Hold the Press

by Bunnybooze79

Chapter 1

Alicorn Row.

It was maybe the most prestigious street in all of Canterlot. Only the most wealthy and influential of ponies could afford one of the ludicrously expensive mansions here. There were only twelve mansions on the street, each in pristine condition thanks to the numerous unseen ponies constantly making sure everything was in top shape for the owners.

Entire squads of gardeners and cleaning crews made their twice daily rounds over the properties making sure that not a single leaf was lying on the ground or that the grass in one of the enormous gardens was slightly longer in one area than the other. All of those tasks were done unseen by the owners. In their worldview hardworking lower class ponies should not be seen unless absolutely necessary. Such was the way of thinking for most of them save for very few of the Canterlot elite.

One such pony just arrived at the front gate of a large mansion, maybe even the grandest of them all. The carriage bringing her slowed to a stop and the door was opened by the driver. As a delicate white hoof stepped out of the carriage a blinding staccato of flashlights erupted in the otherwise dark street.

Amidst the lights the pony exited the carriage and posed for a brief moment. It was almost second nature to Fleur de Lis. As Equestria's premier model it was her job to pose and look her best at every single moment in case the press or more precisely the paparazzi would be waiting for her to take pictures.

Fleur smiled her most photogenic smile possible and made her way through the opening gates. She relied on instinct alone to guide her through the gate as the barrage of light effectively blinded her. Some of the reporters asked her questions, some harmless and some questions bordering on shameless. Fleur merely smiled and didn’t reply to any of them. The gate closed behind her, but that didn’t deter the photographers from taking more pictures of her from between the bars of the gate.

Only as Fleur entered the mansion and the large heavy door fall shut behind her did they stop taking pictures. Fleur’s smile vanished the instant the door had closed. She let her head hang low and let out a tired sigh.

She strained to hear any kind of sound coming from within her home. As nothing reached her ears after a few moments she concluded that she was in fact all alone in the large mansion.

Fancy Pants, her husband that was equally well known throughout Equestria, was absent for once. He most likely was still tied up in the meeting with some of Canterlot’s big wigs back in the castle. Fleur had been attending Hoity Toity’s latest fashion show and had modeled some of his designs as a favor for Photo Finish and was actually still wearing one of the elaborate dresses. As was predicted she had come home first. The meetings that Fancy attended usually lasted for a very long time.

She was glad that she was alone for the moment. Today was a day off for their staff, a cook and two maids to be precise. All three of them were immensely happy at their employment. Other upper-crust ponies would act snobbish towards the staff or treat them with disdain. Fleur and Fancy both treated them as a kind of extended family, taking time to talk to them and also listen to their opinions and problems. Happy employees worked harder and also enjoyed doing their chores. In all the staff had very little if anything at all to complain about. The pay was very good and had a lot of free time as both Fleur and Fancy were hardly ever at home.

Fleur both relished in being alone for a moment and hated at not having somepony to talk to. With a heavy sigh she made a beeline towards the kitchen.

_________________________________________________________________________

Nearly two hours later Fancy Pants arrived at home.

He had not been met with as much members of the press waiting for him as Fleur had, but they were still there. Like Fleur he didn’t react to any of their questions and just ignored the flashes of light. As he closed the front door he knew not all was well in his home as he spotted Fleur’s dress strewn about in the entrance hall.

He followed the trail of clothing towards the kitchen and found it empty. A drawer had been opened and not closed back up again. He used his magic to shut it and had a suspicion of what was going on. With slightly hastened steps he ascended the large dominating staircase leading upstairs. The quiet sound of music reached his ears as he trotted towards Fleur’s private room.

Fancy hesitated before knocking on the door. Both of them had their own room to take refuge in and it was an unwritten rule that they didn’t want to be disturbed when inside. His knock was answered with a grunt from inside. Fancy Pants drew a breath and opened the door.

He was greeted by a classical piece of music that he instantly recognized as something from J.S. Buck. The first thing he saw was Fleur lying on her favorite couch. It was a hideous shade of green and had to have been out of style for at least a decade or two. Fleur loved it for its soothing texture and total absence of springs. She had it during her days in university and was very reluctant to part with it. Fancy could understand its sentimental value as he had a few odd pieces lying around in his own room that he didn’t want to get rid of.

What set off an alarm in his head was the objects in front of the couch. Two large empty ice cream buckets, a can of whipped cream and an equally empty glass of amaretto cherries.

Double chocolate chip with caramel swirls….this is bad.

“Fleur?” Fancy Pants slowly circled around the couch to see his wife. “What is the matter, my Dear?”

