Fleur ran as fast as she could away from the droves of reporters now struggling to keep up with her.
Her way of staying in shape was to jog and do various other cardiovascular activities. Combined with the longer stride she had thanks to her long legs, she managed to gain a lot of distance from her pursuers very fast.
That however was only a small consolation. While she could outrun them that still left her running around aimlessly through a town she hardly knew. Going back to the hotel was out of the question as they would most likely be staying there as well. The spa was not safe anymore either and she had no way of getting on the next train without having to wait for a few hours until one arrived.
As Fleur sprinted along she caught glimpse of a shop sign out of the corner of her eye.
Bon Bon’s Sweets.
Fleur saw her chance to get some help and skidded around the corner on course to her friends shop. She hoped that it was even open at this time and felt a small bit of relief as she saw a pony leave the shop with a bag of sweets in his hoof.
He had to jump aside as Fleur barged past him and almost jumped through the door into the shop. A very surprised Bon Bon just stared at her for a moment.
“Fleur!” Bon Bon’s facial expression shifted from surprised to happy instantly. “I thought we would only meet up later this evening.”
“Help me!” Fleur was in front of Bon Bon in only three long steps and grabbed the sweetmaker by the shoulders.
“Uh…what’s going on?” Bon Bon went back at being surprised and just a tad confused.
“The press!” Fleur’s head whipped around to stare at the front door in panic. For the moment her pursuers could not be seen. “They found me. I can’t take it anymore Bon Bon! Please, you have to help me. Hide me! Please, please, please….”
Fleur was now on her knees which brought her to eye-level with the beige earthpony. She was begging and clinging on to her friend for dear life now. Any sort of self control that she was known for had effectively been washed away. It only showed how stressed out she actually was and Bon Bon picked up on it immediately.
“Upstairs!” Bon Bon nodded to a set of stairs behind the counter. “Lyra is there. She can help you. I’ll keep them occupied here. Go!”
Bon Bon untangled herself from Fleur’s grip and shoved her towards the stairs. Without another word Fleur bolted upstairs only narrowly avoiding being seen by the first few reporters that had seen her enter the shop. As Fleur opened the door at the top of the stairs as quietly as possible she was greeted with a sight she would not so soon forget.
It was their living room and the first object in her view was a large navy blue couch facing away from the door. The couch itself was nothing unusual, the mare lying on the backrest however was.
Lyra stretched slowly while she was lying on her back on top of the backrest. She had her eyes closed and a smile plastered on her face. Fleur was speechless for a brief moment at the outfit Lyra currently was wearing. A tiny lacy black saddle was visible on her back despite her lying on it at the moment. Long black socks and what seemed to be a black and white collar, similar to the one worn by maids, finished off the rather risqué appearance of the unicorn.
“Took you long enough.” Lyra’s smile grew a bit wider as she licked her lips and whispered the next sentence in a very seductive tone of voice. “I’ve been waiting.”
Fleur momentarily stunned just politely coughed once into her hoof. Lyra instantly opened her eyes and looked at the origin of the unknown cough. Her eyes went wide as she saw Fleur and then lost her balance. Thankfully she fell on the couch and not the hard floor.
Lyra’s head popped up a moment later and she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
“Fleur?” Lyra blinked a few more times. “What are you doing here?”
“I need you to...” Fleur said and rushed up to the couch.
“Whoa!” Lyra held out a hoof to stop Fleur from possibly jumping over the backrest. “Listen, I know I am irresistible, but I am a one mare pony.”
“What?” Fleur just stared blankly at the unicorn.
“I belong to Bon Bon and nothing you say can change that.” Lyra crossed her forelegs and turned her head away from the model.
“No, no.” Fleur finally caught on what Lyra was implying. “Bon Bon sent me up here.”
“She did?” Lyra turned back to face Fleur with a raised eyebrow. “Hm….that’s unexpected. But it still is best for us to wait for her. I don’t like to start anything without her. Would you like some socks?”
“No, you don’t understand.” Fleur didn’t have time to go into a lot of detail. “The paparazzi from Canterlot has followed me here! Bon Bon said you would help me and hide me.”
