//------------------------------//
// The Perfect(er) Party Plan 
// Story: Hood Rat 
// by Twinkletail 
//------------------------------//

"Soooo...I'm still not sure I understand your plan here, Fleur."

Fleur supposed she could understand where Minuette was coming from. Other ponies might have opted for a far more direct way of proving themselves to the one they desired most, especially after botching the initial plan so badly. In fact, many ponies would have looked at said botched plan and been apprehensive about executing another one. Complicated plans would have been thrown right out the window by less-daring ponies, and Fleur herself would most likely have eschewed such an idea herself in the past.

It was accurate to say that her time courting Pinkie Pie had somewhat altered her way of thinking. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have always chosen the safest route to solving a problem. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have viewed danger as unnecessarily and gone about things in the simplest way possible. Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have spat on the idea of thrill–metaphorically, of course, as spitting was quite unladylike–and approached whatever difficulties life gave her with caution.

And Pre-Pinkie Fleur would have never gotten the opportunity to go after Pinkie.

It wasn't the most convoluted plan in the world, but it was a far cry from the plain and safe options that she could have taken. Still, she could comprehend Minuette's lack of comprehension, as well as the looks of uncertainty on the faces of the others.

"It is quite simple, really," Fleur explained, glancing back as she walked to give the group a patient smile. "As you all know, I have asked Pinkie Pie to throw me a party here in Canterlot."

"I don't think you have to explain that part," Moondancer said dryly. "Considering that's where we're all walking."

"I suppose not," Fleur responded. "But I included it for the sake of exposition. I was asked for explanation of my plan and that is part of the explanation."

"C'mon, Moony, let her finish," Lemon Hearts said, giving her a nudge. "I want to see where she's going with this." Twinkleshine quickly nodded in agreement, and Moondancer gave a little roll of her eyes as she let Fleur speak.

"For the record," Mint Vogue whispered to Moondancer, "I feel the same way." Moondancer's silence was now a result of both the request to do so and the surprise that the usually-prickly Mint had spoken to her in such an agreeable fashion.

"Anyway," Fleur continued. "In addition to you girls and Pinkie's friends, I have made sure to invite many members of Canterlot's upper class."

"What?" Saffron Masala exclaimed, her surprise echoed by the looks on the faces of the others present. "But the members of the upper class are very set in their ways! A Pinkie-style party would never sit well with Canterlot's elite!"

"Precisely," Fleur responded, her grin achieving maximum levels of cheekiness. A confused silence spread throughout the group before Mint finally spoke up.

"Fleur, darling," Mint said, approaching her friend as gently as she could muster. "I have all intentions of backing you up in your endeavors, no matter how much I think they are beneath you. But as a friend, I must tell you that you seem to have lost your mind." The others looked to each other cautiously. None of them were willing to speak quite as boldly as Mint had, but a general feeling of agreement was evident.

"Please, hear me out on this," Fleur asked of the group. "Yes, Canterlot's elite will not care for such a party, and will likely scoff at it. That, however, is exactly what I want."

"Why would you want that?" Twinkleshine asked. "That could have a severe impact on your reputation!"

"Exactly," Fleur said with a smile. "You see, my original mistake was making Pinkie think that I cared more about my reputation than I did about her. If I am willing to show her that I would put everything I had in jeopardy just for the chance to be with her, then she will know that my feelings for her are true."

"And if it still does not work?" Mint asked. "I can only put in so many good words for you, Fleur de Lis. I will have your back if ponies wish to tear you down, but I can only do so much. If you are laughed straight out of your profession and emerge with no Pinkie Pie to show for it, what then?"

A lump, roughly the size of a golf ball, formed in Fleur's throat. She had certainly thought of that possibility, but hearing it verbalized in such a way gave her pause. She had worked so very hard to get to where she was in her chosen profession. Countless hours and bits had been spent to assure her spot near the top of the modeling world. To lose it all was tantamount to a slow and painful death, to dream of a life outside of modeling nigh impossible. If this attempt to woo Pinkie not only lost her her livelihood but failed to win Pinkie's heart, what would she do with her life? Was the chance to win Pinkie's heart worth everything else she had created for herself?

A new thought invaded Fleur's mind: was it worth it to never know if her idea would work?

