Affame d’Amour
Chapter 2- A Morning in the Tower
Fleur stirred from her deep sleep and found that when she tried to lift her fore-hoof to her pounding forehead that it caused a painful tug on her skin. Her lavender eyes opened and were slammed shut by the forceful intruding of a blaring sun. Celestia’s orb mocked the pained mare as if to punish her more than the hammering in her head was already.
A tug of her leg and the forceful gripping against her flesh persisted. This time she forced her eyes open through the pain of the sun too behold her leg. There was an intravenous needle wedged and taped into her skin caused for lack of a better word: Instant Panic.
A million thoughts raced through the model’s mind as she turned her neck with such speed that it caused a whiplash like after effect which immediately caused deep regret to radiate out from her very bones. She was not in her room within the palace (a personal treat that the Princess had offered her for her stay in Canterlot during ‘Fashion Mile’). No this room was much different from her luxurious suite.
For one, the window in the upper right corner of the room was nothing like the massive dual-window that donned a full wall of her suite looking out to the palace grounds, and that was only the start of the problems within this room. There were many machines, none of which the foreign pony could place; the majority of which were hooked up to her in some way or another. Nobs and lights flickered and turned; needles jumped and pulsed all along sheets of paper that seemed to come from some fathomless depth of parchment to form into a pile of what must had been hours of compiled data. Bookshelves lined the walls and created a dusty grimness in the fog of what must have been early morning. Fleur struggled with everything around her: heart racing, eyes going wide the only thought that she felt absolute in was that: she had been foal-napped.
Teeth clamped on the needle, and then violently ripped it from her flesh. The tall mare pushed herself off the bed...table? She had no idea, at the moment there was nothing but panic. Several padded sensors fell off her chest, back, and flank then the alarms went off.
The mechanical screeching set the room alight with noise causing the already panicked mare to literally go into hysterics. She looked about the strange room for some kind of exit in her adrenaline driven flight; finding it not too far from where she had been laying. Making a gallop for it it took Fleur an extra moment to realize the soft purple glow that had encompassed her entire form and lifted her hooves off the ground.
“Whoa whoa whoa!” a soft feminine voice said from behind the frantic unicorn. Magic, yes magic; sadly Fleur had completely forgotten the tool in her need for flight. Another unicorn made her way down from a staircase that was previously hidden in the darkness of the room. She was short, and rather chubby (Fleur noted through the panic; a trained mind is trained well); she had dark hair with a lavender and purple streak, and on her flank was a symbol of a star with stars enveloping it. She looked strangely familiar to Fleur and this allowed, for the moment at least, the panic to subside.
Familiar was safe.
Until proven otherwise.
“Sorry about that.” the mare said setting Fleur down; her cheeks had a deep blush of magenta, a shade that Fleur had only ever seen the most capable fashion pony creates with hours of intensive care and hundreds of bits worth of makeup. “I must have dozed off; are you doing okay? How are your legs? Feeling weak?” Fleur almost interpreted that as a form of threat; as if the unicorn was asking if whatever she had been pumping into the white coated unicorn was taking its effect, but she found that no such doubt could come to mind. There was too much concern in her voice.
“Je vais bien...” Fleur said, her purple eyes still studying the smaller unicorn as the magic surrounding her set her down on the table. “I’m fine.” she clarified to the “foreigner” as she was released. The initial fear of foal-napping had passed and Fleur was confident enough that this other mare meant her no harm... At least long enough to hear out how she came to be in this situation.
Twilight ignored Fleur’s response for the most part, ponies could lie, but cold hard medical science never would. She took minor note of that beautiful voice trying to focus on the leaflets of data and the massive scrolls that dotted the floor of her room (thankful that all of her medical equipment from her days in the academy had continued to work flawlessly).The readings indicated a strong recovery.
“Good, after you collapsed last night I was very worried.”
