Risqué Business

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

In retrospect this might work as a funny story. Maybe something to bring up during a spa date with the girls or at the wine tasting party mentioned by Princess Celestia in her last letter. Of course some details would need to be omitted — but that was beside the point. At that moment there was nothing amusing about any of it.

Or maybe there was. Things were out of control from the very start, after all. So what was the point of all the pining, the frustrations of their game? For all the wisdom of a fledgling princess, she should have at least noticed that something was wrong. That something was wrong with her, specifically.

Too late. Down 100,000 somewhat bits, her life savings, and there was a criminal on the loose. The criminal had once been a friend.

Celestia. Oh dear, dear Celestia. This was turning out to be the biggest scandal in recent Equestrian history.

Twilight recognized her as soon as she stepped off the train. It was difficult not to; she was a head taller than most of the other ponies and was dressed impeccably in layers of branded clothes, like the models in the magazines at the spa or in Rarity’s bathroom.

They had never actually met — Twilight had never even seen her before, but she was certain of this much: the unicorn mare was a Canterlotian of the uppermost stratum. Or maybe a relative of one. Either way it was clear that she was different: she held the grace, the affected poise, of a thoroughly educated pony — perfect posture, head high, and hooves close. Yet there was something more to her, something that highlighted her amidst the crowd of colorful passersby.

That was it. Despite the lofty implications of her deliberate stride, the mare interacted with the town openly. She smiled when the station clerks greeted her, winked back when a group of old stallions tipped their hats, and she danced affably to some welcome musical number as she moved through the crowd. The mare seemed so familiar with the town, so casual with her surroundings, that Twilight couldn’t help but recognize her, and be drawn to her, like an old friend. And yet they had never met.

By then many others had taken notice of the pretty mare as she left the station in a trail of delight, all the while balancing her stride as well as her own luggage.

“Should we help her?”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked back to the café. She had been staring so long that it took her eyes a moment to focus on the purple blur that sat just across the table.

Spike rolled his eyes and pointed at the mare walking their way. “With her bags. I don’t know how she balanced them through that whole song. It was like three minutes! They must be killing her.”

The bags did look heavy, and also dangerously lopsided, stacked like a half-done jenga tower. And yet the mare remained composed. Or at least it seemed that way until she came closer and Twilight could make out the beads of sweat running down her flushed face. Her mane was a little messy as well; a few errant strands of hair were plastered to her forehead and her loose top knot sagged over to the side like a tipping crown.

“So are we going to help her or not?”

“Spike, do I need to remind you about our lesson on loaded questions? And I guess we should help her. Or… or maybe we shouldn’t.” Twilight deflated onto the table with a groan, pushing all of the plates towards Spike’s end. “I don’t know. Princess Celestia made it clear that I need to stop meddling in every little problem in town; otherwise ponies will become too dependent on me.”

“Is that why we’ve been snooping around and pony-watching all day?” Spike asked, peeking from behind the pile of plates. “You’re getting all manic again, Twilight.”

“It’s not like that,” Twilight argued as she reached for a plate of half-eaten omelet. “I just feel like I’m not doing enough for them as their princess. It feels like I’m neglecting them.”

The baby dragon groaned as he pushed the plate halfway to meet her hoof. “I’m sure that Princess Celestia didn't mean for you to completely stop helping ponies.”

“I know but… I just don’t want them to think that I’m ignoring them,” she replied through a mouthful of cold omelet. “I want them to know that I’m here for them, that I’m still just a pony under the crown — which is why we’re observing them in plain sight. Hello!” She waved at a passing couple. They stumbled into bows before hurrying away.

Spike glowered at her for a moment, then shrugged. “That… doesn’t even make sense. But okay, fine. Then I’ll just tell that mare that you asked me to help her. Problem solved, right? I think?” And he was off like a Wonderbolt.

The alicorn blinked, not understanding what he was up to. By the time she realized it, he was already chatting with the mare and helping her with a large tote. Twilight shoveled more food into her mouth as she considered helping them herself and going against her mentor’s advice. After all, she was now a princess in her own right and she could make her own decisions. Disobeying Princess Celestia was at the bottom of her royal to-do list, but sometimes there just wasn’t any other way around it. The events at the Crystal Empire had taught her that much.

Then, just as Twilight was about to call out to them, she choked — actually choked. The first thing she did was roll her eyes. If Spike were there, he’d be giving her that look while saying something along the lines of ‘Do you remember our lesson on talking while chewing food?’ She tried calling to him regardless.

“Spike! Spi — ack!” The omelet would not go down. She couldn’t talk, so she decided to use gestures instead.

Spike was still with the mare, hanging several of her bags on his spines, probably trying to show off. Twilight tried waving them over. They noticed her and waved back. She couldn’t curse either as she turned to the table and groped around for a cup of water, but it was on the other side where she had pushed everything earlier. Her vision started getting blurry, so she crammed her eyes shut and concentrated on swallowing harder. The bulge of her meal bounced in her throat with each failed attempt. She even tried massaging it, trying to break apart the food and allow for a smoother transition. But nothing seemed to work, and by then her silent convulsions had drawn the attentions of some of the other ponies. If only she could concentrate enough to use magic!

This was real. Wild thoughts flashed through her mind like: what would happen to Spike? How would he cope without his sister-mentor? And what about Ponyville? They just got their princess, for pony’s sake! The Elements of Harmony, oh they’d be in trouble. And then Equestria would collapse on itself! Omelet! The omelet! Ahhh—

Twilight struggled when she felt hooves wrap around her waist. She tried to wiggle herself away, but the strong forelegs clenched themselves tightly under her stomach. They then lifted her up so that she stood slightly and began jerking her hard against the lean, sweaty body of whoever it was behind her. Without air her brain wasn’t functioning enough to decide on whether she should be frightened or outraged. But then, miraculously, air did enter her lungs, and she settled on feeling confused and embarrassed instead.

“AAACK!” With a loud hack the half-chewed omelet piece popped out of her mouth and flew onto the table in a trail of spit and foodstuff. “Oh” — pant — “dear” — gasp — “Celestia!”

There was a round of applause coming from around the café. The ponies who had jumped from their seats towards their ailing princess were slowly moving back to their parties, looking sheepish though some of the applause was clearly meant for them.

“I’m alright! I’m okay, everypony!” Twilight spluttered, fighting through the embarrassment. “Thank you,” she said to the crowd as she dismissed them with a wave. And then she turned to the pony who had saved her. “Thank you.”

The alicorn blinked a few times, surprised to see that it was the mare from before, the Canterlotian one, who had rushed to her aid; and she was even more surprised, and also embarrassed, by their closeness. From her position just below the tall pony, Twilight saw that she was even more disheveled than before, with hairs loose all around her face. She was also gasping almost as hard as Twilight was, her breaths coming out hot.

“Oh, you’re very welcome, Princess,” the mare managed to reply through a shaky smile. And then Twilight was simply dumbfounded. She had no accent, or barely a hint of one. She did speak differently, but definitely not like the ponies in Canterlot; which was strange since she looked so classy and beautiful, just like a Canterlotian, and was as gallant as the archetypal heroes recurrent in the area’s lore…

“What happened to your bags?” Twilight asked, getting up slowly. “And where’s Spike?” She looked around and saw that they were thrown about haphazardly in a trail leading to the café, as were some of the layers of clothes she was wearing earlier. Twilight also couldn’t help but notice that the mare’s blouse was a little undone and that her coat underneath was particularly drenched with sweat. She then felt her own back with a hoof and shivered at the cold, wet sensation.

“Thank goodness,” Spike huffed as he caught up to them, picking the mare’s clothes and bags up on his way. “Nice save, Fleur!” They shared a high-hoof.

