"Hello?" Crystal asked. "Velvet? Are you there?"
Velvet blinked a few times as a hoof was waved before her eyes. She looked around, confusion plastered on her face. She was in the classroom, in her seat. That much she knew for certain. It was morning, or maybe early afternoon. She blinked again and focused on Crystal sitting beside her.
"What happened?" Crystal tilted her head. "You look exhausted!"
Velvet tried to smile. Slowly, her eyelids started to slide down, but she shook her head and forced them back up. "Oh, um, nothing. I just was up really late reading." She yawned. "I think I got some sleep somewhere in there, maybe?"
"Really?" Crystal glanced at the front of the class. The teacher seemed quite preoccupied with her lesson, not noticing them whispering back and forth. "What was it?"
"Oh, uh." Velvet stared at her. "Uh?" She furrowed her brow. "I'm so sleepy, I can't remember, but I know it was good?" Her grin was forced, but Crystal didn't seem to find it suspicious. "I borrowed it before I left yesterday. Do you mind if I come by and borrow another?"
Crystal raised one brow. "I don't know if I can be an accomplice to anything that makes you look so—"
"Miss Crystal Wishes!"
Crystal winced and turned toward the front. "Yes, Ms. Tutor?"
"Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" The ever-present hint of a frown had fallen into a near scowl. "Or would you like to join us in this lesson that you're so disinterested in?"
Crystal's ears folded back. "I'm listening, Ms. Tutor! Honest!"
"Then what did I just say?" She tapped one hoof on the floor.
The question brought a small grin to Crystal's lips, but she quickly smothered it by clearing her throat. "You were teaching us the intricate and confusing rules of the order in which 'e' and 'i' are present in various words, Ms. Tutor."
The mare gave a small sigh and turned back to the chalkboard. "Correct, Miss Wishes. Please help me out and make it more apparent that you're listening from now on."
Velvet surfaced out of her exhaustion just enough to smile. "How do you do that?" she whispered as quietly as she could.
"Practice," Crystal whispered back, keeping her eyes forward. She continued with her nose upturned and a quiet voice reminiscent of Upper Crust's, "One must always keep an ear on another conversation from one's own, lest one miss out on crucial information."
The two giggled softly before Crystal paid attention while Velvet just tried to keep her eyes open. It was a struggle, but she managed to survive until lunch. Barely.
Before Velvet could remember to catch Crystal up on the previous day's happenings, High Horse shyly walked to the door, cringing from the weight of Golden's glare as their paths intersected.
Crystal glanced at Velvet. "What—"
Velvet yawned. "High Horse and Golden broke up so now she's our friend."
This seemed to be all that Crystal needed. She sat up straight in her seat and waved her forelegs. "Hey, Horsey!"
High Horse's ears perked and she lifted her head. "Huh?"
Crystal beamed. "Let's have lunch together!"
"Really?" Horsey started to smile. "You don't mind?"
Crystal waved a dismissive hoof. "Why would I mind having lunch with friends?"
"But, you and Velvet—"
"Now it's me and Velvet and you!" Crystal levitated her lunch bag, slid out of her seat, and trotted for the door. "C'mon, Velvet, the sun will perk you up, I'm sure!"
"Mm." Velvet dragged her hooves as she followed behind the two figures she hoped were her friends.
Once they were seated, High Horse and Crystal started to eat their lunches while Velvet leaned against Crystal and closed her eyes.
"What was so good about the story that you stayed up all night reading it?" Crystal asked before she took a bite of her sandwich.
Horsey looked up suddenly. "Oh, so she's just tired from staying up? Thank goodness," she said with a smile. "I was worried she was sick and nopony was going to mention it."
Velvet opened one eye. "Uh, it was really well-written. I couldn't go to sleep without knowing what happened."
"Really?" Crystal tapped her chin. "Was it Of Mice and Mares?"
"No." She closed the eye again.
"The Chronicles of Neighnia?"
Velvet paused. That sounded like a story that might have a sequel, right? Her heart started to race as she placed her bets and gambled, "Um, maybe."
Crystal smiled. "Oh, that's a really good series!"
Velvet felt a small bit of relief. "So can I borrow the next one?"
"Of course!" Crystal paused, then amended, "Though maybe I should just bring it to school tomorrow. You should go home and rest right after we get out."
Horsey nodded in agreement. "I don't mean this in a mean way, but I think you could really use some sleep."
"No, I want to come over," Velvet whined as she pressed her face into Crystal's neck.
Crystal laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, okay, but only if you promise to not stay up all night reading it."
"Promise!" Velvet yawned. She straightened up and looked in her lunch bag. "Oh, look, it's a real lunch today!"
