Self-Effacing
It was hard to believe that a year had passed since her sweet, precious, perfect little baby brother had come into her life. Hard to believe, and really, really weird.
A year had flown by but still overflowed with cherished memoirs. In a year he had learned to walk and talk—albeit the latter very sparingly and never when they wanted him to. Velvet had held him through thunderstorms and played with him in the little green spaces that passed for parks in Canterlot. She wouldn't trade a second of her time with him away for all the bits in Equestria.
But the realization of how much he had grown filled her with the dread for how much he still had left to grow.
Velvet sat with Crystal, Nightingale, and Silent Knight as they waited in the dark of Sunridge Sweets. Pepper had gone upstairs to retrieve the birthday colt while Sunbeam rushed around putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes and decorations.
"This is so exciting!" Crystal whispered, squeezing Silent's hoof. "I'm glad you could get out of work early to come."
Silent smiled. "What pony in their right mind would miss a special occasion like this?"
Nightingale giggled. "Nopony!"
"Shhh," Sunbeam chided as she hurried past them with yet another gift to add to the growing pile of way-too-many presents.
What was Red going to do with so many toys? Velvet frowned as she looked at them all, recognizing the ones she had helped wrap. Stuffed animals, ten-piece puzzles, a toy piano—was Red going to end up a spoiled brat?
"I can't wait to see his little face!" Nightingale's wings fluttered with excitement that radiated from her like a palpable aura.
Velvet sighed, returning her gaze to the door that led upstairs. "I can't believe that little face is a year old already."
"Don't worry." Crystal reached over to put her hoof on Velvet's, smiling. "Before you know it, he'll be attending Canterlot Academy."
The very idea twisted Velvet's stomach into knots. "So not helping," she hissed, her ears flicking back.
Canterlot Elementary wasn't too far away. Then Canterlot Prep. Then the Academy. Then he might move out, move away, disappear from her life—Velvet sucked in a sharp intake of air, realizing she had stopped breathing.
"Hush, hush, hush!" As Sunbeam moved past them, she placed a party hat on each of their heads. She paused just long enough to get a look at them before she threw a bunch of colorful streamers in the air and went over to the table of cupcakes. "Pepper'll be down any second now with the birthday colt! He thinks it's a normal day of work, so sound normal!"
Velvet glanced around and tried not to roll her eyes. Nightingale was bouncing some of the streamers from one hoof to the other like a cat with a yarn ball. Crystal was teasing Silent by draping some of the colorful strands around one of his ears. He tolerated it with one raised brow and a light grin. They were just carrying on like normal while her baby brother was growing up right in front of her, and he wasn't even downstairs yet!
She returned her gaze to the fretting Sunbeam. "Then wouldn't hushing us be the opposite of what you want?"
Sunbeam stopped, turned, and glared at her. For some reason, that made her feel better. At least not everypony was unaffected by the frightening passage of time.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Sunbeam," Nightingale said, dropping the streamers she had been playing with. "It'll be fine!"
They all froze and stared when the sound of the door's handle jiggling brought their attention back to the situation at hoof.
How big was Red? He was still small, right? He hadn't had a growth spurt while he was upstairs, had he? Velvet held her breath again as she waited.
"Oh my," Pepper said as he walked into the room. "It sure is dark down here!"
Red gurgled.
"I sure wish I could find the light switch!"
Velvet's heart jumped into her throat and she gasped for air as the others breathed in so they could all exclaim together when the lights came on, "Surprise!"
Just a second behind the rest of them, Silent chimed in with his "Surprise!" Crystal giggled and nudged his side, Nightingale laughed, and Velvet just stared at Red.
He was so cute. So small, so precious, so perfect. He sat cradled against Pepper's chest, his beautiful violet eyes big and wide as he looked around at the familiar surroundings turned unfamiliar by all the decorations. His nose scrunched up, his ears wiggled, and he looked up at Pepper as if to seek an explanation. His little brow furrowed before the lightbulb went off and he looked back at them, a smile growing on his face. "Su-pise!"
Sunbeam hurried over to put the last party hat, tiny and adorable just like him, on his head. "Happy birthday, Red!"
Red squirmed in Pepper's embrace, reaching out for Sunbeam. The stars seemed to align for that moment, as he squeaked without reservation, "Ma-ma!"
Sunbeam's ears perked and she eagerly took Red, but before she could rejoice in the rare treasure of hearing him say her name, he started leaning toward Velvet. "Si-si!"
