Pony POV Series: Fancy and Fleur-Dreams and Dutyby Purple PatchChaptersFancy Pants Discordance: King For A DayFleur de Lis Discordance: Eyes On MeFancy Pants Reharmisation: ChivalryFleur de Lis Reharmonisation: CharmFancy Pants Discordance: King For A DayPony POV Series Fancy Pants King For A Day Recursive Fanfiction Why, hello there. I believe I haven’t seen you in jolly old Canterlot that very often. How may I be of help? Well, that’s quite an interesting proposition but I see no harm in it. My name is Fancy Pants. To be perfectly honest, even I’m not entirely sure. Write it down as one word if you like. How ponies are spelling my name is unlikely to become all that great a concern of mine. Well, you must be new, dear fellow. Not to boast, you understand, but I’m rather well-known in this general area. I am the Lord Minister of Canterlot, its essential head of the municipal government. I essentially take care of the matters that concern Canterlot and its social circles provided they aren’t royal affairs. Where our fine Princess defends our lands and protects and guides our ponies on the path of peace and progress, I chip in here and there to ensure things run smoothly. As Lord Minister I do have some say in royal affairs when they occur and I do my part to advise her highness however I can. Oh, her highness values any advice. A wise ruler always does. More than anything, she needs ponies she can rely on. After all, a princess can’t be everywhere, even one such as her. It’s easy when you know how. The first step is building a reputation for yourself, I suppose. Ponies have always thought of me as a bit of a role-model, social-wise. I’m invited to more parties and gatherings than you shake a stick at, purely so that upcoming socialites can say ‘Fancy Pants so enjoyed our little celebration. It’s such a shame you couldn’t come, snork-snork-onoxious laugh’ to their envious nemeses. You get used to it. I’m not without genuine friends. Any other day, I have my good friends and benefactors, Swan Song, Silver Frames and Golden Gavel around. I was a prefect at Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns and rather looked out for that little trio of awkward youngsters. And most prominently, I have her. Oh come on now, old bean, you must have heard of Fleur de Lis! Renowned Canterlot Supermodel, cover-mare of nearly every major fashion magazine in Equestria... And the love of my life. Yes, we are married. Very happily. You hear about these marriages between politicians and celebrities and royals. Ever so messy, one wonders what they saw in each other to begin with. But me and Fleur, we share something. I helped her, you see. And then she helped me. Back when both our lives were a little more hectic than they are now. I was an idealistic politician with no small amount of enemies and she was a struggling graduate striving to find her career in the fashion industry...and I later found out she was being stalked. I very swiftly put a stop to that and then recommended her to a friend...and when I say friend I mean Photo Finish. A high-strung madam but she knows talent when she sees it. Fleur rose quickly and used her new-found power to actually save my life. I’m not joking, dear fellow! She foiled an assassination attempt! For that, I shall look upon her as nothing more than a guardian goddess and she feels much the same about me, this I am certain of. We need each other and our lives have never been happier than shared among one another. Well, of course, she gets a lot of attention from the media. We both do really. And we always see young stallions (And a few mares now and again) give her looks that aren’t quite as proper as we would like but, whenever she feels pestered or worried, I always say the words that make it all better for her. ‘You can’t help being beautiful’ It always brings a smile to her face. A smile that makes every day of mine complete. But it’s not flattery, you understand, it’s a promise. A promise that I will never think less of her by how others think. That’s always been a great anxiety of hers and I put it to rest whenever it surfaces. Well, at this moment, I’m going to see the princess. There aren’t that many ponies in Canterlot who get the chance to say that very often. Princess Celestia summoned me on matters most urgent and, as an upstanding member of her highness’s court, I can do nothing more than... ...see pink clouds of candy-floss covering the sky...raining with, what appears to be, chocolate milk...on checkerboard soil...and shoals of fish, floating in mid-air... Do you know, I could be wrong but I’m not entirely sure this is supposed to happen. Have I wandered off? I...dear me, I need to find somepony. Things aren’t...things aren’t right at all. My ears pique up as I hear a filly’s high-pitched scream...or that might have been Blueblood. Must be chatting up the wrong mare again. I’ll have a word with him later. And, goodness gracious is that Photo Finish?! I...I... Ahem...I most certainly did not see what I just saw...not a bit of it... Moving very swiftly on. I must find the Princess immediately. This is a far cry from the Canterlot I’m familiar with. And the one in which I’ve currently found myself leaves much to be desired. Ponies are going completely mad all over the place. Citizens of Canterlot I know to be safe and sane are running around laughing like clowns or screaming as if the end is upon them. Is it? Where is Princess Celestia? She has to be here. She must be. I mean, for Paradise’ sake, can’t she see what’s happening?! Can’t she do anything?! “Not a thing” I stop dead in my tracks. That voice came from nowhere and did not sound particularly friendly. I gaze out at what was once, to my knowledge, the path to the palace. It is blocked... By a great golden crown the size of a hula-hoop with a deep indigo crystal in the centre, right in front of me. Just like my cutie mark. Suddenly everything sounds so quiet. The madness outside seems to have subsided, at least for me. Perhaps this is simply a peculiar dream. I look into the crystal, my face staring back at me. Then my face starts to change. And not for the better. I grow dissimilar horns, twisted and gnarled, and one jutting tusk. My mane and moustache turn grey and fall down to my chin, forming a scruffy little beard and my eyebrows turn bushy and white. Most noticeably, my monocle seems to merge with the eye it covers, causing one of my pupils to grow larger than the other, magnified, as my eyes themselves turn yellow where once there was white...and red where there once was blue. “The new look” my reflection says “It’ll catch on fast” Alright then. Now I am distinctly unnerved, I don’t mind saying it. I take a step back as the crown begins to spin and a trailing, spiralling ribbon emerges from the inside of its rim. Then I see that it is not a ribbon at all but the most bizarre creature I have ever seen. Not so much a creature in itself as an amalgamation of many. I can’t be too sure...pony, snake, goat, dragon, turkey, stag...wait a moment...I’ve seen him before...his statue anyway. Every time there’s been a party at the Royal Gardens... “D-D-Discord...” I try to stop myself flinching. I fail “The Bringer of Chaos...The Reality-Warper...Turned to stone by Princesses Celestia and Luna centuries ago...” “In the moving, breathing flesh” the creature cackles, throwing out his asymmetric arms as if he were a performer “And very happy to see you, Lord Minister...if you deserve to call yourself that” “I...Well really!” I am quite offended and I choose to show it...at least as far as my courage can bring to do so “That is hardly reasonable, sir” “Oh, is it now?” I do not like the look the mad god gives me. I see why the Princesses did not freeze that hideous smile in stone during their last affair “What sort of Lord Minister lets all this...” he gestures at the calamity unfolding around us “...happen to his fair city? Or is the safety of Canterlot entrusted to another?” “Yes it is. And I warn you, she is not to be trifled with” I give him a firm stance and a measured glance like my old aunt taught me. By golly, I’m not letting this foul serpent get his way, not while there’s a pony named Celestia in the world! “The Princess will find you and I assure you, my good sir, she will make you pay for this outrage!” At this, the creature throws back its misshapen head and laughs. As if I’ve said something... “Very, very stupid” Dear Celestia, can it read my thoughts?! “Yep. And it’s no use relying on Celestia, however dearly. She can’t stop me. But then that’s nothing new, is it?” I draw back, startled at his words. “I don’t understand” “You should put that on your jacket” Discord sniggers, his beastly eyes gleaming like volcanic gemstones “If Celestia can’t stop me...if she can’t defend the city she rules over...what good is she? Why call her your ruler when she’s done nothing to earn that title? Ask yourself...If the Princess can stop me but doesn’t want to, surely she is malevolent. If the Princess wants to stop me but can’t, surely she is incompetent...Either way, why call her the Princess?” He slithers up close. The more avian of his hands trails itself around the crown, which becomes smaller and smaller until he’s twirling it round his claw. “You could rule. You’re a smart stallion, Fancy Pants. You and I both know you’ve always been the real mind behind the throne. Ponies look up to you. You’ve all the values of a Prince, unlike that miserable pampered fool the world calls Blueblood, who Celestia insists on coddling. None are more competent. Experience, wisdom, patience, honour...you have it all...” “Indeed. And you forget one other thing, sir. Loyalty!” I stand my ground as best I can “I will never, in good conscience, betray my Princess, do you hear me?!” “Why ever not? She’s the one who’s betrayed you. She let this happen. She could have easily stopped it, a mare of her power, her influence...yet she didn’t...What is that, if not treachery? And what are you if not the one to punish it?” The crown hovers over then under his twiddling claws, just above my head as the Bringer of Chaos begins to chant. “Ruler and Defender Of city, field and town. Oh, Fancy Pants the One True King In his gleaming golden crown” He places the crown upon my head. It’s a perfect fit. It...It feels as if I was made for this...this was...Destined. Then the crown disappears as he stares deep into my eyes. I look around. Something I don’t find fun. Things really have gone to Tartarus, haven’t they. There are ponies chasing each other with weapons. Fire, explosions, screaming, here in the capital! Is Celestia really so blind? So powerless? Does she honestly think I can improve things if she cannot? ... Yes...Of course she does. I’m the one who improves things. Half the improvements in Canterlot would never have gotten done without my help. My work, my talks, my money, my good, honest drudgery makes Canterlot what it is today. And what thanks do I get? Why is she still wearing the crown?! I've earned that crown! It's mine! I Will Wear The Crown! My vision blurs. I must have lost my monocle. I fumble around. Dash it, I must look like so ruddy foolish. It lands in my hoof. I put it to my eye and see the creature standing over me, a look of concern on his face as he glances at my forehead. “You seem to have lost your crown” he says with concern. My hoof flies to my scalp. The crown is not there. Somepony has taken it. How dare they! “I believe I saw Celestia wearing it in the Royal Palace” Celestia? That vile little sorceress! That sanctimonious wastrel! That up-jumped, clueless, disobedient whelp! In my palace! Wearing my crown! I’ll make her pay for this! “Reclaim your kingdom, Fancy Pants” Discord tells me, every word repeated in my head in a voice not unlike my own “Take back what was stolen from you. Give Equestria the ruler it deserves. And please...entertain me” Yes. Yes! Equestria needs a new king! The path to the palace is clear now. Of course, it is. I’d know the way to my own palace. What if there are guards? Well, they’re my guards. They will seize her on my instructions if they haven’t done so already. No...I will put her down myself. I will be the hero! The conqueror! The Slayer of Celestia the Tyrant ! The False Princess! The Crown-Thief! My crown...I will wear the crown! I stumble. Tchah! Where’s a ruddy carriage when you need one?! I look into the murky chocolate milk puddles on the road. They’re clear enough to show some colour and I notice mine are dimmer than usual. My mane and moustache is more grey than blue and the white of my coat is off somewhat. Bah! The loss of my throne has already taken its toll. Celestia will suffer for what she’s done to me! I speed on in the direction of the palace. I need a weapon. Somepony give me a weapon! I can’t face a rogue alicorn unarmed. Or perhaps I can? No, I will end Celestia’s life by the sword. Nothing else would be befitting. I find a guard, if he deserves that role. He’s rolling around on the ground like a cur with a blank look in his eyes, looking like a perfect goof. “Grant me your blade! Your king commands it!” I bellow. Yes, the royal voice comes naturally to me as I take his sword from its sheath with a flash of my magic, golden as my precious crown of course. The guard wags his tail and scratches the underside of his chin frantically with one hoof. Imbecile! Probably blind drunk, on guard duty no less! I’ll have his head for this offence! Later though. Celestia dies first. Cut off the head of the snake. Then the accomplices. Thus is the fate of traitors. I will wear the crown. There! My palace, my ancestral home, so beautiful. How I have missed it. The light of its serene towers and mighty halls is enough to quell my righteous fury. The blade feels light in the hold of my magic. I tuck it into my belt. I have rather changed my mind. I believe I shall be merciful. I shall give her a chance to surrender peacefully. Return what is mine, Celestia, and I shall spare your worthless life. After all, a king needs a concubine. And she is a very pretty traitor. “Fancy! Oh my Fancy, thank Celestia!” While I’m on that subject... I see her, Fleur de Lis, rushing up from the alley. The mare I’ve spent so much time with in recent years...I don’t seem to remember why though. She looks appalling. Her alabaster coat is covered with dirt. Her lilac eyes are bloodshot and pouring with tears. Her mane is unkempt and clumped with soil, leaves and twigs. Her entire body is clammy and quivering, struggling to keep upright. Her posture is distinctly different. Where once she held her head high, she now slinks along the pathway like some form of stray cat. How dare she appear before me in such a squalid manner! “Fancy, you need to help me!” she sobs like a school-filly “The eyes! The hooves! They’re everywhere! They won’t leave me alone! Please, Fancy!” She falls into my chest, wrapping her filthy foreleg around her king’s noble shoulder “Keep them away, Fancy! I just want them to stop!” I am quiet for a moment. I can’t quite process this. She is a commoner. Nothing more. What reason does she have to speak to me so brazenly, to ask aid of me? Doesn’t she know I’m her king? Has she been like this since I’ve met her? Of course...it’s all so obvious now. Such a dirty little thing all along, in heart and now in body. Hoping to hide behind me. Hoping to use me, to live off me. I’ll show her who’s really been pulling the strings. “How many?” I ask in a very calm and collected tone, a regal tone. Witless nag that she is, Fleur gives me a clueless look. “Well?” I ask with faux-patience. She doesn’t need to answer. I know already. I’m just letting her know that. “How many stallions was it this time, then? Anypony you knew? A father? A brother? A colt you found outside the bordello? Perhaps a little of all three? Perhaps all at the same time?!” “Wha...Fancy!?” She explains, cupping her babbling mouth with her revoltingly spindly hooves. “Don’t you dare pretend to be surprised, you loathsome, grasping excuse for a mare!” I snarl, finding my blade hungry for blood “I know the truth. You’ve been a pay-ride for coin all this time. Celestia’s coin! You’ve been spying on me! You have spied on your one true king! Treason! Heresy! Fleur-de-Lis, I name you a traitor to the crown!” “No...” Fleur squeaks like the rat she is, shaking her head as I advance “No, no, nononono, not you too, not you...not my Fancy!” “Silence!” The blade flashes in front of her. I notice it looks prettier than she ever was. And it feels so very thirsty. “What was that you always had me say? You can’t help being beautiful?” The words turn my stomach. Egomaniacal tart! “Well I think I can help. I think I can stop them all looking at you...here” The sword of the king lunges. A scream escapes the temptress’s mouth as I draw a streak of glorious red across her miserable face. All at once, as if the blood is drained from her from that single strike, her mane and eyes dim and her coat greys. Aha! I've broken her spell! Temptress, succubus, changeling, whatever you are, I will end your depraved charade! “FANCY, NO!” she shrieks. I never want to hear that wretched voice again. “Be silent, traitor, and accept your fate! Have at thee!” Damn and blast it, the filthy thing’s too fast! She gallops off, weeping, towards the forest. She won’t get far. I’ll deal with her later. I have more important matters to take care of. I will wear the crown! I charge towards the palace doors, blade in my grasp. Already I can feel my armies mustering to my call! Oh the day of glory is at hoof, my warriors! The door gives way as it damn well should. “Celestia the Usurper, your reign is at an end!” I cry at the top of my lungs as I rush toward my throne “Kneel and plead for mercy before your king and I shall-” What?! What is this foul devilry! I am unable to move! My magic has no affect! The sword clatters to the ground and is snatched up as the traitor stares at me from behind the shimmering prism that contains me. NO! RELEASE ME! I AM YOUR KING! YOU CANNOT KEEP ME FROM MY DESTINY! I WILL RULE! I WILL WEAR THE CROWN! “By the light of the Sun, Fancy Pants...” The look she gives me is...pitying, tearful...does she feel remorse? “What has the monster done to you?” Then the prism shimmers quicker and harder until her face is blotted out. I see nothing. My palace, my crown and the traitor who stole them vanish in front of me. And by the time the prism is lifted, I am trapped once more in a dungeon cell. I scramble to my hooves and pound at the door, yelling oaths of death and destruction upon them and all their kin. They cannot hold me! Not in my palace! Not in my domain! I am the King! I will wear the crown! * NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! * My rage suddenly subsides...as does my arrogance...and a great many other things. All thoughts of my glorious crown escape my mind as swiftly as they became trapped within. I dropped my monocle. Replacing it, I take note of my full surroundings and try my hardest to remember what exactly took place. There was Discord. A crown. A sword. There appears to be blood on my sleeve. “FANCY, NO!” ... Oh dear Celestia... Please... ...no... Author's Note