//------------------------------// // While You Were Out... // Story: Anchor Foal: A Romantic Cringe Comedy // by Estee //------------------------------// They were talking more than they ever had, and too much of it was about the wrong things. It took a little time before they truly had a chance to start: Snowflake came back from the kennels to find a welcome surprise unpacking those badly-damaged saddlebags, and so he was due his own greeting, plus what amounted to standing honors. (Fleur watched how the two greeted each other, how quickly the pegasi came together, and recognized that the relief which radiated from the huge white body was true. Also that the rather long nuzzle which took place between them was strictly the one meant for family, and had no chance to ever turn into anything else. And then she wound up giving them some privacy because her lack of practice had extended to the final release of her field upon touching soil again, and that meant she had to go groom the rainwater out of her coat.) Fluttershy then stopped unpacking long enough to help her near-brother get his own things together, which included rounding up Genova. A second round of affection concluded in a weary stallion carefully heading across the bridge, with a small brown head sticking up long ears between his own. There were animals to check on and since that was being done by Fluttershy, most of it was directed at the animals themselves. Fleur only understood the few answers which came from posture alone and lost the questions when the pegasus inevitably abandoned comprehensible words, but most of the exchanges left Fluttershy relatively satisfied. The remainder produced a pair of quick chidings towards those who had used her absence as a chance to make a thorough investigation of the main cupboard, and ended with the assignment of a small dark space as future birthing area. But then the grounds had to be inspected. Fleur couldn't really tell her charge anything about those conditions: she'd wound up stuck in the cottage for the vast majority of her daylight hours, and when it came to things like checking on the last offerings from the little farm sections as they descended into the slumber of autumn... the central word which applied was 'unicorn.' She also still hadn't seen the full scope of Fluttershy's property, and that had meant leaving the outdoor duties to Snowflake. So all she could do was follow Fluttershy as the kennels were examined, followed by chickens being queried about egg production. (The eggs themselves were picked up every few days, with what Fleur had considered to be a fair price left behind: it was apparently part of an agreement between cottage and bakery.) It was giving her a chance to explore a little more than she previously had, along with offering a degree of safety in the event of... someone dropping by to check on his friend. And it also allowed them to talk. But it wasn't about the mission, or the injuries. (Fleur had thoroughly inspected the bruises, and Fluttershy's silence had utterly shut down any attempt to learn how they'd been inflicted.) She couldn't get a single word on where the Bearers had gone, and just bringing the topic around to the actual task under hoof was beginning to feel impossible. Because Fluttershy was happy to talk, more open to communication and the simple give-and-take of conversation than Fleur had ever seen from her charge -- -- but the pegasus had already decided what she wanted to talk about. "...you didn't have to stay here so long. Not that many hours every day. Snowflake usually manages..." "He asked for help." Billable help. "And it wasn't as if I had much else to do." "...there's always the cinema," Fluttershy softly said, nosing the door of the smallest chicken coop shut. "Or the library." Thoughtfully, "I understand if you haven't been in the bowling alley yet. It's a little loud for me. But the spa is... nice." The one visible eye had its borders briefly tighten with consideration. "...maybe you should come. The next time I go with Rarity." Under the one hoof, Fleur recognized that she could probably use a spa day, even one conducted under what she was expecting to be the lower standards offered by Ponyville. And under all three of the other hooves rested the fact that sharing the experience with that bitch was the best way to negate all relaxation while making any private followup (as soon as she could find somepony who would pay for it) into a spa week. "It's something the two of you do. I don't want to intrude." Although that did give Fleur a chance to turn the conversation around. "So when you were --" "-- who changed the bindings on Greta's wing?" And here we go again. "I did." "...it's a very good job." Fleur hadn't been certain. In theory, wrapping by horn should just about always be easier than doing the same by mouth -- but there were jaws with more mandible dexterity than was possessed by certain fields, experience always played a part, and when it came to careful