It Started With A Look

by zyr1987

Chapter 1, Fluttershy's perspective

“I appreciate you coming Rarity, but I don't think we needed a suite at the castle. I only intended to be here for a few hours, then head right back to Ponyville.”

“I know, but it's been a while since we've spent any real time together outside the spa, and I thought this would be a good opportunity. And regardless, didn't you say you wanted to spend some time in the castle garden? This is the perfect opportunity to do that,” Rarity said.

“That's true,” Fluttershy admitted. Angel's not going to be happy, though.

It was about four and Fluttershy and Rarity were on the train to Canterlot together to pick up a few items in Canterlot and have dinner with Fancypants.

After a moment's silence, Rarity asked, “So, what did you need to pick up in Canterlot again?”

“Some antibiotics for my animal friends,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh. You're out already?”

“Yes. There's a few bad bugs going around, and I'm trying to keep my animals well and keep them from spreading.”

“Oh. That sounds bad. Are they going to be okay?” Rarity asked.

“I think so. I've been able to treat them as they get sick.”

“That's good to hear.”

Fifteen minutes later, Fluttershy and Rarity departed from the train in Canterlot and headed for the castle to drop off their stuff. Once that was accomplished, they headed for the market.

Once in the market, they quickly made their way to a stall selling Zebrican silks and Rarity began looking through them, trying to find the ones she needed, while Fluttershy scanned the market, looking for the veterinary supplies stall she knew was somewhere nearby.

However, she was almost immediately distracted by a passing mare. Specifically a tall, skinny, white coated mare with a long, pink mane and purple eyes. On seeing her, Fluttershy thought, sweet Celestia she's beautiful, while staring at her as she walked by, even though she knew the mare would probably see her staring, which she did. Pretty quickly, in fact. Only a few seconds after she started staring, the mare turned to look at her, and Fluttershy quickly turned her head away from her and blushed, but kept looking out of the corner of her eye, and noticed her smiling. She slowly turned her head a bit to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, and saw that they weren't.

The mare smiled at Fluttershy for another few seconds before looking back to where she was going. Fluttershy watched her go until she disappeared behind a building and spent the next several seconds staring at the spot where she last saw her.

She snapped out of her reverie when Rarity poked her side and asked, “Fluttershy? What's wrong?”

Without thinking, Fluttershy said, “I just saw the most beautiful mare in Canterlot.”

“Are you referring to me or...?”

“N-no, a unicorn that walked by a minute ago,” Fluttershy said, blushing again, as she realized what she had just said.

“Oh? What did she look like?”

After a second's hesitation, she described the mare in glowing terms to Rarity, who asked, “did you see her cutie mark?”

“...No, I missed it. Why?”

“Because I think I know who you're talking about, but without knowing what her cutie mark was, I can't be positive. Anyway, we have dinner at Fancypants' house in a half hour, so we should get going...And actually, now that I think about it, he may be able to help with the identity of your mystery crush.”

“He could?” Fluttershy asked, giving Rarity a wide-eyed look.

“Perhaps, at least if she's who I'm thinking of.”

“Um, who are you thinking of, if you don't mind me asking?”

“His sister, Fleur de Lis,” Rarity said.

“Fleur de Lis?” Fluttershy had heard of her, but didn't know much about her.

“Yes, she's one of Equestria's most famous models. Made some waves a few weeks back when she came out as a lesbimare, actually. Anyway, Fancypants has a few pictures you can look at to see if it is her you saw.”

“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy said, a bit surprised at how helpful Rarity was being. She wondered Does she not know what I implied or...?

Fluttershy dwelt on this as they picked up her veterinary supplies, then headed for Fancypants' house for dinner.

When they reached Fancypants' home, he brought them inside and told us dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes. Rarity then asked, “By the way, Fancy, do you still have those pictures of Fleur?”

“Of course, why?”

“Well, while we were in the market, Fluttershy saw a rather pretty mare she took a liking to, and I think it might've been her.”

