//------------------------------// // Bolt from the Blue // Story: Crystal's Wishes // by Crystal Wishes //------------------------------// "Velvet..." Crystal sighed. Velvet raised a hoof to stop her and sucked in a wheezing gasp for air before another bout of laughter shook her whole frame. She dropped the hoof back down to clutch her sides and hunched forward as she continued to laugh. Crystal sighed and looked over at Horsey. The mare had been waiting with Velvet for when Crystal got home and was currently sitting on one of the pillows and giggling behind a hoof. "Since she's out of commission—" "Crust!" Velvet shrieked in between gasps for air. "Crust!" "—how have you been?" Crystal smiled. Horsey's mirth deflated. "Oh." Her ears drooped. "Oh, um, no, it's okay, I think I'm fine with enjoying Velvet's reaction to your story." Velvet reached out to grab Crystal by the shoulders. "Y-y-your mother... pizza!" "Yes, Velvet." Crystal frowned at her. "Seriously, it's not that funny." Horsey giggled. "It kind of is, though." Crystal held her frown for as long as she could before she cracked a grin. "It really is, isn't it? I never would have imagined in all my life that my mother came from a family of pizza makers!" After a round of giggling and laughter, Velvet wiped her eyes and looked at Horsey. "Okay, okay, okay. So enough about Crystal's awesome trip of great discoveries. You said you had something to tell us when Crystal got home, and she's home now." Horsey shrunk back under the weight of their expectant stares. "Oh. Oh, okay, I guess we can talk about it." "What? What is it?" Velvet leaned in, a grin spreading across her lips. Horsey breathed in and, instead of an explanation, she merely let out a soft whine. Crystal and Velvet just kept staring, so she was eventually compelled to say, "I'm—I'm pregnant." Velvet gave a shriek of delight while Crystal's hooves flew to her face and her heart skipped a beat. "What?!" they cried together. "Horsey, that's wonderful!" Crystal trembled as excitement coursed through her. "You're going to be a mother!" Velvet bounced on the tips of her hooves. "I'm going to be an aunt!" The two paused to peer at Velvet before Horsey said, "You two don't understand. I'm very pregnant." Her lower lip trembled. "I-I'm due in four months!" Velvet's eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" "Because I'm so embarrassed! What if ponies do the math?" Horsey buried her face in her hooves. "The math?" Velvet looked at Crystal as her brow furrowed, who mirrored the confused expression. Horsey drew a shaky breath as she explained in a tentative whisper, "I got—I got pregnant on—on my wedding night." Crystal tilted her head. "There's nothing wrong with that, I don't believe?" There was a pause before Velvet gasped and jabbed Crystal in the side with one hoof. "Crystal! Crystal!" Crystal winced and glared at her. "What?" Horsey tried to disappear into the pillow while Velvet exclaimed, "She had two wedding nights!" "O—ooh!" Crystal laughed and waved a hoof. "Oh, Horsey! You were a married mare! It's not that big of a deal!" "But what if it is?" Horsey squeaked. "If they do the math, then they'll think that we got married because I got pregnant. If we tell them the truth, then they'll be upset that the wedding was fake!" Velvet paced a circle around them. "It'll be fine. I mean, worst case, you just own up to it. What are they going to do? Kick you out of town? Seriously? This is Ponyville we're talking about. The ponies there are the nicest in all of Equestria!" Crystal nodded. "Velvet does have a good point. Besides." She giggled, throwing her hooves in the air. "Who could be upset when they hear that you're having a foal! Nopony's going to sit down and do the math when the little one's born and they see how absolutely adorable and perfect she or he is." Horsey moved her hooves to glance between them and offered a weak smile. "Do you really think so?" When they both gave emphatic nods, her smile gained strength. "Oh, I really hope you're right. Sav just said it didn't matter what ponies thought, but it does! What if it hurts his business?" The smile fell into a worried frown. "What if they start rumors about us and—" "Shh." Velvet slapped a hoof over Horsey's mouth. "Stress isn't good for the foal. Think happy thoughts." She grinned. "You do know how to do that, right?" The corners of Horsey's lips lifted around the hoof and she nodded. "Mmhm." "Great! So, then, have you two thought of names yet?" Velvet pulled her hoof back to steeple it with its counterpart. "I think High Velvet Wishes would be a totally perfect name." Horsey burst into a chime of giggles, shaking her head. "I want my foals to have nice, simple, normal names. Not like mine at all. Maybe something Prench... We don't know yet." "Foals?" Crystal repeated with emphasis. "Are you having twins?!" "What? Oh, no!" Horsey waved her hooves. "No, no. Just one. For now." A dark red hue showed through her coat. "S-Sav wants, well, more than just one. He wants at least two... I kind of want three..." Velvet rolled her eyes. "Then name them High, Velvet, and Wishes. It still works!" Crystal and Horsey looked at each other, shook their heads, and just laughed. Velvet feigned offense for as long as she could before succumbing to laughter herself. --- Silent