treatment of flight feathers... "If you say so." And you're not asking where I learned how to do that, any more than you've asked about where I found out how to do anything. Eventually, you're going to look at the billing records for your clients, you're going to see just about the full extent of what was going on while you were on the mission, and I still don't know if you're going to ask. It was something like waiting for the fourth horseshoe to drop, only while having the first through third still floating directly over her head. And when you go into the attic... They were heading towards the young giraffe or at least, its base. "...were there more carnivores than usual? The meat supply is down --" "I had to get rid of a few things," Fleur sighed. "I'll replace them. Fluttershy, did the others talk to you at all about the --" "...spoilage?" With open concern, "I've been worried about that cooler..." She managed to suppress the wince. Yes, Fluttershy was perfectly happy to talk, as long as the subject stayed on daily cottage life. Everything she'd missed, the things she had to learn about, and Fleur was guessing that if animals actually had anything approaching a thriving rumor mill, Fluttershy would happily occupy the heart of it. Their hooves were moving towards new territory while their words kept traveling in the same circuit over and over again, and it had just about reached the point where Fleur was waiting for her charge to sniff at a wet patch of tree bark and declare she was trying to catch up on the news. Fleur knew what they had to talk about, and there were times when gentle steering was best. This was no longer one of them. "I never got to talk to you after the date." Silence. The shadow of a reaching long neck fell over both of them, and the few remaining green leaves were sent down an endless throat. "...no," her charge eventually agreed. "I'm sorry, but... it's the missions, we never know when one is going to come in, we can't unless it's something which starts here. And if I miss going to Canterlot with you because of another one, I'm sorry --" It was something she didn't want to think about just yet: having morning chill soaking into her body was bad enough without adding anything internal. "-- and because we never got to talk... I'm guessing you talked to your friends first." A small branch snapped free overhead, was dropped by a young giraffe who saw no need to hang onto something which no longer had anything edible to use. Fluttershy easily stepped back in time. "...yes. On the first day, while we were still traveling. And a little after." Tartarus chain it. It had been a reasonable expectation: the vital opportunity to personally control the followup hours had been lost, and somepony else had stepped in. But until Fluttershy had spoken, there had still been the chance for the sort of action-packed mission where the only verbal exchanges came from desperate shouts, and the sole topic would have been where to dodge next. The others had taken over the crucial period. That bitch had undoubtedly gotten a few words in, possibly stopping just short of generously nosing over the full dictionary. It meant there was probably damage to undo. "What did they say?" She wasn't really expecting an answer. Somepony who refused to discuss any portion of the mission (she'd been hurt, she had been hurt and the rent saddlebags showed how it could have been so much worse) was probably going to place the most casual conversations behind the strongest security spells known to exist -- "...Applejack -- wasn't surprised. She said she'd been hoping it would work out from the first try, but with Caramel, she hadn't expected it to." A pause as Fluttershy leaned in, checking the giraffe's forehooves. "And she wants to meet you. She said it's been too long already." It provided final confirmation of the last Bearer's identity and with that, Fleur had assembled the set. Her charge's next inevitable strength-gathering pause was used for placing the full sextet upon an inner stage, followed by a close examination. Six mares. (Well, five mares and a bitch.) Six ponies who, when compared to each other, seemed to have exactly one thing in massed common, and that was the fact that Celestia regularly asked them to go out on a nation's behalf and see how many came back. It was a strange group, and she had no idea how it had come together. How it stayed that way. "...Twilight..." The name triggered a small smile. "...mostly got stuck on the glasses. I know she's going to the cinema to get a few pairs, so she can try to figure out how they work. But that's just Twilight. Sometimes she thinks about the wrong thing first, and sometimes..." The yellow head dipped. "...she thinks about that because it keeps her from thinking about something else." Fleur silently filed that bit of oddity away for later as she carefully adjusted her position in the dying grass. "Pinkie was mostly just sorry. For everypony. Because it was the first time for me and