An hour or so after Rarity arrived back in her shop, Fleur, out for a walk, trotted up to a stall selling apples and reached for one of the red fruits when the stall's owner asked, “Are you Fleur de Lis?”
She didn't think much of being immediately recognized, as she was a famous model, and even if the pony in question didn't know who she was, her cutie mark was a dead giveaway. “I am. Why?”
“So you're the pony who Rarity was so fascinated with that she left me and Fancypants waiting for an hour for her to get back to her shop?”
“Wait, wait, wait. Fancypants is in town?” Fleur asked, surprised.
“Eeyup. You didn't answer my question, though.”
“Oh, sorry. To answer your question, yes, I am that pony who Rarity spent an hour talking to at Fluttershy's cottage. She's apparently a big fan. Anyway, what was Fancy doing at Rarity's shop?”
“He said he was staying with her while on vacation. He also said you two used to be together,” Applejack said.
“We were, for about a year. And I think we're still on good terms...I think. Out of curiosity, how did he act when he mentioned me?”
“Surprised, then annoyed at Rarity.”
“That's helpful,” Fleur snarked.
“Just callin' it as I'm seein' it. By the way, if Rarity decides to chat with you again, let her know that there might be ponies waiting at her shop.”
“I'll be sure to do that. Also, and I mean no offense, may I ask why you were at a dressmaker's shop? You don't seem like the kind that would be ordering a fancy gown,” Fleur said, taking an apple and putting down two bits.
“None taken, though I do very occasionally need a reasonably nice dress. Today, though, I was just there because my sister needed a costume for a school play and she's a good dressmaker, so she was the obvious choice,” Applejack said, taking the bits.
“I see. Anyway, thanks for the apple.”
“You're welcome.”
Fancypants, meanwhile, was seeking out some light reading material for his stay in Ponyville. Browsing the shelves of the Golden Oaks library, he asked, “Would you happen to have the latest book in the Hairy Booker series?”
“I do, actually. Let me get it for you,” the librarian said as she moved to a shelf on the far wall, and, to Fancypants' relief, making no comment on his taste in literature.
“Thank you, ah...”
“Twilight.”
“Twilight,” Fancy repeated, committing the name to memory, while realizing that, like Applejack, he had seen her somewhere before.
“Anyway, here's the book. Hairy Booker and the Order of The Minotaur. You can check it out for a week. Just let me get my checkout log.”
“Thank you,” Fancy said. He then noticed something highly unusual. “Is that...a baby dragon?”
“Yep! I'm Twilight's assistant,” the creature in question said.
“What would the authorities think if they found out about you?”
“Oh, don't worry. Princess Celestia gave him to me after I hatched him during my entrance exam for her school for gifted unicorns,” Twilight said.
“You...hatched a baby dragon? For your entrance exam?” Fancy asked, shocked.
“Yep. Apparently she changed my test because she thought I was extremely gifted and wanted to make sure.”
It took all of Fancypants' willpower not to say “what is with this bizarre town?” aloud. Instead, he said, “Recieving a pet-”
“Assistant!” the dragon corrected, clearly annoyed.
“-An assistant from Princess Celestia herself sounds like quite the honor, if I do say so myself,” Fancy said, correcting himself.
The dragon shrugged and went back to what he was doing while Twilight asked, “Spike, can you get my checkout log?”
“On it.”
As Spike walked off, Fancy asked, “Spike?”
“My brother's idea. I think it was a reference to his fangs or his spines.”
“Hmm.”
Spike returned with the log a minute later and Twilight filled a few things out before sending it over to him and saying, “Sign here, please.” As he did so, Twilight asked, “So, how's your horn?”
Fancy gave her a confused look before he realized she was also present when he was taken to the hospital. “Oh. It's-it still hurts, but it's better. I'm trying to avoid using my magic because it hurts too much, but no major damage.”
“That's good to hear.”
“Anyway, a week you said?”
“Yep. One week,” Twilight said.
