//------------------------------//
// Mare of the Night 
// Story: Crystal's Wishes 
// by Crystal Wishes 
//------------------------------//

Crystal trotted up the condominium steps to the floor Velvet lived on, a skip in her step. She knocked on the door and hurriedly stepped off to the side. Out of sight from the door, she pressed up against the wall, a grin on her lips.

The door burst open. "Hurray, you're here!" Velvet excitedly jumped out onto the landing, then blinked at the lack of anypony standing there. "Um, hello?"

"En garde!" Crystal exclaimed as she sprung out from the shadows. She was dressed in a black pinstripe suit, a mask over her eyes, and a fedora with a red feather stuck in the ribbon. Her mane was tied into a bun to be hidden under the hat, which also covered her ears and horn. She struck a pose on her hindlegs and mimed pulling out a sword from an invisible sheath at her side. "Prepare yourself, Prima Donna!"

Velvet squealed in delight. She was dressed exactly like Prima Donna, from the feathered mane clip to the light blue leotard with a tutu that trailed over her tail and down her legs. She got up on her hindlegs as well and spun in a well-practiced pirouette, the delicate material of the tutu catching in the light and fluttering through the air. Crystal had to pause to admire the graceful spin before she returned to her evil expression.

"You have foiled my plans for the last time!" Crystal swung the imaginary sword.

"Mais non!" Velvet parried the make-believe swing with a high kick, then burst into giggles. "Oh my gosh! You're Fencer Felon!" She dropped onto all fours and bounced up and down. "Our costumes match!" She froze, her expression falling into a curious frown as she asked, "But isn't there something else you'd rather be? Like, I dunno, a princess?"

Crystal, committed to the act, mimed sheathing her sword before she fell out of character. She shrugged and replied, "This seemed like more fun!"

Velvet tentatively accepted the response with a slow nod, then she leaned back through the front door to call, "Mom! Crystal's here! Are you ready to go?"

Sunbeam smiled as she walked over. "I promise I won't get in the way of your fun!" She paused, then tilted her head. "Crystal, you are—?"

Crystal puffed her chest and sneered, "I'm one of the villains from the Prima Donna series!"

"Oh!" Sunbeam's smile returned and she grabbed two empty sugar sacks on her way out the door. "How cute. Well, then, shall we go?"

The fillies ran ahead without a further word. Sunbeam had to maintain a light trot to keep up with them and their excitement. The whole way to the station and while waiting for the train to arrive, they babbled about all the fun they hoped to have.

Once they got on and were seated, however, they fell into an almost unsettling silence.

Sunbeam glanced between the two after a while. "Is everything all right, sugarlumps?"

Crystal and Velvet looked up at her with the same uncertain expression on their faces.

"What if no one gets my costume?" Velvet asked softly.

"And what if ponies think I'm a colt?" Crystal looked down at herself.

At this, Sunbeam laughed softly, raising a hoof to try to smother it. "Oh, that's all right. As long as you two are having fun, it doesn't matter, does it?"

They had to think on this for a moment before Crystal nodded first.

"Yeah. After all, what kinda colt has a tail as lovely as this one!" she stated in a playfully pompous tone, stroking her blonde and pink tail.

Velvet, however, was not so easily swayed. "Maybe I should've done something simpler and more obvious."

"No way!" Crystal threw her hooves in the air. "If you had seen that awesome spin you did, you'd know that you were totally meant to be Prima Donna for Nightmare Night! It's, like, your destiny!"

"Really?" She flushed. "I guess I've gotten better at not getting dizzy."

"If I didn't know you weren't, I'd think you were a real ballerina!"

"Well, it helps that Rose Quartz is really descriptive when Prima Donna is performing. I just read those scenes over and over." Velvet sighed dreamily.

The rest of the ride was filled with talk about the book Velvet was currently reading. Sunbeam did her best to participate in the conversation but, having not read the stories herself, she had a little difficulty keeping up with them.

Finally, they arrived in the quaint town of Ponyville. When they walked into the main square, they were amazed at the Nightmare Night decorations all over—paper bats, silly paper mâché skulls, oversized pumpkins, and glowing green lanterns. Ponies were dressed up as all sorts of creatures, such as scarecrows, devils, vamponies, and witches.

Crystal and Velvet stared in awe, then glanced at each other a little nervously.

"You both look adorable," Sunbeam said, nudging them forward. "Now, take your bags and go trick-or-treat." After giving them their bags, Sunbeam walked over to a bench. "I'll be here, girls, when you're ready to go home."

Velvet smiled. "Thanks, Mom. Let's go, Crystal!"

At first, they were nervous going from door to door, glancing around and waiting for somepony to call them out. However, aside from a few scare pranks, they received nothing but candy. They got into the spirit and, after filling their bags with all sorts of sweet treats, they went to the town square to check out the games available.

There were all sorts of activities for them to try: spider tossing, pumpkin chucking, apple bobbing, and costume judging. Though the spider tossing was a little fun, and pumpkin chucking was certainly exciting, they both agreed that apple bobbing was right out. Neither of them were particularly interested in dunking their heads in the same water that other ponies had.

However, the Ponyville residents seemed to have no problem with doing so, which made both Crystal and Velvet question how much living in Canterlot was really influencing them.

All that seemed to be left was an ongoing costume competition, which wasn't so much a competition as it was a stage for ponies to show off what they had put together.

Velvet rubbed her hoof against her leg nervously. "I don't know if I want all these ponies staring at me, though."

Crystal giggled and bumped her flank against Velvet's. "Nopony has any idea who we really are! What's the worst that could happen, they laugh at us?" She grabbed her by the hoof. "Come on! Our costumes together are way better than any other I've seen up there!"