“And just in the nick of time!” her savior replied. Twilight tensed as the mare looked her up and down with big, worried eyes. “Why, you were practically convulsing by the time I arrived. I almost mistook you for Princess Luna; your face was so blue.”

Spike snorted and leaned against Twilight’s flank, forcing her to share in the weight of the luggage. “Didn’t we have, like, a whole week of lessons on proper chewing etiquette?”

The alicorn rolled her eyes. He was going to get a lesson on rudeness later on in the day. She moved to offer the mare her hoof, causing the little dragon to stumble under his load. “Anyways, thank you again, um, Fleur?”

“Fleur de Lis.” The unicorn straightened her posture and offered a lengthy “Hello.”

“Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Welcome to Ponyville.”

“Thank you, Princess. For the welcome and also for sending your adorable little servant to help me.”

“Assistant!” Spike wheezed as he picked up the last of her belongings. He smiled toothily at them from under a mountain of clothes and luggage. “I’m actually her assistant!”

Twilight nodded. “This is my assistant: Spike. And he offered to help you himself.”

“Well then thank you sir.” Fleur curtsied for the little dragon.

“No problem,” Spike replied after taking a deep breath. “Now where are we headed? Your luggage is as heavy as it looks.”

“Ah, sorry about that.” The unicorn recovered some of her bags and started towards central. “Right this way. Thank you again, Princess. I’ll make sure to reward your assistant.”

“Oh, you should be thanking him,” Twilight said, nodding her approval at Spike who was too busy adjusting the luggage to notice. “Here, let me help you too. It’s the least I could do.”

Fleur shook her head. “Oh no, I wouldn’t want to take up your time. I’m sure that you have other important things to be doing.” She began making her way out of the plaza, only stopping to look back and say, “So long, Princess.” Then she was off.

“Oh, okay. Goodbye.” Twilight sighed as she stood there for a moment, watching the mare leave. The brief farewell was somewhat disappointing to say the least. Her whole schedule for that day consisted entirely of pony-watching, and truth be told, she had grown bored of the activity just after the third hour. But the arrival of Fleur de Lis had changed that. Twilight couldn’t take her eyes off the mare the moment she stepped off the train. There was just so much activity going on around her. She couldn’t quite hear the welcome song, but it looked like an energetic piece with all the dancing. Twilight could have watched the unicorn the whole day, just write Fleur’s name into every minute of her schedule. Rarity said something about this once. Now, what had she called it? It might have been a slang term, or an idiom maybe. Something about a treat for the eyes. Eye food? That sounded about right. Fleur was eye food, and her presence alone seemed to satisfy the princess’s quota for ponies watched well over.

But now she was gone and Twilight would need to go back to staring at her regular subjects. Not that there was anything wrong with them; Fleur was just so much more… interesting.

“You aren’t doing anything anyways,” Spike said as he walked ahead, interrupting Twilight from her rapid ruminations. “Why don’t you come and show her around town?”

That's right, Fleur was new in town. She could really benefit from a tour and maybe from a new friend as well! After all, Twilight was well-versed in the intricacies of friendship and magic. She could show Fleur a thing or two concerning her new life in the friendliest village in all of Equestria!

“Yes! Yes, that’s a great idea, Spike!” Twilight took the luggage with her magic and quickly swung the pooped dragonling onto her back. “Wait!” she called as she galloped towards the unicorn. “Wait for me!”

Fleur wasn’t that far ahead. She stopped and looked back with a knowing smile, as if she were waiting for Twilight, the same way an intimate friend would expect another. Twilight ran a little faster.

“Um, just out of curiosity, are you not from Canterlot?” Twilight asked, hoping to fill the silence that was at first pleasant but had eventually become so awkward. The alicorn glanced at the other mare from time to time, and she was always the same: trotting along with that perfect posture and that slight smile across her lips. She wondered what Fleur was smiling about, since she began smiling and never stopped smiling ever since Twilight had caught up to her. Was she excited as well? Or maybe she was nervous.

“Hm?” Fleur tilted her head and looked at the alicorn. “Am I… why do you ask?”

Twilight shrugged, careful not to wake the snoozing dragon on her back. “It’s just that your accent, or your lack of one, makes me wonder. You just look so Canterlotian. Not that that’s a bad thing. I’m from Canterlot myself.”

Just as Fleur opened her mouth to respond, a sudden wind blew by, finally shaking her loose top knot undone. The hairband was carried off through the air and her mane whipped around wildly, brushing across Twilight’s face as gently as the breeze.

There was a pleasant scent that graced the alicorn’s nose, and she inhaled deeply on impulse. It was a bittersweet smell, like something between a pungent ale and pomegranate. The sensation was complimented by the stirring sight of the pale pink halo of hair that seemed to float around Fleur, shining against the backdrop of the early afternoon. The image in all its vivid colors was vaguely reminiscent of the sun princess. Twilight sighed quietly.

“Oops! Pardon me, Princess.” Fleur spat the loose hairs from her mouth and flicked her mane back, grazing Twilight’s face again.

She blinked hard and laughed a little. “Oh it’s okay, and just call me Twilight. What is that smell? Is that your shampoo?”

Fleur smiled. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it smells great.”

“It’s Hoity’s Bebe 5. Would you like a bottle? I’ve got one extra.”

“Oh, is that perfume?”

“Yes it is.”

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t wear perfume, but thank you.”

Fleur pouted and looked up, as if in thought. “Really? You could have fooled me.”

“I — huh?”

“But some ponies are like that, I suppose.” The unicorn closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “With that strong, natural funk.”

“I — do I smell that much?” Twilight shrunk into her wings and gave herself a few sniffs. She put her wings down immediately and came up with a sour face. “Oh wow, I guess I have been out all day. Yikes.”

“Well, some of that could be mine too,” Fleur responded coolly.

“What?” said Twilight, looking at Fleur who was staring back at her.

“I was awfully sweaty when I, well,” she gave a light titter and looked away, “when I met you.”

“Oh, you mean when you performed the abdominal thrusts on me.”

“Yes. Some of my sweat may have rubbed off while I was thrusting against you.”

Twilight laughed weakly at the memory. “It was pretty intense. I can’t believe I choked in public like that. The whole point of me being out there was to watch out for my subjects, and instead one of them had to help me instead! I still feel embarrassed about it. Hopefully the local press doesn't —”

“We’re here!”

“Oh.” The two of them, and the sleeping baby dragon, stopped in front of what was once a vacant building, one of the very few in Ponyville. It was a interesting building, partly because it was set up at the border of the town’s center and shared a similar design as its neighboring structures. All of the buildings in that district functioned doubly as homes as well as businesses. The ground floors were usually made into shops or restaurants while the owners lived just on top of them in the second story. Sugarcube Corner was located at the opposite end of this street, while Fleur’s new home was located at the very corner away from where most of the bustle would be.

The building had been vacant for a very long time, as far back as Twilight could remember about Ponyville. In recent months though, movers had been gradually filling the place with paintings and furniture until it looked almost inhabited. Twilight once even spotted a chandelier and a large princess-sized bed amongst the items being moved into there. It was all so mysterious, enough so that the Cutie-Mark Crusaders would base many of their adventures around the ‘ghost’ house. Well, mystery solved; although the pony that now inhabited this space was no less obscure, and perhaps far more intriguing.

They stood outside like that for a while as Twilight levitated the luggage just past the door into the dark house. She could feel Fleur’s eyes on her, maybe inspecting her work, so she tried to organize everything satisfactorily for her new friend. The luggage needed to be stacked neatly and made compact so that it could be easily dismantled. After everything that happened since she arrived in Ponyville — the musical number, the event at the café, and now all the walking — Fleur must have been exhausted. It was a six hour train ride from Canterlot, so she must have been up since early morning as well. Twilight wanted her to have the easiest time unpacking.