Fancy Pants, faced with the Bringer of Chaos, will still do his best to maintain dignity and a stiff-upper lip. But faced with the loss of the mare he loves and he'll break like the rest of them. Find out later what Fleur de Lis was going through and how the two of them are going to cope with what horrors transpired. Fleur de Lis Discordance: Eyes On MePony POV Series Fleur de Lis Eyes On Me Recursive Fanfiction Well hello. See something you like? Oh don’t you worry, darlings. If a day goes by without somepony asking for an interview, often complete with signed autographs, it means I’m not doing my job right. Look all you want, but you can’t touch. Sorry, just a joke. Me? Are you serious? Ha. I never would have thought it. A pony who hasn’t heard of me...It’s almost refreshing in a way. It means I don’t have to pretend so much... Hm? Nothing, sorry. I’m Fleur de Lis, front-page stunner of the Canterlot Fashion Magazine and many others like it. If you don’t read them you must have at least passed by them at some point. I’m a pony of expensive tastes, but then all the best ponies are. Oh, the poses? Sorry, habit of mine. I do it all the time. Don’t often realise. It can lead to a few embarrassing situations. But it’s useful in my line of work. Oh, it has its ups and downs. I won’t give you the exact details. Photo Finish gets rather huffy if I give anything away but, let’s just say it serves its purpose and is worth the trials. I have fame, a steady income, and a high place in the social circles. Which means I get to spend time with him. Yes, don’t look so surprised, dears, we’re married. And yes, the marriage is a very happy one. We never really argue. The only thing that comes close is steady debates on this and that. Trivial things but it helps us understand each other. The worst marriages are ones where nopony talks at all. You get those all too often in the media nowadays. But Fancy’s different. Very different. I knew him before I became...all this. I mean, I was still...mostly...the mare you see now but nopony was paying that much attention. Well, they were but not in a good way. I’ve always been like this. And that’s both a blessing and a curse. When you’re too tall and too thin, even as a foal, ponies tend not to ignore it. And that which isn't normal often isn't pretty in their eyes. Foals can be cruel sometimes. As I...moved on from that, things got a bit different. My absurd height and shape became beautiful in their eyes. But it did nothing to make them treat me any more like a pony. I remember once, on the streets of Manehattan, a beggar, weak and coughing, stopped me on the way to the flat I was staying at and asked if I was the Princess or close to the Princess. “You must be” he said “You look just like her. You must know her. You must ask her to help me” He looked so desperate. I gave him a little something I’d...acquired the other day...just to help a little. Let’s get this straight, the Princess is a lovely mare but we’re not related. Ponies asking for favours are always the worst. They make me feel so powerless. I’m disappointing all of them. I thought high culture would end my days of being a recluse. It only made things worse, as it turns out. That’s why I pursued...other activities. Ones I’m not best proud of and, if it’s alright, I’d rather not go into. My point is ponies only like something when they feel the need to. But Fancy Pants made them feel that need. Sheep, the lot of them. And I have to rely on the opinions of those sheep to get where I am. It’s humiliating! But like I said, Fancy Pants is different. He has such control over the city but he always uses it for good. He helps so many ponies and all he needs to do is say ‘This stallion’s a hard-working fellow’ or ‘This mare has talent, if I can see it I’m sure the rest of you can’ and quick as you like, they have a chance in life. We got to know each other so quickly, long before we both got where we are now. We were both up-and-coming socialites with no small amount of enemies. Well, he had enemies, I had stalkers. Quite a few. It’s ridiculous! I mean, ponies who trail a celebrity everypony knows, I can...sort of...understand. It’s still not best practice but I can understand it. But I was just a mare who looked different from all the others. It was like I some sort of zoo exhibit! All my life, I’ve looked different and all my life ponies haven’t been able to deal with it! ...I’m sorry... Fancy put an end to that. Ha-ha. You should have seen it. And later he recommended me to Photo Finish. A demanding employer at the best of times but she gave me the opportunity to get myself out there. But that just meant Fancy had done one more thing I couldn’t seem to do. I didn’t want to be a burden. I didn’t want to live off him. Our relationship wouldn’t feel right unless both of us made equal amounts of effort. So in the end I ended up foiling an attempt on his life. It was a spur of the moment thing really but Fancy Pants was safe and those who had hired the assassin were apprehended and removed from power. And that was how we came to realise...we need each other. We look out for each other. And I’ve never been happier looking out for him. Which makes it so very infuriating when I hear what ponies call me behind my back and sometimes to my face. Gold-Digger. Trophy Wife. Bimbo. Temptress. Harlot. Pay-Ride. What do they know?! Sorry...Sorry. Look, let’s just pretend I never said that. It...It’s complicated. ‘I can’t help being beautiful’ Fancy’s words not mine. Yes, I know it sounds a little like he’s stroking my ego, but in truth, my greatest concern isn’t what ponies think of me, it’s what ponies think of me and him. As in, together. Fancy does look a lot older than me. You’d be surprised how close we are age-wise. And I suppose there are some who believe there are no self-made mares but that’s exactly what I am and not everypony’s happy about it. I’m just worried that, at some point, Fancy’s going to start believing what everypony else believes. That I’m just using him. That I’m living off him. That I’m lying to him. But then I remind myself that he just isn’t like that. He’s different. And I love him for it...so much. So things are good, overall. I’m looking to show up the Suddery circle in the next modelling shoot. Shouldn’t be too difficult. At the moment, I feel the need for a bit of fresh air and friendly company. And if that company is Fancy Pants, so much the better. He doesn’t mind taking me to places. Even in the courts. I really can be quite useful. I’m smarter than I look, how do you think I’ve lasted this long in the city? Oh, sorry. Mirror. Need to check. Force of habit. Can’t appear before the crowds looking like a horror flic, can I? Huh...There’s another. Well, everything seems fine. Wait, am I posing? Good grief, where did that mirror come from? Okay, something is not right here. These mirrors were not here when I turned my eyes and I’m not posing in the way my reflections are? What the hay is going on?! “Got something between your teeth, darling?” That voice...it sounds like mine. It is mine. Dear Celestia, my own reflection is talking to me! And it’s looking at me...and not in a good way. “Not happy with the way you look?” The way it glances at me reminds me of so many ponies I wasn’t fond of “Well, we can change your shape and size in so many different ways.” The mirror expands and so does my reflection, puffing up like a balloon in all directions until I’m looking at myself only morbidly obese. Bulging out in every direction. I feel quite nauseous. I edge back and hit the mirror behind me. Turning round, my reflection looks normal again. But it’s still giving me that look. “No good, eh? How about this?” I fall back screaming as the mirror compresses, causing my reflection to become so painfully thin, I’m almost skeletal, sunken cheeks and eyes, a withered husk of a mare. “Stop it!” I yell, scrambling on the glassy ground. “Who’s doing this?! Where are you?!” “Boo!” I look down at my hooves. I see myself staring up at me. My face! What’s happened to my face?! A hideous creature mimicking me grins through serrated fangs! Bulging red eyes staring at me hungrily! The bones of my ribs burst through my chest and flail around like a pair of jaws, chomping through my gore-leaking insides! It’s staring right at me! It’s going to pounce! It’s going to turn me into one of them! Leave me alone! I can’t take this! I have to stop it! Rearing up on my hind legs, I cast a bolt of magic at one of the mirrors. Not the smartest idea, it bounces off...and off...and off...deflecting off the glass, panel after panel until it hits me in the flank and sends me crashing through one of them. It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. My flank’s taken the worst of it. I haven’t cut myself at least. I seem to have landed on a bed of lilies. Gold and purple lilies with three petals. Just like my Cutie Mark. There’s someone lying down in them, reclining sultrily like a male model, a lily between his teeth, one brow raised coyly. I don’t think I’ve seen an odder-looking creature in my life. Part of him’s snake, part of him’s bird, most of him is pony...I think... Oh my Celestia it’s him! The statue from the garden party’s Fancy always takes me to. He’s back! Discord is... “Back...Baby!” He finishes my sentence as he picks up a shard of glass and admires his own reflection. “Seven years back luck...” he tuts “Of course, with me around, quite a bit more so.” And he pops the shard of glass in his mouth and crunches it like a potato chip. I struggle to get to my hooves. He doesn’t seem to have that problem as the lilies rise up and throw him into the air where he stays hovering. “Fleur de Lis...” he chuckles “I’m surprised you didn’t like the gift I gave you. I thought you enjoyed looking good.” “I...look good for others...” I reply. “Oh...how very generous of you...Oh but we’ve already had generosity. Ugh! It’s so hard coming up with something ironic for everypony. You don’t know the work that goes into chaos, dear girl. Now...what to do with you?” I take a step back. Why me? Why have I stumbled into his path? What have I done?! “Always so narcissistic!” he snorts “I’m paying visits to everypony in Equestria. You, however...well...it’s so hard not to notice you...” Discord cranes his neck over me at an absurd angle. “So you like to look good for others? Is that it? I suppose that must be pretty easy when you look good for anything.” “Um...thank you...” “Oh yes, indeed. But you know, I imagine it would be altogether a lot harder if you didn’t look good. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all” He removes his own eye, spins it on his claw and eats it. It swiftly reappears, boggling around its socket “Some even call me ugly...heheh...they regretted that, I can tell you. Hmm...So, Miss de Lis, which look did you find best suited you in our little catalogue back there? Beach-Ball? Bean-Pole? Bane of Living Things?” “Stop it! Just stop it!” I’ve had enough of this “Whatever you do to me, it won’t matter. It’ll be your magic! And that’s it! I’ll still be me!” Keep calm, Fleur, keep calm. I’ll still be me. I’ll still be beautiful. I’ll still have Fancy Pants. No matter what I looked like, he’d never leave me! “Oh, is that what you believe? Is it?” he shakes his head “Silly, silly Fleur de Lis. You should never give me ideas. Because I wonder, why play around with just your body when your mind is far more fun!” The mirrors close around me. Lilies swarm the soil beneath my hooves. I’m trapped. Celestia help me, I’m trapped with a mad god! I hate the way he’s looking at me. Please don’t look at me! “So you wish ponies would look at you? Admire you? Desire you?” He cackles, his eyes staring into mine “Well, my pretty little filly...be careful what you wish for!” His eyes loom in front of me. Instinctively I turn away but the mirror...I see his eyes in the mirror. They’re everywhere! I hear him chanting. “The lily withers every day... And mortal splendour fades away... But when your beauty never dies... You’re never safe from prying eyes...” I still see his eyes. Wait...those aren’t his eyes. They look like...normal eyes. Pony eyes. But...why are there so many? The eyes are all around me. I can’t turn round or turn away. They’re everywhere I go. Everywhere I look. This...this isn’t what I wanted at all! “Isn’t it? You want eyes on you and that’s what I gave you. Every moment, everywhere, they’ll be watching the mare of their dreams.” “No! No, please!” “And why let the eyes have all the fun? Looking’s boring. Perhaps they’d like to touch! C’mon, boys! Get your money’s worth!” The lilies rumble under me and something erupts from their centres. Hooves. Thousands and thousands of hooves reaching out and grabbing at me. I scream as several work their way up my back-legs! I kick them away but they just keep coming! Don’t touch me! Don’t look at me! Please don’t look at me! I run. That’s all I can do. I have to get away. The eyes! The hooves! They won’t stop coming! They won’t leave me alone! Every few times I think I’ve escaped, more appear in front of me, hooves grabbing at mine, pulling me along the dirt. I end up running through a hedgerow to get away and it doesn’t even help! They just keep coming. As the twigs and leaves get stuck in my mane, they morph into tiny hooves, tugging at it. Get off! You’re hurting me! Please stop! They let me go abruptly. My face falls into a puddle. There, now I’m not so pretty! My face is covered with mud and what I really hope is chocolate milk. Can you stop now?! Please don’t look at me! The moment I see somepony, the moment they look at me, that’s all I see. Their eyes. All their great horrible eyes blotting the rest of them from view. Can nopony help me?! Can you just! Stop! LOOKING AT ME?! Wait...There! I see him... Fancy Pants. He doesn’t look himself either. He has a sword at his belt and his mane and moustache is ruffled but it’s him. I know my Fancy. He’ll help me. We always help each other. He’s off-colour. I see it in his mane and moustache. He looks so unwell. Dear Celestia, has Discord gotten to him too? No, Fancy’s not like that. Fancy’s different. He’d never be taken in by that disgusting serpent. “Fancy! Oh my Fancy, thank Celestia!” I can barely stand. I feel like vomiting and I look terrible but at least it’s over now. Fancy will keep me safe, he always does. Then I’ll find out what Discord did to him and help him through that. We need each other. “Fancy, you need to help me!” I can barely get my words out but I explain what’s happening, I hold him close. He feels so...cold. He feels so cold but I hold him close. He doesn’t seem to move. “How many?” He asks me a question I don’t quite understand. “Well?” Is he asking how many eyes are on me? How many hooves are touching me? How many hours I’ve spent running from it? Too many, that’s how many! I’m about to answer when he speaks again. Even his voice sounds wrong and the words that come out of his mouth shake me to the core. “How many stallions was it this time, then? Anypony you knew? A father? A brother? A colt you found outside the bordello? Perhaps a little of all three? Perhaps all at the same time?!” How...how could he say that?! Is this some sort of sick joke? Is it Discord again? It has to be! I know my Fancy! He’d never say that! “Don’t you dare pretend to be surprised, you loathsome, grasping excuse for a mare!” He’s snarling at me like a wolf, drawing a blade at his belt “I know the truth. You’ve been a pay-ride for coin all this time. Celestia’s coin! You’ve been spying on me! You have spied on your one true king! Treason! Heresy! Fleur-de-Lis, I name you a traitor to the crown!” He’s pointing the sword right at me! He’s going to hurt me! No... No, no, nononono, not you too, not you...not my Fancy! I scream as loud as I can! This isn’t him! This isn’t my Fancy! Fancy’s Different! “Silence!” he bellows as he stares me dead in the eyes. I just notice his are almost drained of colour. Dead eyes. Mad eyes. Oh Celestia...Discord found him first! “What was that you always had me say? You can’t help being beautiful?” His voice sounds mocking, so full of hatred. Fancy doesn’t hate me...does he? No. Fancy...I know you won’t hurt me. “Well I think I can help...” he sneers “I think I can stop them all looking at you...here!” The sword thrusts forward with a flash. I give a scream as it cuts across my cheek. I fall to one knee. He’s cut me. He hurt me! No, this is a nightmare! This can’t be real! He can’t be real! This isn’t him! He’s different! “FANCY, NO!” Can any part of him hear me? Remember me? I’m his Fleur! Doesn’t he know me?! “Be silent, traitor, and accept your fate! Have at thee!” I find my hooves and scramble away, my tears flowing down my cheeks as the cut bleeds freely. It hurts! It hurts so much! Not you, Fancy! Please, not you! The eyes are back! They watch me bleed! They watch with hungry eyes. The hooves emerge and try to grab at it, trying to tear it open wider. Please don’t look at me! Why are you still looking?! I'm not pretty anymore! I'm cut and crying! My mane's lost all colour! My coat's greying! I'm too thin and too tall and I don't want anypony to look at me anymore! I just want it to stop!!! I don’t see where I’m going and I honestly don’t care. The soil turns thicker and wetter beneath my hooves until I’m almost stuck in the mud. I must have run into the Everfree. Somewhere, I think I hear a manticore roaring out in anguish. I honestly don’t care if it finds me. I hope it rips me apart until there’s nothing left. Nothing left for them to look at. Nothing for them to touch. I dig deeper into the mud. I need to hide somehow! This is the only way I can! I can’t take it anymore! I lie down and roll, over and over until I’m almost completely covered. Completely protected. I just leave space for my mouth to breathe out of before my cover my face and shut my eyes tight. Let the earth swallow me up. I’m ready. Just let it end. Please let it end. Please don’t look at me. * NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! * Was that him? Was that Discord? Has he been stopped? Is the nightmare over? My body feels heavy. My mane feels like its being tugged on. Oh Celestia, are the hooves still there? No, no, thank Paradise, it’s just the mud. It’s just the... Oh dear sweet Celestia and Luna, I look horrendous!!! I can't show myself in town looking like this! How do I get home unseen! This is going to take me days to wash this off! I can barely see through all this?! It’s all over my face and mane! I try to brush it out my eye and catch my hoof on a cut on my cheek. It stings! I need to find a band-aid. I don’t want a scar! I can’t scar my face. Fancy loves my face. He loves my... “FANCY, NO!” I stop. Suddenly I’m on my knees as the memory of that sword and the mad look in his eye swarms me more than Discord’s hordes of eyes and hooves. I curl up on the ground, eyes streaming, begging anypony out there for it not to be true... Not him. That wasn’t him, that couldn’t have been. He’s not like that. He’s...he’s...he's different. Fancy, no. Not you...Not my Fancy! I can’t lose you! I don’t care what Discord does to me but please...give my Fancy