"You did this on purpose." Velvet stared at Crystal, both pairs of legs crossed over each other, ears pinned back. One of her hindlegs swung up and down to tap on the floor in rhythmic irritation.
"What? No!" Crystal beamed innocently at her as she fumbled with picking up a bowling ball. Hooves only. Why did it have to be hooves only?
Velvet rolled her eyes, though she started to grin. "Well, congratulations, you're in third place." She turned her head to look at Horsey, who was staring at the ground with her ears folded over. "You're in fifth, so that's still good, considering there's nine of us!"
Horsey raised her head and gestured with both hooves at the gaggle of mares surrounding Midnight Poem. "I'm behind Azure Dance, and she's not even paying attention when she bowls!" she exclaimed, exasperation clear in her voice.
"What? Huh?" The mare in question turned to look in Horsey's direction. "Did somepony say my name?" When Velvet shook her head, the mare returned her attention to Midnight. "Recite another poem, Midny!"
Midnight smiled lopsidedly. He cleared his throat and said, a little nervously, "Well, ah. When the white hooves of dancers beat across the stage, the sound is like the wings of birds at dawn, fluttering."
Horsey dropped her head back down with a groan when a chorus of feminine sighs filled the air.
Crystal walked carefully on her hindlegs, balancing the ball on her forehooves before she shifted its weight to just one. She pulled her hoof back, then started to sling it forward to send the ball down the lane.
"By the way, why didn't you like 'Midny' again?" Velvet called.
Crystal winced and tossed the ball straight into the gutter. "Oh, come on!" She whirled around to face the snickering mare, nearly stumbling over her own tail when it wrapped around her legs from the sudden motion. She dropped down onto her forelegs, kicked her back legs to untangle them, then trotted back to the seating area. "Seriously?"
Velvet blinked with utmost innocence. "What? No!" She laughed briefly, then put a serious face back on. "Really, I don't get it." She looked over at the stallion as he tried to pay attention to each of the fawning mares around him. "He's cute, he's nice, and he writes really good poetry. What's wrong with him?"
Crystal sighed and sat down between her two friends. "Midnight! It's your turn!"
"Huh?" He smiled. "Oh, right! Excuse me, pardon me—yes." He picked up his ball and tried to focus while several pairs of eyes bore into the back of his head, eagerly watching his every move.
"So—?" Velvet pressed.
Crystal shrugged. "You're right, he is all those things. But I just don't feel that way about him, all right?"
"I think that's fine," Horsey said quietly. "I mean, Crystal is pretty, nice, and writes really good stories, but I don't want to date her." Her eyes glimmered with mischief as she leaned forward to peer at Velvet. "What about you?"
"Huh? Oh, Horsey!" Velvet laughed and waved a hoof. "That's totally different!"
"I'm just saying—"
"All right, your turn, Velvet," Midnight said, walking back to his spot.
Velvet looked over at the pins just as they were being brushed away. "You got a strike? Oh, curse you, Midny!" She laughed and stood up. "You're only in first place because you're trying to show off."
When Velvet was about to throw her bowling ball, Horsey called out, "Don't forget that she has a nice plot, too!"
"What?!" Velvet and Crystal cried, both turning to look at the laughing mare. The bowling ball went sailing across the floor, narrowly avoiding crashing into the ponies in the next lane over.
"Sorry!" Velvet winced before she hurried over and gave Horsey a furrowed, confused stare. "Horsey, you don't normally talk like that! What's up with you?"
Horsey's laughter faded and she rubbed her cheek with a hoof. "Yeah? Oh. Sorry."
"Is this because Velvet's mom talked about eclairs and cake?" Crystal asked. Her cheeks were still red and her tail had curled around herself to hide her rump from sight, but she grinned nonetheless. "Have you been corrupted?"
Velvet gave a loud groan. "I do not want to talk about my mom and what she said, okay?"
"Okay." Crystal held up her hoof. "No more messing each other up, okay? Morning Grace just got a spare and now Horsey's in sixth place."
"What?!" Horsey looked up at the scoreboard and whined, "Oh, horseshoes!"
They took a breath of air and, simultaneously, drew their hooves across their chests, reciting together, "Cross my heart and hope to cry, else I'll live in a pig's sty."
Nearly an hour later, the game finally ended with Velvet close behind Midnight to achieve second place, Crystal in fourth, and Horsey scrambling just barely ahead of one of the ballet mares for fifth. The trio stood together, pausing so that Crystal could turn and address Midnight.
"I guess you'll have to walk a couple mares home, huh, stud?" She winked.