she wanted it to be better, even though she's never really liked Caramel all that much and she told me she was hoping it wasn't going to be him. But she was sorry for me, and she was still sorry for him because she's Pinkie, and because of how bad it all was. Rainbow -- Caramel's been trying to date her for years. Pinkie doesn't really like Caramel, but Rainbow almost hates him. She feels like he's a pebble which she can never get out of a hoof crack. But she didn't really want to talk about the date, because I told her that she'd broken her promise with that cloud and -- she's still denying it, still after the whole mission. She kept saying she wasn't anywhere near us and it's not her fault that she was sleeping somewhere without witnesses. We mostly stopped bringing it up because she just wouldn't tell us what happened and being that mad was hurting everything. And Rarity..." The pegasus took a deep breath, straightened up again as those slightly-oversized wings shifted against her sides. "She's angry." Fleur patiently waited for the inevitable. "...with you," Fluttershy finished. "Rarity usually doesn't get that angry. It's... a little scary. When Rainbow's mad, we all know how she'll act. Rarity can be angry in a lot of different ways." "So why is she angry?" The words had been patient. Calm, completely controlled. Because Fleur knew why the semi-adequate designer was reacting that way, and so the only thing which truly mattered was how her charge had taken it. "She said..." Another breath, and the incredible tail twitched. "...that you'd picked Caramel because you thought it would probably be a bad date." A little more quickly, "Not that bad. And she never accused you of sabotaging it..." Several leaves used the delay to alter their hues. "...not out loud. Just mutters. I think those were most of the mutters, at least before our dresses were confiscated by security. But she said... it wasn't just about dating. It was a lesson in rejection. In turning somepony away, when you didn't want to be with them." The lone visible eye focused on Fleur. "...was it?" There was a certain amount of art to the nod. It took skill to move the head in such a way as to never shift the mane at all. Fleur's expression was never allowed to change from placid neutrality, and any non-giraffe observers might have sworn that no matter what the neck had done, the horn had never altered its position. Just above a whisper, "...why?" "Because it was always going to happen eventually," Fleur quietly said. "Fluttershy, if it had worked out between the two of you, I would have been happy for you. I want everything to work out, because that's the only way this can end." Or rather, the only ending where Celestia got her way. "If there had been a real connection, I would have done everything I could to keep it going, as long as it was good for you. But when you're looking for somepony to spend your life with, you're probably not going to find them in the first place you search. There's books which say you can. Stories. But books lie. Films just make the lies move. Any number of ponies over one, and you would have to turn somepony away. It just happened the first time. And you got through it." Cold air drifted between them. The young giraffe slowly moved away, because the sounds of pony speech were unimportant and there had to be more leaves somewhere. "...Rarity said something else." "What?" "...that you're a better teacher than Iron Will." And then there was a tiny smile, something made all the prettier by Fleur's inability to make out what was happening on the obscured side of Fluttershy's mouth. "Since I didn't spend the whole mission telling everypony to go away." There seemed to be only one reasonable response to that. "...who?" The inner reaction added ...what? "...someone I met once," Fluttershy softly failed to explain. "Rarity said -- it was a lesson I needed. But she's still angry. I think she was just about as angry about having to say it. And she wants to know if you're going to tell Caramel." A sigh seemed appropriate. "Not for a long time. Because I was hoping..." Followed by a well-timed head shake. "He's not the best stallion, Fluttershy: a lot of mares made sure I heard about that. But he's also not the worst. I've met ponies who make him look like..." The trailoff was deliberate. It was an ending she felt Fluttershy would respect, especially since her charge used it so much. It was also meant as a barrier against the actual memories, and it failed. "...so have I," Fluttershy quietly said, and the visible eye briefly squeezed shut. "...the missions are good at that. But Rarity thinks he has to know." "You had a bad date," Fleur evenly countered. "Caramel had a horror. He's not the worst stallion, Fluttershy -- and he's not one who deserves to hear this right now." And much to her own surprise, the next smile was just a little bit real. "Have you ever heard of Solomon Short?" The answer made her own eyes widen. "...I know the name. Macintosh -- that's Applejack's brother -- has a book. I've seen him reading it. And loaning it out. He's a griffon, isn't he?" "One of the great philosophers," Fleur answered. "And yes, a griffon. He wrote philosophy which anyone could understand, if they just let themselves think about it for a while. And one of the things he wrote was every sapient life could be summarized in six words." After what Fleur estimated to be at least four guesses, "...which six?" "'It wasn't funny at the time.' Give Caramel a few moons, so it'll all reach the point where things like being served a platter of fire can be funny. And then I can tell him. It's best that he hears it from me." It was too long a pause. There were ways in which they were all too long, every hesitation consuming time which could never be regained... "...all right. And I'll tell Rarity. To let you do it." Her charge sighed. "I told her that a lot." Fleur blinked. "You did?" "...I said... you were my teacher. A teacher who'd been chosen and sent by the Princess. And if she trusted you, to make sure the lessons were the right ones... then I had to trust you a little too." She trusts me... There were so many things Fleur could do with that, a near-infinity of inroads which led to the other Bearers. And every last one of them had to wait until 'a little' went away. "...will the next date be better?" "I hope so." Which provided the precious information that Fluttershy was willing to try a next date -- along with the next opportunity. "Actually, while you were gone, a mare dropped by. Do you know anything about Merune --" "-- so how was Mister Eggfur doing with the others? And..." with open concern "...how is everyone else doing with him? He's the first platypus we've ever had visiting. I think the others are a little... weirded out?" Three days. Fleur didn't consider them to be wasted. Fluttershy needed to be at her best in Canterlot (or as close as she could currently come), and that meant allowing some time to heal -- physically and mentally, for simply being home again was providing a degree of visible comfort. It also meant time in which Fleur could plan out the trip, along with making hours available for other things. There were some requirements which warranted the existence of what others falsely viewed as 'downtime,' even when Fleur remained aware that time could run out for an entire world. That was something which just about everypony seemed to have forgotten, and perhaps that deliberate forfeiture of learning was what allowed them to get up in the morning. For Fleur, the opposite held true. The lessons continued during the wait, of course: it was time which had to be used. But there was a new source of interruptions now, and this variety was actually somewhat welcome. It seemed that the Bearers had a habit of checking on each other following missions, and it allowed Fleur to observe her charge interacting with them -- from a distance, because she had to at least pretend towards privacy. Pinkie dropped by (and was easy to overhear, if almost impossible to comprehend), as did Twilight: the latter visibly lacked the grooming skills to close the gap in her mane. Rainbow was spotted in the garden, but that visit required intervention because the rabbit had decided that if anyone was going to filch the last of the carrots, it was clearly going to be him. The argument ended in a pair of sore snouts and a yellow pegasus trying to negotiate peace between the warring factions: the actual challenge was in figuring out which one understood the least number of words. (Fluttershy also managed to stabilize the cottage enough to risk visiting Applejack -- but Fleur missed that one, because one of the props being used to hold the whole thing up was her own horn.) They were talking more than ever, the topic kept coming back to the cottage itself -- but there were things they weren't talking about at all. Fleur had caught Fluttershy examining the till, spotted the visible shock at the sheer number of yellowed bills which had been finally stamped as Paid, many of which were half-buried under accumulated bits -- but her charge didn't talk about it. There was also no mention of Sweetbark. But that was something which would have had to start on Fleur's side, and she didn't want the pegasus to know what she was planning. In terms of reviewed paperwork (and Fluttershy did go over the activity logs), there was no reason for the vet to come up: a death for which the price had been paid in innocence had never been recorded in ink. But a client had needed freshly-mixed medicine, Fleur had heard Fluttershy say she'd be back in a minute, knew the attic was the next destination and Snowflake had never been told how to create Thought Pain, so the only reason for anything to be missing was... She'd held her ground, or at least that part of the floor. And after a while, Fluttershy had come down, several green sprigs carefully held within the clean grip of the mouth guard. A single blue-green eye had focused