As bad as she felt for her mother, Velvet really needed that. Tears pricked at her eyes but she staved them off with a big smile.
"What?" Sunbeam deflated and she pouted, sending a tinge of guilt through Velvet's good spirits. "What happened to ma-ma?"
Crystal giggled behind one hoof and ducked her head when Sunbeam glared at her. "It's not really a surprise, is it?"
"Shh!" Velvet swatted at Crystal's shoulder and glanced between her and Sunbeam. "Mom's still pretty sensitive about that!"
Pepper, now free to wander as he pleased, made his way over to Silent. He took the empty seat beside the stallion and whispered, "So, those Wonderbolts, eh?"
Velvet rolled her eyes. As much as she loved him, her father could be a wimp sometimes. Fleeing from a potentially angered Sunbeam and seeking solace in engaging the only stallion in the room in sports talk? Seriously? Silent wasn't helping any by encouraging him with an agreeable nod, but to be fair, Silent never did do well in social situations like parties.
Surprisingly, Nightingale was the one to swoop in and save the day. "It's all right, Mrs. Sunbeam! Just show him the cupcakes and he'll forget all about Velvet!"
Sunbeam perked up almost immediately with a light gasp. "That's right!" She turned to face the snacks table, at the center of which was an arrangement of cupcakes that formed the shape of one giant cupcake. "Look, muffin! It's a cupcake!"
Cupcake was arguably one of Red's favorite words and was more than enough to pull his gaze away from Velvet so he could look. His eyes grew wide as he gasped. "Coop-coop! Coop-coop!"
Sunbeam flashed Nightingale a bright smile. "I'll take a coop-coop over a si-si! Thanks, Nightingale!"
"Not a problem, Mrs. Sunbeam!" Nightingale puffed out her chest and grinned at Velvet.
Velvet almost squeaked when a rogue elbow nudged her side, courtesy of Crystal as she asked, "How does it feel to be the big sister to a one-year-old?"
How did it feel? Sad? Bittersweet? Nerve-wracking? Velvet settled on, "Weird. I mean..." She watched as Red got blue frosting all over his face and some in his mane as he haphazardly devoured his cupcake. Her lips twitched in a brief smile. He'd need a bath, and he'd need it soon before the frosting hardened.
Velvet almost laughed. Jeeze, she was thinking like a mom! Just let the colt enjoy his cupcake! She's not his mom, after all. A sudden thought struck her and she blinked a few times from the impact. "I'm old enough where I could be his mother, you know? That's weird."
Sunbeam snorted and looked over with mock offense on her face and in her voice as she exclaimed, "Velvet! Are you suggesting I'm old enough to be his grandmother?"
"No, Mom." Velvet returned the exaggerated expression with one of her own as she rolled her eyes. "That's not what I'm saying at all. Just..." It wouldn't do any good to try to explain that sometimes, she felt more like a mother to Red than a sister. That might get Sunbeam worked up or something. She wiggled her ears and pointed at Red. "Look, a distraction! He's going to need a B-A-T-H after this and I call not it!" She touched her hoof to her nose.
Sunbeam was quick on the draw with her free hoof flying to her nose. Red was startled by the sudden movement and dropped what remained of his cupcake to touch his own nose with both hooves, smearing the frosting and cake bits all over his face.
"Not it!" Sunbeam giggled.
Silent's guard training seemed to come in handy, as he saw the potential danger and reacted almost immediately with a hoof on his nose. Pepper and Crystal followed suit, leaving Nightingale the pony whose nose would go.
Sweet, naive, unsuspecting Nightingale just shrugged in response to the grins turning toward her. "Oh well! That means I get to play with Red and you all don't!"
Velvet snickered and looked at Crystal, who was already in the process of levitating cupcakes over to them. Grinning at each other, they each took a bite and hummed with innocence.
"Oh, sweetie," Sunbeam said as she gave Red a cupcake to replace the one he had dropped—or, rather, to replace the one he had done more face painting with than anything else. "Have you ever tried to give a cat a B-A-T-H?"
Nightingale's wings started to droop. "Um... no?" She glanced at Velvet, who kept her grin hidden behind her cupcake.
Sunbeam smiled down at the little Red cradled in the crook of her foreleg. "Me neither, but from what I've heard, I'd much rather attempt that."
Pepper smothered a grin as he hugged himself and shivered. "I still have nightmares from last night."