When Horsey giggled, Crystal glanced between the two. "What?"
"Nothing," they said and giggled together.
Crystal frowned at first, but lightened into a smile. "I'm glad you're our friend now, Horsey."
Horsey flushed lightly. "Me, too."
The lunch went by relatively easy after that. It was especially good that Horsey was there, as Velvet's attention was floating in and out, so Crystal had somepony to hold a conversation with until they were called back into class for the rest of the day's lessons.
❦
Velvet mustered all of her energy on the walk to Crystal's house, which was made easier when they walked in the door and Upper Crust called Crystal into the kitchen, leaving her alone in the foyer.
"Darling, I've been looking into these 'school lunches' and, evidently, I'm supposed to make them for you," Velvet heard Upper Crust say. "Why didn't you inform me of this sooner?"
"Oh, Mom, it's fine, really," Crystal replied. "I don't mind making them myself."
Velvet quietly tip-hoofed across the living room. She craned her neck to see around the corner and into the kitchen, where Upper Crust seemed to have Crystal's full attention. Excitement giving her a rush of adrenaline, she hurried up the stairs and into Crystal's bedroom. She squeezed herself under the bed and tugged on the box to move it closer to the reachable side.
When her head popped out from underneath the bed, however, she was staring at Crystal's hooves.
"Oh, uh—" Velvet blinked a few times. "Hey, you."
Crystal furrowed her brow and tilted her head. "What are you doing under there? You startled my mom with how fast you ran up the stairs all of a sudden." She rolled her eyes and mocked with a hoof daintily raised, "'Go tell your friend a lady never runs.'" Her gaze focused back on Velvet and one ear twitched, though she smiled softly. "So, this is weird."
Velvet's guilt was clear on her face as she glanced at the box she had pushed almost all the way out. Crystal followed her gaze and gasped. Panic overtook her eyes and she thrust the box to the far side of the bed with her magic, her over-attention causing it to hit the wall with a loud thump.
"What were you doing with that?" Crystal took a step back. "You didn't open it, did you?"
Velvet bit her lower lip before she crawled all the way out from under the bed and stood as tall as she could. "I did, and I'm not sorry!"
Crystal's ears folded back. "Why—You—"
"I'm not sorry because they were the best stories I've ever read, not just since I started reading, but, like, ever!" Velvet bounced in the air for emphasis of her excitement. "But the last one was cut off 'cause I guess you ran out of pages and I need the next one!"
Crystal stared at her, jaw slack as a flush crept over her face. "Wait, that's what you were up so late reading? My stories?"
Velvet nodded with so much enthusiasm that her ears flopped wildly. "Yes! I couldn't stop!"
Crystal's flush started to crawl down her neck. She raised a hoof to hide her face. "You're just—"
"I am not! If I was 'just saying that' then I would have gotten some sleep last night." Velvet stepped closer to her. "Please let me borrow the next one!"
Crystal fell back onto her haunches and covered her face with both hooves. "No, they're not that good! Honest! Anyway, how can you like them?" She tentatively parted her hooves just slightly to peer out with one eye. "They're about romance."
"Huh? Why would that be a problem?" Velvet blinked, one brow raised and her nose scrunched up.
"Because you didn't like Prima Donna and Dastardly Desperado being together."
"Oh, pfft!" Velvet waved a hoof to dismiss the notion. "That's because I didn't like Dastardly. He was just a bad pony. But the stallions you write about, oh!" She started to flush herself. "It makes me want to be a mare!" She put her hooves on Crystal's and pushed them away. "If you don't believe me, then write a story and leave it on Ms. Tutor's desk without your name on it."
Crystal's flush vanished. "What? No! What if she finds out it was me?"
Velvet rolled her eyes. "That's why you leave your name off it, d'uh!"
Crystal groaned under her breath as she fought with the idea. Finally, she sighed and tried to smile. "I guess if she doesn't know it's me, then I've got nothing to lose."
Velvet squealed and hopped onto the bed, dropping her head down onto one of the pillows and closing her eyes. "Great! You work on that while I close my eyes." She paused, then cracked her eyes open to peer at Crystal. "Do I still get to borrow the second book?"
"I—I guess, if you want to."
"Double great!" She yawned, closed her eyes again, and drifted off almost immediately. She had been working hard, and it was time for a slumbering reward.
♡
Crystal started to pace around the edge of the fluffy pink rug before she threw herself on top of it and internally screamed. Ms. Tutor? Reading one of her stories? It was hard enough turning in assigned essays
She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She took a deep breath in, then slowly released it as she levitated a quill and a blank sheet of paper from where they had rested on her little desk up against one wall.
