Below the Surface
Petit assemblé. Bow to the left, sweeping forelegs. Two steps back. Bow to the right, sweeping forelegs. Brisé derrière, and spin.
Velvet and the others had practiced the routine at least twenty times, and there would likely be a hundred more rehearsals of it before they would even be close to ready.
"Velvet Step!" Firebird called, stomping a hoof. "Mind your expression! You're looking bored out there!"
"Sorry, sir!" Velvet put on her best smile. This was supposed to be a jovial scene and she was up in her head again. They had to look happy enough that the entire audience could see it.
Of course, the makeup they would wear would accentuate their faces, but they still had to smile. Smile big. Smile wide. Smile sincere. The audience had to believe in what they saw as though it were actually happening.
That was the hardest part about ballet. It wasn't the endless practice or the grueling movements, but looking like she felt neither in her bones. She didn't merely dance; she was an actor. Despite all the rehearsing, the ballet couldn't look rehearsed. It had to look alive. It had to look like it was actually happening. Otherwise, it was just dancing and not the performance of a story, a journey, an experience.
Finally, just when her hindlegs were about to give out, Raine clapped her hooves. "Very good, fillies and colts. That'll do for today. Go shower up and we'll see you tomorrow."
Velvet dropped down onto all fours, groaning at the aches in her muscles. One day down, so many more to go. But it was all worth it for the big payoff at next month's performance. The applause, the cheers, the feeling of a job well done. All of it was worth the pain of rehearsal.
"Hey, Velvet," Ephemeral said as he approached. "Glad to see you're okay."
Velvet's ears flicked back and she tried not to flinch away from him or look as guilty as she felt. "Yeah!" She rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about, uh, well, getting totally smashed. I really am."
Ephemeral shook his head. "It happens to the best of us. Maybe next time don't drink so much and actually hang around. You might really enjoy Rocket League."
"Maybe." Velvet started toward the mares' locker room, humming in thought. "I'd like to give it a shot. Who knows, I might get a kick out of it." She flashed a grin up at him and wiggled her ears.
Ephemeral laughed and put a hoof on her forehead to push her away in a playful gesture. "Oh, ha, ha. Yes, you're very punny. But, seriously. If you actually are interested, we're always looking for more members." He cleared his throat and added, "You could invite your coltfriend, too, if you want."
Velvet furrowed her brow. "My what?"
"You know." His lips quirked into a brief grin. "The royal gerd."
"The—" She interrupted herself with a low groan, raising a hoof to her forehead. "Right. No, uh. He's not my coltfriend. It's not like that."
"Really? But he—nope." He shook his head and pulled away. "Sorry, not trying to pry. Your business is your business. Anyway, if I see you at Synth, great. Either way, I'll see you back here tomorrow."
With a light bob of her head and an idle wave, they parted ways to go to their respective locker rooms. Her coltfriend, huh? Is that what it looked like? Her nose scrunched up and she ruminated on that while she started to shower off.
They never went on dates, not like she and Dawn did. She also saw other ponies from time to time, and if he had the time to, she'd expect him to do the same. But even still, there was some comfort in having her two steady partners when she needed them: Dawn during the day and Tumble at night.
A smile lit up her face. Relationships weren't all bad if this was what they were like. Knowing that she didn't have to go out and hope she found somepony, but that, instead, there were two ponies waiting around for her… it was kind of nice. Maybe she was the kind of mare that could settle down after all—in a matter of speaking, anyway.
---
With a merry tune to hum, Velvet made her way up the stairs and down the hall. Silent had recovered from the plague, and while she technically had already moved back into her room, spending the nights at Tumble's had been occupying her time. After all, now that his roommate knew what was going on, it was much easier to see each other.
And oh, were they seeing a lot of each other!
Velvet grinned while that thought occupied her headspace and she undid the lock to her condo. Hoping to make a grand entrance, she threw the door open, only to be greeted by a flurry of papers going in every direction.
In the middle of the paper storm was Crystal, her forelegs flailing in a failed endeavor to save her work from flying away. Velvet just watched, grinning, waiting for Crystal to remember the magic of… well, being a unicorn.