Velvet finished off her cupcake and reached over to pat Nightingale on the back. "Don't worry! I'll come with so maybe he won't chew your hoof off in the process. Maybe."
Nightingale only whimpered in response.
Crystal turned to Silent. "Do you think you'll be fine with Mama Sunbeam and Papa Pepper?"
"Huh?" Silent blinked, then smiled. "Sure. Go on, have fun. Mr. Ridge will keep me company in your stead."
Velvet took Red from Sunbeam and grimaced when he smeared the frosting into her coat. "Aw, come on! Gross!"
Crystal jolted upright. "What!" Her face was bright red. "It was just a kiss on the cheek, Velvet! Th-That's totally normal!"
"What?" Velvet blinked at her, then laughed. "Calm down, frisky britches. I don't even know what you're talking about!"
"Oh." The blush grew more intense as Crystal scurried over to follow Nightingale and Velvet up the stairs. "S-So, Nightingale, are you prepared to have your soul torn from your chest?"
A soft, high-pitched whine emitted from Nightingale, the sound drowned out by Red's shriek of dismay when Velvet carried him into the bathroom and he did the math.
"Nooo!" Red squirmed and wriggled against her grip. "Si-si! Nooo!"
Velvet grunted when a stray flailing hoof got her right in the cheek. "Sorry, little guy, but you and I need to hop in this bath."
The waterworks started, and Velvet hadn't even turned a knob. Tears fell freely down Red's cheeks and he wrapped all four legs around her foreleg. "Nooo!"
Nightingale clamped her hooves over her ears, glancing at Crystal, who had already covered her own. "This is literally the saddest thing I've ever heard!"
"Si-siii," Red wailed.
Velvet sighed as she stood in the tub and kicked the faucet on. "Shh, shh, it's okay, cutiepie. It's just a little water. You don't want to be blue forever, do you?"
Red buried his face against her, smearing frosting everywhere. "Nooo!"
As the water slowly raised around her hooves, she adjusted the temperature while Crystal and Nightingale just stood there, both with pitying looks on their faces.
"Now do you understand?" Crystal asked between Red's sniffles and sobs. "This is why nopony wants to do this."
Nightingale whimpered. "I'm so glad you're here, Velvet. I don't think I could do it!"
Velvet dropped her rump into the water and worked on prying Red off her foreleg. "Yeah, well, somepony's gotta do it, and it might as well be somepony he'll forgive. Now, come on, buddy, let go, okay?"
With careful and precise force, Velvet managed to free herself from his tight embrace, which meant his legs were equally free to flail about. She held him at forelegs' length to keep distance between her face and his hooves.
"Nooo!" He gasped when his hindhooves touched the water and he kicked with all his might. "Si-siii!"
Velvet sighed and looked over at Nightingale. "He'll tire himself out in just a minute. Crystal, can you get his stuff?"
Crystal nodded. "Yes, ma'am!" Her magic opened the cabinet under the sink and retrieved a little tub with a couple rubber duckies of different sizes and colors, a cheerful loofah, and a bottle of foal-safe bubble bath.
When the tub landed on the edge of the bath, Velvet grabbed one of the duckies in her mouth, squeezed it so it squeaked to catch Red's attention, and dropped it into the rising water. "Look, Red! Look, Mr. Ducky likes the bath. Don't you want to play with Mr. Ducky?"
Red looked down at the toy, then up at Velvet. His ears were flat against his blue-stained mane, and his eyes were as big as they could be. "No..."
Velvet smiled. "See? He's already tiring out. Honestly, Red, these tantrums are more trouble than they're worth."
Nightingale paused, then gasped. "Oh! Trouble! Velvet, I almost forgot to ask, are you okay?"
"Huh?" Velvet lowered Red to dip his hindlegs in the water, not taking her eyes off his pitiable expression. "Uh, yeah? Why?"
"A guard came by the studio a few days ago asking for you." Nightingale frowned. "Are you mixed up in something shady?"
Red, who had given up on living, just sat there while Velvet turned off the water and slipped the loofah over one hoof. "A guard?" She gently started to scrub Red's face, pausing to peer at Nightingale. "Wait, was she tiny and blue?"
When Nightingale nodded, Crystal burst into a fit of giggles. "Oh my gosh! Nightingale, you didn't!"
"Didn't what?" Nightingale glanced between them. "She said she needed to talk to you!"