back! He’s not like that. He’s different. He’s my Fancy! I need him. Author's Note I'd like to thank Alex Warlorn for giving me some much-needed information on Fleur's backstory in the POV Series. It'll come into play during the Reharmonisation. I'm glad you've enjoyed the FancyFleur POV. I was honestly surprised it hadn't been done yet and these two are one of my favourite pairings (Good news for Spike ) Fancy Pants Reharmisation: ChivalryPony POV Series Fancy Pants Chivalry Recursive Fanfiction Oh...hello again... I hope you got here alright and I trust my household were welcoming. Yes, I suppose you must have heard. It was only a matter of time. I’m terribly sorry. You...rather caught me at a bit of a bad time...though I suppose I haven’t had any other sort of time for a while now. What sort of leader am I? What sort of pony am I? What can I call myself but the vilest traitor that ever walked upon Equestria’s soil? Dear alicorns over paradise, what have I done? I’ve been a damn bounder of the lowliest degree, that’s what. I let that foul beast dupe me, falling for its temptations like a foal to confectionary. While chaos reigned in Equestria, I saw fit to act the opportunist, trying to seize control over Canterlot in the mayhem while the Princess who trusted me struggled to keep order. I betrayed everypony...I betrayed everything! My household, my city, my princess...and my wife. Oh Fleur...my poor, sweet lily...you cannot know how sorry I am... And I, fittingly...cannot know how much I hurt her. I called her such horrible things...I tried to do such horrible things. Things I hesitate to even think about! I wanted to do those things! To the mare of my dreams! The love of my life! What did that monster do to me?! ... No...I cannot pin the blame on that creature. Evil comes naturally to him. I should have remained strong. But...if Discord was capable of convincing me so easily to take control...surely I must think that too. Somewhere in my mind, there must be a lingering urge to seize power over Equestria! There must be. How else would I have fallen to him! You can’t create a thought out of thin-air! Why did I think that way?! Why did I do the things I did?! ... Dreadfully sorry...that was...improper... Let’s...let’s start from the beginning. Ahem... Upon Discord’s defeat and my revelation of what I had truly done that day...I spent what time I had behind bars weeping. I was certain that I would suffer for my crimes. Why should I be except from the consequences not even poor old Princess Luna avoided? I deserved it...I was a traitor. There was no other word for a pony who commits the actions I committed that day. How could I have been so arrogant? So cruel? So dishonourable? Though it felt like an eternity, sitting there with only my colossal guilt to keep me company...I had only been in the cell five minutes after Discord’s defeat when the guards opened my cell. They hadn't locked it, as it turned out but I still did not care to leave. I was a criminal. ‘Here it is.’ I thought ‘Off for a quick stroll around the block...’ A traitor’s death. It would besmirch my family name forever. They bring me to the princess, haggard from the day’s calamities. I kneel, weeping and bedraggled, no fit sight for a princess, and accept my fate. Instead, Princess Celestia, our kind...wise...and so wonderfully forgiving monarch does something extraordinary. She leans down and gives me a hug. Her forelegs feel so much like my dear mother. It was too much. I broke down, sobbing and whimpering, apologising as if it were the only thing I was capable of doing...which was largely true under the circumstances. I made numerous promises. I swore to hand in my resignation, remove my name from the hall of honours, leave Canterlot and so forth but she would hear none of it. Her hold was kind but her voice was firm. So much like my mother. She simply told me to go out into the city, find my wife and make sure she was alright. Fleur... I needed no time to mull things over. I was out like a shot, galloping through the streets, desperately searching for the mare I’d wronged so cruelly. I would not rest until she was well again. As long as I was free, I was capable of such. It took the better part of the late afternoon before I found her. Staggering out of the forest, covered horn to hoof in mud and soil, head bowed, weeping incessantly. She had so hoped not to be seen. As she noticed me she raised her head. I could see the cut I’d given her. Beneath the dirt, the look she gave me as I swore to mutilate her was still prevalent on her face. The colours in her mane and eyes were drained and morbid, half-dead to the world around her. I feared then that I had doomed her. I had killed the mare I fell in love with and left in its shell a scared little creature who didn’t want to be seen. I really didn’t care about the mud or the tears or the blood from her injury. I held onto her and begged her to forgive me. All the years of my life spent in prison or on the moon would mean nothing as long as she could be herself again. Betraying her was the greatest crime I had committed that day. And my penance would never end until she was free of the nightmare I brought upon her. I knelt her weeping into her shoulder, mumbling ‘sorry’ this and ‘love you’ that for what seemed like hours. She never said a word. Then, ever so slowly, she placed a foreleg at the back of my neck and returned the hold. I could feel her tears running down my spine. I would make this right, I promised. I will make my beloved herself again. I took her home and gave her a good bath, then dressed the cut. It wouldn’t scar. If it had, if it lay upon her face for all time, mocking my failure every time she turned to face me... I would not be able to live with the shame. Yet she remained...dull. Ahem, colour-wise, you understand. Well...no offence intended but dull in many other ways too. I don’t think she spoke for some time and she had terrible trouble interacting with anypony. She flinched at their touch, sometimes outright attacking them, and whenever she looked long into the eyes of another she broke into tears. I didn't know where she slept, if sleeping was available to her, but I found out she'd been taking a blade to bed. My ceremonial cane-sword. She once cut herself on it in the night. Have you ever heard her cry? It is...the most heart-rending noise on this earth. And I...I made her cry. When I found out what happened, I felt sick to recall how she looked when she came to me. ‘The Eyes!’ she said ‘The Hooves! They won’t stop coming!’ Dear Celestia, trapped in a stalker-victim’s nightmare for half a day! Eyes everywhere she looked, hooves grabbing her from everywhere she touched. There was no-where for her to run or hide. This was my fault. She was still herself before I hurt her. She had her colours, she had her senses! DAMN IT ALL, I SHOULD HAVE HELPED HER!!! Ugh...Sorry, old chap. I’m not myself. I haven’t been for some time. I lost count of how many days it had been since that horrible day when my manor was paid a visit by an unexpected guest. A young farm-mare from Ponyville. Works on the Sweet Apple Acres the Rich family have so many investments in. The servants made a great song-and-dance over her casual regard for me but I found her quite charming. She had excellent manners and, I confess, was very pretty in a ‘rustic’ sort of way. Her name was Applejack. Upon knowing her name and that she was the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, I cursed myself for my ignorance. This was a pony to whom all of Equestria owed the sun in the sky toward. Granted, Canterlot's rather slow when it comes to news and those that were aware of their prowess apparently lost a great deal of respect for them after the havoc that ensued at the Grand Galloping Gala. A trivial matter, in my opinion, hardly worth looking down on them as they do. I volunteered to greet her properly as a hero and defender of the realm but she politely refused and went straight to business. She’d been sent by the Princess herself and was going around the place talking to those severely harmed by Discord’s sick games. Tremendously charitable of her, I thought. She had something to say but wouldn’t say it until both I and Fleur were in the same room together. That was something we hadn’t found easy, I’m afraid to say, but we managed there and then, sitting down in the lounge, facing each other as Miss Applejack spoke. I remembered every word. “Ah can’t stay long. Probably shouldn’t anyways. City life’s never agreed with me. But ah want yer both to know ah’m here to help. Ah know what happened when that lying varmint, Discord, went around turning everypony into...something they weren’t. Ah won’t pretend to know what yer goin’ through. But ah ain’t lyin’ when ah say it’s not too late to sort things out.” She turned to me. “Mister Fancy Pants...ah admit, I don’t know yer well. So ah asked Princess Celestia who ya were and what ya did around the city. When she was finished, ah hadn’t any doubt that what that snake did to ya was none of yer fault. What ya did that day, what ya thought. It meant nothin’. It wasn’t you! D’ya understand that?” The sincerity in her voice, the wisdom in her words...it was quite inspiring. “Ah haven’t known ya long but everypony I asked about ya has nothin’ but respect for yers. Hard-workin’, honourable, wise, gallant, chivalrous, all these ‘ere words and more are what they think of when they hear yer name. That schemin’ old belly-crawler knew that, he saw that and he hated it. He knew that y’all were a good stallion that weren’t afraid to stand up to him and so he changed that into somethin’ rotten. The Princess knows that. Everypony knows that. And ah think ah’m right in sayin’ Miss Fleur knows that. Nopony is gonna’ blame ya for what happened. You shouldn’t either.” She leaned forward and tapped the side of my head gently. “Now what ya were thinkin’ while yer were dancin’ to his tune? All that nonsense ‘bout crowns and kings and the princess bein’ useless? I know about that too. Long story. Anyways, that’s probably just a naggin’ doubt or anxiety ya have in the dark corners of yer mind. Everypony has ‘em. They exist alright but that’s all they are. Doubts, anxieties, things that can only take over if ya let ‘em. Believe me when ah say he twisted us just as bad. It weren’t any easier than what yer goin’ through, Princess knows it weren’t. But if we can pull through...ah reckon it shouldn’t be too hard for you.” I put my hooves under my chin in thought. Her words have truly taken me to a spot of enlightenment. I’m afraid to say I don’t quite recall what she said to Fleur but it seemed to do the trick. Her colours hadn’t yet returned but she managed to look up at us fully this time and give a little smile. I’ll have to ask her what really happened. I must say that Applejack’s a bit of a marvel. I’m rather looking forward to properly getting to know the Elements. They seem like a cracking young sextet of mares. My Cutie Mark? Well, it’s interesting you should bring that up. Heh...that ruddy crown again. I was...a bit of rascal when I was younger. Not a bad foal, of course, but I enjoyed the odd prank and the therapeutic little wander. My parents, bless their stainless souls, took it in good spirits, playing along most of the time. Anyhow, it was at a Royal Procession, I must have been around nine or so? Thereabouts. It was during the Summer Sun Celebration and Princess Celestia had finished her daily rounds and disappeared for the day. As had I. I was, at that point, exploring the wonders of the Royal Labyrinth. I had a fairly decent sense of direction and was dying to get a good look of the statues I’d heard about... Ugh...I must forget about that loathsome creature. Moving on. I was getting lost and caring little for it when I found something shining in the hedgerows. After some amount of pulling and tugging, I removed it from the clutches of the undergrowth and found a gleaming, gilded, jewel-encrusted crown in my hooves. Now I’d wandered off before the procession, no sense sticking around for something I wasn’t tall enough to see, I thought, so I had no clue as to whom the crown belonged to when I heard crying. It sounded like a mare’s. Now my old father told me to never leave a mare in distress. I sought out the noise and found out its deliverer. Would you believe it was Princess Celestia herself?! Weeping before a mural of herself and her banished sister, working side by side to reforge Equestria anew and send the mad draconequus to his prison of stone. Dragging the crown over, she noticed me. I explained that I’d wandered off and gotten lost and she, in turn, explained why she was crying. Whatever she’d done, whatever she had become, Luna was still her sister and she missed her with all her heart. In her grief, she’d thrown her crown away and was starting to regret it. I did my best to cheer her up. My dear father and his sister, you see, had fallen out terribly over the mare he’d fallen in love with many years ago. It had taken them a great deal of time for them to make up, equal effort required on both sides, but they forgave insult and injury and remembered they were family. As precarious as I was precocious, I spent a lengthy conversation with the sullen ruler of all Equestria until she finally smiled, stood up on her own four hooves and accepted the crown, thanking me for my kind words and praising my sense of logic for one so young. Her words, not mine. As the crown, once again, rested on her head, three appeared on my side. My parents were overjoyed, conveniently forgetting to question me on what I was doing in the maze with the Princess. Put simply, my Cutie Mark comes from solving matters of the kingdom as far as my abilities will take me. Words or actions, I offer all I can to help. It's what I do. What I enjoy. I like to think of it as my own little element of Chivalry. ...I’m awfully sorry. I’m reminded of that horrid creature’s games again. No matter. He couldn’t hold my Fleur down forever. It was late that evening when I found her. She was in the living room, nearly in darkness, shivering as she lay upon the couch, staying up at the ceiling. She hadn’t wanted the lights on for a long time. She didn’t like to see them. The eyes. But they were there every time she blinked and so she could only keep calm in relative dimness. I suppose she felt comfortable when she felt she couldn't be noticed. My poor Fleur. She shouldn’t be kept in the gloom like this. She shouldn’t do this to herself. I decide to be firm, but I never abandon the wish to be kind. I light the fire-place with my magic. Then, before she can grow panicked, I take off my jacket and wrap it around her before sitting down beside her and just gently resting her head against her shoulder. I can feel her rapid heartbeat slowing to a normal pace, her breathing steadying, a great sigh pouring from her mouth as she’s finally able to relax. There’s no more eyes, Fleur, no more hooves. It’s just me. I’m here for you, Fleur. Please come back to me. A slow smile blossoms on her face as, steady as a lily soaking up the sun, shimmering lilac spreads across her beautiful eyes and her luxurious mane flows with every shade of pink once again. Gently placing a hoof on mine, my dear, sweet, extraordinary wife speaks to me again, almost sleepily. “I’m so happy to have you back...Fancy...” * We’ve been out more often as of late. I have to say, it’s helped significantly. Fleur’s still quiet most of the time but if she’s finding it in her to strike another luscious pose, that is, generally, a good sign. Many were the times I feared she was letting her anxieties get the better of her. But that’s just her way. She enjoys looking good for others. It’s something I find so terribly endearing about her. As to the Elements, I bumped into one in a fateful encounter on the fashion district some time ago. Quite literally ‘bumped into’, you understand. Certainly was one way to make an introduction. Delightful young mare, Rarity’s the name. Bearer of Generosity and she’s more than earned the title. Custom-made dresses for all her friends in the span of mere hours while indulging me and my friends with her company at my various gatherings. Fleur, unfortunately, hasn’t yet recovered her taste for the occasions I’m often dragged to. Thus coming home to her is always a much-anticipated pleasure. I ensure I make time for her every day. My position has been largely untarnished, judging by how much the upper class cling to me tightly as ever. Perhaps they’re afraid I’ll have their heads snicked off, ha-ha...ha...ah... Ahem... Moving on... As if Discord’s little escapade wasn’t enough, not all too long after, up jumps the one they’re all calling Princess Gaia. I mean really! Two apocalypses is enough for my lifetime, thank you kindly, ma’am! Is that the right word for it? Apocalypses? Apocalypsi? Well never mind... I'm afraid I cannot divulge much information on the creature herself. Her highness had me promise to keep the sordid details from reaching the discriminate elite. No telling what might happen... Though the Day of Innocence was a curious day for me and my wife, I have to say... Both of us were to finish work early that day and were on our way to Ponyville. Fleur's birthday was coming up and I'd promised to have a look in Canterlot Boutique. She hadn't been able to see Rarity at my garden party, pressing family business, and I knew I simply must get the two of them to properly know each other. She'd been in Suddery for the last few days on a shoot and so was planning to meet me in the gardens outside the train station. Nothing too out of the ordinary when, all of a sudden, I’ve rapidly decreased in age and height, without so much as a by-your-leave. Yet I’m dressed in big stallion’s cloths which, of course, means I’m going to play around with them, the jacket sleeves trailing around my forelegs as I find no end of fun with my monocle, constantly making impressions of various twits I used to know in my youth. I do as I always used to do, wander around and have fun in the great outdoors. All thoughts of Fleur slip my mind until I wander into her. It’s quite a bizarre experience...seeing her as a foal. You may have seen Fleur de Lis, noticed her height and shape are quite unique, That’s not solely down to a model’s diet and fitness program. She’s always been like that. Tall and thin. So now she’s wobbling around, struggling to keep on her own two fours. Have you ever seen a newborn giraffe? They have to be born standing, you see and it makes an awkward sight. I was rather reminded of it when I saw her, no offence intended to my wife but you really had to see it. She wasn’t in any sort of distress. None of us felt any sort of negative feelings that day. Liberation from all we’d suffered was...truly a luxury. So I spent the day largely helping her to get used to walking and we played in the gardens throughout the day, finally falling asleep beside each other in the grass. I am very glad I was still wearing my clothes when I woke. If anypony saw us, the tabloids would have had a field day. Ahem... Finding out what had truly transpired that day was jarring to say the