's head as she hastened towards the station. Never before had she been so infatuated with a pony. Sure, there were her childhood crushes and her one-time interest in Fancy Pants, but she was positive that none of them had left her reeling quite to the degree that Pinkie Pie had. And it wasn't even just a single aspect of Pinkie that left her head over hooves. Her beauty was radiant, her joy infectious, her ebullience intoxicating. Fleur had received her first hit of that pink drug earlier today, and she was already hooked, desiring nothing more than to taste the boon of that beautiful, bouncy barbiturate again.

Hood thanked her lucky stars that she was able to catch the train to Ponyville before it departed. The next one would not be leaving for a half hour, and arriving that late to this party was absolutely out of the question. Fashionably late was one thing; ludicrously late was another, and that was exactly what she would have been had she missed that train. She breathed a sigh of relief as she sat herself down in the nearest empty seat. That feeling of relief began to dampen when she observed the faces of the ponies around her. She was used to ponies reacting to her as the resplendent pony she was, and the looks of revulsion were entirely alien. Watching a pony get up to avoid having to sit next to her was nearly enough to make her cry. Still, she held strong. Fleur de Lis would get upset at the idea of ponies wanting to avoid her. Hood Rat would not. Hood Rat would see the ponies shunning her appearance and take it in stride. Hood Rat would be used to the high-society Canterlot ponies turning their nose up at her poor choice of apparel. Hood Rat would not need to worry about holding back worries, because she would not have a single worry to worry about.

And so she didn't. As much as Fleur tried to get her to worry, Hood would not be swayed. Her fast-approaching goal was far too important.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hood was both thankful for and scornful towards the giant clock by Ponyville's town hall. Every second that ticked by reminded her of both the oncoming party and her lateness in arriving to said party. Had everything gone smoothly, she would have arrived right on time, or five minutes late at worst. As it stood now, she was already a half hour late thanks to a delay at the stop just before the Ponyville station. It was just her luck that a cow would choose to rest on the train tracks right then, and even though she was happy that the cow ended up safe, she still couldn't shake her frustration over being late because of her.

Hood glanced down at the invitation, double-checking the address and directions to make sure she was heading to the right place. As she approached the large sweet-themed building, she figured that it had to be the place. Something about it just screamed "party central" to her, if for no other reason than that it looked about as far from the type of location for one of her usual soirées as possible. The social elite wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this, which was just more of an impetus for her to enter. Just the thought of Mint's face were she to even touch the doorknob of such an establishment nearly had Hood giggling to herself. This was a good sign to her; she hadn't even joined the party yet and she was already having a good laugh. And a genuine one too; far removed from the polite chuckles she offered to the ponies at her usual social gatherings who would regale her with stories of corporate buyouts or errors made by their cleaning crew.

Hood could hear the sounds of loud music and raucous laughter as she approached the front door. For a moment, she hesitated. The sounds of jubilation were intimidating now that she was hearing them up close. She was so close to her goal, but now the idea of actually going in and finding Pinkie was beginning to become scary. What if Pinkie didn't pay her any attention when she couldn't see her beauty? What if Pinkie did pay attention to her, but didn't like her? Never before had she ever felt this insecure about herself. Or rather, Fleur had never felt this insecure about herself. Hood was a different story. As she had only come into existence recently, it was safe to say that at least 25% of her existence was spent feeling insecure about herself. That had to change now. If she wanted to win over a pony who exuded as much confidence as Pinkie seemed to on that day, then she would have to do the same. She took a moment to steel herself against her worries, then reached for the doorknob.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Before Hood had time to react, she was barreled over by a pink blur. She found herself tumbling rump over tea kettle, thankful for her shawl's ability to keep her persona covered even through this intense physical activity. She finally came to a rest on her back, thumping the back of her head against the soft dirt. Before she could catch her breath, she felt the rest of the breath she had knocked out of her as the pony who knocked her over landed rump-first on her belly, then promptly flopped down so they were chest-to-chest. Hood desperately tried to catch her breath, but as soon as she caught sight of who'd bowled her over, that breath was taken away.

"Oh my goodness!" Pinkie said, her nose mere inches from Hood's. "I'm so so sorry! I was just running out to check to see if there were any more party guests arriving but then I heard a really cool bird song outside so I wanted to run out and see the bird before it flew away and..."

Hood couldn't even concentrate on what Pinkie was saying. She was currently lying down under Pinkie Pie, and she was having a hard time finding much to complain about, especially with her shawl stopping her coat from being sullied by the dirt under her. And her breath smelled enchantingly sweet, like that cotton candy-scented perfume that had been all the rage in Canterlot two seasons ago. She could probably just lie here under Pinkie all day, smelling her sweet breath like this...

"...And then I thought, why get nectarines when I could just shave the peaches?" Pinkie giggled playfully, gently bouncing in place on top of Hood. "And so I guess I don't even know why I ran out like that! Heehee~!" Hood had no idea how the topic had moved to nectarines and peaches, but she couldn't say she had much of an issue with it. Her cheeks blushed with a blush that would never be seen by anypony as she lay under the object of her desire. Were she unmasked and revealed, she would have been terribly embarrassed at being pinned under Pinkie's shapely body, but in disguise, she soon realized that she had nothing to worry about. For the first time since she'd become a model, nopony knew who she was.

"...Oh!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "I should prooooobably get off of you, huh~?"

Hood stammered, nearly falling out of the false voice she'd worked on. As much as she wanted to request that she stay right there, she couldn't really experience the party if she did. Her voice, however, refused to comply.

"Sorry!" Pinkie said with a smile. She stood up off of Hood, thankfully not noticing the small mewl of disappointment from her. "I don't think I've ever met you before! Which must mean you're new to Ponyville! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"

Hood cleared her throat as she got up, thankful that her shawl was still keeping her nice and covered. This was the big opportunity she'd been practicing for earlier. She took a breath, hoping that her nerves would allow her to play her role properly.

"My name's Hood Rat!" Hood said. "And I'm here for your party, Pinkie!" Perfectly executed, she thought. Her voice sounded almost nothing like Fleur's. Her moments of self-satisfaction, though, was marred when she saw the suspicious, narrowed blue eyes staring at her. She gulped quietly. Had she faltered in her voice masking? She was positive that she'd gotten the voice perfect. There was no possible way that Pinkie could suspect her...and yet that stare, the glare from those lovely baby-blue eyes that were now piercing her soul, seemed to disagree. A few moments of tense silence followed, and Fleur felt just about ready to abandon the plan and flee the scene. Just as she was about to turn tail, Pinkie's entire expression lit up, her usual smile returning.

"Nice to meet you, Hood Rat!" Pinkie sang. "Can I call you Hoodie? It sounds better than Ratty~"

Hood let out a sigh of relief and nodded in the affirmative. Fleur typically liked to avoid nicknames, as she thought her name did not exactly lend itself to one. Hood, on the other hoof, was quite alright with them, especially when they came from Pinkie.

"C'moooon, Hoodie! Let's party!" Hood felt Pinkie grab her hoof, and before she knew it, she was being dragged back towards the large building—Sugarcube Corner, according to the invitation. Only a tiny bit of dragging was necessary, as Hood was quick to begin trotting along, just as eager to party as Pinkie was to have her.

Hood was left reeling from the sensory overload as she entered Sugarcube Corner's doors. She hadn't known what exactly to expect from Pinkie's party, but never on her wildest dreams would she have expected the experience she was presented with. The soirées she was used to attending were a far cry from this. A typical upper-class social event would have soft lighting, a live orchestra playing quiet background music, and guests standing or sitting calmly and conversing. Here, the lights pulsed in various colors, the music was blaring and sounded more akin to the rock music Fleur had heard about, and instead of subdued conversation, the guests seemed to be convulsing in a violent fashion. Her eyes danced about the place, observing the many ponies (and one cow, whom she was surprised to recognize as the very cow that had impeded her train's progress earlier) seemingly in the throes of pain.

"Goodness..." Hood said, before catching herself. "I mean...wow." She looked to Pinkie, taking a moment to bask in her warm, beautiful smile before continuing. "Should I call a doctor? I believe those ponies are in the process of having seizures."

"Haha! You're funny, Hoodie!" Pinkie laughed, wrapping a foreleg around her. Hood felt her cheeks color again, taking a moment to reflect upon things. Here she was, an elite Canterlot model, a stunning example of beauty who hobnobbed with the highest of the high, who could probably get anypony she set her eyes on. And here she was, blushing like a schoolfilly from the hug of a common-class Ponyville mare. But her hug felt so wonderful, she never wanted to leave it.

"They're not having seizures!" Pinkie giggled. "They're dancing!"

"Dancing?" Hood asked. "But they are not...they aren't dancing like anything I've seen."

"You've never seen dancing like that?" Pinkie asked. "What dancing have you seen?"

Before Hood could respond, she was suddenly bumped into from behind. She whirled around to see Rarity trying to regain her balance. Her gait seemed rather unsteady as she wobbled, smiling unevenly. Behind her was a cream-colored earth pony whom Hood was sure she'd seen before, but she couldn't place her name or where she knew her from. She fought off a gasp; she hadn't considered that Rarity would be here. Surely she would have some very insulting things to say about her choice of clothing.

"Terribly sorry, darling~!" Rarity slurred, her breath smelling of alcohol. "I didn't see you there! Hahaaaa..." Hood zipped her lips. She'd never in her wildest dreams took Rarity for one of those kinds of ponies...she winced to herself as she realized what manner of negative connotations her thoughts had. It sounded like something Mint would have said, and that bothered her greatly. At the same time, she found herself relieved that Rarity had apparently not noticed her drab clothing. Perhaps she would have were she not so inebriated, but now was not the time for speculation.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for her," the cream-colored mare behind Rarity said, stepping up next to her. "Rarity did a little bit of partying before she arrived."

"The more partying, the better!" Pinkie replied with a smile. "Ouh, Hoodie, these are my friends, Rarity and Coco! Girls, this is my new friend Hoodie!" The name sparked Hood's memory instantly. This was the mare who had done the marvelous costumes for the production of Hinny of the Hills that she had attended last month. She turned to Coco to compliment her on her work, but was interrupted by Rarity suddenly wrapping her hooves around Coco.

"Hooves off, she's taken~!" Rarity giggled, nuzzling the now-blushing mare's cheek. Hood smirked. The most decorated seamstress in Ponyville and possibly the hottest up-and-coming costume designer in Manehattan? This was a golden piece of gossip for sure.

"Heehee...Rarity, c'mon..." Coco said, although it was clear that her protests were not terribly genuine. Before she could continue, Rarity silenced her, pressing their lips together into a deep kiss. Hood let out a small gasp at the sudden display of affection, and even Pinkie blushed a bit, although her pink coat made it hard to tell. Coco let out a little muffled squeak, but once again, her protests did not last very long, and she was soon melting into her lover's embrace.

"Oooookay, let's leave them alone!" Pinkie said to Hood with a smile. Hood couldn't manage a response. Even though such public displays of affection were considered uncouth, seek Rarity and Coco like that only made her want to experience such things with Pinkie even more. Visions of being swept into Pinkie's forelegs and smooched as such flooded her mind and refused to leave. The logistics of the fantasy were not even important to her. It didn't matter that she was taller than Pinkie and that from a physical standpoint, it might have made more sense for her to hold Pinkie. She wanted to be held in those slightly-pudgy pink forelegs so badly...

"Helloooooo?" Pinkie said, waving one of those pretty pink hooves in Hood's face. "Did you hear me, Hoodie?"

Hood tilted her head. She had to stop spacing out like that, or Pinkie might get suspicious of her behavior.

"Sorry," Hood said quickly. "I was just thinking about...something."

"Ouh! Was it sponge cake?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "I have that problem a lot. Sponge cake has a way of absorbing my other thoughts like a...like a..."

"A sponge?" Hood offered.

"Ouh, that too!" Pinkie shouted. Hood let out a little sigh. She was so perfectly whimsical. Even when she thought she knew what Pinkie was thinking, she managed to surprise her. It was such a refreshing change from the Canterlot ponies. Fleur often found herself able to predict the exact paths a conversation at a Canterlot soirée would take, sometimes right down to the word. Hood was certain that this was utterly impossible with Pinkie Pie.

"So let's go bob for apples!" Pinkie said. Hood found herself being pulled once again, this time towards a large half-barrel. She couldn't believe how much effort Pinkie was putting into sticking around her and trying to help her enjoy the party. Most ponies would probably feel uncomfortable about a hooded stranger approaching their door, but Pinkie had embraced her with open hooves. It was just further proof of how wonderful Pinkie really was. The ponies at her Canterlot parties would likely not even welcome a clean-looking stranger into their social gatherings, let alone one dressed as poorly as she.

"C'mon, Hoodie!" Pinkie exclaimed, a hoof starting to reach towards her. "Let's take off that hoodie!"

Hood let out a short gasp. As little as she wanted to avoid being touched by Pinkie, she was forced to dodge the incoming pink hoof. Her reputation relied on the safety of her secret.

"No!" Hood shouted, louder than she could remember speaking in a long time. She nervously looked around to see if ponies had reacted to her like the ones at the Canterlot soirées would when a pony rose their voice. Nopony, however, seemed to have noticed. Nopony except Pinkie. Hood's ears fell as she realized that she had just shouted at Pinkie. She had certainly just ruined any chance she had with her.

"Wow!" Pinkie responded. "That was loud! I'm impressed!"

"...Thank you?" Hood replied. She was once again surprised, although upon further consideration, she figured that she shouldn't have been. Pinkie was a rather loud pony, after all.

"Noooo problem!" Pinkie said, patting her on the back. "I guess you can keep wearing your cute little shawl!"

"You...think it's cute?" Hood asked, taken aback. There were many adjectives that fit her current attire. Some of them even began with C. But "cute" was certainly not one of them.

"Sure!" Pinkie responded. "I really like how it has that authentic messy look about it! And it totally reminds me of a potato sack, and I love potatoes!"

Hood couldn't help but smile. Pinkie's comments might not have exactly been...complimentary...but it was clear that she didn't think that. Hood liked to think herself decent at reading ponies, and she could easily tell that Pinkie genuinely believed she was complimenting her. At one point, that might not have been enough for Fleur. Fleur would have heard those comments and been deeply offended by them. But the fact that Pinkie really and truly meant them in a positive sense, that Pinkie really wanted to make her feel good with her words, filled her heart with joy. Plus, even she had to admit that potatoes were tasty, albeit high in carbs.

"Hmm...what to do instead..." Pinkie mused. Then her baby blue eyes lit up. "Ouh! I remember what I was saying before! You said ponies weren't dancing like anything you'd seen before, right? So what dancing have you seen?"

"O-oh...right," Hood stammered. There was only one style of dancing that she was accustomed to, and the music currently blaring through the nearby speakers was hardly appropriate for it. It was far too loud and lively, and the tempo was a bit livelier than this type of dancing called for. It simply would not work.

Hood quickly dismissed this thought. Such a thought was more of a Fleur thought, and she was not Fleur right now. Pinkie was a spontaneous sort, and if Hood wanted to win her over, then spontaneity it was.

"Here, let me show you," Hood said, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I've been told that I'm quite the ballroom dancer." She held a slightly-shaky hoof out towards Pinkie, who smiled her infectious smile as she took it. Hood took a deep breath, finding her center, then gently pulled Pinkie close to her. She was used to letting others lead, but she was rather proficient at leading herself. In that moment, as she began to lead Pinkie through the motions, everything else vanished. The unfitting music didn't matter. The other ponies "dancing" in their own style didn't exist. Even the rest of the party might as well have not been there. To Hood, all that existed right now was her, Pinkie, and the art of the dance. She managed to take a look into Pinkie's eyes as they danced, feeling her heart skip a beat as she stared into them. There wasn't much that could make this moment better.

"Oh!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "I know this kind of dancing!" Suddenly, Hood's role as the lead was unceremoniously usurped. Pinkie was now in charge, and Hood found herself being pulled around like a plaything. Pinkie's style was fast-paced and forceful, but at the same time, Hood could feel the hints of real talent hidden in her rambunctious movements. Before she nines what was going on, Hood found herself suddenly spun around by her peppy dance partner. She whirled around like a dervish, unable to stop her momentum. It wasn't until those pink forelegs grabbed her once again that she was finally able to stop. She felt one leg snake behind her back, the other meeting one of her own. This was followed by the feeling of falling backwards, only to be held by Pinkie, whom she quickly realized had just expertly dipped her. She was left speechless as Pinkie held her, and the blush on her cheeks was burning brightly as Pinkie leaned towards her, noses meeting. Hood's head was still spinning, and it took every bit of self-control in her body not to pucker her lips. She found herself swooning, unable to speak as that wonderful little pony held her close. The scent of cotton candy invaded her senses once more, but it was a welcome invader.

If this was what it meant to party with Pinkie Pie, then Hood couldn't think of anything she or Fleur wanted more.

Post-Party

"Wowie! That had to be the best party I've ever thrown!"

Hood Rat couldn't believe her luck. She'd known that this party was a great one, but had no idea that this was actually the best party Pinkie Pie had thrown. She silently thanked her good graces that fate had conspired to deliver her to this momentous occasion. All the Pinkie parties that she could have ended up at, and she happened to be at the best party of them all.

"Oh, you say that about every party!" Rarity slurred as she and Coco walked past the two. Hood felt a bit of the wind deflate from her sails, but remained undaunted.

"That's because every party is the best party I've ever thrown!" Pinkie replied with a smile. A perfect little smile, one that melted Hood's heart. Being in the modeling business had exposed Fleur to plenty of attractive ponies, and Pinkie didn't fit in with them. She wasn't as tall as the typical model, giving up a good few inches to her, but Hood didn't mind stooping down for her. She wasn't slender like a typical model; actually, she was a tiny bit on the chubby side. However, the chub was all in the right places. It didn't look sloppy or out of place. It just gave her a delightfully curvy shape, one that honestly might have worked to her benefit in the modeling business. There were ponies who were into a mare with her body type–Hood quickly realized that she seemed to be one of those–and she could probably find a niche market to succeed in if she wanted to.

"And you!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed, thrusting a hoof in Hood's direction. Hood jumped in surprise, making sure her hood was still fully covering her face.

"Me?" Hood replied, just barely holding onto her altered voice.

"You," Rarity hissed, the smell of alcohol invading Hood's personal space. "Come come. We must talk."

Hood tilted her head, worried. She turned to Coco, but Rarity was already on top of that.

"Coco darling, please wait here if you may," Rarity said to her. "We will only be a few moments."

"Alright, Rarity," Coco said. She gave Hood a smile that seemed almost apologetic as Rarity headed off to the side of the building, waving for Hood to follow. Hood was hesitant, but followed anyway, her mind racing as to what Rarity needed to speak to her about. As soon as she turned the corner, Rarity was immediately in her face.

"I know your secret," Rarity growled, narrowing her eyes. "I've been watching you, and I know your little secret."

Fleur felt like her heart had opened up a small compartment in the bottom of her chest and made an immediate departure. She had been so very, very careful. How could anypony have caught on? She'd kept the voice up, made sure she was fully covered, even made sure to alter her mannerisms in case any of them had come off as too graceful for this type of party's attendees. Where had she messed up? Wherever it was, though, Rarity had caught on, and it was time to explain.

"I-I can explain, Rarity..." Fleur whispered, but Rarity didn't give her a moment.

"No need to explain!" Rarity said, shaking her head. Her lips curled into a wide, knowing smile. "I can tell when a pony has a little crush on one of my dearest friends. I saw the way you danced with Miss Pie." She gave her a gentle little nudge, giggling softly.

"O-oh?" Hood said, hoping that the utter relief in her voice wasn't immediately evident. She didn't mind revealing these feelings to Rarity, especially under the guise of anonymity. "Well...she's just so much fun, and such a pretty pony..."

"Aww..." Rarity cooed. "I'm so happy to hear that! Pinkie is such a sweetheart. She deserves to have a special somepony who will treat her well. Just be prepared, because as you've likely noticed, she's quite the ball of energy." She gave Hood a warm smile. "Just be gentle and patient with her, alright?"

"Of course..." Hood replied, grinning a grin that couldn't be seen. Rarity might not have known exactly who she was, but receiving her blessing for this endeavor was quite the rematch of fresh air, air which she felt like she was floating on.

"Oh, and one more thing," Rarity said. She leaned close to Hood's covered face, grinning a snakelike grin. "If you do anything to hurt her, the coroners will need that cloak to clean up your remains."

Hood had never taken Rarity for the threatening type. Perhaps it was the alcohol's influence, or maybe it was just that she'd never been around Rarity while the chance of hurting one of her best friends loomed so close. Either way, it was a sight that she never wished to revisit.

"Let's goooo, Coco Bean!" Rarity called out loudly as she scurried back towards the front of the building, joining back up with her marefriend. The two each gave Pinkie a hug before leaving as a slightly-terrified Hood made her return to Pinkie's presence.

"So what were you two talking about, huh?" Pinkie asked.

"I...prefer not to talk about it," Hood replied weakly.

"Ouh, a secret?" Pinkie asked, bouncing in place. "Okie dokie lokie! I'd never ask somepony to give up a secret!"

Hood could barely believe that Pinkie still had the energy to bounce around like that. Every pony at the party had been enjoying themselves and having fun, but Pinkie was easily the most active of any of them. As far as Hood had seen, Pinkie hadn't stopped moving for a second during the entire party. Hood would have to step her game up if she even dreamed of keeping up with her.

"So I guess you're probably heading home, huh Hoodie?" Pinkie asked, giving Hood a nice, warm smile. "Where do you live anyway?"

"Oh...yes, I probably should," Hood answered. "The train to Canterlot leaves soon, and-"

Hood realized her mistake in mere moments. Pinkie would never believe that somepony like her, an utter commoner, could possibly live in the upper-class city of Canterlot. It wouldn't be long before Pinkie caught on to her mistake and exposed her lies, and it was all because of a foolish slip of the tongue. A faint blush crossed Hood's cheeks as the term "slip of the tongue" swirled about her head in relation to Pinkie, but it was thankfully hidden by her wardrobe.

"Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You live in Canterlot? That's super-cool! It's such a nice city, huh?"

"Yes...it is," Hood replied, still waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

"Do you want company on the trip to the train station?" Pinkie asked. "All the other guests have left so I'm sure it's fine. Well, except Berry Punch, but she's passed out in the guest room and prooooobably won't wake up till tomorrow morning, so I can still walk you there if you want."

Hood tilted her head. Did Pinkie really believe that a pony as terribly dressed as she was could live in Canterlot? The thought made her smile from ear to ear. A pony as sweet and kind as Pinkie Pie could get around physical appearances to see the true sense of a pony's worth, something Fleur was often unable to do. If Fleur had seen a pony dressed as Hood was, she would have penned her as having crawled out of a gutter somewhere. Granted, she wouldn't have treated her poorly as Mint likely would have, but the judgment would have been made regardless of whether or not it was acted upon. Pinkie did no such thing, and that was just another part of her enchanting personality.

"Helloooooo?"

An adorable pink hoof waved in front of Hood's face. The leg it ended was delightfully shapely, and somehow the hoof itself was pristine despite how much it had been dancing about. Hood's eyes followed the hoof, waving as it was like a hypnotist's watch. Hood likely wouldn't have complained if Pinkie had intended to hypnotize her with that hoof. She would have gladly submitted to Pinkie's control...

"Hoodie?"

The hoof suddenly moved forward, gently and playfully knocking on Hood's forehead. The contact knocked her out of her brief trancelike state.

"Oh!" Hood exclaimed, nearly losing her voice. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "I'm just glad you didn't turn into a zombie or anything. You're really nice and I wouldn't want to have to fight you, though I'd have to if you were trying to eat my brain."

"I beg your pardon?" Hood asked, worried that the wording she'd used sounded too Fleurlike.

"You do?" Pinkie asked, amazed. "I didn't even think I had a pardon to beg for! Am I a judge?"

"No, no," Hood responded, giggling lightly. Pinkie was so utterly whimsical, and she adored it. "I mean...never mind. Of course you can walk with me."

"Goodie goodie gumdrops!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing into the air and landing at Hood's side. "C'mon!" The two began to walk, and a part of Hood wished that she didn't have to wear her shoddy cloak any longer. Pinkie was walking close enough for their sides to touch, and Hood wished she could make that body-to-body contact with nothing in the way. As much as she wished it, though, she knew that it could not be, at least right now. Going without her cloak meant giving up her true identity and putting her entire career at risk. She would eventually tell Pinkie the truth once it was safe to do so, but now was not the right time. Hood longed for that direct physical contact, but it was for the greater good that she kept that layer between them.

"So what did you think of your first Pinkie party?" Pinkie asked as the two walked along. She focused those big baby blue eyes squarely on Hood, smiling eagerly.

"I loved it!" Hood responded, trying her hardest not to melt under that gaze. "I've been to other parties before, but none as amazing as that one. Excellent job, Pinkie!" She grinned with satisfaction as she watched Pinkie's cheeks color a bit from the praise. She hadn't pegged Pinkie as the type to get blushy in this kind of situation, but seeing her cute embarrassed smile was worth admitting she was wrong about that

"Heehee...thanks, Hoodie," Pinkie responded. "But just you wait! The next one's gonna be even better!" Hood's heart raced at the mere idea of coming to another party and seeing that happy face again. It took a fair amount of self-control to not bubble over with joy, but she managed it. A supermodel like Fleur had to be in complete control of every facet of her being at all times, and Hood was thankful that her personality disconnect had not severed her ties to that ability.

"I look forward to it," Hood said. "When is it?" She finally tore her eyes away from Pinkie long enough to see that they had arrived at the train station. The walk had been much quicker than she remembered the walk to Sugarcube Corner being, but then again, she hadn't such wonderful company on that walk.

"I have no idea!" Pinkie chirped. "Why don't you give me your address so I can add you to the invitation list?" She passed Hood a quill and paper, leaving Hood quite confused as to where they came from. She decided to pay it no mind and quickly jotted down her address, then passed the quill and paper back.

"Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed as she gazed over the paper. "You write really fancy!"

Hood panicked to herself. A common street rat like herself likely wouldn't have such neat penmanship. The self-control she'd lauded moments ago had come back to bite her in the flank, her muscle memory proving too efficient to sully the quality of her writing. The panic was quick to fade, though. Pinkie had ignored or not even noticed her previous transgressions as it pertained to her masked social status. Surely she would pass over this as well.

"It's almost like you're secretly a super-fancy pony!" Pinkie laughed.

Fleur's eyes darted left and right, looking for the quickest and easiest escape route.one wrong move had blown her cover, and she needed an out immediately.

"Heehee..." Pinkie giggled. "That'd be crazy if it were true, right?"