its attention on Fleur, doing so for exactly four heartbeats. And then she'd moved towards the mortar, because medicine had to be mixed. That had been it: a single look. No questions about why portions of the three plants had been used, or who had known how. Not a single inquiry regarding the why. There had been brief regard as a single heavy breath made its way back into the world, a drooping tail had been dragged towards the mixing equipment, and not a single word was ever said. (There would be words, in time. Fluttershy would not be the first to hear them.) Fleur finally had the freedom to do some long-overdue things in town, and the most necessary thankfully came up with the hoped-for results: Zipporwhill's parents were no cause for concern. But the filly was moving slowly, had her head down most of the time so as to poorly conceal the little sniffs. There was pain there -- but Fleur had no freedom to approach, and so there was no telling what that agony might be forged into. For her own part, she was still having trouble sleeping -- or rather, remaining asleep, because her dreams were bright and vivid and contained every last thing she could ignore during the day. There was one night when Fleur got six hours of sleep in four ninety-minute increments, wound up leaving the rental under the returning semi-delusion that trotting around for a while would tire her to the point where even dreams would need a chance to rest, and the adult was just as wrong as the filly had been. But on the potentially beneficial side, she was becoming increasingly familiar with moving through Ponyville under Moon and while that had a purpose, she still resolved to visit the Tangle during the trip into Canterlot. The city's oldest section sold some sleep-aid potions which weren't technically illegal, and the fact that just about any other pharmacist reacted to a request for them with temporary deafness just spoke to both their quality and the number of ponies who went through their lives without reading a single instruction. She could fall asleep without issue. The potions (something she'd never taken before, a last resort which now had to be close to hoof) were only a risk in that they had a good chance to keep her that way -- and might do so even if she truly needed to wake. It meant she would only take one when the lack of rest began to truly affect her, because it seemed possible that and then the sound stopped she would be trapped within the silence. Screaming. The first pieces of mail arrived at Fleur's temporary residence. (This turned out to be on the golden-eyed mare's route, and it gave her a few worries regarding professionalism from somepony whom she knew didn't like her.) Each bore the official stamp of the palace, and they all shared a theme. One contained a voucher which compensated her at the typical escort salary level, and did so for all of the hours she'd personally billed. The others held copies of various invoices, and every last one had been overwritten with what had suddenly turned into the most glorious word in the Equestrian language: Paid. The palace was accepting her expenses. All of them. It very nearly opened the road into joy and when that portal collapsed under the weight of caution, still managed to construct a trail which led off into the deepest realms of creative accounting. After the celebratory snack wrapped up (because getting that accomplished entitled her to a small piece of chocolate, especially since Celestia would be paying for it), she was able to do some basic research into Merune, and tentatively assigned the mare a very low-priority status: the economic situation wasn't all that promising and when it came to the puzzle... well, there were escorts who were willing to deal with that particular piece, and just about all of them eventually got sick of showering three times a day. However, Ponyville now knew the Bearers were home, and so two other options carefully presented themselves at Fluttershy's door. Unfortunately, they did so within two minutes of each other, and the resulting argument wound up ripping one of the animal feed bags which the barely-more-intelligent of the pair had brought as his courting gift. The situation resolved itself one bear later, although not before Fleur had informed them that they could try again when they figured out how to do it as gentlecolts, and did so when she'd already permanently rejected both ponies. The feed, however (which was already within her field, being moved towards the cottage basement), was perfectly welcome to hang around for a while, and the end product of its stay would still be more useful than the stallions. It was still a good sign. Ponies knew Fluttershy was available. Ponies were willing to try and once those who were more attuned to the settled zone decided their Bearers had recovered from the latest mission, ponies might be trying in bulk. (Fleur was silently hoping to see any future gifts of feed arrive the same way.) Ponyville was willing to