Your Precious Love
Velour stares at me from across the diner's narrow table. I know it was a lot to take in, so I sit and wait for him to process everything while I gaze at him with fondness. He's grown so much since I saw him last, but of course he has—that was so many years ago.
Anypony around us would easily believe he was my son with our purple coats, but I can tell. It's not my coat, but Velvet's eyes that he takes after: that vibrant shade of purple with pink hues that make it all the more beautiful. And that mane with so many curls! Velvet had always worked hard to straighten her mane, but I really liked her curls. It's nice to see them displayed proud and unabashed on Velour.
Really, beyond his wings, he's all Velvet. The way his brow furrows to make cute little wrinkles, how svelte his long legs and lithe body are, and most of all, his laugh. It's her laugh, through and through.
"So," he finally says in a voice also much more like Velvet's than mine, "you really are my dad."
I shake my head. "I'm your father, but not your dad. That's how Velvet wanted it."
Velour's wings tuck in against his sides and his gaze falls to his coffee cup. "Wow."
"Yeah." I look him over and smile. He's big, taller than me for certain, but he's got a gentle demeanor about him I instantly adore. "How is she?"
His ears twitch as he glances up at me. "Uh, fine, I guess. She's different from the way you describe her, though."
My head tilts. "How so?"
"She's, uh, she's less..." His nose scrunches up and a shiver courses through him. "Sexual, ugh. I can't even imagine my mom being like that."
I can't help but laugh. "Really? Sorry, sorry. It's hard to talk about her without those parts."
"I think you could have left out some of it," he mutters, ears flat against his mane.
The laughter comes back twofold. "Okay! Sorry. But what's done is done."
There is a distinct look on his face that can be only described as 'gone'. His mind has wandered off in what is definitely an attempt to scrub itself clean from the images I accidentally placed there. It's like when a cat misses a jump and freezes, hoping that its mistake will just vanish if they try to ignore it hard enough.
"Okay," he finally says, resurfacing from his deep thoughts several moments later. "Okay. Well, then, uh. I guess. What now?"
I try to shrug noncommittally; I don't want to look too eager. "That's up to you, Velour. You can walk out of here and go back to life in Canterlot with your mom. It won't hurt my feelings any. I was never there for you, so I don't expect you to even think of me as a father." I can't help a shy, uncertain grin. "But, if you want to stay, I can introduce you to your half-siblings."
His ears stand so tall that it almost looks painful. "Half-siblings?"
"Yeah. Not long after I left Canterlot for good, I settled down here in Baltimare and met my now-wife. We have three foals of our own." I pause to mull over my next words very carefully. "My wife knows about you, and about Velvet. I didn't keep any secrets from her."
It's no surprise why that stuns Velour into silence. I mean, telling him about a whole family he has—kind of, sort of—that he's never known about is a lot to take in. I let him work through the revelations at his own pace, twiddling my hooves in my lap.
Velour, finally, swallows and gives a nervous shake of his head while his wings quiver at his sides. "Um, maybe, next time? If that's okay? I should probably start home. I don't want Mom to worry." His eyes dart between the table and mine. "This was... nice. Yeah, nice." His lips quirk into a brief smile. "I always kind of wondered what you were like."
I chuckle and tilt my head to one side. "What am I like?"
"Hmm." The smile returns, this time bringing mischief to his eyes. "I'll tell you when I visit again, uh—" He hesitates. Whatever he says, I'll agree to it, but he doesn't know that. "Next week? Same time, same place?" He shifts a little in his seat.
"That sounds great to me." I slide out of the booth and he follows suit. We fumble through an awkward hoofshake before he trots out into the streets of Baltimare. The door swings shut behind him, and I release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
Seadust, who owns both the diner and my heart, sidles up next to me and we watch him leave together. "He seems happier'n when he came in," she comments, a lilt of curiosity in her voice. "Good talk?"
I just love how her country accent hasn't faded in all the years I've known her. "Great talk." I turn my head to kiss her cheek. "Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't catch on to the way you kept hovering nearby."
Her lips purse and she shoots me a dirty look. "Oh, an' you were much better! Tellin' him all 'bout his mother like that. Shame on you." She raises a challenging brow. "This where you tell me that your li'l trip down memory lane made you miss her?"
A hum rumbles in my chest as I playfully mull over the question as long as I can before she huffs, and I laugh. "You know better than to ask questions you already know the answer to, saltshaker. But—" I lean in to place a quick peck of a kiss on her lips. "—no. I'm afraid you're stuck with me."
