Chapter 5 – Afternoon

"Alright!" Pinkie Pie said, looking serious as she stepped off the train. "We have a lot of Canterlot to see, and very little time before sunset. We have to plan this out perfectly. No distractions. We'll start at the upper quadrants, and work our way down in a rhythmic fashion that would make even the royal guards envious of our precision. HEY! A sweet shop!" Fluttershy had just barely stepped off the train and onto the platform when she was dragged into the shop by the pink mare.

The day followed in such a manner. After the sweet's shop, where Pinkie Pie came out with a saddle bag stuffed with sweets, and Fluttershy had only one item, the two trotted off to hike around some of the more scenic areas of Canterlot. They came across a lake just bordering the city where couples were renting out boats for a romantic ride, which Pinkie Pie thought was a great idea.

While most posh couples were quietly sitting in boats letting a third pony they most likely paid row, enjoying their time together, the pink mare rowed as fast as she could, jetting through the water. Fluttershy crouched low in the boat, hanging on for dear life. Some of the upperclass ponies snubbed their noses at them, and one couple decided to laugh at them. Their scrutiny, however, was circumvented when the mare paddled past them at top speed, soaking the occupants of the boat with the water from the lake.

After feeding the fish and the birds near the lake, the two mares went to take a tour of the opera house. But when Pinkie Pie decided the tour was boring and cutting into their precious fun time, she decided to burst out into song on the opera stage. The two ponies were kicked out of the tour.

Seeing that Fluttershy was upset at having been kicked out from somewhere for the second time that day (the first being the vet's office), Pinkie Pie suggested they go try and see that animals at the mall like the yellow mare wanted to at the gala. They could even have snack time on the castle gardens.

They decided on a snack, first. Unfurling a picnic blanket, Pinkie opened up her basket, revealing a bunch of balloons. "Never travel anywhere without balloons," the mare said, nodding.

Fluttershy lay down on the blanket, breathing a sigh of relief. She just didn't have the energy to keep up with the pink mare all day. She was glad to have the break as Pinkie Pie passed out sweets. Then the pink mare decided to use the Pegasus' soft, feathery wing and side as a pillow. "Ahh," the mare sighed in satisfaction. "It's a lot of work being a tourist."

The Pegasus squirmed at being used as a pillow, but didn't want to move too much and make the other mare uncomfortable. "Well, it's a very large city," she said. "We should come back here sometime."

"They're so uptight!" Pinkie Pie said. "They need a good Pinkie Pie party to loosen them up a bit."

"Please, not now," Fluttershy said, closing her eyes shut at the idea.

"Well, no, not now! Today is YOUR day, silly. Unless you wanted a party. Hey! Do you want a party?" The mare hoisted herself up and looked at the Pegasus with a hopeful glimmer in her eye.

"Um…not right now, if you don't mind."

"Aww," she said, falling back onto the Pegasus mare. "Soon," she said, nodding resolutely.

"Oh, my," Fluttershy said, not knowing what to make of that comment. Then the mare looked off at the other couples on the gardens. The area was decorated for the holiday, and it seemed that couples from all over Equestria had come out to see the castle gardens on Hearts and Souls Festival. Despite being there with her friend, the Pegasus could really feel the romantic atmosphere. Yet she didn't feel like she was missing anything.

Pinkie Pie got up and lay down against Fluttershy, looking at what the mare was looking at. "They're so cute, aren't they?" She asked, smiling to the Pegasus. Then she lifted up a cupcake and put it up to the the yellow mare's lips. "Here, eat up, you'll need your energy to get through the day."

"Well, I…" The mare blushed as Pinkie Pie tried to feed her.

"Come on, nom nom! It's good for you. I'm pretty sure sweets are one of the main food groups, after caramel apples and milkshakes."

"Those are both sweets, too, Pinkie."

"Are you sure?" the mare narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "Because apples are fruits."

Fluttershy laughed softly. "Oh, Pinkie." The pink mare touched the cupcake to the pegasus' mouth, getting frosting on her nose. Rather than end up with frosting all over her face, Fluttershy allowed the pink mare to feed her the cupcake.

For the holiday, certain rooms of the castle were opened for ponies to visit. They were encouraged to come in and explore areas that usually only important ponies or ponies who needed to address the Princess would see. It was there that Rarity and Fancy Pants were among the small crowd of visitors and vendors selling roses and trinkets, in a room that sported many stain glass windows. Rarity was looking up at the windows, and the stories they told, when she saw the one that depicted her and her six friend's fight against Discord.

