//------------------------------//
// Blue in the Face 
// Story: The Velveteen Mask 
// by Crystal Wishes 
//------------------------------//

Grueling.  Life in the Royal Ballet was absolutely grueling.

There was no margin for error.  No allowance for mistakes.  Every slip-up, every falter, every stumble—all of it was seen by the unnervingly keen eyes of Firebird.

The ballet mistress and master made a great team.  Raine would instruct while Firebird watched, waiting for his chance to strike.

Today, they were going through the routine for a group dance in one of the acts.  It was like being in the corps again, which should have given her some kind of familiar comfort, but it was much, much harder.  They didn't work together on a regular basis.  They hadn't spent years or even months getting used to each other's movements.

She was trained to take cues from her corps partners, but she had none.  She was a soloist.  That word suddenly had a new meaning to her at that moment.

"Free Winds!" Firebird snapped, bringing the practice to a halt.  All eyes turned on the ballet master as he approached the pegasus in question.  "Everypony, observe."  He stood a few paces away and the nearby dancers spread out to make room.  "Free Winds, please run through the last four steps again."

The stallion blinked, then nodded.  He rose up a little higher, wings clasped tight to his sides, and went through the routine.  Everypony stared, trying to spot what Firebird had seen.  His movements were nigh flawless.  Velvet's ear twitched in light irritation.  Where was it?  Where was the mistake?

Firebird clapped a hoof against the ground.  "Perfect.  Everypony, I hope you paid attention.  Free Winds here keeps exceptional balance through the last turn.  Watch his hooves.  I fear some of you are confused as to where the left forehoof should be."  He smiled.  "Let's take it from the top and keep what Winds did in mind.  Everypony in position..."

All right.  Velvet rose up onto her hind hooves.  Keep the left forehoof moving throughout the turns.  Never let it rest.  This whole performance was about movement.  It was, after all, 'The Little Mermare' and a lot of the scenes took place underwater, so that made sense.  Move like the ocean waves.  Like seaweed.  Or a school of fish.

The lunch hour rolled around and Raine called out, "All right, break time, dancers!  Break time."

Groans from aching muscles responded as the dancers dropped down onto all fours.  Velvet looked over at Ephemeral and snorted.  "You haven't even broken a sweat!"

Ephemeral shrugged.  "It's only been a few hours."

"Show off," she huffed and flashed a smile at the mare carrying a tray of cucumber water.  She accepted one of the little cups and tossed it back, slices of cucumber and all.

"Not really.  Not intentionally, anyway."  He chuckled lightly.  "You get used to it.  Just make sure to stay hydrated."  He blinked when Velvet swiped the cup of water right out of his hoof.  "Hey!"

Velvet grinned.  "Taking your advice!"  She chugged the drink before giving an exaggeratedly loud smack of her lips.  "Yeah, that did help, you're right!"

Glancing between the empty cup and her, he finally raised one brow.  "You're an odd mare, did you know that?"

"Yup!"  She gave a laugh that quieted as the hairs on the back of her neck rose.  "Hey, uh, Moony.  Personal question?"

His ear flicked and he tightened his grip on the second cup of water he had retrieved.  "What?"

"This performance.  The Little Mermare."  Her tone lowered as she asked, "Do you think merponies actually exist?"

After a moment of confusion playing on his face, he shrugged.  "What kind of nonsensical question is that?"

Velvet frowned.  Irritation flared, but she swallowed and tried to stand taller.  "It's a simple question.  We're doing a play involving them.  So do you think they exist or not?  Aren't you curious?"

"Sure, why not."  He shrugged again.  "Can't say I've ever met one, but there's more than enough weirdness to go around Equestria."

Weirdness.  Like giant cockatrices or princesses turned into nightmares.  She averted her gaze and tried to really take a good look at the ponies all around her.  They were normal, weren't they?

"Yeah," she finally replied in a mutter.  "I guess you're right."

Somewhere in the ocean there may or may not be a city of merponies.  Were they friendly?  Neutral?  What were they like?  What else was out there?

"Velvet Step!" a stallion called from across the studio, pulling her out of her swirling thoughts.  "Somepony is looking for you!"

Velvet blinked and turned her head to look in the stallion's direction.  "What?  Who?"  When she received a shrug in response,  she started walking over.  Was it Crystal?  Maybe Nightingale!  Or—"Thunder Tumble?"  She skidded to a halt, her eyes going wide.  "What the ever-loving hay?"

