"Crystal, oh my gosh!" Velvet exclaimed as she threw open the door just after Crystal knocked on it, not even giving her a moment to speak. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I got the letter!"
Crystal smiled, then frowned. "Wait, what? But she addressed the letter I got to both of us. She sent you one, too?"
"Huh?" Velvet blinked. "What? No." She grabbed Crystal's foreleg and practically dragged her inside. "Come on in already!"
"Okay, okay!" She laughed and walked over to sit on a pillow by the coffee table. "What letter did you get?"
Velvet stared at her with a blank expression. Crystal stared back, her brow starting to furrow. Velvet made a slow gesture, as if trying to physically pull the answer out of her.
Finally, Crystal's eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "Oh! Wait, you mean, the letter? From Mares Monthly? Already?!" Her hooves flung to smother a startled squeal. "Oh my gosh, what did they say?! What did they say?!"
Velvet pointed at the letter sitting on the table, all the while grinning nearly from ear to ear.
Crystal turned her head to read it, mumbling under her breath, "Dear Miss Step—we are writing—reviewed the samples—" Her tone rose higher and higher as she continued. "—pleased to write that we would like to interview your client?!" She jumped up and started to bounce around in a circle. "Oh my gosh, Velvet! You did it!" She threw her forelegs around Velvet's neck and hugged her tight.
"Don't get too excited just yet!" Velvet chided as she squirmed against the embrace, though she was still grinning. "You're on your own from here, my esteemed client. You've got to nail that interview first."
"An interview!" Crystal let go of her and turned to look at the letter again. "It says I can drop by their office in Manehattan at my convenience. Well, that's convenient." She settled down onto the pillow, hooking the crook of her foreleg over her muzzle, clenching her eyes shut. "Okay, okay, we can take the direct train to Ponyville, then you head back to Canterlot and I'll take the overnight train to Manehattan. I'll have plenty of time to be back before the garden party."
Velvet sat behind her on the same pillow and leaned backwards to rest against Crystal, back to back. "I thought you didn't go to those?"
Crystal rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I don't want to talk about that. What I do want to talk about, however, is the letter I received."
"Oh, yeah, you mentioned that." She paused, then gasped. "Wait, did you get a letter from Horsey?!"
"Yup!" Crystal puffed her chest. "She's doing really well, it seems. Somepony threw her a welcoming party. Already made friends." She sighed wistfully. "Our little Horsey's all grown up." She inclined her head to peer back at Velvet out of the corner of one eye. "She wants us to come meet her new friends in Ponyville."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Velvet got up onto all fours. "Let's pack your things and get on that train!"
♡
After arriving in Ponyville and getting directions to Savoir Fare's restaurant, Crystal and Velvet walked with their noses in the air. They both wore one of Upper Crust's most ridiculous hats and oversized sunglasses, and they did their very best to not giggle or grin.
"I do say," Crystal said in her best Canterlot elite impression, her voice airy and hollow. "Shall we stop in here for a nip, darling?"
"Yes, this little eatery will do just fine." Velvet straightened her glasses, which were ridiculously big on her.
Crystal set their luggage down beside one of the tables and poked at the pile of hay serving as a makeshift chair. "Oh, my, how—rustic."
Velvet sat down and clapped her hooves, chortling like a goose. "My dear, I believe we are roughing it! How quaint!"
An earth stallion walked out of the restaurant and over to them. He had his blue mane slicked back with what they could only imagine was several hooffuls of styling gel.
"Oh my gosh," Crystal whispered, raising a menu to hide her face, "he looks exactly like Hors D'oeuvre. Do you think—"
"Bonjour, mademoiselles. My name is Savoir Fare. May I start you off with a drink?"
Velvet glanced up from her menu. "Why, I say, do you happen to have cucumber water in this charming little town of yours?"
Savoir Fare raised one brow. "Mademoiselle, you must be from Canterlot." He offered a polite smile. "Oui, of course. We have the cucumber water here in our—'charming little town'."
Crystal tapped her hoof on the table. "Cucumber water for me as well, darling."
"Oui. A waitress will be out shortly with your drinks." He turned and walked back into the building.
Once they were sure he was out of earshot, they whispered quickly back and forth.
"Oh my gosh, do you think Horsey and he—" Velvet covered her mouth with a hoof.
"No—Do you?!" Crystal lowered her sunglasses to peer over them.
Velvet only gasped. A few moments later, Horsey walked out the doors, carrying a silver platter. She set a glass of water with cucumber slices in front of Velvet and said, "Here you go, Velvet."
"Why thank y—aww!" Velvet pouted.
"And here you go, Crystal."
"Aww, come on!" Crystal snatched the sunglasses from her snout and looked up at Horsey with a puppy dog pout. "Couldn't you at least pretend that you didn't know who we were?"