It must have finally dawned on her, because soon all the papers were enveloped in a pink shimmer. Crystal looked up at Velvet with narrowed eyes. "You could knock first!"
Velvet's grin widened. "I live here!"
"Is that so!" Crystal sat upright and floated the pages closer to examine and sort them into two separate stacks. "Well, lately, you certainly could have fooled me."
Crabapples. She had been spending a little too much time with Dawn and Tumble, hadn't she? The hairs of her coat stood on end with nerves as she snapped out the first excuse that came to mind. "Hey! You're the one who convinced me to join this company. They're a lot more serious than the Canterlot Ballet. But, you know, work hard, play hard, right?"
Play hard—well, that was one way to put it. Something certainly had been hard. Velvet snorted to keep from laughing and continued, "I've been doing both, so, yeah, I've been gone, but I'm still gonna let myself in like I live here."
Crystal sighed. She bought it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I am happy to see you. I'm just so distracted right now." Her gaze lifted to meet Velvet's, a shy smile spreading across her lips. "We've set a date."
A date? A date for—"What?!" A jolt of surprise shot through her. Wedding! "Seriously? When?"
"Two weeks before Hearth's Warming."
Hearth's Warming? Velvet gasped after doing the math. That was so close!
Crystal giggled and pawed a hoof at the air. "I know!"
It was exciting—but also terrifying. In just a few months, Crystal was going to get married and move on with her life. But that didn't mean she'd move on from Velvet, right? Of course not! No, it wasn't terrifying. It was just exciting.
"Crystal, that's just four months away!" Velvet hopped from one hoof to the other, resolving herself to excitement and not terror. "Oh my gosh, you're getting married in four months!" A thought bubbled up and her hopping slowed, then came to a complete stop. "Why so soon?"
Her cheeks turning a light shade of red, Crystal twiddled her hooves. "So we can go on our honeymoon for Hearth's Warming and start the new year together as husband and wife. Like a new chapter in our story. Or the ending of this one and the start of the sequel, I don't know, but it's—"
"Sickeningly cute and totally appropriate for you? Jeeze." Velvet laughed. Leave it to Crystal to take something that was already romantic and make it even more so. "Okay, so what can I help with?"
Crystal breathed in and exhaled as if preparing herself for a speech. And, as she started talking, that seemed to be exactly what she was doing.
"We had fun when you got me spun up about it a few months ago, but it's time to be serious. I need to schedule time with your parents to talk about the cake. I am going to go by the palace this afternoon to meet with Raven and then Willow. Luna wants to throw a wedding shower, but thankfully all I have to do is nod and smile, because Luna and Willow are working on the arrangements."
Okay. Cake—her parents. Wedding shower—Luna and Willow. What else was there to do to prepare for weddings? The dress, decorations, food? Music? None of those were really something Velvet could do.
"That all sounds great," Velvet said, trying to not sound petulant, "but what can I do?"
Crystal idly looked over a page from one of the stacks. "Well, for starters, I don't know if we formally discussed the matter of my bridesmares."
Oh, right. Right! There was a very important role for Velvet to fill. "Uh-huh. What about it?"
"You are, without a doubt, my mare of honor, of course," Crystal said, giggling and wiggling her ears.
Velvet kept up a playful air by snubbing her nose, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't relieved to hear it. She couldn't imagine Crystal picking somepony else, but it was still nice to hear. "Of course."
"I don't know how many groomstallions Silent plans to have. I presume Winterspear will be his best mare. It's safe to assume Runic will be one of his groomstallions. Perhaps Iridescence, as well? I'm not sure, but he'll have two for certain." Crystal hummed in thought, idly tapping one hoof against the floor. "Obviously, I would ask Horsey to be my first bridesmare."
Velvet nodded and started to pace in a circle. "Obviously. You were in Raven's wedding, too, though. Isn't it, like, customary to return the favor or whatever?"
Crystal's nose scrunched up and she nodded. "Raven could be my counterpart for Iridescence. If he asked for a fourth pony, then Painted would be my next choice." She tried to smother a frown by covering it with one hoof. "Is it sad that I can't imagine who else he would ask?"
