//------------------------------//
// Colorful Companions, Perilous Pursuits 
// Story: Hood Rat 
// by Twinkletail 
//------------------------------//

Fleur's mouth was currently exploding.

Or at least it felt like it was. In a positive sense, of course, or as positive as the idea of exploding could get. In this case, it was incredibly, undeniably positive.

This was no "trendy dish." The trendy dish, while popular, was lacking in substance and taste. This dish—she didn't even know what to call it—was absolutely bursting with flavor. Every single bite was like a wonderful new experience, and had she not been such a classy mare, she could have easily seen herself eschewing any semblance of social graces to scarf it down with reckless abandon.

"How are you enjoying your meal, Miss Fleur?"

Fleur gave a polite smile to the pony speaking to her. Saffron Masala was the chef here at the Tasty Treat, and anypony who could cook something this delectable deserved the utmost respect. Despite this, she opted not to give an answer just yet. It was incredibly rude to speak with food in her mouth, after all.

"I'm pretty sure she loves it, Saffron!" Minuette assured her. "Nice seeing you out here, by the way! Usually it's just Coriander meeting the guests!"

"That is correct," came the voice of Coriander Cumin as he passed by. "But my daughter insisted on meeting the celebrity. The celebrity who will be recommending us to all her celebrity friends, yes?"

"Father!" Saffron exclaimed. "Please do not harass Miss Fleur! She is our esteemed guest!" Then she gave a nervous smile in Fleur's direction. "I am terribly sorry for my father, Miss Fleur. Although if you did wish to recommend us..."

"Oh, I'm sure she will!" Minuette responded, eliciting nods of agreement from Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Moondancer. "Isn't that right, Fleur?"

Fleur smiled to Minuette, a sweet and genuine smile. She had admittedly been a little skeptical about this lunch. It wasn't even the idea of being seen in public with ponies below her social class. That had been a point of contention for a short time, but she'd gotten over it. These ponies were a very enjoyable bunch, and perhaps being seen with them could have a positive effect on them rather than a negative effect on her. Besides, sitting next to regular ponies only made her beauty stand out that much more.

The real source of trepidation was the utter lack of hoof rating for this particular restaurant. A mare of her reputation simply did not patronize such low-class establishments. But here she was, and she had to admit that she did not regret it in the slightest. Even the staff was friendlier than in the places she frequented. This Saffron Masala in particular seemed like a lovely pony, both in attitude and in looks. She could probably make it in the modeling world if she wanted, Fleur idly thought. In fact, that thick mane and tail of hers reminded her just a bit of her sweet pink delight. Pretty as she was, though, Saffron didn't quite compare to the loveliness that was Pinkie Pie.

"See? She'll totally do it!" Minuette said, putting a foreleg around Fleur. Fleur rarely let others touch her so blatantly, but she allowed Minuette a pass. The smiles and laughter she'd been sharing with the group in their time here had ingratiated them to her rather well. She couldn't say that her outings with Mint were anything like this. They did share small smiles and occasionally a chuckle or two, but such laughter was muted so as not to bother others. No attempts were made by these ponies to silence their guffaws, and while Fleur had still opted to keep hers restrained, the urge to join in the volume of their jubilation was difficult to resist.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Fleur!" Saffron said, bowing her head in respect. "I cannot tell you how much your approval will mean!" Fleur delicately swallowed the food in her mouth and gave the chef a warm smile. She hadn't actually agreed to anything, and an approval of a restaurant with no hooves could potentially hurt her reputation, but after the delicious food and friendly service, she just had to let others know about this establishment.

"Think nothing of it, dear," Fleur said. "And please, call me Fleur. The formality is unnecessary." She briefly reflected on the words that had come out of her mouth. Denying a formal title was also not something that a pony of her stature tended to do. The looks of approval from the other ponies at the table, however, put her at ease about her decision. If Mint had overheard her, she very well may have spoken down to her for treating a common pony like Saffron as an equal. Mint, however, was not here.