"R...right," Hood agreed, canceling her intended escape. Pinkie had a way of keeping her on the tips of her hooves, whether she liked it or not. In many cases she liked it. In this case, the mood whiplash had left her a bit woozy.

The sound of a train pulling up behind Hood brought her back to her senses. The train to Canterlot had arrived with impeccable timing.

"There's your ride!" Pinkie said with a smile. "Have a great trip!" She stood on her hind legs, holding her forelegs out for a hug. Hood felt her heart skip a beat, and was more than happy to move forward. She felt herself wrapped in a beautifully warm hug, ensconced in warm, pretty pink. Hood melted into the hug, letting out a content sigh. The smaller earth pony had rendered her utterly helpless in that embrace. The only command her brain could give her through the sensory overload of warm hug and cloying cotton candy scent was to bring her hooves around and return the hug, and that was exactly what she did.

Fleur had experienced many moments in her life that she didn't want to see end. Her Cuteceanera, her first big modeling job...moments like those were what Fleur lived for, and she was often waiting for the next one to arrive just to see what different experiences her life had to offer. Hood had just experienced her first, and it didn't matter to her if she never experienced a different one again. She knew she would be perfectly content if every future momentous occasion in her life was just like this one.

"Aww..." Pinkie cooed. "Do you like my hugs that much?"

The thought that Pinkie could potentially be a mind reader briefly popped into Hood's head.it only took a moment to dismiss it as she realized she was nearly draping herself on Pinkie.

"They're nice!" Hood exclaimed as she began extricating herself from the embrace. As little as she wanted to leave that hug, it would be foolish to miss the train because of it.

"Well I'll be sure to give you more at the next party!" Pinkie sang as she let go of Hood. "See you then!"

"Yes...see you then, Pinkie," Hood said, beaming behind her mask. She turned, tearing her gaze away from the pink beauty long enough to ensure that she wouldn't walk into anypony as she stepped onto the train. She quickly found a seat and looked out the window, giggling softly as she saw Pinkie frantically waving to her. She waved back as the train began to move, and watched with a warmed heart as Pinkie galloped alongside the train and to the end of the platform. She let out a little sigh as the object of her desire became a pink speck in the distance, then faded completely from view.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was quite late when the train arrived in Canterlot. Hood was unsurprised to find that she was one of the only ponies on the train at all, and that made everything that much easier. Few other ponies meant few opportunities to be questioned on her choice of apparel or potentially discovered. If Hood could be honest, though, discovery was one of the last things on her mind. She had spent an entire night around a large number of ponies, most of which was spent in close quarters with Pinkie, and nopony had suspected a thing. Perhaps this ruse wasn't going to be too difficult to keep up.

Hood wondered how long she would need to keep it up as she walked home, thankful for a lack of ponies on her usual path as well. She flirted with the idea of telling Pinkie the truth at the next party, but quickly let it go. The next party was far too soon...probably. In truth, she had no idea when the next party would even be. Given the impression she got from Pinkie, though, it probably wouldn't be far away enough for Hood to come up with a gameplan for her trifold goals or continuing to attend parties, admitting her feelings to Pinkie, and figuring out a way to spin things to the public so that the idea of a prissy Canterlot supermodel attending common parties and dating beneath her social class would be accepted.

All of those, however, were things for Fleur to think about tomorrow. Right now, it was late and Hood needed to retire for the time being. Hood glanced left and right as she walked up to Fleur's door, making sure nopony was around to see her. Once she was confident in her solitude, she unlocked the door and hurried inside.

Fleur was quite happy to be free of the shoddy cloak as she removed it from her person. Never had she worn such an unattractive piece of clothing, and in most cases, she would never want to again. If it meant seeing Pinkie more, though, then this shoddy cloak had to be kept safe to be donned again. She carefully set the cloak near her washing machine, then headed upstairs to her room. She was far too sleepy to wash it tonight; it could easily be done in the morning.

Fleur sighed as she slid into her cozy bed. As much as she loved her bed and typically found it comfortable, its comfort levels had dropped in her mind now that she had experienced a proper Pinkie Pie hug. The idea of comfort was forever ruined in her mind from that experience, as she knew nothing else would compare to the sweet embrace of that lovely specimen. It was the recollection of being held in those surprisingly strong pink forelegs and against that lovably squishable body that lulled Fleur to a happy sleep.

Colorful Companions, Perilous Pursuits

Fleur's mouth was currently exploding.

Or at least it felt like it was. In a positive sense, of course, or as positive as the idea of exploding could get. In this case, it was incredibly, undeniably positive.

This was no "trendy dish." The trendy dish, while popular, was lacking in substance and taste. This dish—she didn't even know what to call it—was absolutely bursting with flavor. Every single bite was like a wonderful new experience, and had she not been such a classy mare, she could have easily seen herself eschewing any semblance of social graces to scarf it down with reckless abandon.

"How are you enjoying your meal, Miss Fleur?"

Fleur gave a polite smile to the pony speaking to her. Saffron Masala was the chef here at the Tasty Treat, and anypony who could cook something this delectable deserved the utmost respect. Despite this, she opted not to give an answer just yet. It was incredibly rude to speak with food in her mouth, after all.

"I'm pretty sure she loves it, Saffron!" Minuette assured her. "Nice seeing you out here, by the way! Usually it's just Coriander meeting the guests!"

"That is correct," came the voice of Coriander Cumin as he passed by. "But my daughter insisted on meeting the celebrity. The celebrity who will be recommending us to all her celebrity friends, yes?"

"Father!" Saffron exclaimed. "Please do not harass Miss Fleur! She is our esteemed guest!" Then she gave a nervous smile in Fleur's direction. "I am terribly sorry for my father, Miss Fleur. Although if you did wish to recommend us..."

"Oh, I'm sure she will!" Minuette responded, eliciting nods of agreement from Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Moondancer. "Isn't that right, Fleur?"

Fleur smiled to Minuette, a sweet and genuine smile. She had admittedly been a little skeptical about this lunch. It wasn't even the idea of being seen in public with ponies below her social class. That had been a point of contention for a short time, but she'd gotten over it. These ponies were a very enjoyable bunch, and perhaps being seen with them could have a positive effect on them rather than a negative effect on her. Besides, sitting next to regular ponies only made her beauty stand out that much more.

The real source of trepidation was the utter lack of hoof rating for this particular restaurant. A mare of her reputation simply did not patronize such low-class establishments. But here she was, and she had to admit that she did not regret it in the slightest. Even the staff was friendlier than in the places she frequented. This Saffron Masala in particular seemed like a lovely pony, both in attitude and in looks. She could probably make it in the modeling world if she wanted, Fleur idly thought. In fact, that thick mane and tail of hers reminded her just a bit of her sweet pink delight. Pretty as she was, though, Saffron didn't quite compare to the loveliness that was Pinkie Pie.

"See? She'll totally do it!" Minuette said, putting a foreleg around Fleur. Fleur rarely let others touch her so blatantly, but she allowed Minuette a pass. The smiles and laughter she'd been sharing with the group in their time here had ingratiated them to her rather well. She couldn't say that her outings with Mint were anything like this. They did share small smiles and occasionally a chuckle or two, but such laughter was muted so as not to bother others. No attempts were made by these ponies to silence their guffaws, and while Fleur had still opted to keep hers restrained, the urge to join in the volume of their jubilation was difficult to resist.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Fleur!" Saffron said, bowing her head in respect. "I cannot tell you how much your approval will mean!" Fleur delicately swallowed the food in her mouth and gave the chef a warm smile. She hadn't actually agreed to anything, and an approval of a restaurant with no hooves could potentially hurt her reputation, but after the delicious food and friendly service, she just had to let others know about this establishment.

"Think nothing of it, dear," Fleur said. "And please, call me Fleur. The formality is unnecessary." She briefly reflected on the words that had come out of her mouth. Denying a formal title was also not something that a pony of her stature tended to do. The looks of approval from the other ponies at the table, however, put her at ease about her decision. If Mint had overheard her, she very well may have spoken down to her for treating a common pony like Saffron as an equal. Mint, however, was not here.

"Of course, Fleur!" Saffron responded as she turned back towards the kitchen. "Thank you again!" Fleur smiled as she watched Saffron return to the kitchen. She was so used to using her status solely to help herself. Helping others with it was a very welcome feeling.

"You know, Fleur..."

All eyes turned to Moondancer as she spoke up. Of the ponies at the table, Moondancer had easily been the quietest of the bunch. She had mainly seemed content to sit back and listen to the others, laughing along when prompted but otherwise keeping the attention off of herself. In all honesty, Fleur was rather surprised that she had even come out, as she looked like the type to stay inside and read all day. Not that she would ever tell her this, of course.

"Yes, Moondancer?" Fleur asked, giving her a curious look.

"I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about this whole thing," Moondancer said, adjusting her glasses. "When the girls said this famous model was coming out to lunch, I kinda thought you'd be a major snob. But you seem to be a pretty down-to-earth mare beneath all the makeup and the fancy hat you're wearing."

Fleur was glad somepony had finally mentioned her hat. She was beginning to think that these ponies had little to no idea of what good fashion was.

More importantly, though—and that was saying a lot, considering how stylish and important her hat was—the acceptance of Moondancer, as well as that of the other ponies who nodded and murmured in agreement, touched Fleur's heart.

"Thank you, dear," Fleur said softly. "And thank you all for having me."

"Of course!" Minuette responded, patting Fleur on the back. "What are friends for?"

"You...consider me a friend?" Fleur asked. She didn't mean to sound quite as flabbergasted as she'd come off, but she was honestly taken aback by the idea. "Even after how cruel I have been to you?"

"Cruel?" Minuette asked, one eyebrow raising. "When have you ever been cruel to us?"

"When I denied your requests to accompany you on previous outings," Fleur answered. "By the way you reacted when I said yes this time, I could only assume that my earlier denials wounded you deeply, and I cannot tell you how sorry I am for those indiscretions."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and Fleur silently cursed herself for letting her feelings be known. Such endeavors were fairly uncommon for her, especially around Mint, and she began to fear that she had ruined everything. That feeling only lasted for a moment or so, as Fleur soon found herself distracted by laughter from the other mares at the table.

"Are you kidding?" Minuette asked, clearly not expecting an answer. "Fleur, we understand that you're busy a lot! And you were never mean or anything when you said no. So don't worry, okay? You've never been even the tiniest bit cruel. C'mere, silly."

Fleur watched as Minuette held her forelegs out towards her. Fleur hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the others. Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts gave her a little wave, while Moondancer just rolled her eyes and smiled. Fleur looked back to Minuette with a grin and leaned in, feeling Minuette's forelegs wrap around her. She returned the gesture, chuckling softly. Minuette's hug didn't quite compare to the warm, soft-yet-firm embraces that Pinkie was capable of, but a hug from a friend didn't have to be the perfect hug to be acceptable.

A friend. She liked using that term in reference to these ponies.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I hope you have all enjoyed your meal!" Saffron said as she set the bill on the table in front of the five mares.

"Oh, absolutely," Fleur said, smiling gently. "I cannot believe that I have never come here before. You run a fine eatery." The other mares murmured in agreement as Saffron's smile grew.

"Thank you so much, Fleur," Saffron said. "We hope you will all return!"

"Of course we will!" Minuette told her. "Heck, I might even come back for dinner!"

"Oh dear," Saffron said, smiling awkwardly. "I'm afraid we're actually closing early today. I have a prior engagement tonight, and father cannot cook and host at the same time."

"Aw, that's a shame," Minuette said as the mares began reaching into their bags for money. "Whatcha doing tonight?"

"I'm going to Ponyville," Saffron responded. "Pinkie Pie invited me to a big party she's throwing, and I would not miss it for the world!"

"Oh, right!" Minuette exclaimed. "I totally forgot that was tonight! We're going too, right girls?"

Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Moondancer nodded in agreement. Fleur, meanwhile, stayed completely silent. Of course they were going. They'd gone to the last one, or at least three of them had. Now that they were slightly better acquainted with her, the chances of them discovering her secret were drastically higher. She had to work harder to make sure her voice and mannerisms were completely different.

Unless she told them her secret.

These ponies were new friends. She could probably trust them to keep a secret...right?

"Fleur?"

That was what friends did, after all. They trusted each other and kept secrets for each other. Perhaps, with how they seemed to know Pinkie rather well, they could even help give her tips on how to win her over, all while keeping her secret from others.

"Fleur??"

Yes, that was what friends were for. It was a genius idea, and Fleur wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of it in the first place.

"Equestria to Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur was startled out of her revelation by the sound of Minuette's shout. If there was one thing she and Mint apparently had in common, it was the ability to call her back to attention when she was off on a mental tangent. Although Minuette's call seemed a lot more cheerful than Mint's demands.

"My apologies, Minuette," Fleur finally answered. "I was reflecting on how delicious this meal was." She watched Saffron smile graciously and felt absolved of any guilt she might have felt from lying.

"No problem!" Minuette responded. "We were just wondering if you wanted to come to Pinkie's party with us? It's gonna be a hoot!"

Fleur took a breath. This was it. The moment of truth. The moment where she bonded with her new friends by letting them in on her deep, dark secret.

"Oh my gosh," Lemon Hearts said. "Could you imagine how ponies would react if a fancy model like Fleur showed up for one of Pinkie's parties?"

Reality struck Fleur like a speeding locomotive. She could almost hear Mint's voice as an undertone to Lemon's, reminding her of the career suicide that was being seen at a commoner's party.

"I am afraid I cannot," Fleur lied. "My schedule is rather full tonight." A pang of guilt jabbed its way through Fleur's chest. Lying to these nice ponies felt far worse than lying to Mint. Mint's attitude helped to assuage the feeling of guilt, and sometimes even actually encouraged Fleur to be dishonest towards her. These ponies, on the other hoof, deserved better. Yet here she was, doing it anyway. She would let them know the truth in time. That time just wasn't right now.

"Aw..." Minuette lamented. "Well, maybe next time, huh?"

"Perhaps," Fleur responded. That wasn't exactly a lie, nor was it exactly the truth. In fact, Fleur wasn't exactly sure what it was. Time would tell, she figured.

"Great!" Minuette replied, apparently taking it as the affirmative. "Anyway, it was great having lunch with you! How about we do this again sometime, huh?"

"That would be delightful," Fleur said, glad to go back to telling the truth. "How about next Monday, hm? We could make a regular occurrence of it."

"That would be the best!" Minuette shouted, the other ponies nodding in approval.