settled into the seat across from Crystal and picked up the menu waiting for him. "It's been a while since you invited me out for lunch during my work hours." Crystal giggled. "Maybe this is something we should start doing again. Provided you're not too busy to have lunch, of course." "I can probably make room in my schedule." He wiggled his ears as he looked over the lunch options. "Hmm, have we eaten here before?" "We have!" She tapped her hooves together. "I doubt you remember, but I invited you to lunch, ah, well over a year ago and we ate here. It was the day before the game night with Princess Luna, where you walked me home"—heat filled her cheeks and rose to the tips of her ears—"and I realized I was falling in love with you." Silent sat perfectly still, gazing at her with a stoic, unreadable expression until he lowered the menu. "I'm glad this place has a fond memory for you." Laughter bubbled up from her chest. "You don't remember, do you?" "I'm sorry." He shook his head. "The place and menu are familiar, but—" Crystal raised a hoof, smiling. "It's fine. That's why you have me, to remember all of the inconsequential moments that happened that are important to me. Now, before we dive into wedding details, how was your trip?" "It was fine. Happy to be home... I think. I guess it depends on the wedding details." He flashed a light grin before returning to idly deciding what to eat. "So?" "Okay!" Crystal leaned back and lifted her gaze to the ceiling. "Well, I have an appointment scheduled with the florist next week and I would very much like for you to be there. I don't know what I want and I'm hoping you can help." He glanced up to stare at her, one brow raised. "All right, let me rephrase." She laughed. "I don't know what I want and I'm hoping you being there will prevent me from spending three days standing in a florist shop, frozen with indecision." "I can stand. I'll even nod and smile. This is your dream wedding, dear, so I won't talk you out of anything." He smiled as he tapped the menu against the table. "Especially since it's on your parents' bit and not mine." Crystal's ears perked upright. "Oh! Yes. Speaking of dream wedding, well, it appears that I may be getting mine after all." He tilted his head. "In what way?" "You know that Raven and I have been friends for a while, right?" She shifted in her seat. "She's arranging for the garden area to be temporarily transformed into a rose garden for the wedding." "I see." He sat in thoughtful silence for a while, set down his menu for the last time, and chuckled as he shook his head. "You're a lucky mare, aren't you?" Crystal winked. "I managed to get engaged to a stallion like you, so I would have to agree!" She giggled and raised a hoof to flag down a waiter. "You missed a lot while you were gone. We found out that Horsey is pregnant and that my mother is from a very, very large Itailian family." Silent blinked a few times before he repeated, "A very large Itailian family? Are we talking about the same mother or do you have another you haven't mentioned before?" "Same mother! Can you believe it? I found out that I have four uncles, two aunts, and a whole lot of cousins all of a sudden!" She inclined her head, smiling at the stallion who approached their table. "Hello, Rossby!" Rossby glowered at her, then glanced between the two of them. "Hi. Would you make up your mind on whether or not you're avoiding me or stalking me? This is getting annoying." Silent furrowed his brow. "What?" "Don't mind him," Crystal said, waving a dismissive hoof. "He's an old friend with a twisted sense of humor." She returned her smile to Rossby. "How far are you in the series?" A light red flush spread across Rossby's cheeks and he snapped, "I don't know what you're talking about! Are you going to order something or not?" Silent's curious expression remained in place while Crystal said, "Of course, of course. I'll have my usual. Silent?" "Oh. The grilled zucchini, please." Rossby snatched their menus and started to turn away, but Crystal's magic grabbed his hooves before he could start walking. "Wait, wait," she said, "before you go, I wanted to give you this." She levitated a folded paper over to him. "It's a list of my recommendations. I thought, perhaps, we could meet every other week to talk about what you've read?" "Like a... book club or something?" He frowned at her, then took the paper out of her magic. He glanced at Silent, who looked away to stay out of the conversation, then scrunched up his nose. "Sure. Fine. Whatever. Now let me go, or else neither of you are getting anything to eat or drink." The pink aura dissipated from his hooves and he hurried off toward the kitchen. Silent stared after him before looking across the table. "Should I be worried?" "Worried? About Rossby?" Crystal laughed, shaking her head. "Absolutely not. He's more like an annoying kid brother than anything else." "I mean... Doesn't Rossby work at Runic's?" Silent tilted his head. "What is he doing here?" Crystal nodded. "Oh, he does. He also works here, at Café au Lait, SunBucks, Platinum Salon & Spa, and I think at least one other place. Honestly, I can't keep track. He works a lot for somepony his age." Silent just blinked a few times, then shrugged and smiled. "All right. Well, then, are there any other wedding