Horsey broke out into a sheepish grin. "I could hear both of you all the way in there. It's only been a week! Do you girls really think I'd forget your voices?" She glanced down, then back up at them, her grin widening. "Or, y'know, your cutie marks?"
Both mares looked down at their own flanks.
"That's a good point," Velvet muttered. "I was having fun being all snobby, though."
Crystal sighed and pulled her glass closer. "You were a wonderful snob, Velvet." There was a brief pause before both of them looked at Horsey with bright smiles.
Horsey lit up with her own, even brighter smile. She set the tray on the table and hugged both of them. "Oh, Celestia, I'm so happy to see you two! I have to introduce you to everypony. How long are you staying?"
Velvet shrugged. "I can stay the night, but we gotta get Crystal on a train to Manehattan today."
"Manehattan?" Horsey blinked and looked at Crystal. "Why are you going there in such a hurry?"
Crystal twiddled her hooves. “Well, you see, I have an interview with somepony from Mares Monthly."
"Oh my gosh!" Horsey glanced over her shoulder, back at them, then ran into the restaurant. She came back out a few minutes later, no longer wearing a serving apron, just as Crystal and Velvet were becoming concerned. "Okay, we just have to go to Carousel Couture. If you've got an interview, then you'll need to look your best. We can talk once we get there!"
♡
Crystal stood on a platform while the boutique's owner, Rarity, stared at her with a discriminating gaze. "So," she started, but was promptly shushed.
"You simply mustn't move an inch!" Rarity insisted while she rubbed her chin. "I’m creating the most impressive look I can so that your fashion alone will stun the interviewer into giving you that writing job!"
Horsey and Velvet were doing their best to not giggle, but a few sneaked out around their smothering hooves. Crystal stood as still as she could while Rarity's magic tossed various articles of clothing around, holding them up to Crystal and throwing them aside.
"No—no—no—perhaps!" Rarity gasped. "Perhaps indeed! What do you think of this, girls?" She twirled around to look at the other two. "Serious, but chic? Professional, but feminine?"
They immediately put on cool, calm expressions.
"Definitely serious," Velvet said, nodding.
"But still very feminine," Horsey agreed.
A single, simple pink scarf hovered in front of Crystal's neck. Rarity smiled wider. "Yes, yes, it's perfect, isn't it? Not too flashy at all!" She turned back to Crystal. "Now, what ever shall we do with your coiffure?" She moved a hoof in a circle to gesture at the whole of Crystal's head. "This simply won't do, you know. Such bold and colorful fashion went out years ago." She paused to look at each of them individually. "Oh, no offense intended, of course. I went through the phase myself."
"She looks really nice with her mane down," Velvet offered. "And she used to do this cute little braid when she was a filly!"
"Huh?" Crystal tilted her head. "Hmm."
She removed the scrunchie and her mane fell from the side ponytail down to her shoulders. A few locks lifted in her magic's glow and started to weave into two carefully orchestrated braids, ensuring that all the pink tresses were pulled in. The separate strands parted around her left ear in the shape of a heart and met back behind her head to form into a single, combined braid.
Crystal looked back at them. "Like this?"
"Ooh!" Rarity clapped her hooves. "How cute!" Her voice lowered while her hoof raised to rub her chin again. "I'll have to remember that little trick. It could come in handy with my next fashion line." She paused when she felt all their eyes on her and laughed nervously. "I mean, is that all, darlings?"
Crystal looked over at Horsey and Velvet with one brow raised. They shrugged, and she nodded.
"Wonderful! The scarf will be seven bits, if you please."
After paying and leaving the boutique, Crystal looked down at the pink scarf tied around her neck. "We just spent a half hour so I could walk out with—with a scarf?"
Horsey grinned sheepishly, her magic carrying their luggage. "She's the best designer in Ponyville, and it does look really cute on you."
Velvet bounced with each step she took. "Since the mane was my suggestion, does that make me a designer, too?"
"Let's not waste any more time," Crystal diverted, giggling. "I have two hours before I need to be at the train station. You still haven't introduced us to your new friends!"
At the first house they visited, a little pink filly answered the door.
"Hi Horsey!" the filly exclaimed, then looked at Crystal and Velvet with wide eyes. "Ooh. Pretty mares!"
The two giggled while Horsey explained, "These are my friends from Canterlot."
"Oh, okay! My name is Piña Colada!"
Crystal glanced at Horsey curiously, who shook her head, halting any questions.
"Is your sister around?" Horsey looked over the filly to peer into the house. "I was hoping to—"
"Here!" a slurred voice came from elsewhere inside the house before a plum-colored mare stumbled into view. "I'm here, yeah." She smiled. "'Sup?"
