//------------------------------// // The Ball? // Story: Tickling Somepony's Fancypants // by TheTalentlessPony //------------------------------// Rarity stood there, frozen at the doorway to the ball. A few days ago, she would've been excited, but at the moment, she was just nervous. "Rarity," Fleur De Lis muttered sharply, grabbing the purple-maned mare's attention. "Y-yes?" Rarity questioned, jerking her head to her friend. "I thought you liked balls?" Fleur De Lis asked in reply, smirking somewhat. "I-I do! ...The kind that you play catch with! Those are fun, and not at all nerve-racking in the-" "Rarity." She flinched at first, then sighed. "I know, I know. You promised to come in with me, right?" "That's right. I'll be right across the room if you need anything." Doesn't this feel familiar... Rarity gave a hesitant nod, then turned around and went inside. Scanning the room, she noticed a few stallions and mares who were slow-dancing together; obviously, that wasn't the reason she was here, so she kept her eyes moving. Eventually, her gaze fell upon the buffet table. Stallions were gathered around it, conversing about... whatever stallions converse about. She grinned wide, but tried her best to contain her nervous excitement as she walked up to them. "A-ahem. Good evening, sirs," she greeted casually as she half-closed her eyes. "Good evening," they muttered plainly. She pouted. They were clearly too absorbed in their conversation to even bat an eye at her. Best take things elsewhere I suppose... She frowned dejectedly and began to walk off, but halted as she heard one of the stallions speak to her. "Hm! You're that one mare, aren't you?" She turned and raised a brow. "I-I beg your pardon?" "Yes, yes!" another stallion said. "The mare at the garden party! We heard about you!" Rarity blushed slightly. She hadn't expected anypony to remember that nowadays. "Your friends caused a huge ruckus and nearly destroyed the entire party!" She squinted. "I'll have you know that my friends had never been to such an event before. They weren't used to the experience!" The stallions huffed. "Clearly." She was tempted to glare at them and bite back with a good yelling, but resisted; it wasn't ladylike, and she knew that she would only attract negative attention that way. "Well, regardless, they're still my very best friends, and I'll stand by them no matter what!" she told them. "If I were you, I'd never talk to them again!" one of the stallions said. "I'd never even be seen with them again!" That was it. Rarity knew that the stallions here were not even close to what she was expecting. "I see. There's no point in me wasting my time talking to you then," she muttered, moving past them to search for more stallions. The nerve of them, I swear... insulting my friends like that! She was becoming irritated. Her disappointment was growing by the second, and she had only run into a few of the stallions here! Would one decent stallion be too much to ask for? She frowned as she gazed at a table in front of her. Four stallions and a mare were sitting there. She debated on what to do at first, recalling her experience from only a minute ago, but then decided to go for it anyway. That's what she was here for after all, right? She approached the table cautiously, jumping slightly as the only mare at the table looked over to her. "A new face," she said softly. The stallions then turned their attention to Rarity, who tried to keep her cool. "Y-yes, that's right. See, I haven't been to Canterlot in a long while," she explained. "Are you here because you were invited?" a stallion questioned. "Correct again~" Rarity told them, pulling out her invitation. Technically, it wasn't a total lie. "Take a seat then. We were just talking about the latest designs." She grinned. Perfect; that was right up her alley! She hastily took a seat next to one of the stallions, gazing across the table at the mare. "The new suit changes, I assume?" she questioned. "Indeed. I heard that they're thinking about changing the fabric they use! Isn't that the most ridiculous thing ever? My husband tried the new clothing himself, and he was absolutely appalled by how it grazed against his skin! Completely unacceptable!" the mare ranted. "Absolutely!" Rarity joined in. "Changing fabric is something that is simply not done! The customers would be utterly confused when they buy the new apparel and find that it's different!" There was a short silence before one of the stallions raised a brow at her. She smiled sheepishly. "W-well, as a designer myself, I know these things," she told them. "Ohhh. A designer, hm?" a stallion asked. "Where have you set up shop?" Rarity grimaced. Out of all the questions they had to ask, why that one? She considered her response at first, then sighed and lowered her head, gazing at the floor. "...Ponyville." There was another short silence, but it was quickly interrupted by the sound of