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!