Thunder Tumble wasn't alone.  Perched on his back was a giant teddy bear.  Under one foreleg, he clutched a heart-shaped box that Velvet recognized as the kind for sale on Hearts and Hooves day that contained assorted chocolates.  The cherry on top, however, was a large bouquet of red roses that he had held in his mouth.

"Hi," he managed, the bouquet bouncing some from his jaw moving.

"What the—"  She took a step back.  "What."  Her gaze darted about as she tried to piece things together.  "What?"

Tumble bobbed his head toward her and, reluctantly, she took the bouquet so that he could say, "I, uh, I'm here."  His wings flared just slightly, the feathers fluffing out to make him look bigger than he already was.  "I'm here to court you properly, Velvet."

Velvet furrowed her brow.  "But why?  I thought—Didn't we talk about this?  I'm sorry, Tumbler, but—"

"Right."  He nodded.  "I know.  You have a lot of pride, and I respect that.  So, maybe flowers and chocolates and stuffed animals aren't your thing.  Got it."  He glanced at the heart-shaped box, then held it out to her.  "I'll figure something else out until I get it right!"

The smile he flashed her was handsome.  Overwhelmingly so.  The impact of it made her knees tremble, but she kept a stiff upper lip.  "Tumbler.  No, sorry."  She pushed the box back toward him.  "Thunder Tumble.  Look, you're great.  Really great!  But it's not a matter of pride.  Crystal Wishes is my best friend, and her fiancé is Silent Knight.  Do you see what I'm getting at?"

His ears folded back.  "I... I don't?"

"You're too close to Crystal."  She sighed and held the bouquet out to him.  "You're hot, stud, okay?  Go give this stuff to any other mare and I bet you'll do fine."  She patted her hoof on his, then took a few steps back.

Fiddlesticks!  The look he gave her was downright pitiful.  She had to tear her gaze away before the guilt piled on any higher.

"So, yeah," she continued around the lump in her throat.  "We clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said in a quiet voice.  She heard his hoofsteps moving away from her, so she started back to the dancers, a weight pressing down on her shoulders.

"What was that about?" Ephemeral asked, his brow raising when she shot him a dirty look.  "Nevermind."

Velvet sighed and shook her head.  "No, sorry.  Nothing.  It's actually nothing.  Just a miscommunication."

"A miscommunication involving roses, chocolates, and a teddy bear?"  He rolled his shoulders in a light shrug, rising up to balance on his hindlegs when Raine started tapping for their attention.  "Well, good timing on resolving it, at least."

"Yeah."  She sucked in a deep breath and held it.

Focus on work.  Focus on being a piece of seaweed.  A lowly little weed of the sea.  Yeah, that seemed appropriate right then.


---


How had time slipped away from her?  Velvet raced through the streets, skidding on the cobblestone as she took a turn a little too fast.  Oh, she knew how.  'Let's run through that one more time!'  One more time her pretty pink posterior.  Five practice runs later and she was late!

As she burst into Sunridge Sweets, she did her best not to sound too out of breath as she called, "Mom!  Dad!  I'm here!  I'm late!  I'm sorry!"  She made her way to and around the counter.  "They wouldn't let us leave until we had nailed the routine.  Seriously, this new choreographer is a real—"  She froze when she saw a familiar blue mare sitting in the middle of the backroom.  "Azurite?"

Sunbeam looked up from the decorating table.  "Cute and tiny?"

"Willing to do your work for you?" Pepper offered.

Azurite beamed.  "Hi!"  She held Red's hoof in her own and waved it, melting Velvet's heart.

Velvet laughed softly and shook her head.  "Actually, I was going to say a pony's rump, but sure, that all works, too.  Hey, Azurite."  She leaned against the table to survey her mother's work, then looked back at Azurite.  "How are things going?"

"Good.  So far, anyway."  Azurite started bouncing Red on her knee, keeping her gaze focused on him.  "I tricked Sunny and Soarin into meeting for dinner.  So now I'm gonna hide here!  I don't want to accidentally spill the beans before Wednesday.  I'm not a great liar, so... tada!"  She wiggled Red's forelegs.  "Here I am!"

Velvet didn't think of herself as particularly possessive of Red, but watching somepony else play with him was a little off-putting.  She wanted to play with him.  She had worked her tail off all day to come to the bakery, help out her parents, and play with the cutest thing in Equestria!

"Well," Velvet finally said, deciding to take action on her little case of jealousy by walking over to Azurite.  "That's a start, I guess."  She held out her hooves expectantly.

