In Somepony's Shadow

by Whammy

Dinner Party - Part 1

The doors to the country club’s “country” part opened, revealing a small oasis of grass, trees, and water among the bustling streets of downtown Canterlot. Luna could see that plenty of ponies were already mingling about: some gathering around a gazebo, others enjoying the buffet, and a few even dancing to the music. Her arrival, however, brought all of that to stop as everypony turned to greet her with a bow. Luna returned their affections with a wave.

“Greetings, everypony. It will be a pleasure to meet with you all this evening. Please, do not let my presence distract you from enjoying the fine party that Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis have organized. For the rest of the evening, simply treat me like any other pony.”

Every pony simple stamped their hooves in applause as Luna put down her own hoof and keeping a nice, wide smile. Trixie meanwhile, rolled her eyes, mumbling a “They totally aren’t going to.” Luna knew that Trixie was probably right, but she had wanted to make her preference clear.

“I would like to thank you again for attending, your majesty. I must apologize for having to leave so soon, however, for I must attend to the other guests. Please, enjoy the buffet and mingle with the other guests for a bit,” Fancy Pants said, starting to bow again. Luna appreciated it, though, when he stopped and said “Right, just like everypony else. Shall we, Fleur?”

The pink-haired mare turned with a bit of a huff. “I think I might be a bit more…independent, this evening,” she said, walking off in a different direction. Fancy Pants sighed, gave one last smile to Luna, and made his way into the crowd.

“I do hope I haven’t ruined their night?” Luna said, raising a hoof to her mouth with worry.

“Relax, I’m sure they’ll be fine. They wouldn’t want to ruin their own party with a fight, right?” Trixie replied.

Luna did not quite share her apprentice’s confidence, but she supposed it made sense that ponies concerned with status and social climbing would be not want to cause a disturbance at their own event.

“Still, I should probably talk with them again later and try and help them work it out…”

She felt a poke in her side from Trixie’s hoof.

“Hey, you’re here as party-guest Luna, not dream-counselor-therapist Luna. I’m sure they’ll work it out themselves. After all, she’s the most important pony in his life, remember. I doubt one little fight ruins that.”

“You’re…right, I guess. I’m just going to go out there, enjoy some food, do the ‘small talk’, and have fun,” Luna said, eyeing over the crowd, most of whom were now back to whatever they were doing before, though some were eyeing her cautiously. “Yes, just, go out there and talk…what about you Trixie, what are you planning to do?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh, I guess I’ll basically do the same as you,” Trixie replied.

Though it had sounded like the two had figured out a plan of attack, the two continued to stand at the entrance for several seconds.

“Trixie, you don’t have to remain by my side the entire time,” Luna said, breaking the awkward silence as she bent down to whisper to her apprentice.

“I know that. I just, you know, wanted to make sure you were okay. But, if you’re really sure, I’ll just, uh, go over to the buffet and grab some salad.”

As Trixie wandered off – slowly, at first, but eventually the metaphorical cord broke and she was gone – Luna had to smile. Trixie was obviously as nervous about this as her and was trying to help in her own ‘Trixie’ way. Now, however, they were both on their own.

…

How wrong was it to wish a crisis broke out right this minute?

---

Having separated from Luna, Trixie found herself alone next to the buffet. There was a lot of salads, fruits, hoof sandwiches, and other stuff that she wasn’t sure what they were but she figured were probably expensive. Not quite her preferred fare, but it would do. There was punch, however, and she could appreciate a good punch. Plus, there were several different kinds! She was in the middle of sipping a glass of cherry punch when she found herself joined by a white unicorn with the absolute shiniest purple mane she had seen (well, other than Luna’s, but that was more ethereal than shiny really).

“Why, Trixie darling, it has been ages, hasn’t it?”

Trixie blinked as she looked over the unicorn.

“Uhhh, do I kno-oooooh.”

