"That will do for now, ladies and gents. Let's call it a day," Raine announced, and the group of soloists let out heavy sighs of relief.
"At this point, we should call it a night, jeeze," Velvet mumbled, leaning against Ephemeral and closing her eyes. "Seriously, these late nights are going to be the death of me."
Ephemeral chuckled and extended his wing to push her upright. "Work hard, play hard." He turned and started toward the refreshments table.
Velvet's ears wiggled as she followed after him. "Oh yeah? And how do you play, Moony?"
He looked at her with one brow raised. "I'll give you three guesses."
"Hmm…" She filled up a cup with water and sipped on it in thought, then grinned. "Chasing down ponies in the middle of the night and kicking rain clouds on them."
"What?" He huffed. "Do you think I'm a foal?"
She shrugged. "Okay, strike one. Let's see… Exotic dancer?"
Ephemeral snorted and shook his head. "Strike two."
Velvet downed another cup of water before she tossed the little paper cup in the recycling bin and fixed him in her gaze. "D-D-D-DJ Moon, bringin' you all the latest hits and sickest beats, rrowr!"
He sputtered into a light laugh. "I'll remember that if I decide to become a DJ… But unfortunately for you, strike three." He flicked his wings as he walked past her to head to the stallions' locker room. "Maybe next time."
"I could just follow you to find out," she teased as she did just that.
"Fine, but I'm going to take a shower first." He looked over his shoulder with a small grin.
She returned the grin with one of her own, adding a waggle of her brow. "I don't mind."
He laughed, went into the locker room, and quickly shut the door behind him. "I'll give you three more guesses tomorrow."
Velvet tested the door—it didn't budge. She stuck her nose in the air as she turned away and huffed. "Fine! But I'll guess it eventually. And if it's something fun, then you have to take me with!"
"We'll see about that!" he called from inside.
When Velvet crossed the threshold into the mares' locker room, she was overwhelmed with giggling conversations and the scent of different shampoos and perfumes. She blinked a few times, then scoped out the nearest available stall.
Lightshow walked over and leaned against the half-wall to smile at Velvet. "So, how do you feel about the choreography? Everypony seems to have a different opinion after today's practice."
"The choreography?" Velvet closed her eyes and stuck her head under the stream of hot water. She lifted her head back up to look at Lightshow and shrugged. "S'okay. It's weird to have unicorns doing special effects. We didn't have that at the Canterlot Ballet."
Lightshow laughed, her horn glowing with seafoam green magic that matched the streaks in her dark green mane. Sparks and bubbles shot out from the tip and danced in a small circle. "Do you have something against unicorn magic?"
"No way. My best friend is a unicorn! It's just, well, it's different. This company has so much… stuff." Velvet shifted her weight to rub shampoo into her mane. "It's not a bad thing. You and the other special effects unicorns really bring the scenes to life!"
Lightshow's magic fizzled out and she pushed herself upright. "Well, I think you dancers are pretty special. Keep up the good work!"
Velvet waved her off as the mare trotted away, then focused on her mane and tail. A smile tugged at her lips and threatened to never leave. Her life was going really well. At that moment, she had nothing to actually complain about.
True, work was tough, but it was very rewarding. Tomorrow, she was going to get a massage for free! Crystal was getting married, but it would be okay. They would still be friends. And Red? Red was her perfect little guy, as always!
Yup. Life was good.
After finishing her shower and drying off, Velvet made her way to the bakery, humming a happy little tune. There were only two hours left in the work day, but she could at least cover the register so her dad could take a break.
Pepper looked up when she walked in and he smiled. "Hi, sweetie. Why don't you go on back? Somepony's waiting for you."
Velvet blinked. Who could that be? She trotted around the corner, stopping to place a light kiss on her father's cheek, and went into the back room. "Hi, Mom, I'm here!" She paused when she saw a fishbowl sitting on the decorating table. The goldfish inside stared at her with eerily large, unblinking eyes. "Huh? When did you get a fish?"
"He's with me," a small voice said on her right.