"Hmm." She tapped her chin, focus overtaking her nerves. "What to write?"
Slowly, the quill dipped into the inkwell and started to scrawl across the paper. "In every class," she mumbled under her breath. "there is one special pony that comes to school every day with hope in her heart…"
Velvet's ear perked and listened to the story as it was written, a smile on her face.
An hour later, Crystal was sitting on the bed with Velvet resting against her, reading over her shoulder.
"And—done!" Crystal lowered the last page onto the small stack of ten written pages.
"That's a really sweet story," Velvet said softly. She reached out a hoof to touch the edge of the papers, careful not to smear the still-wet ink. "I think Ms. Tutor is going to love it."
Crystal shrugged. "I guess." She hopped down onto the floor. "Come on, it's getting late. I'll get Dad to walk you home."
After a brief hug at the door, the two fillies said their goodbyes for the evening, Velvet with excitement and Crystal with dread.
♡
The next morning, Crystal arrived at school as early as she could to beat out anypony in their class. She glanced around to double-check that the room was empty before she slid the ribbon-bound papers out of her saddlebags and onto Austere Tutor's desk. She moved a few other papers on top of it to make it seem less obvious, then ran back outside to wait as unsuspiciously as she could for Velvet to arrive.
Not long after, a few of her classmates wandered into the schoolyard, including High Horse, who blinked a few times when their gazes met. "Crystal?" She trotted over. "Why are you here so early by yourself?"
Crystal smiled sheepishly. It would take some getting used to having a third friend around. "Mom and Dad had somewhere to be this morning, and I got bored sitting around by myself." It wasn't entirely a lie, so she didn't feel too bad about it.
"Oh." High Horse nodded and smiled. "Do you think Ms. Tutor would let me, um, move to sit by Velvet?" Her gaze and smile faltered. "It's really awkward still sitting beside Golden."
Crystal gave a firm nod. "I'm sure it'll be fine if you explain the situation to her! Ms. Tutor is only scary most of the time."
"Excuse me?" came the very mare's voice.
The hairs on the back of Crystal's neck stood tall and she jumped in the air. "Ms. Tutor!" She whirled around to face her. "I'm sorry!"
Ms. Tutor frowned. "What a wonderful way to start off my day. Thank you ever so much, Miss Wishes." She gave a small snort before she walked into the classroom.
Crystal put a hoof to her chest to ensure her heart was still beating. "She's never this early!" Her gaze darted about. "Why is she here so early?"
High Horse tilted her head. "Didn't you know?"
"Know what?" Crystal looked at her with panic. "What?"
High Horse shrank back and offered a weak smile. "Ms. Tutor always comes to school early, then patrols the schoolyard before class starts to catch any stragglers."
"Oh, Celestia." Crystal slapped a hoof to her forehead. "I'm dead."
"Huh? Why?"
Crystal shook her head and dragged her hooves as she started to walk away. "Nevermind. Just—" She looked over her shoulder with dramatic flair, though she was sincerely worried. "Remember me fondly!"
As Crystal paced around the courtyard and High Horse watched her with concern, the minutes went by and the teacher didn't emerge from the school. Her panic rose and her pacing grew more frantic until—
"Miss Wishes, I would like to speak with you a moment," Ms. Tutor called from the doorway and turned to walk back into the school.
Crystal whined, stomped her hooves, and took a breath. Well, she had no choice now but to face the inevitable. Austere Tutor had a particular fondness for literature and was quite the critic when it came to even the simplest of writing assignments. How had she let Velvet talk her into this? It was going to be humiliating. It was going to be—
"Wonderful!" Austere exclaimed as Crystal walked into view. "You wrote this?"
Crystal froze and stared at her with wide, frightened eyes.
"Miss Wishes, I don't know why you neglect to bring such flair to your essays and have insisted on torturing me with unimaginative writing all these years."
Crystal said nothing, though her mind was moving rapidly through too many thoughts to keep track of.
"I must say, if you modeled this—" She straightened her reading glasses. "Blossom Mentor after me, then I am most flattered!" She looked back at Crystal. "What, little pony?" She smiled. "Did you think I wouldn't recognize your quillmanship?"
"I—I—" Crystal swallowed. Her throat was dry. "I need some air."
Austere blinked a few times, but had no opportunity to speak before Crystal ran out of the classroom and back into the schoolyard.
Just at that moment, Velvet rounded the corner and was happily trotting up the pathway. When she saw the look on Crystal's face, her own happiness fell and she quickened her pace, calling out, "Crystal?"
High Horse walked over as well. "What happened?"
Velvet skidded to a halt in front of Crystal. "Did she read it?"
