The Model Princess
The next morning, Luna decided to take her breakfast alone with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. She said that it was so she could have a chance to properly catch up with them (which was true), but the main reason was that she knew Celestia was not above putting laxatives in her food in response to a particularly nasty prank and didn't feel like having to explain to her date why she smelled like horse apples. She was sure Celestia would wait a day for her vengeance for that reason, but didn't feel like risking it.
Over breakfast, the two pegasi told Luna of the events that had happened since the last time she had visited Ponyville, when she was helping the town recover from the dam burst, but there was one particular event that caught the alicorn's interest. “What do you mean Fluttershy drove Rarity and Pinkie Pie to tears?”
“I told you I got assertiveness training, but I overcompensated for my timid nature and became a raging bitch that hurt everypony who even mildly offended me.”
“Wow. Then what happened?”
“When I made them cry, I realized that I had gone too far then locked myself away in my house vowing never to come out again,” Fluttershy said
“But you're here.”
“Rarity and Pinkie found out she had locked herself away, and when they couldn't convince her to come out, the went and got me to talk to her. Apparently she thought I would never forgive her for hurting our friends like she did,” Rainbow Dash explained.
“It seems you did forgive her though,” Luna said.
“Well, yeah. I've said some pretty stupid stuff to my friends as well, including Fluttershy. And I was the one who encouraged her to go to Iron Will's seminar in the first place, so I wasn't blameless in this.”
“I see.”
They then went on describing various other events of note, including making a tornado to get water to Cloudsadale, Fluttershy kicking Rainbow's rump after the latter tried to make her watch the dragon migration, and Spike's trip to the dragon herd (with Rainbow and friends in pursuit without Flutters). Rainbow also took a bit of glee in describing her revenge for that whole affair, forcing Fluttershy to go with her and Pinkie for a day of pranking.
All too soon, in Luna's opinion, breakfast was over and she had to move onto the next order of business: making sure her dress was ready for tonight. Her deadline was five thirty that night when she would leave, but she was led to understand that Rarity had already finished it and it was ready for her inspection. Why Rarity had worked so fast, she had no idea, but she wasn't complaining.
She headed into the main dining room where Rarity was finishing off some scrambled eggs and said, “when you are ready I would like to see my dress.”
Rarity started a bit when she heard Luna speak up, but was able to respond to Luna's inquiry without missing a beat. “Oh, of course, just let me finish my breakfast and I can show you.”
Luna said nothing, instead standing near Rarity and watching er eat the last scraps of her breakfast. When the unicorn was done, she waved for Luna to follow her to the royal tailor's shop where her dress was waiting.
When they arrived, Luna took a short walk around it casting her untrained yet critical eye on it, before saying, “I like it.”
“Oh good. Is there anything you want changed on it? Anything at all?”
“No, it is fine as is. May I try it on?”
“Oh, of course. Do you need any help?”
“No. I can handle it.” Luna floated the dress off the ponniquin, and her necklace off her neck before slipping said dress over her wings and doing up the clips in the front. Inspecting herself in a nearby mirror, she moved about in a few different poses, before saying, “Well, there is one change I would like you to make.”
“May I ask what?”
“I cannot stop my tail from billowing as it does anymore, and I am certain you can see what that does to the dress. If you can find some way to weigh down the tail end-”
“Oh, I know just the thing, if you don't mind wearing the dress for a few more minutes,” Rarity said, interrupting her client. She was actually going to point out the issue herself if Luna hadn't, and had already been working out a solution.
“That will be fine. Also, how many bits do I owe you for this dress?”
“Oh, no. I couldn't charge you for it. After all, you're a princess,” Rarity said as she lifted the dress and sewed in a small pocket.
“Except you are here at my request, performing services for me. It is only right that I compensate you in some way. We can discuss a more detailed reward tomorrow, but I will still pay you for the dresses you make.”
Rarity, after thinking for a second as she looked around for anything that would be of suitable weight without affecting the hemline, lowballed somewhat. “Does one hundred bits sound fair?”
“That is fine. I will make sure you receive them by tomorrow morning at the latest.”
