//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Fashion Day // Story: Gems and Lilies // by HunterofStealth //------------------------------// "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up, Rarity," I said, waiting outside her door with Rain Bell beside me. "Are you even close to being finished?" I complained, wanting to see Fleur at the show. Rarity's voice came muffled from the other side of the door, but I couldn't make it out. Rain Bell leaned against the wall next to me while I paced back and forth in the hallway. "Amethyst, we still have a lot of time before the show starts. We'll get there in no time anyways, since it's right next to the hotel," Rain Bell pointed out. I kept pacing while Rain Bell looked on. Sighing, I sat down and turned to Rain Bell. "I know," I started, "I just... I don't know. I'll try my best to calm down." As I finished my sentence, Rarity came out looking very glamorous, all made-up and dressed in a fancy dress. Trust her to try to outshine the models. "Are you two ready?" She asked, seemingly oblivious to the fact that we were waiting for her. "Um, no," Rain Bell said sarcastically, before putting on her serious face. "We've been waiting for a while. Well, if nopony else needs anything, let's set off." Rarity and I nodded to her and we set off to the lobby of the hotel. "So, Amethyst. Are you excited for this fashion show?" Rarity asked, glancing in my direction as we stepped out of the hotel into the street. It was still bright out, though the sun was on its way down, turning the sky pink as it started to set. The usually busy streets in a more peaceful state as ponies trotted back home or waited in lines outside of buildings. We kept trotting to our destination.. Trying to keep my voice controlled, I replied, "Yes. It's actually my first fashion show that I've been to. My mom and I could never really afford the tickets to go to one and besides, I never liked the crowds as a filly. I still don't." "That's a shame," Rarity started. "I love fashion, as you can tell, and I've been to countless shows, whether to watch or because the clothes I've made are in there. I even got one of my friends into the modeling business. That didn't turn out so well for her though..." She trailed off with a frown on her face. "What happened?" Rain Bell asked. "Well long story short, I wanted her to go into the business, but she was shy and didn't want to do it, but did it anyways for me. In the end, I didn't realize it and was jealous because she was more popular than I, but in the end we found that out and became better friends because of it. Oh, look! There's the building the fashion show's at," Rarity declared, sticking her hoof out at a building down the street from us. I followed her hoof and saw it in the distance. It was a building with the same Canterlotian-style architecture and blended in with its surroundings except for the crowds around it. We walked up to the entrance, showing our tickets to the doorpony and entered. The lobby inside was crowded and had a white tile interior with several pieces of furniture placed around the room. Ponies of all kinds clustered into groups as they waited to be let inside to the main room where the show was to take place. Shortly after we walked in, the doors opened up and ponies filed into the hall to take their seats. We followed suit and found a place near the top of the room that gave us a view of the runway. "Oh, I do hope that there will be fantastic styles during this year's show. Last year's wasn't all that great as it could have been," Rarity said to us as the audience started to settle in. "From what I've seen so far, I don't think I'll be disappointed." A general hush went through the audience as the lights started to dim and music started to play through the room. Spotlights that I didn't notice before turned on and covered the runway in light. The curtains on the far side of the runway pulled back and a mare modeling a light brown jacket stepped up and started to walk down. She struck several poses, met with applause from the audience as well as me and my companions as she was replaced by several more models trailing behind her. An announcer pony spoke up from somewhere I couldn't see after the models stopped coming. "Those dresses were made by Lavender Delight, a wonderfully successful fashionista from Manehattan." Applause came from the audience at the mention of her name. Though I lived in Manehattan, I had never heard of her. "Now put your hooves together, because up next, we have Velvet Touch, hailing from Canterlot herself." Their words were drowned out by the applause before they could continue. "Her business has been booming ever since it started and is a prime model of success." "I think Fleur is taking part in Velvet Touch's showcase," Rarity pointed out, glancing at me. I met her glance. "What are you staring at me for?" "Oh, nothing," She replied, waving me off and pointing to the runway. "The show's back on." I looked back to the stage and saw a stallion sporting a fine suit that looked