Everything she had done in the past few weeks had been leading up to this very moment. All the risks she'd taken, all the plans she'd made, all that time spent wearing that disgusting cloak...every last bit of it was done to achieve her end goal of winning Pinkie Pie's heart. She couldn't back out now. To do so would mean that all her efforts had been wasted. Perhaps her plan did run the risk of severely damaging her reputation, but even in the worst case scenario, she still had her friends and family to fall back on. And as far as Fleur was concerned, there was no worst case scenario. Her natural confidence began to show through once more, thawing the icy bleakness that had frozen her in place. This plan was perfect. That earlier plan had seemed perfect and failed, but it would not happen again. Her mind had been tricked into ignoring the first plan's imperfections, but there was no trickery going on here. This was sure to succeed, and by the end of the night, she would once again find herself in Pinkie's forelegs, snuggled up against that beautifully curvy frame, smelling the sweet scent of cotton candy as that pink delight nuzzled up to her and whispered of the not-so-innocent things she wished to do...

"Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur snapped out of it as all six ponies in her little entourage called her at the same time. She really needed to stop spacing out like that.

"You really need to stop spacing out like that," Minuette said with a little smirk.

"Indeed," Fleur agreed. She really did.

"You still have not answered my question," Mint said. Even with her change in demeanor, the irritation over Fleur's daydreaming was still visible in her eyes. "What if you risk everything and still do not win Pinkie Pie's heart?"

"A life without risks is a life unlived, my friend," Fleur said, her smile matching the serenity that her mind had discovered. "No matter where I fall, it shall be on my hooves."

"Then I am afraid you have finally fallen off the deep end, Fleur de Lis," Mint replied simply. Then she rested a wing on her back. "And you should thank your lucky stars that these other mares and I are here to help with your landing."