“Um, Twilight?”

“Yes?” she responded without looking back.

“I can’t get into the house if you block off the entrance.”

Twilight quickly parted the dense wall of bags and cleared a walkway through the middle. “Right.” She giggled along with the unicorn. “Sorry, I get distracted easily.”

“I do too,” Fleur responded, still staring at her back.

“Well, I still managed to bring all of your bags inside in some orderly fashion.” Twilight triple checked to see that everything was nice and tidy and found that her efforts were satisfactory. “Looks good. I hope you won’t have any trouble getting moved in. If you do, just let me know and I’ll come with a few of my friends to help you out. I live in the castle over there.”

“You mean that massive tree fort built on top of the crystal tree? That one?”

Twilight smiled. “That’s the one! Anyways, it’s getting kind of late.”

Fleur made a clicking sound with her tongue and pouted. It reminded Twilight of the face that Rarity made whenever she wanted Spike to do something for her, or Fluttershy’s infamous puppy-dog eyes in that the expression was both powerful and unassuming. “You don’t want to stay for a while?” the unicorn asked, walking next to Twilight and leaning on her slightly.

Twilight leaned back and nuzzled her, feeling happy in the probability that their closeness was a sign of new friendship. But then Fleur made a purring sound and she drew back a little, shied away. She tried to play it off by turning her neck and checking on her sleeping assistant. “As much as I enjoy the sound of Spike snoring right into my ear, I really should go home and put him to bed.”

“The furniture is set up already. We could let him nap on the sofa while we, I don’t know,” Fleur looked up and shrugged, “go upstairs and have a chat.”

Twilight shifted on her hooves. “Maybe some other time,” she said, inching away just slightly. Why was she so nervous?

Fleur watched her shuffle around for a moment then sighed. She nibbled her lip, shook her head, and said, “Before you go, I want to ask you something.”

Twilight stopped. “Sure, what is it?”

“I hope I’m not just being conceited but, you were watching me, right? Me specifically? When I left the train station I mean.”

“I… yes.” She looked away. “I was watching.”

The unicorn hummed. “I thought I saw you glance at me a few times, but I wasn't sure. I was staring back of course.”

Twilight looked up again, hesitantly, hiding beneath her bangs. “You were?”

“An alicorn princess in the flesh! How could I not?”

“Oh, right." She laughed a little too loud. "That must have been a shocker, getting off the train and seeing a princess just staring at you. But I was just pony-watching. I hope you weren’t bothered by it.”

“Oh no, not at all! If I have a princess watching me then I must be doing something right. Or wrong.” There was something in the way that she stressed the word ‘wrong’ that confused Twilight. But she felt too relieved to give it any mind.

“Pay me a visit sometime, Twilight,” Fleur said, waving them off as she finally made her way into the dark house. “I’ll make it worthwhile.” She winked before shutting the door. For a while there wasn't any sound coming from within the house. But then the locks clicked and the lights inside turned on. Twilight turned around and walked away.

There it was again, she thought. The stressed word and the hushed tone, as if Fleur was communicating some secret. The way she inflected it, ‘worthwhile,’ was so curious to Twilight; yet she couldn’t decipher whatever ulterior meaning it held. But the hidden message was only one of the few things on her mind right then. Strange feelings were bubbling inside of her: joy, regret, excitement, and strangely, guilt. It reminded her of the first time she met her closest friends, and the first time she was presented with the Elements of Harmony. It was a certain welcome trepidation that came hounding whenever a new experience or a new flame of friendship presented itself before her. It was the anxiety of hope.

As she slowly made her way back to the castle, the conflicted princess attempted to distract herself in the items of her mental lists. There was just too much to ponder about otherwise. The events of the day were more taxing than she had realized and she decided to distance herself from them until the inevitable Pinkie Welcome Party that was sure to be within the next few days. Until then the cumbersome thoughts of her new hope could wait, and so she filed them somewhere far down in her list of things to contemplate. Her thoughts were soon occupied with formulas and properties as well as several appointments of which she vaguely remembered and was sure that Spike would remind her of. Gradually her unease faded, along with the bittersweet scent of perfume.

Chapter 2

An increasingly large number of ponies continued to join in on the impromptu celebration as it raged well into the night. The walls and windows of Sugarcube Corner trembled as music boomed across the room and ponies stamped around the floor. The place was completely packed, and it was a wonder how anyone was able to squish through or even dance without trampling on each other’s hooves. Things had gotten so wild that some of the crowd had spilled into the street to enjoy a calmer, less suffocating ambience.

Twilight swayed lazily to the far off music as she, Fluttershy and Rarity chitchatted a little ways away from the bakery under the shadow of a neighboring building. Her left wing was still sticky from when some cider had spilled on her earlier on the dance floor, but otherwise she hadn’t touched any of the stuff all night. In fact, she had tried to keep well away from all of the alcoholic beverages available at the party, which included everything from the local hooch to more intricate crafts, such as the tempting Star Swirl Imperial — her favorite. Somewhat regrettably but duly all the same, the alicorn princess was completely and responsibly sober as was appropriate of any royalty when in public. And so it was only to be expected that she would eventually be stuck caring for the two lightweights of their group of friends. The joys of friendship.

“Daaaarling.”

“Hm?” Twilight looked over at Rarity who was blinking incessantly as she cuddled herself under the wing of their pegasus friend.

“Did you… Have you been listening to our, mm, conversation? Fluttershy and I just came up with the most wonderful idea.”

“Oh,” the alicorn rolled her eyes. “What is it?”

“Giant hats,” Rarity said.

“Giant hats,” Fluttershy echoed, head bobbing up and down.

“Haven’t you already done that before? You’re wearing a pretty big hat right now.”

Rarity shook her head vigorously. Her bulbous cloche hat slid down over her eyes, consuming her head like a carnivorous jellyfish. “No no no no, I am envisioning a much larger hat. One you could live in, Twilight.”

“I — oh.”

“I shall call it the hout.”

“Hat-house. House-hat,” Fluttershy muttered with her eyes closed.

Twilight snickered into her hoof. Although it was a bit of a burden going out with these two friends to anyplace that served alcohol, it was at the least always sure to be entertaining. She often took it upon herself as a burden of love. “That’s, wow! That’s great, you two.”

Rarity shook her head at the weak response and clicked her tongue. “Oh, tut tut. But you aren’t really interested in our little project, now are you? You’re more interested in that new mare in town.”

Fluttershy giggled wildly.

“You mean Fleur?” Twilight asked, ears perking in interest. “Do you know something about her? I haven’t been able to speak with her since the other day. I wonder how she’s settled in since then.”

“Oh, I know something about her alright — but I’m not going to tell you,” Rarity sang as she began to dance around blindly.

“What? What is it?” Twilight stopped the rotating unicorn with a hoof before they collided.

“Twilight? Is… Is that you? I can’t see anything.”

She levitated the hat off of Rarity and placed it on top of Fluttershy instead, who had her eyes closed anyways. The pegasus didn’t even budge as it slid all the way down to her nose.

Rarity sighed, relieved. “There you are, dear.”

“So what do you know about Fleur de Lis?”

“Oh ho, I know a lot about that mare," Rarity scoffed. "She was a scandalous figure in Canterlot, but a respected one as well. Regardless, you shouldn’t get mixed up with her, Twilight. No, absolutely not. She is beneath you.”

“Rarity!” Twilight gasped, completely taken aback by the comment. “That was harsh…” It was usual for the unicorn to share gossip here and then, but for her to so vehemently and openly talk down about another pony was uncharacteristic. Had something happened between them?