Trixie grimaced as she recalled who this pony was. This was Rarity, the one whose mane she turned into a green rat’s nest when she first came to Ponyville and then later forced to sew banners while under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet.

“You’re Rarity, right?” Trixie said, glancing over the mare’s face, looking for a sign of a reaction, perhaps a sign she was in fact wrong and this was totally somepony else. That obviously wasn’t the case, though, and apparently, she had quite the poker face, simply looking back with a polite smile.

“Correct,” Rarity replied daintily taking a sip of her own punch. “There’s no need to look so nervous around me, by the way.”

“I, Trixie, nervous? Whatever would have given you that idea,” Trixie said, quickly taking a deep gulp of punch in hopes the glass would hide her face.

“You don’t exactly hide your emotions well.”

Having finished the last of her punch, there was no more excuse to stop talking. Trixie sighed, rubbing at her foreleg anxiously. For once, though, she didn’t look away, instead keeping her eyes right on Rarity as she talked. She was going to need to do a lot of this apology thing, so she might as well work on getting it right.

“I’m sorry for everything I put you through, both times I was in Ponyville. I wasn’t exactly myself the second time, but that’s no excuse for turning your mane into a rat’s nest. I’m trying a lot harder now, though, but I would understand if you didn’t want to forgive me.”

Trixie looked away, ready to hear that she wasn’t forgiven, but instead what she got was Rarity’s hoof on her shoulder as the mare laughed.

“Darling, worse things have happened to my mane than your magic,” Rarity said. “But, more importantly, Twilight told us said you were quite apologetic after what happened with the Amulet, and you’ve been working quite hard to better yourself. If Twilight and Luna can give you a second chance, then it would be rather ungenerous of me to not give you one as well.”

Forgiveness was starting to feel pretty good to Trixie, and for a brief moment she smiled. Once she fully processed what Rarity said, however, she cocked her head, confused.

“Wait, how does Twilight know what I’ve been up to? I’ve not seen her in ages.”

“Oops!” Rarity said, covering her mouth in surprise. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything. But, well, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I doubt there’s really any harm. It’s pretty standard rumor mill, really. Princess Luna talks with Princess Celestia, who writes letters to Twilight, who then talks with the rest of us,” Rarity said, flashing Trixie a nervous smile.

“And how much information did Princess Celestia put in her letters?” Trixie said, eyebrow raised.

“O-oh, well, nothing too in detail, really,” Rarity said, looking away. Trixie, however, couldn’t help but notice that Rarity was leaning a little, as if she was trying to look at Trixie’s tail. For a second she wondered what could possibly be so interesting about it, and then she remembered.

“If you’re looking to see if I still have a rabbit’s tail, that turned back to normal last week,” Trixie said in a deadpan voice.

“Sorry, I was just curious,” Rarity said, a small blush appearing at her cheeks. “I apologize, though. I’m sure that was quite the embarrassing situation to be in. Before you blame Twilight or the Princesses, though, I can assure you they had planned on not speaking about it at all to anyone. Discord, on the other hand…”

“…yeah, I should have figured as much,” Trixie said, rolling her eyes. As annoying as that was, however, she did appreciate that they had at least tried to not leak what happened out. “You all haven’t told anyone, right?”

“Oh heavens no, darling, we wouldn’t dream of it,” Rarity replied, almost like she was shocked that Trixie had considered the thought. “Perhaps it wasn’t your finest moment, but having fallen for Discord’s magic ourselves, none of us blame you for feeling tempted. He is rather skilled at playing with your weaknesses and anxieties. But if there’s any creature who should know better than to take advantage of somepony trying to change it’s him,” Rarity said, her tone somewhat angry at the end, but then she smiled. “Fluttershy was absolutely livid with him, though. I have never seen her give someone such an intense stare before, and she banned him from her weekly animal tea parties for a month.”

“Oh, gee, no tea parties for a month. How painful a punishment,” Trixie said, still quite deadpan. “I had to scrub the kitchen floors.”