very least. It was just as well a day was all we had. Still, I cannot help but remember how well everypony was getting along... No, it wasn’t real in the first place. If a kingdom kept peace by imprisoning or destroying anypony that could potentially bring war, that’s no peace at all. I’ve been a politician long enough to know that no good ever came of ignoring the existence of the bad. I’m just so happy to have my Fleur back with me. I hated seeing her so damaged, I hated it. I pray to every god or goddess that has ever crafted Equestria that such an atrocity never resurfaces. Until then, I shall do what I can to make the world they made a better place to live in. I wear no crown. I am no king. I am Fancy Pants. And everything I have, my household, my career, my friends...and my wife. That, my dear sir...is my kingdom. Author's Note Sorry about the delay everyone. I gave this quite a bit of thought but if there are flaws, let me know. I haven't found all too many mentions of Fancy Pants in the POV Series but I'd like to thank Alex for sending me info on Fleur. Gonna' come in handy later. I might come back to this if I find out I've missed something crucial. I'm still fairly new to the POV Series. Thanks for reading and please comment if you feel the need. Fleur de Lis Reharmonisation: CharmPony POV Series Fleur de Lis Charm Recursive Fanfiction Yes, yes, you can come in, I’m...I think I’m ready. How has it been? Tartarus...to be honest. The memory of what that aberration did to me burns through my skull every time I close my eyes. Eyes...all those eyes...all those hooves...they just won’t leave me alone! Sorry...I’ve been like this for some time. I just...can’t seem to forget...what it was like. What Discord did to me...What Fancy did to- No! No, I can’t think like that! He was under that mad serpent’s spell. He would never have done it if he were in his right mind. He would never mean to hurt me! I know that...I know that... But if I know it, why can’t I act like it? Why do I always flinch when he enters the room? Why do I always avoid talking to him or his friends? Why have I been staying inside more and more? Unable to eat, unable to sleep, unable to talk. I can barely think, let alone hold a conversation. I just see them everywhere. That disgusting maniac! He almost drove me completely insane just for a joke! He’s the most sadistic creature I’ve ever known... And yet...he’s just like the rest...looking at me like I’m some sort of toy! And he treated Fancy like a toy as well! The one stallion who has ever treated me like a living, breathing pony with thoughts and feelings and he turned him into a monster! And now I have nothing! Nothing! I’m not safe! Ever!!! *Deep breath*...Sorry, I’m sorry... Alright...ahem...I can focus now. Continue. Well...right after Discord’s defeat the first thing I discovered was that I looked like the back end of Sweet Apple Acre’s Messiest Pig Competition Winner so of course I didn’t want anypony seeing. The paparazzi would have had a field day. But I needed somewhere to tend to the cut on my face. And every time I felt that cut for an instant, I was reminded of the cruel words and hateful glares coming from the stallion I love most in the world. I’m reminded of the sword slicing across my face. Fancy loves my face... I never thought I’d ever see Fancy angry at me. Never once had he found a reason to be angry or even irritated with me, however many times I could have given him one. Yet here he was, raging before me, accusing me of doing things I would never even contemplate. Everything I ever believed I was safe with trying to harm me. The nightmare Discord had thrown me into just kept getting worse. If I was any other pony, nopony would know but...I’m Fleur de Lis... Too tall... Too thin... And not so pretty anymore. Damn you, Discord... So I hid. I hid my body from the creatures who wanted it all for themselves until I knew they were gone. Then when I crawled out of the muck I’d landed myself in, staggering back to Canterlot in delirium...I saw him. Fancy was here. The colour in his mane and eyes was back...but his charm and composition was gone completely. He was a sobbing wreck. Just like me. I’m ashamed to say I flinched when he held me. I just...I just couldn’t forget the blade. But once he put his hooves around my shoulders, holding me close, I was reminded what he had once been...What he always tried to be...And I’d like to say that was the end of it. We walked home together, both staggering, filthy shells of ponies, and tried to put the day behind us. But I couldn’t. I just kept seeing the eyes and hooves again. When I got in a shower and washed the mud away, I just saw hundreds of little eyeballs on their stalks crawling up my legs like worms! I wouldn’t stop flailing and shrieking until Fancy came for me. And he tried to calm me down...I almost hit him in the face... I’m sorry, Fancy, I’m sorry. Please...don’t give up on me... I don’t feel safe. Everywhere I look; eyes. Every time I close my own eyes I see those of others. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. I find myself taking a sword to bed. Fancy’s sword, hidden in a cane. It takes about three nights before I cut myself on it and the doctors arrive. I end up making a scene, attacking the doctors and nurses. Fancy apologised for it all...I felt wretched. I was already a burden on his reputation and finances before this endeavour... I’m sorry. Fancy always tells me I shouldn’t say that. He hates it when I act like I’m bad for him. This continued for some time until...she paid a visit. The Princess? No, no, no. She...she had her own problems. One of the Bearers. The Element of Honesty. Applejack, she said her name was. Interesting choice of headwear, I have to say. Not my kind of thing but it’s quite striking. She was a country pony, Sweet Apple Acres-born and raised and known to be hard-working and ever helpful, as well as a good advisor. She was going around Equestria helping those in similar positions to our own. Dear Celestia, other ponies had the same problem?! It’s a wonder Equestria didn’t tear itself apart! She sat us down in the living room. I instinctively chose the small armchair and did my best to sink into it, shivering. The mare called Applejack spoke. “Ah can’t stay long.” She began “Probably shouldn’t anyways. City life’s never agreed with me. But ah want yer both to know ah’m here to help. Ah know what happened when that lying varmint, Discord, went around turning everypony into...something they weren’t. Ah won’t pretend to know what yer goin’ through. But ah ain’t lyin’ when ah say it’s not too late to sort things out.” She turned to Fancy and told him all the things we both should have known. That he’s a gallant soul, with few limits to his generosity and not a shred of dishonour. Discord hated that on sight and so turned him into something he would never choose to be, twisting his mind to allow his slightest anxieties to rule him. Because that’s what he does, the cackling bastard... Ahem, pardon my Prench. It seemed to do Fancy quite a bit of good. I was so happy to see him look more like himself. His colours returning weren’t enough. All of him had to be there. To be perfectly honest, I felt ashamed. I only now realised what my Fancy had been going through all this time...and I hadn’t done a thing to help him. I should have the one saying those words to him and making him feel better. Instead I’d just been stewing in my helplessness since this whole sordid business began. Perhaps I really am a burden... Then Applejack turned to me. “Mrs Fleur? The Princesses showed me what happened. Long story. Let me start by saying it’s all over. Discord is gone an’ so are the eyes and hooves ya kept seein’ everywhere. What yer feelin’ now is just bad memories and the worst yer imagination can do with ‘em. Discord lets it linger with everypony he twists an’ warps for his sick jokes. What he did to ya turns mah stomach an’ nopony blames ya for how scared ya were. But yer only lettin’ him win by lettin’ it stick around this long. Nopony wants to hurt ya or scare ya or whatever Discord said they wanted. He’s gone now. You – are – safe!” She gently put one hoof on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. I flinched slightly but I didn’t fly into a fit as I often had. “Now listen, Fancy loves ya. As much as my pa did mah ma. An he’s gonna’ keep ya safe. An’ you gotta keep him safe in turn. That’s the way it works. That’s the way ya both get better. That’s how me and mah friends got better.” She paused and gave a sigh. “He made me see things too. Things ah ain’t never wanna’ see again. But when that happened, ah became his plaything. Ah became a liar, hurtin’ others without realisin’ as ah hurt mahself. Now look...this ain’t gonna be easy to hear...but yer hurtin’ others too.” My eyes widened. I was hurting others?! Had she any idea what I’d been through?! Did she think I wanted to be this way?! “Ah’m sorry. Ah know that sounds wrong but it’s the truth.” The way she spoke was like a parent or a teacher. I hadn’t known her long but she seemed very...wise. “Think about it now. Yer hurtin’ Fancy. Yer hurtin’ yer friends. Yer hurtin’ the ponies who try to help ya by clingin’ on to yer nightmares. Yer afraid they’ll become real again but they were never real to begin with. Now ah know it’s had a very bad effect on ya but yer not gonna’ make it get any better by curlin’ up in a dang ball, feelin’ sorry fer yerself. Ah’m mighty sorry to be blunt to both o’ ya but ya can’t let that snake win. He’s a sore loser an’ what yer feelin’ is proof o’ that. He takes the things that are most precious to us and turns them into curses. Yer looks are not a curse. Fancy is not a curse. Don’t let him win, Fleur de Lis. Yer a very lucky pony. Don’t throw it all away...” She stepped to the side and turned my gaze to Fancy Pants, who sat pondering in front of the fireplace. She was right. I’d neglected him. I’d been so selfish. Applejack cleared her throat. My beloved gentlecolt turned his head to see me looking straight at him and giving him a small smile. It was the best I could manage but it seemed to help. I paced over, almost carefully, and held his hoof. There were tears in his eyes as he gently took it and smiled back. “I’m here for you, Fleur.” he said "Whenever you need me.” Once Applejack was gone, Fancy was sent for by the Princess and I was the one left to ponder. I hadn’t noticed it had gotten dark. I’d barely noticed the fire going out. I saw the eyes in the light...and when I closed my eyes. Relative darkness seemed safe enough. Not pitch-black, you understand but I felt almost...invisible. It was then I realised that Applejack spoke every word of truth. Discord was winning. I was afraid of showing myself. I was afraid of looking good for others. Then the fire lit. I saw a flash of gold magic as it did so. Fancy... I felt him hold me...I almost flinched but...as he just sat down beside me...and warmed me...I felt different. I felt so much better, him just being there. For me... And me being there for him. I finally managed to find myself again, gratefully accepting his embrace as I felt a wondrous warmth spread across my body. The eyes were gone. The hooves were gone. Finally. It was just us again. I’m so happy to have you back...Fancy. * We spend so much more time together lately. I like to stay beside him. I like being beside somepony who knows I’m more than just a pretty face. I’m posing again. I don’t mind mirrors anymore. Me and Fancy go out shopping in Canterlot, meeting friends and generally reminding ponies we’re important. Things seem to have gone back to normal. I’m looking good for others again. I must remember to send Applejack a present. I’m not sure she’d really appreciate latest Canterlot fashion items...unlike her colleague. Yes, me and Fancy stumbled upon another of the Elements, though we didn’t know until later. Rarity, the Element of Generosity. A pony of expensive tastes. But then all the best mares are. She and Fancy began a certain partnership. You’d think I’d be jealous but really, the girl’s simply not his type. I should know. I think he likes a mare tall enough to look him in the eye. It’s so like him. So...is that everything? How we met? Well...if you really want to know... Listen, this is in strict confidence. Fancy’s the only one I talk about with this so I expect you to take this secret to your grave. I’m not joking. Right...I probably told you already, I was born like this...with all that entails... Yet I didn’t get my cutie mark until...quite recently actually. It would have to have been about...three years before Luna returned. I became nearly as tall as you see now and I still hadn’t got it. Flank as blank as a paper sheet. High-life just...bored me. It was actually worse than school and I cannot believe I just said that! But it wasn’t that they looked down on me or made fun of me. It was that they ignored me. I was just a piece of decoration to whomever was dragging me along! Nopony wanted to hear the words that came out of my mouth or even ask me how I was feeling. I was just...there! So I decided to get back at them a little. I really wanted to show them I wasn’t the fool they thought I was. They weren’t playing me, I was playing them! Alright...here’s where it gets a little controversial but...it’s all in the past. I became an excellent thief. I played the charmer, duping the elite with the only things they cared to acknowledge, my looks. And the things they ignored, my wits, bamboozled them time and time again as certain items went missing from their belongings or sometimes straight from their persons. My charm became the most dangerous weapon in Canterlot. I was never caught. Never even came close. I suppose Equestria has a pretty low crime rate but still, I like to feel it was somewhat impressive. I never kept anything either. They’d usually find the missing items in a dumpster somewhere or a pawn shop. Money meant little to me. It hadn’t made me any happier so far. I sometimes gave it to those who it could make happier. You remember that beggar in Manehattan I told you about? Well...let’s just say he found a use for that gold-rimmed whisky glass that one certain puffed-up Senator never found. Who even needs gold on a whisky glass? I’d never liked it. The rich spending too much money on useless things while far more deserving ponies could save lives with a mere fraction of that much. But to be perfectly honest...It was all for a good sport. However, my days of robbing the rich came to an end when I first met Fancy Pants. It was at a party...I can’t remember who was hosting it, doesn’t really matter...when I saw him, walking primly along with a gaggle of hangers-on. At first I thought he was no different from the others, definitely deserving of a bit of degradation. But even then, there was something so...unique. The way he walked, the way he smiled. It was without an ounce of arrogance or conceit. When he spoke to me...actually spoke to me...He asked me if I was enjoying the party! And he meant it. From the tone of his voice, I knew he cared. Even so...I tried my hoof. Got close to him, shared some wine, sneaked his pocket-watch and I was all set to leave. But I found him waiting for me at the exit. He spoke, so calmly, with a slightly unimpressed yet friendly smile on his face and giving me a measured glance through that delightful monocle. "Dear, petty theft doesn't suit you.” he said “You're far too smart to waste your life on such things." Smart... He actually acknowledged I was smart! Despite knowing that, at last, I had been caught...I couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder. He’d figured me out. He knew what I’d done. What I’d achieved. And all from little details. I’d placed one hoof over his shoulder as he poured me a drink. That hoof had slid across his chest. Why had I placed my hoof right around his neck when I could have just held the shoulder closest to me? Unless I was trying to get at his coat pocket. My hooves had a slight metallic odour that came from holding gold or brass. Yet I had no jewellery on me. My hooves wouldn’t smell of copper if I hadn’t touched any jewellery. But, of course, I had touched jewellery. Other ponies’ jewellery. My horn had lit up while we were talking but I was holding my wine glass in my hoof. Because I was casting a small invisibility spell to hide the watch as I deposited it into my hoof-bag. And my eyes had never truly been on him the whole time we were talking. And I’m sorry they weren’t. Had I seen him truly, there and then, I would never have wanted to rob him at all. This pony before me was a genius! And better than that, he was a nice genius! He didn’t call the guard. And I never stole again. He helped me find enjoyment in other places. In other ways. Ways the rest of the upper-crust couldn’t see below them, so busy sticking their noses in the air. And now, every time I look at them, I don’t feel hatred or resentment. I don’t even feel irritation. I actually pity them. Because they’ll never see what me and Fancy see. What we saw in each other...was how we fell in love. The two of us spent a lot of time together after that. The charismatic gentlecolt and the mysterious beauty. We made the headlines. Of course, that brought certain individuals to the scent. We weren’t without enemies. And those enemies, banded together, proved dangerous. I ended up saving his life. Spur of the moment thing, really. I didn’t think, I just acted. Well, I did think. I thought about how happy I was with him and how much more friendly Canterlot feels with him around. I didn’t want to lose it. I didn’t want to lose him. And that was how I got my Cutie Mark. My family, you see...and this is where I sound like an egotist, sorry...are from a long line of knights in the days of Old Equestria. Defenders of the Princess, charging into the fray with lance and sword and shield. The stuff of storybooks was very real for them. Lance and Bright Eyes, my ancestors, took the Fleur-de-Lis as their sigil. They once saved the Princess’s life. As I saved Fancy’s. I protect him. As best I can. I failed to protect him from Discord and spend a week in hell for it. I won’t go through that again. Ever. We protect each other. That’s how we’ve got this far. I like to feel he needs me as much as I need him. I think he feels that way too. We keep each other safe when Equestria turns on itself. When Nightmare Whisper took hold, we picked the wrong day to visit the Carousel Boutique. But Fancy and me just spent the day helping each other. That’s what we do. All the ups and downs, the perils and heartaches and trials we overcome for each other. That’s our marriage. That’s our story. And I’ve never been happier than to be a part of it. Author's Note Well, there we are. The POV Fancy/Fleur Fic. Sorry about the wait. I've had several things going at once. I'm glad to have contributed and I'd like to thank Alex Warlorn for the information he sent me on Fleur's backstory and how she and Fancy met. I feel like I don't make Fleur badass enough. Unfortunate given the trend to have her hiding lethal skills. I'll definitely need to give her several moments of heavy-duty kick-flank in my latest fic. Thanks for reading, everyone and please ship Fancy/Fleur! Spike ships it. ---
