Saving Face
Velvet stretched her forelegs above her head, then looked down at Diddy sleeping peacefully beside her. Her nose scrunched up at the bitter feeling of envy that bloomed in her chest. While her appetite was sated, no mare had ever made her feel so wonderful that all she wanted to do was fall asleep in a sex-induced coma.
Was there something wrong with her? Or had she just not found the right mare? She sighed, shaking her head to chase away the questions. What she needed right then was a shower, and she didn't want to bring the smell of alcohol, another mare, and sex home.
After ensuring she was more or less presentable, she cautiously left the apartment with the least guilty look she could manage. The humming started up again. It wasn't too long of a walk to the ballet studio, a place that thankfully never closed. There was always somepony practicing something at every hour and given that some nights that sompeony was her, Velvet could let herself in without raising suspicion.
To her delight, the locker room was unoccupied. She started one of the showers and let it run to heat up while she let her mane down. "Let's see, let's see," she muttered to herself as she opened her locker and retrieved two bottles, one of shampoo and the other of anti-curl serum. "Perfect."
Steam started to rise from the shower stall to indicate its readiness, so she walked over and slipped inside. A wave of relief washed over her with the warm stream of water that hit all the right spots. She'd scrub her coat, wash her mane, and come out on the other side clean again.
When she turned over the anti-curl serum bottle and gave it a squeeze, it responded with a wheeze and a sputter. Her eyes widened and she slapped a hoof to her forehead. "Right. Of course. Great! Stupid me!"
Continuing to curse under her breath, she tossed the bottle to the bottom of the stall and ran her hooves through her mane to feel the damage. It was already tangled. If it dried, it'd be a disaster. She stuck her head under the water and kept it there while she contemplated her options.
At that hour, most ponies would either be asleep or at the clubs. The odds were slim that anypony she knew would see her. She could dry off and just head straight home and nothing would happen and—
"Velvet Step?"
That voice. It was one of the very last voices she wanted to hear. She tried not to groan and instead just remained where she was, her back facing the mare. "Hi, Perennial."
Perennial asked with a small snort, "What are you doing here? Did you forget to pay your water bill?"
"Just cleaning up after practice," she replied and immediately regretted it.
"Practice?" Perennial leaned against the edge of the stall. "I was alone."
Velvet, still facing away from her, allowed herself to wince and bite her lower lip. "Perennial, if you ever learned how to pay attention to anything but yourself, you'd realize there were two other ponies besides me in there."
Perennial gasped, huffed, and scowled. "There were not!"
Velvet finally turned to look at her, one brow raised. "Are you calling me a liar?"
Perennial glared. "Are you calling me self-involved and unaware?"
"If the slipper fits," Velvet said, offering a light shrug. The water started to shift to lukewarm. Time was almost up. She had to make a decision and make it fast. Giving an exaggerated sigh, she kicked out a hindleg to flip the knob and stalked out of the stall. "I'll just go, then, since you'd clearly rather be alone so much that you ignored three ponies in the room with you."
Perennial's ears shot straight up and her voice rose to a squeaky yell. "There were no other ponies with me! I was alone!"
"As you wish!" Velvet grabbed her mane clip, tossed her shampoo bottle into the locker, and on her way out, dropped the empty bottle of serum into the trash. She really, really needed to remember to buy more the next day—or, at that hour, was it already the next day?
As she left, she made sure to holler down an empty hallway, "Have a good night, girls!"
That should keep Perennial on her hooves for a while and off the trail. Velvet smiled to herself, even though she was completely soaked to the bone. She'd take care of that soon enough once everything else had been dealt with. First, distract Perennial to avoid any suspicion or questions. Check. Second, get home as quickly as possible. She added an extra skip to her step to move along a little faster. Check. Last, get to her room before Crystal saw her. Soon-to-be-check.
A small shiver ran from her shoulders to her flank and compelled her to kick her hindlegs when a breeze drew across her wet coat like a bucket of ice. Why hadn't she at least dried everything but her mane off? She rolled her eyes. Of course, that was because having only a wet mane would arouse more questions than just being completely drenched. There was an easy excuse and if somepony tried to stop her, she had her answer at the ready.
When she finally got to her condo, she stopped in the living room to listen to her surroundings. It was completely quiet, save for the low hum of the fridge and the clock ticking away. Either Crystal was fast asleep or she wasn't home yet. All she had to do was make the last few steps that separated her from her bedroom and—
The lock of the front door clicked and the handle turned. Velvet's cold muscles seized up, save for her neck, which could only rotate to watch her impending doom. The door was pushed open and Crystal started to walk inside, but froze when their eyes met.