Rarity simply hiccupped and shrugged. “I’m a little drunk, Twilight,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “You’ll have to forgive me.”

“Ugh.” Twilight shook her head. “I’m going to go look for her again,” she said as she suddenly began trotting away from her two friends. “Stay there with Fluttershy! She isn’t looking too good.”

And with that she was off, heading once again towards the boisterous Pinkie party. There was a large, unsupervised line of ponies with no bouncer to bar them entrance, and yet the eager party-goers managed to obstruct each other in getting in and out of the bakery. When they saw Twilight though, the crowd parted as if by some unspoken rule concerning both her royalty and also her permanent VIP status at these events. Twilight tried reentering the party through the opening, but despite the outside crowd willingly moving aside for her, she found that the inner action of the party was much too packed and excited to really get around.

Rarity called something out from behind, but her words were drowned out by the raucous din that continually blasted out of the bakery. A pang of guilt nagged at Twilight as she ignored her friend; without looking back, the alicorn jumped up into the air and tried to fly her way further inside. She finally made it past the entrance, barely dodging through the fluid obstacle of raised hooves. But then she was stopped almost immediately by congested air traffic in the form of several drunken pegasi, a couple of stray balloons, and layers upon layers of impenetrable webs of streamers. She tried maneuvering around everything but quickly became tangled in balloon cords and unusually thick and sticky streamers — candy tape. It was too crammed and dangerous to teleport out of her mess; Twilight didn't want to blast anypony away with the shockwave of her instant materialization into an occupied space. So she remained airborne there for a moment, contemplating her options while chewing herself out of the edible party decor. There seemed to be only one viable way forward and it was down.

“Twilight, wait!” A blue aura wrapped around Twilight’s tail and tugged her down into the crowd. She turned around quickly and saw that it was Rarity, ducking and dodging past ponies towards her. When she approached, Twilight could make out the fresh stains and smell of alcohol in her friend's coat and in her wet, matted mane. It looked like ponies had spilled their drinks on her as she pushed by, trying to catch up. The guilt nagged again.

“Where’s Fluttershy?!” Twilight yelled, trying to be heard over the booming music.

“Still standing outside! I think she fell asleep! Oh, don’t give me that look! She’ll be fine so long as she doesn’t tip over!”

“I’m going to go talk to Fleur! You should make sure that Fluttershy’s still standing!” Twilight yelled as she turned away and continued her search. But before she could leave again, Rarity put her fore-hooves on both sides of Twilight’s withers and followed closely. They smushed through the crowd like that for about a minute before other ponies tried to join in on their conga line.

Rarity had to flick her tail at the unwelcome partiers to shoo them away. She leaned further onto Twilight and whined, “Why are you so mad, dear? Please, slow down for me!”

“I’m not mad! I just want to talk to Fleur! Maybe she isn’t having fun! Maybe she doesn’t have any friends to have fun with!” An image flashed through Twilight’s mind, of the mare standing alone in a corner of the room while sipping daintily on a drink. She redoubled her efforts and began aggressively shoving through the crowd.

“Well,” Rarity began, literally ramming herself through several ponies to get in front of Twilight, “I am your best friend and I just want to have a brief word with you before you go and meet with this strange pony! Stop for a moment and talk to me, would you?!”

Twilight gulped and nodded. “Okay, let’s talk... You seem a lot less drunk!”

Rarity’s tension left her as she blew out a lengthy breath. She then smiled. “Thank you, dear. And yes, I’ve sobered up a bit by rehydrating myself with that punch over there!”

Feeling thirsty herself, Twilight surveyed the punch area. But when she spotted the punchbowl however, something unpleasant dawned on her. “Oh no,” she groaned.

“What? What is it?”

“Rarity, that stuff is spiked! Didn’t you read the invitation? It said that the punchbowls with the little umbrellas in them would contain jungle juice!”

Rarity tilted her head. “Is that alcoholic?”

“It’s very alcoholic!”

“Oh my. Well then, before it hits me I feel that I should warn you about that mare!”

Twilight groaned again. “You already have!”

“No, you see —” Rarity looked side to side before leaning in to yell straight into Twilight’s face. “It’s a rather racy topic! Follow me to that table over there, would you?” She tipped her head towards an open table at the corner of the bakery.

“Okay!” Twilight yelled back, ears ringing as she followed Rarity.

The two of them slowly made their way to the table, careful not to topple anymore ponies for the night. They both sat down as soon as they arrived and shared a breath of relief. It wasn’t so loud in that area so the two of them were able to speak and hear each other at almost normal volumes.

As soon as she sat down, Rarity began swaying in her seat tipsily. She barely managed to keep herself steady by hanging onto the table with one fore-hoof while massaging her brow with the other. “Oh. Oh oh, whoaaa my.”

“Rarity?”

“That punch was,” she stifled a burp, “quite potent. I am getting veeery dizzy.”

“Uh oh. Alright, then give it to me quick," Twilight said.

“No,” Rarity huffed. “Not until you apologize to me.” She folded her hooves and leaned far back in her chair, somehow keeping balance on the arch. From her drastic angle it was impossible for her to be looking any further down on Twilight, her pose was so haughty. “I won’t tell you a word until you apologize.”

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry.” She meant it too.

“Why are you sorry?” For all of the dramatics that Rarity was prone to, this was sincere. The unicorn was actually frowning, slight wrinkles forming around the edges of her normally unblemished face. Her eyes were tense and narrow, but Twilight could barely make out the evidence of serious hurt in them. She began tearing up herself.

It wasn't fair for her to have left her friends in their conditions, Twilight knew that. She realized now that her irrational desire to see Fleur was blinding her from what was really important. Truthfully, the absence of the unicorn had been bothering Twilight all throughout night. It was her party after all, and yet she was nowhere to be found! She had tried searching for Fleur, which resulted in her being separated from her best friends; and to make matters worse, some drunken stranger had spilled cider all over her. The wasted investments of time and effort along with the discomfort of her sticky coat had grated her nerves badly, but she tried to conceal it. Mingling with Fluttershy and Rarity, who she eventually found outside, helped her to cool down some. It just wan't any fair for her to be pushed over the edge of her patience so easily by the comments made by her oblivious friend.

“I… I do owe you an apology. A serious one. I’m sorry for ditching you and Fluttershy.” Twilight cast her eyes down at the table shamefully. “I was just so caught up in greeting Fleur here that I… You remember my first Pinkie party. I didn't fully appreciate it at first, and I was afraid that she felt the same way.” She closed her eyes and sighed again. “I got carried away, treating you like that. I can’t believe I treated you like that. I still have a lot to learn as the Princess of Friendship.”

“Twilight, no. Ish quite alright. There thereeee.” Rarity stumbled forward and wiped the moistness from her best friend’s eyes with the bumbling delicacy of a drunken minotaur. Her smile was warm and lop-sided, her eyes half-lidded and lazy.

Twilight blinked hard and scooted her chair back in alarm. “Rarity? Are you alright?” she asked, rubbing the pain from her eyes. When she opened them, Rarity was sitting as still as a mannequin in her seat, mouth closed and a blank expression on her face. Twilight was about to call her again, but suddenly the unicorn stirred back to life and leaned across the table until the two of them were staring at each other directly face to face.

“I won’ lasht mush longer,” she slurred raggedly. “I mush chell you now.”

“H-Huh? Oh, pony feathers!” Twilight dragged a hoof across her face. All of that alcohol seemed to have finally hit Rarity, and hard.

“Fleur!” Rarity exclaimed excitedly. “Sheesh an eshcort, Twily! A proffesh… eshcort!”