"Wonderful," Fleur responded. "Then we shall meet again on Monday." She held one foreleg out for a gentle hug from Minuette, but was met instead with a group hug from all the ponies at the table. Fleur sighed happily and relaxed into it. She could get used to this.

~~~~~~~~~~

"On top of the world" was a rather appropriate way to describe how Fleur was feeling as she prepared for her trip to Ponyville. On any other day, a delicious meal in the company of good friends who didn't spend the entire time either being passive-aggressive towards her or active-aggressive towards others would have been the clear high point. Fleur counted herself blessed that she still had a party with the lovely Pinkie Pie to look forward to. Days that started like hers were not supposed to get better from there, and yet she was only a costume change and a train ride away from exactly that.

A slight frown crossed Fleur's face as she unearthed the shawl from its hiding place. Having a hiding place might have been an unnecessary precaution considering how rarely she entertained company, but one could argue that when walking such a thin, treacherous line, no precaution was too frivolous. It was still as ugly as ever, but such was the price of keeping one's identity a secret.

Fleur briefly considered the addition of a black bodysuit under the cloak, but decided against it as she began to get into costume. It was not exactly a cool evening, and she couldn't even begin to imagine how warm she would have been with it. Besides, it wasn't necessary. Even though this contrasted with the idea of no precaution being too frivolous, she knew for a fact that it was not needed. She had gone through the whole previous party without ever being discovered. She could easily have a repeat performance tonight. When one was as beautiful as she, one knew to be careful of wardrobe malfunctions. When one was as graceful as she, one was quite adept at avoiding them.

One by one, the ropes securing the cloak to her lithe form were tied, until Fleur's home was once again graced by the presence of Hood Rat. She took a few moments to revise and perfect her voice, not stopping until she was sure it was exactly the same as it had been on that first fateful night. Pinkie seemed like the type to remember minutia like the precise sound of somepony's voice, and any variation from the tone employed for the previous party very well might have been a dead giveaway that she wasn't who she claimed to be.

She had to tell her eventually though. Deep down, she knew that the charade could not last forever. One day, the time would come that she would have to drop the shawl, reveal her face and name, and admit her feelings for Pinkie Pie. That day would eventually come; of this there was no doubt.

When that day would come, however, was a different question entirely.

Hood couldn't even fathom how to reveal her secret identity to Pinkie, let alone when to do it. It had to wait for the right time and be done in the right way, but just how to determine what was right in both scenarios was a complete mystery.

But worrying about that could wait. Whatever the right time was, it certainly wasn't tonight. In order to be the right time, Hood had to have the right plan in mind, and she was woefully lacking in that area. Therefore, this was not the right time. The logic stood sound and true.

Hood spent a few moments with her eyes closed, getting fully into character. The voice was already good to go. The mindset took a little longer, but thinking about finding herself in Pinkie's forelegs once more was enough to get that train of thought pulling out of the station. Oh, how she missed that gorgeous specimen. It had only been a mere four days since she saw her last, but it felt like an eternity to the mare whose heart had been stolen by the bubbly party pony. Nothing could possibly stop her from galloping straight to the train station.

Except, perhaps, for the prissy green pegasus waiting outside her door.

Had Hood been paying attention, she likely would have seen Mint standing there and avoided walking right into her. Being as her mind was currently occupied by a deep longing for cotton candy-flavored kisses, Hood closed her front door and did a spectacular job of crashing into her. A loud squeal echoed across the street, and it was only thanks to Hood's quick acting and magical capabilities that Mint was saved from falling to the ground.

"Sorry about that," Hood said, setting the pony on her hooves. "I..."

Then she realized just who she'd bumped into.

Hood stammered in a very uncivilized fashion as she stared into the angry face of Fleur's friend. Ideas of just how to handle this situation raced through her head, concepts of how to explain herself that made varying degrees of sense. With any hope, she would quickly stumble upon one that actually worked before Mint had the chance to make things worse.

"Burglar!"

So much for not making things worse.

Normally, being mistaken for a burglar would have upset Fleur to her very core. Right now, though, Hood was in charge. Every single potential idea for explanations that had been flying through Hood's head vanished in an instant. There was only one course of action that she could envision taking right now, and while it wasn't exactly the best choice, its quality didn't matter right now.

Without a word spoken, Hood took a flying leap over Mint and took off running.

Hood thanked her lucky stars for two things. First off, she was thankful that Fleur made sure to take time to keep herself fit. Some models she knew only worked on their appearance and nothing more, but that wasn't her style. She frequented a nearby gym and spa to exercise and be pampered, and while she was no power lifter, her trainers often told her that she was stronger than she looked. Whether or not they were saying so in an effort to flirt with her was another story, but the fact remained that she was in quite good shape. Second, she was thankful that Mint fell into the category of "only worked on their appearance" and likely wouldn't keep up with her if she did give chase. Not that she would, of course. She didn't care much about ponies other than herself, and running would ruin her hooficure.

"Stop, thief!"

First off, Hood had underestimated Mint's level of fitness and concern for Fleur's possessions. Second off, she had forgotten about her wings.

Hood narrowly ducked the green and blue blur that attempted to grab at her, rolling to the side and back to her hooves before taking off running. For once, she was thankful for her shoddy cloak as it protected her flawless coat from the dirt that she'd rolled through. The last time she had gone out in disguise, Hood had been certain that ponies were avoiding even looking in her direction. This time, she found herself the center of attention, and not in the way that Fleur usually liked. After all, just the sight of a cloaked figure charging through the streets of Canterlot would have been enough to raise a few eyebrows. When combined with an angry model in how pursuit calling her a thief, all eyes were on her.

Hood paid the other ponies no mind, save for when she was making sure to avoid running into one. Most ponies were dodged around, but a few required a leap over them if Hood couldn't decide which way to dodge. Nothing would stop her, not when the steady wing flaps of her pursuer rang heavy in her ears. The only thing louder than those flaps was the symphony of her own heavy breathing and quickened heartbeat. As she sweated under her oppressive mask, Hood found herself even happier that she had opted not to wear the bodysuit.

As Hood vaulted over a stack of boxes, she glanced back to see if she was still being followed. A fleeting blurred glimpse of the pegasus was quickly cut off by the top of the stack of crates she'd just leapt over. Always one to think quickly, she used this moment of being unseen to duck into the alley. Hood held her breath as she heard Mint's approach, her heart racing. Never would she have thought herself to be intimidated by Fleur's petite traveling partner, but somehow Mint had taken advantage of the scenario and become the most fearful thing on four hooves. Hood did not exhale until the blur had zoomed past. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped back out onto the street, only to see that Mint had turned around to see where she had went. One more shout of "Thief!" accompanied part two of the chase as Hood bolted.

A quick glance at the nearby clock tower set Hood's nerves on edge. The train she was to be catching was due to leave in exactly one minute, and it was incredibly uncommon for a Canterlot train not to leave on time. Hood had to think on her hooves, and thanked her lucky stars once again that she was quite proficient at that. She zigged and zagged down streets and avenues, hoping to lose her pursuer but finding herself woefully unsuccessful. Each turn brought her closer and closer to the train station, but she quickly realized that she'd made a slight miscalculation when she saw the wall of a building at the end of the street. The train's whistle sounded from the other side of the building, and Hood's heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

Fleur was normally not much of a risk taker. It was a good thing that she wasn't currently present as Hood took a flying leap onto the nearest stack of boxes. Another jump sent her hurtling towards an awning, and a final bounce-assisted jump from there left her careening over the top of the wall. Her momentum nearly sent her tumbling across the roof, but it was thanks to her natural grace that she was able to land running. Unfortunately, she now found herself on top of a building, and changing altitude was not exactly an effective way to dodge a pegasus.

"Get back here!" Mint shouted as she lunged for Hood. The edge of the building was nearing, but salvation in the form of the train could be seen a scant few yards away. Hood only had one option as she neared the edge. She didn't like it, but she didn't have much choice.

With a level of grace befitting of the pony she was but not of the pony she looked like, Hood took a flying swan dive off of the roof. A yelp from her pursuer could be heard, and the look of shock on Mint's face, despite being upside-down from her point of view, was an image that Hood felt would never be erased from her memory or Fleur's. As the ground neared, Hood quickly tucked her head, Fleur's fillyhood gymnastics training taking over and allowing her to take the brunt of the fall's impact on her shoulders. It stung a bit, but her positioning allowed her to roll through with ease. One final lunge once she rolled onto her hooves launched her through the train's doors just before they closed.

Ponies in the train car stared at her, but Hood paid them little attention as she pulled herself to her hooves. She quickly moved to the window, staring out at Mint, enraged that she had lost her prey. Hood found herself panting heavily, but even her exhaustion couldn't stop her from smiling an unseen smile and giving a taunting salute as she watched Mint and the train station fade into the distance. This whole debacle would surely cause her trouble when she arrived home, and she still had the eyes of the other traingoing ponies on her as she took her seat, but she would worry about her problems when she got home.

Right now, she had a party to attend.

A Party to Remember

Hood could feel the eyes of everypony in her train car follow her as they disembarked. Not that she could blame them, of course. Anypony who had made such a surprising entrance would have garnered the same, regardless of whether or not they were wearing something as shoddy as she was. In truth, Hood didn't want the attention. While Fleur would have basked in it–although her choice of apparel certainly would have been different–Hood just wanted to dispose of it completely. There was only one pony whose attention she desired, and that pony was not currently present. She departed the train station with expedience, ignoring the murmurs as she made haste towards Sugarcube Corner. Ponies would gossip, but they would have no idea who they were gossiping about.

Hood wasn't sure if the walk from the train station to Sugarcube Corner had been this long last time. If she didn't know better, she would have been positive that some unicorn with ill intent had teleported the bakery farther away just to make the anticipation that much worse. She briefly entertained the idea of galloping at full speed, but after the chase earlier, she wasn't exactly yearning for another opportunity to run.

Mint's actions had well and truly shocked Hood, now that she thought about it. Neither she nor Fleur had ever pegged Mint as the type to chase a burglar. Maybe if they were making off with her possessions, but even that was a maybe at best. Mint wasn't exactly the type to jump into such robust action with such little thought for herself. Or at least she hadn't seemed to be before that chase. Maybe both Hood and Fleur had underestimated her. The two of them led a double life. They appeared to be two different gemstones; one pristine and palatable, one tarnished and trashy. Nopony would have looked at one and expected them to actually be a facet of the other, but that didn't make it any less true. Perhaps Hood and Fleur had only been noticing the snobbish facet of Mint, and all that was needed was to approach her from a different angle.

Pondering on that would have to wait, though, as Hood arrived at the front door of Sugarcube Corner. She sighed happily as she stared at that door, memories of the last party flooding back to her. She found herself hoping for a greeting similar to the one she'd received last time. Being pinned under Pinkie's beautiful curvy body might have been the best possible way to start that party–and, a naughtier part of Hood's mind thought, probably not a bad way to end a party either–and she found herself praying to be bowled over once more as she knocked on the door. This ended up not coming to pass once the door was open, but Hood could hardly complain as she stared into the lovely face of her pink dream once more.

"Hi Hoodie!" Pinkie said, beaming from ear to ear. "So glad you could make it!"

Before Hood could get a word out, she found herself pulled into a great big hug. Any words she might have wished to respond with were quickly forgotten as the twin scents of cotton candy and joy seeped into her nostrils. Hood had never known joy to have a scent until now, and it was heavenly. She returned the hug, sighing a very satisfied sigh as she basked in the presence of the one she desired most. A tuft of curly pink mane found its way into Hood's face, and she was more than happy to rest her nose in it. Being a unicorn, she had no idea what the texture of a cloud felt like, but if pegasi were to be believed, they had the most delightful soft feeling to them, fluffy enough to sink pleasurably into but with just enough give to retain a gentle springiness. Pinkie's mane was the closest Hood had ever gotten to touching a cloud, and she didn't care if she never got to experience the real thing.

"Cat got your tongue, Hoodie?"

Daydreaming once again...although Hood decided that she couldn't be blamed for this one. She would have dared anypony to try and resist the brutal combination of a Pinkie hug and a Pinkiemane pillow–although to do so would have meant that she would have had to allow others into a position that she wasn't exactly clamoring to give up.

"Sorry Pinkie," Hood said with a smile. "I was just...thinking about..."

Hood needed a cover story, and quick. Thankfully, she was a master of improvisation.

"...Coconuts."

Perhaps "master" wasn't the word she was looking for.

"Ouh!" Pinkie exclaimed. "So was I! Or at least I am now. I wasn't before you mentioned them. What were you thinking about them? Was it about how good they taste? Or the fact that they make good cups? Or how hairy they are, or how if you hit two coconut halves together it sounds like hooves clip-clopping on a stone path?"

Even if Hood didn't want to laugh, she couldn't have stopped herself. Pinkie's chipper, whimsical personality was such a wonderful departure from the Canterlot crowd. Some ponies were born with looks and some with charms. She and Pinkie were lucky enough to be born with both.

"Perhaps a bit of all of those," Hood replied through giggles.

"Cool!" Pinkie said, finally letting go of the hug. Hood watched as the fluffy manepillow that her muzzle had been resting on wafted away. She silently vowed to return to that mane at some point in the evening.

"So what's going on tonight?" Hood asked. Her eyes wished to glance around at the rest of the party, but two big baby-blue beacons had their full attention at the moment.

"Lots of stuff!" Pinkie responded. "So go on and have a blast!" Then she gave Hood a little nudge. "And thanks for coming. I had a really great time with you last time."

Hood was certain that there was a little gooey puddle in the area of her chest where her heart typically resided. She wasn't sure whether she was reading too much into Pinkie's words and gestures, but she was quite happy with what they seemed to imply.

"M-me too," Hood replied. She cursed the little filly-like stutter that had found its way into her verbiage, but recanted said curse immediately when she saw how it had made Pinkie smile. She would gladly make five words last five minutes if doing so made that smile light up her life.

"Great!" Pinkie said, bouncing in place. "I gotta go serve up some of the refreshments! But make sure to catch up with me if you wanna do any more of that dancing, alright?"

"S-sure," Hood answered. She wished she could truthfully claim that this instance of stutter was an intentional one to bring more of that smile out, but the fact that Pinkie seemed so eager to dance with her again had legitimately made it difficult for her to speak. If that wasn't enough, a second hug from Pinkie was nearly enough to leave her weak in the knees. She watched the pink party host pronk away towards the kitchen, a happy sigh escaping her lungs involuntarily. Part of her wanted to follow Pinkie and never leave her side, but logic won out. It would have looked odd if she did nothing but follow Pinkie, and even though Pinkie didn't seem like the type to get annoyed easily, she still worried that it might bother her when she was trying to entertain the entire party. She would find ways to entertain herself, making sure to join Pinkie's side intermittently. After all, absence, no matter how brief, did make the heart grow fonder.

Hood's eyes finally found the opportunity to scan the room now that the object of their desire had left the room. As with the last party, there were so many ponies here that she had never met. This time, however, she did manage to notice her new group of friends. Minuette and Twinkleshine were busy "getting their groove on;" a phrase which Hood had gleaned from a popular magazine. Apparently it meant "dancing," and from the looks of it, the two were quite adept at it. Lemon Hearts and Saffron Masala stood nearby, laughing over something, while Moondancer was nowhere to be found. With all of the ponies in here, though, she was sure to be somewhere. Hood wanted to go right over and greet her new friends, but something was holding her back. It wasn't a bout of worrying over whether or not they would recognize her; she was quite confident that she was perfectly disguised. Rather, it was something that was physically holding her back.

"Darling!"

Hood turned around and was met with the smiling face of Rarity, Coco by her side. She made note of the fact that Rarity did not look quite as inebriated as the last time she'd seen her, although she could detect a trace of alcohol's scent on her.

"Hi Rarity!" Hood responded, making sure her put-on voice was impeccable. "And hello, Coco!"

"A pleasure to see you here again, Miss Hood," Rarity said. Hood noticed her eyes briefly zip down to her cloak before looking back up. "Is this your party gear, darling? You know, if you need something new to wear, I would be happy to whip something up for you some time."

"Oh, it's fine," Hood said quickly, trying to move the conversation away from her attire. The less she thought about just what she was wearing, the better. "But anyway, how have you two been?"

"Marvelous, simply marvelous!" Rarity responded, Coco nodding in agreement. Then Rarity leaned in, a sly smile on her face. "You know, Pinkie Pie has been talking about you quite a bit since last week."

"She has?" Hood asked. Perhaps she had raised her volume a scoch too much, if Coco's folded ears were any indication.

"Oh yes," Rarity responded. "I believe the term she used for you was 'The Mysterious Hooded Stranger Who Dances Like An Angel But Not Like She's Dead Or Anything Just Like Really Nice And Stuff.' It's a mouthful, but that's our Pinkie Pie for you."

Now Hood's knees went weak. She quickly saved herself by leaning on a nearby table. Smooth as silk, as always.

"Are you okay?" Coco asked.

"Quite," Hood lied.

"I saw you talking to her already," Rarity said with a grin. "She seemed quite happy. Well, she usually seems happy, but I could swear I saw her glowing for a moment."

"That's wonderful..." Hood swooned. The two mares giggled softly and nodded to each other, causing Hood to blush a blush that was hidden by her mask.

"Well, here's a little tip from one of her dearest friends," Rarity said. "Ask her to dance during the next Rara song. She adores her, and I'm sure it would mean a lot to her to dance with you during one of her songs."

"Right!" Hood said. She found herself thankful that she was aware of the recent musical trends, or else such a suggestion would have fallen on deaf ears.

"Excellent," Rarity said. "Have fun, darling! And don't forget what I told you last time."

Hood's smile vanished briefly. She definitely remembered Rarity's words after last week's party. It would take a lot for her to forget those chilling words.

"O-of course," Hood said. Coco raised a brow, but Rarity seemed to already be done with that topic of conversation.

"Ta!" Rarity sang as she headed towards one of the many snack tables. Coco offered an awkward smile and wave before following her special somepony.

Hood felt like she was about to faint. Whether it was due to the elation over learning of Pinkie's interest in her or the reminder of Rarity's threat was uncertain. A few deep breaths relieved her of that burden before she decided to go enjoy the party.

Hood began to head in the direction of Minuette and company. Approaching a group of ponies that knew Fleur and spent time with her was a calculated risk, but her confidence in her acting ability was insurance enough.

"Hi, girls!" Hood said cheerfully. If there was one thing she was certain of about this group, it was that they were friendly enough to welcome a new pony with open arms.

"Hi there!" Minuette responded, giving her a big smile. "Guess we must look like a fun bunch if we're attracting others over, huh?"

"Definitely!" Hood agreed. "You look like you're having a great time!"

"We sure are!" Minuette said. "We noticed you at the last party too, but you seemed like you were really busy with Pinkie, so we decided to leave you two alone! I'm Minuette, and this is Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Saffron Masala!"

"Pleased to meet you all," Hood said, giving them all a polite nod. "I'm Hood Rat." Being introduced to ponies whose names she already knew was an odd experience, and the urge to ask about Moondancer's whereabouts was strong, but Hood was strong too.

"That is a very interesting cloak you are wearing, Miss Hood," Saffron said. A new urge to question Saffron's taste in fashion was quickly suppressed.

"Thank you, dear," Hood responded. "And please, call me Hood. The formality is unnecessary." Hood smiled confidently, but said smile nearly faded as she saw Minuette's brow raise. She was quite good at reading facial expressions, and something about Minuette's rang of suspicion, although what it was over, she had no idea. Any hope for clarification was dashed by Minuette's uncharacteristic reticence. It was only a brief moment before her usual smile returned, but Hood still couldn't shake the strange feeling that something was wrong.

"Of course, Hood," Saffron replied, giving Hood a little smile. "I seem to do that very often."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Hood said, patting her gently on the back. "It just means you were raised well. Coriander did a great job."

"Oh! Saffron exclaimed. "You know my father?"

Hood felt like stuffing her hoof into her mouth. It was such an amateur mistake...but not unsalvageable.

"No," Hood replied. "But I've heard about the restaurant you two run. I hear tell your food is delicious!"

"You should totally try it sometime!" Twinkleshine chimed in. Hood nodded as Saffron smiled, thankful for the easy out. That could have easily been a disaster. Thankfully, Hood was a quick thinker. As much as she wanted to spend more time around her friends, she figured that she should keep her time with them sparse as well. She had already almost slipped up once; more opportunities would arise the longer she was around them.

"I'll get back to you ladies," Hood said. "I should mingle a bit more. It was nice meeting you!" Hood gave the group a wave, then headed off towards the apple-bobbing station, giving a wave in Pinkie's direction as she watched her greet some other guests. So distracted was she by the sight of Pinkie that she only just barely avoided walking into another mare.

"Goodness!" Hood said. "I'm terribly sorry."

"Don't worry about it," came the voice of Moondancer. "It's a good thing we ran into each other, actually. I need to talk to you in private."

"M-me?" Hood asked, suddenly frozen in place. "Are you sure you have the right pony? I don't believe we've met..." Lying was beginning to become a specialty of Hood's, a specialty that she wasn't terribly proud of.

"Mhm," Moondancer responded. "Come with me please." Then she walked off. Hood watched her silently for a moment, then followed along. Moondancer was a nice pony. Surely she didn't have anything sinister planned. Hood followed Moondancer down the hall and towards the bathrooms, stopping short once Moondancer turned around to stare at her.

"Okay Fleur," Moondancer said simply. "What are you up to?"

"What?!" Fleur exclaimed. "I-I don't know what you're-"

"Spare me," Moondancer replied curtly. "You're not totally giving yourself away to the average pony, but I like to think I'm a little more observant than the average pony. You still carry yourself similarly to how you normally do, you said the exact thing to Saffron about not calling you Miss as you did at the restaurant, and you might have fooled the others with that Coriander coverup, but you're not fooling me. So what's this all about?"

Fleur was completely stunned. She was sure she'd been careful...she hadn't even noticed some of those things Moondancer had pointed out. In fact, she hadn't even noticed Moondancer at all. Feeling backed up against a corner, the disguised supermodel sighed and hung her head.

"Yes, it is I," Fleur responded, slipping back into her normal voice. "I am sorry for being deceptive, but it was the only way I could come to Pinkie's parties without risking my status. I seem to have fallen rather hard for Pinkie and I desire nothing more than to spend time around her, but the ponies in my social circles are incredibly judgmental, and if word got out that I was here, I would become a laughingstock amongst them." Fleur frowned at how much of Mint she heard in those words, but just because she didn't like the meaning behind the words didn't mean that they lost all credence. "Please, I beg of you...do not tell anypony."

Moondancer stared at Fleur, a long stare which set Fleur's nerves on end. Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she stared, her gaze cold and scrutinizing. Fleur weighed her options. She was still disguised, and nopony else was around. If she stopped down and begged for mercy, Moondancer would be the only one to witness her.

"Fine," Moondancer finally said. "Just for the record, I don't think this is a good idea. But if this is what you really want, I guess I can be a good friend and help you out."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Fleur exclaimed. It felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off of her back. She would let the others know in time, but tonight was definitely not the right time for it.

"Yeah, yeah," Moondancer replied. "Don't mention it. But like I said, I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Fleur asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Moondancer responded. Once it was clear by Fleur's silence that it wasn't, she continued. "When you're hiding who you really are for that reason, it kind of comes off like you're-"

Fleur knew that not paying attention to what a friend was saying, especially when they were trying to help, was quite the social faux pas. Her attention, however, had been stolen by the opening chords of Rara's latest hit.

"Oh!" Fleur exclaimed. "I am dreadfully sorry to interrupt, but I need to dance with Pinkie during this song! I shall return!"

"But..." Moondancer tried to protest, but her efforts were in vain as the cloaked unicorn dashed off.

Hood galloped back to the dance floor, eyes scanning the room until they found their target. She made haste through the sea of ponies, holding a hoof out to Pinkie once she made it to her.

"Miss Pinkie," Hood said, glad that her bout of speaking as Fleur had not caused her to lose her Hood voice. "Would you care to dance?" She watched in quiet reverence as Pinkie stared down at her hoof, thankful for the fact that this latest Rara song was a slower one. Pinkie's already-present smile slowly grew, and Hood could swear she saw an extra bit of pink on those cheeks.

"Sure," Pinkie responded, placing her hoof in Hood's. The fact that Pinkie's response had not been at her usual level of volume and exuberance might have worried Hood if it hadn't been for the ear-to-ear smile on her face. Hood's eyes left Pinkie for the briefest of moments as she led her onto the dance floor, catching sight of Rarity and Coco looking on. A wave of approval from Rarity only increased Hood's confidence further as she gently drew Pinkie close to her. Her other foreleg snaked behind Pinkie's back, and she shivered with joy when she felt one of Pinkie's hooves do the same to her. She began her slow, graceful movements, the ones that she had practiced so often during her ballroom dancing classes.

Everything about this was perfect. The music was beautiful. The lighting was spot-on. The dancing was elegant and precisely on-beat. And Pinkie, of course, was beyond perfect. Unlike last time, she seemed rather content to let Hood lead the entire time. In fact, "content" was probably not the right word for it. A better word might have been "delighted," a sentiment which became especially evident to Hood when she felt Pinkie rest her head on her shoulder as they danced. Hood's heart skipped a beat, but thankfully her hooves did not as she led her happy partner around the floor.

Hood prayed for this song to last an eternity, no matter how irritating that might have been for Rara to perform for the album. Three-ish minutes of pop music was not enough to sate her need for time spent with Pinkie. Disappointment threatened to spike as the song moved towards its end, but even its jab could not permeate the ecstasy that Hood was feeling at this moment. Making sure that her hold on Pinkie was firm, she leaned forward, tilting her dance partner for a perfect dip. The role reversal from the previous dance was not lost on Hood, but she had much more important things on her mind as she stared into Pinkie's baby-blue eyes, nose-to-nose with the pony who had spent the better part of the last week and a half pronking through her mind.

Fleur was never really the impulsive sort. Fleur preferred to think every single potential action out to a logical conclusion rather than act upon the first thing that came to mind. Fleur carefully planned ahead, acted only after pondering the circumstances, and almost never let a sudden idea remove her from her gameplan.

Hood was quickly reminded that Fleur was not currently present as she leaned in and placed a delicate kiss upon Pinkie's lips.

Pinkie's lips were warm and tasted lightly of a mixture of cotton candy and cinnamon. The cinnamon buns at one of the snack tables were likely to blame for that. Not that said table existed to Hood right now; as far as she could tell, the rest of the party had melted away, save for the excited squeal upon the meeting of lips that sounded too much like Rarity to be anypony else.

The kiss only lasted for the most fleeting of moments, yet it felt like forever. Hood gazed upon the stunned face of her dance partner as their lips parted, and for the first time since she'd near-involuntarily set upon that path of action, seeds of worry and doubt began to bury themselves into her brain. Their leaves began to sprout as Hood had a moment of mental panic. Had she gone too far? Was Pinkie ready for such a bold move? Had she just made a terrible mistake?

Just as quickly as they had begun to grow, the seeds of doubt in Hood's head were met with a lethal dose of Weed B Gon as Pinkie craned her neck up to return the gesture. Another squeal from Rarity could be heard, but to Hood it sounded like it was miles away as she tasted Pinkie's lips once more. This one only lasted a second or two longer than the previous one, but time wasn't a concern to Hood at the moment. All that mattered was that it had happened.

Hood slowly brought Pinkie back to a standing position, her heart racing a mile a minute. This time, the blush on Pinkie's face was clearly evident. A new song had already started, but neither pony got back to dancing. A small giggle escaped Pinkie's lips, possibly the most adorable sound Hood had ever heard. The two stared at each other for a good few moments before Pinkie finally spoke.

"Heehee...wow..." Pinkie said quietly.

"Mm...wow..." Hood responded, just as quietly.

The two returned to silence, smiling softly at each other. Just when the tension seemed to be at its highest, Pinkie raised one hoof towards Hood's hood.

Hood's heart began racing, but for a completely different reason this time. She wasn't sure she was ready for the reveal just yet...but stopping Pinkie didn't seem right. Panic raced through her head as the hoof moved closer, almost in slow motion. Hood's muscles seemed locked in place, unable to respond even if her brain had decided on a plan of action.

"Did you hear what happened in Canterlot?"

Hood's ear, still hidden under her cowl, turned towards the new voice that had entered her perception. It wasn't a voice she recognized; probably some random partygoer.

"Oh yeah. A burglar in Canterlot? That's new."

The second voice was unfamiliar as well, but his words rang true in Hood's ears. She knew exactly what they were talking about.

"And a missing supermodel? Geez, never expected that kind of crime in Canterlot. I hear they've got police searching far and wide."

Hood's muscles finally decided to activate themselves again as she suddenly pulled away from the incoming pink hoof. As much as she wanted to stay here with the lovely Pinkie Pie, she had to leave immediately. If gossip of Hood's burglar-like appearance and Fleur's disappearance had already reached Ponyville, things had to be defused immediately.

"I'm so sorry, but I have to go..." Hood whimpered.

"What?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all," Hood responded hastily. "If anything, this evening has been more right than most anything in my life. I'll see you at the next party, alright?" She began to turn to leave, but then hesitated. One hoof snaked out and lifted one of Pinkie's hooves off of the ground, and Hood gave its tip a gentle kiss before letting it go. She stuck around just long enough to see the dreamy smile on Pinkie's face before absconding into the night.

Returns and Revelations

It was the longest train ride ever.

In truth, it probably wasn't the longest train ride ever. It was roughly as long as every single train ride Hood had taken between Ponyville and Canterlot, and she knew for a fact that there were plenty of other routes which took far longer. Hood was on a roll as far as lying went, though, and exaggeration was just another form of lying.

That didn't make the train ride feel any shorter though.

Thankfully, Hood had the happy memories of the party, no matter how brief they might have been, to reflect on as the train chugged along. Seeing Pinkie again had somehow managed to be even better than she had expected. She still couldn't believe her brazenness in leaning in and stealing that kiss. Fleur would have dreamed of that but never acted upon it. Hood, on the other hoof, was far more impulsive. Perhaps she would have to teach Fleur to work on that, because acting on that risky impulse had led to one of her most glorious experiences in recent history. Neither kiss was very long, but both were beyond memorable. Hood honestly wasn't sure which she preferred. The shock on Pinkie's face from the first one was magnificent, her beauty holding up perfectly in her surprise. But the utter joy she felt behind the second kiss was intoxicating, and the fact that Pinkie had been the one to initiate it made it that much better. They each had their benefits that made it impossible to choose, and Hood counted herself lucky she didn't have to. Both memories held an equally dear place in her mind and heart.

Hood's cowl was starting to bother her more than ever; a lofty goal considering how much she loathed its appearance. Right now, it was feeling less like a dusty, shoddy disguise and more like a dusty, shoddy prison, one that was holding her in the throes of a major conundrum. If police were indeed searching the area like the ponies she'd heard at the party had claimed, she wasn't quite sure which way would be best for her to return to Canterlot. If she came back in her costume, she would surely have the police on her tail. Mint was not one to forget a noteworthy piece of clothing, and surely she would have tipped the police force off to look for a pony in a hideous brown mockery of fashion. If she returned as Fleur, however, there would certainly be questions as to why she was on a train that had left Ponyville. Neither of those outcomes was exactly a situation that she wished to find herself in, but all things considered, perhaps arriving out of costume was the optimal choice. Surely she could come up with a cover story before the train arrived in Canterlot.

"Now arriving in Canterlot!"

Hood cursed dramatic irony as the train pulled to a stop. Truly it was her worst enemy at the moment. Fleur would have to wait to make her return until she had a moment of safety.

Hood kept a vigilant watch on the ponies as they departed the train, waiting for the perfect opportunity to blend in and make an inconspicuous exit. Attired as she was, there was little to no chance of fitting in completely, but maybe sneaking into the back of a larger group was possible. It took a few moments before Hood found her opportunity, as a large group of what looked like tourists walked by her seat. Smooth as silk, she slid from her seat and slipped up between two of their number. She received a few glances, but none of them seemed terribly bothered by her company; a staunch contrast from what would have happened if she had tried to inject herself and her awful shawl into a group of typical Canterlot ponies.

Hood's eyes darted left and right as she stepped off of the train, making sure to lower her head as she did so. While her height was helpful to her career, there were occasions where it was more a curse than a boon. A glance around the station revealed a lack of police, and Hood breathed a sigh of relief before splitting away from the group she'd merged into. She wasn't particularly interested in another chase, no matter how exhilarating the first one had been. In fact, if that one hadn't happened so recently, she might have been okay with going into a chase right now. It was so unlike anything she or Fleur had ever done before, and the thrill of running full-tilt from a threat and improvising a route across alleys and rooftops to the train station was...well, thrilling.

A corner was turned, and Hood's previous relief was quickly dashed as she spotted a pair of police ponies patrolling the area. Quick as a flash, she ducked back into an alley, rather positive but not entirely certain that she hadn't been seen. She held her breath for a good few seconds, keeping an ear out for any approaching hoofsteps. She considered poking her head out once she was sure she hadn't been spotted, but that hadn't worked out so well with Mint. More caution would have to be employed this time. A quick scan of the area revealed a small path between buildings that would have been perfect if not for how horrifyingly dirty it was. Fleur would have been more worried about this, but Hood was significantly less so. With a skillful bound, she began her gallop through the side path. She didn't even want to look down and see how dirty her hooves were getting. There would be time to grieve over that when she arrived home.

Of course, getting home involved being Fleur again. Surely somepony would be watching by her house to see if either Fleur or Hood were to return, and the former was far more acceptable than the latter. She kept her gallop up for just a bit longer, carefully weaving about on a path towards home. As soon as she was safe in the knowledge that salvation was a mere few blocks away, she slowed her pace to a stop and began the ritual of disrobing. An errant thought of wishing that Pinkie was around for this disrobing caused her a bit of pause, but didn't keep her from her task for too long. There would be plenty of time to disrobe for Pinkie in the future. Hopefully.

Fleur hesitated once her detestable tunic had been removed. She may have been Fleur now, but she was still carrying Hood's hood around, and that was sure to be a problem. Or rather, that was sure to be a problem for somepony who didn't think quick on their hooves. Thankfully for Fleur, there was nopony of the kind present. A bout of deft folding and finagling later, she was now in possession of a slightly shoddy-looking sack. She was no designer, but it was passable enough to work for what she needed. With any hope, the precaution wouldn't even be necessary.

Fleur poked her head out from the alleyway, now having found herself a mere block away from her home. As far as she could tell, the coast was perfectly clear. After one final look down the street in both directions, she stepped out of the alleyway, ready to find security in the comfort of her own home, where she could lie down in bed and dream of her pink wonder once more.

"Fleur de Lis!"

It didn't take a genius to know that the voice belonged to the pony who Fleur kept forgetting had wings. Why couldn't it have just been the police?

Fleur quickly glanced down at her makeshift brown sack. Mint was far too observant to be fooled by the cloak's hasty transformation. She would most certainly recognize it immediately. Without a second thought, Fleur tossed the tunic back into the alley. Once Mint was gone, she would return for it, but right now it had to be out of sight. Fleur took a breath, then turned in the direction of the voice, ready for whatever Mint had in store for her.

The hug certainly took her by surprise.

"Where in Celestia's name have you been?" the pegasus asked. The worry in her voice was palpable, far too much so to be faked.

"Mint, darling," Fleur responded, reaching a foreleg out to wrap around her back. "Whatever is the problem?" Her delivery wasn't spot-on with that one, but the fact that she was engaged in a genuine hug with Mint had thrown her for a loop. They had exchanged little social hugs before, but this was a hug of a different magnitude. This was nearly a hug of Pinkie proportions.

"Have you not heard?" Mint asked, pulling back to look her in the eyes. "I came to speak to you and found a prowler leaving your house! I chased the ruffian as long as I could, but they escaped on a train to Ponyville. As far as I could tell, nothing was missing from your home, but when I realized you were missing, I contacted the authorities to search for you. Where in the world were you?"

Even though this was all news that she had heard before, some of which she had been present to experience herself, Fleur still found herself touched by Mint's efforts. She had considered her a friend for a good while, but hadn't expected such an outburst of concern from her. Seeing this side of Mint made the fact that she had to lie to her again that much harder, but it wasn't like she was a stranger to lying at this point.

"I decided to stay with my parents for a while longer," Fleur said, feeling safe in the fact that Mint did not know her parents. "Did...did you say a prowler was in my house?" Perhaps the little hesitation was milking it a bit, but perhaps it wasn't.

"Yes!" Mint said, finally letting go of her. "A disgusting prowler in a hideous brown cloak. Thank goodness they did not appear to take anything, and thank goodness you did not have to witness the monstrosity in which they were attired. But I must admit, I am more thankful for your safety. I shall alert the police immediately and let them know you are safe and accounted for."

Fleur couldn't help but smile, despite her fib-induced guilt. She could get used to this side of Mint. A little bit of genuine care was just what she needed from her typically cold friend. Perhaps she would have to "have her home attacked" more often. She held one foreleg out and Mint took the invitation rather quickly, giving her another hug.

"Thank you, Mint," Fleur said, so soft that Mint wouldn't have heard it if not for their proximity. "You are a good friend indeed."

"And you are lucky to have me, dear," Mint responded, giving her another squeeze before letting go. Of course she wouldn't be the Mint Fleur knew without a comment like that here and there. Fleur chose to just smile, let out a small "mm," and hug her friend back.

Part of Fleur, a part enchanted by her friend's care for her, wanted to admit her secret right then and there. Part of her saw this new side of Mint and believed that maybe she had turned a new leaf. Maybe the attitude problems that Fleur saw from her on a near-daily basis were a relic of the past, lost to the sands of time. Perhaps it was finally time to tell Mint of Hood's existence and her raison d'être. With this new sweet and caring behavior, maybe she could even come in handy, supporting her and helping her figure out how to go about things.

"And of course the prowler jumped onto a train to Ponyville," Mint mused. "It does not shock me that a lowlife like that would be heading there."

Maybe it could wait.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fleur stared with disdain at her cloak as she walked through the streets of Canterlot. The morning sun shone on the garment and allowed her a clear view of the tear that upset her so. She wasn't sure if it had been created when she was reshaping the garment or when she had haphazardly tossed it into the alley. In truth, the answer to that question would not help her in the slightest. Knowing how the tear was formed would not fix said tear, nor would her own below-average sewing skills. There were only two mares she could think of that could fix it. One of them was Rarity, and it was probably best not to divulge her secret to her yet. That only left the other, whom she had to speak with anyway.

Mumsy and pop-pop would certainly be up at this time. It was rare of them to sleep in, even in their youths. Sure enough, it was only a few seconds after her knock that she could hear hoofsteps making their way towards the door, which quickly opened to reveal the smiling face of her mother.

"Princess!"

As Balmy Breeze pulled her into a hug, Fleur was reminded of why she enjoyed surprising her parents with a visit so much. Even though she was a full-grown mare, she found herself snuggling against her mother like a child and preparing her body for the inevitable bear hug when her father approached. Sure enough, it was only a scant few seconds later that she was picked up bodily by her father, the life being lovingly squeezed out of her.

"How ya doing there, Angel?" White Pine said, ruffling his daughter's mane in exactly the manner she hated—not that it didn't still make her giggle like a filly.

"Quite well, pop-pop," Fleur responded, playfully attempting to escape his grasp. Due to his strength, however, escape would only happen on his terms. He let her struggle for a good ten more seconds until her giggles reached a fever pitch, then gave her a kiss on the cheek before finally letting her go.

"Darling, do be careful with her mane," Balmy said with a grin. "You know how long it takes to care for it."

"Yeah, yeah," Pine responded, quickly running a hoof through her mane and taking delight in the little pout it created. "There, good as new and beautiful as always. So what brings ya here anyway?"

"It is...a long story," Fleur said, carefully fixing her mane. "Perhaps we could talk about it over brunch?"

"Of course, sweetheart," Balmy said, giving her daughter a gentle smile. "I will ask the chef to begin preparations immediately. For now, why don't we..."

Fleur watched her mother's eyebrow arch ever so slightly as she finally noticed the garment she was carrying around.

"...Princess?" Balmy asked. "Why do you have one of my old costumes with you?" Fleur smiled an awkward smile.

"Well...you see..." Fleur began. Exactly how much was she going to tell them? She was given little time to think about it before Balmy spoke up once more.

"We shall talk about it over brunch then," Balmy said, giving her an understanding nod.

"Yes, mumsy."