Horsey smothered a playful grin. "Berry, aren't you hitting the bottle a little early?"
"Pfft." The mare dismissed her with a vague wave of her hoof. "Ha ha, very funny. Thanks a lot for the great first impression with your friends." She turned her gaze toward Crystal and Velvet, her cadence unmistakably drunk. "I'm Berry Punch. It's nice to meet ya."
"And these are the girls I told you about from Canterlot, Berry." Horsey patted Piña Colada on the head, smiled at Berry, and waved. "Anyway, we've got to get around town before Crystal has to leave, but I'll see you later!"
As they walked away, Horsey explained in a quiet voice, "She makes wine for a living and has a speech impediment, so it seems like she's dipping into the goods, if you know what I mean."
"Oh," Velvet started, her ears drooping. "Now I feel like a jerk for giggling."
Horsey shook her head. "It's okay. She makes fun of herself more than any of us. She came up with her own nickname, too—Pinot Noir."
They made a circuit around town, Horsey introducing them to three more mares once she tracked them down: Cloud Kicker, Sassaflash, and Golden Harvest.
As they started toward the train station, Crystal sighed. "All of your friends seem really nice," she said, smiling at Horsey. "So I guess you're here to stay?"
"Yeah." Horsey looked down at the ground. "Life here is just so much better than in Canterlot."
"I'm glad." Velvet nuzzled her cheek against Horsey's.
Horsey turned her head to smile at Velvet, then at Crystal. "You both are still my best friends no matter what. And Crystal, I'll have my hooves crossed for your interview!" Her smile widened. "That's so exciting!"
"And nerve-wracking," Crystal mumbled. "I've never done an interview before."
"Don't worry about it." Horsey nodded and stopped to set down Crystal's luggage once they were at the station. "I mean, your talent is writing, so it's not like you can be bad at it. You're kind of guaranteed to succeed, right?"
Crystal glanced at her cutie mark, frowning playfully. "I certainly hope so, otherwise I'm lodging a complaint against Celestia."
The three girls laughed and exchanged hugs. Once the train arrived, there was another round of hugs and well-wishing, then Crystal stepped on and took a seat. She waved at them through the window, smiling when they waved back.
This was it. This train was going to take her all the way to Manehattan and there was no turning back. Well, of course, she could bail and just not go to the interview, but how could she do that after Velvet worked to get it for her? She drew her hoof across her chest, muttering the foalhood sing-song promise under her breath. No matter what, she was going to make Velvet's efforts worth it.
Rarity's shop is called Carousel Boutique, remember. Or, is Horsey just saying that way because she wants it to sound more impressive?
5525031 I guess at this point I should consider sneaking that AU tag back on, since things are going to slowly deviate just a little bit as I go further. I sneaked in some Lauren Faust fangirlisms in this chapter, "Carousel Couture" and "Pinot Noir" being the two intentional ones.
5525800 ...
Can I hit the thumb up multiple times?! Thank you for taking the time to write a... a poem! I'm pinning it to my fridge, with little heart and star stickers!
Time moves on, happiness found
The future awaits, breaking new ground
Futures away and close to home
From here to there, her dreams do roam
Romance and intrigue and love to be seen
In her books and with real life sheen
Onto the future with dreams of long past
Falling in love, feeling the romance at last?
Crystal has but a single wish to hold
To find her love, with a brave guard bold
Strong, silent, and not always bright
But well meaning, striking, and for her will fight
Kind and loving, dashing and grand
To take her hoof off to fairy tale land
A dream like she writes, she wants to find
And leave this brutal city behind
Find it at last we can only dream
Find it and hold it, and out of joy, scream
~The Final Firedancing Fiend
5526645 Ohh! I'm going to get spoiled! What an awesome way to start off my day!
33.media.tumblr.com/b8080a1b4ea8981ce2c7415e86da7a66/tumblr_modksoK4d01rthxy9o1_400.gif
Yes, well I have a feeling a cliche interview is in Crystal's future, not that such things are incapable of entertaining. It's just that all intereviews seem to have four formulas when it comes to stories. Everything goes right with the interview and character get the job, everything goes right and character doesn't get the job, everything goes wrong and character doesn't get the job, everything goes wrong and character gets the job. In the case of the last and second ones the character either passes or fails some secret test that was the real deciding factor. Predictable and terribly cliche.
5527724 Wait, I'm confused. You basically listed every possible outcome of every interview ever. What else could possibly happen? That the interview gets canceled due to a catastrophic winter storm? That she doesn't bother going to the interview?
5527876 that's not how every interview can go. The interview could have a a few good points and a few bad points where it ends up falling between everything is good and everything is bad, which is something that doesn't seem to show up in stories all that often.