"Of course, Fleur!" Saffron responded as she turned back towards the kitchen. "Thank you again!" Fleur smiled as she watched Saffron return to the kitchen. She was so used to using her status solely to help herself. Helping others with it was a very welcome feeling.

"You know, Fleur..."

All eyes turned to Moondancer as she spoke up. Of the ponies at the table, Moondancer had easily been the quietest of the bunch. She had mainly seemed content to sit back and listen to the others, laughing along when prompted but otherwise keeping the attention off of herself. In all honesty, Fleur was rather surprised that she had even come out, as she looked like the type to stay inside and read all day. Not that she would ever tell her this, of course.

"Yes, Moondancer?" Fleur asked, giving her a curious look.

"I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about this whole thing," Moondancer said, adjusting her glasses. "When the girls said this famous model was coming out to lunch, I kinda thought you'd be a major snob. But you seem to be a pretty down-to-earth mare beneath all the makeup and the fancy hat you're wearing."

Fleur was glad somepony had finally mentioned her hat. She was beginning to think that these ponies had little to no idea of what good fashion was.

More importantly, though—and that was saying a lot, considering how stylish and important her hat was—the acceptance of Moondancer, as well as that of the other ponies who nodded and murmured in agreement, touched Fleur's heart.

"Thank you, dear," Fleur said softly. "And thank you all for having me."

"Of course!" Minuette responded, patting Fleur on the back. "What are friends for?"

"You...consider me a friend?" Fleur asked. She didn't mean to sound quite as flabbergasted as she'd come off, but she was honestly taken aback by the idea. "Even after how cruel I have been to you?"

"Cruel?" Minuette asked, one eyebrow raising. "When have you ever been cruel to us?"

"When I denied your requests to accompany you on previous outings," Fleur answered. "By the way you reacted when I said yes this time, I could only assume that my earlier denials wounded you deeply, and I cannot tell you how sorry I am for those indiscretions."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and Fleur silently cursed herself for letting her feelings be known. Such endeavors were fairly uncommon for her, especially around Mint, and she began to fear that she had ruined everything. That feeling only lasted for a moment or so, as Fleur soon found herself distracted by laughter from the other mares at the table.

"Are you kidding?" Minuette asked, clearly not expecting an answer. "Fleur, we understand that you're busy a lot! And you were never mean or anything when you said no. So don't worry, okay? You've never been even the tiniest bit cruel. C'mere, silly."

Fleur watched as Minuette held her forelegs out towards her. Fleur hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the others. Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts gave her a little wave, while Moondancer just rolled her eyes and smiled. Fleur looked back to Minuette with a grin and leaned in, feeling Minuette's forelegs wrap around her. She returned the gesture, chuckling softly. Minuette's hug didn't quite compare to the warm, soft-yet-firm embraces that Pinkie was capable of, but a hug from a friend didn't have to be the perfect hug to be acceptable.