~~~~~~~~~~

Fleur thanked her lucky stars that her mumsy and pop-pop were so patient with her. If she were invited to a meal by somepony who told her that they had a "long story" they wished to talk to her about, but then said pony had spent nearly the entire meal avoiding the topic, she likely would have gotten frustrated. Her parents, however, did not. To their credit, if they were frustrated, they never let it show. While Balmy was an actress and well-practiced in masking her emotions, Pine was decidedly not. Still, he and his wife sat through and participated in all the idle chatter that Fleur brought up to delay the inevitable.

"So..." Fleur finally said as she watched the butler remove her plate from the table. "About the cloak."

"It doesn't appear to be quite your style, Princess," Balmy said, giving her a cheeky little grin.

"Well, no..." Fleur began.

"Gee," Pine interrupted. "If I'd have know you didn't mind the dingy look,I coulda saved a wad of dough on all the clothes I bought ya!"

Fleur hmphed and crossed her forelegs, puffing up her cheeks in frustration. It was a relic of her youth, a face and gesture that she would typically employ as a filly when her parents would tease her. Such actions would typically work against her favor, setting her parents off on how adorable she was and teasing her further. Thankfully for her, her parents simply smiled at her behavior and let the teasing slide.

"Okay, Angel, I'm sorry," Pine said, still grinning from ear to ear. "Let's hear what this is all about, alright?"

Fleur found herself at a crossroad once again. She had mentally prepared throughout the course of brunch for how she would approach this, and the brief bout of teasing had thrown her off her game. Her original plan of lying to her parents about the reason behind the cloak suddenly seemed wrong. They had been so patient with her, not only tonight but throughout her entire life. Could she really lie straight to their faces?

No. She couldn't.

"Well," Fleur began after a deep breath. "I have been using this cloak to sneak to the parties of a common pony in Ponyville. I have developed a bit of a...crush on her, and attending her parties in secret was the only option, so I used this cloak as a disguise and developed an entire persona in which to attend said parties."

The confession was only given a few seconds to hang in the air before an "awww" from the other side of the table caused Fleur to blush.

"Our little girl has a crush!" Pine cooed, giving Balmy a smile. Balmy, for her part, just chuckled softly.

"Pop-Pop!" Fleur said with yet another pout. "This is hardly the first time I have been interested in somepony!"

"That does not make it any less adorable," Balmy said, smiling gently at her. "But this still requires a bit more explanation. I do not quite understand why you had to sneak into these parties. Were you not invited?"

"Was my little Angel party-crashing?" Pine asked. "Didn't think you had it in ya!"

"Oh no, I was invited," Fleur replied, blushing lightly. "It is just that...well, she is not a mare of my social status. She is a wonderful mare, of this there is no doubt, but being seen at a party held by a mare of her social class could ruin my career."

Fleur bit her lip as she fell under the scrutiny of her parents' stares. She was sure she had worded things gently and never made it sound like her social class made her inherently better than Pinkie. What had she done wrong? He sound of her mother clearing her throat made her sit straight up. As a filly, when mumsy cleared her throat, not directing every drop of attention towards her meant trouble, and even though she was a full-grown mare, the influence still held strong.

"Princess..." Balmy said. "You do realize what you are describing, correct?"

Fleur knew better than to answer. This was one of her rhetorical questions.

"I had the acting world in the frog of my hoof at your age," Balmy continued. "I had endless opportunities, huge roles that demanded crowds from all over Equestria. I could have stuck to my social circles and only looked for romance from those as privileged as I. But had I done that, I never would have found the most wonderful, kind, and striking stallion the world had ever seen." She rested one hoof on Pine, who gave her a little grin.

"Ain't every day a plain ol' lumberjack like yours truly gets to hook up with Equestria's biggest up-and-coming star," Pine said, putting a foreleg around his wife and smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't even tell you how many suitors your mom here had. Stallions and mares all over the place wanted her, and any of 'em coulda bought and sold me quicker than a hiccup. But she listened to her heart, I listened to mine, and here we are. And her career sure didn't end right then and there, I tell ya what."

Fleur could safely say that she felt like an idiot. It was a parallel that she really should have drawn long ago, but she hadn't even considered it. Mumsy and pop-pop were more in love than anypony she'd ever known, and they certainly did not come from the same social class. Maybe, just maybe, she was worrying about this a bit too much.

"So are you going to tell this mare your little secret?" Balmy asked. "I have every reason to believe she would jump at the chance to be with one as lovely and sweet as yourself."

"I think I will, mumsy," Fleur said, giving her parents a gentle smile. "I think I will."

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun's rays shine brightly that afternoon, but one could argue that its radiance could not compare to Fleur's own as she walked home. She was already calculating a bit of a plan as she made her way towards home, thankful that mumsy was able to repair the tear in her cloak. That cloak was to play a very important role in her reveal to Pinkie Pie, and it had to be in perfect shape. Or at least as perfect as such a repugnant garment could be.

Fleur felt her heart flutter once more as she saw a pink envelope sticking up from her mailbox. Her restraint allowed her to not charge towards it at top speed, but her pace certainly increased as she got closer. She barely even cared about the other mail as she plucked the invitation out of the box and hurried inside. Once the door was closed, she descended upon her couch like a mare determined, delicately opening the envelope and extracting its contents. While the invite for the previous party had seemed like a rather basic invitation save for her name, it became clear to Fleur as soon as she began reading that this one was tailored a bit more towards her.

Dear Hoodie,
I'm so so glad you came to yesterday's party! I wish you could have stayed longer, but we'll just have to make that time up at my next party on Friday night at 8:00 PM! I can't wait to see you there!

:heart: Pinkie Pie

PS: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were gone!

PPS: I know this isn't the same as the real thing, but hopefully I can give you the real thing again at the party, cause that was kinda my favorite part!

Just below the last words of the letter was a sight that made Fleur's heart melt: a powder-pink lipstick kiss print.

Fleur was, for lack of a better term, tickled pink. She read the letter over and over again, smiling more and more each time. Finally, she brought it to her lips and gently kissed the kiss print. It tasted...papery. But if she imagined hard enough, she could almost taste cotton candy. Friday could not come soon enough.

The Perfect Party Plan

"What do you think this is all about?"

"You've asked that ten times so far, Minnie," Lemon Hearts said, giving a look in the direction of the others and hoping for an empathetic eye roll from at least one of them. As usual, she found solace in Twinkleshine. "We still don't know. And asking more won't change that."

"I know, silly," Minuette responded. "But it's something to talk about!"

"I actually think I might know," Moondancer said. As all eyes fell on her, she regretted saying anything. "But if it's what I think it is, I can't say. It's her place to say it, not mine."

"Not even a word?" Twinkleshine asked, leaning forward on her chair. "Not a single hint? I promise I won't tell anypony."

"Oh, that'll be the day," Moondancer replied. "You gossip more than any of us."

"I do not!" Twinkleshine shot back, before glancing at the others. "Do I?" The gentle murmur from Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Saffron managed to answer her question in just the way she didn't want to hear, causing her to grumble and cross her forelegs.

"So where is she anyway?" Saffron asked, glancing towards the door as she had a number of times in the past few minutes.

"I'm sure she'll be here any minute," Minuette replied. "I mean, this is when she asked us to meet, after all!"

"I do hope you're right," Saffron said, glancing at the time. "I don't have much time left on my break, and father gets very cross if I take too long."

"Cross does not even begin to cover it," Coriander said as he walked by the mares' table. "Do you know how much of a pain it is to wait on customers and cook all the food? Because you will once it is my turn for a break!"

"It will only be a little while longer, father!" Saffron insisted, trying to convince her father just as much as she was trying to convince herself. Granted, it was only a couple of minutes past the time that Fleur said she wanted to meet, but every minute counted when one had a deadline.

"The pretty pony had best arrive soon if she hopes to speak with you," Coriander muttered as he walked into the kitchen.

As if on cue, the Tasty Treat's door swung open, allowing Fleur passage. Her attempts to appear cool, calm, and collected proved to be only semi-successful as she searched the restaurant for the table her friends had occupied; an easily-accomplished feat as soon as Minuette began to wave eagerly in her direction.

"I am terribly sorry for my tardiness, friends," Fleur said as she sat down in the chair left for her. "To be perfectly honest, I have been stressing over the news that I have called you all here to tell you about, and I completely lost track of time."

"It's fine, Fleur!" Minuette insisted, resting a comforting hoof on her back. "We all lose track of time sometimes! Well, not really me, but hey, if the mare with the hourglass on her butt couldn't keep track of time it'd look pretty weird, huh?"

"Perhaps," Fleur said, glancing awkwardly at Minuette's cutie mark before looking back up.

"So what is this all about anyway, Fleur?" Saffron asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, far from it," Fleur replied, smiling appreciatively at her concern. "In fact, it's very much the opposite."

"So something's right?" Lemon Hearts asked. "That's good!"

"Indeed," Fleur said, setting her front hooves crossed on the table. Such table manners would have been viewed as uncouth were she at one of the soirées that she hadn't attended in quite a while, but she hardly figured this group would fault her for it.

"So come on, spill the beans!" Minuette said, looking for all the world like her physical well-being depended on hearing this news.

"Very well," Fleur responded, taking a deep breath. "First off...I must admit that I have not been entirely forthright with you all. Moondancer has figured this out already, and I feel it is only right that I inform the rest of you as well." She looked across the table at Moondancer, who gave her a nod and a smile of approval.

"Ooh, this sounds juicy!" Twinkleshine exclaimed, blushing a bit at the smirks she got from the others.

"I suppose it could be described as such," Fleur said. She glanced around the table, taking a deep breath. She was used to being the center of attention, but the eager states of her friends somehow managed to shake her a bit anyway. Still, she gathered her strength and pushed through. "You see...when you were all going to Pinkie Pie's parties and I claimed to have other plans, I have actually been attending them in secret."

"What?" Minuette exclaimed. "No way! How could you have been there without us seeing you?"

The words were like sweet music to Fleur's ears. To see them so baffled meant that she had truly done a splendid job of hiding herself. Perhaps deceit wasn't exactly the best thing to be proud of, but a job well done warranted at least a modicum of pride. In a slick little maneuver that she had admittedly been practicing since deciding to let the girls in on her secret, she whipped the cloak out of her saddlebag and deftly slipped into it. Every move she made matched the grace that was expected from her as she equipped the beastly little number, even adding a little flourish at the end.

"Hi," Hood said, nodding to the astonished mares. "I'm Hood Rat!"

Lemon, Twinkleshine, and Saffron let out tandem gasps, while Moondancer just nodded knowingly. Minuette was so happily surprised that she even gave the revelation a round of applause. Fleur may have been the showmare of the two, but that didn't stop Hood from basking in the attention.

"I can't believe we saw you there and didn't even realize it!" Minuette bubbled.

"I realized it," Moondancer chimed in.

"I can't believe most of us didn't realize it!" Minuette corrected herself without missing a beat.

"I have taken a fair amount of acting classes," Fleur said as she lowered the hood, thankful that they had procured a private table as she had requested. After so many calculated risks, revealing herself to the public right here and now would have been a mistake of tremendous proportions.

"And it shows!" Minuette responded, holding one hoof in the air towards Fleur. Fleur stared at the hoof, unaware of what she was meant to do with it. It took a bit of gentle coaxing from Twinkleshine for Fleur to engage in the unfamiliar art of the hoof bump. Regular ponies had such odd customs.

"So what's with the sneaking around anyway?" Lemon asked. "Were you not invited? I'm sure Pinkie would be happy to have you there anyway."

"Oh no, I was invited," Fleur said, an awkward smile crossing her face. "It is...a rather long story. But suffice to say, I needed to hide myself at the time. Now, however, I would like to reveal myself to her, because..."

The hesitation was more than obvious. Fleur knew this for a fact. She hadn't meant to hesitate, but something about the eyes of her friends boring holes into her had caused her to lose the words she was about to say. The more she thought about Pinkie, though, the stronger her resolve became. Every vision of that wonderful mare, beautiful inside and out, reminded her of just how strongly she felt for her. Every thought of being held in those slightly-chubby pink forelegs stood as a happy reminder of just what it meant to her to show her true feelings. The desire to taste her lips once more served as a blissful needling to tell her friends just how she felt about...

"Fleuuuuur?"

This was beginning to become a regular occurrence. Fleur could hardly blame herself, though. Pinkie just had a way of leaving her speechless.

"My apologies," Fleur said. "You see, I was rather distracted with...well, thoughts of Pinkie Pie. As far as my feelings towards her go, I would not go as far as to use the word..."

"Fleur loves Pinkie Pie!" Minuette exclaimed, looking about ready to defy the laws of physics herself and rocket out of her chair.

Fleur's face quickly took delight in its new resemblance to Pinkie's as the excited murmurs of her friends heated her cheeks. Every "aww" and joyful coo made it worse, although her little smile never left her face the entire time.

"L-let us not be hasty," Fleur said, an unfamiliar stammer jostling her cadence. "I believe it is far too early to claim love...but I am quite enamored with her."

"Awwwww!" Minuette squealed. "That's so adorable! Oh my gosh, you two would be the cutest couple!" Then her eyes lit up. "Now it all makes sense! Pinkie couldn't stop talking about how Hood Rat kissed her at the last party! Oooo, you've already got your in, Miss Fleur!"

"I do hope you are right," Fleur said, helplessly smiling at the thought of Pinkie feeling the need to let everypony know how happy she was about their kissing. "But I need help from you ladies in order to tell her in just the right way."

"Us?" Moondancer asked. "What could we possibly do to help?"

"I need you to create a distraction at tonight's party," Fleur told them. "Anything that will keep others away from her so I may speak to her privately."

"Why privately?" Moondancer asked. Fleur opened her mouth to respond, but was quickly interrupted.

"So she can have her alone time with Pinkie, of course!" Twinkleshine sang as Lemon giggled along. The blush on Fleur's face was never more evident.

"We will be happy to distract the others for you, Fleur," Saffron assured her.

"Definitely!" Minuette agreed. "Just consider us your wingmares!"

"But none of you have wings..." Fleur responded.

"It's a phrase, silly!" Minuette said, patting Fleur on the back. "It means that you can count on us to have your back, no matter what! That's what friends are for, right?"

"Indeed," Fleur replied, putting her foreleg around Minuette. Everything was falling into place. Her plan was absolutely, positively perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~

The evening couldn't have been more perfect.

It was a cool evening, a fact for which Hood found herself thankful. Her choice of apparel did not exactly lend itself to warm weather comfort, and any slight drop in temperature was welcomed with open forelegs. The train had been mostly empty, freeing her of the leering eyes of passengers who disapproved of her ratty appearance. And with the confidence of her parents in her heart and the willingness of her friends to back her up, plus the promise of finally letting Pinkie know her identity and her feelings, tonight was looking to end beautifully.

Even the walk to Sugarcube Corner felt perfect. There was nothing about the walk that really differentiated it from her other walks, but the feeling of difference remained regardless. Perhaps it was just the anticipation of admitting everything to Pinkie that colored this particular walk in a different light, but Hood honestly didn't care what the reason behind it was. It was a beautiful kind of different and Hood was quite alright with everything about tonight being beautiful. Although she had to admit that nothing, even Fleur, could match the beauty that Pinkie Pie held.

Hood knocked lightly on the door to Sugarcube Corner, her heart beginning to race and defy her otherwise-calm demeanor. Even though she had the utmost confidence in tonight's plan, that didn't stop the twinge of nervousness that traveled from her chest and down her spine. It shook her, but still she welcomed it. It added to the thrill of the situation, and while Fleur didn't tend to engage in much thrilling behavior, this was Hood's forte. Hood lived life on the edge, risking life and limb to get what she wanted. Compared to her penchant for dangerous chases, life-threatening rooftop dives, and death-defying cliff side bungee jumps, this was cake.

As Hood waited for the door to open, she quickly remembered that the whole "bungee jump" thing was a fabricated part of this persona she had created. Perhaps she needed to blur the lines between Hood and Fleur a bit less.

"Hoodie!"

The singsongy sound of Pinkie's sweet voice brought Hood back to earth. She had little chance to respond before she was grabbed in a tight hug by the mare of her dreams. Pinkie always seemed excitable, but it was evident simply from the energy behind this hug that she was even happier now that Hood was here. Hood sighed dreamily and hugged her back, more than happy to hold that wonderful pony for as long as she would allow.

"I'm so glad you came!" Pinkie bubbled as she squeezed Hood like a badly-dressed tube of toothpaste. "I mean I figured you'd come because I invited you and stuff but still! I'm sooooo happy you're here!"

"And I'm happy I'm here too," Hood said, dizzy from Pinkie's affectionate words. Or perhaps it was the lack of oxygen from how tightly she was being squeezed. The former was a bit more fun.

"C'mon in!" Pinkie said, finally releasing Hood from the grip that would have given her an hourglass figure had she not already pretty much possessed one. "I've got so much planned for tonight, it's gonna knock your socks off! Or maybe it already has since you aren't wearing socks on those pretty little hooves of yours!"

Hood giggled lightly. She could listen to Pinkie talk all day, especially if it pertained to her and how pretty she was. Perhaps she should have worn socks...she blushed lightly at the thought of introducing Pinkie to the sight of her in some of her favorite stockings. Thankfully, the blush went unseen.

Hood glanced around as she entered Sugarcube Corner. As hard as it was to take her eyes off of Pinkie, she needed confirmation of her friends' attendance. Searching through the many partygoers took some time, but the sight of Minuette's easily-recognizable mane soon filled her with relief. The gears in her head began to turn as she looked towards her friends. Part of her wanted to enact her plan right away and reveal herself to Pinkie, but part of her figured it might be best to wait a little while. Pinkie might have been the main attraction by far, but there was still more of the party to enjoy. This was definitely her mindset. It wasn't nervousness over the impending reveal at all, no matter what her mind tried to tell her.

"Pinkie?" Hood said, garnering her attention. "I see a few friends of mine over there. Is it okay if I go talk to them and meet back up with you in a bit?" She bit her lip, hoping that Pinkie wouldn't be terribly offended at her wishing to speak to ponies other than her. He last thing she wanted to do was hurt her feelings.

"Of course, silly!" Pinkie said with a smile. "It is a party, after all! It would be kinda mean of me if I said you couldn't do stuff without me!" She gave Hood the tiniest of smiles and fluttered her eyelashes. "You will come back to spend time with me though, riiiiight?"

Flirting. Unabashed flirting by that adorable little minx. Hood didn't know she had it in her, and yet here she was employing it masterfully; blatant enough to make her intent known but subtle enough to leave her wanting more. Every bone and muscle in her body threatened to liquefy on the spot, her brain demanding that she devote the rest of her night to the bubbly pink delight that had managed to captivate her with no more than the slightest of attempts. Yet she had to resist. Absence made the heart grow fonder, and if she was to succeed in her goal, she had to be prepared.

"O-of course!" Hood stammered, her practiced voice cracking like that of a prepubescent filly.

"Wowie," Pinkie said with a giggle. "That worked pretty well, huh?" She gave Hood the cutest of winks before turning to chat up some party guests. Hood knew it was rude to stare, but she was sure she saw the slightest shake to Pinkie's step as she trotted off. She took a quick breath to center herself and fish her wandering mind from the gutter, then turned to head in the direction of Minuette and company.

"Hood Rat, darling!"

The unmistakeable voice of Rarity grabbed Hood's attention and stopped her in her tracks. She turned to face Rarity and was met with a smile that nearly rivaled Pinkie's, Coco's smile only a bit less intense.

"Hi, Rarity!" Hood said. "And hi Coco!" An attempt to ask how they were doing was quickly shut down by a hug from Rarity.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" Rarity gushed.

"You are?" Hood asked. Of course Pinkie was happy to see her, but Rarity being this overjoyed was unexpected. Had Fleur been present, she wouldn't have been surprised in the least that so many ponies were delighted to see her, but the concept was new to Hood.

"Oh, absolutely!" Rarity replied. She let go of the hug, and Hood watched her smile briefly fade as she got a good look at the dusty residue left on her coat by Hood's cloak. A quick dusting quickly brought her smile back. "How could I not be, Little Miss Kissyface?"

"Oh..." Hood replied, giggling softly as her hood hid her blush. "I thought you might have seen that..."

"Oh, everypony did, darling!" Rarity said, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, nearly everypony. But trust me, the ones who didn't certainly heard about it from Pinkie! It was so romantic, I nearly died on the spot!"

"it really was," Coco added, giving Rarity a wink and a playful rump bump. "And Pinkie wasn't the only one who couldn't stop talking about it, was she?"

"Oh come now, Coco Puff!" Rarity exclaimed, a sheepish grin crossing her face. "It wasn't that much! And you know that I think you're the most romantic pony there is!"

"Do you?" Coco asked, a sly little twang to her voice.

"I do!" Rarity answered. "You're my beautiful, romantic, sexy little Coco Puff."

"And you're my sweet, lovely Rarebear," Coco cooed back, now nose-to-nose with Rarity.

"I love you," Rarity whispered.

"I love you too," Coco responded. Then the two met in a tender kiss.

Hood didn't mean to stare. Staring at two ponies kissing was a bit rude and more than a bit awkward. If she were a petty mare, she would have called this revenge for the two of them—not to mention most of the ponies at the last party, apparently—watching as she and Pinkie kissed. Revenge, however, was the last thing on Hood's mind. As she watched the two kiss, she saw everything that she wanted for herself and Pinkie. The cute little nicknames, the displays of affection, the constant closeness...that kind of relationship was precisely what Hood...no, what Fleur wanted with Pinkie. And Fleur couldn't have that kind of relationship with Pinkie until Hood let her free.

She could enjoy the rest of the party later. Right now, her perfect plan needed to get underway.

"If you'll excuse me, ladies," Hood said, stepping around them, "I need to see Pinkie immediately." She wasn't sure whether or not they heard her; if they had, then they'd clearly decided a response wasn't necessary.

Hood strode confidently towards her group of friends. Minuette was the first to notice her and tried to greet her with a wave, but Hood barely seemed to notice it through her determination. She rose a hoof to her horn, then gave a pointed salute to the group. Not a word needed to be said. The agreed-upon signal was more than enough.

"Hey everypony!" Minuette shouted out, her voice amplified by a well-timed spell from Moondancer. "I bet none of you can beat me at limbo!" She gestured with a grin to a long limbo pole that Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine were now holding. "And whoever can get the lowest will win a free meal at the Tasty Treat!"

"Dessert included!" Saffron added, waving to the crowd that was rapidly forming around the bunch.

Hood grinned as she watched the party gravitate towards the impromptu limbo cutest. She had left her friends to figure out on their own how to distract the entire party, and it had worked with flying colors. Perhaps a little too well, she thought, as she watched Pinkie begin to head in that direction. She had to act immediately.

"Pinkie?" Hood asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "May I speak with you in private?"

"Right now?" Pinkie asked, eyeing the crowd. "I'm great at limbo! I can totally win that free meal!" Hood hummed, then inspiration struck as she leaned in close to Pinkie's ear.

"I need to speak to you right now, Hood purred into Pinkie's ear. "In private."

Pinkie's ear perked, and the faintest of blushes colored her cheeks.

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie responded, the promise of future free food forgotten. "C'mon! We can talk in my bedroom!"

Hood wasn't positive whether or not Pinkie had realized he ramifications of such an invite. She had shown such variation in her approaches that both a flirtatious advance and an innocuous suggestion were equally possible. That was the adventure inherent in being smitten with Pinkie Pie: one never knew just what to expect.

The trip to Pinkie's room was nerve-wracking. It was a walk that Hood hoped to be taking more often after tonight, but that all hinged on her being able to reveal her secret in the most perfect manner. Hood felt confident one moment and nervous the next, but no matter how she felt, this needed to be done. Pinkie needed to know, and come hell or high water, she would know.

Pinkie's room was just as Hood had expected it to be. It was mostly neat, but with just enough of a mess to be noticeable. To find her room completely free of clutter would have shocked Hood. Pinkie was so whimsical that at least some mess was to be expected, and Hood found herself thankful that it was only a pile or two of clothes and party supplies that adorned the floor near her bed. Too much of a mess might have been too much to bear, but this degree of disorder felt just right, perfectly Pinkie Pie.

"So!" Pinkie said, leaping onto her bed and bouncing lightly on the mattress. "What did you want to talk about?"

Staring at Pinkie lying on her bed brought Hood a brief bout of pause. Her carnal desires were begging her to join Pinkie in lying on that bed, to snuggle up next to her and enjoy the soft warmth of her body. And yet she fought those urges. There were important matters to deal with. Perhaps snuggling after, but business came first. She sat demurely on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. This was, quite literally, the moment of truth.

"Pinkie Pie," Hood began, yet to look back at her. "I have to admit that I haven't been entirely truthful with you."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked. Hood felt the mattress shift and assumed Pinkie had sat up.

"Well..." Hood said. "As you might have guessed from last time, I've been coming to your parties not just because I'm interested in them, but, well...because I'm interested in you." a gentle giggle from behind her briefly interrupted her speech.

"Uh, yeah!" Pinkie responded. "I kinda guessed that after the kiss! Unless you just kiss ponies all the time or something!"

