//------------------------------//
// Planning in Pink 
// Story: Hood Rat 
// by Twinkletail 
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Pink.

She was delightfully pink.

Ponies had been pink before. Of this, there was no doubt.

But to place her in that category, to speak of her in the same breath as others fortunate enough to share a pigmentation with her, was akin to saying that there were ponies besides herself who were pretty. Amidst a sea of diamonds, Fleur was a perfectly-cut specimen, and Pinkie Pie was...a similar analogy in regards to pinkness. She wore the color as none before her did, as those others could only dream of doing.

Fleur's own mane was pink. Her tail as well, as those things tended to work out. They were both absolutely beautiful, even stunning. But even they did not carry the same vibrant pinkitude as Pinkie Pie did. She was the kind of pink that just made one smile relentlessly, as Fleur was rather sure she'd been doing for most of the trip home.

And it wasn't just her pinkocity that filled Fleur with a peculiar sense of jubilation when thinking about her. Her sheer vivacity was impressive, and her own gleeful energy positively infectious. She did not possess the same grace as a model of Fleur's stature, or at least she didn't in the same fashion. She had a grace all her own; she seemed to be in perfect control of every inch of her body at all times. Not everypony could claim that, but she could tell just from the way that Pinkie moved that she was one of the fortunate. Plus, it didn't hurt that she was more than easy on the eyes. Her form, while admittedly a smidge on the pudgy side, was pudgy in just the right places. And those eyes...those soft, baby-blue eyes that just drew her in, leaving her unable to speak.

Pinkie Pie was beautiful, in body and in spirit. And Fleur needed to see her again.

"Fleur de Lis! I am speaking to you!"

Fleur blinked and turned to her right. She wasn't quite sure how long Mint had been attempting to get her attention. As a matter of fact, she didn't even remember stepping onto the train, though it was clear from the fact that she was sitting on it that they had indeed done so. Either way, she felt it was probably prudent to respond to Mint immediately, lest she frustrate her further.

"Please accept my apologies, Mint," Fleur said. "I was a bit distracted."

"Clearly," Mint replied, rolling her eyes. "And what, exactly, had you so distracted that you could not speak at all on the way here, let alone answer me now?"

Fleur briefly considered telling Mint exactly what she'd been thinking about, but decided against it. She was unsure of how Mint would react to her thought patterns, and figured it safer to lie.

"I was thinking about how fantastic we shall look in these dresses, my friend," Fleur answered coolly. "The designs are exquisite, are they not?" Fleur considered herself to be quite adept at lying and subterfuge; such talents were necessary for the modeling world, where connections could be made or broken by the right or wrong thing said to the right or wrong pony.

"Mmm, they certainly are," Mint replied, buying into Fleur's fib hook, line, and sinker. "Rarity does a marvelous job. One would never know of her commoner upbringing by the quality of her work."

"Mmm," Fleur answered, noncommittal. She still wasn't too keen on Mint's assessment of the lower class, but it was far easier to appear to agree than it was to attempt to dissent. Then she looked at Mint thoughtfully. "Do you know Rarity well?"

"Not terribly well," Mint replied, the shake of her head tossing her mane ribbons about. "But we have had pleasant conversations."

"And what about her friend?" Fleur asked, doing her best to make it sound like a random question, rather than one whose answer was quite important to her. "Pinkie Pie, I believe her name was?"

"Pfeh," Mint answered, turning her nose up. "Why would I deign to associate with such a common, uncouth sort?"

Fleur's upbringing, as well as her training to pursue this career path, allowed her to hide her disappointment behind a wall of serenity. She couldn't claim to have not seen that reaction coming, but she had gambled on a glimmer of hope and lost. Her mind worked as quickly as possible to come up with a good method of recovery, and she smiled lightly to herself as a quick glance at the party invitation in her bag provided one.

"I assumed you were at least somewhat acquainted with her," Fleur said. "She seemed rather happy to extend invitations for her party to us, and I have only encountered her once."

"Watch your tongue, Fleur de Lis," Mint said haughtily. "That pony is not deserving of my attention. Besides, you seem to have garnered the brunt of her attention, based on the way she spoke. Isn't that correct, miss " really pretty?"

Fleur was unable to read the exact intent behind Mint's statement. It was possible that she was merely saying that to deflect the allegations of fraternizing with Pinkie to her. Or perhaps there was some scorn behind her words, pointing out how Pinkie had designated Fleur as "really pretty rather than herself. Or it could have been a bit of both.

Whichever it was, though, Fleur cared not. Pinkie, that wonderful pink vision, had called her really pretty. She had heard such compliments many times from many ponies, but none had halted her quite as this instance had. Fleur closed her eyes, thinking about how nice it would be to be in her presence again, to be complimented on a regular basis by the little pink sweetheart. Pinkie would lavish her in compliments, and she would sit back and enjoy every moment of it, even going so far as to return a compliment here and there. Perhaps even more than here and there; she was a sight to behold, and Fleur could imagine that sweet little smile growing each time Fleur told her how gorgeous and wonderful she was. That smile...she yearned to see that smile again, to fuel it and smile herself as she bathed in the energy of the sweet smile that, at those moments, was meant only for her...

"Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur sighed lightly to herself as Mint's voice chased her pleasant thoughts away. Such an event would have caused her to frown, but doing so would have created unsightly lines in her flawless face, so her displeasure would have to be expressed in another fashion.

"My apologies once again, Mint," Fleur said, fiddling with the invitation in her bag.

"I do hope you will be less distracted when we attend Upper Crust's soirée this evening," Mint said, a hint of venom in her tone. "Ignoring me is bad enough. Doing so to Upper Crust and Jet Set would be completely unacceptable."

Fleur had to battle to keep the frown off of her face. The more she thought about it, the less inclined she was to attend the soirée tonight. She vividly recalled enjoying herself at the events in the past, but something about the idea of spending all that time engaged in conversation with the elites of Canterlot did not sound quite as appealing this time around.

Fleur began to think that she was only "enjoying" the events because she was expected to. The more she thought about it, the more difficulty she had pinpointing a moment during any of these vaunted social events where she had really and truly enjoyed herself. The majority of her time was spent caught in conversation with the other guests, often speaking about topics that she only now realized were quite uninteresting. One could only stand so many stories from the hosts about their latest purchase, and Fleur was rather positive that her limit had been reached.

But Fleur was a rich, privileged model from Canterlot. This was the social scene that she was meant to participate in. Hobnobbing with the elite was the burden that she was meant to bear in exchange for her position. She stared down at the invitations wistfully; she was not aware of what half of the things that Pinkie had described as taking place at her party were, but for some reason, they sounded intrinsically more entertaining than what her night had in store. She glanced up at Mint, trying to put her thoughts into words that would hopefully not reveal her intents.

"It is still nice of her to have invited us," Fleur said. "Perhaps we might attend a different event of hers at some point? I am sure it would delight her to have celebrities in attendance."

"Are you out of your mind?" Mint snapped. "Appearing at a common pony's silly party is career suicide. If the tabloids got word of a pony of our stature doing such a thing...why, they would become the laughing stock of Canterlot!"

Fleur's hopes sank even further. As badly as she wanted to be in the presence of Pinkie Pie again, she wasn't sure that she could bear to risk her profession. Money wasn't the issue; she was certain that mumsy and pop-pop would support her financially until she found a new career if such a thing were to happen. They certainly had the bits to spare. The true problems were the hits that her fame and her happiness would take. She had been named in numerous magazines as the industry's hottest up-and-coming model, even before her big gig with Fancy Pants a while back. She couldn't dream of losing all of that; the public eye was far too alluring to fall out of. Plus, she could think of no other job that she could possibly enjoy more. Nothing could make her happier.

Except Pinkie Pie.

Fleur had the strange suspicion that Pinkie could make anypony happy. Nopony could possibly resist that warm, infectious smile. If Fleur could be positive that she would be able to bask in Pinkie's effervescence as much as she wished, that would be all the happiness she would ever need. If only there were a way to get closer to that pink delight without ruining her reputation...

Fleur's eyes lit up. Or, to be more accurate, they showed the slightest hint of happy discovery while not going overboard on the emotional front. Exaggerated expressions, after all, were a telltale sign of a poor model. She took a small breath, then delicately lifted one front hoof to her chest and let out a petite cough.

"My word..." Fleur said, adding the slightest bit of hoarseness to her voice. "This is quite bothersome..."

"What is it?" Mint asked, sounding much less concerned than her query would suggest.

"I do believe I might be coming down with something," Fleur replied, adding another tiny cough for good measure.

"That is quite bothersome," Mint sighed. "It must have been from one of those assistants. I knew I should have requested full physicals for them before taking them on."

Fleur masked the roll of her eyes by closing them as she let out another cough. She took a mental note to remind herself to write in to the company that employed  these assistants. After all, the team, who had stayed with Rarity as part of a business arrangement, had done a fantastic job. They deserved commendations for their work; something that they stood no chance of receiving from Mint.

"Perhaps." Fleur said, not wishing to argue at the moment. "I believe I may have to skip out on the soirée after our job."

"You're skipping Upper Crust's soirée?" Mint asked, positively aghast. "The most revered social gathering of the season? Are you mad?"

"No," Fleur replied calmly, making sure to keep the slight rasp consistent. "But I believe Upper Crust, Jet Set, and all of their other guests will be mad if I were to attend and get them all sick. Why, how would Canterlot function if all of its upper-class was infirm?" The unicorn barely managed not to wince as she finished this sentence. It was the closest thing to talking back to Mint that she had done in a while, and she fully expected an outburst any minute now. Sure enough, she watched Mint's sneer begin to appear, but found herself relieved as it faded.

"I suppose you're right," the pegasus replied. "I'll make sure to explain your absence properly."

"Excellent," Fleur rasped. "Thank you ever so much."

It took every ounce of Fleur's acting ability to conceal her excitement over her idea and keep her fake illness believable. The unicorn thanked her lucky stars that mumsy and pop-pop had enlisted her in acting classes as a child, or else her perfect plan may have been ruined. While she had been looking forward to this modeling gig earlier in the day, now she wanted nothing more than for it to be over. Soon, she would be in the presence of that wonderful pink mare again.