Velvet shook her head, laughing and lowering her head down closer to Red's. "Can you believe it? My friend ratted me out to the Guard! Who needs enemies when you have friends like that?"
Red just stared at her, sniffling, his eyes glossy with tears.
Nightingale released an exaggeratedly heavy sigh. "Okay, so there's a joke here that I am clearly missing."
Once Red was clear of frosting, Velvet scrubbed her own coat where he had gotten some on her. "Don't worry about it. Everything's fine, I'm not in trouble. It was just a misunderstanding."
Crystal made a small, wheezing squeak sound as she gasped for air between giggling and snickering. "That—That's one way to put it!"
Velvet pulled the stop and dropped the loofah to deal with later, scooping Red up. "Towels, please!"
Nightingale sighed as she pulled a couple towels off the rack and held them out. Velvet picked Red up, placed a kiss on his wet forehead, and maneuvered him into one of the offered towels. She set one down and draped the other over herself before returning her attention to Red.
"Okay, you little wet rat, time to scrub scrub scrub!" She ruffled the towel all over his form, the fluffy towel soaking up the water with ease. It didn't take long before he started to gurgle and bubble, then laughed.
"Si-siii!" One red hoof wiggled out of the towels and flailed. "Si-si!"
Velvet gasped, pulling her hooves back. "Uh-oh! Where's Red?"
Red giggled and waved his forelegs to try and knock the towel off, and when he succeeded, he exclaimed, "Peekaboo!"
"There he is!" Velvet nuzzled her nose to his. "There's my little guy!"
Her little guy. But for how long? She kept the smile on her face as her heart sank. How much time did she have before he no longer wanted to play peekaboo with her anymore?
---
"All right, Velvet." Perennial tapped an impatient hoof. "Another one. Try to hold it longer this time. And try not to move so much. The audience should never see you move."
Velvet bit down on her tongue to stave off the thousand things she wanted to yell from the pain that seized her muscles. She had been standing in different arabesque positions for maybe five or ten minutes, but her body felt like it had been hours. It hurt. Everything hurt. Sweat fell from her chin that trembled from the strain.
"There you go. Now, stop focusing on the working leg."
Velvet glared at her. "What?" she wheezed.
Perennial frowned. "The leg is the least important part of a perfect arabesque. It's the curve. The curve of your back as it leads into your thigh. That is what you need to focus on. You have a particularly flexible lower back, so you should be able to get your leg higher than this, but that's good enough for now."
Perennial walked over, raising one hoof and tapping on Velvet's shoulder. "Relax this more. You're going to force it out of socket if you stretch it so much. Your forelegs should be straight, but you don't have to work so hard to get them there."
Velvet glanced at the shoulder in question. Relax her foreleg? How?! Her muscles were seizing with agony! With a light grunt, she focused on her shoulder and rolled it a little to loosen it.
"Better. Now pull the shoulder back a little. You're reaching forward with it; stop that. It's throwing your curvature off-balance. Instead, you should reach out from your elbow to your hoof. Bring the elbow down a little. Let the tension reside in your elbow, not your shoulder."
It took some haughtily guided practice, but the difference was startling. Why hadn't Perennial taught her that sooner?
Perennial's tail flicked as she walked a circle around Velvet. "Your back is still too straight. You're not giving enough thought to your standing leg."
"What?" Velvet managed to hiss between her clenched teeth.
"Focus on your hoof. Place your weight there, keep it facing the way it is, and push your hip higher. Lift your hip." Perennial watched as Velvet struggled with the instructions. "No, no, no. Stop rotating the hoof. Yes, like that. Much better. See?" She gestured at the nearest mirror covering the walls. "Look at your back."
Velvet inclined her head to look out of the corner of her eye and blinked. Her working leg was higher than it ever had been before, the hoof so close she could touch the back of her head if she bent at the knee. The mare in the reflection held a picture perfect arabesque, and it was almost hard to believe that it was her.
Perennial clapped a hoof. "Now, drop down, start the routine from the beginning, and we'll see if you can remember what you just learned when you reach the arabesque again."
---
Everything hurt. Everything. Even muscles Velvet didn't know she had! Thankfully, Crystal was off at her grandfather's airship title ceremony. Title? Entitled? Entitlement? Velvet blew a few strands of her mane out of her face. Whatever it was, Crystal was there, so Velvet was free to moan and groan aloud and otherwise just wallow in self-pity.