"Oh!" Crystal's expression lit up. "You're home." Her gaze darted about to take in the sight of Velvet and she asked with a furrowed brow and a faltering smile, "Why are you soaked?"
What was her excuse? Fell in a lake? No, no, there weren't any lakes in Canterlot. Fell in a bathtub? That made no sense! Finally, the prepared answer returned to her and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know." She waved a dismissive hoof. "Rogue pegasus. I swear, it's like they're always in a bad mood or something."
A small gasp escaped Crystal as she clasped her cheek with one hoof. "I hope it wasn't Rossby. I did irritate him the last time we met..." The furrow of her brow returned and she began pacing. "But he shouldn't take it out on you. I think I'll have a talk with him!"
Velvet wanted to swear, but that would definitely blow her cover. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she exclaimed instead, waving her hooves. "I don't know if it was Rossby or not. Maybe just forget it before you start a war with the guy."
Crystal stopped pacing and frowned. "I suppose you're right, but still. Whether it was him or not, pegasi are supposed to be responsible with their clouds." Crystal sighed. The smile returned to her face and she moved forward to push Velvet toward the bathroom. "Go on and dry off before you catch a cold."
Velvet laughed triumphantly at the averted crisis, then trotted forward to escape Crystal's hooves. She stuck her nose in the air, flicked her wet tail to send a small spray of water at her friend, and disappeared into the bathroom where she subsequently pumped her foreleg in victory. "I don't think it works like that," she called through the closed door, "but all right." She straightened up and looked at herself in the mirror to give her reflection a wink. "So, how did your double date go?"
"Oh, he was wonderful," Crystal's airy voice responded. There was a brief pause, then a hurried correction of, "The date was wonderful, I mean."
Thank Celestia for Silent Knight and his distracting qualities! "Uh-huh, sure." Velvet grinned while she grabbed a towel and started to dry herself off. "Well, I'm glad for you." She tossed the towel back on the rack, gave her coat a shake, then called as she opened the door that led to her bedroom, "I'm heading to bed! Night, lovebird!"
---
A happy little bell chimed as Velvet opened the door and trotted into her parents' bakery, Sunridge Sweets. "Hi, Dad!" she called above the light noise of various patrons conversing. The place was always busy, which meant her parents would never have to worry about bits and that she would never have to worry about them.
Pepper Ridge looked up from the pastry he had been packaging for a customer to smile brightly at her. "Hi, sweetie! Red's in the back with your mother."
Velvet pranced around the counter, swept in to place a quick peck on his cheek, then jumped the distance into the back room. "Where's my little Red?!"
"Oh, my! Look who it is!" Her mother, Sunbeam, shifted the dark red foal sitting on her knee to face Velvet. "It's your big sister!"
Red, the epitome of all that was cute and perfect in the universe, gave a high-pitched squeal and waved all of his legs toward Velvet, not ceasing the annoying sound until she took him from Sunbeam.
"Okay, little guy! Calm down!" Velvet laughed and spun on one hindleg while the other swung to carry her momentum, holding him up as high as she could at first. The faster she spun around, the closer she held him to ensure his safety until the world around them was a blur.
"That's quite enough," Sunbeam interrupted. "He's too young for that much motion, sweetums."
Velvet snapped her leg down to stop suddenly and sighed. "Only twelve," she muttered, looking down at the giggling and squirming foal in her embrace. "I'll never be on her level."
Sunbeam looked up from the little, half-decorated cake in front of her. "What's that, schnookie cookie?"
Velvet flopped back onto a sitting pillow and snuggled Red closer to her while she explained, "Perennial did thirty-two fouettés the other day. Thirty-two, Mom."
"Okay." Sunbeam tilted her head. "Is that good or bad? That sounds pretty impressive to me!"
Velvet rolled her eyes. "It's good for her! Her and her smug little attitude." She wiggled Red's forelegs and mimicked, "And that, girls is how it's done and why I'm Snooty McSnootyflank and deserve a kick in the snoo"—Sunbeam cleared her throat—"out? Aw, Mom, he's too young to even know what I was going to say."
"Maybe so, but you're not going to say dirty words where my sweet, innocent baby can hear you, plumpkin." Sunbeam waggled the knife she was using to cut fondant.