“Cheese and… what?” Twilight leaned to the side so that her ear faced Rarity. Maybe it would help her get a better understanding of the unicorn’s drunken ramblings.

“Don’ lehher tushoo,” Rarity spat as a spasm ran through her left eye to her right and back.

Twilight wiped the spit from her face and frowned in confusion and disgust. “I don’t understand, Rarity! Don’t lay her tissue? Done leather tattoo? What?!”

"Don' lehher tushoo! Don' lehher—" Rarity smacked her lips. "Don'... le... her."

Twilight wasn’t able to comprehend any of it before Rarity threw her hooves up in exasperation and then face-planted right onto the table. “Rarity?” Twilight asked, prodding her friend. She was snoring already.

“Ughhh!” Twilight grumbled something about always having to be the designated ride back home as she levitated the comatose unicorn onto her back. She left the table, friend in tow, and pushed herself into the mass of party-goers again, which went much smoother than anticipated. She melded with less effort than before into the now subdued swarm of ponies and it was easy to walk past them. They were much calmer; some of them had even stopped partying altogether. By the time she got to the center of the room, it became clear that they were all distracted by something. They were all staring in the same direction, as if enchanted. Curious, Twilight slipped through the unmoving ponies and went as close to the front of the crowd as she could go. She barely managed to spot the polished alabaster tip of an especially long and narrow horn poking above all the other ponies, just before it slipped away. Elation pumped up within Twilight as she went on her tippy-hooves and crept forward awkwardly, careful not to drop Rarity while also trying desperately to get a better view of the owner of the horn.

All of a sudden the ponies in front of her went wild, tossing their hooves in the air and jumping up and down in raving excitement. Twilight reeled when a stray hoof jabbed her in the ribs. She went down fast and barely dodged what could have been a buck to the face as she crawled on her tummy forward. Eventually, through the dense movement of stomping hooves, she was able to make out a clearing ahead. When an opening presented itself to her, she bolted straight through and popped out, breathing heavily, at the very front of the crowd.

Twilight skidded to a halt several feet ahead of any other pony, standing alone in front of what looked like a wide collapsible stage hastily put together and elevated by stacks of wooden platforms. Feeling out of place at her distance from any other pony and embarrassed by all of the excessive attention, she quickly shuffled backwards into the head of the crowd. Once settled, she tried to relax and watched along with everpony else at whatever event was being showcased at the party. Three figures slowly trotted into view.

At the edge of the set, Pinkie Pie climbed the steps onto the stage. She was accompanied by the local DJ, who set up quickly in the corner, and a tall unicorn mare.

“Fleur!” Twilight called immediately. “Fleur, over here! Oh, shoot.” She couldn’t be heard.

Twilight was about to try calling again, but a pink blur suddenly appeared next to Fleur and began pushing her to the center of the stage. The blur then zipped around, arranging everything from the lights and nearby party cannons to a microphone and stand before settling into the jittery form of Pinkie Pie.

“HEY, EVERYPONY!” the party pony shrieked into the microphone. “ARE YOU ALL HAVING FUN TONIGHT? YES OR YES?!”

“Yes!” everypony but Twilight screamed in reply. The alicorn was too distracted by the arrangements of the stage and the posing unicorn at its center. What in Equestria was going on?

Pinkie Pie giggled. “THAT’S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR! NOW, WE ALL KNOW THAT I ONLY THROW PARTIES WHEN THERE’S A REAAAALLY GOOD REASON TO.”

The crowd roared with laughter. “Yeah, right!” the pony next to Twilight yelled, turning to her. “Just two weeks ago, Pinkie threw a party to celebrate the first time I ever tried kombucha. That pony is cu-razy!”

Twilight shushed the stallion, who then shrank away to talk to the ponies on his other side. Twilight was too engrossed in what was going on to be entertaining drunk strangers. But… what was going on?!

“WELL TODAY," Pinkie continued as she hopped around Fleur, "WE’VE GOT A DOOZY OF A REASON TO CELEBRATE, BECAUSE WE’VE GOT US A NEW FRIEND HERE IN PONYVILLE! SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO,” she began stomping her hooves and the crowd followed, “LLLLLLET’S GIVE A WARM PONYVILLE WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST RESIDENT, FLEUR DE LIS!”

Twilight’s hesitant “Woohoo” was completely drowned out by the deafening cheers of the crowd.

“Now,” Pinkie Pie began, her voice less loud but still rousing, “how’s about a few words from the mare of the hour?”

Fleur, who had been standing beside the screaming pony during the length of her stirring speech, took the microphone in her magic and stepped forward. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” she said with a winning smile. “A few words? Sure, why not.” She opened her mouth, but then slowly closed it and just stood there for a moment.

The crowd settled down as Fleur swept her gaze across the cramped assemblage of ponies. Twilight took that chance and began waving her hooves madly. The unicorn seemed to notice her, and she winked. Then she opened her mouth again.

As soon as Fleur cleared her throat, several beams of white light shot up from all around her, starting at the outer opposite edges of the stage and lighting two-by-two in an arch until Fleur’s frame was completely highlighted and only her shadow was visible. “Hello, my little ponies,” she said huskily, strutting out from the haze of light. “Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Fleur de Lis, your newest neighbor, and I’d like to share with all of you my very special talents.”

Twilight sighed, relieved. So this whole performance was just an exhibition of Fleur’s talents. She was worried at first, watching Pinkie Pie and Fleur walk together onto the stage in front of almost half of Ponyville. Pinkie’s parties sometimes got out of hoof, especially when they featured the new pony in town. In Twilight’s worst case scenario she could imagine the pink pony rearing her party canon back and blasting Fleur out of the roof of the bakery or something crazy like that. But if it was just a single-pony talent show, what could go wrong? She trusted Fleur, and Pinkie was at the back of the stage to help if she was needed. Things could only go right. Yep, everything was alright: she reconciled with Rarity, found Fleur, and now there was a free show performed by none other than her newest friend. This performance would end Twilight’s night on a very good note. She readjusted Rarity’s weight on her back and stood there more comfortably. Her hard, curious expression shifted into a relaxed smile as she watched the unicorn pose herself, hip flared towards the crowd, eyes gazing back at them coyly.

Fleur took in a long, slow breath. Then she sang. “Yeaaaah,” her voice crooned out with a subtle vibrato. It sailed across the room as smooth as silk. Then a sharp beat snapped her into action and she slid out of her pose into some fluid hoof-work, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

Twilight cheered and applauded excitedly. 'So she’s some kind of performer or entertainer,' the alicorn thought curiously. 'How exciting!'

Another beat snapped Fleur out of her dance-crazy funk. She kept still for a few seconds, and then tilted her head to the audience and sang, “Sometimes you feel lonely and cold, and other times you’re hot.” Her hoof stamped the floor and kicked off to the side; she followed this step to the edge of the stage where she walked just barely out of the reach of all the cheering ponies. “Well if you’re ever feeling bold, why not give me a shot? You’re looking for more than company, and I guarantee you’ve never felt it so good. So if you want some, come to me and I’ll do it better than anypony ever could.”

Twilight stopped her cheering for a moment, focusing all of her energy into the functions of her brain. She worked her noggin for some inkling as to what the lyrics meant. It sounded like she was trying to advertise something. It sounded like she was advertising herself.

Fleur giggled into the microphone. “But just how long can you go? Hold on, DJ! Slow down the tempo-o-o-o.”