Midnight tried to smile. The attention seemed to be a little overwhelming for the shy stallion, but, judging by the blush on his cheeks, not entirely unwelcome. "It—uh, it seems so." He looked at the three mares standing beside him, the rest having already left. "Ladies first."
"Oh, give us another poem for the walk home, Midny," Azure Dance cooed, her eyelashes fluttering. "Please?"
Crystal watched while he departed with his small group of fanmares. "It's going to be Azure," she predicted aloud. "She really likes him."
Velvet nodded in agreement as the three of them started to walk for the door. "I'm not surprised. Azure's on the cheerleading team and all she talks about is how tired she is of jocks."
"Really?" A tingle ran down Crystal's spine and she shuddered, a coy smile on her lips. "I can't wait for the game next week. I think I like a stallion with a bit of muscle."
"Is that why you didn't hit it off with Midnight?" Horsey asked with a playful tease in her tone. "Too much brain, not enough brawn?"
"Maybe," Crystal commented wistfully, already elsewhere in a daydream with muscular stallions.
Velvet laughed and bumped her flank against Crystal's. "Well, maybe when you're in the color guard next year, you'll have the chance to get up close and personal with the hoofball players!"
Crystal said nothing, merely giggling in excitement, her gaze focused on nothing at all.
Horsey rolled her eyes, but smiled softly. "I'm just glad she's drooling over stallions again. It was weird having her be mopey about it."
"Agreed. Now let's just make sure she gets home safely without—"
Lost in her thoughts, Crystal stumbled over her own hooves on a bit of uneven cobblestone, prompting Horsey and Velvet into laughter.
♡
"Let me see your game face!" Velvet cried excitedly from the other side of the Crystal's bedroom door. "Come on, Crystal!"
"I'm almost ready!" Crystal applied the last stroke of makeup before she walked to the door and opened it. Seeing Velvet, she gasped. "Wow! You went all-out!"
Velvet stood with her head held high, decked out in full school spirit regalia: her face was painted in the school's colors, a large foam hoof with '#1' painted on it was over one of her hooves, and colorful streamers were woven into her mane.
"It's the last game the boys will be playing here in Canterlot. They need our support!" She paused to look Crystal over.
Crystal wore makeup in the school's colors but hadn't gone above and beyond like Velvet had. That said, she had dyed blue streaks into her mane, most of the natural pink locks hidden underneath the vibrant blue color.
"Hmm." Velvet walked in a circle around Crystal, examining her from head to hoof. "You'll do. Let's go pick up Horsey and head to the stadium!"
Crystal levitated a small flag behind her and they made their way together to the house of Horsey's parents, Fine Line and Hoity Toity. A few moments after they knocked on the door, Fine Line opened it and peered at them before offering a cordial smile.
"Oh, hello there." She paused, glancing Velvet over, staring at Crystal, then turning to shout, "High Horse, your friends are here, and they're dressed in school spirit! Do you need time to get ready?"
"What?" Horsey's voice squeaked from somewhere in the house. She galloped into view, pushing her head past her mother to gape at Crystal and Velvet. "I didn't know we were supposed to dress up!"
"Don't worry," Crystal said, smiling. "You're kind of blue, so you're already in school spirit."
Fine Line looked down at Horsey, then sighed. "Crystal, be a dear, would you?" Before Crystal could respond, Fine Line's magic tugged the flag out of the pink magic and levitated it over to tuck behind Horsey's ear.
"Mom," Horsey whined softly.
"Now you're ready." Fine Line patted her on the head. "Just be sure you're home in time for dinner. You three have fun, all right?"
Velvet clapped her hooves. "Let's go, girls! We don't want Crystal to miss the pre-game stretching!" She laughed and took the lead in an excited gallop down the street.
Crystal's cheeks flushed and she started running as she yelled, "Hey!"
"Bye, Mom!" Horsey called over her shoulder, trotting after the two of them.
When they arrived at the outdoor stadium—which was really more of a field with tiered benches all around it—they were pleasantly surprised to find space in the second row from the sidelines. The home team's players were already on the field, stretching and preparing their bodies for the exercise ahead.
"Perfect," Crystal cheered as they sat down. "This day is going to be perfect!"
Velvet grinned and nudged her side with an elbow. "Calm down, frisky britches. You don't want to scare the stallions before they've even started!"
"Oh, you," Crystal mumbled with a playful pout. "Can't you just let me be happy?"
Horsey smiled. "You two are really good friends, you know that?"
They paused to stare at her for a quiet moment.