like it would cost a small fortune. I looked over at Rain Bell, only to notice that she was entranced by the stallion on stage. "Wow, he sure was a looker," Rain Bell stated, noticing that I was looking at her after the stallion walked back and another model replaced his spot. Narrowing my eyes at her, I replied, "I wouldn't know. Not really interested in stallions, remember? I'm sure Rarity would love to talk about him with you." Snorting, Rain Bell looked back to the stage. I brought my attention back to the runway noticing that the spotlights were focused on the curtains. Out stepped Fleur dressed in a ruby red dress of a simple yet elegant design with a sapphire blue trim. She looked, simply put, beautiful. Her mane was well done and no strands out of place. Her make-up was applied expertly, perfectly complimenting her eyes which I could all see from my spot far away. What I saw though that astounded me was the necklace around her neck. It looked familiar. Too familiar. Then it hit me. That was the necklace that I made for her. She chose to wear my necklace! I just wanted to squee from delight, but caught myself at the last second, settling for a huge grin instead. My piece is in the show! "What's gotten you so excited, Amethyst?" Rain Bell asked, noticing my grin. I just smiled back at her before I could even speak. "Fleur chose to wear my necklace that I made for her." "Well that's fantastic!" She replied, smiling back at me. I turned back to the runway to notice Fleur made it to the edge of the runway and started to strike several poses. The entire room broke out in applause, much louder than ever before and I was glad to join in that applause, my hooves clapping more than they ever had before in my life. I barely paid attention to the rest of the show, only clapping when appropriate. I just felt... well, elated. I could barely get past the fact that Fleur wore my necklace during the show. My mind just kept repeating, She wore my necklace! She wore my necklace!, the entire time as I stared off into space. I snapped back to reality when a friendly hoof nudged me in the side and I mumbled a protest. "You sleeping, Amethyst? Show's over," Rain Bell said, motioning to me that the crowds were walking back out to the lobby. "Are you still shocked that Fleur wore your necklace?" "What? Oh, yeah," Shaking my head clear, I got up and followed Rarity and Rain Bell out to the lobby where we found Fleur. She still had her make-up on and was still wearing my necklace. "Hello Fleur," Rarity said, waving a hoof to the supermodel. "That show was so much better than last year's," She announced. "The dresses, the models. Everything was so much better organized. You were fantastic too, Fleur." "Bonjour, Rarity, and thank you." Turning to us, Fleur greeted us, saying, "Bonjour Amethyst. Bonjour Rain Bell. How are you all?" "Hi Fleur, I'm fine," Rain Bell returned her greeting giving me time to compose myself. "Um, hello, Fleur. You looked beautiful on the runway!" I said, before I realized what I said, and blushed. Oh, she probably took that the wrong way... I mentally facehoofed myself. You had all that time to bring yourself together, but you mess up again. Giggling a little, Fleur responded, "Merci, Amethyst." "You should have seen her when you walked on stage," Rain Bell piped up, laughter sparkling in her eyes. "When she saw that you wore her necklace, she couldn't stop smiling" Oh, I'm going to have a chat with you, Rain Bell, I thought, feeling a lot braver in my mind than the real world, in which my blush turned a fiercer red. "It is a fine piece though, wouldn't you say?" Fleur said, glancing at the piece of jewelry hanging around her neck. A white stallion in a stylish suit walked up to us and waved to Fleur. "Hello, Fleur. Still hanging around? Who are your friends?" He said, an air of class clearly evident in his voice. She looked up from the necklace to face the stallion. "Oh. Hi there, Fancy. I didn't see you there. I think that you've already met Rarity before, but these are Rain Bell and Amethyst." Fleur gestured towards us. "Amethyst is the one responsible for making me the necklace that I told you about. I also invited them to come for the fashion show," She pointed out to Fancy. We greeted him, and he greeted us back. "The pleasure's all mine." He said, shaking our hooves. Who is this stallion? I thought to myself, before it clicked. Oh no! This has to be Fleur's coltfriend. Why else would they be so friendly with each other!? I felt my heart plummet from this revelation and a frown formed on my face. "Um, it's feeling a bit hot in here," I lied, trying to contain my emotions. "I'm just going to go sit outside for a while." "Okay. We'll meet up with you soon, darling," Rarity said as she glanced over at me. I forced a little smile at her as I hurried out the door. As I got outside, I noticed the streets had little to no ponies on them as the moon shed its pearly white light on them. I took seat on a bench not far from the building and tried to cool my thoughts. Pull it