Fancy Pants Discordance: King For A DayPony POV Series Fancy Pants King For A Day Recursive Fanfiction Why, hello there. I believe I haven’t seen you in jolly old Canterlot that very often. How may I be of help? Well, that’s quite an interesting proposition but I see no harm in it. My name is Fancy Pants. To be perfectly honest, even I’m not entirely sure. Write it down as one word if you like. How ponies are spelling my name is unlikely to become all that great a concern of mine. Well, you must be new, dear fellow. Not to boast, you understand, but I’m rather well-known in this general area. I am the Lord Minister of Canterlot, its essential head of the municipal government. I essentially take care of the matters that concern Canterlot and its social circles provided they aren’t royal affairs. Where our fine Princess defends our lands and protects and guides our ponies on the path of peace and progress, I chip in here and there to ensure things run smoothly. As Lord Minister I do have some say in royal affairs when they occur and I do my part to advise her highness however I can. Oh, her highness values any advice. A wise ruler always does. More than anything, she needs ponies she can rely on. After all, a princess can’t be everywhere, even one such as her. It’s easy when you know how. The first step is building a reputation for yourself, I suppose. Ponies have always thought of me as a bit of a role-model, social-wise. I’m invited to more parties and gatherings than you shake a stick at, purely so that upcoming socialites can say ‘Fancy Pants so enjoyed our little celebration. It’s such a shame you couldn’t come, snork-snork-onoxious laugh’ to their envious nemeses. You get used to it. I’m not without genuine friends. Any other day, I have my good friends and benefactors, Swan Song, Silver Frames and Golden Gavel around. I was a prefect at Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns and rather looked out for that little trio of awkward youngsters. And most prominently, I have her. Oh come on now, old bean, you must have heard of Fleur de Lis! Renowned Canterlot Supermodel, cover-mare of nearly every major fashion magazine in Equestria... And the love of my life. Yes, we are married. Very happily. You hear about these marriages between politicians and celebrities and royals. Ever so messy, one wonders what they saw in each other to begin with. But me and Fleur, we share something. I helped her, you see. And then she helped me. Back when both our lives were a little more hectic than they are now. I was an idealistic politician with no small amount of enemies and she was a struggling graduate striving to find her career in the fashion industry...and I later found out she was being stalked. I very swiftly put a stop to that and then recommended her to a friend...and when I say friend I mean Photo Finish. A high-strung madam but she knows talent when she sees it. Fleur rose quickly and used her new-found power to actually save my life. I’m not joking, dear fellow! She foiled an assassination attempt! For that, I shall look upon her as nothing more than a guardian goddess and she feels much the same about me, this I am certain of. We need each other and our lives have never been happier than shared among one another. Well, of course, she gets a lot of attention from the media. We both do really. And we always see young stallions (And a few mares now and again) give her looks that aren’t quite as proper as we would like but, whenever she feels pestered or worried, I always say the words that make it all better for her. ‘You can’t help being beautiful’ It always brings a smile to her face. A smile that makes every day of mine complete. But it’s not flattery, you understand, it’s a promise. A promise that I will never think less of her by how others think. That’s always been a great anxiety of hers and I put it to rest whenever it surfaces. Well, at this moment, I’m going to see the princess. There aren’t that many ponies in Canterlot who get the chance to say that very often. Princess Celestia summoned me on matters most urgent and, as an upstanding member of her highness’s court, I can do nothing more than... ...see pink clouds of candy-floss covering the sky...raining with, what appears to be, chocolate milk...on checkerboard soil...and shoals of fish, floating in mid-air... Do you know, I could be wrong but I’m not entirely sure this is supposed to happen. Have I wandered off? I...dear me, I need to find somepony. Things aren’t...things aren’t right at all. My ears pique up as I hear a filly’s high-pitched scream...or that might have been Blueblood. Must be chatting up the wrong mare again. I’ll have a word with him later. And, goodness gracious is that Photo Finish?! I...I... Ahem...I most certainly did not see what I just saw...not a bit of it... Moving very swiftly on. I must find the Princess immediately. This is a far cry from the Canterlot I’m familiar with. And the one in which I’ve currently found myself leaves much to be desired. Ponies are going completely mad all over the place. Citizens of Canterlot I know to be safe and sane are running around laughing like clowns or screaming as if the end is upon them. Is it? Where is Princess Celestia? She has to be here. She must be. I mean, for Paradise’ sake, can’t she see what’s happening?! Can’t she do anything?! “Not a thing” I stop dead in my tracks. That voice came from nowhere and did not sound particularly friendly. I gaze out at what was once, to my knowledge, the path to the palace. It is blocked... By a great golden crown the size of a hula-hoop with a deep indigo crystal in the centre, right in front of me. Just like my cutie mark. Suddenly everything sounds so quiet. The madness outside seems to have subsided, at least for me. Perhaps this is simply a peculiar dream. I look into the crystal, my face staring back at me. Then my face starts to change. And not for the better. I grow dissimilar horns, twisted and gnarled, and one jutting tusk. My mane and moustache turn grey and fall down to my chin, forming a scruffy little beard and my eyebrows turn bushy and white. Most noticeably, my monocle seems to merge with the eye it covers, causing one of my pupils to grow larger than the other, magnified, as my eyes themselves turn yellow where once there was white...and red where there once was blue. “The new look” my reflection says “It’ll catch on fast” Alright then. Now I am distinctly unnerved, I don’t mind saying it. I take a step back as the crown begins to spin and a trailing, spiralling ribbon emerges from the inside of its rim. Then I see that it is not a ribbon at all but the most bizarre creature I have ever seen. Not so much a creature in itself as an amalgamation of many. I can’t be too sure...pony, snake, goat, dragon, turkey, stag...wait a moment...I’ve seen him before...his statue anyway. Every time there’s been a party at the Royal Gardens... “D-D-Discord...” I try to stop myself flinching. I fail “The Bringer of Chaos...The Reality-Warper...Turned to stone by Princesses Celestia and Luna centuries ago...” “In the moving, breathing flesh” the creature cackles, throwing out his asymmetric arms as if he were a performer “And very happy to see you, Lord Minister...if you deserve to call yourself that” “I...Well really!” I am quite offended and I choose to show it...at least as far as my courage can bring to do so “That is hardly reasonable, sir” “Oh, is it now?” I do not like the look the mad god gives me. I see why the Princesses did not freeze that hideous smile in stone during their last affair “What sort of Lord Minister lets all this...” he gestures at the calamity unfolding around us “...happen to his fair city? Or is the safety of Canterlot entrusted to another?” “Yes it is. And I warn you, she is not to be trifled with” I give him a firm stance and a measured glance like my old aunt taught me. By golly, I’m not letting this foul serpent get his way, not while there’s a pony named Celestia in the world! “The Princess will find you and I assure you, my good sir, she will make you pay for this outrage!” At this, the creature throws back its misshapen head and laughs. As if I’ve said something... “Very, very stupid” Dear Celestia, can it read my thoughts?! “Yep. And it’s no use relying on Celestia, however dearly. She can’t stop me. But then that’s nothing new, is it?” I draw back, startled at his words. “I don’t understand” “You should put that on your jacket” Discord sniggers, his beastly eyes gleaming like volcanic gemstones “If Celestia can’t stop me...if she can’t defend the city she rules over...what good is she? Why call her your ruler when she’s done nothing to earn that title? Ask yourself...If the Princess can stop me but doesn’t want to, surely she is malevolent. If the Princess wants to stop me but can’t, surely she is incompetent...Either way, why call her the Princess?” He slithers up close. The more avian of his hands trails itself around the crown, which becomes smaller and smaller until he’s twirling it round his claw. “You could rule. You’re a smart stallion, Fancy Pants. You and I both know you’ve always been the real mind behind the throne. Ponies look up to you. You’ve all the values of a Prince, unlike that miserable pampered fool the world calls Blueblood, who Celestia insists on coddling. None are more competent. Experience, wisdom, patience, honour...you have it all...” “Indeed. And you forget one other thing, sir. Loyalty!” I stand my ground as best I can “I will never, in good conscience, betray my Princess, do you hear me?!” “Why ever not? She’s the one who’s betrayed you. She let this happen. She could have easily stopped it, a mare of her power, her influence...yet she didn’t...What is that, if not treachery? And what are you if not the one to punish it?” The crown hovers over then under his twiddling claws, just above my head as the Bringer of Chaos begins to chant. “Ruler and Defender Of city, field and town. Oh, Fancy Pants the One True King In his gleaming golden crown” He places the crown upon my head. It’s a perfect fit. It...It feels as if I was made for this...this was...Destined. Then the crown disappears as he stares deep into my eyes. I look around. Something I don’t find fun. Things really have gone to Tartarus, haven’t they. There are ponies chasing each other with weapons. Fire, explosions, screaming, here in the capital! Is Celestia really so blind? So powerless? Does she honestly think I can improve things if she cannot? ... Yes...Of course she does. I’m the one who improves things. Half the improvements in Canterlot would never have gotten done without my help. My work, my talks, my money, my good, honest drudgery makes Canterlot what it is today. And what thanks do I get? Why is she still wearing the crown?! I've earned that crown! It's mine! I Will Wear The Crown! My vision blurs. I must have lost my monocle. I fumble around. Dash it, I must look like so ruddy foolish. It lands in my hoof. I put it to my eye and see the creature standing over me, a look of concern on his face as he glances at my forehead. “You seem to have lost your crown” he says with concern. My hoof flies to my scalp. The crown is not there. Somepony has taken it. How dare they! “I believe I saw Celestia wearing it in the Royal Palace” Celestia? That vile little sorceress! That sanctimonious wastrel! That up-jumped, clueless, disobedient whelp! In my palace! Wearing my crown! I’ll make her pay for this! “Reclaim your kingdom, Fancy Pants” Discord tells me, every word repeated in my head in a voice not unlike my own “Take back what was stolen from you. Give Equestria the ruler it deserves. And please...entertain me” Yes. Yes! Equestria needs a new king! The path to the palace is clear now. Of course, it is. I’d know the way to my own palace. What if there are guards? Well, they’re my guards. They will seize her on my instructions if they haven’t done so already. No...I will put her down myself. I will be the hero! The conqueror! The Slayer of Celestia the Tyrant ! The False Princess! The Crown-Thief! My crown...I will wear the crown! I stumble. Tchah! Where’s a ruddy carriage when you need one?! I look into the murky chocolate milk puddles on the road. They’re clear enough to show some colour and I notice mine are dimmer than usual. My mane and moustache is more grey than blue and the white of my coat is off somewhat. Bah! The loss of my throne has already taken its toll. Celestia will suffer for what she’s done to me! I speed on in the direction of the palace. I need a weapon. Somepony give me a weapon! I can’t face a rogue alicorn unarmed. Or perhaps I can? No, I will end Celestia’s life by the sword. Nothing else would be befitting. I find a guard, if he deserves that role. He’s rolling around on the ground like a cur with a blank look in his eyes, looking like a perfect goof. “Grant me your blade! Your king commands it!” I bellow. Yes, the royal voice comes naturally to me as I take his sword from its sheath with a flash of my magic, golden as my precious crown of course. The guard wags his tail and scratches the underside of his chin frantically with one hoof. Imbecile! Probably blind drunk, on guard duty no less! I’ll have his head for this offence! Later though. Celestia dies first. Cut off the head of the snake. Then the accomplices. Thus is the fate of traitors. I will wear the crown. There! My palace, my ancestral home, so beautiful. How I have missed it. The light of its serene towers and mighty halls is enough to quell my righteous fury. The blade feels light in the hold of my magic. I tuck it into my belt. I have rather changed my mind. I believe I shall be merciful. I shall give her a chance to surrender peacefully. Return what is mine, Celestia, and I shall spare your worthless life. After all, a king needs a concubine. And she is a very pretty traitor. “Fancy! Oh my Fancy, thank Celestia!” While I’m on that subject... I see her, Fleur de Lis, rushing up from the alley. The mare I’ve spent so much time with in recent years...I don’t seem to remember why though. She looks appalling. Her alabaster coat is covered with dirt. Her lilac eyes are bloodshot and pouring with tears. Her mane is unkempt and clumped with soil, leaves and twigs. Her entire body is clammy and quivering, struggling to keep upright. Her posture is distinctly different. Where once she held her head high, she now slinks along the pathway like some form of stray cat. How dare she appear before me in such a squalid manner! “Fancy, you need to help me!” she sobs like a school-filly “The eyes! The hooves! They’re everywhere! They won’t leave me alone! Please, Fancy!” She falls into my chest, wrapping her filthy foreleg around her king’s noble shoulder “Keep them away, Fancy! I just want them to stop!” I am quiet for a moment. I can’t quite process this. She is a commoner. Nothing more. What reason does she have to speak to me so brazenly, to ask aid of me? Doesn’t she know I’m her king? Has she been like this since I’ve met her? Of course...it’s all so obvious now. Such a dirty little thing all along, in heart and now in body. Hoping to hide behind me. Hoping to use me, to live off me. I’ll show her who’s really been pulling the strings. “How many?” I ask in a very calm and collected tone, a regal tone. Witless nag that she is, Fleur gives me a clueless look. “Well?” I ask with faux-patience. She doesn’t need to answer. I know already. I’m just letting her know that. “How many stallions was it this time, then? Anypony you knew? A father? A brother? A colt you found outside the bordello? Perhaps a little of all three? Perhaps all at the same time?!” “Wha...Fancy!?” She explains, cupping her babbling mouth with her revoltingly spindly hooves. “Don’t you dare pretend to be surprised, you loathsome, grasping excuse for a mare!” I snarl, finding my blade hungry for blood “I know the truth. You’ve been a pay-ride for coin all this time. Celestia’s coin! You’ve been spying on me! You have spied on your one true king! Treason! Heresy! Fleur-de-Lis, I name you a traitor to the crown!” “No...” Fleur squeaks like the rat she is, shaking her head as I advance “No, no, nononono, not you too, not you...not my Fancy!” “Silence!” The blade flashes in front of her. I notice it looks prettier than she ever was. And it feels so very thirsty. “What was that you always had me say? You can’t help being beautiful?” The words turn my stomach. Egomaniacal tart! “Well I think I can help. I think I can stop them all looking at you...here” The sword of the king lunges. A scream escapes the temptress’s mouth as I draw a streak of glorious red across her miserable face. All at once, as if the blood is drained from her from that single strike, her mane and eyes dim and her coat greys. Aha! I've broken her spell! Temptress, succubus, changeling, whatever you are, I will end your depraved charade! “FANCY, NO!” she shrieks. I never want to hear that wretched voice again. “Be silent, traitor, and accept your fate! Have at thee!” Damn and blast it, the filthy thing’s too fast! She gallops off, weeping, towards the forest. She won’t get far. I’ll deal with her later. I have more important matters to take care of. I will wear the crown! I charge towards the palace doors, blade in my grasp. Already I can feel my armies mustering to my call! Oh the day of glory is at hoof, my warriors! The door gives way as it damn well should. “Celestia the Usurper, your reign is at an end!” I cry at the top of my lungs as I rush toward my throne “Kneel and plead for mercy before your king and I shall-” What?! What is this foul devilry! I am unable to move! My magic has no affect! The sword clatters to the ground and is snatched up as the traitor stares at me from behind the shimmering prism that contains me. NO! RELEASE ME! I AM YOUR KING! YOU CANNOT KEEP ME FROM MY DESTINY! I WILL RULE! I WILL WEAR THE CROWN! “By the light of the Sun, Fancy Pants...” The look she gives me is...pitying, tearful...does she feel remorse? “What has the monster done to you?” Then the prism shimmers quicker and harder until her face is blotted out. I see nothing. My palace, my crown and the traitor who stole them vanish in front of me. And by the time the prism is lifted, I am trapped once more in a dungeon cell. I scramble to my hooves and pound at the door, yelling oaths of death and destruction upon them and all their kin. They cannot hold me! Not in my palace! Not in my domain! I am the King! I will wear the crown! * NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! * My rage suddenly subsides...as does my arrogance...and a great many other things. All thoughts of my glorious crown escape my mind as swiftly as they became trapped within. I dropped my monocle. Replacing it, I take note of my full surroundings and try my hardest to remember what exactly took place. There was Discord. A crown. A sword. There appears to be blood on my sleeve. “FANCY, NO!” ... Oh dear Celestia... Please... ...no... Author's Note Fancy Pants, faced with the Bringer of Chaos, will still do his best to maintain dignity and a stiff-upper lip. But faced with the loss of the mare he loves and he'll break like the rest of them. Find out later what Fleur de Lis was going through and how the two of them are going to cope with what horrors transpired.