"Huh?" Velvet blinked a few times.
Horsey laughed softly and shook her head. "Sorry, I just mean, it's really funny to watch you two."
"I see what you mean." Crystal scooted closer to Horsey and nuzzled their sides together. "Are you jealous of our PDA?"
"What? No!" Horsey shook her head again. "I'm just glad, is all. I mean, the year is coming to a close, but we're still friends."
"Of course," Velvet started cautiously. "Why wouldn't we be?"
Horsey shrugged. She turned her attention forward when the opposing team walked onto the field. "There's no reason. I'm just feeling sentimental, I guess."
Crystal tilted her head to rest it against Horsey's neck. "It's okay," she cooed in a quiet voice. "I know you're really just jealous. I'll give you extra attention to make up for it." She inclined her head in such a way to keep the physical contact and peered at Velvet, sticking out her tongue. "Don't you get jealous, too, now."
Velvet grinned. "Why should I be? Now I've got me all to myself, just as I planned!" She placed her hoof on her giant foam hoof and sighed in a playfully dreamy way. "Oh, me!"
They all laughed, then their laughter changed into cheers when a pony wearing a black-and-white-striped shirt came onto the field and started the game.
The first quarter was intense—the Wondercolts came out in full force. An announcer with a megaphone exclaimed that the starting lineup consisted of Indigo Steel as the quarterback with Silent Knight and Defender Bronzewing as his left and right guards. They were a fearsome trio: nopony on the defending team was able to get near Indigo Steel until both Silent Knight and Defender Bronzewing were tackled to the ground.
"Silent Knight, huh?" Velvet mused, turning to look at Crystal, who was almost too engrossed in the game to hear her. A flick of an ear acknowledged that at least some of her attention was diverted to listening. "Isn't he the stallion always causing trouble 'cause he refuses to participate in the Julimare and Romehorse play?"
"He participates," Crystal responded idly. She tore her gaze away for a moment to look at Velvet and shrug. "I mean, he builds sets. I think that's enough." She winced when Silent Knight slammed his shoulder into an opposing player's chest, knocking the latter to the ground. "I don't think stallions like him can act very well."
"What about that Defender Bronzewing, though?" Horsey giggled. "He seems like your type."
Crystal made a sound reminiscent of a purr. The stallion in question was noticeably larger than the others, with a well-defined build that made him perfect for defending the quarterback.
"Yeah," she said simply. "He's nice."
Though the away team was able to score a few touchdowns, the score was dramatically in favor of the Wondercolts. At half time, the color guard came out followed by the marching band. At one end of the field, cheerleaders bounced around with enthusiastic cartwheels and flips while choreographed flags were twirled in the air, all set in time with the small but equally enthusiastic band in the center.
"Look, look!" Velvet pointed excitedly. "There's Azure Dance!"
"And?" Crystal tilted her head. "What about her?"
At that moment, they watched the mare pause and blow a kiss in one direction. They followed her gaze and saw Midnight Poem sitting in the crowd. His cheeks turned a bright red when several other eyes turned on him, but raised a hoof to catch the invisible kiss.
"Aww!" Crystal squealed, pressing her hooves to her cheeks and smooshing her own face. "Tha's shoo cyute!" She pulled her hooves away and turned back to Velvet, a menacing force behind her lowered voice as she asked, "And you promise that Azure Dance will be a good mare to him, right?"
Velvet dismissed her with a wave of her hoof. "Don't worry! I mean, she's not perfect, but she's not bad, either. As long as he's happy, who cares?" She pointed at the field, teasing in a tone that one would use with a puppy, "Look, girl, look! Stallions! Does the pretty pony want to watch the stallions? Huh?"
Crystal paused, considering a snarky response, but admittedly, she did want to watch the stallions. She played along by lolling her tongue out the side of her mouth and giving a resounding, "Woof!"
Horsey and Velvet laughed, nearly falling off the benches into the row below while nearby ponies gave them concerned, wary glances.
Crystal hooked her hooves together in a begging posture and panted, wiggling her rump to wag her tail back and forth. "Woof, woof!"
This sent all three of them into hysterical laughter that they could barely rescue themselves out of when a horn sounded, signaling the start of the third quarter.
Velvet wiped a tear from her eyes. "We'll have to make sure to get together and not have a repeat of last summer."
"Yeah," Crystal agreed with a firm nod. "I won't let my mom send me to summer finishing school this time."
There was a pause before Horsey simply said, "Yeah."