"I don't," Hood said, chuckling lightly. "The part I have been lying about, though, is my identity. "You see, my name is not Hood Rat."

"Phew!" Pinkie exclaimed. "That's a relief! I mean it's not a bad name or anything but I was kinda wondering if it would be insulting to call you Ratty."

Hood shook her head and chuckled again. Even in moments of seriousness, Pinkie could always find a way to lighten the mood and make her smile. It was a testament to just how wonderful she was.

"Maybe a little," Hood responded. "But regardless...now that we're alone, I'd like to show you who I really am. May I?"

"Sure!" came Pinkie's reply. The mattress creaked once again, and Hood felt the weight on it shift as Pinkie moved closer to her. Her heart raced as Hood slowly lifted her forelegs, hooves reaching towards the edge of the hood. Time around the two seemed to stop, waiting with anticipation equal to Pinkie's as Hood carefully pulled her horn from the hole atop the garment. The cloth gradually receded from her head, letting her long pink locks flow freely. The bed creaked in response through the otherwise-soundless room as Pinkie leaned even closer. One more deep breath permeated the silence before Fleur finally turned to look at Pinkie, revealing her face for the first time.

The moment hung in the air as the two locked eyes, and for the briefest of times. Fleur began to worry about what Pinkie would think. That brief time was quickly shattered as Pinkie's eyes lit up.

"Fleur de Lis?!" Pinkie exclaimed, looking for her audience of one like she had been utterly floored. "The famous supermodel?!"

Apparently, Pinkie had learned a bit about her since the Carousel Boutique meetup that had ignited Fleur's infatuation. Either that or she had been very low-key about it back then. It didn't matter to Fleur either way; the smile on Pinkie's face spoke volumes.

"Indeed," Fleur said, slipping back into her regular voice. Her own smile was colored with both glee and nervousness, but the former was beginning to vanquish the latter.

"I can't believe it!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing slightly in place. "I never would have guessed, except for the fact that you were pretty tall and slender and you were a white unicorn and there was one moment where I saw a bit of pink mane poking out of your hood but I decided not to say anything about it! But there are lots of tall white unicorns with pink manes so I still probably wouldn't have guessed! This is amazing!"

Fleur's heart filled with joy as she watched Pinkie's reactions. Her elation was about the best she could possibly ask for, save for a sudden bout of activity that a naughtier part of her mind was secretly hoping for.

"It is, isn't it?" Fleur asked, brimming with happiness. She reached down and took one of Pinkie's hooves, staring into her eyes. "I am sorry for keeping this a secret for so long, but I simply had to."

"Why?" Pinkie asked, staring right back at her with those beautiful baby-blue eyes.

"I had to keep it a secret, I really did," Fleur said, her stare deep and meaningful. "I feared that my career would be in jeopardy if I was seen attending a common party instead of a fancy soirée." She beamed as she pulled Pinkie's hoof close to her chest. "But that is all in the past! Now we can be together!" She held the hoof tightly, more than content in the knowledge that she would never have to let it go. Everything had gone perfectly, and she knew there was no way she could possibly be happier.

"Excuse me?"

Fleur tilted her head. Perhaps she hadn't spoken clearly enough.

"I said that I feared my reputation would be at stake if I was seen coming to a party like this," Fleur told her, regarding her cute little hoof fondly. "But I no longer–"

"So you think you're too good for my parties?"

Fleur suddenly found herself no longer in possession of Pinkie's hoof. She looked back up into Pinkie's eyes and was startled at what she saw. Those big, happy eyes didn't look too happy anymore.

"Wha...?" Fleur uttered. "N-no, I..."

"But that's what you said!" Pinkie said, scooting a bit away from her. "You were hiding your face to come here because it would ruin your reputation!"

"But..." Fleur tried to interject, but she was swiftly cut off.

"Why couldn't you reveal yourself in the party room, huh?" Pinkie not so much asked as demanded. "Too ashamed to be seen in public with me?"

"Not at all!" Fleur replied. Things were getting scary. She'd had no idea that a sweet little cinnamon bun like Pinkie could get this terrifying.

"Well then why did you say those things?!" Pinkie shouted. A fire had entered her eyes, and Fleur found herself shrinking back into her cloak.

"I..." Fleur squeaked. "I just...it's not that..."

Fleur's ability to speak completely gave out on her at the same time that the curls of Pinkie's mane did. Fleur covered her mouth with a hoof as she watched the formerly-poofy mane fall flat. She croaked quietly in another effort to speak, wanting desperately to verbalize but completely incapable of such endeavors. Looking into Pinkie's eyes did nothing to help matters. The anger was still quite present, but was beginning to give way to something even worse as the first tears began to form.

"Well you know what?" Pinkie said, trembling a bit. "I-if you're too big and important to be seen at a common party with a common pony like me...th-then the door's right there." Her last words lacked the fire of the ones preceding them, but there was still plenty of emotion behind them.

Fleur felt her heart shatter as she saw the first tear fall from Pinkie's cheek. This was not okay. This was a million shades of not okay. This was supposed to be a beautiful moment. Pinkie was not supposed to be sad; sad and Pinkie just did not go together. Worse yet was the knowledge that it was her words that had made this happen. That mere thought was nearly enough to spiral Fleur into misery, but she couldn't break yet. She needed to save this.

"Pinkie...please, just let me..." Fleur began.

"Go!!" Pinkie shouted, nearly knocking Fleur off of the bed by the force of her voice alone. Fleur attempted to speak again, but her words seemed to solidify in her throat, taking residence alongside the lump that had firmly lodged itself there upon seeing Pinkie start to cry.

"Just...just go," Pinkie muttered, slumping down onto the mattress. Her sniffle echoed that of Fleur's as the two sat in what was otherwise a painful silence. Broken and deflated, Fleur finally got up from the bed, seemingly having no other choice in the matter. She considered going out without her hood, but she did not feel like she deserved to look beautiful. One more look was cast in Pinkie's direction, and the sight of those watery blue eyes was almost enough to slay her on the spot.

"...I'm sorry," Fleur said, her voice soft and shaky.

Pinkie said nothing. It was one of the few times Fleur had ever seen her be silent, and it tore her apart.

Whatever had happened between Fleur leaving Pinkie's room and finding herself on her way back to the train station was a blur, but it didn't matter. She thought she might have heard a faraway voice call for Hood, but she couldn't be certain, and it didn't matter anyway. Hood had caused this all, and...

No. It was pointless to pass the blame to a persona. She had caused it. As the tears soaked her cheeks and were absorbed by the accursed cloak, Fleur knew that she couldn't blame anypony but herself.

Everything needed to be perfect, and yet nothing was.

Rebuilding and Restructuring

Frowning was terrible for one's complexion. It created unsightly lines, and the last thing that anypony who truly cared about their appearance wanted was an onset of lines ruining their lovely visage. As such, frowning was a no-go for supermodels.

Crying did awful things to one's face. It reddened eyes and caused makeup to streak, makeup which was often very carefully applied over a length of time. Wasting time and ruining one's looks were bad ideas in general. As such, crying was also a no-go for supermodels.

Feeling miserable and lacking confidence in one's self was ill-advised. A pony whose profession relied largely on their looks and ability to display said looks needed to have a positive attitude and a more-than-healthy degree of self-respect to get ahead in their profession. If a supermodel was not confident in themselves, it tended to show in their work and make it that much harder for others to believe in them.

Fleur de Lis was not feeling much like a supermodel today.

Last night had been an unmitigated disaster. It had started out so wonderfully, but then spiraled into one of the worst experiences of Fleur's life. Had it gone terribly the whole time, she could at least take solace in the fact that it seemed destined to fail. As it stood, all she had to concentrate on as she stared up at her bedroom ceiling was the fact that everything was going perfectly until she ruined it. She could still see the image of Pinkie flat-maned and crying, fearing it to be seared into her mind forever. Had she been in a more positive state of mind–something which the overdramatic part of her mind worried would never happen again–she might have considered asking Pinkie just how she managed to flatten such a curly mane so quickly. Such a fashion tip would have been more valuable than gold to some ponies she knew. It was safe to say, however, that this was one of the farthest things from her mind at the moment.

Fleur listened to the birds singing outside her window as she wallowed in her own misery. It wasn't fair that the birds got to sing and be happy while she was stuck in here feeling worse than she could ever remember feeling before. She was having a difficult time even understanding the concept of happiness at the moment, let alone the idea of others experiencing it while she was so despondent. Perhaps it was a tad overdramatic, but that was just the way she was.

The sound of knocking at the door only just barely registered in Fleur's mind. Company was probably the last thing she wanted right now, but her manners wouldn't allow her to leave the door unanswered. With a heavy sigh, she pulled herself from the bed for the first time since arriving home last night and dragged herself to her front door. She made a weak attempt to put on a smile for whoever was there as she opened the door, but her usual ability to act seemed to have abandoned her at about the same time her happiness did.

"Fleur!"

Even in her current lethargic state, Fleur managed to find the wherewithal to step out of the doorway as the ponies in front of it flooded into her house. Although part of her felt like she deserved to be trampled, she still wasn't keen on the idea.

"What happened last night?" Minuette asked. Her trademark smile was nowhere to be found, replaced by the same look of concern that adorned the faces of Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, Moondancer, and Saffron Masala. Before Fleur could even have a chance to answer, she was grabbed in a hug by Minuette. "You've been crying! Oh my gosh, you poor mare! I'm so sorry for whatever happened!"

"Minnie, come on," Lemon Hearts said, shaking her head. "You haven't even let her speak yet."

"Well I mean isn't it obvious something terrible happened?" Minuette asked. "I mean look at her! She's a mess! She looks even worse than Pinkie did last night, and Pinkie looked miserable! I've never seen her look so sad!"

Being called "a mess" normally would have been enough to upset Fleur on its own, but hearing about a sad Pinkie was the straw that broke the camel's back. Thankfully for her, the entire group of mares was quick to join in on the hugging and comforting when the waterworks began anew. In a way, releasing her emotions like this instead of hiding behind a mask–mostly figurative but occasionally literal–felt oddly freeing. She wasn't looking to make it a regular occurrence, but maybe the occasional display around only her closest friends was acceptable. By the time the tears finally slowed down, she had been escorted to and sat down upon the nearest couch and had blubbered the entire story to her friends.

"She was so terribly upset with me," Fleur whimpered, making ample use of the tissues that Saffron had retrieved for her. "I was just trying to tell her the truth...I thought that would make up for all the deception."

"Well yeah," Moondancer said. "It is important to tell the truth. But it's the way you said it that messed things up."

"But I tried to tell her that I no longer thought that way!" Fleur insisted.

"Sure," Moondancer replied. "And it's good that you don't. But you have to understand that Pinkie takes her parties very seriously."

"As seriously as Pinkie can take anything," Minuette added.

"Exactly," Moondancer said. "She puts so much effort into her parties, they're basically an extension of her. And when somepony, especially somepony who's got a crush on her and who she pretty obviously has a crush on as well, tells her that they had to disguise themselves so as not to be seen at her parties, then yeah, she's going to take it hard."

"Why did you think that way anyway?" Twinkleshine asked. "I mean, you hang out with us, and we're not members of the upper crust or anything. What got you thinking like that?"

"I believe I can be blamed for that, actually."

All eyes turned towards the door to meet those of Mint Vogue.

"My apologies," Mint said as she approached the group. "I was coming to speak to Fleur and the door was open." She gave a look around the room at the other mares and hummed to herself. "Fleur, darling, I had no idea you were friends with these ponies."

Despite her current state of mind, Fleur found herself preparing to go on the defense. A snide comment from Mint was surely incoming, and after everything she had been through, she was in no mood to deal with Mint's attitude.

"Now see here, Mint..." Fleur began. A raised hoof from Mint stopped her in her tracks.

"Allow me to finish," Mint said simply. "I have been thinking things over ever since the incident with the prowler...which, if I have understood the situation correctly, turns out to have been you in disguise."

"That is correct," Fleur said, still ready to protest if Mint said anything she found to be offensive.

"I never would have guessed," Mint said. "That shawl certainly did not seem like your style. But I suppose it makes sense given the reason you had for wearing it." She cleared her throat and sat next to Fleur on the couch, the other mares backing off to give the two their space. "Anyway, I have been thinking since that day. I was terribly worried about your well-being that day, and it seems that at some point, I have stopped looking at you as simply a travel partner and started seeing you as a friend."

Fleur felt another bout of tears threaten to beset her cheeks, albeit for a different reason this time. She worked to hold them back and was thankful in her ability to succeed.

"Thank you, Mint," Fleur said.

"I am not quite done yet," Mint insisted, stopping Fleur in her tracks. Mint's own mask of calmness began to erode as she looked down sheepishly at the ground. "In hearing about your problems with Pinkie Pie, I have come to realize that perhaps I have been a bit...unreasonable with my comments towards you and your endeavors."

"Oh?" Fleur asked, raising a brow. "How so?"

"I fear that I was unfair in telling you what I believed you should and should not do," Mint replied. "And in insisting that your career would be at risk if you attended Pinkie's parties. The more I think about it, the more I feel like I was trying to keep you from making other friends and leaving me behind."

To say that Fleur was stunned was a gross understatement. Mint was continuing to surprise her at every turn, and she found herself thankful that the surprises all tended to be positive.

"Mint..." Fleur said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "You are my friend. Just because I have made other friends does not mean I would abandon the ones I already have." She held her forelegs out for a hug, and Mint was quick to reciprocate. A quiet "aww" from Minuette was met with a grin from Fleur.

"Thank you, Fleur," Mint said quietly. "I apologize for the troubles I have caused you. And while I still believe that you could do better, I respect your decision to court Pinkie Pie. And if anypony tries to speak down to you or belittle you for your decision...they will have to answer to me."

Despite her sorrow, Fleur couldn't help but smile as she hugged her friend tightly. The support of Minuette and the others was already invaluable, and getting Mint on her side was that much more of a relief.

"Thank you ever so much, Mint," Fleur said. "That means the world to me." Then her brief moment of happiness gave way to crushing disappointment once more. "Although it might be a moot point now. I doubt Pinkie would wish to see me again."

"Not so fast!"

The group was quick to notice that Mint had left the door open as they turned to see Rarity and Coco standing in the front hall.

"Seriously?" Moondancer muttered to Saffron as she watched the two shuffle into the increasingly-full room. "Are we the only ponies that knock nowadays?"

"Rarity? Coco?" Fleur asked as the two approached. "How did you know where I live?"

"I got your address from Pinkie," Rarity responded.

"Oh," Fleur responded. "That makes sense..." Then, within an instant, she let go of Mint and backed up frantically against the back of her couch. "Stay back! Back, I say!"

The mares that filled the room all looked at Fleur as if she had grown a second head and put a hat on it that didn't go with the rest of her outfit.

"Good heavens!" Rarity exclaimed. "What in the world has gotten into you?"

"You said that if I did anything to hurt Pinkie, the coroners would need my cloak to clean up my remains!" Fleur cried. Now all eyes were on Rarity, with Coco's eyes looking particularly annoyed.

"You said what?" Coco asked. The fashionista's cheeks turned from white to a brilliant crimson.

"Ahahaha..." Rarity chuckled nervously. "I fear I might have had a few too many drinks that evening..." She held a hoof out to Fleur, smiling lightly. "I promise I mean you no harm. Sorry if I came off a little...strong with that. I tend to say things I don’t mean when I’ve been...partaking."

It took a little while for Fleur’s heartbeat to return to a normal cadence, perhaps a bit longer than she would have liked.

“Well...what are you doing here, then?” Fleur asked once she was certain she wasn’t going to be eviscerated.

“I wanted to come and hear your side of the story,” Rarity explained, finding a place to sit. "Poor Pinkie Pie was so distraught last night, and it took quite a while after the party had ended to convince her to tell me what had happened.”

“She hates me now, doesn’t she?” Fleur asked, sinking further into the couch. “I have ruined any chance I have with that beautiful mare…”

“Um…” Coco spoke up. “I’m pretty sure Pinkie isn’t capable of hating anypony or anything.”

“Coco’s taken the words out of my mouth,” Rarity said, getting up and moving over to Fleur’s couch. “She certainly wasn’t happy in the slightest, but she couldn’t possibly hate you.” She sat down on Fleur’s other side, patting her on the back. “Might I offer some advice?”

“Why would you want to give me advice?” Fleur asked, genuinely perplexed. “I have hurt your friend terribly.”

“That may be,” Rarity agreed. “But everypony makes mistakes, and I can tell just from how guilty you are about the whole thing that your heart is in the right place. So I’ll ask again: might I offer some advice?”

“Thank you, Rarity,” Fleur said, touched by her kindness. “And I would very much appreciate whatever advice you may have if it would help fix things with Pinkie.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Rarity said, smiling lightly. “Tell me, are you still interested in being with her?”

“More than anything,” Fleur replied. “But even it that is not possible, it would satisfy me to simply put a smile back on her face.” A little “aww” spread throughout the room, causing Mint to roll her eyes and Rarity to raise a hoof in an attempt to quiet the audience down.

“Very admirable,” Rarity told Fleur. “Now, I know Miss Pie rather well, and if you ask me, I wouldn’t rule courting her out just yet.”

Fleur felt her heart attempt to leap into her throat. Had it not been for all of those silly organs and muscles and such, it very well may have succeeded. As if she sensed Fleur’s excitement, Rarity touched a hoof to her shoulder and took a deep breath, motioning for Fleur to do the same. Fleur followed suit, trying her best to calm herself down.

“You know what you did wrong, correct?” Rarity asked.

“Indeed,” Fleur responded. “I made her feel like I thought I was better than her and her parties. And I swear that I do not feel like that at all.”

“Then you need to truly show her that, darling,” Rarity said. "She's going to be throwing another party tonight, somewhat of a cheering-up occasion. It’s going to be a small affair, but I believe that if you were to come with a different approach than last time, you might be able to fix things.” She gave Fleur’s shoulder another pat. “Be yourself, Fleur de Lis. Show her your heart and perhaps she’ll give you hers.”

Fleur couldn't help but smile at Rarity's words. If one of Pinkie's dearest friends had confidence in her ability to win Pinkie's heart, then perhaps there really was still hope.

"I shall, Rarity," Fleur said softly. "I shall." Then she paused, humming lightly. "I am surprised that she would be throwing another party tonight if she is feeling so down."

"Oh, yes," Coco chimed in. "She probably wouldn't have, actually. But Rarity and I asked her for one since we knew it would help her out of her funk."

"And far be it from Pinkie to deny somepony who asks her for a party," Rarity added.

"I see," Fleur mused. Then her eyes went wide as she was struck with inspiration. She stared off into the middle distance, a smile slowly but surely growing on her face.

"Um...is everything okay, Fleur?" Minuette asked.

"Quite," Fleur responded. "For I believe I have a plan."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight's train ride to Ponyville was the first in a good while that garnered Fleur the kind of attention she enjoyed. The stares of derision at Hood's attire were a thing of the past as she basked in the excitement and awe of her fellow passengers when they recognized her. She was more than happy to take pictures with anypony who asked, and more than more than happy to let them know the purpose of her trip when they asked. She was met with a surprised look here and there, but most of those who asked reacted quite positively. Perhaps she had been worrying over nothing after all.

The walk from the train station to Sugarcube Corner felt shorter than ever before. Fleur attributed it to her eagerness to enact her plan, although equal credit was likely due to the long strides she was taking. Although she supposed the blame for that could rest on her eagerness as well, so maybe there was only one major contributing factor after all.

A fleeting moment of self-doubt threatened to impede Fleur's progress and wither her spirit as she approached the door to the bakery-slash-party center. The memories of just how much she had hurt Pinkie last night descended upon her like a swarm of gnats. The image of Pinkie near tears was one that would stick with her forever, and the memory of her angry shout tore through her like a hot knife through butter. A weaker mare would have likely lost her will and fled for fear of hurting that sweet pony once more. Fleur, however, was feeling far from weak. A hurricane would be needed to pull her from her intended task; even then, she wouldn't have gone down without a fight.

Despite her desire to enter the building as soon as possible, Fleur knocked on the door. The urge to walk straight in was strong, but thankfully not overpowering. Pinkie would most likely still be upset with her; bursting into her home unannounced would only exacerbate things. Time seemed to freeze as she waited for an answer, staring intently–and, she had to admit, a tad nervously–at the cloyingly pink Dutch door and waiting for it to open. She listened closely for the now-familiar sounds of partying as she waited, but was met with a far more muted version than she was used to. Rarity had said that this would be a smaller affair, and that certainly seemed to be the case if her ears were to be believed.

Fleur's heart raced as she heard the top half of the door creak open. She was expecting to see either Pinkie or Rarity answer the door, so the sight of a rainbow-maned pegasus threw her off. She was vaguely aware of this pony and knew she was a good friend of Pinkie's. In fact, upon further inspection, she was rather positive that she was a Wonderbolt. Fleur wasn't exactly a rabid fan of the Wonderbolts, but fame knew fame, and the mane did tend to stand out. She smiled politely at the pegasus, undaunted.

"Hello," Fleur said. "Might I-"

Fleur was only able to get a brief glimpse of the scowl on the pegasus' face before the top half of the door was unceremoniously slammed on her. Fleur's heart sank as she assumed word of her actions last night must have already spread to Pinkie's other friends. She found herself idly wondering if it was possible to defeat the idiom and feel even lower than dirt. Perhaps "as low as bedrock" might have covered it better, although she could probably aim a bit deeper. Part of her wanted to leave in shame right then and there, but the rest of her would not allow it to happen. She would stand in this spot until she was forcibly removed if that was what it took.

The sound of muffled voices from the other side of the door drew Fleur's attention immediately. She couldn't make out a word they were saying, but their tones were quite clear. The first sounded like Rarity and seemed to be reprimanding the second, who she assumed to belong to the pegasus. The volume of the second was thunderous, and Rarity's volume soon rose to nearly match it. To hear a cacophony from this building wasn't strange in itself, but the noisy outbursts tended to be far more cheerful than this.

Both loud voices instantly quieted down when a third voice entered the conversation. Fleur immediately recognized this voice as Pinkie's. It took a large amount of willpower not to press her ear against the door. As Fleur felt the hard painted wood against her cheek, she realized that she might not have possessed quite as much willpower as she had thought. This new position unfortunately didn't do as much as she'd hoped in clearing up the dialogue, but she stayed there regardless, too anxious to do anything but.

Pinkie's voice sounded quieter than the others, but the sound of it managed to still Fleur's heart far more efficiently than the shouts of the other two. Despite not being able to make out a word of what was being said, Fleur could tell that the pegasus did not agree with whatever Pinkie was saying. Despite her resistance, however, the words of both Pinkie and Rarity seemed to win out as Fleur heard her emit a distinct sigh of defeat. Fleur let out her own sigh, but hers was one of relief as the argument had come to a close. Her relief was short-lived as the door opened, and Fleur found herself now regretting having pressed her ear against it as she tumbled into the building. Any sense of grace and style that she typically possessed went out the window as she collapsed in a heap on the floor of Sugarcube Corner. Had she been in the right mind to think about it in an allegorical sense, she would have likely appreciated how symbolic it was of her fall from grace last night. At the moment, though, she was too busy thinking about the bump she'd taken to the head. She looked up at the faces of the three ponies in front of her and was met with three different emotions: nervousness from Pinkie, concern from Rarity, and joy from the pegasus as she bawled with laughter at Fleur's misfortune.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaimed, elbowing her in the side. Rainbow quickly stopped laughing, and her scowl from earlier returned. Three more faces showed up behind the three, one of which Fleur recognized as Princess Twilight Sparkle. None of those mattered to her right now, though. The only face she was worried about was Pinkie's, which now held a strange mix of trepidation and frustration. Seeing the distinct lack of smile tore painfully at Fleur's heart, but she would not be stopped now as she picked herself up and dusted herself off.

"Hello," Fleur said, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "I understand if you are still mad at me, Pinkie..."

"And she should be!" Rainbow shot back, before the hoof of the orange earth pony behind her covered her mouth.

"Yes...perhaps she should," Fleur said, ears falling but spirit remaining strong. "And that is why I have come here not as Hood Rat, but as myself." She turned her attention back to Pinkie and attempted to make eye contact, but was met with reluctance. "I am terribly, terribly sorry for hurting your feelings, and I truly wish that I could take it back. I do not, in any sense of the word, believe myself to be better than you or your parties. In fact, if I may be frank, I think you are ten times the pony I could ever dream of being."

Fleur watched as those baby-blue eyes finally turned back towards her and made contract with her own. A good sign, but she could still feel the uncertainty behind her gaze.

"My feelings for you are true as well," Fleur continued, keeping more space between herself and Pinkie than she would have liked. "You enchanted me the moment I saw you at Carousel Boutique, and I have been happily and helplessly under your spell ever since. You are beautiful in body, mind, and soul, and your energy and exuberance has absolutely captivated me. But I understand if you cannot look at me in such a way after how I hurt you. It would make me the happiest mare in Equestria to be allowed to court you, but I could live without that for the rest of my days if only to see you able to smile in my direction once more."

Fleur found herself worrying that her speech sounded too forced, as if ripped from a romance novel. Not that she could help it; those were the words that her heart had chosen, and she was confident that no other words could have captured just how she felt about Pinkie. The sound of Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy–Fleur had no idea Pinkie was already friends with a former model–cooing softly at her words only added to Fleur's confidence. Still she waited on Pinkie's reaction, unconsciously holding her breath in anticipation of whatever words Pinkie had in store for her. A tense few seconds passed in sheer silence before the slow upturn of the corners of Pinkie's mouth sent a wave of relief and joy through Fleur's body.

"Thanks, Fleur," Pinkie said quietly. "That's really sweet."

"I meant every word," Fleur responded. As much as she didn't want to, she resisted the urge to move in for a hug. She would take things at whatever pace Pinkie wanted. "Now...I know I am in no position to ask for a favor, but please hear me out on this." A quick glance at the once-again upset face of Rainbow Dash and the unsure gaze of the orange pony behind her–Applejack was her name now that Fleur thought about it, recognizing her from some ads for her apple orchard–told her that she was treading on potentially unsafe grounds, but she had to stay the course.

"What is it?" Pinkie asked. Fleur could sense Pinkie's slight hesitance, and if she could be perfectly honest, she couldn't blame her.

"If you want to decline, I completely understand," Fleur said. "And I would not begrudge you for it. But if you would be so inclined, I was wondering if you would arrange a party in Canterlot this Saturday, at the Stellar Eclipse Banquet Hall."

"Excuse me?!" Rainbow shouted, apparently unable to hold her tongue any more. "After what you said to her, you seriously expect her to-"

"I'll do it!" Pinkie exclaimed, silencing Rainbow immediately.

"You will?" Fleur asked, ears perked eagerly. Even she was surprised by the answer.