5528007 Ah, I misunderstood your comment!
5529072 Agreed! There's too much emphasis on skinny, skinny, skinny. Let's be healthy, how about that!
As far as the lingerie - it was totally partly a joke, as I wanted to throw in as many cliche teenage girl tropes in as I could reasonably get away with. It would serve the same purpose as it does for people, I think, a woman wearing some lingerie can be much sexier than not! That said, I struggle with truly sexualizing ponies and imagine them "naked" and... all of that... stuff.
5527724
Or... The interview could be skipped entirely and Crystal just passes the necessary info on to Velvet over a celebratory or anti-depressant milkshake.
Or... the next scene could be Crystal struggling to meet a deadline, with enough reflection thrown in to keep the reader up to speed.
Or... it could be handled in a manner not discussed by you or here.
You seem to be dismissing the next chapter before it is even written. What prejudiced you against 'Author Crystal' all of a sudden? Granted, I could be reading too much vitriol into your post. You try to defend it later, but seriously, have you read your post?
I personally don't want to read any interview unless it there is serious character growth happening. But if that is the case, and the author decides that a 'cliche' interview is the best way to tell the reader what is happening, then by all means, use the best tool you have!
Don't you agree?
5529154 I'm sorry if it came off as me dismissing the interview she has coming up, that was not my intention. I was pointing out narrative lines that writers seem follow when they have an interview scene or chapter. And I agree that if the interview doesn't have some kind of character development or display some kind that it should just be skipped over and lightly mentioned.
5529125
I think, as a man, that I should stop wearing lingerie. It isn't having the same effects for women as it is for me.
5529278 I... I wrote and re-wrote that line several times, trying to make it as un-crass as possible, and somehow the 'as' stayed in making that comment a little lot more than I intended... eeik!
That said, your comment made me laugh aloud.
5529297
Wait till I send you the photos.
5529309 I hope not here, no offense, but sometimes seeing a guy in clothing intended for a woman can act as Accidental Nightmare Fuel for people who do see that kind of image. I agree that it can be funny to see sometimes, other times it can come off as a little creepy.
Awee. Love to see Horsey come back. Thank you for not making Berry an alcoholic! That made my day. So sick of her being portrayed as one.
5536242 Yes, I wanted to make sure it was evident that the move was a good one and there weren't any questions there.
Hehe, yeah, she's a drunk in nearly everything I see! I feel bad for her, so I wanted to give her an alternate situation.
Hmm an interesting choice for Berry punch. I rather like it. good work
I just now realized...
I've never had a job interview, I was just hired.... damn.
6288462 Interviews are not always that bad... I've had two, and both went pretty well. Then again, programmer interviews tend to be pretty straightforward: "Can you code? Okay, prove it. ... You're hired." I'm sure it's harder for less binary fields.
5525045 Sorry that's a knock against this. No reason to change the name.
6488162 Well, your negativity and ceaseless nitpicking over things that, as a whole, don't affect the plot are knocks against you. You can choose not to read this if you're not enjoying it just as I can choose not to have you around, because thus far I've frankly not enjoyed your presence as a whole on the Q&B stories you've commented on.
If you're enjoying the story, then enjoy the story. If you're not, then move on. But I'm done with your unconstructive criticisms.
I want to be a nice person, but I'm not going to apologize anymore. That got me nowhere. So we're going to try the "being firm" tactic.
I was going to groan at Berry Punch once again being stuck with the "town drunk" label. But the surprise twist that she's just got a speech impediment and not actually a lush is a neat subversion of expectations. Well played!
6682524 Haha! Yeah. That is one of the things that seems to be established in fanon that I don't care for.
As soon as I saw that name I knew Berry punch wasn't far behind. LOLZ
I like what you did with Berry Punch, but I do have a soft spot for my favorite town drunk. Well, on to the interview!
Wait, describe High Horse now! In full, cause if I remember, she's blue, and now lives in Ponyville, and hangs with some certain side characters... Would she happen to have a white strip in a blue mane, and a very annoying nickname?
6978431 Haha, nopers! High Horse is not Minuette, if that's what you're getting at. Her description from A Secret Discovered:
6978431 img03.deviantart.net/dbff/i/2015/009/0/4/oc_comission___high_horse___horsey___by_wildsoulws-d8d7i3i.png
Girls Talking About Romance 101
I don't know why, but after so many chapters with only OC's and a few background ponies, I felt happy to finally see Rarity, one of the main cast! I'm not saying your characters aren't interesting, no, your characters are AMAZING.
point, does celestia control cutie mark magic? or is that just another untapped, unquestioned source of magic... i mean, there are only a handful of episodes that even focus on cutie mark magic.