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
Fancypants left the library and got maybe 20 feet back to Rarity's shop when he was distracted by a yellow pegasus he immediately recognized as a good friend of Fleur's. On a whim, he walked up to her and said, “Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy, who was walking a very happy looking border collie, took her leash out of her mouth and asked, “Yes?”
“Your friend Rarity mentioned that Fleur de Lis was staying with you.”
“She is, yes.”
Fancy then realized he hadn't thought about where he was going with this. In attempt to not look silly and keep the conversation going, he asked, “Do you know how long she's staying in town?”
“About two weeks, starting yesterday. Why?” Fluttershy asked.
Now Fancy realized that he had absolutely no clue what he should say. Deciding to go with something neutral he said, “Um...could you tell her that Fancypants is staying with Rarity?”
“Okay, I can do that,” Fluttershy said, obviously confused.
“Thank you, my dear,” Fancy said as he turned to leave.
Fluttershy watched him walk away, wondering why he wanted to make Fleur aware of his presence. Considering this and wondering what Fleur was up to, she picked up Winona's leash and went back to walking her back to Applejack's farm.
Later in the day, back at Fluttershy's cottage, she and Fleur were eating lunch, and she was finding herself rather entranced by Fleur's gorgeous purple eyes, a feature of Fleur's she hadn't noticed the brilliance of before before. Fluttershy said, “Fancypants found me while I was walking my friend's dog earlier and told me to let you know he was in town.”
“I knew he was in town already, but it's nice that he decided to let me know.”
“You did?”
“Oui. An orange earth pony who was running an apple stand in the market told me, while noting that I held up Rarity for an hour. I understand he's staying with her?” Fleur asked.
“If you mean Rarity, yes”
“Did he say anything else?”
“No,” Fluttershy said.
“I see. Anyway, since he knows I'm here anyway, I may just pay him a visit after lunch, just to see what happens. I will need your help finding her place, though.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said, sounding less than thrilled.
After lunch, Fluttershy and Fleur traveled to the Carousel Boutique. When they entered they found the place looking empty, until Rarity came out of the back saying, “Coming! Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique and magnifique,” before looking at her two new guests. “Oh, hello, Fluttershy and Fleur de Lis. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked, seemingly missing the fact that Fluttershy had deposited Opal's basket on the floor.
“Please, just call me Fleur. Anyway, I understand Fancypants is staying here with you. Is there any chance I could speak with him?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“The apple seller in the market told me about how you annoyed her and Fancy by chatting with me for an hour. Also, Fluttershy says Fancy told her to tell me he was staying here,” Fleur said.
“Uh, sure. He was helping me clean up our lunch, I'll go see if he wants to talk.”
“Merci.”
“Oh, and thanks for bringing Opal back from her grooming, Fluttershy.”
“Not a problem.”
Rarity went back to the kitchen, taking Opal's basket with her and said to a stallion doing a poor job of washing a dish with his hooves, “You'll never guess who's come to the boutique.”
“Who?” Fancypants asked.
“Fleur. She mentioned you telling Fluttershy to tell her you were here, by the way.”
Fancy didn't look all that surprised, to Rarity's confusion, and all he said was, “Could you finish the dishes for me? I don't want to keep her waiting.”
“Of course.”
Fancy trotted out to the lobby to find his former marefriend looking over the dresses in various states of completion. She turned toward him and said, “Hello, Fancy. Never thought I'd see you here in Ponyville.”
“Well, I haven't seen Rarity in a good while, so I thought I'd come by for a visit. What about you? I didn't expect you here either.”
“I haven't had the chance to see Fluttershy in a while, so I thought I'd come down to visit her myself.”
“I see. So, to what do I owe this visit?” Fancypants asked.
“I thought you wanted to see me? At least going by Fluttershy's tone in telling me what you told her.”
“Did I imply that?” Fancy asked, getting what he thought was a small nod from Fluttershy, “Well, if I did, it wasn't intentional, though I admit, I always love seeing you.”
“Yes, yes. We're no longer a couple, if you recall.”
“That doesn't mean I can't appreciate seeing you, does it? We're still friends, right?”