the ponies around her leaving the table. Thinking about it, she could've always played the 'I'm friends with Princess Twilight' card, but she knew that no one would believe her anyway. Another hit-and-miss for Rarity. Her ears went down. At this point, she didn't know why she kept getting her hopes up. Every stallion seemed the same. "One decent stallion... just one," she muttered halfheartedly. "Someone like Fancypants maybe." She blinked dully. Yeah, Fancypants. A stallion like him would be perfect; or at the very least, better than all of her recent finds. And speaking of recent finds... "You," a familiar voice said. She lifted her head, meeting eyes with a stallion she recalled all too well. "You," she huffed back. It was the stallion who had flirted with her when she was on Fancypants' idea of a 'speed-date'. "I'll make this quick," he told her. "I don't like being fooled." Rarity jumped a bit, remembering what she had done when she had been with him; shoving his appetizer into her mouth so he had to leave. Was she caught? "W-wait. How did you-" "Anyone invited here must have incredible manners; much better than the 'elegance' that you had on our little date." She bit her bottom lip. She really was caught... "W-well, I-" "I'll make this easy on you. Perhaps if you'd be willing to take a visit to my abode for a little while, I'll forget that our earlier encounter ever happened." Rarity glared at the stallion, holding her ground. "And if I choose not to?" she asked. She immediately regretted saying that. The stallion's gaze suddenly turned to one of rage. She had dealt with ponies like this before, and unfortunately, they weren't very pleasant experiences. "How dare you!" he spat. She flinched, then quickly scrambled off of her seat and galloped away as he gave chase. Oh no, oh no, oh no! She ran up the stairs of the stage, running past the musical ponies as she tried to swerve around them. She had hoped to lose the stallion that way, but she only heard the sound of ponies getting knocked over, the noise of rapid hoofsteps still ringing in her ears. She then dashed for the buffet, where the stallions standing there glared at her. She tried not to focus on them though and ducked under and through the table, promptly knocking it over. She headed for the door, but the enraged stallion wasn't affected by the tossed table dumping food all over him. He just kept chasing. She was becoming frantic at this point. She changed direction and rushed towards the crowd of ponies who had been dancing before. She pushed through them, hearing a lot of 'Hey!'s and 'Watch it!'s, but she knew that she didn't have a choice. She hoped to confuse the stallion this way. She turned left, right, and all around before exiting the crowd and running out the door. She still heard the hoofsteps behind her, but they were much more quiet now; he had probably almost exited the crowd however. Thinking on her hooves, she looked around for a place to hide. Unfortunately though, the area around her was near-barren besides a lone fountain. A lone fountain... ...Ohhh! I REALLY don't want to do this! Closing her eyes with great reluctance, Rarity took a deep breath and jumped into the water. Her ears stuck out slightly, but the walls of the fountain were tall enough to hide them. Using them to her advantage, she listened closely for the stallion's hoofsteps. They got louder at first, stopped, then slowly got quieter after a sharp huff from the angry pony. Whew. I think he's gone. She mentally breathed in relief, then slowly began to get up. As she heard more hoofsteps though, she quickly ducked back in. A pair of gentle hooves reached into the fountain, and she was suddenly pulled out, surprised and drenched. "Oh, Rarity! You're alright!" She coughed a bit at first before directing her attention to the source of the voice. "Fleur?" Fleur De Lis smiled at her, nearly in tears. "I was so worried that he was going to hurt you! I tried chasing after him, but he was way too fast for me!" she explained. Rarity was silent for a moment, staring into her friend's eyes, then lowered her head and sat on the fountain wall, letting out a sigh. "Well, don't worry; I'm alright." Fleur De Lis frowned. "R-Rarity..." "I suppose I should just give up. This whole experience had caused nothing but disappointment for me. Maybe I'm just not meant to have another pony to love," she muttered, closing her eyes. She felt Fleur De Lis' presence next to her, but didn't react in the slightest. "But aren't you always telling me that everypony has a special somepony?" "I was wrong." Fleur De Lis frowned, then slowly placed a hoof on Rarity's. "...I'm sorry..." Rarity confusedly stared over at her. "You didn't do anything..." "Yes. I did," she whispered, her tone full of guilt. "He... he told me not to tell you, but I simply can't watch him or you suffer anymore..." Rarity blinked in response. "Fleur, what are you talking about?"