“Yes, well, Fluttershy’s opinion means the world to Discord, so much so that even a mild scorning is enough to make him feel quite guilty…probably. It’s hard to get a read on him, really. But enough about that, I have something more exciting to talk about!”

This was the first time Trixie realized that Rarity had been standing there with a small canvas bag, from which a large notebook floated out.

“I was planning on coming by the castle tomorrow, but since you’re here I might as well show you now,” Rarity said, flipping through the notebook. “It was a bit of a rush job, but once I received Princess Luna’s request to design a dress for you I obviously couldn’t turn it down.”

“Because you were making it for me, or because you were making it for the Princess’s apprentice?”

“Well, to be honest, a little bit of both. It is great advertising for me to have a Princess’s apprentice wearing one of my dresses,” Rarity said, the pages finally stopping in the middle of the notebook. “But, I do really hope working together on this can be a way to move on from the past and, perhaps, be friends?”

Trixie was surprised to hear that Rarity was wanting to be her friend, even after all that had happened. And sure, at least a little of that had to be because of her new station – after all, even Rarity had acknowledged it was a good business opportunity. In this case, however, she could live with the idea that it was simply the case her new position had simply opened up an opportunity that she had never considered before.

“As a fellow artist,” Trixie said, touching her hoof to her own chest. “I fully understand the importance of advertising, so I don’t blame you at all for taking advantage of the situation…and I would also like to be your friend, if you really don’t mind,” Trixie said as she put her hoof back down. “Sooo, what did you design for me, friend?” she said, leaning in as Rarity smiled.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked. Because of the timing I couldn’t quite do something original, but since Princess Luna sadly cancelled her own design and you two have a similar enough aesthetic, I used my sketches for her as a base…”

---

Now that Trixie was firmly entrenched in conversation with Rarity, Luna finally began to walk around the crowd, ears swiveling as she kept an ear out for a conversation to enter into. As she approached the lakeside, two unicorns in polos and sweaters tied around their necks were chatting with a larger-built Earth pony stallion wearing a tie with a bits sign on it.

“Look, all I’m saying is I heard you were building a new line of airships, and I can get you discount on building materials. After all, my store ain’t called Barnyard Bargains for nothing.”

The two unicorns seemed quite unimpressed.

“Thank you for the offer, Mr. Rich. We’ll keep in touch,” the unicorn stallion replied. The response apparently was enough to satisfy the other stallion, however, who thanked him before running off.

“Did you say that you built airships?” Luna asked, figuring that was as good as any reason to get involved. Trixie did say they liked talking about yachts. Airships were like that, right?

“Of course we…I mean, good evening, your majesty”

Before the two could bow, however, Luna raised a hoof.

“There’s no need for such formalities. Tonight, I am simply another pony, one who in this case is interested in airships.”

The two looked at each other for a second and stood up straight.

“Right, of course. Anyway, I am Jet Set,” the stallion said, motioning at himself.

“And I’m Upper Crust,” the mare said, making a similar motion.

“We happen to own the largest producer of luxury airships in Canterlot. Mr. Rich over there was offering to strike a deal for providing material,” Jet Set continued, though Luna noted he seemed quite disinterested in the idea.

“Well, if he is offering the best material for cheap, I see no reason why not to make the deal,” Luna replied. Not the way she wanted to start this conversation, but it would work.

However, Upper Crust let out a small snort, though she immediately looked apologetic.

“Sorry, allergies,” she said. “In any case, while I’m sure Mr. Rich’s products are appropriate for…other ponies, they are unlikely to meet the high-quality standards required for our clientele.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, not liking quite how she had sad ‘other ponies’. Still, if it was an issue of quality, she also couldn’t fault them for not taking up the offer.

“If it’s a quality issue, then I suppose it makes sense to look elsewhere,” she replied.

“Indeed. Do you have an interest in airships, your…I mean, Luna?” Upper Crust said.

Luna perked up at the question.