“Collapse?” Fleur mouthed; whispering the word out-loud. It would have explained how she had ended up in this bizarre situation. She had felt unusually tipsy after the first show; the heat of the lights... and those eyes... everypony judging her... It was all she could do to hold back the bile as the rush of emotions and the heats of those stage-lights assaulted her. Fleur had held her own then but now, in some semblance of privacy the mare found she could not and with a disgusting sound of some living organism being ripped in half she wretched the contents of her stomach onto the floor; it mixing in with the papers of data.
The as of yet nameless mare watched; stared into Fleur in a way that made her want to wretch more form her empty stomach. A hoof placed pressure on her lower back rubbing in a strong, slow circle which though Fleur would hate to admit it was bizarrely soothing.
After a few more minutes of pained retching and pained breathing Fleur found her stomach setting, completely empty. The nameless mare stopped her soothing rubs when the convulsions of the Unicorn beneath her ceased; Fleur felt a deep shame in being so vulnerable. In her line of business it was the adamant will of a strong survivor to never give in or become...weak. Fleur had seen more than her share of model ponies (stallions and mares) give in to their weaknesses, become abused...mistreated...or worse lose their beauty and shape that had been their only claim to fame in their lives.
A fate worse than death...
“You all done?” a voice called her back; the young mare was talking to her. Using her magic the other unicorn lifted up a mop and a pail and began to clean up the mess Fleur had just made. The model looked down from her resting spot and considered helping the other unicorn... eventually deciding against it; there was a level of class that she was expected to show in all situations, no matter what they may be.
“Oui.” She said lifting a leg to wipe away the tears that had been forced down her cheeks by the pain of the vomit escaping her throat. Fleur winced and considered how she must look at the moment; sure that her perfect hair was out of place; eyes reddened by the tears, fur wet with sweat, mouth drenched with the spit from her moment of weakness.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” the now named mare said as she levitated the full bucket away and sent the mop out the nearby door; the stench thankfully had not gotten too overpowering (less Fleur would more than likely had retched again). Twilight Sparkle... the name did ring a certain bell... but where had Fleur heard it...? This homely pony must have been someone of some standing for Fleur to even recognize the name, of this she was sure; she had only been exposed to the highest of nobles and the richest of ponies since her arrival in the palace the day before. The Princess! Of course, Fleur recalled it now; the Princess had mentioned something about wanting to introduce Fleur to her protégé: Twilight Sparkle. It seemed to Fleur extremely coincidental that the mare that the Princess had intended for her to meet would be her savior in her time of need.
“Excusez-moi! Ou sont mes manieres?” Fleur began; in times of dealing with those of nobility and high standing there were certain protocols to uphold. “Je m’appelle Fleur de Lis.” she said; lowering her horn in respect for the other mare.
Some manner of meep or whiny escaped Twilight’s lips and she blushed trying furiously to remember the etiquette lessons she had received early on in her acceptance to the academy; attempting to bow in turn, only finding that she had over compensated and the weight of her motion sent her falling to the paper covered floor. The studious unicorn did a full roll in the piles of papers trying to regain some semblance of balance; confused and aggravated gasps escaping her lips as she tumbled head over hoof.
Fleur watched the spectacle of the smaller unicorn with some disdain; confused that a pony so clumsy who seemed to be missing the natural born class of the aristocracy could be in a rank of such high standing as the protégé to the Princess. Though that was just a secondary nuisance to the model pony, Fleur was beginning to recover her strength, and she could feel the power coming back to her limbs. She’d be able to thank Madame Sparkle for her assistance in her time of need and leave sharply to get back for the daily routine she had planned. All in order to get ready for the second night of Fashion Mile, sure by now that there was a search party going all around Canterlot looking for her. As Twilight finally managed to right herself looking extremely untidy and spent, the same magnificent glow about her cheek (though Fleur would never admit it, made the model extremely jealous) Fleur found herself strong enough to stand on her own, able to leave.
