//------------------------------// // Walking to Practice // Story: Figuring Out What Love is // by Devela //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle looked towards the sky, a clear brilliant blue cloudless sky like always. It was rather disgusting to the filly as she enjoyed the clouds more than the sun itself as it was high in the sky. Maybe when it finally did cloud over and rain her sister would leave her workshop. The mare had been locked inside of the room working on clothes for the past week, making Sweetie responsible for herself. Now normally Sweetie would love the chance to prove she's responsible and can take care of herself, but this was simply too much. Her horn ached a little from the heavy magic she had been doing the past few days, making breakfast automatically, washing the dishes, making dinner, doing the laundry, and even caring for Opal. "Fillies should not be an adult or act like one at my age." She was exhausted and didn't even wanna know what it would be like if she had school atop of it. That thought alone made a strand of her mane pop out of place and dangle down by her left eye. After a long sigh she flicked on her magic as her whole mane started to rearrange itself. Soon she had a straight mane, hanging down around her shoulders and the right half folded behind her ear. The left hung down covering her eye before she whirled a small tornado through all of it. She had curls for days as it fluffed up around her head and hung down her back, the straight lengths brushing itself back behind her ear to give a more refined look. A giggle from nearby startled Sweetie as she looked over and saw a mare laying down under a tree with a book between her hooves. Soft red furred ears twitched as the mare kept giggling. Sweetie was frowning already as she stalked over towards the mare. "And who are you? What's so funny about me doing my mane?" The mare smiled and hide her lips behind a hoof as she kept lightly giggling for a moment. "Well you talked about not being an adult but you did your hair better than any mare I've met. You must of been taught by a mare well versed in beauty and fashion. Color me impressed." There was a smile that reached up to her piercing cat green eyes, a joyful smile though a hint of mischief mixed in there. Sweetie Belle felt a bit weirded out by this mare but stayed by her still. "Well my sister taught me how to do a little bit with drying my mane while styling it. After that I started doing the small tornados to curl the hair and give it a nice firm bump to it." Sweetie held a hoof to her mane a bit before turning her head to show off a bit. The mare was smiling as she folded her book and set it down. "Well that is advanced for some pony your age. What other kinds of spells have you developed yourself?" "Well recently I perfected an automatic breakfast spell for pancakes, waffles, or omelets. I also worked in the ability to turn everything off and even feed myself. Then I have the dishes wash themselves. After an hour resting on the rack they put themselves away. I don't even need to focus on the dishes anymore or activate my magic as I made the spell linger with enough power to sustain itself. I did the same for the laundry as I prefer hoof washed bedding to machine, to me it gives it a bit of extra fluff and coziness." Sweetie was smiling as she sat on her haunches, happily talking about the new spells she mastered and developed. Velvet smiled as she nodded her head a bit. "Those are complex spell matrices, to be so young and have the ability to deliver enough stagnant power and the sentience to activate itself after so long. Now what is your name if I may be so kind to know who I am speaking with." Sweetie's tail wagged a bit at the praise. "My name is Sweetie Belle, and yours?" She held out a hoof, not noticing the horn mixed in the azure hair atop the mare's head. "Mine is Velvet Rose. It is a pleasure to meet you Sweetie. You can call me Velvet if you wish." Velvet smiled as she reached out her magic and softly shook the offered hoof. The color of her magic was so red that it almost was black. Sweetie stared down at the magic before softly shaking with her own hoof. "A pleasure to you Miss Velvet. What brings you to Ponyville? I know it isn't a very exciting town." "Well I am on a small break from work and came to town for a little bit of shopping and to enjoy the country. It's a vast difference compared to the city, and besides the food here is delicious." A smile crossed her lips as she turned her head and levitated a small bag with a candy on the front. "Who knew bon bons were so good." She levitated one of the small candies out of the bag before unfurling the wrapper. She began sucking on the taffy for a moment before offering the bag towards Sweetie. Sweetie smiled as she took a candy herself and soon laid herself down under the shade of the tree. After a few moments of rolling the candy around with her tongue she settled into the side of her cheek. "What kind of work do you do Velvet?" Before Velvet could answer a cyan streak blurred past as Rainbow was still on the hunt for the mysterious mare she never heard a description of. "Heh well I don't have Pegasus who blur past people. Do you know she's in such a hurry? I've seen her go past me several times and she never apologizes. Just the other day actually an orange mare knocked me aside in the mare. I recognized her as an Element of Harmony but she was rather rude. I thought hero's of the nation were supposed to be kind and respect the citizens." Velvet had a little bit of a frown as she talked, looking towards the blur moving around the skies. Sweetie folded her ears back a little as she looked down a little towards the grass. A small breeze brushed the stalks of green a bit to the side before she finally spoke. "I'm sorry, they are on a search for a mare who asked my sister out. She fainted because of the admission of love. Apparently she had a dream during her fainting spell, but she won't talk about it. She's locked herself away for the past few days and has been working on some sort of dress I think she saw in her dream." Velvet looked towards the boutique for a moment before sighing softly. "I will be honest with you Sweetie Belle. I am terribly sorry for that, and I wish to ask for your forgiveness. I just wanted to get all my feelings out and well it wasn't the most graceful like I was trained to be." Sweetie blinked her eyes before looking towards Velvet as she tried to form words but just kept opening and closing her mouth. Her brain working a bit as she realized who she was talking to the whole time. Velvet saw the filly fumble for words and it just made her giggle a little as she smiled and reached over to push the jaw closed. "Heh well I see you are at a lose for words. I can understand why, but I do ask you don't go spreading my identity to everyone and I will pay your sister a visit tomorrow so as to help pull her out of her stupor. "Though I think you had somewhere to be before you stopped to talk to me. Why don't I walk with you to your destination?" Sweetie felt the hoof and looked down at it as she realized she wasn't acting like a proper lady. She kept her mouth closed as she thought for a moment on what to do. After hearing the offer she nodded and began to stand up, watching Velvet rise up and finally let her have a good look at the cutie mark she had. A black briar rose curled around a longsword, the flower opening where the pommel would be. "Alright Velvet. I was actually heading to a rehearsal." "Oh well could I possibly sit and listen to your rehearsal? I simply love music so much, it gives ponies a different way to express themselves. Every chance I get I try to find a new place to go when I'm off that has music. Well I would understand if you didn't want me to attend because it is sudden and you barely know me." Velvet stretched a bit as she arched her back and looked at Sweetie. A hopeful smile all over her face as she eagerly waited. Sweetie thought for a moment, weighing the options in her head as the benefits of having Velvet go with her. She didn't want to seem rude but she also wanted the song to be a secret to the mare if she went to the Gala with her sister. It was a good minute of deliberating before she finally came to a decision. "Well I thank you for the offer to walk me but I don't know how the others in rehearsal would react if I solely decided to bring someone else in. I mean they are professionals so they may not like viewers before the actual performance. Although your perfectly welcome to come and meet them before my practice starts. I'm certain everyone would love to meet you, though we'll leave the Elements out to spare you any trouble." Sweetie smiled as she looked at Velvet as they began walking. The mare didn't seem to agitated and even had a smile as she nodded her head in an understanding manner. "I can understand that now. It was semi selfish of me to just invite myself to a single member. A group vote is always needed to decide things of importance." Sweetie smiled and let out an internal sigh at the response. Soon both mare and filly are walking down the lane towards Octavia and Vinyl's home.