Fleur de Lis Discordance: Eyes On MePony POV Series Fleur de Lis Eyes On Me Recursive Fanfiction Well hello. See something you like? Oh don’t you worry, darlings. If a day goes by without somepony asking for an interview, often complete with signed autographs, it means I’m not doing my job right. Look all you want, but you can’t touch. Sorry, just a joke. Me? Are you serious? Ha. I never would have thought it. A pony who hasn’t heard of me...It’s almost refreshing in a way. It means I don’t have to pretend so much... Hm? Nothing, sorry. I’m Fleur de Lis, front-page stunner of the Canterlot Fashion Magazine and many others like it. If you don’t read them you must have at least passed by them at some point. I’m a pony of expensive tastes, but then all the best ponies are. Oh, the poses? Sorry, habit of mine. I do it all the time. Don’t often realise. It can lead to a few embarrassing situations. But it’s useful in my line of work. Oh, it has its ups and downs. I won’t give you the exact details. Photo Finish gets rather huffy if I give anything away but, let’s just say it serves its purpose and is worth the trials. I have fame, a steady income, and a high place in the social circles. Which means I get to spend time with him. Yes, don’t look so surprised, dears, we’re married. And yes, the marriage is a very happy one. We never really argue. The only thing that comes close is steady debates on this and that. Trivial things but it helps us understand each other. The worst marriages are ones where nopony talks at all. You get those all too often in the media nowadays. But Fancy’s different. Very different. I knew him before I became...all this. I mean, I was still...mostly...the mare you see now but nopony was paying that much attention. Well, they were but not in a good way. I’ve always been like this. And that’s both a blessing and a curse. When you’re too tall and too thin, even as a foal, ponies tend not to ignore it. And that which isn't normal often isn't pretty in their eyes. Foals can be cruel sometimes. As I...moved on from that, things got a bit different. My absurd height and shape became beautiful in their eyes. But it did nothing to make them treat me any more like a pony. I remember once, on the streets of Manehattan, a beggar, weak and coughing, stopped me on the way to the flat I was staying at and asked if I was the Princess or close to the Princess. “You must be” he said “You look just like her. You must know her. You must ask her to help me” He looked so desperate. I gave him a little something I’d...acquired the other day...just to help a little. Let’s get this straight, the Princess is a lovely mare but we’re not related. Ponies asking for favours are always the worst. They make me feel so powerless. I’m disappointing all of them. I thought high culture would end my days of being a recluse. It only made things worse, as it turns out. That’s why I pursued...other activities. Ones I’m not best proud of and, if it’s alright, I’d rather not go into. My point is ponies only like something when they feel the need to. But Fancy Pants made them feel that need. Sheep, the lot of them. And I have to rely on the opinions of those sheep to get where I am. It’s humiliating! But like I said, Fancy Pants is different. He has such control over the city but he always uses it for good. He helps so many ponies and all he needs to do is say ‘This stallion’s a hard-working fellow’ or ‘This mare has talent, if I can see it I’m sure the rest of you can’ and quick as you like, they have a chance in life. We got to know each other so quickly, long before we both got where we are now. We were both up-and-coming socialites with no small amount of enemies. Well, he had enemies, I had stalkers. Quite a few. It’s ridiculous! I mean, ponies who trail a celebrity everypony knows, I can...sort of...understand. It’s still not best practice but I can understand it. But I was just a mare who looked different from all the others. It was like I some sort of zoo exhibit! All my life, I’ve looked different and all my life ponies haven’t been able to deal with it! ...I’m sorry... Fancy put an end to that. Ha-ha. You should have seen it. And later he recommended me to Photo Finish. A demanding employer at the best of times but she gave me the opportunity to get myself out there. But that just meant Fancy had done one more thing I couldn’t seem to do. I didn’t want to be a burden. I didn’t want to live off him. Our relationship wouldn’t feel right unless both of us made equal amounts of effort. So in the end I ended up foiling an attempt on his life. It was a spur of the moment thing really but Fancy Pants was safe and those who had hired the assassin were apprehended and removed from power. And that was how we came to realise...we need each other. We look out for each other. And I’ve never been happier looking out for him. Which makes it so very infuriating when I hear what ponies call me behind my back and sometimes to my face. Gold-Digger. Trophy Wife. Bimbo. Temptress. Harlot. Pay-Ride. What do they know?! Sorry...Sorry. Look, let’s just pretend I never said that. It...It’s complicated. ‘I can’t help being beautiful’ Fancy’s words not mine. Yes, I know it sounds a little like he’s stroking my ego, but in truth, my greatest concern isn’t what ponies think of me, it’s what ponies think of me and him. As in, together. Fancy does look a lot older than me. You’d be surprised how close we are age-wise. And I suppose there are some who believe there are no self-made mares but that’s exactly what I am and not everypony’s happy about it. I’m just worried that, at some point, Fancy’s going to start believing what everypony else believes. That I’m just using him. That I’m living off him. That I’m lying to him. But then I remind myself that he just isn’t like that. He’s different. And I love him for it...so much. So things are good, overall. I’m looking to show up the Suddery circle in the next modelling shoot. Shouldn’t be too difficult. At the moment, I feel the need for a bit of fresh air and friendly company. And if that company is Fancy Pants, so much the better. He doesn’t mind taking me to places. Even in the courts. I really can be quite useful. I’m smarter than I look, how do you think I’ve lasted this long in the city? Oh, sorry. Mirror. Need to check. Force of habit. Can’t appear before the crowds looking like a horror flic, can I? Huh...There’s another. Well, everything seems fine. Wait, am I posing? Good grief, where did that mirror come from? Okay, something is not right here. These mirrors were not here when I turned my eyes and I’m not posing in the way my reflections are? What the hay is going on?! “Got something between your teeth, darling?” That voice...it sounds like mine. It is mine. Dear Celestia, my own reflection is talking to me! And it’s looking at me...and not in a good way. “Not happy with the way you look?” The way it glances at me reminds me of so many ponies I wasn’t fond of “Well, we can change your shape and size in so many different ways.” The mirror expands and so does my reflection, puffing up like a balloon in all directions until I’m looking at myself only morbidly obese. Bulging out in every direction. I feel quite nauseous. I edge back and hit the mirror behind me. Turning round, my reflection looks normal again. But it’s still giving me that look. “No good, eh? How about this?” I fall back screaming as the mirror compresses, causing my reflection to become so painfully thin, I’m almost skeletal, sunken cheeks and eyes, a withered husk of a mare. “Stop it!” I yell, scrambling on the glassy ground. “Who’s doing this?! Where are you?!” “Boo!” I look down at my hooves. I see myself staring up at me. My face! What’s happened to my face?! A hideous creature mimicking me grins through serrated fangs! Bulging red eyes staring at me hungrily! The bones of my ribs burst through my chest and flail around like a pair of jaws, chomping through my gore-leaking insides! It’s staring right at me! It’s going to pounce! It’s going to turn me into one of them! Leave me alone! I can’t take this! I have to stop it! Rearing up on my hind legs, I cast a bolt of magic at one of the mirrors. Not the smartest idea, it bounces off...and off...and off...deflecting off the glass, panel after panel until it hits me in the flank and sends me crashing through one of them. It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. My flank’s taken the worst of it. I haven’t cut myself at least. I seem to have landed on a bed of lilies. Gold and purple lilies with three petals. Just like my Cutie Mark. There’s someone lying down in them, reclining sultrily like a male model, a lily between his teeth, one brow raised coyly. I don’t think I’ve seen an odder-looking creature in my life. Part of him’s snake, part of him’s bird, most of him is pony...I think... Oh my Celestia it’s him! The statue from the garden party’s Fancy always takes me to. He’s back! Discord is... “Back...Baby!” He finishes my sentence as he picks up a shard of glass and admires his own reflection. “Seven years back luck...” he tuts “Of course, with me around, quite a bit more so.” And he pops the shard of glass in his mouth and crunches it like a potato chip. I struggle to get to my hooves. He doesn’t seem to have that problem as the lilies rise up and throw him into the air where he stays hovering. “Fleur de Lis...” he chuckles “I’m surprised you didn’t like the gift I gave you. I thought you enjoyed looking good.” “I...look good for others...” I reply. “Oh...how very generous of you...Oh but we’ve already had generosity. Ugh! It’s so hard coming up with something ironic for everypony. You don’t know the work that goes into chaos, dear girl. Now...what to do with you?” I take a step back. Why me? Why have I stumbled into his path? What have I done?! “Always so narcissistic!” he snorts “I’m paying visits to everypony in Equestria. You, however...well...it’s so hard not to notice you...” Discord cranes his neck over me at an absurd angle. “So you like to look good for others? Is that it? I suppose that must be pretty easy when you look good for anything.” “Um...thank you...” “Oh yes, indeed. But you know, I imagine it would be altogether a lot harder if you didn’t look good. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all” He removes his own eye, spins it on his claw and eats it. It swiftly reappears, boggling around its socket “Some even call me ugly...heheh...they regretted that, I can tell you. Hmm...So, Miss de Lis, which look did you find best suited you in our little catalogue back there? Beach-Ball? Bean-Pole? Bane of Living Things?” “Stop it! Just stop it!” I’ve had enough of this “Whatever you do to me, it won’t matter. It’ll be your magic! And that’s it! I’ll still be me!” Keep calm, Fleur, keep calm. I’ll still be me. I’ll still be beautiful. I’ll still have Fancy Pants. No matter what I looked like, he’d never leave me! “Oh, is that what you believe? Is it?” he shakes his head “Silly, silly Fleur de Lis. You should never give me ideas. Because I wonder, why play around with just your body when your mind is far more fun!” The mirrors close around me. Lilies swarm the soil beneath my hooves. I’m trapped. Celestia help me, I’m trapped with a mad god! I hate the way he’s looking at me. Please don’t look at me! “So you wish ponies would look at you? Admire you? Desire you?” He cackles, his eyes staring into mine “Well, my pretty little filly...be careful what you wish for!” His eyes loom in front of me. Instinctively I turn away but the mirror...I see his eyes in the mirror. They’re everywhere! I hear him chanting. “The lily withers every day... And mortal splendour fades away... But when your beauty never dies... You’re never safe from prying eyes...” I still see his eyes. Wait...those aren’t his eyes. They look like...normal eyes. Pony eyes. But...why are there so many? The eyes are all around me. I can’t turn round or turn away. They’re everywhere I go. Everywhere I look. This...this isn’t what I wanted at all! “Isn’t it? You want eyes on you and that’s what I gave you. Every moment, everywhere, they’ll be watching the mare of their dreams.” “No! No, please!” “And why let the eyes have all the fun? Looking’s boring. Perhaps they’d like to touch! C’mon, boys! Get your money’s worth!” The lilies rumble under me and something erupts from their centres. Hooves. Thousands and thousands of hooves reaching out and grabbing at me. I scream as several work their way up my back-legs! I kick them away but they just keep coming! Don’t touch me! Don’t look at me! Please don’t look at me! I run. That’s all I can do. I have to get away. The eyes! The hooves! They won’t stop coming! They won’t leave me alone! Every few times I think I’ve escaped, more appear in front of me, hooves grabbing at mine, pulling me along the dirt. I end up running through a hedgerow to get away and it doesn’t even help! They just keep coming. As the twigs and leaves get stuck in my mane, they morph into tiny hooves, tugging at it. Get off! You’re hurting me! Please stop! They let me go abruptly. My face falls into a puddle. There, now I’m not so pretty! My face is covered with mud and what I really hope is chocolate milk. Can you stop now?! Please don’t look at me! The moment I see somepony, the moment they look at me, that’s all I see. Their eyes. All their great horrible eyes blotting the rest of them from view. Can nopony help me?! Can you just! Stop! LOOKING AT ME?! Wait...There! I see him... Fancy Pants. He doesn’t look himself either. He has a sword at his belt and his mane and moustache is ruffled but it’s him. I know my Fancy. He’ll help me. We always help each other. He’s off-colour. I see it in his mane and moustache. He looks so unwell. Dear Celestia, has Discord gotten to him too? No, Fancy’s not like that. Fancy’s different. He’d never be taken in by that disgusting serpent. “Fancy! Oh my Fancy, thank Celestia!” I can barely stand. I feel like vomiting and I look terrible but at least it’s over now. Fancy will keep me safe, he always does. Then I’ll find out what Discord did to him and help him through that. We need each other. “Fancy, you need to help me!” I can barely get my words out but I explain what’s happening, I hold him close. He feels so...cold. He feels so cold but I hold him close. He doesn’t seem to move. “How many?” He asks me a question I don’t quite understand. “Well?” Is he asking how many eyes are on me? How many hooves are touching me? How many hours I’ve spent running from it? Too many, that’s how many! I’m about to answer when he speaks again. Even his voice sounds wrong and the words that come out of his mouth shake me to the core. “How many stallions was it this time, then? Anypony you knew? A father? A brother? A colt you found outside the bordello? Perhaps a little of all three? Perhaps all at the same time?!” How...how could he say that?! Is this some sort of sick joke? Is it Discord again? It has to be! I know my Fancy! He’d never say that! “Don’t you dare pretend to be surprised, you loathsome, grasping excuse for a mare!” He’s snarling at me like a wolf, drawing a blade at his belt “I know the truth. You’ve been a pay-ride for coin all this time. Celestia’s coin! You’ve been spying on me! You have spied on your one true king! Treason! Heresy! Fleur-de-Lis, I name you a traitor to the crown!” He’s pointing the sword right at me! He’s going to hurt me! No... No, no, nononono, not you too, not you...not my Fancy! I scream as loud as I can! This isn’t him! This isn’t my Fancy! Fancy’s Different! “Silence!” he bellows as he stares me dead in the eyes. I just notice his are almost drained of colour. Dead eyes. Mad eyes. Oh Celestia...Discord found him first! “What was that you always had me say? You can’t help being beautiful?” His voice sounds mocking, so full of hatred. Fancy doesn’t hate me...does he? No. Fancy...I know you won’t hurt me. “Well I think I can help...” he sneers “I think I can stop them all looking at you...here!” The sword thrusts forward with a flash. I give a scream as it cuts across my cheek. I fall to one knee. He’s cut me. He hurt me! No, this is a nightmare! This can’t be real! He can’t be real! This isn’t him! He’s different! “FANCY, NO!” Can any part of him hear me? Remember me? I’m his Fleur! Doesn’t he know me?! “Be silent, traitor, and accept your fate! Have at thee!” I find my hooves and scramble away, my tears flowing down my cheeks as the cut bleeds freely. It hurts! It hurts so much! Not you, Fancy! Please, not you! The eyes are back! They watch me bleed! They watch with hungry eyes. The hooves emerge and try to grab at it, trying to tear it open wider. Please don’t look at me! Why are you still looking?! I'm not pretty anymore! I'm cut and crying! My mane's lost all colour! My coat's greying! I'm too thin and too tall and I don't want anypony to look at me anymore! I just want it to stop!!! I don’t see where I’m going and I honestly don’t care. The soil turns thicker and wetter beneath my hooves until I’m almost stuck in the mud. I must have run into the Everfree. Somewhere, I think I hear a manticore roaring out in anguish. I honestly don’t care if it finds me. I hope it rips me apart until there’s nothing left. Nothing left for them to look at. Nothing for them to touch. I dig deeper into the mud. I need to hide somehow! This is the only way I can! I can’t take it anymore! I lie down and roll, over and over until I’m almost completely covered. Completely protected. I just leave space for my mouth to breathe out of before my cover my face and shut my eyes tight. Let the earth swallow me up. I’m ready. Just let it end. Please let it end. Please don’t look at me. * NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! * Was that him? Was that Discord? Has he been stopped? Is the nightmare over? My body feels heavy. My mane feels like its being tugged on. Oh Celestia, are the hooves still there? No, no, thank Paradise, it’s just the mud. It’s just the... Oh dear sweet Celestia and Luna, I look horrendous!!! I can't show myself in town looking like this! How do I get home unseen! This is going to take me days to wash this off! I can barely see through all this?! It’s all over my face and mane! I try to brush it out my eye and catch my hoof on a cut on my cheek. It stings! I need to find a band-aid. I don’t want a scar! I can’t scar my face. Fancy loves my face. He loves my... “FANCY, NO!” I stop. Suddenly I’m on my knees as the memory of that sword and the mad look in his eye swarms me more than Discord’s hordes of eyes and hooves. I curl up on the ground, eyes streaming, begging anypony out there for it not to be true... Not him. That wasn’t him, that couldn’t have been. He’s not like that. He’s...he’s...he's different. Fancy, no. Not you...Not my Fancy! I can’t lose you! I don’t care what Discord does to me but please...give my Fancy back! He’s not like that. He’s different. He’s my Fancy! I need him. Author's Note I'd like to thank Alex Warlorn for giving me some much-needed information on Fleur's backstory in the POV Series. It'll come into play during the Reharmonisation. I'm glad you've enjoyed the FancyFleur POV. I was honestly surprised it hadn't been done yet and these two are one of my favourite pairings (Good news for Spike )