“I see. Just give me one second,” Fancypants said.

He went down a nearby hallway, then returned a moment later with a framed photo which he passed to Fluttershy, who inspected it. Rarity asked, “so? Is that her?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy said, hoping Fancypants wouldn't take issue with her being attracted to his sister.

Fancypants, however, simply smiled and said, “Well, in that case, do you want me to set up a meeting with her? I'm sure she'd love to meet you.”

“Um, sure, if you don't mind.”

“Not at all. I was going to talk to her tomorrow morning, anyway. I can meet you outside the castle at noon for lunch, tomorrow and let you know what she decides,” Fancypants said.

“Okay. Thank you,” Fluttershy said.

“it's my pleasure.”

Over dinner, they mostly talked about the large castle that appeared in Ponyville, and how both Ponyville and Canterlot were recovering after Tirek's reign of terror a few weeks before, though there was also talk about the classified improvements to his restraining measures.

After dinner, they spent a few more minutes chatting, before the two mares headed back to the castle for the evening. On the way back, Rarity asked, “Why didn't you ever tell me you were a lesbimare, Fluttershy?”

“I-I was scared to.”

“Even after Rainbow came out to us a few months ago?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy said, remembering how everyone's reaction ranged from neutral (Spike) to very supportive (Applejack, Rarity). Before then, she and Rainbow were the only ones to know about each others' sexuality.

Rarity seemed confused, but didn't press further, and soon they were back at the castle.

When they returned to their suite, Fluttershy put away her medicines then spent a few hours with the animals in the castle garden before returning to the suite and going to bed for the night.

The next morning, Rarity and Fluttershy woke at about six thirty and went about getting ready for their day. By seven, They were heading out to get breakfast in town. However, no sooner had they left the castle than Fluttershy saw the mare from yesterday coming to the gate. When the mare caught sight of the duo, she quickly made her way over with a big smile on her face and said, “Bonjour, Fluttershy and Rarity I presume?”

“Yes, and you're Fleur de Lis?” Rarity asked.

“At your service,” the mare said, striking a pose.

“But I thought Fancypants would tell us where to meet you later?” Fluttershy asked, confused and trying not to stare.

“Maybe that's what he planned, but when I heard you wanted to meet me and were staying in the castle, I decided I would see if I could catch you out here.”

“Oh, I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long.”

“I actually just got here,” Fleur said. “So where are you off to?”

“We were just going to get breakfast, actually,” Rarity said.

“Oh! Can I join you?” Fleur asked.

“Sure. I mean, if Rarity doesn't mind,” Fluttershy said, turning to look at her friend, and trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

“Not at all. I'd love to chat with you,” Rarity said.

Fleur, who hadn't stopped smiling at any point, said, “Wonderful. I know a little place nearby, if you would like to go. My treat.”

“Sounds lovely. Wouldn't you agree, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, yes. Absolutely,” Fluttershy said, still trying not to stare.

As the three ponies headed to the restaurant, Fleur said, “If you don't mind me asking, how did you two get a suite at the castle?”

“Just one of the many perks of being good friends with Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Rarity said.

“Lucky you...Oh! we're here.”

They looked at what Fleur had gestured towards, and saw a small restaurant called “Cafe Vert”. Fluttershy was left a bit underwhelmed, but wasn't about to complain. Fleur said, “I know it doesn't look like much, but trust me, they make amazing breakfasts.”

They went inside and sat down at a corner booth near the window, where a waiter approached, and said, “Welcome to the Cafe Vert. Can I offer you ladies something to drink?” as he passed out three menus.

“Water will be fine,” Fleur said.

“A cup of green tea for me, please,” Rarity said.

“I'll have some apple juice, please,” Fluttershy said.

“Very good. I will return with your drinks shortly.”

As he left, Fleur said, “The portions are on the small side, so feel free to order more than one serving.”