“Thanks,” Rarity said, now carefully adding weight to the dress to counteract the billowing of Luna's tail. She then stitched up the pocket she had made, after making sure the weights wouldn't shift about while Luna was walking and said, “That should do it.”
Luna looked down at the spot and seemed quite pleased with Rarity's handiwork. She then slipped the dress off, letting Rarity take it from her magical hold, and said, “I was also hoping to ask you for advice on my date tonight.”
“I thought you'd never ask,” Rarity said before going over all the basics, such as how to treat the waiter, the importance of body language, and what to do and not to do on a first date. Luna took this in with what could only be described as gusto, wanting this first date to go well.
After finishing her business with Rarity, Luna wrote out a short letter giving Fleur all the information she would need about the upcoming date and put it out for delivery along with the rest of the morning mail. She already knew that she derailed her plan to make a public apology to her sister by eating with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash (though she also potentially avoided a nasty surprise from her sister), but decided to have a chat with her anyway.
Traveling the short distance to where she knew her sister would be, she heard Twilight saying something about Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't pay much attention to what was being said, the subject of Applejack's farm taking a backseat to another topic on the dark alicorn's mind.
When she entered the small room, the two ponies present turned to look at her, and Celestia asked, “So, how is your dress coming along?”
“It is done, ready for tonight. I hope I am as well.”
“I hope so too,” The elder alicorn responded.
Twilight then asked, “By the way, where's your necklace?”
Luna looked down at her chest and realized she had forgotten it back in the tailor's shop. Not that it was particularly important right now. Even so, now that she noticed its absence, she started feeling naked. She said, “It is not important. I am here because I have a request for you, 'Tia.”
“I'm listening.”
“If I may raise the moon fifteen minutes early to allow myself some extra time to get to my date, I would appreciate it.”
“If you feel it is necessary, I will not object. However, I will lower the sun at its scheduled time regardless, and I expect you to do the same with the moon,” Celestia said.
“You have my word that I will do so. In the meantime I will take my leave.”
A few hours later, Fleur was sorting through her morning mail, which mainly consisted of fan mail and requests for her to endorse products of various sorts, that she would go through properly later, because she was forced to set all these aside when a particular letter caught her eye. It was addressed to her from Princess Luna herself, and sealed with the so-far impossible to forge sun/moon seal. She ripped it open and read through it, realizing that Fluttershy and her friends weren't lying to her.
Realizing that she wouldn't have time to make a new dress for tonight, she walked to her closet and pulled out the dress she wore at her last big gathering, laying it out on her bed, and made plans for a trip to the spa to make herself look and feel as lovely as possible.
A knock at the door interrupted her planning at this point, and she briefly considered not answering it, before deciding to avail herself to a visitor or solicitor. When she opened the front door, she was surprised to see Fluttershy and Rarity standing on her porch.
“Hello Fluttershy. To what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked in her impeccable Prench accent.
Fluttershy, derailing Rarity's plans, said, “When Rarity heard that you wanted to catch up, she insisted we-”
“Come by for a chat, since we're in town for a while anyway,” Rarity said with a nervous laugh.
Fleur ignored the blatant lies told by the shorter unicorn, saying, “Oh, of course. I was hoping for a chance to talk with you before tonight, Fluttershy. Please come in you two.”
The two visitors entered the Prench mare's abode, and Rarity said, “No offense, but your home is much smaller than I thought it would be.”
“It is a bit oin the small side, yes, but I spend so much time in Canterlot proper that I don't need a particularly large home, and this one has a spectacular view of the sunset,” Fleur said, opening the door to the patio. The other two looked out and saw an expanse of blue sky and green fields, and realizing that Fleur wasn't kidding. She then said, “Speaking of town, I was actually about to go to the spa to freshen up for tonight.”
“Well, we could always come back later,” Fluttershy said.
“Nonsense. What better way to catch up than over a nice hooficure? My treat.”
“Well, if you insist...”
“And if you want to come with, Rarity, I would love to get to know you better,” Fleur said, turning to the shorter unicorn.
“Of course we'll come with,” Rarity said, internally squeeing in the most unladylike manner possible.