developments I should know about?" Crystal shook her head. "Nothing that I think you care about. I've coordinated the tablecloths, decided on how the napkins should be folded, picked centerpieces, and other things that give you that glazed-over look you're giving me right now." "Sorry." He chuckled softly and reached across the table to take her hooves in his. "I do care. At least, I care that you care. If that's not enough for you then we have a serious problem." "Hmm..." She pursed her lips, then giggled and squeezed his hooves. "It'll do for now." "That's great, because I'm hungry and I don't want to fight right before we eat." "Oh, is your stomach really all you can think about?" She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "Yup!" He leaned back, withdrawing his hooves to set them on his side of the table. "That's how stallions work, or so my stomach tells me." Her pout faded as she succumbed to giggling. "I'll keep that in mind and make sure to bake muffins the next time I need a favor from you." He smiled and winked. "I'm not saying that you have to do that, but I'm also not saying it will hurt your odds." --- "Okay, sweetie, you're going to have to slow down!" Crystal laughed as Dot tugged one of her forelegs in a single-minded mission of getting the three of them to the florist as quickly as possible. Silent trotted alongside them, chuckling. "I don't think she can hear you." "Flowers, flowers, flowers!" Dot chimed with every hop and skip. "Flower filly's gonna help with flowers, flowers, flowers!" Crystal shook her head, her mane bouncing and fluttering from all the movement. "I feel so out of shape all of a sudden!" Silent lengthened his stride to get ahead of Dot and gestured at the sign advertising Leafy's shop. "There it is, Dot. Slow up and take a right!" Dot nodded and let go of Crystal's leg to jump onto Silent's back. "Take me to the flowers, Silent Knight!" Without missing a beat, Silent broke into a gallop, skidded to turn himself toward the door, and bounded into the shop. By the time Crystal caught up to them, however, the mood had changed. Dot was still excitedly bouncing around, but Silent seemed paralyzed by the nigh countless types of flowers that suddenly surrounded him. "Don't worry, this hopefully won't take long," Crystal whispered as she walked past him and toward the counter. "Hi, Leafy Roots!" The mare glanced up from the flowers she had been arranging and smiled. "Hello. Crystal Wishes and Silent Knight, I presume?" "That's us!" Crystal shifted her weight to her hind legs and rested her forehooves on the counter. Dot jumped straight up into the air to peek over the edge. "Hi!"—hop—"I'm here!"—hop—"I'm Dot!" Leafy blinked a few times. "Oh, um, h-hi?" "She's the sister of a friend," Crystal quickly explained, glancing between all of their faces. Leafy seemed somewhat uncertain, Dot couldn't stop beaming, and Silent was staring forward with his shoulders squared. How typical of him to resort to his guard stance when out of his element. "And the flower filly!" Dot squeaked. "And the flower filly," Crystal repeated. Leafy's expression lifted into a smile. "Oh, okay, then. We'll, let's start there, okay? Rose petals for the flower filly?" Crystal chewed her bottom lip. "I suppose I hadn't really thought about that. Are there any other flowers that are typically used?" "Well," Leafy started, moving over to a book and flipping through the pages, "some brides like to deviate from traditional rose petals and use something more exotic, such as cherry blossoms. Hydrangeas are another popular substitute. Rose petals are the most common, though, of course." Crystal bobbed her head slightly. "I see... oh!" She reached out to tap on one of the pages before it could be turned. "I like that! Are those white rose petals with writing on them?" "Yes, ma'am. You can even choose the writing and they'll be custom painted for your wedding, though I think you said yours was in just a few months. It would be expensive but I could put it in for a rush order." "Mm..." Crystal looked at Silent. He just stared straight ahead. She looked down at Dot. She just kept bouncing around. "Dot?" The filly stopped moving to look up at her. "Huh? Yeah?" "What kind of flowers do you want in your basket?" She smiled. Dot hummed as she stared at the floor in thought, then replied, "I think white rose petals. They'll look the best on green grass. You said it was gonna be in a rose garden, right? Then white rose petals." Crystal turned her gaze back to Leafy. "You heard the filly. White rose petals, please." "Do you want the writing on them?" Leafy lifted an order form and waited. Crystal grumbled with indecision until finally shaking her head. "No, no writing. Plain is fine. It's not as though anypony will be picking them up to read them, right?" Leafy just shrugged and marked down the selection. "All right, well, moving on to the bouquet, what did you have in mind?" "Well, you see, as Dot mentioned, the wedding is going to take place in a rose garden. I was told they will be beautiful red roses, which I'm also told is because they are in season during the winter months. I love roses, but I don't want the bouquet to be washed out by the others." Leafy nodded. "So, no red roses in the bouquet." "Oh, no, I think I do want red roses." Crystal