"Of course!" Pinkie bubbled. "I've wanted to throw a Canterlot party ever since the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Excellent!" Fleur responded, her heart performing joyful flips in her chest. "So Saturday night, then?"

"Saturday night!" Pinkie replied. Fleur couldn't help herself and moved in for a hug, but stopped short when she caught sight of Pinkie's apprehensive gaze. Perhaps it was a bit too soon for that kind of thing. As much as she wanted to wrap her forelegs around her anyway, she relented. If there was one way to lose a pony's trust, it was to not respect their personal boundaries.

"Thank you so much, Pinkie Pie," Fleur said, bowing her head in a mix of thanks and reverence. "I truly hope this is the first step towards regaining your trust. I shall leave you ladies to your party. Thank you for allowing me this second chance; I will do everything in my power to make sure you do not regret it."

With that, Fleur bowed her head once more and turned to take her leave. She only made it a few steps before the urge to look back at Pinkie once more overwhelmed her. She turned her head and was met with the sight of Pinkie staring right back at her. Fleur was almost certain that she caught a hint of longing behind Pinkie's gaze, but she didn't want to get her hopes up too much...although the demure looking away and slight blush that followed from Pinkie were quite a good sign.

Truthfully, Fleur didn't want to leave the party. She wanted nothing more than to stay with Pinkie for as long as she would allow. Leaving was a necessary evil, though. She had to give Pinkie her space to show her how much her happiness and comfort meant to her, or else she could risk losing her completely. Besides, now that the party was set for Saturday, she was quite confident that everything would fall into place.

The Perfect(er) Party Plan

"Soooo...I'm still not sure I understand your plan here, Fleur."

Fleur supposed she could understand where Minuette was coming from. Other ponies might have opted for a far more direct way of proving themselves to the one they desired most, especially after botching the initial plan so badly. In fact, many ponies would have looked at said botched plan and been apprehensive about executing another one. Complicated plans would have been thrown right out the window by less-daring ponies, and Fleur herself would most likely have eschewed such an idea herself in the past.

It was accurate to say that her time courting Pinkie Pie had somewhat altered her way of thinking. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have always chosen the safest route to solving a problem. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have viewed danger as unnecessarily and gone about things in the simplest way possible. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have spat on the idea of thrill–metaphorically, of course, as spitting was quite unladylike–and approached whatever difficulties life gave her with caution.

And Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have never gotten the opportunity to go after Pinkie.

It wasn't the most convoluted plan in the world, but it was a far cry from the plain and safe options that she could have taken. Still, she could comprehend Minuette's lack of comprehension, as well as the looks of uncertainty on the faces of the others.

"It is quite simple, really," Fleur explained, glancing back as she walked to give the group a patient smile. "As you all know, I have asked Pinkie Pie to throw me a party here in Canterlot."

"I don't think you have to explain that part," Moondancer said dryly. "Considering that's where we're all walking."

"I suppose not," Fleur responded. "But I included it for the sake of exposition. I was asked for explanation of my plan and that is part of the explanation."

"C'mon, Moony, let her finish," Lemon Hearts said, giving her a nudge. "I want to see where she's going with this." Twinkleshine quickly nodded in agreement, and Moondancer gave a little roll of her eyes as she let Fleur speak.

"For the record," Mint Vogue whispered to Moondancer, "I feel the same way." Moondancer's silence was now a result of both the request to do so and the surprise that the usually-prickly Mint had spoken to her in such an agreeable fashion.

"Anyway," Fleur continued. "In addition to you girls and Pinkie's friends, I have made sure to invite many members of Canterlot's upper class."

"What?" Saffron Masala exclaimed, her surprise echoed by the looks on the faces of the others present. "But the members of the upper class are very set in their ways! A Pinkie-style party would never sit well with Canterlot's elite!"

"Precisely," Fleur responded, her grin achieving maximum levels of cheekiness. A confused silence spread throughout the group before Mint finally spoke up.

"Fleur, darling," Mint said, approaching her friend as gently as she could muster. "I have all intentions of backing you up in your endeavors, no matter how much I think they are beneath you. But as a friend, I must tell you that you seem to have lost your mind." The others looked to each other cautiously. None of them were willing to speak quite as boldly as Mint had, but a general feeling of agreement was evident.

"Please, hear me out on this," Fleur asked of the group. "Yes, Canterlot's elite will not care for such a party, and will likely scoff at it. That, however, is exactly what I want."

"Why would you want that?" Twinkleshine asked. "That could have a severe impact on your reputation!"

"Exactly," Fleur said with a smile. "You see, my original mistake was making Pinkie think that I cared more about my reputation than I did about her. If I am willing to show her that I would put everything I had in jeopardy just for the chance to be with her, then she will know that my feelings for her are true."

"And if it still does not work?" Mint asked. "I can only put in so many good words for you, Fleur de Lis. I will have your back if ponies wish to tear you down, but I can only do so much. If you are laughed straight out of your profession and emerge with no Pinkie Pie to show for it, what then?"

A lump, roughly the size of a golf ball, formed in Fleur's throat. She had certainly thought of that possibility, but hearing it verbalized in such a way gave her pause. She had worked so very hard to get to where she was in her chosen profession. Countless hours and bits had been spent to assure her spot near the top of the modeling world. To lose it all was tantamount to a slow and painful death, to dream of a life outside of modeling nigh impossible. If this attempt to woo Pinkie not only lost her her livelihood but failed to win Pinkie's heart, what would she do with her life? Was the chance to win Pinkie's heart worth everything else she had created for herself?

A new thought invaded Fleur's mind: was it worth it to never know if her idea would work?

Everything she had done in the past few weeks had been leading up to this very moment. All the risks she'd taken, all the plans she'd made, all that time spent wearing that disgusting cloak...every last bit of it was done to achieve her end goal of winning Pinkie Pie's heart. She couldn't back out now. To do so would mean that all her efforts had been wasted. Perhaps her plan did run the risk of severely damaging her reputation, but even in the worst case scenario, she still had her friends and family to fall back on. And as far as Fleur was concerned, there was no worst case scenario. Her natural confidence began to show through once more, thawing the icy bleakness that had frozen her in place. This plan was perfect. That earlier plan had seemed perfect and failed, but it would not happen again. Her mind had been tricked into ignoring the first plan's imperfections, but there was no trickery going on here. This was sure to succeed, and by the end of the night, she would once again find herself in Pinkie's forelegs, snuggled up against that beautifully curvy frame, smelling the sweet scent of cotton candy as that pink delight nuzzled up to her and whispered of the not-so-innocent things she wished to do...

"Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur snapped out of it as all six ponies in her little entourage called her at the same time. She really needed to stop spacing out like that.

"You really need to stop spacing out like that," Minuette said with a little smirk.

"Indeed," Fleur agreed. She really did.

"You still have not answered my question," Mint said. Even with her change in demeanor, the irritation over Fleur's daydreaming was still visible in her eyes. "What if you risk everything and still do not win Pinkie Pie's heart?"

"A life without risks is a life unlived, my friend," Fleur said, her smile matching the serenity that her mind had discovered. "No matter where I fall, it shall be on my hooves."

"Then I am afraid you have finally fallen off the deep end, Fleur de Lis," Mint replied simply. Then she rested a wing on her back. "And you should thank your lucky stars that these other mares and I are here to help with your landing."