A friend. She liked using that term in reference to these ponies.


~~~~~~~~~~


"I hope you have all enjoyed your meal!" Saffron said as she set the bill on the table in front of the five mares.

"Oh, absolutely," Fleur said, smiling gently. "I cannot believe that I have never come here before. You run a fine eatery." The other mares murmured in agreement as Saffron's smile grew.

"Thank you so much, Fleur," Saffron said. "We hope you will all return!"

"Of course we will!" Minuette told her. "Heck, I might even come back for dinner!"

"Oh dear," Saffron said, smiling awkwardly. "I'm afraid we're actually closing early today. I have a prior engagement tonight, and father cannot cook and host at the same time."

"Aw, that's a shame," Minuette said as the mares began reaching into their bags for money. "Whatcha doing tonight?"

"I'm going to Ponyville," Saffron responded. "Pinkie Pie invited me to a big party she's throwing, and I would not miss it for the world!"

"Oh, right!" Minuette exclaimed. "I totally forgot that was tonight! We're going too, right girls?"

Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Moondancer nodded in agreement. Fleur, meanwhile, stayed completely silent. Of course they were going. They'd gone to the last one, or at least three of them had. Now that they were slightly better acquainted with her, the chances of them discovering her secret were drastically higher. She had to work harder to make sure her voice and mannerisms were completely different.

Unless she told them her secret.

These ponies were new friends. She could probably trust them to keep a secret...right?

"Fleur?"

That was what friends did, after all. They trusted each other and kept secrets for each other. Perhaps, with how they seemed to know Pinkie rather well, they could even help give her tips on how to win her over, all while keeping her secret from others.

"Fleur??"

Yes, that was what friends were for. It was a genius idea, and Fleur wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of it in the first place.

"Equestria to Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur was startled out of her revelation by the sound of Minuette's shout. If there was one thing she and Mint apparently had in common, it was the ability to call her back to attention when she was off on a mental tangent. Although Minuette's call seemed a lot more cheerful than Mint's demands.

"My apologies, Minuette," Fleur finally answered. "I was reflecting on how delicious this meal was." She watched Saffron smile graciously and felt absolved of any guilt she might have felt from lying.

"No problem!" Minuette responded. "We were just wondering if you wanted to come to Pinkie's party with us? It's gonna be a hoot!"

Fleur took a breath. This was it. The moment of truth. The moment where she bonded with her new friends by letting them in on her deep, dark secret.

"Oh my gosh," Lemon Hearts said. "Could you imagine how ponies would react if a fancy model like Fleur showed up for one of Pinkie's parties?"

Reality struck Fleur like a speeding locomotive. She could almost hear Mint's voice as an undertone to Lemon's, reminding her of the career suicide that was being seen at a commoner's party.

"I am afraid I cannot," Fleur lied. "My schedule is rather full tonight." A pang of guilt jabbed its way through Fleur's chest. Lying to these nice ponies felt far worse than lying to Mint. Mint's attitude helped to assuage the feeling of guilt, and sometimes even actually encouraged Fleur to be dishonest towards her. These ponies, on the other hoof, deserved better. Yet here she was, doing it anyway. She would let them know the truth in time. That time just wasn't right now.

"Aw..." Minuette lamented. "Well, maybe next time, huh?"

"Perhaps," Fleur responded. That wasn't exactly a lie, nor was it exactly the truth. In fact, Fleur wasn't exactly sure what it was. Time would tell, she figured.

"Great!" Minuette replied, apparently taking it as the affirmative. "Anyway, it was great having lunch with you! How about we do this again sometime, huh?"

"That would be delightful," Fleur said, glad to go back to telling the truth. "How about next Monday, hm? We could make a regular occurrence of it."

"That would be the best!" Minuette shouted, the other ponies nodding in approval.

"Wonderful," Fleur responded. "Then we shall meet again on Monday." She held one foreleg out for a gentle hug from Minuette, but was met instead with a group hug from all the ponies at the table. Fleur sighed happily and relaxed into it. She could get used to this.


~~~~~~~~~~


"On top of the world" was a rather appropriate way to describe how Fleur was feeling as she prepared for her trip to Ponyville. On any other day, a delicious meal in the company of good friends who didn't spend the entire time either being passive-aggressive towards her or active-aggressive towards others would have been the clear high point. Fleur counted herself blessed that she still had a party with the lovely Pinkie Pie to look forward to. Days that started like hers were not supposed to get better from there, and yet she was only a costume change and a train ride away from exactly that.

A slight frown crossed Fleur's face as she unearthed the shawl from its hiding place. Having a hiding place might have been an unnecessary precaution considering how rarely she entertained company, but one could argue that when walking such a thin, treacherous line, no precaution was too frivolous. It was still as ugly as ever, but such was the price of keeping one's identity a secret.

