Family Pride

The Grand Galloping Gala was, without a doubt, one of the most stressful occasions for a noble. Rich, prestigious and influential families from all over Equestria and beyond gather to do one thing: boast.

The white stain of family pride was still ingrained into the essence of Equestria’s upper class; Stallions wore fake moustaches and mares wore fake smiles—both to hide the scowls of jealousy hiding just beneath their flawless exterior.

Fleur de Lis knew this all too well. Growing up with nobility meant one became quite fluent in the art of faux-smiles and cheap talk.

“Your gala dress is ready, ma’am,” a servant pony said politely, motioning to the freshly pressed dress that she had brought with her.

“Thank you, Dewdrop,” Fleur replied sweetly, although her eyes never left the mirror.

“Would you like me to help you put it on, Miss de Lis?” Dewdrop continued.

“That won’t be necessary,” Fleur responded. “You are dismissed.” She watched as the servant girl bowed and left, and once again found herself wondering why her family even hired servants.

Appearances, of course. It’s all about the Family Pride.

She had already known about the answer, but she felt like remembering it again so that she could mope to herself how stupid it was. Why couldn’t her family see that this game was as meaningless as the Grand Galloping Gala itself?

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

“Miss de Lis? Mr. Fancy Pants has arrived.”

“Tell him I’ll be a few minutes more.” Fleur hastily scrambled to put her dress on.

“Yes, ma’am. He’s waiting in the front room for you.”

Fleur brushed down her dress, ensuring that there was not one single blemish or crease to be found on the grand design, and prepared herself for the night ahead of her. She stole one last glance at the mirror, staring long and hard at her reflection. A mare full of joy and vigour that she did not know of stared back at her.

Yes, her mask was ready.

Do not tarnish the Family Pride.

Taking a deep breath to help maintain her graceful composure, she made her way to the front room.

“Fancy!” she called as she entered the room.

“Ah, there you are,” Fancy said as he turned around to see her. He looked as dapper as he always did—he was a true master of the art.

“I do hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Fleur said.

“Not at all, my dear.” Fancy chuckled. “Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

“Shall we?” Fancy opened the front door and motioned for her to go through.

“Oh, Fancy. Always the gentlecolt.” Fleur giggled.

A click of the door later and the two of them were walking through the streets of Canterlot. Celestia had already lowered the sun, so magical lamps illuminated the streets instead. They cast long shadows across the cobblestone roads.

The street was quiet, save for the sound of distant music and the sound of their hooves echoing across the street. Fleur was so focused on the rhythmatic clip-clop sound of enamel against stone that she almost missed what Fancy Pants said to break the ambient silence.

“Splendid evening once again. Did I mention that Pearl bought shares in that lightning generator company? She saw the prices leap 1.2% last month and…”

Great. He’s talking about finances again.

Fleur swallowed the groan that was rising up her throat and threatening to escape, and instead maintained eye contact, nodding occasionally. The words washed against her mind like waves against the beach; in and out they flowed, but she spared them very little of her attention.

She wondered what might happen at the gala. Perhaps she would meet a stallion with interesting things to say? Perhaps something interesting would happen this year? There was, after all, a new addition to the growing line of princesses. The crown seemed to be gaining a new member every year, and Fleur couldn’t help but wonder where all these thrones were going to be put.

“Surely investing in that chariot manufacturing company was a bad move?” Fleur interrupted as she returned her full attention to the conversation at hoof. “They only just managed to avoid being liquidized last quarter.”

“Oh, Fleur.” Fancy Pants chuckled. “The industry's having bits poured into it. Of course it’s a good investment.” The stallion was laughing heartily, but no amount of mirth could disguise the patronizing tone in his voice.

Once again, Fleur forced back the eyeroll that was threatening to escape and break her mask.

Do not tarnish the Family Pride.

“Of course, Fancy,” she replied sweetly, flashing him a smile.

The two turned a corner, and Canterlot Palace came into full view. The grand architecture and intimidating guards were a breathtaking sight, but Fleur found the display much less impressive.

“Marvellous, isn’t it,” Fancy said happily.

“Quite,” she mumbled in response.

She eyed the queue warily. The two of them were early, but not early enough to avoid the queue, it seemed. As they joined the back, however, she realized it was moving much quicker than in previous years.

“I suppose we have a hasty princess offering greetings,” Fancy said, reading her thoughts.

Fleur had only ever seen Princess Celestia greet at the gala. This was certainly an interesting development.

Sure enough, as the two walked inside, she spotted a large blue alicorn offering greetings at the top of the steps. Princess Luna didn’t look as if she wanted to be there; her eyes darted from left to right and she occasionally shifted uncomfortably.

As Fleur and Fancy approached, her eyes darted over them, analyzing them. Fleur felt as if she was being judged whether she was a threat or not. After a few seconds, the moon princess spoke.

“Greetings. We welcome you to our gala this night.”

“Princess Luna,” Fancy Pants greeted happily as the two guests bowed in unison. “So wonderful that you could make it this year.”

Once again, Princess Luna’s eyes danced over the stallion in front of her, as if searching for an ulterior motive for his actions.

“I appreciate your concern,” she replied, although she didn’t look appreciative in the slightest. “I hope you enjoy your evening.”

Fleur smiled politely and the two walked up the steps and into one of the main halls. Instantly their eyes were me with the sight of hundreds of nobles deeply engaged in duels of words and pride. The sound hit them like a wall; what was at first a low din was now a loud roar.

“Oh look,” Fancy exclaimed, “it’s Filthy Rich and his daughter.”

Before she had a chance to object, the stallion had walked off to the pair in question. Once more, Fleur swallowed her objections and followed closely behind. The objection instead sunk down into her stomach and protested weakly, making her feel a little ill; she wanted more than anything to run off, but the little voice in her head told her otherwise.