“I do, in fact! They didn’t exist back when my sister and I first began to rule Equestria, and I have been most intrigued by them. A contraption that would allow non-pegasi to experience flight without spells is absolutely wonderful!”

She glanced between the two, who had all of a sudden become quite happy. Perhaps Trixie’s advice was spot on?

“Well, perhaps we can arrange a meeting for you to browse our collection of products? It would be an absolute honor for us for you to purchase one of our products,” Upper Crust said, levitating out a business card towards Luna.

“That sounds like a delightful time,” she said, taking the card in her own magic before realizing she didn’t have anywhere to put it. She just let it awkwardly levitate next to her as they talked. “Do you make other vehicles?”

Jet Set nodded.

“Airships, carriages, chariots, boats. We work to provide the highest quality vehicles for all your needs.”

“Oh, I may have to recommend your company to my sister then. She was just talking about needing to get new chariots for the guard.”

Luna was quite puzzled by the two unicorn’s eyes growing wide. Did she say something offensive? Before she could ask, however, her ear twitched, picking up a high-pitched squeal. A bat, perhaps? It sounded rather close, though, and she didn’t see any hanging on the tree branches.

“We would love to provide the guard with new chariots, and perhaps boats as well? In fact, have you ever considered the potential benefits of an airship for the guard…your majesty?”

The squeal was getting quite loud, though the lack of reaction from the other two suggested it was at a frequency the average pony couldn’t hear. It was distracting enough, however, that she had to go look for it.

“Please excuse me for a moment,” Luna said, walking off. Her attention divided, the business card simply dropped to the ground.

Standing place, she focused on finding where the sound was coming from. Admittedly, she probably looked rather silly standing in place and spinning around, but if a bat had injured itself or gotten lost, she couldn’t just sit around and do nothing, right?

After a few seconds she pinpointed the source to be a nearby bush located right next to a bench. She glanced back over at the two unicorns, who were very politely trying to hide their concern.

“My apologies, but it sounds like there’s a bat or some kind of creature possibly in distress. Perhaps we can talk later once I have assisted it?”

Both ponies looked rather off-put by the mention of a bat.

“Why, uhm, of course, your majesty,” Upper Crust said before the two slowly beginning to walk away.

Luna sighed, already counting that as a bit of a loss, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it. As she approached the bush, however, the squeal stopped, and with a bit of rustling a familiar looking bat-pony’s head peeked out.

“Star Breaker, what are you doing here?” Luna said, crouching next to the bush and whispering.

“What, do you think we go off and party when you ‘dismiss us’? Protocol says we got to be near you at all times. Fortunately, covert ops are what the Night Guard is all about. In fact, Shiner’s hiding under the buffet keeping an eye on Trixie as we speak. Lucky guy. Bush duty is a pain in the flank.”

Honestly, this didn’t surprise her at all, and she suspected her sister potentially had a role in this.

“So, why did you alert me? Has some crisis befallen Equestria? Do we need to leave the party immediately?” Luna said, perhaps just a bit too hopeful

Star Breaker shook her head.

“No, no emergency…buuut I did want to let you know that what you just said kind of counts as insider trading.”

“…what?”

“I mean, that’s the white collar crimes divisions jurisdiction so I’m not really on the up and up about it, but I do know that Princess Celestia at makes a point to not talk about things that the castle wants to buy ‘in the name of Equestria’ at these kind of parties. Something about unfair business practices or something.”

The gears twirled in Luna’s head, and after a moment she placed a hoof to her face.

“That’s why they were so excited about my interest in ships.”

“Yeah, probably. Sorry, your majesty. I mean, you gave out the info so it probably doesn’t really count cause, you know, princess, but I thought you’d want to know for future reference.”

Luna sighed, but gave Star Breaker a smile.

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for letting me know.”

“No problem, your majesty. That’s what we guards are here for…also, if you get the chance, could you bring me some of that fruit? I’m starting to get pretty hungry.”