“Thank you for your hospitality.” Fleur said her foreign accent thick on her words. Weighing them down, making them sound forced. “Ils doivent penser que je suis absent.” She said noticing Twilight’s confused look, she must not be as learned in other cultures. “I have been gone some time, yes? They must have noticed.” she clarified slowly.
Now Twilight knew that she wasn’t as fluent in what Applejack would adamantly refer to as “Fancy” but she was able to understand the basics of the language. She felt she would have been able to understand what Fleur had said if she had not been talking quite so fast; a common occurrence to those “Fancy” talkers.
“Oh you can’t go yet!” Twilight said pulling her mind away from the clarification and self-questioning which the all too common bane of most intellects. “You must stay for breakfast!” she said remembering how emancipated the beautiful mare before her was; thinking of ways to get as much calories in something small as she could.
Fleur gave a small wince. It had been a long, long time since she had ever been “hungry”. When she was discovered by Fancy-pants she was rather young, and her body become the very center of her existence, and keeping her weight down so that she could maintain a “pony like none other” look had been her only goal. Over time Fleur had found herself completely losing her appetite to the point that she had people (under Fancy-pant’s instruction) to feed her very specific meals at very specific times. Or she may forget to feed herself completely. Fleur had to admit, to herself at least, that this was not the first time she had collapsed randomly. It was always such a nuisance... but usually Fancy-pants or one of her personal entourage was around her to make sure she would be looked after proper. The last time she had been forced to... eat more than what she subconsciously felt she needed to maintain her ideal body shape she had thrown up for hours. Even the thought of that evening brought the retching feeling returning to the back of her neck. It had been at a rather fancy dinner and the guests where all expected to complete their dishes. Just imagining the food Fleur could feel the ounces and pounds creeping back on her form; had the room had better lighting Twilight would have assuredly been able to see the dry sweat forming on Fleur’s brow.
“No, no, no. That is quite impossible.” she explained hastily trying to back out of a situation where she could damage her body’s image. Especially during “Fashion Mile” she had worked too hard to screw it up now, regardless of who she was dealing with. “They will take care of me back at my suite, “Servieurs, oui?”.
Twilight was shaking her head however, thankfully able to understand the choking accent that the other mare had. All of her “s”’s seemed to come out as “z”’s, and Fleur still managed to talk too fast for a normal pony to hear. No, Twilight was not about to let that happen. Fleur was currently her responsibility.
“Je suis desole.” Twilight said raising a fore hoof to Fleur’s right shoulder, pushing her down onto the table. A surprisingly easy task for a pony so physically weak; Twilight became truly terrified for just how weak the other mare was. “When they gave me all this equipment I took an oath to protect and heal those in need.” she said in her most proud of tones. Regular everyday pony or not, Twilight was an accomplished student... for some reason it made her feel more relaxed in Fleur’s presence to mention her accomplishments... trying to bring herself up to Fleur’s level she supposed.
Twilight had never had feelings like she did right now towards another pony. She was sure, logically of course, that it was because of how different and beautiful that Fleur was compared to the ponies that she had seen in all her life. If Twilight were to compare her beauty to any other pony she knew it could only be the Princess. A feat that Twilight had always felt would be unimaginable for any other pony to achieve. It made her feel very small and insignificant in comparison. She was not one of the upper castes; the high echelon was something she was pulled into at the insistence of her beloved teacher.
The gap between her and Fleur felt very massive... almost hopeless and it spawned a sense of...dread? Deep inside of her stomach, as if Spike had put a gemstone inside her food and it had crashed into her with a thud and sat there taking up space.
Applying pressure.
“I can’t just let you go until you’ve had something to eat.” Twilight said going around Fleur and the table to the counter where she would enjoy her meals when she was at the academy. Slowly magicking down an apple for herself she began to get some food for Fleur. “Nothing large... I promise.” Twilight mentioned as an afterthought. Hermit or not, she had spent enough time with Rarity to understand how difficult modeling was for someponies and that weight was something next to divine for them. But that was secondary to her health, that was all Twilight cared about at that moment; taking out a couple of slices of bread and some hay.