"Don't I know it." Her head turns to look at the door, the mirth still in her eyes but her lips falling to a somber line. "He'll be back, won't he? I'd like to meet him proper." There was a brief pause before she glanced back at me. "If that's all right with him."
I drape a wing across her back and use it to pull her to me. "I think so. He said there'll be a next time."
The smile returns in full force. "I'll bake him somethin' special, then. He like cherry pie? Apple? Maybe pecan? Oh, come on, sugarbowl. What does he like?"
"Honestly? I'm not sure." I press a kiss to her temple. "But I look forward to finding out together."
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Crystal Wishes · 3.3k words · 122 6 · 1.4k views
- Crystal Wishes · 2.4k words · 123 9 · 1.4k views
- Crystal Wishes · 6k words · 203 10 · 1.9k views
- Crystal Wishes · 6.1k words · 201 8 · 1.8k views
- Crystal Wishes · 4.2k words · 126 11 · 3k views
- Crystal Wishes · 34k words · 339 16 · 3k views
- Anzel · 13k words · 142 4 · 1.5k views
- Crystal Wishes · 8.9k words · 73 5 · 718 views
Stats
Page generated in 0.164 seconds
Total duration
895 users online
366,879 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I need to be able to like this again. I guess this comment is close enough.
)
....soooo
When's Velour's fic coming out?
(Just kidding
That was good closure. I'm glad Silver finally found someone and settled down, as well as made up with Velvet. This was a rough story for Silver but I'm glad it has a happy ending.
A Velour Fic would be awesome!
Brilliant job as always, CW :D
This was sweet, will we get to see an older (CMC age range) Red and his experiences in a future story? I recall making a name suggestion for a possible friend for him.
8343296
Kidding? Ha!
You know that Velour is totally gonna be High Marshall.
Yeah, well, this is my fanfanfic I'm talking about, so nuts to all of you!
Beautifully closed out, as always. Fantastic story.
Now I want Velour meeting his half-siblings and the sheer awkwardness that ensues. Still a great ending, glad Silver found someone and got over the rough part of his life. Now he's all the stronger for it.
Ehh, not really.
Velvet got what she wanted, but I can't help but think that nobody else did, at least as far as Velour is concerned. Silver did eventually meet someone and have a pack of kids, but that's honestly just writer fiat for the timeskip epilogue and in the story as set up before these last thousand words there no real support for it (unless I totally missed something in the Lovey scene).
Wow, Double update? Lucky me!
It's so cool to get a glimpse into the future of the Quill and Blade universe like this. I second the Velour Fic motion.
I...
Hrm...
This is a great story, Crystal. It drew me right in, it kept me riveted, and right from the beginning I knew I had to follow it all the way to the end. Like much of your work, it's got a draw to it that surpasses, well... pretty much any other Slice of Life style story.
Buuuuuuut... I'm not happy. The ending is happy, but it's far too bittersweet for my tastes. Though that may be because unlike Silver, I don't have years of separation between these last two chapters and the one preceding them.
And maybe I empathize with Silver far too personally.
And maybe, thanks to this, I've grown to dislike Velvet an undue amount.
So it's a mixed bag of powerful emotions. I would bow to you, but- Never mind, I'll just do that at BronyCon.
This was a good story. And it's important folks remember: everyone needs someone to love, even if not that kind of love.
I, frankly, am kind of the opposite of Velvet. I don't meet people easily. I certainly don't, ah, get physical easily. And yet, I can see how she might want a kid to care about.
Unfortunately, chronically single guys don't have her route to a solution.
So I have dogs. Astonishingly smart and astoundingly silly at the same time dogs. I guess it works?
8343296 8343337 8343340 8343426 8343644 8343883 8344005 8344028 8344297 8344388
Thanks y'all for reading!
I knew when I planned the outline for this story a couple years back that it would be a "polarizing" tale, for lack of a better word. And it's certainly brought out some strong emotions, which I consider a success, even if some of those emotions aren't positive. At the least, I wrote something engaging enough to hate!
There are a lot of challenges here. First and foremost is the narrative choice: Silver telling the story "in hindsight" to Velour. This isn't actually a story about Silver, not really, even though it's from his perspective and he's our narrator. If it were, there would have been more focus on how everything affected him, his struggle in the year apart, and his journey thereafter to meet Seadust. Neither is this, necessarily, a story about Velvet, because we only see what Silver saw and how she made him feel.