"Fine, fine, fine." Velvet returned her gaze to Red and tapped her hoof against the foal's in a one-sided game of patty-cake. The smell of cupcakes baking to near perfection stirred a grumble from her stomach. "Uh oh!" She gasped and held up her hooves. "There's a rumbly in my tumbly! You know what that means!"
Red blinked up at her with bright purple eyes until she started to lean in toward him. With a small gurgle of a giggle, he started bouncing up and down in anticipation as her head neared his own.
"That's right! I need something sweet to eat!" She nuzzled her snout into his fluffy mane, which resembled cream cheese frosting in color and shape. As she snuffled and snorted against his scalp, she exclaimed, "Om nom nom nom!"
It didn't take long before the excitement was too much for the foal, who expressed his sudden exhaustion with a wide yawn. Velvet smiled down at him while he smacked his lips and crawled forward to snuggle against her chest. "Hey, Mom?"
Sunbeam glanced over at her and smiled. "Yes, sweetie?"
Velvet sighed as she leaned back to get more comfortable with the sleepy weight on her. Red buried his face against the crook of her neck, one of his hooves shifting so that he could suck on it.
"What were you like before you had me?" Velvet asked in a voice just above a whisper. "Before you became a mom?"
Sunbeam set down the piping bag to turn and face Velvet completely with her full attention. She was quiet for a while, her expression muddled between a furrowed brow and a soft smile. "I suppose I was a different mare. I spent every day at the bakery with Pepper, and every night thinking of what I'd create the next day. Don't get me wrong, sweetie, I was certainly happy, but when I had you?" She put her hooves to her cheeks and sighed. "Every day was full of sunshine, even when it was raining!"
Velvet closed her eyes while she stroked a hoof along her brother's back. "So you were pretty normal, then? You weren't kinda weird and then calmed down when I was born?"
Another moment of curious silence fell on them until Sunbeam cleared her throat. "Velvet, are you trying to tell me that you're pregnant?"
"What?" Velvet's eyes snapped open to shoot her mother a stern glare. "No, Mom, jeeze. I'm just curious, all right?"
Sunbeam shrugged and returned to her decorating. "Well, if you were pregnant, I think you'd make a wonderful mother. Red certainly loves you more than me some days, I think."
Velvet stuck out her tongue. "I'm too young to be a mom, Mom."
"I wasn't much older than you when I had you, crumbcake," Sunbeam retorted.
"Whatever." She tilted her head back and stared up at the ceiling. "I'd like to enjoy my career a little longer before I even start thinking about that stuff. Besides, Red's the only foal I'll ever need in my life!"
Sunbeam hesitated before she pointed out, "He won't be a foal forever, you know."
Velvet quickly looped her foreleg over his head to cover both of his ears, glaring at her mother again. "Shh! Don't put such silly ideas in his head!" She tucked her chin down to peer at him with a smile. "My sweet, little baby brother would never do that to me."
After another moment of hesitation, Sunbeam turned back around to her decorating table and resumed her work. Velvet stuck her tongue out at her mother's back, then closed her eyes and hugged Red while he slept.
Of course she knew he wouldn't be a foal forever, but he was one of the things in her life that was perfect. Why couldn't she just enjoy that he was still cute and wonderful and innocent without having to be reminded that it wouldn't last?
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Velvet strikes again. Nonsense and weirdness abounds.
Now all is right with the world.
I tried to count all the things that could be misconstrued as innuendos and I gave up.
That this actually has even the slightest chance of working says it all about Perennial or at the very least the persona that she projects.
Good golly Velvet, how long were you in there?
Thrown to the wolves.
You point at your mother with that tongue.
D'aww... all of the cute.
That is so deliciously evil.
I actually gasped out loud at that. Wow, now that was a long-term mystery I had forgotten was still up in the air. Velvet, for shame!
Red Velvet is heart attack inducingly cute. I'm just looking forward to when Sunny appears.
6450660 Velvet does how Velvet do!
6450718 Perennial is a great dancer. No one said she was clever! And, well, I've never had great experiences with the hot water duration of the showers in gyms and whatnot.
6450823 It's hard for there to not be cuteness when Red is involved!
6450828 I've been dying to share the Perennial trolling since I wrote it.
And your gasping reminded me to put in the Companion chapter link! Whoops! But... good. Glad to make someone else sad with that ending. 