Do not tarnish the Family Pride.

It wa a voice from long ago. It was not her’s. The voice was deep and patronizing, but above all, it was angry.

“Filthy!” Fancy called, flashing him a white smile.

Filthy Rich’s ubiquitous smile faltered momentarily, but he quickly recovered. “Filthy Rich, if you please,” he said politely. His face lit up, however, when he saw who had called his name. “Ahh, Fancy pants. It has been a while.”

“Indeed it has, my friend. How’s the apple business going?”

“Still as booming as ever…”

Once again, Fleur zoned out the droning male voices. Did all males only have boring things to talk about? She sighed and glanced about the crowd. She saw a few nobles she knew, but none she genuinely liked; they had a way of saying one thing and yet insulting everyone at the same time. The ambiguity in what they said was their armor, and the poison in what they said was their spear.

“Fancy Pants!” someone from the crowd called, pulling Fancy’s attention away from Filthy Rich.

“Ruby? Fancy seeing you here.”

“Oh, you and your fancy puns, Fancy,” the mare chuckled. “I see you brought your friend again.”

The mare gave Fleur that once-over glance that said everything. She thought she was superior in every way.

“So lovely to see you again, Ruby.” Fleur smiled.

“Indeed. It seems like forever since our last little get together. A pity. I quite enjoyed our last conversation.”

Fleur refused to let her smile falter; their last conversation had been less than ideal.

“But of course! Perhaps we should make plans sometime?”

“Well, I don’t know. I am a pretty busy mare after all.” Ruby waggled her eyebrows victoriously, a smirk dancing across the corners of her lips.

“Oh, I know how exhausting tending to stallions can be. Please excuse me, I’m going to grab Fancy and I some drinks.”

Before Ruby even had a chance to respond, Fleur broke away from the circle and made her way through the crowd towards the drink stand. The look on the mare’s face had been priceless. The only way her jaw could have dropped lower is if it had been detached from her head.

She was interrupted from her thoughts as she bumped straight into another pony.

“Terribly sorry,” Fleur gasped.

“Sorry,” a deep voice mumbled, barely audible over the din of the crowd.

Fleur looked up to see she’d bumped into a large red stallion. He looked rather dashing in a suit, and his vibrant orange mane was tied back into a ponytail. Despite his graceful appearance, large muscles bulged underneath his crimson fur. His emerald eyes avoided her’s, though.

“No need to apologize. It was my fault,” Fleur replied with a quick smile before continuing on her way. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she noticed that the stallion was following her.

It took her a moment to realize that he was also probably heading to the drink stand. In front of her, several punch bowls were filled with various kind of beverages. She paused at the table and watched as the red stallion walked up next to her and grabbed several cups.

“Getting drinks for a lot of ponies, then?”

A silence hung over them as those emerald eyes scanned her over apathetically. Fleur frowned as she analyzed his body language, but everything about his was infuriatingly neutral.

After a few seconds more, he finally broke the silence.

“Eeyup.”

Fleur blinked. Was that all? Desperately she scrambled for something further to say—anything that would save her from an awkward silence. Once again, the voice threatened to haunt her.

“So have you heard that stocks in lightning generators have risen by 1.2%? Now’s the time to invest, I suppose.”

The stallion scrunched his eyebrow, eyeing her in confusion.

Fleur blushed. Was she doing something wrong? Maybe she had just stumbled on a sore topic?

“Hehe,” she chuckled. “But who cares about that? It’s all about the chariot industry, right?”

Once again, the stallion seemed unimpressed by her topic of conversation. Maybe he wasn’t interested in talking about his business? She glanced at his cutie mark.

Apples! Of course!

“But you probably don’t bother with any of that. I mean, what with apples being such a booming industry.” She bit her lip as she prayed that what Filthy Rich had been saying wasn’t total lies, unlike most of what every other noble said.

Still the stallion said nothing, his eyes darting around the room, as if searching for an escape.

Do not tarnish the Family Pride.

“But all that’s just as boring as the gala, right?”

It was her last card. It was all she had left.

The stallion smiled. A huge wave of relief crashed down over her. He continued to gather the drinks for whoever his friends were as he flashed her that rare smile.

“Eeyup.”

Fleur was about to press further when suddenly she bumped from behind.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” a bright orange mare said as she brushed past her, “Been lookin’ for this one for the best part o’ ten minutes now!” she turned to face the stallion. “There ya’are yah old lug. Been lookin’ all over for you. Come on, we just got some seats.”

The stallion glanced at Fleur pleadingly as he was dragged off by the brash mare. Fleur was too taken aback to say anything, and the orange earth pony hadn’t noticed they had been in the middle of a conversation.

That means that she was left with taking drinks back to her little circle. Fleur felt the scowl threatening to break through her mask once again.

I didn’t even get his name…

She poured herself a few drinks and set back through the crowd. This time she wasn’t disturbed by anypony. Inwardly, she sighed as she reached the circle again.

“…and the price of rubies has done nothing but go up! You’d think that someone would pull a profit there, but amazingly, the gemstone fields have yielded almost no rubies at all!”

Fleur swallowed the sigh that had been waiting on her lips and handed everypony their drinks.

“Ah, good to see you enjoyed your little trip to fetch the drinks,” Ruby purred.

Fleur gulped down several more sighs, eyerolls and roars of outrage.

It was going to be a long night.

Half an hour later and Fleur de Lis found herself in the same situation still. Fancy Pants was still ranting on about the variations in price of various gemstones, Filthy Rich’s daughter had chipped in with a few childish complaints, and Ruby always had another snide quip somewhere hidden in that pompous dress of hers.

“