act -- -- but there was more than just Ponyville. Ponyville's morning had dawned (mostly) clear and chill, with both factors dictated by a schedule which didn't care to show mercy. The actual enforcement was left to a weather coordinator who was often accused of being allergic to sunrise, and so the last clouds were being cleared out by a fuming cyan blur while multiple commuters did something which could be considered as cheering her on, at least after you swapped the 'j' out. A number of ponies were watching Rainbow, and Fleur would eventually learn this was fairly standard for the settled zone residents: you watched the pegasus not only to see what she was doing, but to have a better idea of just when everypony else should clear out of the way. But most of those occupying the Outbound platform were looking at the two exceptionally (and cosmetic-boosted) beautiful mares who were waiting for the train. The unicorn, who was visibly serving as both companion and bodyguard, had her horn ignited at the partial corona level: the pink field was tucking a receipt into the right saddlebag, because a trip into the capital was a billable expense. The pegasus was constantly engaged in little shifts of position, with the visible eye frequently seeking the sky. It was the reason the unicorn's left hind hoof kept hovering over the end of the incredibly full tail. "I will catch you," Fleur whispered. "...you're not that fast." (Receiving an actual reply made Fleur's well-trimmed right eyebrow go up, and the brush against the borders of defiance made her center the hoof's aim.) "...I'm not fast, but you're just levitating. I don't think you can keep up --" "I can manage my own body weight," Fleur softly reminded her. "That's what self-levitation requires." "...so?" Technically, the next question was never supposed to be asked of any mare, not if the pony making the inquiry wanted to live long enough to hear the answer. Fleur, however, was in the position of needing to reassert a certain amount of dominance, because the current display of faint determination was showing up at exactly the wrong time. With the smallest of smiles, in the softest possible tone, "How much do you weigh?" Yellow ears rotated in shock. The visible eyelid twitched. "...I -- I usually don't get on a scale, but the last time I had to, it said... um..." Fleur watched the wince (and related creasing) set in, then considered some of the contents of her saddlebags. She could easily touch up her charge's cosmetics along the way. "...oh," Fluttershy finished. "If I can lift myself," the taller mare whispered, "then I can lift you. One corona grab and I can hold you long enough for the train to arrive." It would make a scene -- but as far as Fluttershy's social prospects were concerned, quite a few ponies would pay very close attention to the sight of two mares fighting. "You said you'd come with me. So we're going together." There was a little less defiance in the next words -- but the perceptible amount still qualified as a positive number. (It was possible that the additional date requests had boosted her charge's self-esteem, and that would help in the long gallop -- but for now, it was making Fluttershy a little harder to work with. It was rather more probable that having to stand on the platform while in makeup, with ponies staring at the results, had made the pegasus a little more willing to do whatever would result in getting away.) "...you never said why you wanted me to go. Just that it would help if I was with you." And that only took three days. "So you finally want to know." The defiance was still dropping. The sheer level of miffed, however, was now actually visible to the unassisted eye. Fleur was fully prepared to place all blame on the spectators. "Fine," Fleur shrugged. "Then I'll tell you." "...thank you." "I didn't say where," Fleur added, and settled onto the train's padded bench. She had chosen a window seat, and the reminder she'd recently given Fluttershy on the platform meant she had very few worries about letting her charge have one: any hasty exit would still take enough time to allow the ignition of a corona. Not that she had much choice in the matter: at this hour, just about everypony could have a bench to themselves, and it allowed her to face a still-somewhat-miffed Fluttershy across the narrow space between opposing seats. Admittedly, given the level of appearance both mares were sporting, the challenge was going to be in not acquiring companions. Fleur, whose last major journey hadn't even ended with a proper landing, preferred to make this particular trip in peace and so was ready to carefully discourage anypony who tried the usual jump-slide-sit-Hi! -- unless the proper candidate came along. Of course, the best possible match would probably include the basic trait of knowing just how stupid that move was -- "...so what are we doing?" Fluttershy finally asked. Fleur glanced at the window, watched the landscape jerk as the train started to