High Horse glanced between the two of them with a curious frown. "Read what?"
Crystal slowly lifted her head and looked at Velvet with a blank expression. "She—She liked it."
"Liked what?" Horsey's voice grew quiet and she took a step back, her ears falling.
Velvet giggled and embraced High Horse. "Crystal's discovered her special talent!"
"She has?" Horsey tried to incline her head to look at Crystal's flank, but the tight hug made it hard to move. "Really?!"
"Really!" Velvet paused. She let go of Horsey to look at Crystal, who hadn't moved. "Right?"
Crystal finally moved to sit down and look at her hooves. "I—I wrote something, and Ms. Tutor called it wonderful." She looked up at the two. A smile started to spread across her face, just like the warmth that started in her chest and spread throughout her little body. "She called it wonderful! Something I wrote! And you liked my writing, too!"
Velvet bounced up and down as she squealed with excitement. The explosion of Velvet's feelings overwhelmed Horsey and she began to bounce as well.
"Look!" both of them cried, pointing one hoof, bouncing on the others.
Crystal didn't look. She was almost too scared to. A cutie mark was permanent, and in a way, boastful. She had kind of grown to like being a blank flank and fading into the background, but her gaze betrayed her when it snapped down and to the side.
There, on her flank, was a quill overlaying the outline of a pink heart, the same pink that was present in her mane and tail—her favorite pink in all the world.
She had always wondered about the incomprehensible magic of a cutie mark. At that moment, she realized that however it worked, it worked perfectly. She couldn't have dreamed of a better mark to adorn her flank forever.
The sound of the two fillies' squealing returned to the forefront of her mind. She jumped up onto all fours and started to bounce with them. "I got my cutie mark!" she exclaimed as loudly as she could. "And I love it!" She jumped forward and nearly knocked them over with a sudden hug that they quickly returned, all three laughing happily.
Crystal let go of them and spun in a circle as she tried to keep an eye on her cutie mark, then fell over onto her side and squirmed in the grass. Finally, she gave a small, content sigh as the other two laid down with her.
"I wish I could always be this happy," she said softly. "Wouldn't that be nice?"
They nodded, and she nodded along with them.
"Yeah, that'd be perfect," they all agreed aloud, then giggled at the sound of their voices in harmony.
Okay, now off to Emergency for me. That was so adorable and sweet that I need an injection of insulin to balence my blood sugars.
Post a warning in the future.
Seriously, that was excellent. I admire your talent and envy your efficiency. May your creative spark burn ever more brightly!
5346231 I'm glad you liked it! I wish they had a story tag for "Cute Overload." Don't worry, though. It's only temporary! After all, that kind of sugary sweetness mellows out as one gets older, and this is the last fillyhood chapter. On to new, older adventures!
Thank you for your comment. It helps inspire me to keep writing knowing that someone is enjoying it!
Oh yeah! Update Three In One package deal! Now to go read them...
Ah! Just read the updates. And they were a great read. Keep up the good work Chrystal!
Wow. That was amazing!!!! Loved this chapter. The cuteness was reaching diabetes level. The way Velvet inspired Crystal was simply precious. And her cutie mark was really clever. Great chapter!
5355203 Thank you! I really enjoyed writing this chapter.
I'm slowly but surely making progress on the next chapter. It's a little tricky to jump from fillyhood to high school and have to adjust to their new (albeit subtle) personality changes. The diabetes level will probably fall dramatically from here on out!
Does anyone have a spare insulin shot? I feel like I need one now...
hrngh! the cuteness! just let me have a minute to catch my breath..
okay, much better. i had some stuff i wanted to comment about, but i've clean forgotten what they were.
at any rate, this seems like a good stopping point for the night, it being the end of an arc. i will resume later, hopefully tomorrow.
So... I've gone through 4-11. C.W. this is like absurdly good. I love the pacing. I want to get back to writing, but I cannot stop clicking 'next'. It's like good-feel drugs in a literary form.
5847068 I am very humbled and flattered! I'm glad you like it!
Mwuahah my plan is finally coming to fruition... I don't know what that plan is but it's happening!
Coming from MoaRG I may be a bit biased but holy crap you can write. It's nice to have some tie in stories making an entire universe that is likable instead of just one story or storyline that gets abandoned after a hundred thousand words or so.
I would have said what she said to get her attention.
Wait, I'm up to chapter 11 already?
Dang it, now I know how Velvet felt the morning after.
6238814 Hahah! That was not an intended parallel but a funny one nonetheless! Glad you're enjoying it enough to read this far, thank you for commenting!