“Of course, Private Breaker.”

With that Star Breaker hid back into your bush, leaving Luna once again alone to face the party. She wondered for a moment if anypony had seen her talking to the bush.

“Finding the plants to be the more interesting conversation partners, your majesty?”

Luna froze for a second, embarrassed by what the pony had to have thought of her. Turning around, however, she found herself facing Fleur. The mare had taken advantage of Luna’s attention being divided to sneakily take a seat on the bench, though there was obviously still enough room for her to take a seat.

“It, uh, helps them grow better. To talk to them, that is,” Luna said, taking.

“Oh, is that so? I may have to remember that for my own garden,” Fleur replied.

“You garden?” Luna asked, seeing an opening for what would hopefully be a conversation that didn’t involve breaking the law.

“A little. Enough ponies mistook my name as ‘Flower de lis’ that I decided to give it a try. Mostly just flowers, but it is a delightful enough hobby.”

Luna nodded.

“I have a flower garden on my windowsill at the castle. The groundskeepers take care of most of the gardening on the castle grounds, but it feels good to have that one spot for my own.”

“Indeed. Though, I do have to be careful about exposing myself to too much sun. Can be bad for the skin and coat,” Fleur replied.

“Yes, sunburn is quite an annoying condition,” Luna said, and she could imagine that somewhere, Celestia was probably feeling quite attacked. Sadly, such things where beyond her sister’s control.

Fleur, however, shook her head.

“Non-non, that is not quite it. It is more the sun damage that is of concern to me. You see, I am a model, so my looks are quite important to my profession. In fact, once your apprentice has stopped monopolizing her time, I’m supposed to meet with Rarity about modeling some of her designs,” Fleur said, pointing over at Trixie and Rarity talking.

“Oh, modeling!” Luna said, digging through her memories. “I am aware that the fashion industry as a whole has grown quite a bit, but I am sorry to say I don’t know much about modelling. It was not exactly a real profession in the past.”

Fleur nodded.

“Yes, I suppose that outside of paintings and sculptures there wasn’t much for a model to do. Nowadays, however, fashion designers are essentially artists, and clothes are best shown when worn by somepony, no?”

“I never really thought about it like that,” Luna replied. “I know many ponies take fashion quite seriously, but had not thought to consider the relationship between designer model to be the same as the one between an artist and their canvas.”

Glancing over, Luna was glad to see Fleur nodding approvingly.

“Mmm, perhaps more that I am the frame by which the art is shown, but more or less correct. Many ponies look at the industry and think it frivolous, even here in Canterlot, but it is nice to hear that a princess understands as well. Perhaps you would like to attend my next show?”

“I would love to…you’re not trying to sell anything though, right? I was just recently lectured by my guards for discussing business dealings,” Luna replied.

Fleur laughed. “No, no, I would never use such crude methods for business, your majesty. I simply would appreciate your company. And, if it would ease your consciences, we shall avoid any mention of your attendance and sit you backstage where nopony would see you.”

“I believe that’s acceptable,” Luna replied, laughing as well.

As pleasant as the conversation was going, however, her conscience was still nagging her about earlier. Even if Trixie had suggested it wasn’t the best idea, it wouldn’t hurt to talk just a little, right?

“I apologize for my earlier comments, by the way,” Luna said, seeing a chance to at least offer that much. “If you would like, I can provide counsel to you and Fancy Pants once this evening is done?”

Fleur blinked, and then laughed.

“I appreciate the offer, your majesty, but tis nothing for you to worry about. True, it has become a bit of a touchy subject for me, but it is also a game the two of us have been playing for a while now. Trust me, the tabloids have said much worse than you, and we survived.”

That helped to take at least some of the pressure off of her night. Still, she needed a way to transition away, just in case she said something else, and her mind jumped to another of Trixie’s words of advice: flattery.