Velvet shrugged as she sat down by the stacks of papers. One seemed to be for story notes and the other wedding ideas. She picked up the top page from the latter stack and glanced it over.
"Not really," she mumbled while reading. "He's not exactly Mr. Sociable."
Music: Classical? Live band? String quartet? Something classy and simple.
Velvet's ears wiggled. "Hmm, a string quartet? Your parents would probably know somepony for that?"
"Ugh." Crystal groaned as she buried her face in her hooves. "I can't even think about them right now. Especially not my mother."
"What happened this time?" Velvet tossed the page over her shoulder and picked up the next one on the stack.
Commission Axel a second time for another carriage? Perhaps include both the heart from my cutie mark and the moon from Silent's. "Just Married" across the back? White? Silver? Full carriage or half carriage?
"You did a marriage carriage for Horsey's wedding. You can't do one for your own, too."
There was a pause before Crystal said, "My mother gave me my grandparents' address."
Velvet glanced up at her. Crystal's grandparents? She'd never met them, but she knew of them. Jet Set's father, Jet Ship, was some big rich pony whose company made luxury airships. "Yeah, it would probably be good to get them involved. Your granddad is pretty wealthy, right?"
"Not my father's parents," Crystal said, her gaze fixed firmly elsewhere.
What? But what other grandparents did she have? It was just Jet Ship and Dia-whatever, wasn't it? Velvet had never met any other grandparents in their years as frie—"Wait, what?!" She sat up straight. "I didn't know your mother had parents!"
Crystal burst into laughter. "Of course she did—er, does! Where do you think she came from?"
"I dunno!" Velvet gawked at her as she tried to imagine Upper Crust as a filly. With parents. Who put her in little fillies' dresses. And maybe even put bows in her mane. Nope, that mental image was wrong, wrong, wrong. "I just kind of assumed there was a garden party in Canterlot and—poof!" She threw her hooves in the air. "She was there." Eyes wide with interest, she leaned in toward Crystal. "So, like, who are they? What are they like?"
"I have no idea," Crystal said, her laughter calming down, and she shook her head. "All I have is their address and that they live in Chicagoat. And that neither of my parents are fond of them."
Wow. A whole side of Crystal's family neither of them knew anything about! She grinned at the countless possibilities of what they might be like. "So… isn't that all the more reason to meet them? The enemy of your enemy and all that?" She glanced down at the wedding notes she still held.
Bouquet—roses! White roses? Red roses? Pink roses? Blue roses! White and blue roses?
"Really?" Velvet asked, reading the line over again. "A bouquet of just roses?"
Crystal huffed. "I like roses!" After scrunching up her nose, she sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. If my parents don't like them, that can't bode well, can it?"
All Velvet could do was shrug, move on to the next paper in the pile, and judge Crystal to make her squirm.
She breathed in his scent—a scent that was uniquely his, yet impossible to describe. No perfume or cologne could capture the way he smelled. She wanted to live in it, to drown in it. Even just a hint of it as he passed by would light a fire within that melted her from the inside out. With him lying beside her, so close, practically on top of her, she was intoxicated by pleasure and desire.
"Oh, my," Velvet purred, glancing between the writing and Crystal. Sweet, innocent Crystal wasn't so sweet and innocent when Lucent Dreams took over her writing.
Crystal blinked and leaned closer to take a peek. "What?"
"This is in the wrong pile, unless you intend to turn this wedding into a show."
Pink magic ripped the paper out of Velvet's grasp and crumpled it into a ball. The panic-stricken look on Crystal's face paired with the bright red blush that went all the way to her ears spurred Velvet into uncontrollable laughter.
"Wrong pile!" Crystal practically shrieked, collecting all the papers up in her magic and jumping to her hooves. "I can take care of looking through these, thank you very much!"
Before they could be levitated out of reach, Velvet snatched a hooffull of the papers from both stacks and bounded away. "Aw, come on, it's been a while since you went into a writing frenzy!" She grinned at the glare she received and glanced over one of the pages.