Fancy Pants Reharmisation: ChivalryPony POV Series Fancy Pants Chivalry Recursive Fanfiction Oh...hello again... I hope you got here alright and I trust my household were welcoming. Yes, I suppose you must have heard. It was only a matter of time. I’m terribly sorry. You...rather caught me at a bit of a bad time...though I suppose I haven’t had any other sort of time for a while now. What sort of leader am I? What sort of pony am I? What can I call myself but the vilest traitor that ever walked upon Equestria’s soil? Dear alicorns over paradise, what have I done? I’ve been a damn bounder of the lowliest degree, that’s what. I let that foul beast dupe me, falling for its temptations like a foal to confectionary. While chaos reigned in Equestria, I saw fit to act the opportunist, trying to seize control over Canterlot in the mayhem while the Princess who trusted me struggled to keep order. I betrayed everypony...I betrayed everything! My household, my city, my princess...and my wife. Oh Fleur...my poor, sweet lily...you cannot know how sorry I am... And I, fittingly...cannot know how much I hurt her. I called her such horrible things...I tried to do such horrible things. Things I hesitate to even think about! I wanted to do those things! To the mare of my dreams! The love of my life! What did that monster do to me?! ... No...I cannot pin the blame on that creature. Evil comes naturally to him. I should have remained strong. But...if Discord was capable of convincing me so easily to take control...surely I must think that too. Somewhere in my mind, there must be a lingering urge to seize power over Equestria! There must be. How else would I have fallen to him! You can’t create a thought out of thin-air! Why did I think that way?! Why did I do the things I did?! ... Dreadfully sorry...that was...improper... Let’s...let’s start from the beginning. Ahem... Upon Discord’s defeat and my revelation of what I had truly done that day...I spent what time I had behind bars weeping. I was certain that I would suffer for my crimes. Why should I be except from the consequences not even poor old Princess Luna avoided? I deserved it...I was a traitor. There was no other word for a pony who commits the actions I committed that day. How could I have been so arrogant? So cruel? So dishonourable? Though it felt like an eternity, sitting there with only my colossal guilt to keep me company...I had only been in the cell five minutes after Discord’s defeat when the guards opened my cell. They hadn't locked it, as it turned out but I still did not care to leave. I was a criminal. ‘Here it is.’ I thought ‘Off for a quick stroll around the block...’ A traitor’s death. It would besmirch my family name forever. They bring me to the princess, haggard from the day’s calamities. I kneel, weeping and bedraggled, no fit sight for a princess, and accept my fate. Instead, Princess Celestia, our kind...wise...and so wonderfully forgiving monarch does something extraordinary. She leans down and gives me a hug. Her forelegs feel so much like my dear mother. It was too much. I broke down, sobbing and whimpering, apologising as if it were the only thing I was capable of doing...which was largely true under the circumstances. I made numerous promises. I swore to hand in my resignation, remove my name from the hall of honours, leave Canterlot and so forth but she would hear none of it. Her hold was kind but her voice was firm. So much like my mother. She simply told me to go out into the city, find my wife and make sure she was alright. Fleur... I needed no time to mull things over. I was out like a shot, galloping through the streets, desperately searching for the mare I’d wronged so cruelly. I would not rest until she was well again. As long as I was free, I was capable of such. It took the better part of the late afternoon before I found her. Staggering out of the forest, covered horn to hoof in mud and soil, head bowed, weeping incessantly. She had so hoped not to be seen. As she noticed me she raised her head. I could see the cut I’d given her. Beneath the dirt, the look she gave me as I swore to mutilate her was still prevalent on her face. The colours in her mane and eyes were drained and morbid, half-dead to the world around her. I feared then that I had doomed her. I had killed the mare I fell in love with and left in its shell a scared little creature who didn’t want to be seen. I really didn’t care about the mud or the tears or the blood from her injury. I held onto her and begged her to forgive me. All the years of my life spent in prison or on the moon would mean nothing as long as she could be herself again. Betraying her was the greatest crime I had committed that day. And my penance would never end until she was free of the nightmare I brought upon her. I knelt her weeping into her shoulder, mumbling ‘sorry’ this and ‘love you’ that for what seemed like hours. She never said a word. Then, ever so slowly, she placed a foreleg at the back of my neck and returned the hold. I could feel her tears running down my spine. I would make this right, I promised. I will make my beloved herself again. I took her home and gave her a good bath, then dressed the cut. It wouldn’t scar. If it had, if it lay upon her face for all time, mocking my failure every time she turned to face me... I would not be able to live with the shame. Yet she remained...dull. Ahem, colour-wise, you understand. Well...no offence intended but dull in many other ways too. I don’t think she spoke for some time and she had terrible trouble interacting with anypony. She flinched at their touch, sometimes outright attacking them, and whenever she looked long into the eyes of another she broke into tears. I didn't know where she slept, if sleeping was available to her, but I found out she'd been taking a blade to bed. My ceremonial cane-sword. She once cut herself on it in the night. Have you ever heard her cry? It is...the most heart-rending noise on this earth. And I...I made her cry. When I found out what happened, I felt sick to recall how she looked when she came to me. ‘The Eyes!’ she said ‘The Hooves! They won’t stop coming!’ Dear Celestia, trapped in a stalker-victim’s nightmare for half a day! Eyes everywhere she looked, hooves grabbing her from everywhere she touched. There was no-where for her to run or hide. This was my fault. She was still herself before I hurt her. She had her colours, she had her senses! DAMN IT ALL, I SHOULD HAVE HELPED HER!!! Ugh...Sorry, old chap. I’m not myself. I haven’t been for some time. I lost count of how many days it had been since that horrible day when my manor was paid a visit by an unexpected guest. A young farm-mare from Ponyville. Works on the Sweet Apple Acres the Rich family have so many investments in. The servants made a great song-and-dance over her casual regard for me but I found her quite charming. She had excellent manners and, I confess, was very pretty in a ‘rustic’ sort of way. Her name was Applejack. Upon knowing her name and that she was the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, I cursed myself for my ignorance. This was a pony to whom all of Equestria owed the sun in the sky toward. Granted, Canterlot's rather slow when it comes to news and those that were aware of their prowess apparently lost a great deal of respect for them after the havoc that ensued at the Grand Galloping Gala. A trivial matter, in my opinion, hardly worth looking down on them as they do. I volunteered to greet her properly as a hero and defender of the realm but she politely refused and went straight to business. She’d been sent by the Princess herself and was going around the place talking to those severely harmed by Discord’s sick games. Tremendously charitable of her, I thought. She had something to say but wouldn’t say it until both I and Fleur were in the same room together. That was something we hadn’t found easy, I’m afraid to say, but we managed there and then, sitting down in the lounge, facing each other as Miss Applejack spoke. I remembered every word. “Ah can’t stay long. Probably shouldn’t anyways. City life’s never agreed with me. But ah want yer both to know ah’m here to help. Ah know what happened when that lying varmint, Discord, went around turning everypony into...something they weren’t. Ah won’t pretend to know what yer goin’ through. But ah ain’t lyin’ when ah say it’s not too late to sort things out.” She turned to me. “Mister Fancy Pants...ah admit, I don’t know yer well. So ah asked Princess Celestia who ya were and what ya did around the city. When she was finished, ah hadn’t any doubt that what that snake did to ya was none of yer fault. What ya did that day, what ya thought. It meant nothin’. It wasn’t you! D’ya understand that?” The sincerity in her voice, the wisdom in her words...it was quite inspiring. “Ah haven’t known ya long but everypony I asked about ya has nothin’ but respect for yers. Hard-workin’, honourable, wise, gallant, chivalrous, all these ‘ere words and more are what they think of when they hear yer name. That schemin’ old belly-crawler knew that, he saw that and he hated it. He knew that y’all were a good stallion that weren’t afraid to stand up to him and so he changed that into somethin’ rotten. The Princess knows that. Everypony knows that. And ah think ah’m right in sayin’ Miss Fleur knows that. Nopony is gonna’ blame ya for what happened. You shouldn’t either.” She leaned forward and tapped the side of my head gently. “Now what ya were thinkin’ while yer were dancin’ to his tune? All that nonsense ‘bout crowns and kings and the princess bein’ useless? I know about that too. Long story. Anyways, that’s probably just a naggin’ doubt or anxiety ya have in the dark corners of yer mind. Everypony has ‘em. They exist alright but that’s all they are. Doubts, anxieties, things that can only take over if ya let ‘em. Believe me when ah say he twisted us just as bad. It weren’t any easier than what yer goin’ through, Princess knows it weren’t. But if we can pull through...ah reckon it shouldn’t be too hard for you.” I put my hooves under my chin in thought. Her words have truly taken me to a spot of enlightenment. I’m afraid to say I don’t quite recall what she said to Fleur but it seemed to do the trick. Her colours hadn’t yet returned but she managed to look up at us fully this time and give a little smile. I’ll have to ask her what really happened. I must say that Applejack’s a bit of a marvel. I’m rather looking forward to properly getting to know the Elements. They seem like a cracking young sextet of mares. My Cutie Mark? Well, it’s interesting you should bring that up. Heh...that ruddy crown again. I was...a bit of rascal when I was younger. Not a bad foal, of course, but I enjoyed the odd prank and the therapeutic little wander. My parents, bless their stainless souls, took it in good spirits, playing along most of the time. Anyhow, it was at a Royal Procession, I must have been around nine or so? Thereabouts. It was during the Summer Sun Celebration and Princess Celestia had finished her daily rounds and disappeared for the day. As had I. I was, at that point, exploring the wonders of the Royal Labyrinth. I had a fairly decent sense of direction and was dying to get a good look of the statues I’d heard about... Ugh...I must forget about that loathsome creature. Moving on. I was getting lost and caring little for it when I found something shining in the hedgerows. After some amount of pulling and tugging, I removed it from the clutches of the undergrowth and found a gleaming, gilded, jewel-encrusted crown in my hooves. Now I’d wandered off before the procession, no sense sticking around for something I wasn’t tall enough to see, I thought, so I had no clue as to whom the crown belonged to when I heard crying. It sounded like a mare’s. Now my old father told me to never leave a mare in distress. I sought out the noise and found out its deliverer. Would you believe it was Princess Celestia herself?! Weeping before a mural of herself and her banished sister, working side by side to reforge Equestria anew and send the mad draconequus to his prison of stone. Dragging the crown over, she noticed me. I explained that I’d wandered off and gotten lost and she, in turn, explained why she was crying. Whatever she’d done, whatever she had become, Luna was still her sister and she missed her with all her heart. In her grief, she’d thrown her crown away and was starting to regret it. I did my best to cheer her up. My dear father and his sister, you see, had fallen out terribly over the mare he’d fallen in love with many years ago. It had taken them a great deal of time for them to make up, equal effort required on both sides, but they forgave insult and injury and remembered they were family. As precarious as I was precocious, I spent a lengthy conversation with the sullen ruler of all Equestria until she finally smiled, stood up on her own four hooves and accepted the crown, thanking me for my kind words and praising my sense of logic for one so young. Her words, not mine. As the crown, once again, rested on her head, three appeared on my side. My parents were overjoyed, conveniently forgetting to question me on what I was doing in the maze with the Princess. Put simply, my Cutie Mark comes from solving matters of the kingdom as far as my abilities will take me. Words or actions, I offer all I can to help. It's what I do. What I enjoy. I like to think of it as my own little element of Chivalry. ...I’m awfully sorry. I’m reminded of that horrid creature’s games again. No matter. He couldn’t hold my Fleur down forever. It was late that evening when I found her. She was in the living room, nearly in darkness, shivering as she lay upon the couch, staying up at the ceiling. She hadn’t wanted the lights on for a long time. She didn’t like to see them. The eyes. But they were there every time she blinked and so she could only keep calm in relative dimness. I suppose she felt comfortable when she felt she couldn't be noticed. My poor Fleur. She shouldn’t be kept in the gloom like this. She shouldn’t do this to herself. I decide to be firm, but I never abandon the wish to be kind. I light the fire-place with my magic. Then, before she can grow panicked, I take off my jacket and wrap it around her before sitting down beside her and just gently resting her head against her shoulder. I can feel her rapid heartbeat slowing to a normal pace, her breathing steadying, a great sigh pouring from her mouth as she’s finally able to relax. There’s no more eyes, Fleur, no more hooves. It’s just me. I’m here for you, Fleur. Please come back to me. A slow smile blossoms on her face as, steady as a lily soaking up the sun, shimmering lilac spreads across her beautiful eyes and her luxurious mane flows with every shade of pink once again. Gently placing a hoof on mine, my dear, sweet, extraordinary wife speaks to me again, almost sleepily. “I’m so happy to have you back...Fancy...” * We’ve been out more often as of late. I have to say, it’s helped significantly. Fleur’s still quiet most of the time but if she’s finding it in her to strike another luscious pose, that is, generally, a good sign. Many were the times I feared she was letting her anxieties get the better of her. But that’s just her way. She enjoys looking good for others. It’s something I find so terribly endearing about her. As to the Elements, I bumped into one in a fateful encounter on the fashion district some time ago. Quite literally ‘bumped into’, you understand. Certainly was one way to make an introduction. Delightful young mare, Rarity’s the name. Bearer of Generosity and she’s more than earned the title. Custom-made dresses for all her friends in the span of mere hours while indulging me and my friends with her company at my various gatherings. Fleur, unfortunately, hasn’t yet recovered her taste for the occasions I’m often dragged to. Thus coming home to her is always a much-anticipated pleasure. I ensure I make time for her every day. My position has been largely untarnished, judging by how much the upper class cling to me tightly as ever. Perhaps they’re afraid I’ll have their heads snicked off, ha-ha...ha...ah... Ahem... Moving on... As if Discord’s little escapade wasn’t enough, not all too long after, up jumps the one they’re all calling Princess Gaia. I mean really! Two apocalypses is enough for my lifetime, thank you kindly, ma’am! Is that the right word for it? Apocalypses? Apocalypsi? Well never mind... I'm afraid I cannot divulge much information on the creature herself. Her highness had me promise to keep the sordid details from reaching the discriminate elite. No telling what might happen... Though the Day of Innocence was a curious day for me and my wife, I have to say... Both of us were to finish work early that day and were on our way to Ponyville. Fleur's birthday was coming up and I'd promised to have a look in Canterlot Boutique. She hadn't been able to see Rarity at my garden party, pressing family business, and I knew I simply must get the two of them to properly know each other. She'd been in Suddery for the last few days on a shoot and so was planning to meet me in the gardens outside the train station. Nothing too out of the ordinary when, all of a sudden, I’ve rapidly decreased in age and height, without so much as a by-your-leave. Yet I’m dressed in big stallion’s cloths which, of course, means I’m going to play around with them, the jacket sleeves trailing around my forelegs as I find no end of fun with my monocle, constantly making impressions of various twits I used to know in my youth. I do as I always used to do, wander around and have fun in the great outdoors. All thoughts of Fleur slip my mind until I wander into her. It’s quite a bizarre experience...seeing her as a foal. You may have seen Fleur de Lis, noticed her height and shape are quite unique, That’s not solely down to a model’s diet and fitness program. She’s always been like that. Tall and thin. So now she’s wobbling around, struggling to keep on her own two fours. Have you ever seen a newborn giraffe? They have to be born standing, you see and it makes an awkward sight. I was rather reminded of it when I saw her, no offence intended to my wife but you really had to see it. She wasn’t in any sort of distress. None of us felt any sort of negative feelings that day. Liberation from all we’d suffered was...truly a luxury. So I spent the day largely helping her to get used to walking and we played in the gardens throughout the day, finally falling asleep beside each other in the grass. I am very glad I was still wearing my clothes when I woke. If anypony saw us, the tabloids would have had a field day. Ahem... Finding out what had truly transpired that day was jarring to say the very least. It was just as well a day was all we had. Still, I cannot help but remember how well everypony was getting along... No, it wasn’t real in the first place. If a kingdom kept peace by imprisoning or destroying anypony that could potentially bring war, that’s no peace at all. I’ve been a politician long enough to know that no good ever came of ignoring the existence of the bad. I’m just so happy to have my Fleur back with me. I hated seeing her so damaged, I hated it. I pray to every god or goddess that has ever crafted Equestria that such an atrocity never resurfaces. Until then, I shall do what I can to make the world they made a better place to live in. I wear no crown. I am no king. I am Fancy Pants. And everything I have, my household, my career, my friends...and my wife. That, my dear sir...is my kingdom. Author's Note Sorry about the delay everyone. I gave this quite a bit of thought but if there are flaws, let me know. I haven't found all too many mentions of Fancy Pants in the POV Series but I'd like to thank Alex for sending me info on Fleur. Gonna' come in handy later. I might come back to this if I find out I've missed something crucial. I'm still fairly new to the POV Series. Thanks for reading and please comment if you feel the need.