6450879 Soon!...ish. Okay, actually, not super soon. There are at least seven chapters before that happens.
Perennial may be stuck up and snooty, but this was the first chance of truly significant character interaction with her, but it was almost exclusively Velvet sniping. I'm actually very disappointed in Velvet. I still don't know how deep Perennial's flaws run, but I've lost some respect for Velvet because now I suspect that some of the tension between them is Velvet being hard-headed (and maybe straight up jealous).
That said, I don't want this to be taken as actual criticism; I'm greatly enjoying finding out how your other characters tick. If that means I'll sometimes be frustrated with how they act outside the snippets we've seen, then oh well. I can't fault them for being who they are. (Well... I can... but, y'know, but they're not archetypes so there should be things that aren't perfect.)
6450986 I definitely don't take that as criticism at all. Of course, the interaction was meant to be humorous for us, but there is that undercurrent of dual-sided tension that you noted. Perennial isn't Little Miss Perfectly Innocent when it comes to their strained relationship, but Velvet isn't helping, either.
6450891 I eagerly await with popcorn!
This is starting to feel like Harry Potter with all of these occurrences that you write off as they're happening (like Velvet coming home wet) and then realize later how much was going on behind the scenes.
6451086 That is definitely the fun of this story!
That and just in general, it's fun to write Velvet. And to know what's on the horizon... 
6451095
You tease!
Dang, I understand why she got outta dodge like she did in the morning, but still.. I have a feeling abit of foreshadowing was mixed into there. I remember the bit where crystal caught her all wet, and here I thought Rossby had something to do with it, My bad x.x But it is funny to see velvet troll the snooty pony. And Red Velvet is adorable, as always. Little colt is to sweet to not be finding yourself going D'awwww over. A great chapter, and cant wait to see the other.
Aaaaand here she goes again.
For that move Velvet deserves a Trollestia
You're gonna wanna rub ointment on that burn for 3 days until all signs of b*tch have healed over.
Velvet is in an interesting place, isn't she. I've known for a while in Crystal's Wishes that something big was bothering Velvet that Crystal herself was missing, but this goes a lot deeper than I was expecting.
I know I wanted the two of them to get together before, but every time they interact, all I can see in my head is that scene Velvet imagined with her and Perennial back at the beginning of the story. Except that in my head, things don't quite end the way she imagined. Velvet would make a good pet. She has the right personality for it.
6451426 There is definitely some foreshadowing going on...
Agh, it almost pains me to update this only every other week! I'm so excited for it! But I gotta get Wishes caught up...
6451440 Velvet is usually pretty good at thinking on her hooves!
6451483 That sounds like a pretty serious burn!
6451616 It's legitimately exciting to me to be sharing Velvet's story, because oh boy. The things Velvet gets up to when Crystal's not around! Of course, because Wishes is pretty far ahead, there will be some spoilers later on (actually, there will be one in about 3 Wishes chapters)... but we won't get the whole story there, so I'm not too concerned.
Deserves a kick right in the snoo... ker table?
Velvet Steps, venting your frustrations o furniture is no way for a lady to behave! Now, you apologize to that poor snooker table right now, or so help me, I will settle your hash!
(Gotta keep it clean for the kiddies)
6451849 That is exactly what she was going to say and yes, we should admonish her for such unladylike talk.
6451714 Make it a Weekend project then? lol but no worries I understand what your doing and dont mind waiting every other week for this story.
Like, Aziraphael, I thought something was off about Velvet during Crystal Wishes. These two quotes do seem to imply she has some soul searching to do. Could be why Lovey Dovey was confused when she looked at Velvet - her love lines must be a mess at the moment because she doesn't know what she wants. She's always said she doesn't believe in love (at least not like Crystal Wishes), but maybe that is what she needs to feel fulfilled? She also mentions no mare has made her feel wonderful enough for a sex-induced coma, so either she hasn't met the right mare... or she needs a stallion (er I forget, was Velvet bi like Sunny Day? If not, forget the stallion comment...).
Velvet's always talked about how she enjoys Ballet and doesn't want to think about things like foals yet, but maybe she is wrong? As much as she enjoys Ballet, maybe it really isn't her calling/destiny?
6451985
Maybe she needs like, a griffon? You know, someone that could eat her out, and then just eat her. You know she likes to live on the edge!
Personally, I don't think that's it at all, and would like to thank Crystal for opening up additional space in the harbor.