His forelegs were wrapped around her in a tight embrace, as though he could and would protect her from all harm. He was her impenetrable armor from the world, and yet he held her gently, lovingly. She felt like a treasure in his eyes, in his embrace, and she felt safe.
She shifted her gaze to what was visible of another page.
… his breath was hot on her ear, a flower of pleasure blooming in her chest from the sensation…
"Seriously," Velvet said, looking back up at Crystal, "these are all really lovey-dovey and steamy. What did I miss?"
Crystal just glowered at her for a few more moments, then a shy smile overtook her embarrassed irritation. "We talked. About the things we weren't talking about. He's going to try to keep regular hours when he can help it, and I'm going to stop going to social events."
"What?!" The surprise loosened her grip on the pages, which fell to the floor. "Seriously?! Oh, thank Celestia for that! How was that decided?"
There was a pause before Crystal mumbled, "I wasn't aware that he wasn't aware why I was doing it, and when he asked why, I realized I was making assumptions." Her ears flicked back. "All right?"
Seriously? That was all it took? Just one dumb conversation? Velvet laughed, shaking her head, and waved a hoof at her. "You are hopeless!"
The papers she had dropped were snatched up in Crystal's magic as she huffed, turned, and carried all of them into her bedroom. "I am not hopeless! At least, not anymore. So there! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to plan."
Velvet grinned and waited until the door had slammed shut behind Crystal before laughing again. Good for her, though. Silent had definitely done something right, because it had been a while since Cosmare magazines had been graced by the words of Lucent Dreams. Now Velvet just had to keep an eye out for the next issue… and torment Crystal with its contents forever.
A wedding date, though. That changed things. Crystal wasn't just engaged anymore—she was getting married in four months.
Velvet flopped onto one of the sitting pillows and stretched out, yawning. Marriage, huh? She couldn't imagine getting married. That level of commitment… Yeah, she liked having her steady partners, but they weren't forever. Dawn would find a special somepony and Tumble would chase his career.
Maybe she'd go back to one-night stands, maybe not. Either way, casual relationships seemed to be working out just fine for her, Dawn, and Tumble. And that was all that mattered.
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Yes, good, indulge yourself, Velvet. It's going to be a true bucolic tale!
:snickers: Come now, that would be far too easy. Go on, Crystal, don't be shy – give her the pointy end.
Also...
I dare you, Crystal – write us an entire story like that! :puts on an impish grin:
Great chapter, it's nice to see Velvet has found a level of commitment she's comfortable with.
Huzzah! Another chapter that brought a smile to my face.
Well well Velvet are you finally seeing the light?
I see. This makes sense. Velvet is the one who does math whenever Crystal needs it done.
Where's the bachelorette party? It seems like Velvet would have the hook up on your stereotypical spread of party supplies.
HookersDancers andBlowAlcohol/Pastries.Picture your entire computer screen dissolving into thousands, no millions of laughing pony faces. That was all I could see when I read this part. We have a mirror emergency, stat!
I couldn't breath for like five minutes I was laughing so hard. I swear I almost died. Awesome, just awesome.
Ermagersh! Sher hers er Rererl Gerd fer er berfrernd!
(I'm sure someone else already posted something to this extent last chapter, but I'm going to pretend they didn't so I can keep my creative integrity.)
Also, Velvet, you need to be careful. Spend too much time with Thunder Tumble and ponies will think you're... I don't know... involved or something crazy and totally inaccurate like that. [/subtle sarcasm]
7207198
I would very much like to read that story.
This was a very Velvet story. Personally I'm holding out for more of Red and Velvet's mom.
I finally found a song for Velvet : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y5286FR-tI
It's funny how she moved to one night stand to regular partner thou :)
7207225
I dunno'... This seems more like Velvet thinking that Ephemeral is reenforcing her assumptions about relationships, when Ephemeral has no idea that's what he's done, and Velvet has no idea what falsehoods she's blind to. Comparing Velvet's thoughts, what I suspect Ephemeral's are, and what reality is, seems like comparing apples to bananas to whale sharks; weird and horribly confusing. (at best)
Hehehe well then. Velvet has plenty of -coughs- Ahem, Material to tease Crystal with. Always funny the results of sudden entries into peoples rooms lol. This was a fun chapter.