"Oh." Velvet's gaze shifted to land on the little blue mare holding her tiny baby brother. "When did you get an Azurite?"
Sunbeam smiled from where she sat at the table. "Hello, sweetcake. Azurite is having more relationship trouble, so she and her fish came to visit."
Seriously? Velvet raised one brow. "More trouble? I thought we were trying to fix things?" She sighed. "I don't know if this is normal for you, but to me, this seems like it's getting out of hoof." She took the remaining available chair and crossed her hindlegs. "What's up this time?"
Sunbeam huffed lightly. "Oh, no, please, sit down and make yourself comfortable. Don't offer to help with the cupcakes, I'm fine."
Velvet waved her off while Azurite sucked in a breath and started, "I-I did the dinner thing, but it didn't turn out right. Not right at all. Instead of talking through their problems, they just made more problems, and decided to break up." Her ears drooped. "This wasn't what I wanted at all, and now I think everything's ruined because Sunny won't talk to me and I wouldn't be surprised if Soarin's mad, too."
Azurite sniffled and looked up at her, ears even lower than before. "So I dunno what to do now. I want things to get better, not worse. But how do I do that? What should I do?"
This was a conversation better suited to anypony but Velvet. What would Crystal say? She nibbled on her lower lip and glanced away as she tried to figure that out. First, she'd make tea, then… No, that wouldn't help.
"I'm not really an expert on romance," Velvet admitted in a quiet mumble. "But I guess if you think about it like any problem, usually you tackle one thing at a time, right? So maybe do that? Start with making sure Soarin isn't upset?"
Sunbeam glanced over. "And perhaps give Sunny a few days to cool off before approaching her."
Azurite nodded slowly. "Yeah… That's pretty good advice, actually. Both of you. Okay, I guess I'll go deal with Soarin first. Maybe I'll get lucky and he's not mad at me. Then we can get together to figure out how to fix things between him and Sunny… assuming I can fix things between her and me."
"'We'?" Velvet raised one brow.
"Whee," Red cooed, wiggling in Azurite's lap.
Azurite nodded again. "Yes, we! Of course, we! Do you really think I can do this on my own? Honestly?"
The answer was obviously: no way. But Velvet couldn't just say that aloud. She glanced at Sunbeam, who glanced back with an equally uncertain expression.
Opting to just not answer the question at all, Velvet said, "Maybe invite your friend, too. Sandy. You know, just in case Mom and I aren't enough help."
Sunbeam gave a light chuckle. "Why don't we all have brunch together next Saturday and see where you're at, blueberry cupcake?"
"All right!" Azurite stood, giving Red over to Velvet, much to both siblings' delight. "Thank you both so much! I'm going to go home and see how Soarin is."
"Good luck, dear!" Sunbeam waved as Azurite started out the door.
Velvet waved as well, then frowned when a gurgling sound drew her attention to the goldfish, who blew bubbles at the water's surface. "Azurite!" she called. "Your fish!"
Sheepishly, Azurite shuffled back into the room, the tips of her ears red. "Oops… Sorry, Mr. Peepers." She frowned when the fish just stared at her. "I said I'm sorry! Look, let's just go, okay?" Her magic wrapped around the bowl and carried it after her as she left again. "I'll give you extra treats if you stop looking at me like that."
Once they were alone, Sunbeam commented with a merry lilt in her voice, "She's an odd little duck. I like her. I hope things work out between her and her partners."
"Yeah." Velvet smiled down at Red, happy to cuddle him to her chest. "Me, too. She's weird, but fun."
"Speaking of fun…"
Oh, great. Velvet knew that tone. She looked up to see a wicked grin facing her.
"Am I going to be a grandmother?"
Velvet sighed and held up Red, wiggling his forelegs. "Mama!"
"Mama!" Red chimed.
"Aren't I enough for you?" Velvet said in her best squeaky foal voice. "Why do you want to replace me?"