The lights went low and the music stopped. “Awww yeah!” the shrill voice of Pinkie Pie echoed from somewhere in the darkness. Suddenly the party canons lining the back of the stage all went off at the same time. The massive boom that followed the flurry of canon fire shook Twilight out of her stupor, and she looked up with wide eyes at the silvery glitter fluttering through the air. Each flake glimmered in the cool lights like diamond dust. A hush fell over the crowd as they appreciated the effects of the performance. Then they were rapt again when a deeper, sultry melody began playing. The beats came slower now, and Fleur danced to them in the shimmering, sedate rain. Four other mares went up onto the stage and split up to position themselves on each side of her. They each stood there and turned themselves in a lazy clockwise movement, all the while bouncing their hips whenever the beats hit.

Despite the backup dancers, Twilight’s eyes remained glued to Fleur alone. She just gawked, slack-jawed, as the slim, sexy pony worked it right in front of her. She… her mind would not going goodly. There were just too many thoughts and emotions barraging her senses all at once. The strongest of them was also the most perplexing: a foreign heat invading her body and tickling her brain in the most confusingly satisfying way. What was her talent? What in Equestria was Fleur’s talent?!

Fleur made her last round and waved to her backup dancers as they trotted off-stage. She then turned and looked right at Twilight, who shivered as the two of them became locked and tunneled in each other’s sights. As Fleur sashayed closer and closer, Rarity’s drunken ramblings echoed in Twilight’s head. ‘Sheesh an eshcort, Twily!' The alicorn swallowed the dry lump in her throat. 'She's an escort, Twily!’ Fleur looked down at her from the stage, smirking thinly. There was a sharp glint reflecting in her deep, lavender eyes. 'Don' lehher tushoo!' She looked like she was ready to pounce. Twilight began backing away. 'Don't let her touch you!’

Twilight yelped as she turned around and began scampering away with her tail tucked between her legs. She went the long way around the crowd, hugging the wall and dodging past everypony and everything as she fled to the exit. She escaped into the brisk night air and took several deep breaths before quickly snatching the still standing Fluttershy up in her magical grasp. Her two unconscious friends bounced like rag dolls on her back as she galloped as fast as she could down the dirt road away from Sugarcube Corner.

Chapter 3

Aside from her grinding teeth, Twilight remained mostly still as she listened to the chatty company sitting with her at the round table in the dining chamber of her castle. Two of her guests held the expressions of post-party dread in their faces as they stared woozily at the breakfast buffet in front of them. They were nice and quiet. The rest however were noisy, much too noisy as they openly shared their own unwarranted ideas regarding the events of the previous night.

Ever the gracious hostess, Twilight simply kept silent and listened to them with the practiced patience of a princess in training. She lifted her tea cup slowly and carefully, concentrating very hard to keep it from crumbling within the shaky grasp of her magic.

She usually enjoyed these ritual get-togethers. They were always scheduled by default for the morning after a Pinkie party, and the order of these events just so happened to cycle to where it was Twilight’s turn to host. Which was fine. But as much as she enjoyed, or could enjoy, the breakfast, the gossip, and all the camaraderie, today Twilight was in no mood to appreciate any of it.

Not only had she been stuck acting as caretaker for her two drunken friends far into the wee hours of the night, but as if to further exasperate her, when she had finally gotten into bed, her hyperactive brain would not let her rest as it continued to exercise around the events of the party. It was utterly exhausting, but she couldn’t sleep. Instead of counting sheep, she tried counting the number of times that the scenes replayed themselves in her head: Fleur’s announcement, her lascivious display, the way she walked — practically crawling — as she beckoned the alicorn; rewind the best parts and so forth.

It frustrated her in many different ways and she couldn’t, no matter how hard she concentrated, block or spare any of the details from herself. Eventually though she did manage to lose herself in the memories long enough for sleep to find her.

Just a few minutes later though, she was wakened to the strange sensation of being suddenly airborne when Pinkie Pie had decided to invite herself in and wake the alicorn up for their breakfast when she didn’t answer the door. The pink pony had chosen to do so by pouncing onto the bed and screaming ‘Rise and shine, sleepyhead!’ at the top of her lungs until at least half of Ponyville was up and ready for the day.

The icing, or syrup in this case, that topped the metaphorical pancake of Twilight’s breakfast misery was that, the only thing that her friends seemed interested in talking about that morning was the very same subject that had kept her up all night. Fleur de Lis, Fleur de Lis, Fleur de Lis!

So although Twilight usually enjoyed having breakfast with her friends after a long night, in that particular instance she did not.

“What are you talking about? She was totally trying to sell herself up there!” Rainbow Dash spat, bits of mush falling out of her mouth. She rolled her eyes before taking her chewed-up stack of pancakes in her hooves and gnawing at it. She shot Rarity the occasional glance, half-expecting to be chastised, but the unicorn just sat there, still staring vacantly at the spot on the table between her hoof mirror and her breakfast.

Applejack shook her head. “Your eyesight must be as bad as your table manners then,” she muttered through a butter knife while trying to spread some toast. “I could tell that last night she was doin’ all that for just one special pony.”

“Like for her coltfriend?” Rainbow Dash smacked her lips. “Ponies like that don’t have coltfriends. Duh.”

Pinkie Pie slammed the table with her hooves, sending all of the food, plates and cutlery midair for a brief second. She caught some biscuits in her mouth and began lecturing her startled friends in between munches. “Mmph mpiff num num murmph! Nomf marm nom!” she said before tilting a pitcher over her head and washing her mouthful down with some syrup. “And it’s a living, so give the girl a break!”

Rainbow Dash put her hooves up. “Hey, I’m not saying it’s wrong. It was a gutsy move, and I can appreciate that. I just don’t think the townsponies are going to be interested in what she’s selling. I mean, practically everypony in Ponyville knows each other. They’re not going to want to get at each other’s sloppy seconds. Unless she’s that good.”

Applejack spat the knife from her mouth onto her plate. She licked her lips and looked like she was about to say something, but was interrupted when the warning noise of a squeaky wheel signalled that it was time to hush up about the party.

Spike noisily reentered the dining chamber. The little dragon pushed a layered cart in front of him, with racks full of hot breakfast choices as well as a teapot and prench press steaming on top. “More pancakes, anypony?” he called in a chipper tone, oblivious to what they were talking about.

The girls chose to change the topic right then and began discussing the recent hoofball match, much to Twilight’s relief. She was still agitated and wanted badly to get a few words in with one of them, in private; but at least she wouldn’t need to hear any more about Fleur until then.

“How about a refill?” Spike asked as he passed by her seat.

Surprisingly, Rarity looked up from her daze and levitated her cup past Twilight towards him. “That would be lovely, dear,” she yawned. “Oh, excuse me. It was quite a rough night.” Her eyes gained new life as Spike refilled her empty cup. Once it was full, she put the tea down just under her face and let it sit there as she inhaled its warm aroma. After only a few seconds it seemed as if her hangover had faded along with the rising steam. Even her hair settled a bit. One more deep breath and she looked up at her friends with her usual endearing smile.

“Ahh,” she breathed. “Much better.”

“Good morning!” Pinkie Pie chirped.

“Good morning, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity laughed. “Good morning, everypony! Except Fluttershy. My goodness, is she still asleep?”

The pegasus in question was lying face down on the table with her arms folded around her head. If it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of her back, it would be difficult to tell whether or not she was even breathing.

“Yikes, must have been a wild night,” Spike muttered, shaking his head at the snoozing pegasus as he passed her by. “It was a lot louder than usual, that’s for sure. And what was up with the age restriction, Pinkie Pie? I was stuck at home doing chores all night!”

The girls glanced pointedly at Twilight, silently asking for her approval.

Twilight debated the question briefly. She then decided that the baby dragon, who was now actually, relative to pony standards, much too old to be identified as a baby, was mature enough to handle the information. She was also too tired to argue with him or lecture him away as she usually did in such situations. There wasn't a point in worrying about him spreading the news either; almost half of Ponyville was present at the party, after all.