"Aww!"  Azurite stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.  Before handing him over, she nuzzled his mane and breathed in.  Yeah, new foal smell was pretty addicting.  Velvet couldn't deny that.

Red squealed in delight as he was given over, squirming in Velvet's embrace to nuzzle up against her.  A happy feeling bloomed in her chest like cookies rising in the oven and Velvet tried not to look as pleased as she felt.  Then a thought struck her mood right back down.  "You're, uh—You're not hiding out here all the time until Wednesday, are you?"

Azurite shook her head.  "Nope!  I'll just be here until dinner time.  Then I can go home, shove food in my mouth, and be unable to ruin my own plan!  And then I can keep Soarin preoccupied until bedtime."

Velvet snorted.  Preoccupied, huh?  By shoving something else in her mouth to keep quiet?

Sunbeam looked over and chimed in a sugary sweet voice, "You can stay here as long as you like, blueberry crumbcake.  Velvet is just a little cranky."  She giggled.  "Maybe we should put her down for a nap along with Red."

"Mom!"  Velvet shot her a light glare.  "You do remember that Azurite showed up at my place to fight me, right?  Aren't you, like, giving aid to the enemy right now?"

Sunbeam waved a hoof in response.  "Oh, hush, sweetie.  You're the one who went on a date with her marefriend.  It's only fair.  Besides, just look at her!  She isn't the type to do anypony any harm."

With all of the hardened resolve she could muster, Velvet looked at Azurite, ready to defeat her in a staring contest.  And then Azurite smiled.

"Ugh."  Velvet sighed.  "Why do you have to be so cute?"

Azurite puffed out her chest and replied, "Soarin says I'm fun sized!"

Velvet's ears shot straight up.  Oh, she bet he did say that!  She tossed her head back and laughed, which prompted Red into bubbling laughter along with her.  "Okay," she managed once her amusement had calmed enough for speech, "so clearly trying to stay some level of angry at you is totally not going to work."

"Yay?"  Azurite tilted her head.

Sunbeam got up from her seat while Pepper started to collect the finished cupcakes into boxes.  "Okay, sugarlumps!"  She kissed Velvet's cheek, then leaned down to kiss the top of Red's head.  "We're going to go deliver this order.  Mind the store and be sure Red gets fed and a nap.  Oh!"  She smiled at Velvet.  "And be nice to Azurite, sweetums!"

Velvet feigned a roll of her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.  "All right, all right.  See you later tonight, Mom, Dad."

Once her parents had left, Velvet's gaze wandered over to the little blue mare.  This was going to be awkward.  She'd have to go stand behind the counter in case any stray ponies came at the late hour looking for sweets, but she didn't want to leave Red with Azurite.  For some reason, she was feeling possessive of her brother.

She could just take Red up to the front with her, but then Azurite would be alone.  Or she'd just follow her and stand beside her, which would be just as awkward as things were right at that moment.

Well, there hadn't been anypony in line when she arrived, and the only chime of the bells she had heard was her parents leaving.  She could just hang out in the backroom to get in her Red playtime and keep an ear out for any ringing.

How long had they just been staring at each other?  Azurite was fidgeting and looking pretty nervous.  Probably too long.

"So," Velvet started, grasping for any sort of conversation starter, "you're a royal guard like Silent Knight?"

"Oh, no!"  Azurite shook her head and waved her hooves.  "I don't think there is anypony that is a royal guard like Silent Knight."  She dropped her hooves into her lap.  "I'm a warrant officer.  Which is kind of a specialist.  Not a pony who stands guard or anything.  Most of my work is just doing paperwork for other ponies in the Guard.  Retirement, medical, you know, that sorta thing."

Velvet didn't know, but she instead focused on the part she could relate to.  She snorted and offered a light grin.  "Well, at least you get Silent Knight, Grumpypants Extraordinaire."  She shifted Red from one foreleg to the other while he tried to chew on her coat.  "Do you know how long it took for him and Crystal to get together?"

"I don't."  Azurite's ears flicked.  "I don't know him half as well as I know Sunny.  Or even half of half, really."

Taking the seat across from Azurite and setting Red in her lap, Velvet settled in for what would be her best performance ever.  "Well, you've got time to kill, and I think you'll get a kick out of this.  It took them like, a year, and it's quite a story.  Hey, it might even give you some perspective on your situation or something!"

Azurite leaned in, her eyes going wide.  "Sure!  I'm all ears!"