Fleur’s head popped up from the depths of her plush couch. He noticed that Fleur had not chosen to use a spoon for her spontaneous consumption of vast amounts of ice cream, evident by a chocolate ring around her face. Obviously she had stuck her head in the bucket to reach the very bottom.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Fleur lamented and rolled on her back all four legs sticking out to her sides.

“Too much ice cream?” Fancy joked and stepped closer to his beloved.

“Them!” Fleur gestured with a hoof towards the window.

Fancy didn’t have to guess to know who she was referring to. At practically every hour of every day there was at least one nosy reporter or photographer hanging around their estate. They had called the guards a few times to try and deal with them, but the reporters said they had freedom of the press and as long as they didn’t actually enter the premises there was nothing anypony could do.

“Every breath I take; every move I make, they are always watching me!” Fleur clutched her head in between her front hooves and tried to cower deeper into the soft fabric.

“It comes with fame unfortunately.” Fancy Pants shrugged and gently laid a hoof on Fleur’s shoulder.

Fleur released her head from her grip and instead grabbed Fancy’s hoof. “If I see one more flashlight I’ll snap! Everywhere I go they are there….waiting. Waiting for me to do something…anything. It is ridiculous!”

Fancy wrestled his hoof from his wife’s surprisingly strong grip and lovingly ran it through her mane. As he took a breath to reply to her woes she only just started with her rant.

“I can’t even eat in peace anymore!” Fleur rapidly shook her head. “Pictures of me are plastered all of the newspapers when I just eat an apple! Then they create these absurd theories about my shape and weight based on me eating an apple. They never ask about it….no wait, they do ask! And some of the others things they ask me are just obscene!”

“I know, Dear.” Fancy repeatedly ran his hoof through her mane and slowly extended his reach to her back, trying to relax some of the tension in Fleur.

“I just can’t continue like this!” Fleur’s voice slightly cracked. She sobbed once and rose up from her couch only to latch on to Fancy Pants with a hug. He instantly returned it and kept up his soothing motions with his hooves.

“Do you know what you need?” Fancy asked once the little breakdown had passed. “A nice little vacation.”

“I could do with that.” Fleur replied and wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. With a sigh she continued. “But it wouldn’t really help. Do you remember our last vacation? They were all over the place taking pictures. I don’t feel like going through another wet-mane incident.”

“You did look exceptionally beautiful though.” Fancy chose not to inform her that he actually had framed one of her pictures with a wet mane and had hung it up in his own private room.

They stayed where they were in silence for a moment. Fleur slowly regretting having pigged out on ice cream and Fancy thinking about a solution for her problem.

“How about you take a vacation by yourself?” Fancy suggested.

“That would be even worse.” Fleur shook her head. “When you are there they have at least a bit of restraint. Without you they try to take some pictures of parts I best not mention.”

“They wouldn’t have to know that you are on vacation.” An idea had popped up in his head on how to give Fleur a bit of peace and quiet.

“What do you mean?” Fleur broke the embrace to look him in the eye.

“In the week after next we are supposed to attend a few gallery openings, shows and such in Las Pegasus remember?”

“Yes, I remember.” Fleur sighed. Las Pegasus weather always wreaked havoc on her mane. More fodder for the presses.

“How about instead we make them think you came along with me, but in reality you went someplace else. Someplace nice and quiet and away from all the larger cities.”

“Where?” Fleur was intrigued.

“How about Ponyville?” Fancy Pants smiled at his wife. “Rarity has kindly invited you a few times in the past already, but you were always too busy to take her offer.”

Fleur put a hoof to her chin in thought. It was true that Rarity had invited her a few times, albeit with the intention to discuss fashion.

“Bon Bon and her friends live there as well.” Fancy sugarcoated his suggestion a bit more.

Fleur had kept in touch with the sweet maker she had met in Canterlot a few years ago via letters. At the time she had been longing for some regular ponies to simply talk to and Bon Bon had fit the picture perfectly. Of course she had learned that the sweet maker and her marefriend were not necessarily what one would call regular ponies, but she enjoyed the letters she sent and received from Bon Bon.

“It sounds like a good idea.” Fleur said after a moment of contemplation.

“Excellent!” Fancy Pants grinned wide. “And I think I already have an idea on how to get you there unseen.”

Comments

[Backlash91]

interesting concept, I shall read more to verify my theory of how awesome your writing is.

[MidnightFMare]

“Every breath I take; every move I make, they are always watching me!” Fleur clutched her head in between her front hooves and tried to cower deeper into the soft fabric.

"Every breath you take" by the police?

That deserves a like