together, Amethyst. You don't need to break down in front of your friends. Besides, what were the chances that Fleur would be single. She's way out of your league. I could feel my eyes start to water when I felt a weight on the bench next to me. I turned my head and saw Rain Bell. "You okay, Amethyst?" She asked, looking a bit worried. I leaned my head into her and cried. She tried her best to comfort me, but it didn't help me. "I-it's... It's just not... f-fair," I mumbled through sobs. "Whats not fair?" Rain Bell asked, trying to make me feel better. I pulled my face up and looked at her. "T-the fact that F-Fleur's not single." I started to break out in another flood of tears and started weeping into Rain Bell again. "It's okay," Rain Bell patted my shoulder. "Are you even sure that she's taken? Have you even asked?" "N-no. Rain Bell, I... I love her." I said, not really thinking from my mind, but having my heart speak for me. Rain Bell took a moment to consider this. "I think that you need to tell her your feelings then. Preferably sooner than later. How are you going to have a chance if you never ask her?" I pulled myself away from her again, exhausted from crying "I just don't know what I'm going to do if she rejects me..." "I don't think Fleur would reject you. She doesn't seem like that kind of pony," Rain Bell started, then added as an afterthought, "But if she does, then you just move on with your life. I've done it before." "I-I... Thank you, Rain Bell. You're a really good friend," I said as I brought Rain Bell into a hug. "It's what friends are for," She said. Rain Bell looked over at the building and noticed that Rarity was walking outside. "We better catch up with her before she runs off without us." We got up and quickly trotted to Rarity. "Hey, wait up, Rarity." "Oh, so that's where you two were," Rarity turned to face us. "I thought you two had both gone back to the hotel room. Are you feeling better, Amethyst? You seemed a bit distraught when you left us. Fleur and Fancy were getting a bit worried about you, darling." "Yes, I'm feeling a lot better," I replied, though her pairing of the two together worried me a little. I'm just overreacting, I told myself. "I almost forgot," Rarity said, her eyes shooting up. "Fancy gave Fleur some time off so she's going to rent a hotel at Ponyville to spend with us since she doesn't have anything better to do. We're going to meet her at the train station tomorrow morning." "Give Fleur some time off?" I echoed, feeling a little confused, tilting my head at Rarity. Confusion appeared on Rarity's face as well. "Didn't you know that Fancy is Fleur's agent, darling? He's her uncle and got her interested in the modeling business since she was a filly. Her first fashion show was three years ago when she was nineteen back in Prance." "Oh," Was all I could muster. We started to walk back to the hotel as I thought to myself. Oh, you silly filly. You really were overreacting this entire time. Shaking my mental head, I thought of the better thing about this entire ordeal. At least I actually have a chance now! __________ As Rarity, Rain Bell, and I walked up to the busy train station, Fleur stepped up to us through the crowd. She waved us down, and we walked to her. "Bonjour. It's good to see you," She greeted us. "Are you ready to go back home?" We greeted her back and Rarity spoke up next. "Yes. It's been quite a while her in Canterlot. While I do love all the fashion, I'm certain that Opal is missing me." Rarity responded. I heard the loudspeaker in the background announce that the train departing for Ponyville had arrived. "We should probably get on the train," I pointed out, interrupting Rarity and gestured towards our ride. We embarked the train, finding a group of seats to settle down on and waited for everypony to get on. Soon after, the doors closed and we set off home. A trainpony came down the aisle asking for tickets. "So, Fleur. What are you planning on doing while you're in Ponyville?" Rarity asked, pulling out our tickets for the conductor as he walked up to us. Rarity passed the tickets to him as he asked for out tickets and Fleur responded. "I'm not sure. I'll probably just relax." She said as I grabbed my ticket and put it back in my bag. Rarity smiled at Fleur's response and spoke up, "Would you like to come to the spa with us," She started then turned to us, "If that's okay with you girls. I know I haven't said anything to you about this." "Um, when is it?" Rain Bell asked, a bit unsure. "Tomorrow is my only free day for a while before I have to start with some request that I have from customers. Is that okay with you?" Rarity asked. Rain Bell frowned and replied, "No. I have to work then. Ah well, I'm not much for the spa anyways, so don't worry about it" "I'm free, Rarity," I said with a smile. "I'll be happy to come with you and Fleur." I could barely hear Rain Bell gently laughing from the side of me and I shot her a glance. She had an innocent look on her face doing a near convincing job of it that I could believe. Almost. Don't