"Okay."  Velvet slid three of the cupcakes that hadn't made the cut for the order to sit in between them.  She tossed some pink sprinkles on one, blue on another, and purple on another.  "So there's Crystal, Silent, and, of course, me, right?"

She pushed the blue cupcake further away from the other two.

"So there's Silent over here, doing his thing.  And Crystal's here all like"—She wiggled the pink cupcake and raised her voice to a higher pitch—"Oh woe is me I want to be in love but I just kind of sit around the condo and write stories and woe, woe, woe!"

She picked up the purple cupcake and held it up.  "Don't give up, Crystal!  You'll find somepony!  Just get off your rump and find him!"

Azurite watched with way-too-adorable interest.  So did Red.  In fact, they both had the same looks on their faces.  Apparently her storytelling methods for her little brother worked on Azurite.  Good, because she wasn't really sure she knew how to tell a story any other way after way so many retellings of foal's tales with baked goods.

"No, no."  The pink cupcake slid away just a little.  "It's no use.  I'll just write my stories and live through them.  That's all I can do."

Velvet set the Crystalcake and Velvetcake aside and picked up the Silentcake.  "So then, apparently, Silent met Crystal and they had this moment with a book or something.  And Luna was there.  Uh."

She set another cupcake beside the Silentcake.  "Greetings, citizens!  We are Princess Luna, and for some reason, we like Crystal's stories!  So now we want to be friends with Crystal!  And because Silent is our guard, he will be friends with her, too!  I decree it so!"

All the cupcakes were pushed together.  "Yay, we're all friends!  But wait!"  Velvetcake was pushed away, as was Lunacake.  "Silent walked Crystal home one night, and then, poof!"

Crystalcake fell onto its side.  "Oh!  I do believe I have the vapors!"

Velvetcake slid over.  "What?!  What happened?"

"I have fallen..."  Crystalcake jumped back upright.  "In love!"

Velvetcake gasped.  "You should tell him!"

"Oh, no, no."  Crystalcake slid a little closer to Silentcake, but not too close.  "I will just stare at him.  All the time.  And think about him.  And write a story about him.  But I'll never tell him.  Because I'm stupid and I don't listen to Velvet so instead, I just wait around for a year sending these mixed signals."

Velvet lifted her gaze to look at Azurite.  "Then you know what happened?"

Azurite shook her head.  "What?"

"Crystal found out that Silent thought that she and I were..."  She picked up Crystalcake and shoved it against Velvetcake.

After a moment, Azurite offered, "Fighting?"

Velvet shook her head and wiggled the cupcakes against each other.

"Dancing?"

Velvet picked up the Crystalcake, turned it upside down, and dropped it on top of the Velvetcake so their frosting and sprinkles got mixed together.  Then she smooshed them even closer and made kissing sounds.  Red joined in with squeals of delight at the cupcake mayhem.

Azurite blinked slowly.  "Having adult happy fun times?"

"What?"  Velvet sputtered into laughter.  "Uh, yeah.  Exactly.  So, yes, Silent thought we were having adult happy fun times.  Crystal told him that wasn't the case, so they started dating."  She pulled Crystalcake away from Velvetcake and dropped it onto the Silentcake.  "And now they're getting married!"

Azurite clapped her hooves together and even bounced up and down some.  "Yay!  And then they'll live happily ever after!"  Her clapping slowed and she looked at the cupcakes.  "I don't think that helps me at all, though.  But it was a good story.  I especially liked the part where there were cupcakes."  One hoof started to slowly reach out.  "Does this story include a snack?"

Velvet pushed the mess that was Crystalcake and Silentcake toward her.  "Go for it."  Offering the Lunacake to Red, she took her own cupcake for herself.  "All Sunridge stories end with a snack."

"I'm going to have to come here for more stories if that's the case."  Azurite paused, then frowned.  "There's just one problem."

Velvet paused just before taking a bite.  "What?"

Azurite's frown deepened.  "I don't think I can eat them now that they're ponies.  I'm not even sure I can pull these two apart.  I mean, what if they're like voodoo cupcakes and I ruin their relationship by breaking up their cupcakes?"

Slowly, Velvet's gaze lowered to the foal in her lap.  Frosting was all over his face and he had most of the cake itself shoved into his mouth.  Then she looked up at the cupcake in her hoof.  "You don't think that could happen, do you?"

"I don't want to find out the hard way that it could," Azurite admitted in a tiny voice.

"Me neither," Velvet said.  She set her cupcake beside the others, then sighed.  "I really hope we didn't just cupcake voodoo the princess."