“True. Sorry,” Fleur said.
“No need to apologize. Anyway, how long are you going to be in town?”
“About two weeks. You?”
“About two weeks,” Fancy said, while readjusting his monocle with his hoof.
Fleur caught sight of this, and asked, “is there something wrong with your horn?”
“Yes. I hurt it in an accident yesterday. It hurts too much to use it at the moment, so I'm forced to rely on my hooves for a while, but I'll be fine.”
“What happened?”
"When Rarity and I were walking through the market square yesterday, a game two mares were playing went awry and an apple flew into my horn,” Fancy said.
“Ouch. Are you sure you're okay?”
“Yes, the doctor at the local hospital said I'll be fine. No cracks or chips.”
“Always good to hear. Anyway, we can talk a bit more later if you want. I just came by to see why you wanted to talk to me,” Fleur said.
“That's fine. Maybe I could come by Fluttershy's place later?”
“Maybe you could. Rarity knows the way, I assume.”
“She does. If you want to come by for lunch tomorrow, that would work for me,” Fluttershy said.
"That sounds lovely."
On the way out, Fleur said, “that wasn't quite what I was expecting from him.”
“Oh? What were you expecting?”
“A bit more sadness about our breakup, and a bit of asking for us to get back together. I heard he was inconsolable the first day or two after our breakup, and if I'm honest, I do kind of miss him myself,” Fleur said. “By the way, I've heard you have a spa in town.”
“We do, why? Do you want to go?”
“Certainly. I'm sure Fancy would enjoy a bit of R & R after getting his horn hit by flying fruit, though I'm also sure he would never pay for it himself.”
Fluttershy was caught a bit off guard by the fact that Fleur wanted to buy Fancy a spa day but simply said, “it's right this way,” before leading Fleur to the spa, not one hundred feet from Rarity's boutique.
Inside, Fleur asked the receptionist, “Excuse me, do you offer gift certificates?”
“Indeed, we do.”
“Okay, can I purchase a gift certificate for your most expensive treatment? It's for a unicorn friend who hurt himself yesterday, and who I want to embarrass a bit.”
“Certainly. It will be 35 bits and I will just need you to fill this out and sign the bottom.”
Fleur passed the bits to the receptionist and filled out the form in question, signing her name in an overelaborate fashion to make sure Fancy knew it was her doing.
“For an extra bit we can mail it to your recipient for you,” The receptionist said.
“Sure. Fancy is staying at Rarity's boutique,” Fleur said, sliding over another bit.
“Okay. We will send it out immediately. It should arrive tomorrow. Now may I do anything else for you?”
“No, that's okay. That's all I needed.”
“Okay, well, please come again,” the receptionist said.
“I will, thank you.”
Outside, Fleur said to Fluttershy, “If only I could see Fancy's face when he sees I bought him a gift certificate for a spa day.”
“Will he go?”
“He will. He might try to lay low but he'll go, since there is nothing for an aching horn like a good massage and he knows it.”
“By the way, do you intend to come by again?” Fluttershy asked.
“Oui, though not until the day after tomorrow, since that's my normal spa day anyway.”
“Oh, um, actually mine and Rarity's is the day after that, and I could ask her to let you come along if want to wait a day.”
“Hmm...that sounds like fun. I'll think about it, okay?”
“Okay.”
Meanwhile, at the apple stand, Applejack, who was dealing with a slow period, let her mind wander, finding it drifting back to Fancypants and the supposed former lover of his that she had spoken to earlier. She quietly wondered why they broke up.
She thought Fancy was a nice enough stallion, who didn't strike her as the sort who would do anything that would cause a mare to leave him, and the mare, Fleur de Lis, despite being a heck of a looker, didn't seem like the happiest camper, so there was that.
She also did seem very curious about what Fancy thought of her now, so AJ wondered if it was something she did that caused the breakup. She put it out of her mind, since she had no idea what the truth was and didn't feel comfortable jumping to conclusions like that.
Soon a rush of apple buyers came by, putting any further thoughts about the town's two visitors out of mind.