Rarity had not seen it since the ceremony commemorating their victory. Without the day's celebrations and her friends by her side, the artistic representation of that day seemed very large and daunting. She felt very small next to it.

"A rose for my lady?" Rarity turned to see Fancy Pants was holding a rose up to her with his magic. At this, Rarity smiled, accepting the rose with her magic.

"Thank you so much," she said. "It's simply gorgeous." It was then that she realized she was not wearing any fancy clothes that day. She had been so busy making the clothes, that she didn't think to grab any sort of clothing or accessory before she left Ponyville. Suddenly, she felt very vulnerable. And she certainly had nowhere to put the rose.

"Here, allow me." The unicorn stallion took the rose with his magic, broke the stem to remove the thorns, and placed it in the mare's mane. "There you are."

Rarity looked down, blushing lightly. "Why, Fancy Pants, you do know how to treat a lady." He nodded to the mare, before looking up at the stained glass window she was looking at.

Suddenly, Rarity was gripped with panicked. She didn't go around telling ponies about how she was an Element of Harmony, or how she and her friends saved Equestria on two separate occasions. They had all agreed to keep as low brow as possible. (Well, Rainbow Dash may have wanted to brag about it, but the other's talked her out of it when they reminded her of her dream to be a Wonderbolt, and how that might be affected by the fact that everypony would know who she is for a different reason than she would have liked. Sure, the Pegasus had an ego, but even she wanted to make the Wonderbolts by skill and not fame.) Rarity, herself, had called talking about it "tacky", and though many ponies in Ponyville knew of their heroics, they also knew of them just being themselves, and treated them as they always had. Plus, they had made a mess of Ponyville so many times, that the two canceled each other out.

So, not knowing how the stallion would react to seeing his date's image commemorated on a stain glass window in the royal palace, she did the only thing she could think of: try and distract him. "You know what I think would be lovely?" she said a little louder than she had intended. He looked over to her. "I've never seen the ballet house before. I wonder if they have a tour..."

"Better," said the Stallion. "They are having a very charming Hearts and Souls Day ballet playing now. Would you like to see it?"

Rarity's eyes widened. She didn't expect to actually SEE a ballet. "That would be lovely!" With that, the stallion led the way out of the castle so they could catch the afternoon showing of the ballet.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie walked into the throne room. The yellow Pegasus was still on a natural high after having been to the mall. "Did you see the Scarlet Ibis? Oh, and the sweet little Tapir…why, I don't even think those come from Equestria! And the Blue Tongued Skink was so…magnificent."

"I'm sorry they wouldn't let you get near them," Pinkie Pie said.

"Oh…they must remember me from last time…" She blushed furiously at the memory.

"Well, at least you got to see them! You seem happier than you were this morning."

The mention of the morning seemed to flood the young pegasus' memory, and she sank down, sullen. "Oh, Angel. I hope he's doing okay…"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Pinkie said, jumping in front of the mare, concerned. "You can't get all sad again, now! Look at where we are! And…and look!" She said cheerfully, pointing a hoof at the stained glass windows. "Remember when we were commemorated?"

The Pegasus looked up at the window, her ears falling back on her head. "My goodness," she said softly, shrinking down at the sight of it. "It's so…large."

Pinkie Pie furrowed her brows and pursed her lips, somewhat perturbed at her friend's reaction to seeing the window she had seen once before. But then she noticed they had been talking a little too loudly for the room and saw a few ponies were looking at the two of them and whispering, pointing up at the window and back to them.

At first, the pink mare was elated, but her happiness quickly turned to worry as the yellow Pegasus before her seemed uncomfortable at the sight of her own image plastered somewhere. Ponies recognizing her would surely make her have a new panic attack. "Hey, Flutters!" she said, turning to flank the Pegasus on her side and putting a foreleg around the mare. "You know what we should do? You're going to love it!"

"I am?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah! Come on! It's a surprise!" That would give her time to think about what it is they were going to do. She led the mare out of the hall, where the whispers were becoming more evident.

"Ta-da!" Pinkie Pie burst out of a dressing room, wearing a very stylish looking dress, white and navy blue, the likes Fluttershy had only seen at a garden party before. "How do you think I look?" She struck a pose. "Classy?"