After the game, by sheer coincidence, both the trio of mares and the entire hoofball team were at Sunridge Sweets for post-game treats. The stallions were loud, forgivably so after such an overwhelming victory over the visiting team. They cheered and egged each other on in contests of hot cocoa drinking and cupcake eating—both very stallion-like activities when paired with deep-voiced cheers of "chug chug chug" and "chow chow chow", of course.
From their usual table off in the corner, Velvet gave the stallions' antics an amused snort, Crystal openly checked them out, and Horsey stared down at the oat-and-daisy milkshake the three of them were sharing.
"They really are all brawn, huh?" Velvet commented as one stallion cried out in surprise at how hot his hot cocoa was while the other stallions laughed.
Pepper Ridge hurried over to deliver a tall glass of cold milk to the scalded stallion, an even smile on his otherwise worried face.
"You can say that again," Crystal murmured, resting her muzzle on her hoof, her eyes wandering across the buffet of muscular males.
"I'm—I'm moving to Ponyville," Horsey said in a quiet voice hardly above a whisper, her gaze firmly fixated on the table.
Suddenly, the noise from the excited stallions faded away as Crystal and Velvet stared at Horsey with wide eyes, both shocked into silence.
Another fun chapter. I really enjoyed the high school mood you've got going here. It really feels like I'm experiencing high school along with the girls. It's kind of adorable to see Crystal fawning over the muscular guys. I wouldn't think they'd be her type. Curious to see where you'll go with Horsey moving away.
On a side note,
Totally read this wrong the first time. I was all "oh, my, Crystal's upping the language a bit" until I reread it. This is what you get when you read too fast.
Anyway, great chapter, can't wait for more!
5471721 Yes, you darn spoiler! Hopefully you can still enjoy the eventual reveal despite knowing too much.
5471746 I went to a very tiny high school, so I'm writing from a wishful thinking place of what I imagine it would have been like had I gone to a regular-sized one. Glad I am able to fool you into thinking I know what I'm doing! Admittedly, your misreading of "frisky britches" made me giggle aloud. That... would be so out of character for pretty much every pony in the cast to use that kind of language. But now I can't stop reading it the way you misread it!
Another great chapter!
Sorry for spoiling; I was going to ask if I needed to edit my last comment, but you're just so fast in responding!
Anyway, no doubt in my mind I'll continue to enjoy the story! After all, I guessed one card, but I have no idea what the rest of the hand is.
5471941 It's honestly no problem. I don't think it comes as too much of a surprise. I do think I have a trick or two up my sleeve regarding your prediction that doesn't make you /too/ much of a spoiler.
Thank you for the comments! Glad you're still enjoying the story.
Whaaaat
Well isn't that a huge turn of events :P
Well done one another brilliant chapter!
So I noticed you posted two chapters in one day, awesome! Okay not bad at all on the two chapters. I like how Midnight found a girl for him. He deserved one as he is a really nice guy. I like the playful banter you have going between the girls. It gives them personality and makes them more believable. Seeing Crystal back to her old self makes the story have a good progressive pace. I feel for Horsey having to leave her friends and move to Ponyville. I've moved around quite a bit as a kid so I know how she must feel. Let's hope she is able to keep in touch with her friends when she moves.
I think you need to change this to 'puppy', 'doggie' or 'girl'.
Wonderful phrasing! Somepony is really {hungry}!
Wait, what?
(Rereads whole chapter) I could see the signs, you placed them all through the chapter, but I REALLY did NOT see this coming! Good job, I'm hooked now. I really glad you update much more often than I do!
5476003 Thanks for the feedback as always!
Oh, good! I was worried I might have been heavy-handed with showing Horsey's nervousness this chapter. I wanted her to be quietly struggling with finding the right time to talk to them. I will consider my attempt a success!
midnight's such a stud. that poetry, though.
that's so cute! aww!
just like miss brooke, i read this wrong first time around, and was all 'wait, what?!' then i read it correctly, and was like 'ohhhhh, okay.'
i love how crystal is just drooling at the jocks throughout the chapter. methinks if one of them were to ask her out, she would be disappointed.
the whole puppy thing was hilarious, and realistic, too.
whoa, whoa, whoa. she's moving? b-but i won't see as much of her if she's in ponyville!
in hindsight, you were hinting about it throughout the chapter, but it blindsided me anyway.
5723563 Yyyup. I was wondering what would happen when you got to this chapter. I was excited when you had said you liked Horsey because I grew fond of her myself. I've mentioned this before, and I may have to you already, but she was never planned to be more than a Silver Spoon character. When I discovered that I really wanted to bring her over to the 'good side,' I had to sit down and figure out more for her... which included her eventual departure from Canterlot, because it was the only way I could see her truly being happy.