"I do," Fleur said, a peaceful sigh escaping her lips. "Every day, I do."

~~~~~~~~~~

Fleur stared up at the Stellar Eclipse Banquet Hall, resplendent in its glory. It was only by the grace of her incredible luck that she had managed to find a hole in the establishment's busy schedule, and she couldn't help but wonder what the workers would think of the party that was taking place in their halls. Pinkie's style of party was certainly different from the hall's standard fare, and Fleur wagered that they had likely never seen anything quite like it.

"So what did you want us to do anyway?" Minuette asked, also staring up at the banquet hall. "How are we supposed to help?"

"I only ask one thing of all of you," Fleur said, smiling back to her friends. "Enjoy yourselves. I may need some moral support at times, but for the most part, you are here simply to have a good time."

"Great!" Minuette exclaimed, bouncing lightly on the tips of her hooves. "I love having a good time!"

"And it should be rather easy, being as we will be attending a Pinkie party," Fleur assured her. Then she glanced over to Mint, who was looking quite unsure of the situation. "I know these parties are not typically your style, Mint. But I promise that it will be a good time. And if you somehow do not enjoy yourself, I will make it up to you."

"I certainly hope so," Mint said, rolling her eyes. "The mere thought of what will be going on in there is already making me uneasy."

"Thank you for doing this for me, then," Fleur said, giving her a gentle smile. "Your sacrifice is appreciated." With that, she approached the front door of the banquet hall.

Fleur might have only been to a few of Pinkie's parties, but she figured the small number that she had attended were enough to have a good idea of what typically went on during one of them. One of the staples of a Pinkie party, as far as she was aware, was the ever-present dance music that boomed from the sound system. Such music tended to be audible even from a house or two away. Right now, however, such music was conspicuous in its absence. Fleur couldn't come up with a reason for this. They had made sure to arrive fashionably late, so the idea of the party not having started yet was out. It was possible that the doors were noise-cancelling; Fleur had never heard of an event in the building which put that into question before. This managed to be an argument both for and against the possibility, as she could find no reason for the banquet hall to have noise-cancelling doors in the first place.

"Is something wrong?" Saffron asked. Fleur's typical ability to hide her emotions behind a mask had apparently failed her.

"Oh, I am sure everything is fine," Fleur replied. "It just surprises me that I cannot hear the party music from here. But I am sure there must be a good reason for that."

"It's good to see you so optimistic!" Minuette said with a smile. "I mean, I probably would have been stressing about something being wrong by now, and I like to think I'm pretty optimistic myself."

Minuette's words didn't help, but Fleur returned her smile anyway. Her heart was in the right place.

"Well then," Fleur said, looking the group over. "Is everypony ready to party?"

"Yeah!" shouted most of the group.

"I suppose," Mint replied.

"Excellent," Fleur said, lighting her horn up and opening the doors. "Then let the fun..."

"Begin" was the intended word for the end of Fleur's sentence. As it turned out, a stunned silence stopped "begin" from ending it.

The sight before Fleur's eyes was like nothing she'd expected, but it held the unfortunate position of being everything like she was used to. Conspicuous in its absence was absolutely everything that she had come to love from Pinkie's parties. Conspicuous in its presence was everything that Fleur would have expected from one of Jet Set and Upper Crust's soirées. Where Fleur was expecting streamers and party balloons, she instead saw drab, undecorated walls. A single ice sculpture of a swan stood next to a table, but those were commonplace around such soirées. The loud music she'd grown accustomed to hearing at Pinkie's parties was replaced by a live orchestra playing the same few bars of dull music over and over again. The middle of the room was not filled with dancing ponies, and was instead home to a number of ponies casually chatting about their latest investments. The delicious snacks she'd hoped to see were nearly nonexistent; a small bowl of cherries was the closest thing to a filling snack there, everything else bearing resemblance to the current "fancy dish" that was currently inhabiting every three-hoof restaurant in Canterlot. None of it matched her expectations in the slightest; it was as if somepony other than Pinkie had thrown the party. But that couldn't be possible, because there Pinkie was on the other side of the room, smiling and watching the goings-on as her friends hovered around her. Most held awkward smiles, while Rainbow Dash looked bored out of her mind.

"My goodness, Fleur," Mint cooed as she walked around the group of surprised ponies. "If you had told me it would be this kind of social event, I would not have been so reluctant."

"Th...this is not what I wanted..." Fleur stammered.

"I dunno, Fleur," Minuette said, offering an awkward smile. "This is still...pretty cool?" The others shared her awkward smile, chattering quietly in forced agreement. Fleur, however, was unflappable in her shock.

"I must talk to her..." Fleur responded. Without another word, the supermodel made haste across the room, deftly stepping around hobnobbing socialites and stuffy waiters serving boring hors d'oeuvres as she closed in on her target.

"Pinkie Pie!" Fleur exclaimed as she approached the pretty pink hostess. Any other words she had intended to say got caught in her throat as she took a closer look at the outfit Pinkie was wearing. Her adorable frame had been bundled into a cute little black maid's dress with a bit of white lace on the front and a pretty purple bow on the small of her back. A frilly little maid's headpiece complemented the dress, and the sleek black stockings on her hind legs tied it all together.

Had Fleur been in her right mind, she would have likely noticed that her jaw had fallen open in a very unladylike manner. That, however, would have required her to divert some of her attention away from the beautiful sight that was Pinkie Pie. At the current juncture, removing any attention from Pinkie was not only suboptimal, but nigh impossible.

"Hi Fleur!" Pinkie said, giving her a friendly smile. Fleur found herself further enchanted by the way Pinkie's cute little head tilt caused her curly mane to bounce. There was not a single square inch on that pony that was not loaded to the brim with loveliness. Perhaps she had not seen every square inch–the thought caused Fleur's mind to wander worse than ever–but she was rather confident in that assumption.

"Are we having a staring contest?" Pinkie asked. "I mean I don't mind but usually you warn a pony about these things!"

Fleur normally would have broken out of her daydreaming at this point, but this time she was too far gone. Pinkie's uniform had invaded her mind like some sort of adorable parasite and was not looking to relinquish control any time soon. Her current role in the scene had been reduced to breathing and blinking.

"I win!" Pinkie exclaimed, pride emanating from her as if she was some strange manner of radiator that gave off emotions instead of heat. "So whatcha think of the party? Great, right?"

Fleur attempted to speak, but all that came out was a tiny squeak.

"Oooo, I know a satisfied squeak when I hear it!" Pinkie cooed, smiling from ear to ear. "To be honest, I was kinda worried I couldn't pull it off."

"Why?" Fleur attempted to ask. It came out more like "whuh," but Pinkie seemed to interpret it correctly anyway.

"Weeeeell," Pinkie mused. "I mean, I'm kiiiiinda used to throwing big loud parties with games and dance music and streamers and stuff..."

Every synapse in Fleur's brain wanted to activate and make her ask Pinkie why she hadn't done that and explain that a big loud party was exactly what she wanted. The overload left her incapable of forming a single word.

"Buuuut," Pinkie continued. "You're a fancy Canterlot pony and you wanted a party for other fancy Canterlot ponies at a fancy Canterlot banquet hall! And that got me thinking..."

Fleur managed to raise a hoof to try to get Pinkie's attention, but it went entirely unnoticed. The first rule of Pinkiedynamics, after all, stated that a Pinkie in motion tended to stay in motion.

"Obviously all the ponies at a party should be having fun," Pinkie stated. "And when I tried to make fancy Canterlot ponies have fun at the Grand Galloping Gala, they all got pret-ty frowny. And frowny is like the total opposite of fun!"

Fleur attempted to interject once more, but continued to find herself incapable of speaking. Now, however, it wasn't entirely due to Pinkie Pie's proliferous pulchritude. That still factored into things, but realization of Pinkie's mindset was slowly starting to sink in.

"The point of a party is for the ponies at the party to have fun," Pinkie stated. "And just because I don't get why all this stuff is fun doesn't mean that it's not fun for other ponies! So Pinkie Pie Productions is proud to present your perfect prissy pony party!"

"Woohoo," Rainbow Dash droned from behind Pinkie. A quick glare from Rarity quieted her down.

Fleur took a deep breath. Her stupor had gone on for far too long. She had to tell Pinkie what she was thinking immediately. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice abandoned her once more as Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around her for a gentle hug. It might not have carried the deep emotions that Fleur desired, but being in that warm embrace once more, the embrace she thought she might never again experience after how badly she had messed up at the last big party, left her at a loss for words. It took every ounce of her willpower not to drape herself over the sweet pink delight, to give herself up completely and let Pinkie lay claim to her. The concept of allowing herself to be reduced to a mere possession almost seemed completely acceptable if it meant she could be hugged like this that much more.

"Thanks for asking me to do this," Pinkie said. "It might not be my cup of tea, but this Canterlot party looks to be a success!" Fleur thanked her natural grace for allowing her to catch her balance just in time as Pinkie released her from the hug. Faceplanting onto the floor would have been just the slightest bit embarrassing.

"Ouh!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "I should go talk to some of the other guests! Have fun, Fleur!" With that, Pinkie trotted away, leaving Fleur dumbfounded. It was practically unnatural watching Pinkie move without her signature pronk, and her change in behavior upon approaching a partygoer and member of the Canterlot Elite was even more jarring. It was as if another pony had taken over her body. In an instant, she went from perky, ebullient Pinkie to prim and proper hostess. It was obvious just from looking at her that it was a struggle to suppress her natural vivacity, but she handled it with style and aplomb. While Fleur couldn't help but admit that seeing Pinkie adapt this well to high society was intriguing–and also perhaps a bit of a turn-on–it just wasn't the Pinkie Pie she was expecting or hoping to see tonight. Not sure what to do, Fleur returned across the room to her friends, looking rather defeated.

"What happened?" Minuette asked as Fleur approached.

"She...thinks this is the type of party I wanted," Fleur answered. "The typical Canterlot party."

"Well did you tell her it wasn't?" Moondancer asked.

"I tried," Fleur said, cheeks coloring lightly as she thought about just what had distracted her. "But I could not get it out."

"Well...do you have to?" Lemon Hearts asked. Fleur gave her a quizzical look, and Twinkleshine quickly stepped in to back her up.

"She seems pretty happy," Twinkleshine said.

"And she hugged you," Saffron added. "That's a very good sign, is it not?"

"So maybe it's best to just take that as a small victory?" Moondancer finished. "You already apologized to her for what happened at her other party and admitted your feelings to her. She seems pretty happy with you now. Not everything has to be a grand gesture. Sometimes baby steps are better."

Fleur fell silent as she considered her friends' words. When she had gone under the hood, she had been taking baby steps towards wooing Pinkie, and things had been going rather well, despite the basic flaws in her plan that eventually led to her downfall. It was only after the grand gesture of revealing herself, however, that her true failure had shown itself. Perhaps her friends were right, Perhaps it really was time to step back and take things slowly, rather than being extravagant and trying to receive instant gratification.

"Oh, nonsense," Mint said as she rejoined the group. "I must admit that you ladies are an acceptable sort, but with all due respect, Fleur and I are supermodels. We thrive on grand gestures. Our entire lives are grand gestures."

Mint and the others continued to discuss the merits of their proposals in a civil manner, but Fleur had already checked out. Something about Mint's choice of words had really resonated with her. Perhaps the baby steps had worked better earlier, but the fact remained that she was more accustomed to grand gestures. Baby steps–in this area, at least–were the tactic that Hood Rat had employed, and Hood Rat was no more. If she wanted to truly win Pinkie's heart, it had to be in a manner that fit in with who she really was.

And it so turned out that Fleur knew exactly what to do about it.

"Ladies," Fleur said, cutting into the discussion. "I believe I know just the grand gesture for the job." A small grin crossed Mint's face to contrast the mild frown that Moondancer now wore, but Fleur was not going to be swayed from this plan. Unlike all the others, this one was truly foolproof.

The Perfect(est) Party Plan

Fleur had made many plans before. Some were slightly less successful than others, but she liked to believe that she had a fairly decent success rate with them. Unfortunately, said success rate had seen a steady drop since she began courting Pinkie Pie. Her plan to infiltrate Pinkie's parties under a disguise in order to win her heart had worked temporarily, but the final result was less than stellar. Her plan to get Pinkie to throw her typical kind of party in Canterlot had failed spectacularly, as Pinkie appeared to believe that she wanted a Canterlot-style party instead.

Many ponies might have looked at their track record of unsuccessful plans and given up on coming up with another one. Most ponies would have either begrudgingly dismissed their goal or decided to eschew elaborate designs and take a more direct route to getting what they wanted.

It was safe to say at this juncture that Fleur de Lis was not most ponies.

The party had been going on for a little while now, and appeared to be in full swing—insomuch as a party like this could swing, anyway. In truth, "swinging" might not have been the correct word to describe it. The music, while excellently performed, was a bit dull and completely incapable of being danced to. Not that the partygoers seemed to mind; dancing was very likely the last thing on their minds as they spoke at length about such thrilling topics as their bank accounts or their latest offshore investments. Refreshments were available, but with the size and contents of the plates, it would likely take about half of the total number to fill up a single pony. As for the decorations, it was hard to call them "decorations" at all. Such a name typically denoted the existence of a bit of flair to liven up one's appearance, and the appearance of the banquet hall was anything but lively.

Fleur had wanted a true Pinkie party. Because Fleur had not vocalized her intentions, Fleur had not gotten a true Pinkie party. And now, come Tartarus or high tides, Fleur would make this into a true Pinkie party.

The supermodel sat back in her chair, assessing the situation carefully. She knew she possessed enough charm and grace to talk her way into what she wanted. It was simply a matter of deciding her order of attack.

"So what do you have planned, Fleur? You kinda didn't tell us."

Fleur glanced sideways at the smiling face of Minuette. The others had gone off to try and enjoy the dry party on their own, but Minuette had opted to sit down with Fleur, perhaps out of a lack of better things to do. When even the excitable Minuette could find nothing interesting to do at a party, there had to be a problem.

"My apologies, Minuette," Fleur said, giving her a gentle smile. "I suppose I did get a bit lost in my own mind and forgot to speak my intentions, hm?"

"It's okay!" Minuette responded, patting Fleur on the back. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to! Though I have to admit I am pretty curious."

"Oh, it is nothing like that," Fleur told her. "In fact, I would be quite happy to share my plan with you."

"Great!" Minuette exclaimed. "Then spill the beans, sister! This one oughtta be a doozy if you're sure it'll work after how the last two went!"

Fleur smiled a thin smile at that last comment, opting not to respond to it. Minuette was a sweetheart, but she occasionally had a way of being just a bit more blunt than some while clearly meaning no offense.

"And spill I shall," Fleur told her. "You see, I expected a party similar to Pinkie's usual fare, as I have told you and the others. Instead, she has delivered a typical Canterlot party. This manner of party will not help my goal of showing her that I would risk my reputation for her. Therefore, if she will not bring her style of party to me, then I shall have to bring her style of party to her."

"Oh!" Minuette replied. "And, uh...how are you going to do that? Are you going to set up another party?"

"Not at all," Fleur said. "I need to prove myself post-haste. If I wait for another party, who knows what could happen? As such, I must work with what we have here and alter this party to be more like one of hers."

"What?" Minuette exclaimed. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Elementary, my dear Minuette," Fleur said coolly. "With my stature and level of influence, simply speaking to ponies on five fronts should do the trick. The music, the food, the entertainment, the decor, and the activity of the guests all need to change, and I am certain that I can have them changed. And once they are, the lovely Pinkie Pie will see that I not only truly appreciate her style of party, but would be willing to risk my reputation for her by being instrumental in transforming this party from what it is to what it shall become."

Fleur smiled a proud smile, for the pride she felt in her plan was overwhelming. She let it hang in the air for a beat, waiting eagerly to hear of Minuette's approval of her masterpiece.

"Uhh...I dunno, Fleur," Minuette said, smiling awkwardly. "Don't you think Pinkie might get upset if she set this whole party up for you and you went and got everything she planned changed?"

Fleur let this sink in. She hadn't thought of that possibility, and frankly it was a worrying one. Panic started to set in, and she did the best job she could of neatly tucking it away behind her mask of calmness. Visibly stressing over this possibility would not help anypony.

Fleur tended to be a fairly sensible mare. She would often think things out logically, and if something she wanted to do seemed completely illogical, she would abandon it or at least look for a different plan. Ever since she had become infatuated with Pinkie Pie, however, many things had changed for her. Most were related to the way she looked at her life; simple concepts such as wishing to date Pinkie, being friends with ponies like Minuette, or even considering the idea of a Pinkie-style party to be fun would have been borderline unthinkable to her as recently as last month. As it turned out, her sense of adventure had also been affected. Most ponies, including herself before the Pinkening, would have looked at this new plan of hers and the dire consequences it held if it failed and decided that it wasn't worth it. Fleur, however–the new Fleur–saw it as a necessary risk. In her mind, this was possibly her last shot at Pinkie. If she passed it up, she would never truly know if it could have worked.

"I realize that such a thing is possible," Fleur said resolutely. "But I need to take this chance. I truly believe in the success of this plan. I simply cannot dismiss it now."

Minuette's ever-present smile faltered. She eyed Fleur for a few uncomfortable moments, almost as if waiting for her resolve to crack. Finally, her smile returned, albeit with a bit more hesitance.

"Okay, Fleur," Minuette said. "If this is what you feel you have to do, then I say go for it, and good luck. And don't forget that the girls and I will be here for you if it doesn't work out, okay?"

"I truly appreciate the sentiment, Minuette," Fleur replied, placing a gentle hood on her back. "You are a wonderful friend and your support means the world to me. I still wish for you all to be here for me, but frankly, I am certain that everything will work out in the end." Whether or not Fleur truly believed that statement was irrelevant to her. All she really needed as she stood up was to keep telling herself that she did.

Fleur strode confidently towards the live orchestra, taking note of the various ponies that comprised the ensemble. The majority of the musicians were equipped with string instruments from tiny fiddles to one enormous cello. A few woodwinds filled out the left side, while a small group of brass players sat idly by on the right, waiting for their turn to show off their skills. Fleur couldn't doubt the quality of their music. Pinkie had even gone so far as to call in Octavia, one of the most prolific cellists this side of Canterlot. As excellent as the music was, though, it had to change for the good of her potential relationship with Pinkie Pie. The tempo was too slow, the beat not up enough. To match the enthusiasm of a Pinkie party, the boisterousness of the melodies needed to increase by at least 75%, and as Fleur approached the conductor, she knew exactly how to make it happen.

Fleur added a little sashay to her step as she approached the mustachioed maestro standing atop the conductor's podium. Her true affections may have been reserved for Pinkie, but that didn't mean that she couldn't use her stunning good looks to her benefit elsewhere. A bit of flaunting and playful flirting was acceptable if it meant being one step closer to proving herself to Pinkie, and a bit of flaunting and playful flirting was exactly what she was prepared to do. The swaying of her hips fell in sync with each wave of the conductor's baton as she approached, as if her alluring form was just another instrument under his direction.

"Good evening," Fleur said softly, setting her eyes on the maestro. "What a lovely job you are doing." She watched with an almost predatory smile as the conductor glanced in her direction. His beat remained faithful, but the mild-yet-noticeable raise of his eyebrows were a good indication that she had caught his eye.

"Such beautiful music would be impossible without a talented conductor such as yourself," Fleur purred, placing a testing hoof on his back. When he didn't resist her touch, she carefully brought herself up, leaning demurely on his back. She thanked her lucky stars for her long, slender frame as she snaked her neck around, bringing her muzzle to his far ear so he could pick up on her seductive little whisper that much easier. "I am very impressed by your performance."

"Thank you, ma'am," the conductor responded. His eyes were now focused entirely on Fleur, and the slow and steady waving of his baton began to increase gradually in tempo along with the beating of his heart. Fleur didn't even need to take a look at his face to know he was blushing; the residual heat radiating from his cheek was evidence enough. She glanced out to the orchestra, delighting in the small looks of confusion they exchanged as the tempo picked up. Still they played diligently, keeping up with the waving of the baton as Fleur's influence continued to nudge it up. Had Fleur thought about it, she might have found it odd that none of the musicians were questioning her behavior. Such thoughts did not positively impact the task at hoof, however, and were thus declared unnecessary and ignored outright.

"Of course," Fleur cooed. "How could I not compliment such a handsome young stallion on his fine work?" She glanced away from the conductor briefly to make sure that Pinkie wasn't watching. The last thing she needed was to be caught in such a compromising position by the pony whose heart she actually desired. Thankfully, the pink beauty appeared to be too preoccupied with being the perfect party hostess to notice Fleur's feigned dalliance.

"And certainly a noble stallion would be happy to do a favor for a lovely mare like myself?" Fleur asked, stroking the conductor's shoulder with a hoof. Each little stroke caused the tempo of his conducting to speed up by a few beats per minute, the orchestra's frustration growing as they worked to keep up. Was Fleur not a perfectionist, she might have even found this new tempo to be acceptable. "Acceptable," however, was not something she could accept.

"If you and your orchestra would not mind..." Fleur said, bringing her hoof up to stroke the conductor's cheek and twirl his mustache and reveling in the fever pitch that the music's tempo rose to as a result. "I would find it most enjoyable if we switched the music up and played something a bit more...exciting?"

"What?"

Fleur stumbled from her perch on the conductor's back, startled by his sudden shout. His baton froze in place high above his head, the obedient musicians holding their notes in response.

"I...I said..." Fleur stammered, taken aback by the reaction.

"Ma'am," the conductor said, giving her a pointed glare as the dramatic tone hung in the air. "As gorgeous as you might be, my orchestra and I have been instructed by Pinkie Pie to only play the classiest of pieces, and being as she's the one paying us, we are indebted to listen."

"But..." Fleur tried to interject.

"I will not have the reputation and integrity of my orchestra tarnished by charges of insubordination and the playing of party music," the conductor continued. The ponies manning woodwind instruments were beginning to turn red in the face as they held what seemed to be an endless note.

"But it is imperative that..." Fleur tried one more time.

"Absolutely not," the conductor responded. "We will not be straying from our docket, so just give...it...up." The final three words of his sentence were each punctuated by a point at her from his baton, and each point was further punctuated by a loud musical sting from his ensemble. Without another word, the conductor turned back to his ensemble and began leading them in what might have been their original tempo. To the frustrated Fleur, it seemed even slower than before. She turned her back on the conductor with a haughty huff and headed towards her next target. She would figure out a new way to win him over and change the music once she had taken care of the other points.

Fleur's eyes locked onto one of the waiters. His tray was filled, although nothing on it could have ever matched the pure deliciousness of the snacks served at Pinkie's parties. Surely there had to be something else in the kitchen, something that she could actually find palatable. Refusing to let the disappointment of her failure stop her, she sauntered towards the waiter. Flirting had not worked; perhaps it was time to be a bit more direct.

"My goodness," Fleur said, eyeing the hors d'oeuvres with a gaze so judging it could have run for the Supreme Court. "Those morsels could barely feed a gnat. Perhaps we could spice things up with something a bit more flavorful and filling, hm?" Fleur smiled a sweet smile upon the consummation of her request. Surely the waiter would see where she was coming from and appreciate her directness.

"I beg your pardon?" the waiter said, turning his nose up in Fleur's direction. "This is the trendy dish, beloved by socialites across Canterlot. For a mare who claims to thrive on taste, you obviously possess none of your own." Fleur was left with no time to even think of a rebuttal as the waiter whisked his tray away and walked off.

Fleur felt like screaming. She had never been more insulted in her entire life, as far as she was aware. For the briefest of moments, she considered abandoning her rapidly-eroding plan. It was at that moment that she once again caught sight of Pinkie Pie in that adorable little outfit, chatting with her friends. The stiffness that she displayed with the other guests was dampened, and Fleur could once again see the joy behind her every movement. She needed that joyful pink pony in her life. She couldn't give up now.

With newfound vigor, Fleur marched towards the closest worker she could find. Her target ended up being a mare who was setting cushioned chairs up on one side of the banquet hall around the ice swan sculpture. She recognized the setup on the spot. "Comfort zones" had become a staple of soirées recently, popular in their simplicity. Rather than standing or sitting on harder chairs at their tables to speak, ponies flocked to these aptly-named comfort zones to make themselves more...well, comfortable, for lack of a better word, while they conversed. This innovation had been seen as the epitome of high entertainment at soirées all around Canterlot. While Fleur could certainly appreciate a comfy chair, this was not what she had in mind as far as entertainment. Flirting and directness had both failed; perhaps a fine balance between the two would fair better.

"Pardon me, miss," Fleur said as she walked up alongside the busy mare. "While I do appreciate your efforts in setting up the comfort zone–a lovely job by a lovely mare, by the way–perhaps we could do without? I believe we could really get this party moving with some fanciful party games. What do you say?"

"Games?" the mare asked, scoffing. "How juvenile. You must be younger than you look."

Under normal circumstances, such an insult towards her age would have incensed Fleur, and the pony delivering it would have been on the receiving end of a sharp comeback. Fleur was a mare on a mission, however, and while the rage was still present, it was kept neatly tucked away behind a wall of serenity. The only visual sign of her frustration was a slightly-twitching right eye, and even that was quickly corralled. There was no time to get angry, not when she had two more fronts to move in on. Once the conductor, the wait staff, and that hag of a mare arranging the comfort zone–who had no right judging the age of others, by the way–saw the upcoming changes that she would inspire with the decorations and the other party guests, they would certainly change their minds and see things Fleur's way.

"Fleur?"

Fleur turned around at the sound of her name. Her efforts, while apparently unnoticed by Pinkie, had not escaped the attention of her friends. The six mares who had accompanied her to the party were all staring at her, most of them sporting worried looks on their faces. Fleur quickly equipped a calm smile.

"Yes, ladies?" Fleur asked, as if nothing was wrong.

"Minuette told us about your plan," Moondancer said. "And frankly, it's ridiculous. Just tell Pinkie that you expected one of her usual parties."

"I'm sure it won't insult her," Saffron added. "And she'll probably even be happy to hear that you wanted her usual way of doing things."

"You do not need to keep doing things in this...bizarre fashion," Mint told her. "If I could be honest, you are embarrassing yourself."

"But that is what I want!" Fleur insisted, taking a step back. "And I hardly think I have embarrassed myself yet. Once I get this party going the way I anticipated, I will surely..."

"You don't need to hurt your reputation to win Pinkie's heart!" Twinkleshine interrupted.

"Just talk to her!" Minuette said. "No more plans, just talking. I'm sure things will work out!"

"What they said!" Lemon Hearts agreed.

Fleur hesitated once again, as she had when Minuette was trying to talk her out of her plan before. These were six ponies who truly cared for her and just wanted to see her happy. She had already been through two plans that hadn't worked, and thus far this plan seemed to be going the same way. Perhaps her friends were right, and it was time to throw in the towel.

And yet her stubbornness would not allow it. Fleur de Lis was not the type to roll over and give up. If she had simply given up when things looked bleak, she might not have ever made it as far as she had in the modeling business. Her unrivaled beauty certainly did its part, but the modeling world was far more cutthroat than many would have expected, and it took a degree of perseverance to truly make it. Fleur was proud to say that she possessed such perseverance. Even when things looked to be going south, she would and could not give up when the stakes were high. She caught sight of a mare setting tables out of the corner of her eye, and she became laser-focused on her.

"I apologize, ladies," Fleur said, taking a step in that direction. "You all raise excellent points, but I know that my plan will work in time." She made haste towards the mare, trying to tune out the groan she heard from Moondancer as she went.

"Pardon me, miss!" Fleur called out, quickly garnering her attention before she could leave. "I have noticed that you are setting the table!"

"An excellent observation, miss," the mare replied, her tone practically dry enough to suck the moisture out of the air. Fleur knew sarcasm when she heard it, but opted to let it slide. It was wise to choose one's battles.

"Being as you seem to be so talented in the ways of...decorating," Fleur said, grasping for straws as she watched the simple placement of silverware and napkins. "Perhaps you would be the one to approach about sprucing the place up a bit? The fancy look is tried and true, but some balloons and streamers could really set a new standard for Canterlot soirées!" She smiled brightly at the mare, perhaps a bit brighter than was necessary.

"...Streamers," the mare repeated.

"Indeed," Fleur responded.

"Lady, you're nuts," the mare said. "The day a party like this accepts streamers is the day I eat my hat."

"But you are not wearing a hat," Fleur offered.

"I rest my case," the mare responded, and walked off before another word could be spoken.

Desperation was beginning to take hold of Fleur as she watched her carefully-made plan fall to pieces before her eyes. The faces of her friends, half colored with worry and half seeming to judge her every movement, were not helping matters. There was one more front on which to strike, but with the previous four failing, this one seemed doomed already. There was no chance of convincing the party guests to dance in a rambunctious fashion when there was no other party-like impetus around them. Fleur could feel her chances with Pinkie slipping between her hooves, and a look in Pinkie's direction turned out to be a major mistake.

Fleur had never before experienced the bizarre feeling of her mind snapping in two, so putting a hoof on exactly what had happened was no easy feat. All she knew was that her plans had gone terribly wrong, and if the ponies she needed to cooperate with her were not going to do so, then it was up to her and her alone to make things work.

Before any of her friends could stop her, Fleur galloped towards the orchestra, unearthly determination gleaming in her eyes. Her speed garnered the attention of the conductor, and the fear in his eyes was obvious as he braced for impact. Thankfully for him, it turned out that he was not her target. The supermodel passed right by the conductor, stopping in front of the ensemble and lighting her horn up. One of the idle trombone players let out a shout and wildly flailed his hooves in an attempt to keep his suddenly-ensorcelled instrument from floating away, but his efforts proved futile.

"The music must be more upbeat!" Fleur insisted as she gained possession of the trombone. The instrument's slide began to move as air was forced through it, and soon she had began a jaunty little oompah rhythm. Quick as a hiccup, she zipped away from the orchestra before the conductor could get his hooves on her. Her new target had already been chosen, and she kept up the trombone's simple beat as she charged towards the kitchen. Heads began to turn as she whisked past the waiter who had spoken down to earlier, sending him spinning in circles as she ran into the kitchen. Trendy dishes clattered to the ground as the stunned waiter tried to register what had just knocked him and his cargo over. The answer to his imminent query came faster than expected as Fleur emerged from the kitchen, a tray of table mints floating beside the still-tooting trombone.

"No need for uninteresting appetizers, everypony!" Fleur exclaimed, tossing mints to and fro. "Let us enjoy some tasty treats instead!" A part of her wished that there were some more substantial treasures hiding within the kitchen's confines, but she would have to make do with what she could find. More and more ponies were halting their activities and staring now, but Fleur paid most of them no mind. The ones who did catch her attention were the ponies sitting around the ice swan in the comfort zone. The mare who had been setting it up earlier nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of the rampaging supermodel.

"Who is up for some apple bobbing?" Fleur asked the group. Before any of them could answer, she zapped the ice swan with her magic, melting the elegant sculpture in an instant. The partygoers couldn't decide whether to stare at Fleur or the large pot that held the watery remains of the ice swan.

"No apples?" Fleur said as she surveyed the room. "Bobbing for cherries then!" The trombone music continued as Fleur whisked the bowl of cherries off of the nearby table and dumped them into the water. She flashed a big smile in the direction of the baffled ponies nearby, making sure to stare the pony who had insulted her earlier straight in the eyes. "Have fun! Even crotchety old mares like yourself can feel young again with a good game!" Mints were tossed to each pony before she took off once more.

Nearly every eye in the banquet hall was on Fleur as she galloped towards the nearest table. It so happened to be the one that the mare from earlier was currently setting, and she let out a yelp and dove out of the way of the rapidly-approaching madmare in a wild gesture of self-preservation. Fleur's magic took a hold of the tablecloth and swept it up from the table, her motion so fluid it didn't even disturb the plates or silverware. The incessant yet catchy tooting of the trombone kept steady as Fleur ripped the tablecloth to ribbons, tossing the remains about.

"Streamers!" Fleur sang as she tossed the strips of tablecloth about, making sure to tie one around the trombone and one around her horn. "Not the boldest color, but fun nonetheless!" One strip was deftly tied under the chin of the cowering table setter as well, Fleur giggling the entire while. Every single pony in the banquet hall was now staring straight at her. Even Pinkie had abandoned her hostess role to watch the goings-on. Seeing Pinkie watching only fueled Fleur further. There was one last front to attack on, and Fleur was determined to make it work.

"Everypony!" Fleur bellowed. "Dance with me!" With that battle cry, she abandoned all sense of self-control, doing her best to emulate the wild dance moves she'd seen Pinkie and others employ at past parties. She danced with reckless abandon, her majestic frame eagerly twisting, kicking, and otherwise moving in ways she would have never dared to move before. Slender white legs flew out in countless directions, her carefully-styled pink mane becoming disheveled as she continued her macabre pirouette towards happiness and embarrassment. There were gasps abound, but Fleur paid them no mind as she went into a spin. Im her mind, if this display didn't win Pinkie's heart, there existed no possible display that could.

Fleur's reverie was harshly interrupted as her hoof came down on one of the discarded mints. Even her fantastic sense of body control and balance couldn't stop her as she slid across the floor, quickly getting caught up in a small bunch of makeshift streamers. The crowd of ponies emitted a collective gasp as the supermodel slid across the room, her pilfered trombone letting out an extended slide note as she finally toppled rump over tea kettle into the the pot of water and cherries. Nearby ponies were soaked by the tremendous splash, and everything fell silent as they waited for Fleur to emerge. And emerge she finally did, looking quite the sight; mane flat against her head and neck, makeup streaked down her face, and her typically-pristine white coat mottled with cherry stains.

Fleur was a supermodel. Such a job came with a natural tendency to enjoy being the center of attention. As she stared out across the room of shocked ponies, wet and disgraced, she decided that this wasn't exactly the kind of attention she wanted. Tears stabbed at her eyes, begging to make themselves known and embarrass her further–if such a thing was possible.

"...What an impressive performance!"

Fleur's ear perked over her wet mane as she heard Mint's voice call out. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Mint approaching her, the rest of her friends following behind.

"Performance?" a nearby pony asked.

"Of course!" Mint insisted. "An excellently-executed performance piece! It truly gave us a sense of what it is like to...carry too much pressure on one's back and crack under its immense weight, all for the happiness of others! Brava!" She gave a pointed look at the mares behind her, and Minuette's eyes were the first to light up.

"Totally!" Minuette exclaimed. "What an inspired show!"

"I could feel the pathos from here!" Twinkleshine chimed in.

"Such bold brilliance!" Lemon Hearts cooed.

"You could really sense the feeling of desperation in every move!" Moondancer gushed.

"Never in my life have I witnessed such a spectacle!" Saffron cried.

Then the six mares began to clap and cheer wildly. Fleur's jaw dropped as she watched her friends flawlessly cover for her. Tears once again threatened to fall, but these were of the happy variety as the rest of the party guests slowly started to join in on the cheering and applauding. The entire banquet hall was soon filled with deafening support and approval.

"Fleur de Lis, you are a creative genius!" one guest called out.

"I've never seen such an amazing acting display!" another exclaimed.

The praise and adulation continued as the sopping-wet Fleur, nearly overcome with emotion, stepped out of the pot and back onto the floor. She managed to give a little bow before turning to her friends. The grateful smile on her face and the tears in her eyes said more than any words she could have come up with.

The noise eventually died down as the party guests returned to their earlier activities. The staff got to cleaning the mess that had been made in Fleur's wake, and one pony even brought a towel for her. Fleur bit her lip as she stared at her friends.

"...Words cannot express just how much I appreciate all of you for having my back there," Fleur said softly. "I acted like a fool, and it was by your quick thinking that I was not laughed right out of Canterlot. From the bottom of my heart, thank you ever so much."

"Of course," Mint said, smiling lightly. "I told you I would be here for you, did I not?"

"And us too!" Minuette said, smiling brightly. "No matter how foolish you act!"

Fleur just shook her head and smiled. Minuette's heart was in the right place.

"That wasn't really a performance piece, was it?"