By and large, this is a story about mistakes and their consequences/results. Silver and Velvet both made mistakes. Now, Velvet is presented in this story as an antagonistic force. This is a really interesting choice for me because it could end with some people (and seems to have) actively disliking her. I wonder how different the reactions would be if I'd written it from Velvet's perspective. There's no real way to know, because we're all biased now, of course. Nonetheless, it reminds me of the six different photographers taking a picture of the same man, each told a different "story" about him; the same characters presented in a different story would likely result in very different feelings.
I do apologize for any unsatisfied feelings as a result of the ending, but for better or for worse it's how I've planned to write it for two years. By and large, I wanted to tell the tale of how Velour came to be, how things can turn out well and that there is life after everything falls apart. But I also wanted to take a character we already know and (before reading this) like and show her in a different light. I wanted to introduce a completely new character and see what I could do with him in much fewer words than Velvet's had, if I could write him well enough to be sympathetic over her despite our history with her. Turns out, I can, but of course at the risk of Velvet's prior likability!
I hope this doesn't result in anyone falling out of favor with my writing as a whole, but I'll understand if it does.
8344734
I don't think this has damaged my view on any of the characters. In fact, in my opinion it shows off two of the reasons I really enjoy your writing: flawed, relatable characters, and realistic endings. Who hasn't had their heart broken, relationship-wise or no, at some point? Who hasn't had a possibility put in front of them that they didn't like, and maybe lost their temper a bit? I liked the story because it felt real and relatable. The fact that these characters have flaws, that they make mistakes like this, even big ones, doesn't damage their likeability to me. It gives them new depth, and makes me like them even more.
Crystal,
I'm not typically even remotely interested in stories of this type. They're far too painful for me to read and enjoy.
Which is emotionally confusing. Because I do like this tale... but I also don't. It brings out the pain again.
I am sorry but I have no idea what to think about it.
8344734
Well, you haven't turned me off at all! This was a very enjoyable piece, and it certainly achieved your goal. I look forward to your next one :)
I'm gonna admit, this ended a lot better than I expected it to end. Then again, I just did read the last three chapters all at once so...
Also, I kinda wanna find out what happened to Parasol now. For playing such a major part, she was really left open-ended.
8344734
... I believe that every mistake we make is an opportunity to grow. Velvet and Silver both made their mistakes, and the situation played out. The fact that Velvet doesn't hold what happened against Silver nets her a lot of points in my book, as does the fact that Silver knows staying with Velvet is the wrong call. They learned their lessons and moved on.
That said, it's good to know everyone got out of this relatively happy. =) Velour seems like a good kid (not surprising given his very extended family) and Silver found love.
Hope to see Velour and/or how Silver met Seadust later.
QnB is an amazing AU and I sincerely hope it continues to/past this point.
(spoiler is for Trials)
Velour (Step?) and Coral Knight sittin' in a tree~
And they better just be holding hooves or I'm telling >=I
EDIT: Also I keep hearing Everybody (Backstreet's Back) in my head when Velour says "sexual"
This, this, this…well shit, for once in my life Im at a loss of words. I'll let you know if that's a good thing or no
8344734
Awwww... We're upset at your characters, not you!
8344734
Of course I'll always read anything you write! But this was kind of a rollercoaster ride for me.
First of all, I've disliked Velvet since she got her own story. I have very strong, personal feelings about relationships and sexuality and pretty much everything about her (except her amazing wit and hilarity) triggers me in a very strong way. The way she interacted with Silver in the beginning and helped him at such a low point was the most I've liked her since Crystal's Wishes. I had hope, until I remembered that we already have an idea of the future from Silent's perspective.
Oh well, it's still good writing.
Whats the age difference between Velour and Red by the way?
I would say that the last two chapters more then make up for the one where they argued and he left. But yes I do believe this was a good ending to the story.
Also will we get some more following Velour as he learns more about his father and his half-siblings? I'd certainly read that.
Velvet is toxic in this story. The moment she 'tested' him by trying to tempt him early on, he should have just turned around and walked out. Characters who do that are not worth being around or putting up with.
Finally! i finish this story. I have to say, I had to feel abit of anger at Velvet, but, inversely i cant cause she is a peculiar creature and that is her nature. I am happy it worked out for Silver in the end as well. I have to say this was a nice story, and answered alot of questions o.o Great work!
A nice story, sad as well. Life really pushed Silver around it looks like and it looks like he ended up happy regardless, but man that was kind of messed up. It feels like it ended less on a happy note, and more an awkward one, which I can understand; not all stories have to end without any mixed feelings.