It would be worth it. Or, rather, it had better be worth it. Perennial seemed to enjoy putting her through literal torture day in and day out. At the least, if she changed her mind and decided to stay at the Canterlot Ballet, Perennial couldn't nag her about her performance, otherwise she'd be insulting herself.
Just as Velvet started to snicker and snort at the idea, a knock came from the door. Velvet frowned. Who could that be?
"I'm coming," she managed through clenched teeth as she forced herself upright, despite the complaints of her limbs. She sighed, tried to put on a normal expression, and wobbled her way to the door. She blinked when she opened it and saw a stallion standing at her doorstep. "Tumbler?"
Thunder Tumble shifted his weight almost uncomfortably. He was out of armor, so Velvet could see each and every muscle tighten and relax from the movement. "Hey, uh, sorry to bother you, Miss Step, but—" He swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was wondering if we could talk?"
"Sure, officer." She laughed and leaned against the doorway to support her exhausted self. "Am I under arrest? Gonna cuff me or something?"
"What?" His ears shot straight up. "Oh, uh, no, I—no. No, this is—" He blinked. "Did you curl your mane?" A flush overtook his cheeks. "Sorry, are you dressed up to go somewhere? I'm sorry, this is a bad time."
She lifted a hoof to touch her mane, which was free from its bun and bouncing about with curly abandon. "What? No." She frowned, cursing her forgetfulness, then tried to wave it off. "Nah, this is just, you know, my lazy mane. I'm not going anywhere today. So, what's up?"
"Oh. Right. Yes." He cleared his throat. "This isn't official business. This is, uh, personal? It's just that, well, I've been wanting to talk to you."
Velvet raised one brow. "Okay? Well, mission accomplished, Tumbler." When Nightingale's voice flashed across her memory, she slapped a hoof to her forehead. "Oh, haysticks, that reminds me! I was supposed to talk to you forever ago! Hey, Tumbler, are you single?"
Thunder Tumble took a deep breath, red showing even brighter through his straw-colored coat. "I, um. y-yes?"
"Great! I've got this friend that's kind of seeing a stallion right now, but if they don't work out, I think she really wanted to date you." She smiled. "So stay single a while longer just in case, okay? She goes through stallions pretty quickly, anyway."
"Oh." His gaze darted away and he shook his head. After a hesitant pause, said as quick as he could, "No offense to your friend, but actually, the reason I'm here is I was kind of trying to ask you on a date."
Velvet stared.
Thunder Tumble tried not to look at her while his ears turned red.
Velvet just kept staring until, finally, she blurted out, "What?"
His wings drooped slightly. "Er, a date? Haven't... Haven't you been flirting with me?"
"What?!" She took a step back and shook her head. "Whoa, no! Hey, look, it's not personal, but, uh, no, I definitely haven't. Sorry. Nope!"
"Oh." He looked at her, his brow knitted. "Well, can I still take you on a date?"
Velvet shook her head again, whipping her mane from the vigorous movement. "Nope! Sorry!" Her heart pounded all the way in her ears as she slammed the door, then sucked in a breath.
What the hay? Flirting? Velvet scowled at the door. Not a chance! Hot or not, Tumbler was part of Princess Luna's House Guard, which made him way too close to Silent Knight, which made him way, way too close to Crystal!
With a frustrated groan, Velvet flopped onto one of the sitting pillows and buried her face in it. No matter how cute yet studly he was, that was a risk she couldn't take. Hopefully, slamming the door in his face would deter him enough that that would be the end of that super tempting yet impossible endeavor.
Companion Wishes Chapter: Reaching Forward
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So, Velvet is apparently terrified of dating anypony within 2-3 degrees of Crystal.
Man, good thing her fillyhood friend wasn't Kevin Bacon.
Ouch, poor Tumbler. Given how long he seemed to have been building himself up to that and how hard he got shot down, that really had to have hurt.
A strangely interesting chapter, let us explore a few points.
The future Troll King wields his power over those who cater to his needs. Velvet also learns that she has a real problem with change as well as needs to hang out more with Princess Luna to discuss their surrogate foals.
As someone who has given a bath to a cat before, I can vouch for the sound mine made. It sounded like an old man getting murdered. I felt lucky not to get the police called on me.
Here in her natural environment Perennial at last lets her inner self run wild and tries to hit on Velvet, sadly for her Velvet is to busy concocting elaborate revenge fantasies to pick up on it.