5919535 Huh, it doesn't look like I ever replied to you? Well please forgive me for being so rude if that is the case! Please accept my 12-week overdue gratitude!
I knew this would be her special talent!
goodness, turn down the diabeetus...
plz?
no?
halp...
*hnngs to death*
6332635 I think the highest compliment I can receive as a writer is to know I've inspired a peer to keep writing! Thank you!!
I think I'm going to write my stories the way Crystal does, cause it takes me forever to type them! So thank you for the idea!!
Damn! It is 1 am an this story keeps me hooked!! First time i read this kind of fic and i did not expected to get so hooked! XD great story I will give you a better comme.t when i read it all
6451696 Yes, yes, the plan is working... I just need to figure out what the plan is... but it's working!
*ahem* What I mean is, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for taking the time to comment!
it is currently 11:05 at night and I'm finally going to sleep...
Curse you Fanfiction Writers!!!!
The similarity of last chapter and my current situation is uncanny...
Or was it the chapter before last...
6476280 11:00? It's almost 2:00 AM and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon! *Don't Stop Me Now by Queen plays in the distance as I continue my reading*
Ewwwwww, Velvet mustered all over her energy. Or maybe she mustered all of her energy?
6527823 Hah. I'm actually somewhat baffled that no one has noticed that in all this time.
6480411 2am? Pfft, its 4am right now, and I've been on this site for over 8 hours....
.... please stop tormenting me with quality writing and stories ;_;
Something about this line just strikes me as absolutely hilarious.
Oh wow, these fillies read some hardcore stuff. If it's ponies there must be a positive outcome! Right?!
Just let Lenny tend the rabbits!
6643741 Crystal is definitely quite the reader, though... Yes, it's a much happier, idealized story. Pony land is my happy place!
Ok I'm going to say something I've only told my two friends and my parents. I almost read nothing but romance these days and to top it off it has been a long time since I read a story so compelling I couldn't sleep. So far this book has been nothing but slice of life and I can't stop reading! I haven't even reached the part where the tag that got me interested starts and this is quickly working my way to my top ten fave stories on this site and top twenty ever! Don't stop writing Crystal like the lead of this book your cutie mark is clear to all.
You've created something entirely marvelous here.
6712508 aahh! Thank you so much! I'm glad you're still enjoying it!
6527823 That has got to be one of the best/funniest grammar corrections I've ever seen. XD
Dang Crystal, I do 300 words an hour on a quiet day.
10 pages an hour!? I feel woefully inadequate.
6794196 First of all, thanks for taking the time to check out this story and leave comments. Much appreciated! Now, to you and 6787873 regarding the 10 pages thing... To be fair:
1) It's her special magic pony talent, which in my headcanon means it's something she loves doing and therefore thrives when doing it and excels
2) More than the above, she's inspired to write this particular short story, and when inspiration strikes it often goads us to excel even further
3) She has unicorn magic, so the quill can move MUCH faster than a pen in our hands (probably about the speed of an above-average typist, I'd imagine)
4) She is still in elementary school, and even though her mother has her being trained for proper Canterlot society, she probably still has more child-like quillmanship that takes up more space on a page
5) We don't know the line spacing, margins, etc. of her notebook
So... don't beat yourself up! Crystal has the unfair advantage of magic and youth!
5346373 Aw what. I was totally hoping they'd be kids till the end of the story. I dunno if I can handle any less cuteness ;n;
6900067 Haha! Well, hopefully, you can find some enjoyment out of less adorableness! I don't know if I could write 400k+ words of them as fillies. My heart would have given out a long, long time ago.
Also... Hey! It's you! You make an accidental cameo in a later chapter that someone pointed out to me! Or, rather, I used a background pony of the same name, and someone thought it was a reference to you. Hi! Thanks for reading!
I love this story!!!!
I cannot wait to see where is going from here, it is so good. Crystal's Wishes is an original, amazing and unique story that should be read by anyone who wants to see what good fanfiction within the Brony fandom is.
In my opinion, this is on par with Fallout: Equestria.
...There are so many great things in this chapter I can't highlight them all in my comment. I just ....I JUST LOVE THIS STORY! Also, I like how your chapters are short, unlike some other long @$$ story on this site that has single chapters longer than the longest story I've written so far *cough*Fallout Equestria*cough*
6594123 It sounds like something Glados would say if she adopted.
Why would you do that!? That was worse than kicking a puppy! I'm sure since you know the title of that book you have read it and experienced the painful burden that comes along with that!
Pain level:
pre12.deviantart.net/b7d3/th/pre/i/2004/242/b/0/backstab.jpg
NARNIA!!!
Subtle.
*squeals even more manly!!!
This chapter!