"I do," Fleur said, a peaceful sigh escaping her lips. "Every day, I do."


~~~~~~~~~~


Fleur stared up at the Stellar Eclipse Banquet Hall, resplendent in its glory. It was only by the grace of her incredible luck that she had managed to find a hole in the establishment's busy schedule, and she couldn't help but wonder what the workers would think of the party that was taking place in their halls. Pinkie's style of party was certainly different from the hall's standard fare, and Fleur wagered that they had likely never seen anything quite like it.

"So what did you want us to do anyway?" Minuette asked, also staring up at the banquet hall. "How are we supposed to help?"

"I only ask one thing of all of you," Fleur said, smiling back to her friends. "Enjoy yourselves. I may need some moral support at times, but for the most part, you are here simply to have a good time."

"Great!" Minuette exclaimed, bouncing lightly on the tips of her hooves. "I love having a good time!"

"And it should be rather easy, being as we will be attending a Pinkie party," Fleur assured her. Then she glanced over to Mint, who was looking quite unsure of the situation. "I know these parties are not typically your style, Mint. But I promise that it will be a good time. And if you somehow do not enjoy yourself, I will make it up to you."

"I certainly hope so," Mint said, rolling her eyes. "The mere thought of what will be going on in there is already making me uneasy."

"Thank you for doing this for me, then," Fleur said, giving her a gentle smile. "Your sacrifice is appreciated." With that, she approached the front door of the banquet hall.

Fleur might have only been to a few of Pinkie's parties, but she figured the small number that she had attended were enough to have a good idea of what typically went on during one of them. One of the staples of a Pinkie party, as far as she was aware, was the ever-present dance music that boomed from the sound system. Such music tended to be audible even from a house or two away. Right now, however, such music was conspicuous in its absence. Fleur couldn't come up with a reason for this. They had made sure to arrive fashionably late, so the idea of the party not having started yet was out. It was possible that the doors were noise-cancelling; Fleur had never heard of an event in the building which put that into question before. This managed to be an argument both for and against the possibility, as she could find no reason for the banquet hall to have noise-cancelling doors in the first place.

"Is something wrong?" Saffron asked.  Fleur's typical ability to hide her emotions behind a mask had apparently failed her.

"Oh, I am sure everything is fine," Fleur replied. "It just surprises me that I cannot hear the party music from here. But I am sure there must be a good reason for that."

"It's good to see you so optimistic!" Minuette said with a smile. "I mean, I probably would have been stressing about something being wrong by now, and I like to think I'm pretty optimistic myself."

Minuette's words didn't help, but Fleur returned her smile anyway. Her heart was in the right place.

"Well then," Fleur said, looking the group over. "Is everypony ready to party?"

"Yeah!" shouted most of the group.

"I suppose," Mint replied.

"Excellent," Fleur said, lighting her horn up and opening the doors. "Then let the fun..."

"Begin" was the intended word for the end of Fleur's sentence. As it turned out, a stunned silence stopped "begin" from ending it.

The sight before Fleur's eyes was like nothing she'd expected, but it held the unfortunate position of being everything like she was used to. Conspicuous in its absence was absolutely everything that she had come to love from Pinkie's parties. Conspicuous in its presence was everything that Fleur would have expected from one of Jet Set and Upper Crust's soirées. Where Fleur was expecting streamers and party balloons, she instead saw drab, undecorated walls. A single ice sculpture of a swan stood next to a table, but those were commonplace around such soirées. The loud music she'd grown accustomed to hearing at Pinkie's parties was replaced by a live orchestra playing the same few bars of dull music over and over again. The middle of the room was not filled with dancing ponies, and was instead home to a number of ponies casually chatting about their latest investments. The delicious snacks she'd hoped to see were nearly nonexistent; a small bowl of cherries was the closest thing to a filling snack there, everything else bearing resemblance to the current "fancy dish" that was currently inhabiting every three-hoof restaurant in Canterlot. None of it matched her expectations in the slightest; it was as if somepony other than Pinkie had thrown the party. But that couldn't be possible, because there Pinkie was on the other side of the room, smiling and watching the goings-on as her friends hovered around her. Most held awkward smiles, while Rainbow Dash looked bored out of her mind.

"My goodness, Fleur," Mint cooed as she walked around the group of surprised ponies. "If you had told me it would be this kind of social event, I would not have been so reluctant."

"Th...this is not what I wanted..." Fleur stammered.

"I dunno, Fleur," Minuette said, offering an awkward smile. "This is still...pretty cool?" The others shared her awkward smile, chattering quietly in forced agreement. Fleur, however, was unflappable in her shock.

"I must talk to her..." Fleur responded. Without another word, the supermodel made haste across the room, deftly stepping around hobnobbing socialites and stuffy waiters serving boring hors d'oeuvres as she closed in on her target.

"Pinkie Pie!" Fleur exclaimed as she approached the pretty pink hostess. Any other words she had intended to say got caught in her throat as she took a closer look at the outfit Pinkie was wearing. Her adorable frame had been bundled into a cute little black maid's dress with a bit of white lace on the front and a pretty purple bow on the small of her back. A frilly little maid's headpiece complemented the dress, and the sleek black stockings on her hind legs tied it all together.

Had Fleur been in her right mind, she would have likely noticed that her jaw had fallen open in a very unladylike manner. That, however, would have required her to divert some of her attention away from the beautiful sight that was Pinkie Pie. At the current juncture, removing any attention from Pinkie was not only suboptimal, but nigh impossible.

"Hi Fleur!" Pinkie said, giving her a friendly smile. Fleur found herself further enchanted by the way Pinkie's cute little head tilt caused her curly mane to bounce. There was not a single square inch on that pony that was not loaded to the brim with loveliness. Perhaps she had not seen every square inch–the thought caused Fleur's mind to wander worse than ever–but she was rather confident in that assumption.

"Are we having a staring contest?" Pinkie asked. "I mean I don't mind but usually you warn a pony about these things!"