I don't know if this interests you or anyone, but the first hint I dropped was back in Delicate Time, an itty bitty mention from High Horse about Ponyville: "Yeah! In Ponyville, ponies our age have jobs already." Intentionally, this could have been taken as common knowledge (Crystal didn't know of it, but we also know her outside-Canterlot knowledge is lacking), or that she was actively researching. (hint: it was the latter)
Ponyville great place to live . Until that purple unicorn and dragon moved in . Then it all went down hill .
5998753 I actually make a joke about that in a later chapter... because it's so true!
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!
Nooooooooooooooooo don't move to Ponyville!!!!
Dammit, Horsey was my favorite character!
Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUN
6239626 Wow, you are tearing through the chapters! Thank you for giving my story your time and for commenting! I hope you continue to enjoy!
5476029
Okay, I know I've already said it before, but I have to give praise where praise is due. Bravo for how realistically you paint a picture. Those breadcrumbs you left were literally perfect. They weren't too obvious that I would notice them if I were really there, but stick out enough that I'd be oooh I shoulda known something was up. That is the perfect amount of subtlety and I loved it. Okay, on to the next one
6261135 Yay! I was really nervous about the whole situation with Horsey. It seemed like I was being very heavy-handed, so I'm glad it was the opposite. It was a pretty important plot development so I wanted to nail it.
[edit: Hehehe, reading the comment you replied to, I basically just said what I said before... Oops... Well that means it's true!]
6261186
Lol, actually I just wanted it to go to you, so I responded to the first comment I saw with your name
but why....
6336134 Did I mention I'm evil?
WHAT! High Horse is moving to PONYVILLE? now that is a big cliff hanger
\
6336161 In all honesty I knew something was gonna go wrong when Crystal said this.
Seriously that's the equivalent of saying "Well, at least things can't get any worse."
6438201 Never tempt the universe by uttering those words. It's not worth it!
I did try to have several clues in this and previous chapters that something was up with Horsey. That one was the most obvious that something was up, though.
5998753 nah it did when Pinkie showed up. Twilight just added to it.
Wondercolts! Sorry CW but you earn this with that one.
\
That a boy Midnight!!!! Good on ya lad!!!
There is a lot of things going on in this chapter! Whew! I counted at least um, one...five or six (depending on if one specific one is really one point of contension or two) and that was before the reveal! Certainly explains the alarming shift in High Horse's demanour earlier in the chapter. Maybe this is what Horsey needs in her life - she's never really had the same gravitas as the other two parts of the triune and even, and there are other changes a'brewin' in there also.
Edit - I need a rest. For a chapter that is the quintessential slice of life, it has a scary degree of tension wound into it. You scary, CW, you scary.
6768268 It was my heavy hitter chapter! I like to think that this one was an ascent on a coaster with the drop at the end. Now comes the curves, twists, and loops until the next hill!
I've always been pleased with how this one came out. I've had several teases about Horsey's plans since A Delicate Time, but the majority of them were sprinkled in this chapter. And, yes, much demeanor shift as she spent the day building up the courage to tell Crystal and Velvet!
Alright, where is this going? Aside from Ponyville that is.
...I wasn't going to point it out, but you're using the word more and more frequently...
...
...You do realize that "stud" means something totally different with horses than with humans, right?
7005598 I am aware, and I don't see the problem here. The etymology of stud is the horse sense, so I don't see why they wouldn't use it the same way.
Calling him stud is basically saying that he's a suitable breeding mate, which is more or less the meaning here, since they're trying to hook him up with mares interested in mating with him, if you really think about it!
All this way in and you still find a way to keep it interesting. I AM OATS GOOD SIR(Ma'am) OATS!!!
No...you didn't just use this joke
My siiiiides! Now I want to see a dog version of Crystal ...
That cliffhanger, though ...
"Woof". Did the 90's just make an appearance?
Timing is impeccable.
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/836/516/411.gif
Bowling scenes in good pony stories are like beach scenes in good anime.
🐴
9194387 Thank you for alerting me to a potential issue! I was able to ask a friend who was in band and had a similar reaction as you—and also pointed out that flag corps is military, and color guard is more appropriate, which I've gone through to fix.
However! There are some universities and high schools in our own world where cheerleaders, marching bands, and color guards do appear at halftime shows all together—and for the sake of Equestria's different, overall more inclusive culture, I'll consider the "band geeks vs. cheerleader preps" less of a prominent "REEEEE".