I will say it all fit well for a story that can hold its own. I did not read any of the previous ones, because there are so many of them and this one had the description I was interested in reading. But the lack of back knowledge didn't seem to detract at all for me.
The parents were interesting, Velvet was...she was well done, but seemed to have a lot of issues. She wanted a child to love, and friends in her life, but no significant other, which is fine, but she really threw Silver into a very messed up situation, even bringing him home with the full hope of having sex with him and then never seeing him again. We all have flaws, but damn that is pretty cold to do to someone who obviously is looking for something stable, she should have just had a few one-night flings out of town instead of scarring him, but it made for a interesting story.
To be honest, I'm rather bitter over this story. Velvet Step, in Crystal's Wishes and Velveteen Mask was perhaps one of the OCs I liked the most in this fandom, at least in terms of being a character in a story. But now, if anything, I'm repulsed by her.
Her behaviour is, in so many ways, inexcusable. She knows full well who this stallion is, and has a complete measure of who he is--far better than he knows her, by the time she's inviting him to come and 'live with her'. Moreover, she doesn't do it out of some sort of goodness of her heart that turns to her wanting to have him stud for her, but rather that was her plan from the word 'go'. What's worse, though, is that her disingenuous attempts to absolve herself from her own actions. She starts by telling him "don't fall in love with me" as if it's something people can turn on and off, so if or when he does, it's his fault for doing so. Throughout the story, there's this underpinning "It's all about me" attitude from Velvet, which makes the whole thing rather distasteful. Perhaps Equestria differs from the real world, but in the real world there's any number of children out there with dead beat dads, who want nothing to do with their children. Yet, rather than seeking out such a pony to impregnate her (and given her tendency towards one night stands, that shouldn't be hard), she insists on forming a relationship with Silver (even though she knows he commits), presumably because she wanted someone "good" for the father. Similarly, as soon as they're doing the deed, she has him make his room into a nursery--again, all about her wants and needs, rather than trying to make sure there was distance between them.
But, for me, the worst part is the behaviour of everyone else in the story. Everyone, form Velvet's parents to Nightingale, do little more than enable Velvet's bad behaviour. The minute Silver shows up at the bakery, Pepper is telling him to hit the road--never mind the fact that he's apparently spent some months with these ponies and appears to have developed friendships with them, confides in them. All that goes out the door so Velvet can be happy without ever confronting the consequences of her actions or behaviour. I think, ultimately, that's what's so galling about this story in particular. Velvet never ever gets her comeuppance. Her mother doesn't break down and calls her out over her horrible behaviour, Silver never points out that he could probably sue for parental rights, etc. She gets her happy ending with no fuss or muss, and while Silver eventually gets his--we assume--it's only after he loses everything, not just once, but twice.
I know this is rather ranty, but I got rather worked up. Truthfully, I kind of wish I hadn't read this at all, given what it's done to my opinion of Velvet.
8435120
Thank you so much
Not exactly a fairytale ending, but I enjoyed how they were mature enough to talk things out after the heat had settled down, even if it didn't lead to some happily ever after. Would've missed a lot of that if I speedread or skimmed it, but you just have a way of hooking me, Crystal. :>
8435120
Hold on, let me back up two years ago to July 2015.
I reached out to my darling friend of friends, Nalukai "Painted Wave", about "roleplaying" a scene involving her character and Velvet because it was a critical scene for Velvet's development and I really wanted it to be perfect. I laid out my plan for Velveteen Mask and its sequel, Another Horizon. First, I approached her to gauge her interest on a psuedo-roleplay of the scene in question with:
And once she was on board, I explained the entire plot of Velveteen Mask and Another Horizon with the preface of:
Nalu responded exactly how I've felt for two years.
Fast forward to now. People have reacted to Another Horizon in a number of ways. Some people aren't happy with it. A few expressed clear disdain for how it ended. But I hadn't yet gotten the salt that I was hoping for... until now!!
Save for some literally backwards recollections of how things went down, your observations are correct on a wholly surface level.
All I can really say is: to each their own!!