As they traveled to Fleur's favorite spa, the fashion model said, “I actually got the letter from the princess just before you two arrived. I have to admit I was wondering if you and your friends weren't pulling my leg to some end.”
“No, we were really called by Luna to help with this,” Fluttershy said.
“Speaking of that, may I ask why she picked you and your friends?”
“Because we helped her be accepted by the ponies of Ponyville on Nightmare Night last year and she thought we could help her out with finding love, since she doesn't know much about modern romance.”
“I see, I see. So what is Princess Luna like? On a personal level I mean.”
Fluttershy said, “well, she's...”
“So you and Princess Luna don't get along, Rarity?” Fleur asked, now that they were actually at the spa, waiting to be served.
“Well, it's not that. It's that she seems to be avoiding me since I, uh, dyed her fur pink at Nightmare Night last year.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I told her it would make her look much less terrifying, since everypony was running away from her, screaming. When they ran away screaming anyway, she got angry and ripped off the pink dress I put on her, before ordering the pictures I took of her destroyed,” Rarity said, shuddering at the memory.
“Wow. That is...quite the reaction.”
“Yeah. And she said if I even hinted that she dye her fur again while we're here, she would personally dye my fur black. And, for my sake, please don't mention this whole affair to her tonight. I don't want to deal with her finding out.”
“I won't. You have my word,” Fleur said.
“Thank you.”
At this point they were called to begin their treatment. They followed the masseuses to the steam room and rested upon the wooden benches. Rarity looked around and remarked, “This is much nicer than the spa we have in Ponyville.”
“I would hope so. This is one of the nicest spas in Canterlot, and they charge accordingly.”
Rarity resisted the urge to wonder aloud if it was nicer than the castle spa. Fluttershy then asked, “How do you feel about your date tonight?”
“Well, if I'm honest, I don't think I'll have a second date with her. I'll try to have fun tonight, though, and have a laugh with my friends about it tomorrow.”
“Why would you think that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Because, to put it simply, I'm a foreigner, and privately, the least classy individual you'll ever meet. I seriously think she'll go with somepony from the nobility like, say, Mile High.”
“Well, I don't know about that,” Rarity said, “she is rather irreverent herself. Yesterday, she played a prank on Celestia that, if I told you what it was, would get all of us banished to the Everfree Forest.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Oh yes.”
“She also gave me a rather scary bear hug while loudly thanking me when she came by Ponyville for Nightmare Night,” Fluttershy said, continuing on the theme of unladylike Luna.
“Thanking you for what?”
Fluttershy described her meeting with the princess that fateful night, up to how she passed out from shock in Luna's forelegs, admitting that it wasn't her shining moment.
“Obviously not, but still, it must be nice to have a princess who really likes you.”
“Sometimes it is. Sometimes she gets huggy.”
Fleur couldn't help but chuckle at that, but had to admit to herself that she was far from convinced she had any real chance, royal irreverence or no.
About an hour later, they were on the massage table for the last stage of their spa trip and Fleur had started to take a liking to Rarity. As the masseuse worker her magic, the Prench mare said, “I guess Fancy did have a good sense about you when we first met.”
“I guess he did. Honestly, I thought you two were married.”
“Non, I don't swing that way, and even if I did he is far too old for me. I have to admit though, he does work as a nice beard when I absolutely need one.”
“Does he actually go along with it?”
“Oui. He knows that I'm just as willing to help him when he gets himself into trouble. Seeing as this is Fancy we're talking about, that generally means up to his eyeballs in it.”
Rarity chuckled and said, “I can imagine. By the way, what was Fluttershy like on the modeling circuit?”
“She was nervous, jumpy, and really looked like she didn't want to be there. It was quite hard to watch, honestly, but she was adamant that she would go on so she wouldn't disappoint you.”
“I heard, literally right before she quit. I may have helped her along that road by insisting that she go through with it.”
“You did.” Fluttershy said.
Fleur, sensing her massage was nearing its end, said, “By the way, do you have any more helpful advice for tonight?”
“Well, I should mention that Luna will be going out with other ponies, even if you get a second date with her,” Fluttershy said.
“And I believe she mentioned that she wants to be treated like any other pony you might date. I think you should go easy on her, though, she's new at this.”