“I am glad to hear that everything is fine. It would have been his lost, as I’m sure a pony of your appearance would have easily found somepony else,” Luna said, smiling. Sure, appearance was not her usual choice of flattery, but Fleur was a model, right? It was obviously important to her so suggesting it was a good appearance would be an appropriate piece of flattery.

“Oh, and what is it you mean by that, your majesty?” Fleur said, leaning a foreleg on the arm of the bench, smiling at her mischievously.

“W-well, all I mean is that, as to my understanding of modern beauty standards, you are an attractive pony and, therefore, would likely have no trouble attracting the attention of any other pony,” Luna replied.

“Modern beauty standards, hmm? And what of the standards of an alicorn?”

Luna glanced at the bush, really wishing Star Breaker could help with this without breaking her cover. Trixie, meanwhile, was still talking with Rarity. She was alone.

“U-uh, well, you see, I never really thought about such things,” Luna said, blushing as Fleur waited for an answer. “And, well, appearance wise you aren’t that different from how my sister looked when we were younger, so it would be kind of weird for me to make any judgement.”

Luna mentally began to kick herself for that. It was the weirdest sentence she could recall ever saying, and it just had to make her seem rather weird as well. Fleur, however, began to laugh.

“Je sus vraiment désolé, your majesty. I was simply teasing you, but I never meant to put you on quite the spot,” Fleur said as she calmed down. “I am flattered, however, to remind you of your sister, and it is in that context I can understand your hesitance to think of me in any way that is unbecoming.”

Fleur’s expression, however, turned more wistful as she continued to talk.

“Still, you do have some point, though I do wish to note it is I who am quite lucky. Referring to what I said earlier, many ponies see no real value in fashion, except perhaps what status they might obtain from it. It is even worse for us models, in a way. As often as we may be wooed by stallions and mares alike, most do so purely to claim to have won over a model. Alas, tis the curse of being at the top to always wonder about the sincerity of others.”

To that statement Luna could feel quite a sympathy for.

“But, though he is not quite above the games of society as he might act, Fancy Pants truly does throw his passion into understanding what pursuit catches his fancy. While you may have to dance around his words just a little, you can always be sure he is dealing with you sincerely.”

With that, Fleur began to make her way off the bench, throwing one last mischievous smile at Luna.

“Anyways, enough serious talk for one evening. I think it best to take my leave before I feel tempted to tease you even more, your majesty. It was a pleasure to talk with you.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Fleur.”

With Fleur’s departure, Luna was left to finally just bury her muzzle in her hooves to groan, working out that anxious energy that had built up from these last few moments. While she was glad that her earlier comments had not damaged the relationship between Fleur and Fancy Pants, she still couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about her flustering.

“Uggh, now I feel really guilty about having ogled her all night,” Star Breaker mumbled from the bushes, causing Luna give a disapproving glare at the bat-pony.

“Sorry, totally inappropriate. But hey, I think that worked out pretty great. So that’s, what, 1-1 so far? At least now you’re on the scoreboard, right?” Star Breaker said, giving Luna a grin wide enough to show off her fangs.

Luna simply sighed, but she did have to give a smile.

“Hopefully I’ll be hitting home-runs the rest of the night,” Luna said, stepping off of the bench.

“Hey, you got the metaphor right. See, you’re already make loads of progress! Go get ‘em, sport! Er, your majesty.”

As Star Breaker dove back into the bush, Luna just had a small laugh. The guard’s encouragement was helpful, and hopefully her confidence would not be in vain.

Comments

[ThiefRara]

This story is so amazing!

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Ah, satisfying. And now, to return to my Black Crypt, from whence I shall arise at the posting of another chapter.

[ChakatFirepaw]

I can't for the life of me understand how ponies could come to the conclusion that a pony named "Flower of the Lys (River)" with a cutie mark consisting of stylized irises might have an interest in floral horticulture.

[Whammy]

10098434
...yes, that is totally what that joke was in reference too >u> (I honestly was not aware that's what the fleur actually is, I was just going off the pronunciation pun XD).