shifted from one hoof to the other. "Just not that specific kind of red rose. And not solely red—white included as well. Primarily white, actually, I guess? With a splash of red. Do you have different kinds of red roses?" Leafy blinked a few times. Crystal knew how strange she sounded, but the words weren't coming out right. It didn't help that her heart was fluttering with nerves and Silent was just staring off into space. Slowly, Leafy turned her gaze to Silent, and he noticed her just enough to offer a shrug in response. "Well, Miss Wishes," Leafy started, hesitated, and continued, "obviously I don't know what kind of roses are going to be in the garden, so I don't know what red to avoid. But I do have many different pink roses, as well as some light red ones. Or maybe crimson would be better?" Dot groaned, her enthusiasm seeming to wane. Crystal shifted again. She needed to make a decision before the filly lost interest and Silent fell asleep. "Perhaps, do you have any pictures of bouquets you've done for previous weddings?" She tried to smile. "A visual might help me better show what I'm trying to explain." Leafy nodded and pushed the small book of flower petals aside to set a much larger one in its place. "Excellent idea, ma'am. I've had the pleasure of arranging the bouquets for numerous weddings, so I know we'll work out exactly what you're looking for." Silent picked Dot up and set her on his back. She leaned forward to look at the book with Crystal and said, "Thanks, Silent!" "Yup." Silent's gaze returned forward. "Now, this bouquet was all red flowers," Leafy explained as she gestured to a page of pictures. "It had a few white ones in it. Are you thinking something like this, but reverse in the ratio?" Crystal pursed her lips. The bouquet was lovely, but it was missing something. An assortment of just roses seemed to be... well, 'just roses', which ordinarily would be fine, but her heart wanted something more. Of course, it wasn't being very clear on what 'more' was. "No, no, no!" Dot squealed as she hopped off Silent's back, landing on the counter, and tugging the book away from Leafy. "Don't you get it, ma'am?" She flipped a few pages and slammed her hoof down. "She wants it like this one! See? You just take out the red red ones in this one. Add in three white ones here!" Her hoof dotted all along the picture. "A crimson one there to blend the different reds, and maybe mix in something other than a rose for contrast!" Silent started to reach for Dot and his mouth opened to apologize to Leafy, but a flash of white caught everypony's attention. They all stared as a white glimmer stretched out from golden centers to form the petals of two white flowers on the filly's flank. "And then you'll need to wrap a pearl ribbon around to offset the green, and maybe throw in some foal's breath, for some extra flare!" Crystal could only gasp as beneath the image of the two flowers, light green stems that contrasted with her dark green coat stretched down and intertwined. A bright flash illuminated the whole cutie mark, adding the final touch of a pink heart where the stems overlapped. Dot trailed off in her explanation when she noticed all three pairs of eyes on her. She looked around at them and frowned. "What?" "Dot," Crystal said in a breathless voice, a wide smile tugging at her lips, and pointed at the mark. "Look, sweetie." Dot looked down and jolted a few inches into the air, gasping loudly, and spinning around. "My cutie mark?!" She stopped turning around to face them and beamed. "I got my cutie mark!" Leafy laughed behind a hoof. "Well, then, maybe that's a sign I should hire her." Dot ignored the comment, instead jumping off the counter and into Silent's embrace. She wrapped her forelegs tightly around his neck and squealed, "Take me home! I want to show Iridescence! Please, can we go home?" Crystal nodded and waved a hoof to shoo them off. "Absolutely. I can take the rest from here now that Dot has explained what I wanted. You get her home as quick as you can." "Okay!" Silent moved Dot onto his back. "I'll see you later." As he trotted toward the door, he added, "Hold on, we're flying home." They left the store with the sound of Dot squealing following them out. Leafy and Crystal stared after them until Crystal laughed and shook her head. "Oh, Dot. She's such a sweetheart. I'm so glad for her." Leafy smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen a pony get their cutie mark before..." "It's been a very long time for me," Crystal mused, her gaze focusing on nothing for a moment as she reminisced, then shook her head again, quicker to clear her thoughts. "Well, then, did you catch everything she said?" "Oh, yes, ma'am. Absolutely. It sounds like it will be a beautiful bouquet." Crystal bobbed her head in a light nod. "Yes. There's only one change I want to make, however." Leafy readied her pencil between her forhooves and hovered it over the order sheet. "What is that?" "Well, I'd like it if it could be more like—" She reached for the album, pulled it closer, and turned the pages until she found the one. "Like this one, please. I think this style would better match the gown I've picked." Leafy paused to examine the picture, then smiled softly. "Oh, that's my favorite. You won't regret it, ma'am. It's a lovely style."