Sunbeam smiled as she dropped some sprinkles on the last cupcake. "Oh, honeykiss, these are completely different issues. Red's my foal. Your foal is your foal. I can spoil the little prince or princess and not have to deal with the repercussions. So, when am I getting a grandfoal?"
Velvet rolled her eyes and set Red down on her knee. "No time soon, Mom. I was perfectly safe. Doubled up. Okay? Can we please talk about something else?"
"Nope!" Sunbeam giggled. "Inquiring minds, sweetheart. You've been strictly into mares for so long I thought that your little quips about liking stallions was just to give me false hopes. Let me relish in the hopes coming back to life, all right, snookums?"
"Ugh, fine, okay, let's get it over with." She lolled her tongue out the side of her mouth, wiggled her nose, and flopped her ears. When Red squealed and squirmed with glee, she broke into laughter.
Sunbeam dragged her chair over to sit across from Velvet. "Will this stallion be a recurring friend of yours?"
Velvet scrunched up her nose and shrugged. "Maybe? I dunno. It's super casual right now."
"Oh, sweetie, when isn't it casual with you?" Sunbeam winked.
"Yeah, true, but you know what I mean." Velvet tapped her hooves against Red's. "Like, Dawn and I have things figured out. Tumbler and I only just came to an understanding."
"When am I going to meet this Dawn of yours, by the way?" Sunbeam beamed at her. "This is the longest you've been with the same pony!"
Velvet lifted her gaze, frowning. "She's not my marefriend, Mom."
Sunbeam just kept smiling.
"She's not!"
Sunbeam finally broke her smile with a giggle and waved a hoof. "She is the closest thing you've ever had, and I think it's high time you introduced us."
"No, because you'll say weird things and get her confused." Velvet held out Red for her to take. "I'm just keeping her company until she finds herself a special somepony. A real special somepony. Look, you and Dad seem to have things under control here, so I'm gonna hit the road."
Sunbeam frowned, cradling Red in her forelegs. "You don't have to leave just because I'm pestering you, sugarcheeks. I'll drop the topic. Why don't you tell me about your new ballet you've been working on?"
Velvet eyed her with light suspicion, then relaxed back into the chair. "The Little Mermare. It's really cool what this company is doing with it."
"How so?" Sunbeam booped Red on the nose, smiling as he giggled.
"Well, for starters, there's the special effects team. I can't get over that. The underwater scenes are amazing! And the plot is totally different from how I've seen other companies do it."
Sunbeam gasped. "Do I hear a story?"
"Sto-ree!" Red squealed.
"Story!" Sunbeam chimed, shifting Red to sit him upright and face Velvet, mirroring his eager, wide-eyed look.
Velvet rubbed the back of her neck and laughed softly. "Uh, well, this one isn't exactly super-duper Red friendly. It's actually pretty depressing. But it's neat because it actually has the original author as part of the tale. Did you know that Hans Canter Amblersen wanted to be a dancer?"
Sunbeam wiggled Red back and forth. "Nope, we didn't! Tell us the story, we're not old enough to understand depressing endings."
"That's what I tried to say when—oh, whatever." Velvet rolled her eyes, then smiled. "So it starts off with Amblersen working on the story for a ballet to be performed at a Prince and Princess's wedding. Unfortunately, because he's clumsy and uncoordinated, he couldn't demonstrate to the dancers what he wanted, so the rehearsals were a flop.
"The Prince sympathized with Amblersen, so he arranges a meeting with him down by the sea. I guess he's clumsy and uncoordinated, too, 'cause he slips off the pier and nearly drowns, which is when the Mermare saves him…"
---
"… The Witch showed up at the request of the Mermare's sisters to kill the Prince, but the Mermare threw herself in the way. She was struck by the knife instead, but died in peace, having finally been able to express her love for the Prince."
Nightingale stared, mouth slightly agape, eyes wide. "Holy moly! Are you serious? That's, like, super depressing! Amblersen couldn't become the master dancer he wanted, and the Mermare dies?" She waved her hooves. "Nope, no thanks, I'll take the happy version we perform any day of the week!"