Fleur briefly considered the addition of a black bodysuit under the cloak, but decided against it as she began to get into costume. It was not exactly a cool evening, and she couldn't even begin to imagine how warm she would have been with it. Besides, it wasn't necessary. Even though this contrasted with the idea of no precaution being too frivolous, she knew for a fact that it was not needed. She had gone through the whole previous party without ever being discovered. She could easily have a repeat performance tonight. When one was as beautiful as she, one knew to be careful of wardrobe malfunctions. When one was as graceful as she, one was quite adept at avoiding them.

One by one, the ropes securing the cloak to her lithe form were tied, until Fleur's home was once again graced by the presence of Hood Rat. She took a few moments to revise and perfect her voice, not stopping until she was sure it was exactly the same as it had been on that first fateful night. Pinkie seemed like the type to remember minutia like the precise sound of somepony's voice, and any variation from the tone employed for the previous party very well might have been a dead giveaway that she wasn't who she claimed to be.

She had to tell her eventually though. Deep down, she knew that the charade could not last forever. One day, the time would come that she would have to drop the shawl, reveal her face and name, and admit her feelings for Pinkie Pie. That day would eventually come; of this there was no doubt.

When that day would come, however, was a different question entirely.

Hood couldn't even fathom how to reveal her secret identity to Pinkie, let alone when to do it. It had to wait for the right time and be done in the right way, but just how to determine what was right in both scenarios was a complete mystery.

But worrying about that could wait. Whatever the right time was, it certainly wasn't tonight. In order to be the right time, Hood had to have the right plan in mind, and she was woefully lacking in that area. Therefore, this was not the right time. The logic stood sound and true.

Hood spent a few moments with her eyes closed, getting fully into character. The voice was already good to go. The mindset took a little longer, but thinking about finding herself in Pinkie's forelegs once more was enough to get that train of thought pulling out of the station. Oh, how she missed that gorgeous specimen. It had only been a mere four days since she saw her last, but it felt like an eternity to the mare whose heart had been stolen by the bubbly party pony. Nothing could possibly stop her from galloping straight to the train station.

Except, perhaps, for the prissy green pegasus waiting outside her door.

Had Hood been paying attention, she likely would have seen Mint standing there and avoided walking right into her. Being as her mind was currently occupied by a deep longing for cotton candy-flavored kisses, Hood closed her front door and did a spectacular job of crashing into her. A loud squeal echoed across the street, and it was only thanks to Hood's quick acting and magical capabilities that Mint was saved from falling to the ground.

"Sorry about that," Hood said, setting the pony on her hooves. "I..."

Then she realized just who she'd bumped into.

Hood stammered in a very uncivilized fashion as she stared into the angry face of Fleur's friend. Ideas of just how to handle this situation raced through her head, concepts of how to explain herself that made varying degrees of sense. With any hope, she would quickly stumble upon one that actually worked before Mint had the chance to make things worse.

"Burglar!"

So much for not making things worse.

Normally, being mistaken for a burglar would have upset Fleur to her very core. Right now, though, Hood was in charge. Every single potential idea for explanations that had been flying through Hood's head vanished in an instant. There was only one course of action that she could envision taking right now, and while it wasn't exactly the best choice, its quality didn't matter right now.

Without a word spoken, Hood took a flying leap over Mint and took off running.

Hood thanked her lucky stars for two things. First off, she was thankful that Fleur made sure to take time to keep herself fit. Some models she knew only worked on their appearance and nothing more, but that wasn't her style. She frequented a nearby gym and spa to exercise and be pampered, and while she was no power lifter, her trainers often told her that she was stronger than she looked. Whether or not they were saying so in an effort to flirt with her was another story, but the fact remained that she was in quite good shape. Second, she was thankful that Mint fell into the category of "only worked on their appearance" and likely wouldn't keep up with her if she did give chase. Not that she would, of course. She didn't care much about ponies other than herself, and running would ruin her hooficure.

"Stop, thief!"

First off, Hood had underestimated Mint's level of fitness and concern for Fleur's possessions. Second off, she had forgotten about her wings.