She sighed, nodded, and then looked away when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie began chattering and gesturing wildly to the confused dragon.

While her friends gave Spike the rundown, Twilight occupied herself by staring at the crystalline grandfather clock by the hallway, squinting through its bright morning splendor at the time. She watched its digits tick by, tapping her hind hoof impatiently against the floor to its monotonous beat. It was only a matter of time before Pinkie Pie and Applejack would need to leave to work. Fifteen minutes, approximately, until she would have Rarity all alone. Just fifteen minutes until she got her answers.

After Pinkie Pie and Applejack left, carrying the still snoozing Fluttershy out with them, Twilight concentrated her magic and teleported directly back into the dining room, not even bothering to close the entrance to her castle.

“Rainbow Dash, don’t you have anything to do today?” she asked, trotting briskly past the lazy pegasus, who remained hunched over the dining table and was now reading a copy of what looked to be last month’s issue of the Daring Do: Side Chronicles.

“Nah, I’m just going to catch up on some reading,” Rainbow Dash muttered without looking up.

Twilight gave an uninterested grunt as she came to a halt next to Rarity at the opposite end of the table. The unicorn was humming while she did her makeup and seemed to be much more spirited than in the early morning. Despite Rainbow Dash’s presence, Twilight took her chance.

“Rarity, can I have a word with you?”

“Why, of course, Twilight,” Rarity responded, also without looking up. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I need confirmation on something that we talked about last night.”

The unicorn stopped what she was doing and looked away. “Of course you do,” she sighed as she quickly put away her makeup. She got up, levitating her bag full of sundry products off the table, and gestured her head towards Rainbow Dash and then at the door leading to the hallway.

Twilight took the hint and cleared her throat. “We’re going to be just outside, Rainbow Dash,” she said, pushing Rarity towards the hall. “Right by the library.”

“‘Kay.” The pegasus got up and followed them, though her eyes remained glued to her book.

Twilight pushed Rarity harder, and received a tail flick to the chin for it. “You don’t need to come with us. We’re just going to be right over —”

Rainbow Dash shushed her. “Keep it down, would you? I’m at the best part!

“It’s fine, Twilight,” Rarity laughed.

The alicorn groaned as she led the three of them out the door, through the hallway and into a space in the castle that functioned much like a parlor but was almost spacious enough to be called a ballroom. In the corner of the room was a small lounging area that Spike had improvised with some of the salvaged furniture from their old home. There were two chairs tucked beneath a small coffee table. There was a sofa to the side, where Rainbow Dash stretched out on, and behind that was an open window. Warm air flowed in from the opening and the sunlight provided a pleasant ambience that seemed to clash with the otherwise delicate atmosphere that began to surround Twilight and Rarity.

Twilight took her seat after the unicorn. She put her hooves on the table and gave Rarity her best business look. “So.”

Rarity offered a strained smile. “Yes, Twilight?”

“About Fleur.”

“Straight to the point, then.” Rarity took a slow breath and fidgeted in her seat. “Yes, I thought you might ask about her again,” she said, leaning against the table with her forelegs. “If your strange behavior this morning has been any indication, I presume it has something to do with last night? I got the gist of it at breakfast; somepony apparently gave quite the performance. Did anything else happen?”

“Kind of, but I’d rather not talk about it,” Twilight said, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking. “You can ask anypony in town and they’ll only be able to tell you half the story,” she added darkly.

A brief grimace flashed across Rarity’s face. “She didn’t… do anything to you, did she?”

“What? No!” Twilight said a little too loudly. She could hear Rainbow Dash snickering from behind her book.

“Oh?” Rarity hummed. Her face became relaxed and unreadable; she put her mask on. “Well, alright then. What did you want to know about… about that mare? Ask me anything.”

For the second time since the Pinkie party, Twilight had to ask herself: Did something happen between Rarity and Fleur? Rarity always, always addressed acquaintances by name or title or by some strikingly detailed observation. The fact that she addressed Fleur as just 'somepony' or ‘that mare’ was uncharacteristic of the finicky unicorn.

Knowing Rarity, there were a lot of things that could have led to her being offended by the other mare: Fleur’s occupation for one, and… Actually, they shared a lot more in common than not. They were both fashionable, wore makeup, and were just overall beautiful mares.

But another thought occurred to Twilight: had they ever even met? Canterlot was a large place full of loose-lipped nobles. Rarity could have just heard about Fleur from word of mouth.

It was hard to judge anything from staring at Rarity’s straight face. Either way, Twilight decided to pursue this thread of questions, yank on it until the unicorn’s façade came undone and whatever secret she held regarding Fleur was revealed. Twilight didn’t like the idea of forcing her way into her best friend’s privacy like this, but in this one instance she felt that she had to make an exception.

“How did you know about Fleur before Pinkie’s party?” she blurted abruptly. “You said that you knew her from Canterlot. What does that mean?” She didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but there it was.

Rarity winced. “I… Well, I’ve told you, dear. I learned about her through my visits to Canterlot.”

“How?”

“I’ve seen her about the circles there. She was often the centerpiece of one group of nobles before leaving them, bitless, for the next; so of course I would hear about her. How could I not? The scandal!” Rarity tittered, and then quietly swallowed.

“Bitless? Are you implying that she’s a thief?”

“They gave the bits to her, dear. Oftentimes they gave her too much, and I scarcely ever saw or heard of them at any other function again.” Rarity shook her head sadly.

“Rarity,” Twilight said. “I want you to tell me about her. Your being cautious is making me anxious about all this.” Then, after a moment of silence, she added: “You’re making her seem dangerous.”

Rarity went still and narrowed her eyes at the alicorn. She sat there quietly and just continued staring with those probing eyes for what felt like several uncomfortable minutes. Twilight tried to keep a poker face, but she blinked a few times.

“Please, Rarity?” she said when the silent treatment became too awkward to sit through.

“Fleur de Lis is dangerous,” Rarity hissed. “Why are you so curious about her?”

“Right now I’m curious about your connection to her,” she lied partially.

Rarity stared at her a few seconds longer, and then finally she relented. She let out a slow, shaky breath and deflated onto the table, looking much like Fluttershy had during breakfast, except that her head was balanced precariously by the tip of her horn.

“Rarity?” Twilight whispered. She leaned forward and cautiously touched the mare’s shoulder.

“Fleur de Lis,” Rarity began in a tired, theatrically tragic voice. “That mare was and probably still is enchanting in the literal sense, Twilight. I cannot begin to describe her, the way she simply breezed through the crowds in Canterlot like a Windigo and left them shivering in her absence, without bits, without warmth.” She looked up at Twilight and pleaded, “You must understand why I was worried for you! She has such a terrible way of charming other ponies!”

“What happened?” Twilight said, rubbing her friend’s shoulder.

Rarity shook her head and waved her hooves around to express something, but she seemed at a loss for words. She took few short breaths to calm herself and then started rambling. “Fleur de Lis was a sensation. There was a lot of drama involving her and her ties with several prominent nobles and she quickly became famous, and in high demand. Naturally, I picked up on such news. I became curious.” Rarity shuddered. “Then, upon one of my visits, she appeared before me, became the center of my own group. She stuck to Fancy Pants mostly — you’ve met him, the stallion with the monocle and moustache who attended your birthday party in Canterlot a few years back. They seemed to have known each other for some time; she seemed fond of him. And then she got to know me and grew fond of me as well.”

Rainbow Dash suddenly jumped off of the sofa and galloped over to them. “I can’t concentrate with all this suspense,” she said, shaking the table with her hooves. “Spit it out, Rarity! What the hay happened?!”