Velvet laughed and nodded, looking around the Mare Contraire idly. It was a quiet night and all the other booths were empty. The only other patrons were up at the bar, chatting with the bartenders. "I know, right? I guess that's the drawback to a serious company. No happy endings. I was shocked when I read the synopsis and pretty much nopony gets what they wanted."
"Except the Princess, I guess. She got what she wanted?" Nightingale scrunched up her nose. "Well, whatever. As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter if the ballet is totally depressing. You are happy, right?"
"Absolutely! Life is great right now. Which I feel a little guilty about, because my… sort of… kind of friend Azurite is going through a rough time right when I'm feeling at my best." She rubbed the back of her neck, then shrugged it off. "Dawn and I are getting along, Tumbler is an absolute stud, I love my job, I love my friends, I love my family."
Nightingale's eyes narrowed slightly. "Wait, you're still seeing Dawn? Are we talking about the same Dawn?"
Velvet frowned. "Yeah?"
"Oh my gosh, Velvet! You need to break up with her! Or break things off with her, however it works in your weird anti-dating world!"
One ear flicked and Velvet's gaze darted away. She crossed her forelegs over her chest. Weird. Her favorite word. "Why? Dawn doesn't seem to have a problem with it, so why do you?"
"Because I'm not so in love with you that I can't see past that," Nightingale said more like a growl.
Velvet had heard absurd things before, but this topped the list. "In love with me? Seriously? How could anypony be in love with me?"
Nightingale sputtered a few false starts before picking up her drink and tossing it back. "Okay. Fine. You're an adult and I'm not your mother. You can make your own choices. Why don't we talk about something else? Like Thunder Tumble. Now there is a stallion you should be spending your time with."
It was hard to switch gears, but after a moment to push the frustration from her mind and replace it with more pleasant thoughts, Velvet's tense muscles finally relaxed. "Why, because he's a stallion?"
"No, because he's a guard and will keep you on the straight path." She grinned. "Literally!" The grin fell into a somber line. "Not that there's anything wrong with liking mares, I just, you know, I had to take the joke."
Velvet snorted. "I know. Yeah, no on the Tumbler front. He's not looking for a relationship. We'll fool around until one of us gets bored or he gets the job opportunity he's keeping himself open for."
"Oh… I kind of thought with…" Nightingale trailed off, then shrugged. "Well, that sounds perfect for you, right?"
"Yup!" Velvet smiled. "It couldn't be any more perfect."
Nightingale drummed her hooves on the table between them. "Good, I guess. Well, not that you asked, but I'm dating a new stallion."
"What happened to—" Velvet tried to remember his name, but came up with nothing. Nightingale dated so many different stallions that it was kind of hard to keep track, but Velvet was certain that one had made it through a few dates, which was notable. "—the other one?"
"You know how it goes. You think you know a guy, then you get him in the bedroom and he wants to try freaky stuff." Her wings twitched and flicked. "I'm sorry, but I have lines, and watersports is one of them."
Velvet blinked a few times. "Like… Making out in a pool?"
Nightingale stared at her with an unreadable expression before she reached across the table, held Velvet's hoof in hers, and cooed, "Oh, sweetie, no."
"Don't talk down to me!" Velvet jerked her hoof away, a frown tugging at her lips as Nightingale burst into a chime of laughter. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I don't know every fetish out there!"
Nightingale's laughter settled down and she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "I'm honestly surprised by that, actually. You just seem like a dirty mare that knows these things."
Velvet huffed and started to slide out of the booth. "You know what, I'm going home! Good luck with your sports!"
The sound of more laughter followed her as she stormed her way to the door. Dirty mare! Why, because she slept around a little? Well, all right, that was a fair argument, but she still stomped her hooves until she was outside and around the corner, then settled into a light trot.
Crystal would be waiting for her with dinner, so she needed to focus. Shove all thoughts of sex and fetishes from her mind. Go back to being the sweet, bubbly Velvet that Crystal knew and liked. Maybe someday she'd actually be that pony again for real, but in the meantime, a smiling mask would have to suffice.