“Is there any dish you would recommend?” Rarity asked.

“Well, I can safely say that the Prench toast is always good, and the pancakes are wonderful with maple syrup, though I do admit I usually just order two eggs sunny side up, since I have to watch my carbs.”

“I understand,” Rarity said.

They spent a few minutes looking over our menus before the waiter returned, passed out their drinks, and asked, “have you made your decisions?”

“Yes, I will have two eggs, sunny side up, please,” Fleur said.

“I'll take two orders of pancakes,” Rarity said.

“I'd like two orders of Prench toast, please,” Fluttershy said.

“Very good. I will return with your orders shortly,” the waiter said.

Fluttershy watched as he left, then turned back to the table. Fleur said, “So, Fluttershy, I was wondering...”

“Yes?”

“Do you like mares? In a romantic sense, I mean?”

Fluttershy blushed and stuttered as she tried to answer the question without success. Rarity said, “Don't be shy, Fluttershy. We're all friends here.”

“If it helps, I'm attracted to other mares, myself,” Fleur offered.

After another few seconds of working up her courage, Fluttershy finally said, in a low voice, “s-so am I,” before taking a long drink of her juice.

As her smile grew bigger, Fleur asked, “in that case, would you like to go on a date with me?”

The offer caught Fluttershy completely off guard, and it was all she could do not to spit her drink out and all over Fleur. After taking a second to swallow, she asked in disbelief, “you really want to go on a date with me?”

“Is there some reason I shouldn't? After all, I can tell by your efforts not to stare that you are attracted to me, and I do like you, and, as far as I know we're both single and interested in dating mares.”

“...Was my staring that obvious?” Fluttershy asked, blushing again.

“It was, yes. Anyway, would you like to go on that date with me?” Fleur asked.

“Um...Sure. When?” Fluttershy asked, secretly pinching herself.

“I was thinking I could meet you at the castle gates tonight around six, if you're still in town,” Fleur said.

Before Fluttershy could say something about them leaving soon, Rarity said, “we were going to leave for Ponyville around three, but we could stay a while longer so you two can go on your date.”

“Okay, I'll meet you outside the castle tonight at six, if Rarity doesn't mind,” Fluttershy said.

“Wonderful!” Fleur said.

Author's Note:

This chapter is kind of short, I admit, but that's because I didn't really need to do much with it outside of keeping the story moving, and I'm not big on extraneous detail (also I couldn't think of many thoughts she would be having). The Fleur chapter (which should be up tomorrow, I'm editing it tonight) is longer, simply because I need to establish her character, plus it was hard to unbundle two particular conversations' irrelevant parts from the relevant ones.

Also, I admit that this story was meant to be a simple one that could give my brain a break from the Flutterlestia story I wanted to write, but couldn't come up with a solid beginning for, but it ended up being far more complex and involving than that, and with other events (like a car fire and car shopping, well, that put a delay on things).

(BTW, this was supposed to be told from a first person perspective for both, but I couldn't nail down Fluttershy's voice)

Comments

[zyr1987]

Been a while since a story of mine failed moderation. In this case, though I just screwed up a closing italics tag ( should have put but instead put [.I]. I don't blame the mods

[Manaphy]

Interesting ship and story concept. I enjoyed what you wrote and it was well-written in my opinion, so I'll definitely follow this story to see where it goes from here. Nice work!

[bluebelle]

Very nice work! I do love a bit of FleurShy.... Love it... A moustache for you!

[Archangel of the Silent]

I'll stick with this under the condition you never use the term lesbimare ever again. It's just not necessary. A few formatting issues. Missing commas, abrupt scene breaks (try a horizontal rule), basic stuff like that. Potential, for sure.

That being said... is this (Fluttershy x Fleur dis Lee) a thing? If not, can it be a thing?

I apologize if I spelt her name wrong. It took me forever to get my voice-text to recognize Fluttershy, and I don't think it knows too much French.