Oh, hohohoho. It appears that you dear Crystal did an excellent job in Crystal's Wishes with Velvet's and Thunder's interactions. From an outside perspective it did indeed look like something might have been there. Sadly for Thunder it looks like he won't have a chance to tumble with Velvet and boldly go where no stallion has gone before.
I am guessing that this is due to wanting to keep her casual sex life away from Crystal's eyes and not because she is pining for a three-way involving said roommate.
Sorry, no jokes or silly comments this time. I've had a confusing and frustrating day, and while this isn't the fluffiest chapter ever, I kinda needed it. Thanks
6899571 I'm sorry to hear that and hope you feel better, buddy.
Awww the first part of this was adorable! Poor red, I know kids who dont like to take baths who carry on like that alot. And its good that Perennial is helping her and actually teaching her well. Ill be honest, I was surprised at Thunder Tumble coming to ask her out, but I can see why he may have thought Velvet was interesting. While I can see why Velvet turned him down due to him being in the same unit as Silent, I have a feeling there may be more to tell about those 2. But thats just my thoughts. I enjoyed reading the chapter, and had a great time with it!
Red is such a troll. An adorable troll.
And poor Thunder, getting shot down like that.
Damn, Velvet.
Dats cold.
Another good one, Crystal.
The answer's yes, Velvet, it has totally been flirting despite your feeling in the matter or your expressed interest in mares. How that translates to anything, I don't know.
Especially since, as far as I'm aware, she's never done anything more than look at a stallion. Has she ever even seriously considered one?
6899539
Yeah... I was kinda' expecting more bitchiness from Perennial, helpful as she's being. Her teaching style just felt softer than the rest of her personality up to this point.
Wow, Velvet really keeps exaggerating a bit too much.
Shot down in flames.
6899585 that was appreciated, thank you.
Now for silliness, since I feel better: did we ever get a time line for this stuff? I can't remember, and as such, I dub red's birthday Red October. Of course, I could simply be forgetting, in which case I'll orchestrate an October revolution to make it so.
6899942 to be fair, she's not stupid. Helping velvet will get her out of her hair, "if" velvet succeeds she can claim to have trained her, and being mean uses more energy than she's willing to waste while focusing specifically on being better, as she probably knows that she still can make mistakes and now sees what she does from an outside perspective, in a way
Well Velvet, you can only balance so many things at once before it all comes tumbling down. Stress my dear, never helps.
Velvet, bit harsh dear.
Random and unrelated to this story, but for those of you (almost all of you?) who read Wishes... Here is Petal the orchid mantis from Crystal's trip to Manehattan to visit Sunset Coffee and his family!
quillnblade.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2016/02/Petal.png
6899473 I think Velvet would be comatose in that case! Or it'd be good immersion therapy to get her over the anxiety!
6899497 He definitely didn't deserve the treatment he got. The question is, will he be satisfied with the obscure rejection?
6899539 Red is most assuredly the future Troll King. I think he already has Velvet beat in the way he keeps Sunbeam hanging on for that precious 'mama', only to stomp on her adoration...
Eeeeeee the sound and look of a cat taking a bath is just awful. It tears my soul in two!
Yes! YES! I have been playing the very long game with Thunder Tumble's developing crush on Velvet from her ignorant trolling and teasing of him. Mwuahah!
I've been rubbing my hands and dropping the hints on that for so long!
6899586 I'm not going to say you're wrong on any point! As for Thunder Tumble, I've been trying to very carefully craft the hints across Wishes and Mask with Velvet inadvertently hitting on Tumble.
6899670 I did not intend for Red's section to be so long, but it's that "adorable" part that hooks in, digs deep, and ends up being like 3,000 words long of Red shenanigans.
6899689 Ice cold!
6899919 Thank you!!
6899942 Velvet says it can't be flirting! She only singles him out when she sees him, calls him a stud when he's out of armor, gets up in his face at the castle, and teases him like a colt tugging on a filly's pigtails. How can that be flirting?!
6900338 Anxiety is a tricky thing!
6900538 But is he strong enough to try again?
6900579 I don't want any of y'all to have bad days. But I'm glad if I can write a chapter at the right time that helps, even a little. Hope things turn up for ya, sincerely.
Hahah! Well, you're certainly free to imagine whatever you like. We don't have a public timeline. But I will say that Red's birthday is in July.