think I forgot about what you said to Fleur I thought in my head. We are certainly going to have a chat soon. Rarity looked between us, confused for a second, before responding, "Well that's great that you can come, Amethyst. So do you want to come Fleur?" "Pourquoi pas," The Prench mare replied. "So where should I meet you two?" Rarity thought for a second before answering. "Um, we could always meet up at Carousel Boutique. Unless you know where it is of course." Fleur and I nodded to her and we all sat quiet for a while. I said that I loved Fleur last night, I started thinking to myself. Should I ask her out now? If I'm going to do it at all, I might as well do it now Trying to build up courage, I turned to Fleur and asked, "Um, Fleur?" "Oui?" She asked. My courage left me alone almost instantly for reasons I didn't know, leaving me scared and unable to continue. "W-would you... Um. Never mind. Forget I said anything," I said quickly, starting to blush and hide behind my mane for the umpteenth time around her. She looked at me a little puzzled for a few seconds and then turned to look outside the window. Rarity and Rain Bell looked towards me, exchanged glances between each other and nodded. I couldn't figure out what, but I guessed it was something to do with my predicament. I stared down at my hooves for the rest of the ride until I fell asleep __________ "Amethyst. We're at the station." Rain Bell nudged me awake from my sleep. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I groaned as I got up from the seat and followed her off of the train. "Ah, home sweet home. To bad I have to work tomorrow," Rain Bell said frowning. We met up with Rarity and Fleur, waiting for us to catch up to them on the station. "Well I'm going to get Fleur set up at the hotel and get back to the boutique. I'm going to guess that you two are heading straight for home?" Rarity asked as we stepped up to them. Rain Bell replied as I grabbed our bags that they had collected near them in my magic. "Yeah. I guess that I'll see you both around then." "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, right, Amethyst?" I nodded. "See you then." Rarity said, smiling. I waved at them, saying, "Later, Rarity. Bye, Fleur." They waved back and Fleur said her usual, "Au revoir, Amethyst." Rain Bell and I off for home, our bags in tow. Ponyville sat in it's usual tranquil self. A few ponies wandered around town going about their business. When we reached home, I noticed that we had some mail and grabbed it in my magic while Rain Bell opened the door stepping inside. I set my bags down in the hallway and walked to the kitchen setting the mail on the table to sort through it. "Junk, junk... What's this?" I said, looking at an envelope that caught my eye. I noticed that it was addressed to me in ink and I looked at the name on the return address. Noticing it was from my mom, I opened it up and read it. My little gem, it read. I grimaced at my mom's pet name for me and continued reading It's been a while since we've last talked to each other so I thought that I'd write a letter to you. I've been wondering how you are since you haven't responded to me like you said you would. I hope that you've been using the skills that I taught you. How do you like Ponyville? I know that you had trouble making friends here in the city so I hope that you've had more luck there. Well, make sure that you write back to me soon. Love, Mom. P.S. You're probably wondering how I knew to send the letter there. Well let's just say that the daughter of one of my friends saw you around Ponyville and let her mother know. I facehoofed myself for forgetting to write to my mom when I promised to her that I would. Rain Bell walked into the kitchen asking me, "Anything important in the mail?" She noticed my hoof in my face, then asked, looking a little puzzled, "What was that all about?" "I forgot to write to my mom," I said, walking out to the hallway, grabbing my bag that I had set down there, and continuing to my room. Putting my bag on my bed, I walked over to my desk and pulled out some ink and paper. Dipping my pen in the ink, I started writing. Dear Mom, I've been doing well. Sorry for not writing sooner, but I've been busy. Ponyville is much nicer than it was in Manehattan. I've made several new friends with some of the ponies here. I was lucky enough to be accepted for a job by Rarity, a famous dress-maker in Ponyville, which helped me set up my career. But that's not all! I... I paused for a second to collect my thoughts before continuing. I think I'm in love. I met this mare named Fleur de Lis from the job that Rarity offered. She's just perfect in every way. The thing is though that I'm scared of being rejected. I know that this is probably a surprise to you, since I never liked to talk about me liking mares before, but I'm certain that she is the one Love, Amethyst. I finished, reading the letter over once. After I was satisfied with the end result, I sealed it up and walked downstairs to put it in the mailbox to be picked up tomorrow.