Lyra scrunched up her face at the mention of the tabloid reporters. She had experienced their so called reporting first hoof when she had parted ways with the Royal Canterlot Orchestra a few years ago. As Lyra had little intentions of maintaining a good public appearance she had not played along. The first hoof contact with one of the reporters had indeed been with her hoof and had led to a court order against the lyrist. Lyra had been fine with it and it had given her the freedom she had wanted in the end.
“Ok, then.” Lyra snapped back into reality and tried thinking of a way to deal with the new situation. And judging by the sounds of a beginning argument from downstairs it would have to be dealt with quickly. “Just forget everything I had said earlier.”
Fleur nodded once and also felt it was best to forget that little misunderstanding.
“I know!” Lyra said after a moment of thought. “Vinyl and Octavia! They live just across the street. We can hide there for the moment and plan ahead.”
“How do we get there?” Fleur looked back at the door she had come through expecting it to fly open and the room filling up with reporters any minute.
“We jump.” Lyra trotted over to a window and opened it.
“From the first floor?” Fleur was not too happy at the possibility looming in her immediate future of being cornered by reporters while nursing a sprained or broken hoof.
“There’s a large bush just below. It will break our fall.” Lyra stuck her head out the window to check if anypony was visible on the street below. “Ok, the coast is clear. Follow me!”
Without waiting for an answer Lyra jumped out of the window. Fleur not having any other options only hesitated for a second or two before jumping after the mint green mare. True to her word Lyra had been correct about the bush breaking their fall. It would no doubt have left Fleur’s mane in disarray but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment.
The two mares hunkered down inside the bush and waited for any kind of reaction on the street. It seemed as if nopony had seen or heard their escape and Lyra bravely stuck her head out of the bush to get a better look.
“Excellent!” Lyra grinned as she pulled her head back inside. “We are in the clear.”
“Now what?” Fleur didn’t dare move.
“Now we casually walk across the street and go into Vinyl’s place. The door is unlocked so that won’t be a problem.” Lyra explained and pointed in the direction in which their target was.
“Casually walk across?” Fleur turned to look at Lyra.
“If we run we might attract attention. Best to keep it as inconspicuous as possible.” Lyra said and stood up.
“Inconspicuous? In that?” Fleur gave Lyra a questioning look.
“Huh?” It then dawned on Lyra that she was still wearing the outfit meant for some private time together with Bon Bon. “Oh, ponyfeathers!”
“Just take it off and leave it here.” Fleur’s suggestion was met with vigorous shaking of Lyra’s head.
“Do you know how much this thing cost? No way am I leaving it lying in some bush.” Lyra briefly scanned the area once more. “Change of plans. We’ll make a mad dash towards their home.”
“Ok.” Fleur coiled her legs underneath her body ready to spring into action.
“One, two, three, GO!” Lyra jumped from the bush with Fleur only a millisecond behind her.
They only had to cross the street, but those few meters seemed awfully long as the two mares raced as fast as possible towards the front door of Vinyl and Octavia’s home. Only half a meter away Lyra readied a spell to open the door.
_____________________________________________________________________
“Perhaps I’ll go for a shower in a minute.” Vinyl informed Octavia and took a sip of tea.
The DJ and the cellist were enjoying a nice cup of tea with a few biscuits. Thus far the day had been relaxed and they would meet up later with Bon Bon and Lyra to go for dinner with Fleur who was supposed to visit.
“I had a bath earlier.” Octavia informed her marefriend and also took a sip of tea.
“So that’s where all the hot water went.” Vinyl joked.
The front door opened and along with it Octavia’s eyes widened. Vinyl had her back turned towards the front door, but judging by Octavia’s reaction whatever had opened it was not an everyday sight. That was even more evident when Octavia sprayed out the sip of tea in her mouth all of Vinyl.
“I guess I really will be needing that shower now.” Vinyl replied dryly. Octavia did not reply and just stared slack-jawed towards the front door. A drop of tea dropped from her bottom lip on to the table.
Vinyl turned around slowly to face what had burst into their home, it might have been a burglar or some otherworldly demonic being. The sight in front of her was possibly even stranger.
Fleur stood on her hindlegs with her back pressed up against the now closed front door. Beside her Lyra peeked out of one of the small windows to the side of the door. The outfit Lyra was wearing made Vinyl blush a tiny bit.
“Is it my birthday?” Vinyl asked after a few moments of silence.