Fluttershy couldn't help but laugh. "You're posing a little like Rarity."

"Am I?" Pinkie Pie asked, turning to the mirror to see how she was posing. "Well, she's a classy mare! I wonder why she never let's me try on clothes at her shop."

"Oh, Pinkie, don't you remember?" asked the Pegasus. "You got a chocolate stain on that one dress she was working on, and refused to let her try on another thing in her shop unless you were planning on buying it."

"Oh, yeah…" The pink mare furrowed her brow.

"But that's okay, Pinkie. You have plenty of fascinating outfits of your own that you manage to wear."

"What about you?" The pink earth pony trotted over to a dress, her own dress bobbing along as it was forced to moved in a way that was not intended of it. "You would look soooo cute in this!" The mare pulled out a green dress. "Green suits you."

"I couldn't…"

"Yes, you could, silly!" Pinkie Pie put the dress on her back and started pushing the mare into the dressing room.

Rarity sat in the outdoors seating area of a local restaurant, playing with what was left of her food. Fancy Pants had excused himself momentarily, and she was alone to contemplate the day. The Pegasus ballet had been absolutely astounding, as had lunch, and Rarity was only wondering what wonderful things Canterlot had to offer at night for such a special day. Everything had already been wonderful. And she was looking forward to seeing how the Wonderbolts treated the sunset.

"Oh, my gosh, RARITY! RARITY! RAR-I-TY! Over here! Hey! OVER here!" The unicorn mare's eyes shot open as she looked over and saw Pinkie Pie on the other side of the fencing that separated the dining area from the rest of the streets. She couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing. It almost looked like Pinkie Pie wearing a posh, fancy blue outfit, complete with hat, but surely that wasn't the case. And just behind her walked up what looked like Fluttershy wearing an equally fancy green dress, looking incredibly uncomfortable to look so fabulous.

Rarity forgot herself for a moment as she shot up in her seat, slamming her hooves to the table. "Pinkie? Fluttershy! What are you DOING here?" The two trotted over to her. Or that is to say, Fluttershy trotted over, Pinkie Pie, whipped herself over so quickly, she was before the unicorn in a flash. "And wearing such fabulous outfits! I'm surprised at you. If you wanted to dress up for the holiday, you should have told me! I would have been more than happy to whip something up for you!"

"Pinkie Pie thought it would be fun to try on some clothes," Fluttershy said. "I'm not sure what happened after that. Before I knew it, she had purchased the outfits…It really was too much, Pinkie."

"I told you, its okay, Flutters," said the earth pony. "You just looked so cute!" She huggled the yellow Pegasus, who squirmed uncomfortably at the attention. "I HAD to buy the outfit, but I knew you wouldn't wear anything if I didn't wear anything, so here we are!"

"You really do look wonderful, Fluttershy," Rarity said reassuringly. "Of course, you would look even more wonderful in a Rarity original," she said, looking off to the side, annoyance clearly portrayed on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Rarity," Fluttershy said. "Everything was last minute. I had no idea we'd be in Canterlot today."

"We're winging it, today" Pinkie Pie said. Then her eyes widened in delight. "Aha! Winging it? Get it! She's a Pegasus," She laughed to herself. "I LOVE accidental puns. They're so fun."

Rarity put a hoof to her forehead. "Oh, dear…"

"Rarity," said Fluttershy's gentle voice. "What are you doing here? I thought you had a client."

"Well, I did," Rarity said, frowning at the memory. "We took care of everything." Then her heart stopped. The last thing she needed was Pinkie Pie questioning Fancy Pants when he came back. "Actually," she said, "I hope you two don't mind, but I'm meeting with a very important pony right now, and I really shouldn't be talking to somepony else."

"Ooohh," said the pink mare. "Look at you! All classy and important! Okay." She winked. "We'll let you get back to your business. Fluttershy and I have to keep up our date, anyway."

"Thank you, kindly, Pin—Date?" Rarity asked, looking between the two.

"Oh, well, hello," came a male voice behind the unicorn mare. She went rigid at the sound. 'Oh, noooo….' She thought.

"Hey! It's Fancy Pants!" Pinkie Pie said. "Hi! Do you remember us! We were at your garden party a while back! Swanky party! It earned the Pinkie Pie approval." She got a serious look on her face as she nodded knowingly at the stallion.