The only thing I'll contribute to the Perennial discussion is that there is a key element that is different between what we've seen of her and Velvet's interactions before vs this chapter.
6900587 hehehe tumbling down hehehe I see what you did there and I like it.
6900662 She panicked! Not that that's really an excuse, but, well, she panicked.
I'm not sure there are going to be any survivors walking away from that crash. Balls in her court now.
6900666
Honestly, and this is probably just my defeatism, I have trouble imagining Thunder sticking around at this point unless Velvet goes back after him. There's a point where
"Weren't you flirting with me?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure! It's no!"
is pretty final regardless of the other mixed cues.
Makes me... jittery. If you can understand that.
6899539
Wait how do you know what an old man getting murdered sounds like?
6900666 a wild petal has appered, and yeah I noticed it. it would be interesting to see either way
6900941
The same way you figure out everything, experience.Err, I mean the extrapolation of what a number of old guys I know sound like combined with generic sounds of wailing is what I image their vocalizations would sound like ifthey stiffed mesomething awful happened.Wow, I wasn't expecting such an intense personal existential crisis out of Velvet. At least she's not worried about where she'll be in 15, 20 years, that can be far more intimidating for a young adult who is still kind of unsure of their path.
Betrayal!!
Though seriously, Red, talk about overdramatic.
Huh, it's like Perennial really actually does know what she's doing. I kind of have to wonder if Velvet's time in her current company with regards to Perennial might have gone a bit better if she spent as much work keeping up as she's now spending to get out.
Tumble!
Maybe if things go well.
I had a feeling he was eyeing Velvet, they've had a lot of interaction and I could definitely see someone interpreting that as flirting.
Ouch, maybe not.
Poor Tumble, that's going to be a painful rejection, especially since he doesn't know the context of why and that it had nothing to do with him personally. But then again, I wonder how far we're from Velvet's confession to Crystal. If the main issue here is the Tumble>Silent>Crystal connection, at some point in the future that'll clear itself up.
Argh, those scenes with Red should be illegal. Everytime Red and Velvet share a scene I can start feeling the diabetes. x_X
6900666 Aw, Petal is just too cute.
As for Tumbler, I don't see a recovery path for him here which is really kinda sad. I would say that he could talk about this with Crystal and/or Silent and they could help him out one way or another, but that conversation would have been significant enough to show up in the main stories and we didn't see anything to that effect there so I get the sinking feeling he is totally screwed. I am also fairly sure he knows who Velvet's parents are so there is no hope of an accident bringing them on board, and there really aren't any other likely solutions without things getting really convoluted.
Geeze Red, what a baby.
It's just water (my mom always told me I loved baths as a baby.
Perennial doesn't seem too bad, though a lot of what we know of her comes from Velvet's perspective and we know Velvet doesn't think highly of Perennial. IIRC we even just had a chapter where Perennial even stated that she knew what was said behind her back. It is hard to be nice to others if they always talk badly about you. Come to think of it, but Nightingale seemed fine with Perennial. I've been wondering why it took her so long to tell Velvet that Perennial wasn't so bad if she wasn't always being bad-mouthed (just not close enough to Velvet yet?).
Hmm, I can definitely see how Tumble thought Velvet was flirting with him. I wonder if this part of what leads to Velvet breaking down in tears during Crystal's Wedding in Wishes. Velvet's (over)reaction was a bit much and harsh especially since she doesn't have issues with Tumble himself (and does seem to think he's hot), but that can't be easy for Tumble.
More than anything else, this chapter really underscores the fact that Velvet Step clearly has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder.
It's gonna happen. He's gonna 'Tumble' right into her heart...
Poor Thunder, that's about enough to drive a man to tears.
Ouch, Velvet. That was pretty cold. That's the kind of reaction that'll give a guy a complex.
That wasn't nice, Velvet...
Ouch. Poor Tumbler.
Wow.
Velvet's middle name MUST be savage. Good heavens.
Then again, relationships and tact are not exactly her strong points.
RIP tumbler's self esteem, to die so young
Ouch, ya think Velvet would have let the poor stallion down lighter than that. I've been told no by a few girls, and all save one have said no nicer than that. Even the one that wasn't so nice was nicer than that let down.
I feel bad for Tumbler. He is now my favorite support pony in these stories.
Yikes, poor Tumbler. You could have at least let him down easy Velvet. But then that isn't exactly you....
Ooooh, oh Tumbler, oh poor sweet Tumbler. You sorry fool.