move. Leaving Ponyville -- but only for a little while. "When the Princess contacted me," Fleur eventually replied, well after the vibrations from the wheels had started to move through her fur, "I went almost directly to the palace. And after I met with her, it was straight to Ponyville." "...so you didn't get to tell everypony where you were going?" Fluttershy naturally decided. "But you've had enough time to write them, and if you ever need to get a letter sent really quickly --" she leaned forward slightly "-- I know a way to help..." At least somepony gets along with the mailmare. "I'm pretty sure the palace notified my clients about a direct hire and cleared my schedule that way," Fleur responded. "But that still left things I didn't get to do." "...like what?" Starkly, "Packing." It was possible to watch the self-blame travel across the yellow fur, and even easier to see it settling in strand by strand. "...oh," Fluttershy said, and her tail curled in against her body. (Given that it was Fluttershy's tail, this hid just about everything up to the neck, with some space left over.) "You... it was that fast... I didn't think... you've been in Ponyville without anything ever since you... and it's my fault, I asked for somepony and it's my fault..." With the weather coordinator, you had to check for the signs of an impending physical crash: when it was Fluttershy, there was a constant watch for emotional impact, and Fleur quickly sent her next words to intercept. "I came as quickly as I could." A half-truth: the palace could have sent her by teleport, but it would have lacked what Fleur was now seeing as Celestia's favorite part. "And that was my choice." Lie. "The palace lets me bill them for replacement items --" true "-- and I pack pretty light to start with. But I still left some things behind. I want to make sure they're on the train back with us tonight." "...so why do you need me?" Because for starters, this Tartarus-sent piece of metal on my right foreleg is currently telling Celestia that I'm on my way out of Ponyville, and the direction plus speed will let her know it's by train. I'm expecting at least two Guards to be at the Canterlot station. Traveling alone is probably good for two hours of interrogation by the palace as a check on my intentions and a reminder that they can check at any time. But if they see me get off the train with you, they won't say a word. They might follow us for a while, just to make sure nothing's going on -- but in the end, they'll believe I'm doing my job. "There's some things I want to do with you in the capital," she truthfully said. "For starters, I had to go through your meat supply while you were on the mission." I don't know if you're going to be there when I come over the bridge. I didn't know if you'd be here today. "And I wound up kicking some of it out," Fleur continued. "I promised to replace that. Ponyville only has pet supply stores. Canterlot is..." She'd smiled when she'd first seen the gleaming letters in the Heart, and it had been one of her rarest specimens for that expression: the true one. "...a little different. But you know what yours like to eat, so it's still easier with you along. There's other shops I want to bring you into, because there's things you need if we're going to keep this moving forward. And there's some ponies I'm hoping you'll get the chance to meet." "...and that's why you had me wear makeup?" We're advertising. And you didn't sell a product with anything less than a glamour shot. "Yes." "...what kind of things?" "You'll see when we get there." And the palace would see the invoices a few hours later, because there was no reason not to use the local mailboxes. I can't spend an entire nation into bankruptcy. But I can make Celestia wonder if I've figured out how. "But we'll start with my place," Fleur added. "It won't take long. I just need to pick up a few items, and then we'll focus on you for the rest of the day. Snowflake has the cottage, Fluttershy. We're just two mares on a day trip, doing some shopping. When was the last time you had a pure day off?" There was a long moment of rather visible thought. "...do the missions count?" "No." "...being sick?" "No." "...a while." "So for now," Fleur advised, "relax and enjoy the ride." Her right hind hoof subtly diverted an incoming stallion away from their seats and in doing so, gave him a freshly-assigned place on the other side of the center aisle. "We're going into my territory now. And I won't let it be too scary." Fluttershy managed a nod. Fleur watched the view through the window, which also allowed her to continue using the reflection as a pony tracker. The best things are safe. She was almost sure of that. But she wouldn't allow herself to be hopeful, because Celestia had uncovered so much. If that had been discovered... She doesn't know. She can't know. Nopony knows. There was only one way to be certain. Fleur could never go home. But if they were still there, she would be able to go back.