Fleur normally would have broken out of her daydreaming at this point, but this time she was too far gone. Pinkie's uniform had invaded her mind like some sort of adorable parasite and was not looking to relinquish control any time soon. Her current role in the scene had been reduced to breathing and blinking.

"I win!" Pinkie exclaimed, pride emanating from her as if she was some strange manner of radiator that gave off emotions instead of heat. "So whatcha think of the party? Great, right?"

Fleur attempted to speak, but all that came out was a tiny squeak.

"Oooo, I know a satisfied squeak when I hear it!" Pinkie cooed, smiling from ear to ear. "To be honest, I was kinda worried I couldn't pull it off."

"Why?" Fleur attempted to ask. It came out more like "whuh," but Pinkie seemed to interpret it correctly anyway.

"Weeeeell," Pinkie mused. "I mean, I'm kiiiiinda used to throwing big loud parties with games and dance music and streamers and stuff..."

Every synapse in Fleur's brain wanted to activate and make her ask Pinkie why she hadn't done that and explain that a big loud party was exactly what she wanted. The overload left her incapable of forming a single word.

"Buuuut," Pinkie continued. "You're a fancy Canterlot pony and you wanted a party for other fancy Canterlot ponies at a fancy Canterlot banquet hall! And that got me thinking..."

Fleur managed to raise a hoof to try to get Pinkie's attention, but it went entirely unnoticed. The first rule of Pinkiedynamics, after all, stated that a Pinkie in motion tended to stay in motion.

"Obviously all the ponies at a party should be having fun," Pinkie stated. "And when I tried to make fancy Canterlot ponies have fun at the Grand Galloping Gala, they all got pret-ty frowny. And frowny is like the total opposite of fun!"

Fleur attempted to interject once more, but continued to find herself incapable of speaking. Now, however, it wasn't entirely due to Pinkie Pie's proliferous pulchritude. That still factored into things, but realization of Pinkie's mindset was slowly starting to sink in.

"The point of a party is for the ponies at the party to have fun," Pinkie stated. "And just because I don't get why all this stuff is fun doesn't mean that it's not fun for other ponies! So Pinkie Pie Productions is proud to present your perfect prissy pony party!"

"Woohoo," Rainbow Dash droned from behind Pinkie. A quick glare from Rarity quieted her down.

Fleur took a deep breath. Her stupor had gone on for far too long. She had to tell Pinkie what she was thinking immediately. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice abandoned her once more as Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around her for a gentle hug. It might not have carried the deep emotions that Fleur desired, but being in that warm embrace once more, the embrace she thought she might never again experience after how badly she had messed up at the last big party, left her at a loss for words. It took every ounce of her willpower not to drape herself over the sweet pink delight, to give herself up completely and let Pinkie lay claim to her. The concept of allowing herself to be reduced to a mere possession almost seemed completely acceptable if it meant she could be hugged like this that much more.

"Thanks for asking me to do this," Pinkie said. "It might not be my cup of tea, but this Canterlot party looks to be a success!" Fleur thanked her natural grace for allowing her to catch her balance just in time as Pinkie released her from the hug. Faceplanting onto the floor would have been just the slightest bit embarrassing.

"Ouh!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. "I should go talk to some of the other guests! Have fun, Fleur!" With that, Pinkie trotted away, leaving Fleur dumbfounded. It was practically unnatural watching Pinkie move without her signature pronk, and her change in behavior upon approaching a partygoer and member of the Canterlot Elite was even more jarring. It was as if another pony had taken over her body. In an instant, she went from perky, ebullient Pinkie to prim and proper hostess. It was obvious just from looking at her that it was a struggle to suppress her natural vivacity, but she handled it with style and aplomb. While Fleur couldn't help but admit that seeing Pinkie adapt this well to high society was intriguing–and also perhaps a bit of a turn-on–it just wasn't the Pinkie Pie she was expecting or hoping to see tonight. Not sure what to do, Fleur returned across the room to her friends, looking rather defeated.

"What happened?" Minuette asked as Fleur approached.

"She...thinks this is the type of party I wanted," Fleur answered. "The typical Canterlot party."

"Well did you tell her it wasn't?" Moondancer asked.

"I tried," Fleur said, cheeks coloring lightly as she thought about just what had distracted her. "But I could not get it out."

"Well...do you have to?" Lemon Hearts asked. Fleur gave her a quizzical look, and Twinkleshine quickly stepped in to back her up.

"She seems pretty happy," Twinkleshine said.

"And she hugged you," Saffron added. "That's a very good sign, is it not?"

"So maybe it's best to just take that as a small victory?" Moondancer finished. "You already apologized to her for what happened at her other party and admitted your feelings to her. She seems pretty happy with you now. Not everything has to be a grand gesture. Sometimes baby steps are better."

Fleur fell silent as she considered her friends' words. When she had gone under the hood, she had been taking baby steps towards wooing Pinkie, and things had been going rather well, despite the basic flaws in her plan that eventually led to her downfall. It was only after the grand gesture of revealing herself, however, that her true failure had shown itself. Perhaps her friends were right, Perhaps it really was time to step back and take things slowly, rather than being extravagant and trying to receive instant gratification.

"Oh, nonsense," Mint said as she rejoined the group. "I must admit that you ladies are an acceptable sort, but with all due respect, Fleur and I are supermodels. We thrive on grand gestures. Our entire lives are grand gestures."

Mint and the others continued to discuss the merits of their proposals in a civil manner, but Fleur had already checked out. Something about Mint's choice of words had really resonated with her. Perhaps the baby steps had worked better earlier, but the fact remained that she was more accustomed to grand gestures. Baby steps–in this area, at least–were the tactic that Hood Rat had employed, and Hood Rat was no more. If she wanted to truly win Pinkie's heart, it had to be in a manner that fit in with who she really was.

And it so turned out that Fleur knew exactly what to do about it.

"Ladies," Fleur said, cutting into the discussion. "I believe I know just the grand gesture for the job." A small grin crossed Mint's face to contrast the mild frown that Moondancer now wore, but Fleur was not going to be swayed from this plan. Unlike all the others, this one was truly foolproof.