Hood narrowly ducked the green and blue blur that attempted to grab at her, rolling to the side and back to her hooves before taking off running. For once, she was thankful for her shoddy cloak as it protected her flawless coat from the dirt that she'd rolled through. The last time she had gone out in disguise, Hood had been certain that ponies were avoiding even looking in her direction. This time, she found herself the center of attention, and not in the way that Fleur usually liked. After all, just the sight of a cloaked figure charging through the streets of Canterlot would have been enough to  raise a few eyebrows. When combined with an angry model in how pursuit calling her a thief, all eyes were on her.

Hood paid the other ponies no mind, save for when she was making sure to avoid running into one. Most ponies were dodged around, but a few required a leap over them if Hood couldn't decide which way to dodge. Nothing would stop her, not when the steady wing flaps of her pursuer rang heavy in her ears. The only thing louder than those flaps was the symphony of her own heavy breathing and quickened heartbeat. As she sweated under her oppressive mask, Hood found herself even happier that she had opted not to wear the bodysuit.

As Hood vaulted over a stack of boxes, she glanced back to see if she was still being followed. A fleeting blurred glimpse of the pegasus was quickly cut off by the top of the stack of crates she'd just leapt over. Always one to think quickly, she used this moment of being unseen to duck into the alley. Hood held her breath as she heard Mint's approach, her heart racing. Never would she have thought herself to be intimidated by Fleur's petite traveling partner, but somehow Mint had taken advantage of the scenario and become the most fearful thing on four hooves. Hood did not exhale until the blur had zoomed past. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped back out onto the street, only to see that Mint had turned around to see where she had went. One more shout of "Thief!" accompanied part two of the chase as Hood bolted.

A quick glance at the nearby clock tower set Hood's nerves on edge. The train she was to be catching was due to leave in exactly one minute, and it was incredibly uncommon for a Canterlot train not to leave on time. Hood had to think on her hooves, and thanked her lucky stars once again that she was quite proficient at that. She zigged and zagged down streets and avenues, hoping to lose her pursuer but finding herself woefully unsuccessful. Each turn brought her closer and closer to the train station, but she quickly realized that she'd made a slight miscalculation when she saw the wall of a building at the end of the street. The train's whistle sounded from the other side of the building, and Hood's heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

Fleur was normally not much of a risk taker. It was a good thing that she wasn't currently present as Hood took a flying leap onto the nearest stack of boxes. Another jump sent her hurtling towards an awning, and a final bounce-assisted jump from there left her careening over the top of the wall. Her momentum nearly sent her tumbling across the roof, but it was thanks to her natural grace that she was able to land running. Unfortunately, she now found herself on top of a building, and changing altitude was not exactly an effective way to dodge a pegasus.

"Get back here!" Mint shouted as she lunged for Hood. The edge of the building was nearing, but salvation in the form of the train could be seen a scant few yards away. Hood only had one option as she neared the edge. She didn't like it, but she didn't have much choice.

With a level of grace befitting of the pony she was but not of the pony she looked like, Hood took a flying swan dive off of the roof. A yelp from her pursuer could be heard, and the look of shock on Mint's face, despite being upside-down from her point of view, was an image that Hood felt would never be erased from her memory or Fleur's. As the ground neared, Hood quickly tucked her head, Fleur's fillyhood gymnastics training taking over and allowing her to take the brunt of the fall's impact on her shoulders. It stung a bit, but her positioning allowed her to roll through with ease. One final lunge once she rolled onto her hooves launched her through the train's doors just before they closed.

Ponies in the train car stared at her, but Hood paid them little attention as she pulled herself to her hooves. She quickly moved to the window, staring out at Mint, enraged that she had lost her prey. Hood found herself panting heavily, but even her exhaustion couldn't stop her from smiling an unseen smile and giving a taunting salute as she watched Mint and the train station fade into the distance. This whole debacle would surely cause her trouble when she arrived home, and she still had the eyes of the other traingoing ponies on her as she took her seat, but she would worry about her problems when she got home.

Right now, she had a party to attend.