Fleur de Lis Reharmonisation: CharmPony POV Series Fleur de Lis Charm Recursive Fanfiction Yes, yes, you can come in, I’m...I think I’m ready. How has it been? Tartarus...to be honest. The memory of what that aberration did to me burns through my skull every time I close my eyes. Eyes...all those eyes...all those hooves...they just won’t leave me alone! Sorry...I’ve been like this for some time. I just...can’t seem to forget...what it was like. What Discord did to me...What Fancy did to- No! No, I can’t think like that! He was under that mad serpent’s spell. He would never have done it if he were in his right mind. He would never mean to hurt me! I know that...I know that... But if I know it, why can’t I act like it? Why do I always flinch when he enters the room? Why do I always avoid talking to him or his friends? Why have I been staying inside more and more? Unable to eat, unable to sleep, unable to talk. I can barely think, let alone hold a conversation. I just see them everywhere. That disgusting maniac! He almost drove me completely insane just for a joke! He’s the most sadistic creature I’ve ever known... And yet...he’s just like the rest...looking at me like I’m some sort of toy! And he treated Fancy like a toy as well! The one stallion who has ever treated me like a living, breathing pony with thoughts and feelings and he turned him into a monster! And now I have nothing! Nothing! I’m not safe! Ever!!! *Deep breath*...Sorry, I’m sorry... Alright...ahem...I can focus now. Continue. Well...right after Discord’s defeat the first thing I discovered was that I looked like the back end of Sweet Apple Acre’s Messiest Pig Competition Winner so of course I didn’t want anypony seeing. The paparazzi would have had a field day. But I needed somewhere to tend to the cut on my face. And every time I felt that cut for an instant, I was reminded of the cruel words and hateful glares coming from the stallion I love most in the world. I’m reminded of the sword slicing across my face. Fancy loves my face... I never thought I’d ever see Fancy angry at me. Never once had he found a reason to be angry or even irritated with me, however many times I could have given him one. Yet here he was, raging before me, accusing me of doing things I would never even contemplate. Everything I ever believed I was safe with trying to harm me. The nightmare Discord had thrown me into just kept getting worse. If I was any other pony, nopony would know but...I’m Fleur de Lis... Too tall... Too thin... And not so pretty anymore. Damn you, Discord... So I hid. I hid my body from the creatures who wanted it all for themselves until I knew they were gone. Then when I crawled out of the muck I’d landed myself in, staggering back to Canterlot in delirium...I saw him. Fancy was here. The colour in his mane and eyes was back...but his charm and composition was gone completely. He was a sobbing wreck. Just like me. I’m ashamed to say I flinched when he held me. I just...I just couldn’t forget the blade. But once he put his hooves around my shoulders, holding me close, I was reminded what he had once been...What he always tried to be...And I’d like to say that was the end of it. We walked home together, both staggering, filthy shells of ponies, and tried to put the day behind us. But I couldn’t. I just kept seeing the eyes and hooves again. When I got in a shower and washed the mud away, I just saw hundreds of little eyeballs on their stalks crawling up my legs like worms! I wouldn’t stop flailing and shrieking until Fancy came for me. And he tried to calm me down...I almost hit him in the face... I’m sorry, Fancy, I’m sorry. Please...don’t give up on me... I don’t feel safe. Everywhere I look; eyes. Every time I close my own eyes I see those of others. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. I find myself taking a sword to bed. Fancy’s sword, hidden in a cane. It takes about three nights before I cut myself on it and the doctors arrive. I end up making a scene, attacking the doctors and nurses. Fancy apologised for it all...I felt wretched. I was already a burden on his reputation and finances before this endeavour... I’m sorry. Fancy always tells me I shouldn’t say that. He hates it when I act like I’m bad for him. This continued for some time until...she paid a visit. The Princess? No, no, no. She...she had her own problems. One of the Bearers. The Element of Honesty. Applejack, she said her name was. Interesting choice of headwear, I have to say. Not my kind of thing but it’s quite striking. She was a country pony, Sweet Apple Acres-born and raised and known to be hard-working and ever helpful, as well as a good advisor. She was going around Equestria helping those in similar positions to our own. Dear Celestia, other ponies had the same problem?! It’s a wonder Equestria didn’t tear itself apart! She sat us down in the living room. I instinctively chose the small armchair and did my best to sink into it, shivering. The mare called Applejack spoke. “Ah can’t stay long.” She began “Probably shouldn’t anyways. City life’s never agreed with me. But ah want yer both to know ah’m here to help. Ah know what happened when that lying varmint, Discord, went around turning everypony into...something they weren’t. Ah won’t pretend to know what yer goin’ through. But ah ain’t lyin’ when ah say it’s not too late to sort things out.” She turned to Fancy and told him all the things we both should have known. That he’s a gallant soul, with few limits to his generosity and not a shred of dishonour. Discord hated that on sight and so turned him into something he would never choose to be, twisting his mind to allow his slightest anxieties to rule him. Because that’s what he does, the cackling bastard... Ahem, pardon my Prench. It seemed to do Fancy quite a bit of good. I was so happy to see him look more like himself. His colours returning weren’t enough. All of him had to be there. To be perfectly honest, I felt ashamed. I only now realised what my Fancy had been going through all this time...and I hadn’t done a thing to help him. I should have the one saying those words to him and making him feel better. Instead I’d just been stewing in my helplessness since this whole sordid business began. Perhaps I really am a burden... Then Applejack turned to me. “Mrs Fleur? The Princesses showed me what happened. Long story. Let me start by saying it’s all over. Discord is gone an’ so are the eyes and hooves ya kept seein’ everywhere. What yer feelin’ now is just bad memories and the worst yer imagination can do with ‘em. Discord lets it linger with everypony he twists an’ warps for his sick jokes. What he did to ya turns mah stomach an’ nopony blames ya for how scared ya were. But yer only lettin’ him win by lettin’ it stick around this long. Nopony wants to hurt ya or scare ya or whatever Discord said they wanted. He’s gone now. You – are – safe!” She gently put one hoof on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. I flinched slightly but I didn’t fly into a fit as I often had. “Now listen, Fancy loves ya. As much as my pa did mah ma. An he’s gonna’ keep ya safe. An’ you gotta keep him safe in turn. That’s the way it works. That’s the way ya both get better. That’s how me and mah friends got better.” She paused and gave a sigh. “He made me see things too. Things ah ain’t never wanna’ see again. But when that happened, ah became his plaything. Ah became a liar, hurtin’ others without realisin’ as ah hurt mahself. Now look...this ain’t gonna be easy to hear...but yer hurtin’ others too.” My eyes widened. I was hurting others?! Had she any idea what I’d been through?! Did she think I wanted to be this way?! “Ah’m sorry. Ah know that sounds wrong but it’s the truth.” The way she spoke was like a parent or a teacher. I hadn’t known her long but she seemed very...wise. “Think about it now. Yer hurtin’ Fancy. Yer hurtin’ yer friends. Yer hurtin’ the ponies who try to help ya by clingin’ on to yer nightmares. Yer afraid they’ll become real again but they were never real to begin with. Now ah know it’s had a very bad effect on ya but yer not gonna’ make it get any better by curlin’ up in a dang ball, feelin’ sorry fer yerself. Ah’m mighty sorry to be blunt to both o’ ya but ya can’t let that snake win. He’s a sore loser an’ what yer feelin’ is proof o’ that. He takes the things that are most precious to us and turns them into curses. Yer looks are not a curse. Fancy is not a curse. Don’t let him win, Fleur de Lis. Yer a very lucky pony. Don’t throw it all away...” She stepped to the side and turned my gaze to Fancy Pants, who sat pondering in front of the fireplace. She was right. I’d neglected him. I’d been so selfish. Applejack cleared her throat. My beloved gentlecolt turned his head to see me looking straight at him and giving him a small smile. It was the best I could manage but it seemed to help. I paced over, almost carefully, and held his hoof. There were tears in his eyes as he gently took it and smiled back. “I’m here for you, Fleur.” he said "Whenever you need me.” Once Applejack was gone, Fancy was sent for by the Princess and I was the one left to ponder. I hadn’t noticed it had gotten dark. I’d barely noticed the fire going out. I saw the eyes in the light...and when I closed my eyes. Relative darkness seemed safe enough. Not pitch-black, you understand but I felt almost...invisible. It was then I realised that Applejack spoke every word of truth. Discord was winning. I was afraid of showing myself. I was afraid of looking good for others. Then the fire lit. I saw a flash of gold magic as it did so. Fancy... I felt him hold me...I almost flinched but...as he just sat down beside me...and warmed me...I felt different. I felt so much better, him just being there. For me... And me being there for him. I finally managed to find myself again, gratefully accepting his embrace as I felt a wondrous warmth spread across my body. The eyes were gone. The hooves were gone. Finally. It was just us again. I’m so happy to have you back...Fancy. * We spend so much more time together lately. I like to stay beside him. I like being beside somepony who knows I’m more than just a pretty face. I’m posing again. I don’t mind mirrors anymore. Me and Fancy go out shopping in Canterlot, meeting friends and generally reminding ponies we’re important. Things seem to have gone back to normal. I’m looking good for others again. I must remember to send Applejack a present. I’m not sure she’d really appreciate latest Canterlot fashion items...unlike her colleague. Yes, me and Fancy stumbled upon another of the Elements, though we didn’t know until later. Rarity, the Element of Generosity. A pony of expensive tastes. But then all the best mares are. She and Fancy began a certain partnership. You’d think I’d be jealous but really, the girl’s simply not his type. I should know. I think he likes a mare tall enough to look him in the eye. It’s so like him. So...is that everything? How we met? Well...if you really want to know... Listen, this is in strict confidence. Fancy’s the only one I talk about with this so I expect you to take this secret to your grave. I’m not joking. Right...I probably told you already, I was born like this...with all that entails... Yet I didn’t get my cutie mark until...quite recently actually. It would have to have been about...three years before Luna returned. I became nearly as tall as you see now and I still hadn’t got it. Flank as blank as a paper sheet. High-life just...bored me. It was actually worse than school and I cannot believe I just said that! But it wasn’t that they looked down on me or made fun of me. It was that they ignored me. I was just a piece of decoration to whomever was dragging me along! Nopony wanted to hear the words that came out of my mouth or even ask me how I was feeling. I was just...there! So I decided to get back at them a little. I really wanted to show them I wasn’t the fool they thought I was. They weren’t playing me, I was playing them! Alright...here’s where it gets a little controversial but...it’s all in the past. I became an excellent thief. I played the charmer, duping the elite with the only things they cared to acknowledge, my looks. And the things they ignored, my wits, bamboozled them time and time again as certain items went missing from their belongings or sometimes straight from their persons. My charm became the most dangerous weapon in Canterlot. I was never caught. Never even came close. I suppose Equestria has a pretty low crime rate but still, I like to feel it was somewhat impressive. I never kept anything either. They’d usually find the missing items in a dumpster somewhere or a pawn shop. Money meant little to me. It hadn’t made me any happier so far. I sometimes gave it to those who it could make happier. You remember that beggar in Manehattan I told you about? Well...let’s just say he found a use for that gold-rimmed whisky glass that one certain puffed-up Senator never found. Who even needs gold on a whisky glass? I’d never liked it. The rich spending too much money on useless things while far more deserving ponies could save lives with a mere fraction of that much. But to be perfectly honest...It was all for a good sport. However, my days of robbing the rich came to an end when I first met Fancy Pants. It was at a party...I can’t remember who was hosting it, doesn’t really matter...when I saw him, walking primly along with a gaggle of hangers-on. At first I thought he was no different from the others, definitely deserving of a bit of degradation. But even then, there was something so...unique. The way he walked, the way he smiled. It was without an ounce of arrogance or conceit. When he spoke to me...actually spoke to me...He asked me if I was enjoying the party! And he meant it. From the tone of his voice, I knew he cared. Even so...I tried my hoof. Got close to him, shared some wine, sneaked his pocket-watch and I was all set to leave. But I found him waiting for me at the exit. He spoke, so calmly, with a slightly unimpressed yet friendly smile on his face and giving me a measured glance through that delightful monocle. "Dear, petty theft doesn't suit you.” he said “You're far too smart to waste your life on such things." Smart... He actually acknowledged I was smart! Despite knowing that, at last, I had been caught...I couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder. He’d figured me out. He knew what I’d done. What I’d achieved. And all from little details. I’d placed one hoof over his shoulder as he poured me a drink. That hoof had slid across his chest. Why had I placed my hoof right around his neck when I could have just held the shoulder closest to me? Unless I was trying to get at his coat pocket. My hooves had a slight metallic odour that came from holding gold or brass. Yet I had no jewellery on me. My hooves wouldn’t smell of copper if I hadn’t touched any jewellery. But, of course, I had touched jewellery. Other ponies’ jewellery. My horn had lit up while we were talking but I was holding my wine glass in my hoof. Because I was casting a small invisibility spell to hide the watch as I deposited it into my hoof-bag. And my eyes had never truly been on him the whole time we were talking. And I’m sorry they weren’t. Had I seen him truly, there and then, I would never have wanted to rob him at all. This pony before me was a genius! And better than that, he was a nice genius! He didn’t call the guard. And I never stole again. He helped me find enjoyment in other places. In other ways. Ways the rest of the upper-crust couldn’t see below them, so busy sticking their noses in the air. And now, every time I look at them, I don’t feel hatred or resentment. I don’t even feel irritation. I actually pity them. Because they’ll never see what me and Fancy see. What we saw in each other...was how we fell in love. The two of us spent a lot of time together after that. The charismatic gentlecolt and the mysterious beauty. We made the headlines. Of course, that brought certain individuals to the scent. We weren’t without enemies. And those enemies, banded together, proved dangerous. I ended up saving his life. Spur of the moment thing, really. I didn’t think, I just acted. Well, I did think. I thought about how happy I was with him and how much more friendly Canterlot feels with him around. I didn’t want to lose it. I didn’t want to lose him. And that was how I got my Cutie Mark. My family, you see...and this is where I sound like an egotist, sorry...are from a long line of knights in the days of Old Equestria. Defenders of the Princess, charging into the fray with lance and sword and shield. The stuff of storybooks was very real for them. Lance and Bright Eyes, my ancestors, took the Fleur-de-Lis as their sigil. They once saved the Princess’s life. As I saved Fancy’s. I protect him. As best I can. I failed to protect him from Discord and spend a week in hell for it. I won’t go through that again. Ever. We protect each other. That’s how we’ve got this far. I like to feel he needs me as much as I need him. I think he feels that way too. We keep each other safe when Equestria turns on itself. When Nightmare Whisper took hold, we picked the wrong day to visit the Carousel Boutique. But Fancy and me just spent the day helping each other. That’s what we do. All the ups and downs, the perils and heartaches and trials we overcome for each other. That’s our marriage. That’s our story. And I’ve never been happier than to be a part of it. Author's Note Well, there we are. The POV Fancy/Fleur Fic. Sorry about the wait. I've had several things going at once. I'm glad to have contributed and I'd like to thank Alex Warlorn for the information he sent me on Fleur's backstory and how she and Fancy met. I feel like I don't make Fleur badass enough. Unfortunate given the trend to have her hiding lethal skills. I'll definitely need to give her several moments of heavy-duty kick-flank in my latest fic. Thanks for reading, everyone and please ship Fancy/Fleur! Spike ships it. ---