I am absolutely thrilled with how the stories turned out. They are what I wanted. The characters are flawed and make mistakes. The characters are not perfect. The situations are not ideal. But things still work out in the end, for better and for worse.
media.giphy.com/media/U5qBDd3pT2nSg/giphy.gif
8435120
Truthfully, I wish you hadn't read this story at all, too, so I didn't have to read this comment. Yet here we are! ; ;
I'm just gonna say this to pretty much all the nay (neigh?) sayers in the comments:
Man, you can feel however, that's totally fine. You're entitled to hate characters' choices and hate arcs. Not every story is gonna be to everyone's taste, and not every character is going to be universally liked.... but Crystal loves how the story came out. This is Velvet, and if you dislike Velvet after learning more about her, well... then that's that. Lesson learned.
Just maybe smack that back-button and save yourself some time next time. CC and straight-up negativity are just really not the same thing, and I'm truthfully confused why people spend time ranting about things they dislike to someone who isn't about to change to suit you. Not everything needs a response. It's okay to just quietly dislike something and maybe avoid reading Velvet-centric stories in the future.
I had no idea this was a sequel until I came here to explain the themes I gave to Silver Script and Velvet Step. I gave Silver mostly country songs due to coming from a small town like Ponyville. His main theme is "Beer or Gasoline" by Chris Young as the story states that he is down on his luck and basically no bits to his name. When he gets furious or has an upperhoof in a conversation, I gave him "Aw Naw" by the same artist. That one, I admit was a bit of a whimsy of mine. When he was rejected by Parasel, his depressed song was "I Wanna Cry Tonight" by Keith Urban. It fits to the atmosphere perfectly considering it basically calls out for the stallion to drop in pride and cry his eyes out.
For Velvet, I gave her "Fleur Dis Lis" by Silva Hound. That again, is another whimsy of mine, as it is, I believe, club music? But when she mentioned that she goes "clubbing" it kind of clicked and that was her theme for the time being. I then got to Silver Script's perception change of her after her performance on stage. Her new theme was then "Miss Independent" by Ne-Yo as Silver views Velvet as basically what the song implies, she walks like a boss, talks like one, and just acts like one all around. Even when she is doing ballet, I stuck with that theme soon afterwards.
Then I got to the "new deal" Velvet proposes to Silver. You had to be throwing me a bone at how easy it was to find a song for it. I choose "Casual Sex" by My Darkest Days, you cannot deny that it fits the scene to a T.
I am sorry if I am pestering you with this, I wanted to show my graditude for writing such beautiful stories. Your characters deserve their own music especially with all the drama they get into. I am not speaking just for you, but your husband as well. "Memoirs of a Royal Guard" was my introduction into Quills and Blades universe. I am ashamed that I forgot what soundtrack I gave to that particular story as Silent Knight had been my favorite character of Anzu's to date. My favorite in your stories has to be Lovey Dovey so far. I regret to admit that I never read "Crystal Wishes" as I want to read everything else before I start at the very beginning as your husband had told me when I asked him where I should start. He is very kind and considerate of his fans as are you. I am glad to have started reading both of your stories. It will be a shame whenever you two decide to retire from writing, that is, if you ever do. 😌😌😌😌😌
8435120
After reading this story I’m going to have to agree with you.
Now I did like the story a lot. It was a real page turner. (If my iPad had pages that is.) But Velvet was very self serving with Script.
She finds a stallion who has his whole world ripped from under him; gives him a new one, with new friends and acquaintances; and then gives him an ultimatum, “I want you to give me a child but when you do I’ll rip this life out from under you as well.”
Because it was much more than just a relationship with Velvet and her child, it was an entire new life she introduced him to that she was then taking away. Really, Script was a fool to take the deal, though at the time he wasn’t thinking straight, having had his libido stoked, about the real consequences that would happen.
Morally, if she didn’t want the father in her life she shouldn’t have been introducing the father into her life in the first place. You don’t get off scott free for doing something terrible to someone to further your own agenda just because the person allows you to do it to them.
I would think that Velvet might catch on that you don’t share a life, a house, a BED, with someone if you know you’re just going to kick them to the curb as soon as you get a positive result, no matter wether he loves her or not. Amoral is amoral no matter how many people agree to it.
Despite all that I really did enjoy the story. It is possible to enjoy a story and yet hate the motives of the characters in the story. I’m looking forward to the next chapter of the “Quill and Blade” universe.
Ah well, this'll be the side story I skip of Quill and Blade. After having just read "Velveteen Mask", and seeing Velvet come to terms with her own lifestyle, I was interested to read how someone managed to sway her.
The comments proved to be insightful, I'd rather not read another heartbreak romance. Spoilers or no, it saved me a bitter read.
Thank you. I'll stick with the other romances in the series.