All aboard the S.S. Perennial Steps!
6451985 Some pretty interesting theories you got going on there!
I am excited to see the thought process you're going through! 
6452039 I am always happy to build new ships.
You know, Velvet reminds me of Cloud Kicker.
Both are sex obsessed (Well, one more than the other.) Both have a best friend who was mildly socially awkward until they got together with somebody.
I want them to meet!
Damn, Velvet.... you really need to get your act and thoughts together.
That sort of thinking ain't healthy. Hopefully you'll get yourself fixed before interventions are needed. Find yourself, my mare. Find yourself and all will be right. 
Just look at Crystal! She found herself, and her strong and brooding silent knight (yes that was meant to be lowercase). 
Maybe all you need is a little true love in your life! Or just give Perennial a long, deep french kiss to express you dislike of her. I here that works wonders for anger and loathing management. 
Should keep you looking on the bright side of another few weeks. 
Days? 
Alright, perhaps a few minutes, but still! One can hope! 
6452595
OH YES ... Velvet step and the Winning Verse Cloud Kicker ...
I'd throw money at it
Just for the pickup lines they could throw at each other
6451985
I think the big problem with Velvet right now is that she does know what she wants.
She just has no idea how to get there.
She wants to be able to find that same fulfillment in a physical relationship that Diddy was able to. She wants that same kind of unquestioned affection she gets from Red. She wants that same contentment she sees in her mother now that she has another foal. She wants to be more than a back up dancer in the ballet. She wants success, and happiness, and fulfillment, and all those other little things that she sees the ponies around her get so apparently easily, but she just... doesn't know how to.
She's standing at point A, and she can see point B, but there's no line connecting them. (It would amuse me to no end if that's what Lovey Dovey saw).
Back when they were in school together, Velvet had Crystal to help give her direction. But now that they're older and Crystal has Silent and her own career, Velvet is having to find that path on her own and it isn't going so well. That's part of the reason why I think Velvet and Perennial would be so good together.
Granted, it's still early in the story, so I might be wrong about my read on Velvet. Our perception of her in Wishes is skewed by Crystal, and there's still quite a bit that needs to be brought to light in this story, but so far that's how to seems to me.
6450891
I'm trying to get my mouth around what you just wrote. It just sounds odd, fun too.
Also just noticed you have 365 followers. One for every day of the year, except for leap years. Damn leap years.
6452924 Those are some paths Velvet could take... I suppose we'll just have to see which direction she goes!
6453138 Aahh I love theorycrafting / thought processes / etc.! So much to enjoy in one comment, my heart overflows!
6453723 Not weird at all.
The ending is intended to be a little heavy / melancholy.
6453785 Ahh, yes, those are all very valid points. I definitely won't say you're wrong. I've contemplated putting a 'Sad' tag on this story, but that sort of adds a "bias" and I don't think the whole story is sad... just, well, life isn't always easy.
I know you're doing a biweekly set of updates between this and Crystal Wishes, but I almost wish you'd just invest a month or so of updates just for this story so it gets moving :O
6454626 I'm sorry.
It was kind of a gamble. Either keep pushing this story off to focus on Wishes, or release it slowly so it eventually gets out there. I would LOVE to do two Wishes and one Velveteen Mask update a week, but I don't have enough of a buffer for either story (none on Wishes, a small one on this one) to maintain that for long, and I don't have enough time between work and life to write that many words a week. 
6454645
I think you could almost take a break from Crystal Wishes, truth be told. It seems to be at a natural hiatus point atm.
6455190 Unfortunately, a hiatus / break isn't on my horizon!
I am very close to having Wishes caught up to Secrets, at which point I will drop to one Wishes and one Velvet update per week.
Call me crazy but I swear that's a Winnie-the-Pooh quote! You know, the song that Pooh sings when he's climbing the tree to get honey from the beehive?
...
Anyone?
6664362 You are not crazy.
6664734 yay
Ohohoho. Velvet is such a troll.
& the following bite
Hnnnnnng. To. Much. Cute. Might. Keel. Over.
Oh god. It just sunk in. At some point Crystal is going to have a baby. I'm going to need some medically trained people of standby when I read that one.
6664362
Noooooooo! I thought it looked familiar, but I had no idea where from. And it was from Winnie the Pooh! Gah! How could I forget!
Edited it for ya!
7424584 Hahaha, that is where I got that from. It's darker than my normal watching fare but it makes me laugh.