Fleur had moved up next to Twilight now sitting down a little ways from her companion. This was definitely not what she was expecting for her first meal in Canterlot. Looking about the room the crystalline unicorn took in all the books and dusty tomes that dotted the walls. While Fleur was looking around the room Twilight snuck some Alfalfa into the sandwich she was making for Fleur, it would help had a large amount of calories to the meal without being overbearing. Hoping that it would help give her the energy to prevent any more collapses.
Fleur looked back from the room to the unicorn magicking a sandwich. She was used to being served, but she very rarely saw the ponies that were busy providing for her. Silently she wondered if they all looked so intense and caring when making her dishes. “So, is this a...ah... bibliotheque?” she asked, attempting to tone down the regality of her voice; gradually coming to the awareness that Twilight may not be used to dealing with ponies of Fleur’s status.
Twilight blushed furiously in response; the blade she was levitating to cut the sandwich slamming down sharply almost cutting the plate in half. She made a small non-committed response and pushed the sandwich down the table to Fleur who looked at it with disdain.
“Pardon?” she asked, unable to hear what Twilight said.
“No, this is my bedroom.” she whispered feeling awkward at the implication (though at the same time glad). It would make her feel silly later on, but at the moment it was an embarrassing fact. Let alone the fact that she normally lived in a library, the fact of which seemed to be escaping her.
“Oh? How quaint,” Fleur said. Looking down at her sandwich, pondering it with every fibre of her being and all the implications it entailed. There was a loud, sucking squelch to the side as Twilight bit into her succulent red apple. Biting back any bile which tried to raise itself into her mouth Fleur focused on the sandwich. Lowering her head, since no utensils were offered, she slowly bit off a piece of the hay based snack. It was good, light enough not to weigh her stomach down enough to make her sick. Though she felt she wouldn’t be able to eat the whole thing. Twilight sat beside her, hoofs up on the ledge, the magic wrapped around her horn levitating her apple as she took another bite. Eyes never leaving Fleur.
She noticed that Fleur was having a hard time eating, hoping that the alfalfa’s flavour was not noticeable. After a few moments of silence Twilight had finished her apple and Fleur had half made her way through her sandwich... which was more than Twilight had expected. Though she looked absolutely full Twilight couldn’t help but notice a healthier glow in her cheeks, perhaps she would hunt down Fancy-pants and inform him that small amounts of alfalfa in her food would help her get needed calories.
Fleur blushed a little, Twilight was staring rather intensely. The feeling mixed with the food she had just eaten pushing her close to her limit again. Pushing her food away with her horn she stepped away from the counter feeling a little woozy from the amount of food she had eaten. That simple hay sandwich had tasted more delicious then most of the food that her servants bring her... and she had no idea as to why.
“Thank you for your aid.” Fleur said feeling sick again, just from overeating. Turning away she made her way to the mouth of the tower when a call came from Twilight.
“Would you like me to walk you back?” she sounded close, she must have followed Fleur. The model shook her head and took a step out into the light, it blinding her momentarily.
“No that’s fine. Again thank you, it means a lot to me.” she said without thinking shaking her head confused. It was no more than what she’d expect from any pony in the situation Twilight had been in. “I’ll see you tonight. Au revoir!” she called galloping down the ramp of the tower, legs strong now that she had rested and eaten.
Leaving Twilight there watching the beautiful mare disappear off into the courtyard contemplating the night and the entire situation; regretful that she had not been able to converse with Fleur on any kind of personal level. Even though the beautiful pony was gone Twilight still felt a deep pull on her stomach keeping her from relaxing fully, it was speaking now, gentle words into her subconscious, words that spoke a language that Twilight had never known before.
There would always be tonight.