Fleur whirled around to find herself face to face with a grinning Pinkie Pie. Words temporarily failed her as she stared into the beautiful face of the one she adored so much. She opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. For her part, Pinkie waited patiently for Fleur to find her voice. Honestly, seeing her wait so patiently was jarring, considering her natural affinity towards being active and bubbly. As much as she liked the super-energetic Pinkie Pie, this calm smile was something Fleur could certainly get used to. She wanted so badly to be in the position to get used to it. She stared into Pinkie's eyes and took a breath. There was no more room for plans, no room for deception. The only thing that remained was pure and simple honesty. Pinkie would likely think her an idiot, but it had to be done.

"It was not," Fleur said, unable to break eye contact with Pinkie even if she wanted to. "It was a foolhardy plan to try and change the party you so kindly threw for me to be more in line with the type of party I was used to you throwing. I thought that if I showed you that I cared more about my chances with you than what others would think of me by eschewing the typical Canterlot party for one of yours, then I might win your heart. In truth, I probably should have spoken to you instead of going about this plan that was destined to fail. I apologize for being such a nincompoop, Pinkie Pie. I do hope you can forgive me." Fleur hung her head sadly, too ashamed to look at Pinkie any longer. The deed was done, and she would have to live with the repercussions of her actions.

"Heehee..."

Fleur raised a brow, looking up at Pinkie. Giggling was certainly not the sound she had expected to hear, despite it being one of Pinkie's favorite methods of communication.

"Nincompoop is a funny word!" Pinkie said, smiling brightly. Fleur couldn't help but grin. No matter what the situation, Pinkie always knew how to bring about a smile.

"Yes...it is, is it not?" Fleur answered.

"Totally!" Pinkie replied. Then she patted Fleur on the back. "But real talk? What you did was pret-ty awesome."

"It...was?" Fleur asked, unable to hide her surprise.

"Uh-huh!" Pinkie told her. "I mean, I never would have expected a supermodel to like me and my parties so much that she'd go crazy and ruin a big fancy party and look silly in front of nearly everypony who's anypony in Canterlot just to try and win me over! It's pretty sweet, y'know?"

"It...is?" Fleur responded. She wished terribly to be capable of a better, more verbose response, but her brain would not allow for it.

"Yuppers!" Pinkie said. Then her smile turned sly. "So...you reeeeeally wanna date me, huh?" This time, Fleur didn't need to worry about thinking up a proper response. Her brain supplied it instantly.

"I do," Fleur said instinctively. "So very badly."

"Cool!" Pinkie replied. "How about Friday night?"

Fleur's jaw dropped. Pinkie Pie had just asked her out. In her mind, it was supposed to play out differently. She was supposed to have impressed Pinkie so much that she would have no choice but to say yes when Fleur did the asking.

As Fleur stared into Pinkie's baby-blue eyes and took in her warm smile, she figured that maybe it was okay to deviate from plans here and there.

"Friday night is lovely, Pinkie," Fleur said.

"Great!" Pinkie responded. "Pick me up at eight, 'kay?"

"...Kay," Fleur said.

"Super!" Pinkie giggled. "But until then, this'll have to do!"

Fleur's ears perked as Pinkie leaned in, planting a sweet kiss on her still-damp cheek. The two had shared two full-on kisses before, but this one was done without any false pretenses. This was not Pinkie Pie and Hood Rat. This was Pinkie Pie and Fleur de Lis, and Fleur couldn't think of anything that could make her happier.

Fleur then felt something wet and warm on her cheek. She blushed heavily as she realized that Pinkie was licking her.

"Heehee, sorry!" Pinkie said as she pulled away. "You had some cherry there. Now let's party!" She nodded over to the conductor, who nodded right back before turning to the orchestra. The music started up again, this time a strange slow mixture of their earlier style and a more upbeat party mix.

"May I have this dance?" Pinkie asked, extending a perfect pink hoof towards Fleur. Fleur let out a happy sigh as she placed her hoof delicately in Pinkie's.

"I would be honored."

As Fleur allowed Pinkie to draw her close, she rested her head on the shorter mare's shoulder, taking in the cotton candy scent of her mane. There really was something about that mare.

Epinklogue

"Next hoof please, Miss Fleur."

Fleur couldn't help but smile as she obeyed Pinkie's request, delicately placing her right hoof on the ground in front of her. Despite telling her that it was not necessary, especially not in an informal setting such as this, Pinkie still insisted on occasionally calling her "Miss Fleur." Perhaps it was because Pinkie saw it as a sign of respect and dignity, and wished to show Fleur that she could easily fit in amongst Canterlot ponies in that respect. It was far more likely, however, that she did it simply for the tiny smile and light blush that it tended to elicit.

"Like this, dear?" Fleur asked. In truth, she would never have expected to be taking dancing lessons from Pinkie Pie. But then again, many of the things she had done since that fateful day of their meeting three months ago were things that she would never have expected to happen. When Pinkie was involved—and Fleur was quite happy with having Pinkie involved—it was often best to abolish all expectations and let life happen as it would.

"Just like that!" Pinkie responded, bouncing in place as she was wont to do. "You're a natural!"

"And you are certain this is one of the most premier dances in all of Ponyville?" Fleur asked. It wasn't that she didn't believe her, or even that Pinkie hadn't been clear enough. Asking questions simply to hear Pinkie's voice more often had become a common practice for the supermodel.

"Certainly!" Pinkie answered. "Break this baby out at one of my parties and you'll be the talk of the town! Though your pretty face is bound to make that happen anyway!" The compliment would have brought a smile to Fleur's face if one was not already present.

"Very well," Fleur said. "Now, must I take my hoof out and put it back in again before shaking it all about, or is that step optional?"

Things had been good for Fleur on all fronts since the party that finally brought she and Pinkie together. Her old friendship with Mint had become better than ever. Her new friendships with Minuette and company were wonderful and rewarding in their own ways. Her professional life had improved, with acting jobs opening up for her following her "brilliant performance" at the banquet hall. And of course, every moment of dating Pinkie Pie was another adventure, and she welcomed each new twist and turn with open forelegs. No matter what the two did on one of their dates, Pinkie always found a way to make it fun and unique. This came as no surprise to Fleur; she couldn't possibly have expected any less from the wonderful, whimsical Pinkie Pie.

"You're doing great!" Pinkie exclaimed as Fleur moved through the steps she'd been shown. "You're a Pony Pokey natural!"

"Why thank you, dear," Fleur responded. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have found it odd to be bursting with pride in response to praise over such a silly little dance, but that was just one of the many ways in which she had changed.

"Put your whole self in!" Pinkie said, holding her forelegs out for a hug. Fleur was more than happy to move forward and let Pinkie engulf her in one of her amazing hugs. The two let out a tandem sigh of happiness before sharing a kiss. Fleur went for it gently, but Pinkie's eagerness to kiss overwhelmed her slightly. She could find no desire to argue, however. Another thing Fleur had learned recently about Pinkie Pie was how good she was with her tongue.

"Mm," Pinkie said as their lips parted. "That was a doozy."

"Indeed," Fleur agreed, a slight dreamy look in her eyes.

"Oh!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "By the way, could you do me a liiiiiittle favor?"

"Anything, dear," Fleur said. Making such a statement might have been risky, but in Fleur's mind, she truly meant it.

"Do you think you could mayyyybe introduce Dashie to your friend Mint?" Pinkie asked. "Dashie's been going on about how totally hot she is." Fleur giggled lightly, giving Pinkie a smirk.

"Mint is a bit of a hoof-ful sometimes," Fleur said. "Do you think Rainbow Dash could handle her?"

"Sure!" Pinkie replied. "Dashie's pretty great!"

"Then consider it done," Fleur said with a smile. "And I wish her the best of luck."

"Great!" Pinkie said. "She'll be sooooo happy! Thanks, Flower!" Fleur blushed lightly at the cute pet name Pinkie had given her. It was so simple, yet felt so right.

A few moments of silence passed before Pinkie looked at the clock.

"Our room time is up," Pinkie said. "We should proooobably let go of each other and let the next group use the room."

Fleur looked at the clock as well, then looked back to Pinkie, still happily wrapped in her hug. She gave her lovely pink delight a playful smile.

"Let them wait. There is nowhere I would rather be right now than precisely where I am."

Author's Note

And it is finished! This was one of my favorite stories, and I'm so glad I finally got to the end of this. It definitely went longer than I had originally planned (both in length of story and length of time it took to finish it :twilightblush:

Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this story. Thank you AND apologies to anyone who's stuck with it from waaaaay back in 2014 when I started it. I have a terrible tendency to start longer works, then get distracted from them with new stories. Thank you for your patience with me, and I hope it was worth the wait :twilightsmile:

Something About That Mare

"Next hoof please, Miss Fleur."

Fleur de Lis hummed to herself. Had he already finished the first hoof? It seemed like scant moments ago that he'd started. To be honest, she shouldn't have been surprised. These personal assistants were possibly the best that Canterlot had to offer. If they weren't, she certainly wouldn't have hired them. She would never stand for second-best in any field; a mare of her grace and stature not only deserved, but was completely entitled to the absolute best of everything. To accept any less would be an affront to her position.

Fleur brought her freshly-polished hoof to her face, inspecting her assistants' work. She tilted it in every direction, making sure to check it from every angle. Her eyes narrowed as they rested on a slight imperfection in the gloss work on the side of her hoof. She took a moment to think about how her fellow models would act in this situation, and she wasn't pleased with her thoughts. She had witnessed one too many of her contemporaries lose their temper when their assistants made a small mistake, and it simply did not sit right with her. Perhaps a major mistake called for voices being raised, but minor mistakes were not worth shouting over. She felt that an assistant's work suffered if they were terrified of their employers.

The assistant was clearly unaware of Fleur's stance on this, judging from the way he winced and cowered upon noticing her hoof's imperfection. Fleur frowned slightly, despite the lines it might cause on her face. It was true that she only wanted and deserved the best, but despite her love of her high-profile life as a model, there were some behaviors commonly attributed to her job that she simply did not wish to embody. She employed a gentle tone as she spoke to the worried assistant.

"Please touch up the imperfection on this hoof," Fleur said, angling it so it was most visible. Her assistant tilted his head, seemingly unsure of how to deal with being treated in a kind manner, as if he had never in his professional life been subject to the word "please."

"Did you not hear her?" the voice from the next seat over called out. "You are supposed to be assisting, not staring like a simpleton!"

Fleur sighed and shook her head. She and Mint Vogue had only just met when Fleur broke into the modeling business just last year. It was actually one of Mint's spreads that had convinced Fleur to take steps towards the profession. Mint was certainly a picturesque mare; Fleur could easily see how her lithe form and soft, alluring colors worked together to help her go far in this business. At the same time, she knew, although she was very unlikely to say it to Mint's face, that she was just that little bit more lovely. If Mint could earn as lofty of a position in this field as she had, then Fleur knew that she would have no problem doing the same.

As lovely a pony as she was physically, the same could hardly be said for her personality. Fleur had personally witnessed the mint-green pegasus lose her temper at no less than three assistants in the last week alone. Attempting to tally all the instances that she'd been privy to in the last year would certainly require an abacus, or at the very least a quill and paper. As disheartening as it was to see this side of the model who inspired her to enter the field, she still took solace in the fact that Mint was a fine travel partner when she wasn't hollering at the help or making demands. Fleur had heard tales of the modeling world being a cutthroat business, but Mint had been nothing but kind to her since they'd met, practically taking her under her wing. She supposed this was enough to overlook her idiosyncrasies.

Fleur took a look at her assistant, who was now fixing the mistake on her hoof. She waited for Mint's attention to be taken away, then leaned in closer to her assistant's ear.

"You are doing a fine job," she whispered. "Do not let her words shake you." The assistant gave her a grateful smile, then returned to his task.

Fleur was a lot of things that were considered stereotypical for a rich, beautiful mare. She was well-aware of her own beauty and eager to flaunt it. She was not afraid to speak volumes about her privileges, and she was refined enough to hold her own at fancy parties and even make herself the focal point at times. One thing she certainly was not, though, was mean. Her mumsy and pop-pop would likely have disowned her if they ever caught her treating the help like Mint had treated her assistant moments ago.

Fleur felt the train lurch to a halt, just as her assistant finished up her hooficure. A little part of her was displeased with the fact that she and Mint were conducting business in such a simple little town. She was a sophisticated mare, not one to wile her time away in a commoners' town. This, however, was not a feeling that she would express to anypony, except maybe for Mint. The ponies of Ponyville, as unsophisticated and plebeian as they might or might not be, did not deserve to be told that they were as such. They had feelings too. Plain feelings for plain ponies, but feelings nonetheless.

Mint lead the way off of the train and to Carousel Boutique. She had been there a number of times, a fact which she was happy to let Fleur know at various times during their walk. This was Fleur's first time in Ponyville at all, and although she was at least moderately aware of the owner of the establishment to which they were headed, everything else about the town was new to her. She was glad that this job would have her meeting Rarity again. She had seemed like a very nice pony when they met back when she was working with Fancy Pants, even though her friends seemed...less than desirable. To be fair, she had made very little effort to deal with Rarity's friends, but she did not see much of a reason why she would.

The graceful mare grinned lightly to herself as she passed through the streets of Ponyville. She couldn't help but notice the stares from the ponies she passed; clearly they were not accustomed to being in the presence of such beauty. The ponies in this town were not ugly, per se. She often felt that ponies, as a race, were generally pleasant to look at. Of course, this did mean that some ponies would be in the lower echelon of "pleasant to look at," and Ponyville seemed to be an unfortunate haven to quite a few of them.

"Just one quick visit to Carousel Boutique and we can get out of this unappealing little town with its plain citizens," Mint said, turning to Fleur with a haughty grin. Fleur wished that her travel companion could learn to keep certain thoughts to herself as she noticed one of those citizens overhear her and frown. Fleur gave a glance in Mint's direction to make sure she wasn't listening, then turned to the slighted pony. She may not have been the prettiest pony, but she did not deserve to hear such things. She gave the mare a smile.

"I love what you have done with your mane," Fleur said warmly. She may not have entirely meant it, as but the smile that it put on the mare's face made the lie worthwhile. She figured that a common pony like this one would take quite a bit of stock in a compliment to her appearance by a model as stunning as she was. Fleur turned back and silently thanked Celestia that Mint had not overheard her. Mint was a firm believer in the idea that ponies on their level were not meant to converse with the common folk more than they needed to, and being as Mint was her inspiration and the one who got her into the field, speaking up against her beliefs would not augur well. She'd heard one too many stories about former travel partners who'd gotten on Mint's bad side, and she had no inclination to do the same. She would simply travel quietly with her without making a fuss until she was well-known enough to find jobs on her own; a situation which she was sure she would find herself in soon enough.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique," Rarity said, her voice slightly weary as she opened the door. "Where everything is chic, unique, and...oh!" The startled fashionista nearly dropped her cup of coffee. The slightly-unkempt manestyle was evidence enough that she had been quite busy today. "Is it 2:00 already? I'd completely lost track!"

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Rarity," Fleur said with a confident smile, choosing to overlook the generally disheveled look that she was sporting. She knew quite well of Rarity's good looks, and figured that everypony had a bad day here and there. Although she had to admit, at least internally, that this looked like quite a bad day for Rarity.

"Yes, quite," Mint said, her tone lacking some of the warmth and genuineness that Fleur's held. "I take it you have our outfits ready?" Fleur was almost surprised that Mint was not speaking to Rarity quite as rudely as she had the other citizens of Ponyville, but she supposed it made sense. Rarity, after all, was providing them with the clothing needed for their job, and the last thing anypony in the industry wanted to do was insult somepony who supplied them with their wardrobes.

"But of course!" Rarity said with a smile. "While I may not look quite as ready as I should have been, I assure you that your clothes are very much so. I would never dream of providing anything but the best service to you both."

"Excellent," Mint said, entering the boutique. "We have no time to waste. Our shoot starts in exactly one hour, and then it's off to Upper Crust's soiree." Fleur had nearly forgotten that they were attending Upper Crust's party tonight; she had been so focused on the gig today that it had practically slipped her mind. She loved a good soiree, and Upper Crust and Jet Set hosted the finest ones in all of Canterlot. They were always a good opportunity to schmooze with the rest of the high-society Canterlot crowd, and there was rarely a time in the past year where she did not receive a job opportunity while attending them.

"Upper Crust's soiree, you say?" Rarity asked, her smile beginning to crack as her ears drooped. "I...I'm sure my invite simply got lost in the mail...but no matter. I have my own party to attend to tonight."

"Is that so?" Fleur asked, striding into the boutique as well and closing the door. She couldn't imagine the possibility of another...party, as Rarity put it...being better than what her evening had in store.

Suddenly, the boutique door burst open once more, startling all three ponies. The three turned simultaneously to see what or who had caused the racket.

"Hi Rarity!" Pinkie Pie shouted cheerfully as she bounced into the boutique. "Just stopping by to make sure you're all ready for the party tonight! It's gonna be loads of fun! There's gonna be bobbing for apples and plenty of music and dancing and horseshoes! The game AND the clothing! And everypony's gonna be there! It's gonna be super-duper fun-riffic!"

Pinkie then stopped in front of Fleur and Mint. "Ouh, pretty ponies! You must be models! My name's Pinkie Pie and...oh wait!" She pointed to Fleur. "I've met you before! You're really pretty! You two should come to my party tonight!" The bubbly pink pony pulled two invitations out of her mane, then grabbed Fleur's hoof and placed them in it.

"There you go!" Pinkie giggled. "Now you're officially invited! Not that you wouldn't have been allowed to come if you weren't! It's an open-door party! Ouh, nice dresses!" Before anypony could say anything, Pinkie bounced past the group and began looking through the outfits that were displayed on the nearby mannequins.

"Ugh..." Mint said, watching Rarity follow Pinkie. "She is an annoying one, isn't she?"

Fleur didn't say anything. Her eyes had not left the pink pony since she had arrived. She knew she had met her back when she had met Rarity, but she had not paid all that much attention to her back then. This time, though, she had garnered her full attention. Her exuberance and energy was like nothing she had ever seen before back in Canterlot. In fact, it was very unlikely that anypony in Canterlot would ever act even slightly as ebullient as Pinkie was right now. And the way she moved...it certainly wasn't graceful in the sense that her own movement was, but still, it held a certain primitive rhythm to it. Nopony would mistake it for the smooth motions of a model, but her body moved with a certain bizarre, warped elegance, executed in such a fashion that Fleur wasn't even sure whether or not Pinkie was aware that she was doing it.

Fleur found herself positively transfixed by the bouncing ball of pink energy in front of her. She couldn't explain it, but there was just something about that mare, something that refused to let her pull her eyes away.

"Come, Fleur," Mint said, snapping her out of her near-hypnotized state. "We must be off. No more time to mingle with the common folk."

Fleur blinked a few times as she looked to Mint, who had already gathered the outfits meant for them. Fleur nodded silently, beginning to leave. She gave a look back before leaving, telling herself that she was doing so to thank Rarity. She found herself unable to mutter the words out as she caught the baby-blue eyes of the pink mare.

"See you two later!" Pinkie said cheerfully, giving them a wave and a smile that Fleur felt become etched into her visual memory. In what was certainly her least charming and graceful action ever taken, Fleur opened her mouth, but all that came out was a strange, wordless grunt. She noticed as Rarity raised a brow, and quickly excused herself before she could embarrass herself further. She wasn't at all used to being embarrassed; it was an entirely new feeling to her, and not one that she wanted to experience often. She wasn't even entirely sure why she'd acted like that. All she knew was that it had to be something about that mare.

Pink Dreams and Ponderings

It was uncommon for Fleur de Lis to act in any fashion that was unbecoming of a proper lady. Every single move she made, from the grandest of gestures to the tiniest of twitches, was carefully and calmly calculated by the up-and-coming model to guarantee a constant air of elegance.

This did little to explain the filly-like twirling that found its way into this morning's routine.

Fleur had certainly been attracted to ponies before. Despite her stunning beauty and endless charm, she was a normal mare in the physiological sense. She had urges just like most other ponies, despite her desire to keep them from being too overt. She'd certainly had her fair share of crushes on other ponies, but none of them had caused her to spin around like an elated foal just from thinking about them. Only Pinkie Pie could make that claim–or at least she could were she privy to that bit of information. As it stood, Pinkie had no clue that Fleur was even there last night, let alone that she had completely and utterly fallen for her.

Fleur had replayed so much of last night's party in her head that she could likely recount every aspect of her part in it in excruciating detail. Not that she found any of it excruciating–save, perhaps, for her attire. From the opening moments of being pinned under Pinkie's lovely frame to that final parting hug, each scene danced through her head over and over like a best-of montage whose director was so in love with the entire reel that they just couldn't value any one part over the others. Every clip was a thing of beauty that deserved its own recognition, and Fleur had spent the better part of the morning giving them exactly that.

Perhaps a little too much of her morning, Fleur thought as she glanced at the nearby clock. She wasn't running late just yet, but she certainly would be if she kept this up much longer. If there was one thing that Mint simply detested–other than what she referred to as the "lower class"–it was tardiness. Thankfully, Fleur was almost never late unless it was fashionably so. Even more thankfully, while she was running a scoch later than she would have liked, said scoch wasn't quite enough to make her late yet. Luckily for her, she was a rather competent multitasker, and her thoughts of pretty pink ponies had provided a glorious soundtrack to her preparation ritual, one which she would not deviate from.

Childish twirling aside, of course.

It only took Fleur another forty minutes to finish preparing. This was a casual brunch with a dear friend, after all, and didn't require one to go all-out. Mint would likely be pulling out all the stops as if it were a full-on photo shoot, but that was simply part of Fleur's strategy. Little victories were essential for a pony like Mint, and if she felt like she'd worked more on her appearance than Fleur had, it would certainly put her in a better mood. Fleur knew that she was the lovelier of the two by just a bit, but if it meant stifling Mint's oft-abrasive behavior and putting a smile on her face, then she could stand a very minor defeat in her friend's eyes. She knew as she walked out of her front door that most eyes would be on her anyway.

"Hi Fleur!"

A less proper mare would have leapt into the air in surprise at the unexpected greeting. Thankfully for Fleur, her natural poise and grace prevented such an ostentatious and frankly unladylike display of shock. A raise of the eyebrows was all the sudden interruption managed to squeeze out of her, and even that was quickly quelled. The ebullience of the voice had nearly led her to believe that Pinkie had shown up at her doorstep, but her mind soon matched the voice to a different pony.

Minuette was a sweet pony, and her friends, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine, were equally enjoyable. Perhaps they didn't always display the class that was to be expected of Canterlot ponies, but that didn't make them any less pleasant. In fact, Fleur considered them more pleasant to be around than Mint most of the time. The fact remained, however, that they were simply in a lower social circle than Fleur. It wasn't something she held against them; it just meant that they each had their own things going on, things which rarely intertwined with each other.

"Good morning, ladies," Fleur finally responded, a light smile crossing her face. "And how are you today?"

"Great!" Minuette exclaimed, beaming that big, toothy smile of hers. If Fleur didn't know better, she'd have sworn she was a relative of Pinkie's. "Just, y'know, going for an early spa trip with my besties! How about you?"

"I am on my way to a brunch with my...erm...bestie as well," Fleur said, nearly fumbling over the odd colloquialism. She made sure to take note of that word in her mental Rolodex for when she next donned the hood. Spending time around these three would likely provide some good material for that endeavor.

"Oh," Twinkleshine responded, frowning a little. "You mean Mint Vogue?" Her sentiment was quickly echoed by Lemon Hearts, although there was little that could pull the smile from Minuette's face.

"Remember that time she insulted your hat, Twinkleshine?" Lemon Hearts asked.

"And when she ordered you around like you were her personal maid?" Twinkleshine retorted.

"Or when she told Minuette her mane looked like toothpaste?" Lemon Hearts said.

"Well, it sorta does look like toothpaste," Minuette said with a giggle.

"But it's the way she said it!" Twinkleshine insisted.

Fleur sighed inwardly as she listened to the three talk about just how awful her best friend could be. Maybe Twinkleshine did have a somewhat drab taste in hats, and maybe Lemon Hearts did look like a member of the hired help when she wore that one particular dress, and perhaps Minuette's mane did look like it was styled by Coltgate. There was a right way and a wrong way to bring those things up–if at all–and Mint was certainly good at choosing the wrong way.

"Ladies, please," Fleur said, trying to defuse the situation. "I am terribly sorry for the way she has spoken to you three. You are all delightful ponies, each stylish in their own way. Please do not take her tone to heart."

"Aww," Minuette said, grinning. "You don't have to apologize for her, Fleur!"

"Yeah, you're nothing like her!" Twinkleshine chimed in, Lemon Hearts nodding in agreement. "But we accept the apology anyway."

"Good," Fleur said, smiling warmly at the trio. "I am glad this has not sullied your morning."

"Not at all!" Minuette told her. "I'm happy we're even awake at this time considering how late we stayed at Pinkie Pie's party!"

Fleur thanked her lucky stars for her ability to hide her emotions. Otherwise, the facial contortions that such a statement attempted to elicit surely would have come off as suspicious.

"Oh?" Fleur asked, doing her best to utterly obfuscate a tone of voice that would incriminate her. "You went to that party?" Her outward appearance was the picture of serenity, a stark contrast to the panic situation going on in her mind. What if one of them had spotted her there? She had been more than careful with her precautions, but there was always the chance that she had slipped up without noticing. The recognition of her slender frame, a glimpse at her poise, the chance of overhearing one of the times she'd slipped out of her practiced voice...opportunities for failure lurked at every turn, and if one of them had noticed any one of them, her reputation was...

"Of course!" Minuette said, beaming. "Pinkie's parties are the best! You should have come!"

Relief radiated through Fleur's body like the sweetest sedative. Minuette, while a delightfully sweet pony, was not the greatest liar. If she appeared to not have noticed her there, then odds were she hadn't noticed her there.

"Come on, silly," Twinkleshine said, rolling her eyes lightly. "That's not the kind of party a mare like Fleur would go to. No offense, Fleur."

"None taken," Fleur replied, her modest smirk a mere shadow of the huge smile she would have displayed had she less restraint.

"Psst," Lemon Hearts whispered, nudging Minuette's side. She pointed towards the clock tower in the distance. Minuette glanced in that direction, then gasped.

"Oh ponyfeathers!" Minuette exclaimed. "We're almost late! And we shouldn't hold you up from your brunch either! Can't imagine how upset Mint would get at that, huh? But it was great talking to you! We should all get together for lunch sometime. Us four, I mean. Maybe Moondancer too?"

This wasn't the first time Minuette had suggested such a thing. She liked these ponies a fair bit, but they simply didn't travel in the same circles, so polite declinations were necessary to keep her social status where it was. After the lengths she'd gone to making sure she wasn't recognized at Pinkie's party, she couldn't just risk her status so easily for these three. And yet at the same time, enjoying herself at that party had opened new doors for her. Minuette and her friends might have been slightly lower than her on the social ladder, but they were higher than Pinkie, and clearly she was worth her time. A public outing with them probably wouldn't hurt her status too much.

"How about Monday?" Fleur asked. Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine's jaws dropped.

"Wow!" Minuette gasped. "You actually said yes this time! Totally didn't see that coming! Did you hear that, girls? She said yes!"

Fleur kept her polite smile, but inside, a little part of her heart sank as she watched the three murmur. The degree of shock at her acceptance of the offer brought her pause. She'd had no idea that something like a lunch invite was important enough to them that one "yes" after a string of "nos" could bring such surprise and jubilation. A new feeling of guilt threatened to wash over her, and she did her best to stave it off. She decided it best to leave the scene before the chance could arise for her thick emotional shell to crack.

"I shall see you on Monday, then?" Fleur asked.

"Definitely!" Minuette agreed. "Monday at noon, at the Tasty Treat!"

"Of course," Fleur responded. She would have preferred a three-hoof restaurant, but she didn't feel up to disagreeing or putting down their choice of restaurants. "Ta-ta."

"Bye Fleur!" the three mares said in unison before scurrying off. Fleur waited until they were out of sight before letting out a soft sigh. Guilt was not a fun feeling, but a few moments of self-assurance allowed it to pass as she continued towards her destination. Maybe she had done something worth feeling guilty over, but she was making an effort to make things right, so she had nothing to feel guilty about.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Nearly late, Fleur. Do try and be more punctual next time."

It took a large amount of self-control to keep Fleur from rolling her eyes at Mint's statement and request. To fault her for being "nearly late" was absurd. "Nearly late," by definition, meant that she was not late, which meant that she was on time. However, she opted not to let her feelings on the topic be known. This wasn't a battle worth fighting with Mint.

"Mm," Fleur responded, sounding just barely agreeable enough to mask her displeasure without raising suspicion as she sat down across from her friend.

"I take it you are feeling well today?" Mint asked as she picked up her menu. "At least I would hope so. I cannot afford to catch whatever you had."

"I am feeling much better," Fleur responded as she glanced at the menu. "Thank you ever so much for your concern."

"Of course," Mint said simply. Fleur watched in bemusement as the mild sarcastic tone she'd employed wafted over Mint's head. Her eyes then turned back to her menu. Menus were a mere formality in this manner of establishment. One did not come to a place like this for their vast variety of dishes and flavors. It was simply a matter of ordering whatever the current trendy dish was. Even if one were to order something different–a major social gaffe, but still an option–the other dishes were nearly identical.

Fleur typically found this lack of variation to be more than acceptable. One had to fit in, after all. Today, however, she found herself thinking back to the myriad flavors that adorned Pinkie's snack tables. Every single bowl or plate varied in shape, color, texture, and especially taste from the one before it, and even more from the one before that. The memories of that delectable assortment made this restaurant's "selection" look like a litany of insipidity. How she longed to be back at that party, to relive that wonderful evening with that beautiful pink pony...

"Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur blinked a few times, looking up from her menu into the annoyed gaze of her brunch partner. This was not the first time that thinking of Pinkie Pie had caused her to miss something Mint said, and evidence pointed strongly towards the possibility of it happening again in the future.

"Are you certain you are feeling well?" Mint continued. "You are zoning out more than usual, and frankly I find it very rude."

"I assure you I am fine, Mint," Fleur responded, keeping an even tone. "I apologize for my indiscretion. I simply did not get as much sleep as I would have liked last night."

Technically, it wasn't a complete lie. Had she her druthers, she likely would have arrived home for sleep a bit earlier. The call of the Pie, however, was far too potent, and it persisted throughout the dreams she experienced during her very pleasant and satisfying sleep. A pleasant and satisfying sleep which Mint did not need to know about.

"Very well," Mint said, although she did not exactly look satisfied. "Just do not let it happen again. My time is valuable."

"I can assure you I shall do my best," Fleur responded. She set her menu down, not sure why she'd even picked it up in the first place. Despite her desire for something more palatable, she would be ordering the trendy dish, just as usual. With the lengths she'd gone to in protecting her image during Pinkie's party last night, she wasn't about to throw it all away on a choice of brunch.

"You missed the most fabulous soirée last night, Fleur," Mint said as she set her own menu down.

"Is that so?" Fleur asked. In her reverie over her evening, she'd nearly forgotten all about the soirée.

"Indeed," Mint confirmed. "Jet Set and Upper Crust were asking after you, as was Fancy Pants. I assured them that you were far too ill to attend. Frankly. I found their disappointment rather insulting, as I was still there, but one cannot account for another's taste."

"A shame," Fleur responded. A quick lift of the previously-rejected menu was necessary for her to finally relieve a bit of her inner frustration with a now-hidden roll of the eyes.

"Certainly," Mint agreed. "You would have had a ball there. High Roller regaled us all with a story about a mistake his butler made. You simply cannot find good help these days, can you? It does not take a rocket scientist to set the table properly for the arrival of a distinguished guest, but the oaf couldn't even get that right. Unbelievable, no?"

"Of course," Fleur droned. She had considered sounding more interested, but it was quite obvious at this point that Mint wasn't exactly paying attention to her tone. An errant thought about how she would typically join in on the laughter that would inevitably result from such a story nearly caused her to cringe.

"To be honest, Fleur," Mint said, giving her an uncharacteristically meaningful look. "I do wish you had been there last night. I have grown rather fond of your company."

Fleur was floored, although she held it behind her usual mask of calmness. Mint had paid her small compliments in the past, but they were usually backhanded or paired with a greater compliment to herself. As far as she could recall, this might have been the first time Mint had shown a legitimate display of affection towards her. She allowed her defenses to lower, smiling genuinely.

"I appreciate that greatly," Fleur said, deciding to try her luck. "Thank you...bestie." She smiled proudly, but that smile quickly faded as she watched Mint's sincere look dissolve into one of mild disgust.

"Bestie?" Mint repeated. "Did you pick that up from the commoners? What a ridiculous word."

Fleur felt her heart sink a bit, letting her natural defenses reactivate and fading back behind her mask. Despite not needing the menu, she picked it up as an excuse to disconnect herself from the conversation. Part of her was certain she overheard Mint talking down to the waiter over her order, but by that point she was so shut down that it went in one ear and out the other. That was just the way Mint was, and sometimes it seemed like there was no changing that.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fleur barely felt full at all as she walked back to her home. After indulging in a bevy of treats the previous night, somehow the minuscule "trendy plate" hadn't managed to satisfy her needs. Not that she would let anypony know that, of course.

"All in all, a delicious meal," Mint said as she walked alongside Fleur. "Despite the waiter's best efforts to botch it up."

"I am certain he was doing his best," Fleur responded half-heartedly. It may not have exactly been a good defense of the poor waiter, but it scratched the itch that had been building from not saying anything on the topic.

"I agree," Mint shot back. "And that is why he is where he is and we are where we are, dear." The snobbish Pegasus tossed her mane back, a haughty smirk crossing her face. "Now, I take it you will be joining me for lunch this Monday, hm?"

Fleur's eyes widened just the tiniest bit; a momentary loss of control that would have been problematic had Mint been looking at her. Mint had mentioned having a luncheon with a few other models a few days back, but as far as she remembered, a date had not been suggested until just now. Of course it would fall on the date that she'd made her plans with Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts.

Fleur weighed the two options in her head. On one hoof, she had specifically made these plans with the others for that date, and seeing how happy it made them was a delight. Cancelling on them would be terrible. Sure, they would forgive her, but she didn't want to be in a position where she needed forgiveness. On the other hoof, cancelling on Mint was likely to raise her ire, but she had the excuse that she was given short notice on an exact date. But this luncheon was a chance to mingle with other models and possibly exchange tips and get some valuable networking in. If only she could decide...

"Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur looked up into the very angry eyes of her friend. It had happened again, and she quickly tried to recover, but Mint would not give her the chance.

"I am getting rather cross at your constant daydreaming," Mint said through gritted teeth. "When I speak to you, I expect your full attention. It is by my grace that you have made it in this business. You should be hanging on my every word. Now, you will be joining me for lunch this Monday, hm?"

"I am afraid I must decline," Fleur said confidently, decision having been made for her. "Mumsy and pop-pop wish for my company that day, and I had already agreed since a date for this luncheon had not been decided upon. I deeply apologize, but I promise I will make it up to you." Once again she silently thanked her parents for the acting classes that had made her into such a talented liar. Mint attempted to stare through her soul, but Fleur's cool, confident smile held strong.

"Very well," Mint said after a deep breath. "I suppose there is always next time."

Fleur kept that grin up for a few moments as they approached her house, until one glance at her mailbox forced it to break. Poking out of said mailbox, sticking out like a sunflower amidst a sea of cosmos, was a bright pink envelope with Pinkie Pie's cutie mark on it.

Fleur had never felt such a combination of joy and fear. Her heart fluttered at the idea of already attending another Pinkie party, but she could already see Mint beginning to turn in that direction. Quicker than a flash, she lit her horn up, rotating the envelope so it lay flush with her other mail. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that she had done it just in time.

"What are you looking at?" Mint asked.

"My house," Fleur replied. "Just thinking about how much cleaning my help has to do."

"Hopefully they are better than mine," Mint said. "Or else it might take the better half of the day."

"Mm," Fleur responded. "I shall see you later, hm?"

"Indeed," Mint replied. "Until then."

Fleur watched as Mint departed, slowly inching towards her mailbox. As soon as she was out of sight, Fleur pounced towards the mailbox, giddy as a little filly. She zipped into the house, envelope in hoof, and quickly opened it, making sure to still do it neatly. A lovely envelope like this had to be retained and cherished. She read the contents and squealed quietly. She hadn't expected to be attending her next Pinkie party so soon, but here it was, set for Monday evening.

Fleur found herself flopping happily onto her couch, holding the invitation to her heart like a smitten teenager. Hood Rat's next appearance had been determined.