7207198 I second this!
Velvet in a steady relationship?!
Sorry, but Anzel left a Chekhov's gun. 
7208803
7207198
Do you really want Crystal to write a romance so sappy that screens are going to drown in steaming sugary rose gele?
Yes, rose gele is a thing.
7209451
Why not? I have every bit of conviction in Crystal creating that kind of a story, while simultaneously making it engaging, exciting, fun and, most importantly, readable!
7207198 Pffbbbttt! I've already said that if our Patreon reaches $5,000, I'll write a dirty fic. That's the price of my dignity.
7207200 Things seem pretty content for her right now!
7207219 I see what you did there!
7207225 Who knows! She sees something she's happy with, at least!
7207237
Hahaha. I didn't intentionally do that, but so let it be Posted, so let it be done.
I don't know what's so funny! Blind hypocrisy and irony are serious business, bro.
7207250 Please don't die! But I am glad to entertain.
7207322 What! Nooo. Involved? You're crazy! It's totally just casual!
7207326 Well, Velvet is the main character! So she is kind of the main focus. But we have not seen the last of Sunbeam or Red!
7207433 Hahaha, that is, um, that is a song! Whoa! And, yes. It only took 100,000 words!
7208085
7208802 Crystal makes it so easy to tease her when she gets her piles of papers mixed up like that!
7209451 I have no idea what you're talking about!
7209479 I appreciate your faith in me... Gulhy.
I imagine you would write a thoroughly enjoyable, uh, "grown up story", Crystal. One with actual feeling behind it'n'shiz.
7209709
I can read your thoughts through my screen... WooOOooooOOOoOoOooooo...
(Oy! Stop thinking about parfaits! You'll think you're getting fat!)
7209709
$5,000 is enough for your dignity? To quote Velvet: "You two-bit dam." Where's my checkbook when I need it?
:sees the bottom of the comment and stops the search abruptly:
I have warned you in Lovey Dovey... :he raises his voice: Anzel! Your wife is misbehaving!
7209889 -Sits back with more popcorn and watches everything unfold-
7209709 I know right? ;)
Wedding planning can do a real number on stress levels. What with all the questioning suggestions that Crystal had on those papers. Oh yeah thanks for the mention.
I think Velvet should bring Thunder and Dawn together for a three way.
I think it could work out. Both Dawn and Thunder are pretty amicable and both deal well with Velvet. Just a thought but would love to see it. 
I'm so worried for Velvet, the way things are going some is bound to get hurt and she's gonna either regret it and hurt from a lot of guilt, or regret it and be left behind. In any case, it doesn't seem like this section of Velvet's life will end well.
I hope she figures out something soon before this all blows up in her face.
Heh. I see what you did there.
The problem with this plan is that ponies change, and assuming Dawn and Tumble really are comfortable with the current arrangement now (and I really doubt Dawn is at the very least), they may not be forever.
But then again, if ponies change, Velvet is a pony too.
If I didn't know what was coming I would have guessed a spawning pool of some sort.
Oh my indeed!
Exactly the problem, but at least it's one for the future.
7209815 Pffbbt! Yes, and the feelings behind it would be my shame and embarrassment!
7210195 Absolutely! It seemed like a great place to insert a little Axel love. And... yes! It's the stress! Definitely the stress that provoked her to write those things.
7211352 A VelvetDawnTumble threeway? Hmm... mrrow! Dawn would have to be in the middle, of course. Velvet on one side, Tumble on the other...
7211878 There are definitely some red flags...
7213768
7221732 That is exactly the problem. It's definitely no secret that Dawn doesn't seem to be on the same page as Velvet.
Hahahaha, a spawning pool? ... Yup, I can see it.
Mhhh, yeah, a tumble in the hay at dawn sounds like fun
PS: Hahaha, you like 6s and 7s, huh?
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