“I'll be sure to do so.”
It was fifteen minutes before Princess Luna was to arrive, and Fleur was all decked out and ready for a night on the town. She looked out the window and, much to her surprise, saw Princess Luna herself approaching her home. Equally surprising was just how nervous the alicorn looked. I'm a foreign born fashion model and she's one of the two rulers of this land and she's the one who's nervous? Fleur thought, amazed.
Luna, meanwhile, was trying to reassure herself and remember everything Rarity told her. She looked at the clock tower and saw she still had some time before she was to arrive, so, unaware that Fleur had already seen her, she decided to take a minute to get her nerves under control before knocking. Shifting from hoof to hoof, trying to work up the will to get it over with, she thought Come on, Lulu. You are a goddess, and it is not like making a foal of yourself will be remembered in a generation or two. I hope. She then walked up to the doorway and gave it a few quick raps, hoping that everything would work out.
A few seconds later, the door swung open to reveal the Prench mare in a royal blue dress with white highlights and fleur de lis adorning various points. Seeing this, Luna immediately had a flashback to a meeting with a Prench queen she had had a few decades before her banishment.
Fleur, on the other hoof, was taking a good look at Luna and her dress. Said dress was black with a white crescent moon at her flank, white stars, and little gems that sparkled in the light when she moved. All in all it was like looking into the night sky and Fleur wondered what designer could be so skilled as to make something so elegant and so well suited to the Princess of The Night and how she could talk them into making a dress for her.
Fleur, snapping herself out of her dress induced reverie, asked, “Hello Princess. Shall we head out?”
“Oh, Of course,” Luna said, trying not to look like she wasn't paying attention, with no success, “and please, call me Luna.”
Fleur was momentarily confused by this, until she remembered what Rarity had told her earlier. Fluttershy was right. She does seem to want to be treated like my equal,, she thought in her native tongue. She said, “Okay, Luna.”
On the way to the restaurant, Fleur said, “You must know a lot about things, since you're a princess and all.”
“I am sill catching up on some of the more modern aspects of the world, but yes, I would say I am knowledgeable about it,” Luna said.
“So, I always wondered why do ponies usually not wear clothes?”
“That is hardly a mystery. Explain to me how a pegasus can dress him or herself.”
Fleur thought for a moment, then said, “I see your point.” She waited several seconds, to see if Luna would say anything else, before she heard herself saying, “If you don't mind, I was wondering why you decided to legalize same-sex marriage. I mean aside from being bisexual yourself.”
“While my own sexuality did play a role, it was actually because Fluttershy asked me to after beginning her relationship with Rainbow Dash. Since I owed her a favor anyway, I decided to oblige,” Luna said, purposefully not telling the whole story.
“What did she do to have a princess owe her a favor?”
“I will simply state that it was a complicated endeavor that required her assistance.”
“Oh, okay. Did it have anything to do with Celestia turning pink a few months ago?” Fleur asked.
“No, that was all me. I slipped some pink fur dye into her bubble bath, and that night Pinklestia's three day rule began,” Luna said, chuckling at the memory.
“So you were the one who came up with the Pinklestia name?”
“No, but I felt it appropriate and teased her a bit with it when she got too grumpy with me.”
Fleur shook her head and smiled, thinking I like this princess.
After a minute of silence, Luna asked, “I assume you are a native of Prance, Fleur de Lis?”
“Oui. I spent my early years and found my talent in Pearis, before my family moved to wine country. I left largely because I had better modeling opportunities out here than in my home country.”
“What is it like there? I may have to take a vacation there someday.”
“It's a bit hard to describe, and I'm sure there are others who are more qualified than me, but Pearis is a lot like Canterlot except built on the ground, instead of a mountain and filled with Prench ponies instead of Equestrian ones. Wine country is a bit more like the vast strawberry fields you have in the east, except with grapes and barrels, and isn't much to look at, though the countryside in general is quite beautiful.”
“I see. So you do not like the wineries?”
“I didn't say that. I just said they're not much to look at. They're actually quite nice to live on, especially if you have a taste for wine.”
“Oh.”
Precluding any further conversation was their arrival at the restaurant that Luna had chosen. The two went inside, drawing a lot of attention (and a few camera flashes) and approached the Maitre d', who was looking over the reservations for an older couple neither mare recognized.
They looked at the princess and her date with a mixture of confusion and trepidation but didn't say anything. A minute later, the Maitre d' said, “Ah yes here we are, six pm, private booth. Right this way please.” He then noticed the princess and said, “I will be with you shortly. I hope you understand.”
Luna nodded but said nothing. They were a few minutes early, so she didn't mind waiting a bit. She sat down on one of the nearby cushions and looked around the restaurant. Fleur sat down next her and asked “have you ever eaten here before?”
“No, when I am in Canterlot I almost always eat at the castle, so I have not had any opportunity to eat at any of the restaurants here in the city.”
“Well, whoever suggested this one certainly knows a good restaurant when they see one.”
The corners of Luna's lips quirked upward as she said, “'Tia will be glad to hear that.”
Fleur noted at this point the nervous princess who approached her door not fifteen minutes earlier had been replaced with a much more confident mare, though one that still seemed out of her element. Unsure of whether this was a good or bad sign coming from the more apparently mysterious of the alicorn sisters and still a bit nervous herself, she ignored it, instead watching for the Maitre d's return. She then noticed something else. “Is that coconut I smell?”
“My sister may have managed to get me in the face with a coconut cream pie before I left. She only did that because she knows I hate coconut.”
Fleur chuckled a bit, hoping Luna wouldn't notice, then tuned her attention to the restaurant itself.
When the Matire d' came back, he said, “Right this way, Princess.”
They followed him to a centrally located booth flanked by two statues. One was a white statue of Princess Celestia, while the other was a back representation of Luna. They sat down and the waiter gave them their menus. He then asked, “now what may I get you two to drink?”
“I would like a bottle of Chateau 970 red, if you have any.”
“Certainly. As for you princess?”
“I will have Jasmine tea.”
“Excellent choice. I will return shortly with your drinks.”
As the Maitre d' walked away, Fleur said, “Lovely statues.”
Luna made a closer inspection of them and said, “I personally find them rather ugly. They took too much effort in making us look grand and, as a result, the effect comes off as overwrought.”
“You're an art critic now?” Fleur asked, amazed and confused.
“I may have been an avid pursuer of fine statuary before I was banished to the moon, ego having firm hold over me and all.”
“Oh.”
“Also, I have much time on my hands since my return, which I have dedicated to learning about various subjects and planning new pranks for my sister,” Luna said as she looked over the menu.
“Do you still run night court?”
“Oh yes, but only five hours a day, three days a week, and I hardly get enough petitioners to justify that much time.”
“Maybe somepony should come by and keep you company?”
“No, the guards would not like that. They prefer that anypony with a request discusses it with me, then when I have made my decision, leave. Regardless, I do have some other duties to attend to during night court.”
“Oh.”
The waiter returned at this point, placing the mares' drinks of choice in front of them, along with teacups for Luna and a tall wine glass for Fleur. He then asked, “Have you made your decision?”
“Uh, yes. I'll have the ratatouille, please,” Fleur said.
“I shall have the apple pecan salad with a vinaigrette dressing, a veggie burger, and an order of the rataouille as well,” Luna said.
Fleur looked surprised but the waiter hardly flinched. “Of course.”
With the waiter out of sight, Fleur asked the obvious question. “Do you realize how much food that is?”
“I do. Do you realize how much magic it takes to raise and lower the moon every night?”
“I, uh...I didn't think about that.”
“It is understandable. I am certain most have not.”
Okay, Fleur, no more dumb questions, the unicorn thought as she took a long sip of her wine.
Luna, noting her date's silence, asked, “Do you enjoy being a model?”
“Of course. I was blessed with this great body despite not being an alicorn, and I do love showing it off, especially for a good cause.”
Luna resisted the urge to say that she was a unicorn with her current build build before her ascension (though she had always had other things to do than show it off), but thought Fleur might misinterpret that. Instead she asked, “Such as endorsing products?”
“No, that's just how I make my living in the off season. I was actually thinking of charity events and the like where my presence tends to result in a lot more money for the organization.”
“I see.”
Their food was delivered at this point, coming rather quickly because when you have a princess in your restaurant, you don't keep her waiting.
They spent the next ten minutes in silence, Luna quickly eating her first dish (the salad), and Fleur alternating between staring in amazement at how fast Luna was eating without making the slightest bit of a mess and eating her own meal.
Luna finally spoke when she finished her salad. “How is the ratatouille?”
“It's very good. And your salad?”
“Amazing,” Luna said before sliding her veggie burger in front of herself and beginning work on that, while pouring herself another cup of tea.
Fleur, thinking she wouldn't be able to get the princess' attention if she got too involved with her burger, said, “Fluttershy said you have a slight tendency to get, how did she put it? Huggy?”
“Yes, I may have a slight tendency to hug her when we meet, but I have taken pains to stop since she does not seem to like it when I hug her.”
“How can you tell?”
“She tends to faint, especially when I give her a big bear hug,” Luna said, seriously
Fleur had to bite her tongue fairly hard not to chuckle at the idea of Fluttershy fainting in Luna's forelegs, now that it was told from Luna's perspective. She then asked, “Would your lover get as many hugs as Fluttershy?”
“Fluttershy does not get many hugs from me these days, because of her fainting, though, to answer your question, yes, unless they did not want to be hugged so much.”
“So you'll actually listen to the needs of your partner, and not invoke your royal status?”
“Of course. I do not want my partner to be unhappy for my sake.”
Fleur didn't respond and Luna went back to her burger. After she finished that, they talked about each other, Luna's duties, Fleur's plans for the near future, her criteria for endorsing a product (which amounted to “does it conflict with anything else in my schedule?” Which bothered Luna), and why Luna wanted her partners so young.
“It is because, while I am immortal, my lover will not be, and I wish to spend as much time as possible with them before they pass on.”
“I can understand that, though won't it be difficult to lose them after spending 50 or 60 years with them?”
“Yes, but I will move on with time, as my sister has after each of her husbands. This is the sort of thing you come to accept with eternal life, after all. Speaking of time, what time is it?”
“About six forty five,” Fleur said, “What time does night court start?”
“Eight o'clock. I still have one half hour before I should return to the castle to prepare.”
They went back to chatting about various things, while Fleur tried to figure out what Luna thought of her. All she learned while trying to do this is that playing poker with the night princess was a very bad idea. Then again, for Fleur, playing poker with most ponies wasn't a great idea.
Luna was doing a slightly better job of gauging Fleur's thoughts on her. In that she realized Fleur couldn't figure out what the alicorn thought of her. Luna liked it this way, since it allowed her to privately wonder what to make of the fact that the Prench unicorn wasn't picky about her endorsement deals.
Soon it was time to go. Luna paid the 1000 bit bill (half of which of which came from the bottle of wine Fleur ordered herself. To be fair, it was damn good wine), and they walked outside where Luna sprung a bombshell on the unicorn. “Would you like to go on another date, sometime next week?”
Fleur's response to this was a look of surprise and confusion. Luna asked, “are you okay, Fleur de Lis.”
Fleur took a second to calm down then said, “I'm fine. I just didn't expect to get a second date with you.”
“Why not? When you are not asking me a lot of questions, you are rather likable, though not perfect, obviously.”
“And I'm a foreign born fashion model who doesn't know much about politics.”
“So?” Luna asked.
“Uh, does next Thursday sound good? At the Alimentaire cheval?”
“That sounds lovely. I shall see you then. Good night, Fleur de Lis.”
"Good night."
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I'm feeling too many emotions at once but thats okay
. Adding this to a few folders in Twilight Library.
Also Pinkie and Vinyl. That's really different. Do I smell a spin off lol
Just for the sake of getting this statement out there before I continue reading-
I really do hope these two end up happy together. They lack the friction of such pairings as AppleDash or Rarijack, but to be honest that just makes their ever-so-slight... awkward distancing of each other all the more alluring to me. I know there's likely going to be serious setbacks in the future (after all, what's a story without conflict?) but those are moments I simply dread after reading such a cute setup as this. xD
Time to read on!