"It's nice to see you again," Fluttershy said, nodding with a soft smile on her face.

"Yes," Rarity said, smiling uneasily. "Too bad you were just leaving." Knowing that Pinkie Pie would never get the subtlety from the unicorn, she gave a look to Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus shrunk down slightly at the look she got from Rarity, but seemed to understand.

"Pinkie, we should probably go. I don't think they'll be holding wine tasting for much longer."

"Mm, that should be gooood," Pinkie Pie said, licking her lips in anticipation. "But after that, I say we go home. No way I'm missing all the fun in Ponyville for festival night!"

"The Ponyville Festival, you say?" asked the stallion, his eyes brightening at the idea. Rarity had a bad feeling where this was going. "Well, I say, that sounds like it would be splendid! I've never attended an event in Ponyville, before."

Before Rarity could speak up, Pinkie Pie was by Fancy Pant's side, though no one saw exactly when she jumped the fence. "Oh, you should TOTALLY come to Ponyville tonight! It's so amazing! The hay rides, the games, the food, the bonfire! It's so romantic," she said, leaning against the stallion, a hoof up to her forehead in a mock swoon.

"Pinkie," Rarity said warningly.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Fluttershy said, lifting up a hoof as though it would stop the train wreck in process.

"Why, that sounds absolutely delightful," Fancy Pants said. "Particularly the hay rides. Very rustic. Everything in Canterlot is so formal, so ritualized. It would be nice to get out of the city for the night." He looked to the unicorn. "What's say you show me around your home town tonight, my dear?"

Her smile locked onto her face, Rarity didn't quite know how to answer. She was sooo close! She had a charming stallion for a date on Hearts and Souls Festival in Canterlot, her dream city. All she needed was the perfect dress, and everything would have been exactly as she had dreamed! But though he let on very little what emotion he was truly feeling on his face, Rarity could tell he really liked the idea. And after saving her with her client that morning, she simply couldn't say no.

Hanging her head slightly, she said, "That sounds delightful."

"YES!" Pinkie Pie yelled, calling the attention of everypony passing by. "It will be great! I might even have to get home early and make an extra special party for your first time in Ponyville."

"Uuhh," Rarity tried to say.

"Pinkie," Fluttershy interjected in her soft voice, spotting the trouble.

The pink mare looked to the Pegasus, before putting a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Fancy Pants, sir! Your party will have to wait. I'm on a date tonight with Fluttershy, and she comes first!" She nodded resolutely.

Fluttershy blushed furiously. "That's not what I meant," she said, but Pinkie Pie didn't seem to hear her. Rarity just smiled knowingly at the Pegasus, before turning back to the pink mare. But Pinkie was gone. She was once again by Fluttershy's side, though no pony saw her move.

"We'll take a rain check on that awesome party," said the party pony.

"Let's go, Pinkie," Fluttershy said, putting a hoof on the mare.

"And I'll bring my party canon! And goods from Sugar Cube Corner!"

"The wine tasting won't last long," she tried to pull the pink mare away.

"Oh! And we can play pin the tail on the pony! It will be so—!"

"PINKIE!" Rarity said through grated teeth. "Fluttershy is trying to get your attention. It is a date between you two, after all, isn't it?"

"Oh, you're right," Pinkie Pie turned and put a hoof around the mare. "Shall we?" The two trotted off towards the wine tasting. Rarity turned, smiling nervously.

"Well, then," Fancy Pants said, leaving a few bits on the table and getting up to leave. "I wonder what sunset looks like in Ponyville. It should be interesting. We often have our sunset show done by the Wonderbolts, but they don't know anything about subtlety."

Rarity just smiled and nodded. She would have liked to see the Wonderbolts show, no matter how showy it was.

The train ride to Ponyville was not a very long one – half an hour, as long as nothing happened to the track. But while other times Rarity rode the train with excitement, this train ride was much different. An entire night working and a day seeing the wonders of Canterlot were finally taking a toll on her. With Fancy Pants speaking about something or other to her right, she tried her best to pay attention.

But the slight jostling of the train was like a mother lulling her child to sleep, and despite her best efforts, Rarity finally allowed herself to close her eyes, just for a moment.

She didn't realize that moment would take up the entire train ride. Nor did she realize that she would spend that entire train ride asleep, laying her full weight against her date's side.