Twilight caught a glimpse of the forgotten book on the sofa and saw that it was still on the same page as it was opened to several minutes ago.

When Rainbow Dash was done rocking the table, Rarity gave her a rotten look. “To put it bluntly,” she huffed, and then repeated, “To put it bluntly, I… I don’t know how else to say this so I’ll just come out with it. I have employed her services before. Several times. There!” The unicorn looked away and pulled out her mirror. She hid behind it and began prodding at the stray lumps in her morning coif.

Twilight withdrew her hoof and recoiled back into her seat. “What.”

“And then she left me, just as she left all the others before me!” Rarity swayed backwards, nearly cracking Rainbow Dash upside the head with her mirror, and shielded her eyes with her free hoof. “After all we went through!” she whimpered. “Oh, the shame. Oh, the agony of waking up one cold winter morning, alone in a guest house, only to find that she was no longer by my side!”

Twilight shook her head. “Are telling me that you paid her for… for company? Rarity?”

Rarity righted her posture and sighed. “I did, Twilight. But just as soon as a more profitable benefactor showed interest in her, she removed me from her schedule.” She snorted a short, bitter laugh and grumbled, “And after all the effort she put into building our relationship. But I suppose she does that for all of her clients.”

Twilight winced. Despite her fronting as the worldly, experienced mare of their group, Rarity was much more naïve than she let on. She had been born and raised in Ponyville after all, the friendliest and most pleasant little corner of Equestria, so it was only natural for her to be less than wise about how she interacted with the world outside of their kind hamlet. It was so brave of her to not have let such a bitter experience noticeably influence her up to this point, Twilight thought.

Rarity’s brash innocence had gotten her into some trouble before, but the fact that somepony would have the indecency to exploit it made Twilight a little angry. Even if it was Fleur.

“That’s awful!” Twilight said. “And I was so insistent on you telling me about her, and helping me be friends with her.”

“It’s alright, dear. You didn’t know.”

Carefully, Twilight asked, “Are you alright? I mean, did she take all of your bits too?”

The unicorn’s cheeks flushed slightly against her pale face. “No, but I did design several dresses for her. I spent countless hours and many sleepless nights on them too. All of that effort — she might as well have.” She sighed again.

“Oh, no, Rarity.” Twilight shook her head in sympathy. “But why? You’re such a beautiful, amazing mare; why would you want to hire an escort, and one with such a reputation?”

“I know that it’s a lot to digest, dear. In Canterlot it’s different though. Being an escort, it is actually a lucrative profession there. Many nobles look to them to find some fulfillment that doesn’t exist in their own oftentimes destitute marriages. I myself hired Fleur after a certain debacle involving my severing relations with a once dear beau of mine.”

Knowing that Rarity had to experience two consecutive failed romances made Twilight feel even worse for her friend.

“But you could have hired any other consort,” she tried to reason. “I’m sure that you could have even found another somepony if you wanted to. Why Fleur?”

“Well,” Rarity’s blush grew a shade brighter. “She was charming. And I heard she was good. Very, very good.” She laughed a little, and then composed herself quickly before mumbling, “I heard right.”

“Seriously?” Twilight deadpanned with a frown.

“I was vulnerable at the time!” Rarity whined.

The alicorn just raised an eyebrow in response.

Rarity scoffed. “Darling, please. You’re still a virgin, so you wouldn’t understand the importance of a partner’s… sexual prowess. I’m still unsure as to whether the whole ordeal was worth it or not, but let me just say that whenever we met, it was always to my satisfaction.”

Twilight’s eyebrow strained to go higher.

Rainbow Dash suddenly broke her attentive silence. “How good?” she squeaked, staring between them with half a smirk.

Rarity fluttered her eyelids at the pegasus.“Pardon?”

Rainbow Dash clapped a hoof against the table. “How good was she? Scale of one to ten.”

“Well, I…” Rarity’s mouth worked silently for a moment before she took in a long, quiet breath. “Eleven. Eleven out of ten.”

Rainbow Dash snickered. “Whoa. Seriously?”

Rarity snorted. “I may at times embellish certain facts, but at this moment I am being positively honest and fair; you have my word. So when I rate eleven out of ten, well, I can assure you that it was divine beyond any sort of measure — that she was just that good.”

Rainbow Dash whistled through her smirk and clapped the table again.

Twilight smiled a little despite herself. “Girls, this is serious!”

“I am being serious!” Rarity and Rainbow Dash replied at the same time.

The three shared a look, and then each burst into a fit of giggles. Twilight felt hopelessly relieved as the mood lightened and the tension slowly left her with each laugh. She basked in this calm for a moment, but knew that she couldn’t wait much longer. She had her information on Fleur. Now it was only a matter of how to approach the mare.

“You mean to visit her, don’t you?” Rarity asked, giving her a knowing look.

“If you’re desperate, I could hook you up with one of my —”

“No!” Twilight blurted. “I mean, yes to your question Rarity, no to your suggestion Rainbow Dash. I am going to visit her, but just to see how she’s settled in.”

“I won’t stop you, but please be careful,” Rarity said. “Who knows? Perhaps you can teach that rotten mare a thing or two about the magic of friendship, and the sanctity of romance. Knowing you, she might very well turn over a new leaf.” The unicorn shook her head and chuckled. “I expect an apology from her before the week’s end.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Twilight assured, smiling.

“Oh, and just so you know,” Rarity added, “she never works at this hour. She opens herself to appointments during the daytime and keeps them during the evenings.”

“Good to know that I won’t be walking in on her while she’s working,” Twilight grumbled, shaking her head of the imagery.

Rainbow Dash snorted. “That would be hilarious!”

“I can only imagine how our poor, naïve Twilight would react.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Hey, I just thought of something. If she thinks she’s such a hotshot, how about I give her a go?” Rainbow Dash reared back and struck a pose, wings flared. “Let the Dash put some reins on her!”

“You mean to avenge my honor like that?” Rarity laughed. “How gallant of you!”

“That’s sweet, Rainbow Dash — albeit strange and amoral,” Twilight said, patting the excited pegasus’s shoulder. “But revenge is never the answer. Let me try talking to her —”

“Yeah, yeah, so we can all be best buds,” Rainbow Dash droned as she deflated back onto her hooves.

“Could the two of you watch Spike while I’m out?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Pass.” She went back to the couch and picked up her book.

“I’ll do it,” Rarity offered. “I think I’ll take a day off today. Perhaps I’ll take Spike with me for a day at the spa. We could both use a vacation. Celestia knows you overwork the poor dear.” The unicorn pouted, and then smiled. “Be careful, Twilight.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. I’m just going to visit her, casually. I’ll keep it civil, short, and platonic.”

Twilight rolled her neck both sides. It was important to warm up; she didn’t know what would happen when she encountered Fleur again, especially given that she outright fled from the unicorn’s approach the other night. She wanted to salvage their friendship if she could, but she had to consider Rarity’s feelings as well as the fact that Fleur might be a sex and money-crazed sociopath. Whatever happened, her best friend had to come first.

Twilight sighed and repeated the small list again to herself like a protective incantation. “Nice and civil. Keep it short and casual.”

“Calm down, darling. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Buck her brains out, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash cheered from behind her book. She pumped her hoof in the air. “Use your magic!”

“Rainbow Dash, really!”

“Platonic!” Twilight uttered before she teleported out of the room and onto the dirt road just outside the castle. She decided to walk the rest of the way to the business district and slowly work up her nerves.

Author's Note

Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.
This chapter was a bit rushed, but I'm too pressed for time to refine it any further. I think it makes for a good segue into the risque stuff though. Incoming business! :rainbowwild: