this sentence is DIRECTLY about fleur being a lesbian.

if you're not familiar with my fic (you should totally read it), fleur-de-lis is married to fancy pants and they are part of the unicorn aristocracy. they uphold very old, traditional beliefs, values and systems in the name of preserving culture; however, none of these things have flexed much over time.

as you can imagine, the culture of literal aristocrats is very heteronormative. after all, the whole point is to have more royal babies. the queers could do that depending on their flavor, but any doubt in child-rearing is frowned upon when you're part of a high-and-mighty elite group. really the only change they've made in this behavior is that they realized incest bad, actually, though they still have strict stipulations by family on what members' partners can look like -- the aristocracy are like horse breeds with each family exhibiting certain features in modern day. (if you're curious, the de-lis family are white with blue, pink, or purple hair and tend to be tall and slim.)

fleur is a lesbian, period. yeah, she had a kid. that was part of the whole thing and expected of her. but she's a lesbian. to some extent, she's always known that. in a way, it's the catalyst for how much she daydreams.

normal pony society is pretty gay in my canon. i mean, such an overwhelming part of the population are born women that it would be weirder if it wasn't gay. partners able to have children biologically are often celebrated to a little extra extent in traditional values (thus some foundational reason for the aristocracy being uplifted to begin with), but in the modern equestria age with magic and technological advances, pretty much anyone who wants kids can have them. this has been the reality for a long time, and fleur has been painfully aware of it.

fleur went to what amounts to a prep school with other rich ponies and aristocrats. she wasn't homeschooled because her parents thought she wouldn't be able to relate to the "average pony" or whatever. well, she can definitely relate to the gay stuff.

aristocrats are betrothed from birth, although exceptions exist so long as the pony replacing the arranged one is suitable in looks and personality. fleur and fancy pants were arranged within days of their birth, and they were aware of it for an uncomfortable amount of their lives. their families had them spend a lot of time together as kids, but they never really became more than acquaintances. they like each other, but they don't even share enough interests to fully be considered "friends."

as you can imagine, this led to some Feelings on fleur's end. bad ones. oh-no ones. not only isn't she friends with this guy she's supposed to marry, but she was super into this girl during her high school years -- oh no, is she gay?

these feelings never went away. as she says, they're like maggots in wood, turning into flies, and then the flies make more maggots and their bodies build up. this revolting description is how she feels about her own sexuality. she's been conditioned to think this from birth, but she's finally in a point in her life where it's breaking her. her and fancy have been married for 15 years. there isn't anywhere left for those maggots and flies to go now.