Velvet had no choice but to follow after her, though her ears were folded back. When they stood behind the curtain in line to go on stage, Crystal turned to face her.

"Would Prima Donna be scared?" She leaned in. "Doesn't Prima Donna go on stage almost every day, whether there's a performance or not? Even if she just spent the previous day fighting crime and is super tired?"

"But I'm not Prima Donna!" Velvet cringed away from her.

Crystal puffed out her chest. "You could be if you wanted to."

Velvet was silent until they were next in line. Finally, she lifted her head and said with inspiring certainty, "I can be Prima Donna."

Crystal giggled in delight and stared at the curtain that separated them from the stage. The pony in charge of keeping the line moving gestured them forward.

"Good luck, girls!" the pony, dressed as a bumblebee, said with a smile.

"Thanks!" Crystal hopped onto the stage while Velvet walked with her head held high.

Once they were on the stage, Crystal stood up on her hindlegs and pulled out her imaginary sword. "Prepare yourself, Prima Donna!" she bellowed in a loud, clear voice. "Today, you either join up with me, or I'll feed you to the timberwolves!"

"C'est pas vrai!" Velvet got up on her hindlegs, raising her foreleg to her forehead as she looked away. "I would never!"

Crystal smirked in a smug manner with her head cocked to the side. "Aw, c'mon doll, it ain't so bad."

Velvet turned to face her, all the while moving her legs to strike a perfect arabesque. When Crystal made a lunge with the sword, Velvet lowered her raised leg to help balance herself as she jumped back, twirled in the air, and landed with her right leg straight, the left bent at the knee to rest her hoof against the other's ankle—sur le cou-de-pied.

Crystal put a hoof to her chest and stumbled backward, then fell to her knees. There was a stunned pause until the crowd hooted, hollered, and stomped their hooves. Crystal got back up and Velvet lowered herself down. Both of them bowed, glanced at each other, and ran back off stage giggling.

"That was amazing! You must take a lot of lessons, little filly!" The bumblebee beamed at Velvet as they walked by. "You're a wonderful ballerina!"

Crystal nodded in agreement. "See? I told you that you were really good! Like, really, really good!"

Velvet blushed. "I—I really love doing it. It feels like I've been dancing my whole life!"

Suddenly, it felt as though everything went silent, even though it was only the three of them that quieted. Crystal and Velvet stared at one another with wide eyes.

"Wait, you don't think—"

"I don't know!" Velvet looked down at her hooves and shuffled them. "I didn't think I was that good at it until now! But now I just realized that I don't want to just pretend to be Prima Donna, I want to be a real dancer!"

The bumblebee glanced between the two fillies, realization slowly spreading across her face. "Oh my! Did somepony just get their cutie mark?"

Crystal and Velvet gasped. Velvet started to spin in a circle, trying to look at her flank, but Crystal put both hooves on her shoulders to stop her. Excited and nervous, she stepped over and stretched her neck to tentatively look through the sheer tutu. She squealed with delight and jumped in the air.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Crystal felt like crying from her excitement. "Velvet, you've got the cutest cutie mark ever!"

Velvet whined and spun in one more circle before she sat on her haunches, grabbed the tutu with both hooves, and yanked it out of the way. Just like Crystal, she squealed. Adorning her flank was a pink ballet slipper, the ribbons intertwined.

The bumblebee giggled as the fillies began to bounce in circles around each other. She backed away and returned to her station by the curtains to let the two enjoy the moment together.

"You're going to be the best dancer ever!" Crystal plopped down and sighed dreamily. "Just imagine, you'll be standing on the stage, the spotlight on you, being showered in roses and love letters!"

Velvet dropped down beside her, now a worried look on her face. "But I don't wanna be in the spotlight!"

Crystal nuzzled their cheeks together. "You'll be wonderful!"

Velvet's worried look fell into one of despair. "And now you're the only one without a cutie mark."

"Huh?" Crystal blinked, then laughed and waved a dismissive hoof. "I don't care about that! I'm just happy for you!"

Velvet was silent for a few moments before she turned on Crystal with a serious expression, placing both hooves on her shoulders. "Think really hard! What do you like to do? Like, really like? No, what do you love to do?"

Crystal laughed and pushed her hooves aside. "I'm okay, really! We have to go show your mom. She's gonna be so excited!" She got up, grabbed her candy bag, and started to trot away.

Velvet remained where she was at first, frowning before she sighed and followed after her.

When they got back to the bench where Sunbeam was resting and reading a magazine, she looked up with a bit of confusion. "Are you done already, girls?"

Crystal started to bounce as she ran. "Mrs. Sunbeam! Mrs. Sunbeam! Look!" She skidded to a halt, sat on her haunches, and pointed both forelegs at Velvet.

Velvet flushed, but dropped her candy bag and jumped up onto her hindlegs. She spun in a pirouette, then stopped with one hindleg crossed over the other and held her position.

Sunbeam started to applaud with a small smile before she noticed something new. "Velvet!" She jumped from the bench. "You got your cutie mark!" Her eyes started to gloss over with excited tears. "You're going to be a ballerina?"

Velvet smiled and ran over to her mother to hug her around the middle. "Yup! Crystal and a bumblebee helped me realize it!"

Sunbeam glanced at Crystal in a moment of confusion before she embraced her daughter. "I'm so happy for you, sweetie!"

Crystal remained where she was, smiling as she watched the two. She couldn't help but wonder if this would change anything between her and Velvet. After all, now that she knew her special talent, she'd probably have to actually start taking dance lessons and working toward a career in ballet.

What if their friendship got lost along the way?