[Ozzy’s POV, 6:45 a.m.]

The loud phone ring made me groan from tiredness and annoyance. I lazily tried to reach for the phone in my half-asleep state, but something was in my way.

“I’ll get it,” Fleur groaned before she reached for my phone and answered. “Hello?”

“Oz! We got a situation!” Shining’s voice yelled, loud enough for me to hear from my side on the bed. “Fleur isn’t answering her phone and… wait, Fleur, is that you?”

“Yes,” she answered still half asleep.

“Why are you on Oz’s phone?”

“Because I’m in his bed.”

“SAY WHAT?! PASS THE FUCKING PHONE OVER TO OZ RIGHT NOW!”

“Kay.” Fleur held the phone up to me. “It’s for you.”

Still tired and trying to wake up, I grabbed the phone and held it against my head. “Ozzy, speaking.”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS FLEUR DOING IN YOUR BED?!” Shining screamed.

“Wha? Fleur isn’t in… my… bed…” With my senses coming back to me, I saw Fleur’s head resting on top of my chest, eyes closed as she tried to go back to sleep. “FLEUR IS IN MY BED?!” I quickly pulled myself away until I fell off the side of the bed, landing face first on the floor. Too freaked out to acknowledge the pain, I sat back up to see Fleur trying to wake up as she used her magic to flick the lights on. “WHY IS FLEUR IN MY BED?!”

“THAT’S WHAT I’M ASKING YA DOLT!” Shining screamed. “Now tell me why she’s in your bed!”

“I don’t know!” I replied. “I was by myself last night!”

“You didn’t seem to mind when you answered the phone!” Shining argued.

“I was still waking up!” I defended. “I don’t even remotely remember Fleur getting in bed with me last night!”

“Ozzy, put Shiny on speaker,” Fleur requested. “I can explain what happened.”

“Hold on. I’m putting you on speaker so Fleur can join.” I pushed a button on my phone to set it to speaker mode. “You’re on.”

“Why were you in Oz’s bed, Fleur?!” Shining asked.

“Calm down, Shiny,” Fleur said. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I tried waking Ozzy to ask him if I could sleep with him. He didn’t wake up, and since he didn’t mind us sleeping with him before, I just kind of… climbed into bed with him.”

You know, thinking back, I remember Fleur telling me she would sleepwalk to Shining’s bed sometimes when she had that recurring nightmare. It was the reason she slept with me the first time back in Manehattan. I would probably buy that reason if that were the case, but I didn’t think it would turn out like this… I’m not sure what to say about it.

“Please tell me that’s all you did,” Shining said.

“That’s all I did,” Fleur answered. “I went in Ozzy’s room, got in bed with him, and slept. I didn’t do anything weird with him if that’s what you’re implying, Shiny.”

“Okay, we’re going to have a talk about this later,” Shining said. “But right now we gotta move. News broke out about Mascara’s scandal with Oz, and if you know the paparazzi well enough, they’re going to be storming in our neighborhood to get any kind of dirt on this at any time now. I already called Silver Wheel to come pick us up and take us over to Fancy’s to regroup until things die down. We need to get dressed and get a move on.”

“Awww. Can’t we have breakfast first?” Fleur asked. “Ozzy was going to make Prench toast today.”

“We’ll get breakfast at Fancy’s,” Shining answered. “I already called him about the situation, and he’s expecting us to arrive at any time. I’m sure he’ll have breakfast ready by then.”

“Fiiine,” Fleur whined.

“Oz, be sure to bring that folder Bubbles gave you to pass along to Fancy,” Shining added in.

“Uh, sure, Shining,” I answered.

“Get ready to go in fifteen. I’ll be coming by soon. See ya then,” Shining said before the phone beeped, ending the phone call.

Fleur and I stared at each other blankly. I wasn’t sure what to say at first, but she used magic to levitate my glasses over. “Um… here, you may need these,” she said.

“Thanks…” I took the glasses out of the air, and slipped them on. Once I was able to see clearly, I started things off with the first question that came to mind. “So… you couldn’t sleep by yourself last night?”

“That’s right,” she answered.

“Is there something bothering you that’s keeping you awake?” I asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Fleur blinked a few times, taking a moment to come up with a response. “Um… not at the moment. Were you not okay with me sleeping with you last night?”

“I was surprised, but…” I looked to the side while scratching the back of my head with heated cheeks. “I... didn’t mind it really.” I turned back to her. “But for the future, Fleur, if there’s something on your mind that you need to talk about, don’t hesitate to wake me up. No matter how asleep I am, I’ll lend an ear to anything you need to discuss, alright?”

“Of course,” Fleur said with a small smile following. “So you don’t mind me sleeping with you if I need to?”

I shrugged. “I don’t mind. Again, just wake me up to let me know so I won’t be like… well, you saw it yourself.”

Fleur giggled. “Okay, I’ll keep it in mind.” She got off the bed and stretched herself out. “Well, we should get ready to go if we don’t want the presses getting here.”

“Right. I’ll see you soon.” As Fleur made her way out, my gaze suddenly fell upon her heart-shaped butt that only had a pair of pink panties covering her privates. They were riding up a little until she fixed them on her way out, and shut the door behind her.

My mind played back the scene to how her tail swerved back and forth, how the small, but firm cheeks shifted as she walked, and how sculpted her legs were. The image was stuck in my head before I realized what I was thinking about and slapped myself out of it.

What the fuck are you doing, Ozzy? Fleur’s one of your best friends for crying out loud. You shouldn’t be sexualizing her like that no matter how attractive she is altogether. Wait… I thought of Fleur as attractive right? I mean I know that’s a total ‘duh’ statement since looking attractive is part of her career as a famous model, but somehow… I was thinking of her attractiveness in more ways than one. Have I always thought about her like that, or am I just now realizing it? Would Shining be on the same boat? Ugh, I don’t have time to dwell on this. I need to get ready to go. Where did I put that folder?

Once I found the information Bubbles gave me, I cleaned myself quickly before changing into some jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a gray zip-up jacket. When I got downstairs with the folder, I tied my shoes as the front door opened, revealing Shining behind it with bags under her squinting eyes, even with her white-framed glasses in front of them. She also had a pair of jeans, but they looked a little loose around the waist. She was also wearing a gray hoodie. Her mane was slightly frizzled, like she tried to brush it in a hurry before getting here.

“Are you alright?” I asked. “You don’t look too good.”

“Gee, thanks for the compliment,” Shining gibed while crossing her arms. “If you must know, I couldn’t sleep last night.”

“Wait, you too?” I asked. “What did you do throughout the night?”

“I tried exhausting myself to sleep by beating up the punching bag I was telling you about yesterday,” she explained. “Somehow I just turned last night into a long workout session that lasted until around two in the morning before I took a shower and head to bed. It wasn’t until four hours later that the news from my alarm woke me up.”

“Wait, but we don’t have work today,” I pointed out. “You could have slept in if you wanted to.”

“When you work in this business long enough, you’d need to keep in touch with the news for anything that could happen,” she said.

Boy, she really tries to stay on top of things, huh? I’m sure that little freakout earlier didn’t make her morning all that better either.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Fleur exclaimed as she came downstairs. She had a pair of white jeans, a matching top, and a black belt around her waist. It looked like she didn’t have time to do her makeup, as her mane and tail were the only things I saw fixed from when I last saw her. It wasn’t a bad thing, but I sometimes forget how different Fleur can look without prettying herself up for the day, not that she wasn’t beautiful already.

“Alright, we’re all here,” Shining said before looking out the window to see Silver Wheel’s carriage parked out front. “And our ride’s here, so let’s… oh no.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“We gotta go. NOW!” Shining said before she opened the door, and Fleur and I quickly followed her out with my folder in hand. As we got to the carriage, we saw a large mob of ponies in the distance coming our way.

“Oh shit,” I swore as we picked up the pace. When we got to the carriage, I opened the door to let the girls in first before I went last.

“Come on, Silver, let’s go!” Shining exclaimed.

“Right away, Ms. Star!” Silver said before he got the carriage to quickly dash out of the area, leaving the reporter ponies in the dust.

We slacked on our seats after we saw the mob disappearing out of sight with a sigh of relief.

“We made it,” Shining said before yawning. “Now to just… get to Fancy’s place and… relax…” She slumped over to my side as she fell asleep, wiped out from the chaos earlier.

“Poor Shiny,” Fleur said. “I figured she sounded crankier than usual on the phone earlier.”

“She said she had trouble sleeping last night, like you did,” I said. “Could she have something going on like you do?”

Fleur paused as she looked out the window. “… Maybe.”

[7:45 a.m.]

The rest of the trip was quiet before we finally arrived at Fancy’s mansion. Shining was too far gone into dreamland to wake up. After Fleur helped get Shining out of the carriage with magic, I piggybacked the sleeping the mare rest of the way while Silver followed with my folder in hand. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one in the group who drools in their sleep since I felt something damp on my shoulder as we walked, but I paid no mind.

When we arrived at the front door, Fleur rang the doorbell that chimed like an old church’s. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Buttermilk, the maid from the party a while back. “Ah, Ms. De Lis! Your brother’s expecting you in the dining room,” she said as she opened the door wider. “Please, do come in and I’ll direct you inside. Breakfast has just been served.”

“Thank you, Buttermilk,” Fleur said before we went inside with Shining still on my back.

When Buttermilk got us into the dining room, my jaw fell open at the large banquet of food that spread out along a quarter of the long table.

“Good morning, you four!” a familiar voice said cheerfully. Fleur, Silver, and I looked over to see Fancy Pants sitting at the end of the table with a royal blue bathrobe that matched his mane and mustache. He got up from his chair before walking towards us. “It’s good to see you arrived safely. Allow me to welcome you back to Canterlot.”

“It’s good to be back, Fancy,” Fleur said before they shared exaggerated kisses on each other’s cheeks and hugged like last time. “Sorry for coming here like this. I didn’t have time to do my makeup.”

“Please, you’re always beautiful in my eyes whether you’re in makeup or not,” Fancy said. He turned to Silver to shake his hand. “Silver Wheel, my good stallion, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s been quite a while, Mr. Pants,” Silver said.

Huh, I guess Silver has more history with this family than I thought.

Some sniffing sounds drew my attention away as I glanced back, and saw Shining finally waking up from the food’s powerful aroma. “Mmm… is it breakfast time?” she asked before wiping her eyes.

“Good to see somepony’s finally awake,” I said with a smirk.

Shining glanced around her with tired, half-lidded eyes as she tried to wake up. Her gaze suddenly widened when she realized our position, and blushed a little in the cheeks. “Um… could you put me down now, please?”

“Sure thing.” I squatted myself down to where Shining’s hooves touched the ground. She then gently got off of me and cleared her throat as I stood back up.

“Th-thanks for the ride, Oz,” Shining said while looking to the side. “Sorry for the drool.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied.

“And it’s a pleasure to have you finally join us, Shining,” Fancy added in as he came up and gave her a handshake. He then turned to me with his genuine smile before he shook my own hand. “Oz, good to have you with us again too.”

“Please, the pleasure’s all mine,” I said.

“Well, let’s get breakfast on the way shall we? I’m sure you all must be quite famished from your excitement this morning,” Fancy said. We all nodded, grabbed our plates, and took our portions of food before we sat down and ate. Fleur sat between Silver and Fancy while Shining and I sat across from the first two.

“First off, Bubbles has told me everything about what happened at Manehattan, Oz,” Fancy said as he turned to me with ears folded. “I am terribly sorry for what occurred. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for you.”

“I’m trying to manage,” I replied with a shrug. “Bubbles gave me contact info to a psychiatrist I could see for this, and I’m going to make an appointment to see him next week.”

“Ah yes, Bubbles can be quite helpful in situations like these,” Fancy said. “And you can be sure I will get the best attorney to support your case for the upcoming trial.”

“Speaking of which, I have the info Bubbles gave them right here,” Silver said before he passed the folder over.

“Brilliant! Thank you, Silver. I’ll be sure to put this into good use,” Fancy said as he took the folder and gave it to one of the butlers on standby to put aside for later. “In the meantime, you four are more than welcome to stay here until the press has calmed down.”

“Thank you, Fancy,” Shining said. “I think it will only take a few hours, and we’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“Nonsense!” Fancy said while waving his hand. “Stay as long as you need to. I haven’t had good company like this for quite some time, and I feel it’s been ages since we last caught up, excluding the party two weeks ago, of course.”

Has it really been two weeks since then? Shit, I’m already in my second week being here and I didn’t even notice. Boy, did a lot happen in that short amount of time.

“Actually… there’s something I’d like to talk to you about in private, Fancy, if that is alright,” Fleur said.

“For you dear sister, you can talk to me about anything,” Fancy said with a smile. “In the meantime: Shining, Silver, Oz, you’re welcome to explore the premises as you please after breakfast.”

Wonder what Fleur wants to talk to Fancy about? Could it have to do with last night?

“Thank you, Fancy. Let us know if anything comes up,” Shining said.

[8:30 a.m.]

Once we finished breakfast, the service staff cleared the table as the five of us went our separate ways. Fleur and Fancy went upstairs to where I could only guess would be the latter’s private office the last time I was here, while Silver decided to take a stroll around the gardens. That only left Shining and me walking through the hallways while she gave me a bit of a tour around places of the mansion I haven’t explored. We went through the kitchen, where the service staff was cleaning the dishes from breakfast; a personal library with a few comfy chairs and a wide selection of books to read; and one of the bathrooms that might as well be a bath house from how big the tub was.

“And here is my favorite room that Fleur and I come in frequently when we visit,” Shining said as she opened the door. When we walked inside the dimly lit room, there was a small bar with a good selection of alcohol along the wall, a pool table with the balls already set to break, a round table with chairs around it while there was a metal suitcase sitting in the middle of it, and a large, flat screen T.V. that looked like it was installed in the wall recently with couches facing towards it, while there was a popcorn machine on the side. “We like to call it, ‘The Lounge,’” Shining said.

“Christ, is there anything Fancy doesn’t have?” I asked.

“Well, there’s no bowling alley, but Fancy isn’t into bowling anyway,” Shining joked as she turned to me with a small smile. “Wanna play a round or two of pool?”

“Sure, but be warned, I’m not very good at it,” I said.

We walked over to the rack of pool cues and grabbed one for each of us before chalking the tips. Shining decided to break for the first round, and the game was on. The balls clacked and spread out on the table after the cue ball made contact, managing to get one of the striped balls into a pocket.

“Guess that makes me stripes,” Shining said before she walked around to plan her next move.

This actually may be a good time to ask Shining about any problems concerning her lack of sleep last night. Hopefully I can get more out of her than I could with Fleur.

“So was there something occupying your mind that didn’t let you sleep last night?” I asked as she aimed at her target.

Shining made the shot, getting one of her striped balls into the designated pocket. “There’s something, but it’s nothing to get too concerned about right now,” she said as she planned her next shot.

Well, so much for that.

“How’d things go with Fleur after the phone call this morning?” Shining asked before making the next shot, but missing.

I couldn’t help but heat up a little as the image of Fleur’s behind still plagued my mind. I shook the thought off before I planned my first shot of the game as I came up with a reasonable response. “Well, I asked Fleur the same question I asked you, seeing if there was something she wanted to talk about, but she didn’t have anything to say at the time.” I paused to make my first shot at one of the solid balls, but to no avail. “I did tell her that if there was something that bugged her late at night, she could come and really wake me up to talk if she needs to in the future.”

“I see,” Shining said as she walked around the table to make her next move. “Does that apply to me as well, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Of course,” I said. “Heck, if you want to come over and talk in person, I don’t mind that either.”

“About that,” she said as she prepared her next shot. “While I do appreciate you respecting my privacy and not coming into my home, I feel we’ve gotten to know each other enough that I can trust you.” She made her shot at one of the striped balls with a clack, getting it into the pocket. “That being said, I grant you permission to come into my home at any time, so long as you knock first or I invite you to come over.”

My eyes widened as she made her next shot, but ended up getting the cue ball in a pocket by accident. “Uh… wow, Shining, thanks,” I said as I picked up the ball, and got it to a good spot to make my next shot. “I’m grateful we’ve gotten close enough that you entrust me with this.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Shining said as I prepared my shot. “With that, I have two things I want to ask of you, Oz.”

“What are they?” I asked before I made the shot. I finally got my first solid ball in a pocket, but I still had much to catch up on.

“First, going with the talk late in the evening thing, would you be able to come by my place so we could chat there?” Shining asked. “I can let you spend the night there if you’re too tired to walk back to Fleur’s.”

“Of course,” I said as I made my next shot. Luckily, one of the solids was close enough to a pocket to just tap into it. “I understand if you want to talk in the comfort of your own home.”

“Excellent,” she said with a smile. “The second thing I want to say is that I think I know something I could do to make up for that kick in your stomach.”

“What would that be?” I asked as I prepared my next shot.

“If you’re not too busy tonight,” Shining said. “I’d like to invite you to have dinner with me at my place.”

I suddenly jerked the pool cue enough to where I scratched the cue ball and some of the table’s carpeting. “D-dinner?” I asked.

“That’s right,” Shining said as she walked over to the cue ball to prepare her next shot. “Just you and me, having dinner. I’ll be doing the cooking myself. What do you say?”

Shit… besides the occasional eat outs back on Earth, I can’t even remember the last time someone else cooked for me. The only thing Dad would ever make for dinner was chili, and boy, does that get tiring to have every night, especially when he makes a large enough pot that could last almost a week if I ate it myself. I was able to cook more balanced meals thanks to some neighbors that helped me learn how to do it, but Dad stopped cooking for me since then. Most importantly though, I never had a girl, a mare no less, to cook for me either. Shining did say she can cook some meals, and I have been rather curious about how it tastes.

“Alright, I think I can take you up on that,” I said before Shining scored two striped balls with one shot in one of the pockets. “But how come it’s just you and me? What about Fleur?”

“I’d like to give you a personal tour around my place while we get to know each other more one-on-one,” Shining explained as she planned how to get the last striped ball. “While I’m good with the three of us talking daily, I want to open myself up a bit more to you. Something personal that I feel is best shared in private.” She made a bank shot to the last stripe ball, successfully getting it into the pocket.

Shit, Shining’s crazy good at this. I’ve barely had any chances to get my own shots.

“If it’s alright with you, I could give Fleur a chance to have the same thing on another night, doing whatever she sees fit,” Shining continued as she prepared to make her last shot on the eight ball. “I’ll ask her and Fancy if she could spend the night here while we have our dinner tonight so she won’t be alone in the house. We only have one more day off tomorrow before we get back to work for the next couple of weeks and prepare for your trial with Mascara. So Fleur could possibly do her thing with you tomorrow while we have mine tonight. Sound reasonable?” She put some more chalk on her pool cue before putting weight on it, patiently waiting for my answer with a smile.

It sounds fair, I have to admit that, but this certainly came out of nowhere, for sure. Then again, it’s also something different that could be enjoyable too. Besides that one dinner with Fleur when we first met, like Shining said, this is a chance for me to get to know the two of them more on a personal level than I have so far, and I want to know everything I can about the both of them.

“Yeah, I think that works just fine,” I said with a smile. “I’m interested to see what you’ll come up with for dinner tonight.”

“Oh don’t worry. I think I’ve planned something that will knock your taste buds right off,” Shining said with a smirk before preparing her last shot. “Eight ball on corner pocket.” She took a moment to focus, made her shot, and the eight ball went into the designated pocket with a thunk. “And that’s game.”

“Shit, I hardly stood a chance,” I said.

“Aw, don’t worry,” she cooed while patting my shoulder. “You didn’t do too bad yourself. Wanna try cards?”

“Now that I can play,” I said before we put the pool cues back on the rack, and set up the deck inside the metal suitcase for some rounds of five-card hold ‘em.

[Meanwhile, Fleur’s POV, 8:30 a.m.]

Alright Fleur, this is it. You’re alone with your dear older brother in his private office where nopony could hear or interrupt us thanks to a sound-proof spell. It’s time you bring out your concerns on Fancy’s love life as he deserves to be happy for being the wonderful pony he truly is.

“I must say, Fleur, it’s been quite some time since we last sat down and had a chat,” Fancy said with a smile as he used magic to pour himself a glass of water from a pitcher one of his maids brought over. “Would you like some water?”

“Please,” I answered before he poured into another empty glass, and levitated it over to me. I set my glass down on a coaster after a sip.

“So how have things been going with you, Fleur? Besides the incidents with Vogue and Solar, of course,” Fancy said.

“It’s been going great,” I said with a smile. “Shining’s still having trouble with stallions, but she’s trying to get better with that over the past few weeks. It’s been hard for her, I can tell, especially when there are so many rude stallions in Manehattan, but she’s putting effort into it with Ozzy’s help.”

“How wonderful to hear,” Fancy said. “Speaking of Manehattan, have you ever visited the spa I mentioned?”

“Oh yes! It was quite heavenly, and thank you for paying my visit,” I said. “I took Ozzy along because he definitely needed the treatment more than I did. It went well, but…”

“Yes?”

“There were some mares that came on to him too strong for his comfort,” I continued while looking down. “It was mostly because of seeing him topless in the baths that had them so intrigued. He had a towel on since it was his first time in a mixed bath, but, uh… they were more focused on his… nipples.”

“I say, human males have those?” Fancy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Indeed, and they don’t even do anything,” I answered. “They may be a little sensitive, but they don’t lactate like us mares. They’re just… there for no reason.”

“Very intriguing.” Fancy rubbed his chin. “So I take it Oz didn’t enjoy his visit at the spa as much as you did?”

“He liked it, despite what happened at the baths,” I said. “But I think the next time we go to a spa, he’d prefer to go to one that don’t have baths, or at least not coed ones.”

“That’s understandable.” Fancy nodded.

“Anyway, this isn’t what I want to come in here for,” I said with folded ears. “Fancy… have you seen any ponies recently? Like… on a date or something?”

Fancy shrugged. “Nothing like that in particular, no. Why?”

“I’m starting to get concerned for you, Fancy,” I said. “I didn’t think about this until a chat with Toffee yesterday, but I haven’t seen you with anypony since your third relationship in high school. You just turned twenty-seven two weeks ago, three years away until you start your thirties. I try to come here as often as possible, but I’m concerned how lonely you get in this mansion Mother and Father gave you in their will.

“You’re a wonderful pony, Fancy, and I couldn’t be more proud and happy to have you as my older brother, but I want to see you happy with somepony you love to settle down with like everypony else deserves, no matter how rich or poor. I just want to know if there’s anything that’s holding you back from finding that special somepony, and if there’s anything I can do to help you with it.”

Fancy sat there with patience, waiting for anything else I had to say. After a moment, he chuckled a little before taking a sip of his water, and swirled the glass. “Oh, Fleur… you’d be surprised how many times Princess Celestia has asked me the same thing.”

“See?! Even one of our fair Princesses says the same thing because she knows how much of a good noble you are, Fancy,” I said. Tears started to well up in my eyes as I sniffled. “Please, if there’s anything you need to talk about that shouldn’t be said with others, confide yourself to me so I could help you. You’ve done so much for me, and I want to be as much of a good sister to you as you have as my brother.”

“Oh Fleur…” Fancy stood up and opened his arms. I practically leapt from the chair to his him, trying to hold my tensions in until I broke into sobs on his shoulder. He rubbed my back as I wet his robe while gripping it from behind. “I’m sorry this concerns you so much, Fleur. I had no idea.” He pulled us back, and took a handkerchief from his robe’s front pocket to dab my tears dry once I calmed down some. “I appreciate you want to help me with this problem, but…” he sighed as he put the cloth back into his pocket. “It’s not easy for me to explain, especially when there’s so many ponies in Canterlot that value just being near my presence that I admit can get rather bothersome sometimes.”

“Fancy, I swear to you that if this is something so personal, whatever you have to say will stay in this room the moment I walk out of here,” I said. “Nopony else but me will ever know until you gather enough courage to tell them yourself. Please, let me be here to listen to your problems like you have for me so many times.”

Fancy took a moment to think about it while cleaning his monocle with a clean handkerchief. “You promise not to say a word to this to anypony?” he asked as he set his monocle back on.

“Absolutely. Even with Shiny and Ozzy.”

“This will take a lot for me to explain. It would be best if we took a seat.” I nodded before the two of us got back into the chair we sat. “Do you remember when I broke up my last marefriend?”

I looked up to recall the sequence of events that occurred. “Um… I do believe it was sometime after Mother and Father passed on, right? Didn’t you break up with her because of how busy you’d get in your noble things?”

“That’s part of it, yes,” he answered before taking a few swigs of his water. “You remember how they urged me to find a mare to court before they passed on, right?”

“How could I not?” I asked with ears folded. “They pressed you into doing well in school more than they did me, along with learning everything Mother and Father taught you about what they did in their business.”

“I have to admit that I wasn’t at my best during that time,” he said as he looked up to a portrait of Mother and Father on the wall. “They had set up a list of numerous mares for me to see, with only three that seemed best fit, at least by their standards.” He looked down on his glass with hands resting on his muzzle. “They were all beautiful, nice mares, any stallion would go head over hooves for them; however… as we got closer to where we uh…”

“I think I know where you’re heading. I don’t need to hear the smaller details,” I said.

As nice as Fancy is, I think it’s safe to say I don’t want to hear about my brother’s sex life as much as any other pony would in the same situation.

“Anyway, when we got there,” Fancy continued. “I just didn’t feel… good as anypony else would have. I’ve tried numerous times, especially with my first marefriend, but I just couldn’t get anywhere emotionally. I had to let her go because she just didn’t seem like the kind of pony I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. That didn’t go very smoothly, for both her and Mother and Father, I’ll say that much.

“After much heated discussion, Mother and Father went back to the list to try and set me up with the next best mare. I saw her for a bit, tried my luck with her, but just like the first one, there was no luck. So then they tried again with the third mare, and, surprise, I wasn’t satisfied with her either. After Mother and Father’s passing, I used their passing down of the mansion and business as an excuse to break up with her at first, but things got messy when I came out of it.”

“Wow… I didn’t realize how occupied you were with those mares until now,” I commented with ears folded. “Sorry I wasn’t much help back then.”

“It’s quite alright Fleur, it was a hectic time for all of us,” Fancy forgave. “Anyway, with Mother and Father not breathing down on my neck anymore, I took some time to think about why I wasn’t satisfied with those mares I courted. What was it that made me so… frustrated with them? What was it about them that I wasn’t satisfied with? I tried to come up with numerous reasons, but there wasn’t so much luck until I looked at how other ponies’ relationships were, and… to be honest, Fleur, I think you’ve helped me with that problem more than you’ve even noticed.”

I blinked a few times before tilting my head to the side. “Wait, what? You mean my relationship with Solar Flare helped with your insight?”

“Not with Solar, Fleur,” Fancy said. “I mean your very first relationship with somepony before you even met him.”

Somepony before Solar? But I didn’t really see anypony except…

My stomach suddenly dropped, and everything went cold as I recalled the one ‘relationship’ I had that confirmed a curiosity of mine. Something I didn’t want anypony else to know about before now. “Y-you mean… you…”

“Yes, Fleur,” Fancy said with a nod. “I’ve known about you and Shining for quite some time now.”

“H-how did you know?” I asked with a shaken voice. “Sh-Shiny and I haven’t spoken a word about that to anypony since we stopped.”

Well, except Ozzy, but he seemed an open and intelligent guy enough to tell it to, even Shiny was kind of subtle with the confession as far as what he told me.

“Remember when Mother and Father were in the Everglade Meadows for a business trip for a couple days, you had Shining over for a sleepover, and I was on a date with my first marefriend?” Fancy asked. “I had to come back in the middle of it because I forgot the tickets to a concert. As I passed by your room… well, with how much of a screamer you were, it was lucky that the service staff left for the evening.” He chuckled

My whole face heated up as I remembered that night. I squirmed in my seat when I realized I was caught. “How come you didn’t tell Mother and Father about it?”

“Why would I do something that could risk you losing your best friend?” Fancy asked. “I know we had our sibling scuffles during that time, but I would never go that far since I knew how much Shining Star meant to you, whether she was your best friend, or your marefriend, or even both. Plus, I want to find the right time to embarrass you with it when we’re alone and older, and boy, did I make the right choice.”

“You’re just plain awful,” I said with crossed arms and a pout while my cheeks were still warm.

Fancy took a moment to chuckle at my expense before he cleared his throat and looked down. “Going back to my epiphany, when I recalled your brief relationship with Shining, I saw everything in my past with a new perspective. All of my interactions with other ponies, what I was feeling during those times when I was around them, especially with my own closest friends before they had to move out of Canterlot, and what it was about those times that differed to my relationships with those three mares…” My heart raced in that moment of silence as I had somewhat of an idea where this was heading. “I’ve thought long and hard about it, Fleur, until I came to one conclusion that might explain everything.”

“F-Fancy,” I stuttered. “Y-you mean…”

Fancy looked up to me with folded ears. His mouth open and closed before he took a quick scan around the room. After a brief pause, he opened his mouth once more.

“Fleur… I think I might be gay,” Fancy announced.

The room fell into dead silence, letting my brother’s statement ring and echo into my head to try and make sense out of it as many times as possible.

“I… don’t understand,” I finally said. “What exactly brought you to that theory?”

“Being frustrated from having my marefriends in bed was one thing,” Fancy replied as he closed his eyes, and took a moment to think. “Thinking back to those times, I felt… unhappy with those mares. It wasn’t like I didn’t like them. Despite the outbursts from the break ups, they were pretty good mares and we did have good time, but I just felt… uncomfortable with the idea of spending the rest of my life with a mare who I not only cannot love in a romantic sense, but it was somepony that Mother and Father had set me up with. In fact, I was more stressed with that concept than the responsibilities of being a noble I was given.

“I didn’t know why I felt that way back then, and I’ve tried to ignore it as I kept seeing the mares, but it just got worse over time. When I finally broke up with my first marefriend, despite the drama that followed, I couldn’t believe how much more relaxed I was before Mother and Father had set me up with the second one.” He looked down on his water glass. “I honestly don’t know what might have happened if Mother and Father were still with us today. Would they keep throwing more mares at me until I’m satisfied with one of them? Would I have to stick with one so they can be satisfied? How would they have felt if I opened up to them about this? How would they see me with their distaste in same-sex relationships?” He looked back up to me with folded ears. “Fleur… you have to understand that I couldn’t see anypony else after my last break up because of how conflicted I was with the possibility of the princesses and all of the nobles in Canterlot would judge me if I opened up about my possible interest in stallions. Most importantly though, is how afraid I was to open up to our very own family, our parents especially. I was uncertain of telling even you the truth, Fleur, even after I knew you were experimenting with Shining, because of how much you mean to me now since our parents left. I’m afraid to go out there because of all the weight that’s on my shoulders, and how ponies may despise me for my interest…” He looked back down on the floor. “Just like our parents might have.”

“Fancy…” I stood up and walked over to a chair next to my brother’s. I sat down and held his hand in mine. “While it’s true that we may never know how our parents would react, you can’t let that hold you back to pursue your own happiness.” Fancy jolted up before turning to me with widened eyes. “I’ll admit, this news is surprising to me, but your preferences in whom you want to be with will never change how much I love you, Fancy. I’m still sticking to my ground that you deserve to be happy with a special somepony just like everypony else. Be it a mare or a stallion, I want you to be happy.

“And if this helps ease your tensions… besides my experiment with Shiny, there’s one other thing I may be trying out that Mother and Father may not approve if they were here, and I would feel more comfortable with making this choice if you support it, Fancy.”

“You mean about forming a herd?” Fancy asked.

I nodded. “Turns out it was our parents’ influence and my tug-of-war with Shiny for that colt back in Junior High that got me to rethink my views on herds. I’m going to talk to Shiny about this too, but there’s somepony both of us have our eyes on that I’d rather not let escalate to repeating past mistakes.”

“Let me guess. It’s Oz, isn’t it?” Fancy asked, making me blush.

“Was it really that obvious?”

“I suspected something like this would happen since I first met him,” he replied. “You and Shining have changed significantly since Oz came into your lives. He seemed like a very promising fellow from when we first chatted. Why, I would be willing to give my first date with a stallion a try with somepony like him.”

Fancy and Ozzy seeing each other? Sweet Celestia, I thought it was bad enough with him barely talking about sleeping with other mares, but now there’s-OH CRAP I IMAGINED IT ON ACCIDENT! Bad brain! Bad! Dear Luna, I’m going to need some mind bleach to get this image out of my head.

“Anyway, going back to your interest with forming a herd,” Fancy continued. “I’m assuming Shining will be joining you if she’s interested, correct?”

“That’s what I’m planning, but we won’t get into something like that for quite some time.” I looked down with ears folded. “Because of his incident with Mascara, he’s uncertain about dating mares right now, and it may take a while before he gets comfortable with the idea.”

“I don’t blame him,” Fancy commented. “In the meantime though, I have no problem with you being in a herd with Oz, or anypony else for that matter. Just be sure you know for certain that he’s worth it, and that you’re happy being with him. That’s all I’m worried about.”

“Same goes to you for seeing other stallions,” I added in with a smile. “And you can be absolutely certain I won’t tell anypony about this until you’re comfortable. Heck, I’ll see if I can help find some good stallions for you to meet sometime.”

“I think I’d like that very much, Fleur,” he replied with a smile before we sat up and hugged.

“Just don’t even think about dating Ozzy, or I’ll shave off that mustache of yours,” I threatened during the embrace.

Fancy chuckled a little. “Don’t worry Fleur, that handsome fellow’s all yours.”

Author's Notes:

Before anyone says anything, no, I'm not going to write a bonus chapter on Fancy's sexy times with a stallion at some point in the future. I don't have anything against MXM shipping [clop] fics, I just don't read them very often, especially with so few stallions portrayed in the show that aren't characterized enough to work with. I don't think I'd have a problem writing it, heck, I've actually drawn a picture of the sort for a request a while back, it's just kind of... how should I put this? Kind of hilarious from just the thought of how much detail I can put in for a guy to insert their schlong in another's poop hole.

Anyway, yeah, Fancy Pants is gay... Let that sink in for a moment. How will Fleur approach Shining about the herd idea? How will Ozzy's dinner with Shining go during his first visit in her home? What's she even planning on cooking for dinner? We'll find out next chapter.

Also, it may take me a bit to get the next chapter going, because I need to catch up on some school work. One class in particular I have to write a completely new fiction story in creative writing that the whole class will read and discuss with critique. Yeah, that's going to be loads of fun. Until next time,

This is Dudeler, signing off.