Violet Lace

by DemonAngel13

Cracked hooves and jelly Doughnuts

"That's it... now place your hoof over there- Don't let go of me! Oh! Don't-"

"Ouch!" Cloudy tripped on her own tail and fell on her rump.

"Ugh!" She groaned. "I'm never going to get this down!" She blew a lock of sun-streaked hair off of her muzzle.

Violet watched as her friend mumbled to herself (something she found herself doing a lot the past few days.) Cloudy, letting her frustration build to absurd amounts, found the habit of pacing. Small grumbles floated out of her lips like growls. Her hair was messy and Violet could see the temporary imprints of frown lines on the filly's face.

"You just need to keep trying." Violet said, trying to console her. "You've really improved over the past few days."

"You're just saying that." Cloudy scowled. "I just...Ugh!" She paced faster. Violet strained her ears to hear her mumbling the steps of the dance.

The now familiar feeling of worry prickled her tail. They were only two days away from the ball, and with every day Cloudy had continued to get more and more agitated. Her mane and tail had grown progressively frayed as well as unkempt. When she hugged her friend- the few times Cloudy let her these days- she no longer smelled the familiar scent of products and body spray.

Violet felt as though she needed to scream. Cloudy looked as though she was going to scream. This was all because Shimmering didn't keep her mouth shut. One sentence, that all that was needed to send the ropes to frays.

Violet could remember the entire day, and she dreadfully wishes she could take it back.

She and Cloudy had just walked into a book shop. The smell of ink and knowledge filled the air (not to mention the strong scent of sandal wood, thanks to the salespony's perfume.) Clean white bookshelves created the shops perimeter, and bright white light radiated from the crystal chandelier in the center of the room.

"Strange." Cloudy said. "I figured you would go to some place more... classical." Old. Cloudy meant to say the word 'old'. Violet couldn't be mad, or even offended- if anything she was flattered to have such a reputation.

"Thanks." She said, wincing at the harsh lighting. "You're right. But it's slim pickings here in Canterlot. If we could hop a train and travel all the way to Manehatten simply for the sake of literature, I would take you in a heartbeat."

They went on about their business. Spending the first couple of minutes together, looking at books and skimming over summaries side by side, eventually they went separate ways in order to actually get anything done. Cloudy stayed in the science-fiction section, gazing at a book adorned by a single robotic, silver beetle. Violet, after finding a rather large amount of material in the fictional-romance section, wandered over to the educational materials.

"Hello there, little lady!" A clerk greeted her happily. "Anything I can help you with?"

Violet looked at him. His smile was bright and his eyes were kind. Certainly not the look of a conpony determined on tricking a filly out of a few bits. His mane was purple and pulled back into a small tail, and his pale green coat was adorned only with a simple yellow colored vest. His cutie mark was an assortment of beads and a purple mask.

"No." She said with a smile. "Not yet anyway."

The clerk nodded and went about his business. Violet watched as he calmly pulled books from the shelves and placed them in a big box by his side.

"What are you doing?" Violet asked.

The clerk looked up. "Pulling old books from the shelves. Nopony seems to want any of these old spell books anymore- some of them have been deemed unusable. Can't sell products ponies don't wanna buy."

"A book? 'unusable'?" Violet looked at him in disbelief. "And a spell book at that. With all due respect, sir, I don't know if I believe you."

The sales pony shrugged. "Have a look for yourself. Heck! You can take them if you want. The only thing they were going to do in this box was take up space in the storage room."

Violet peered down. The box was filled with worn titles. Some looking as though they were once good reads, but ponies simply lost interest, others looking barely touched and instead worn by age. The covers ranged from dreadfully mundane to slightly terrifying.

The Magic Of Dusting: House cleaning Spells and You! was the first book she picked up. It didn't seem that bad, certainly useful if a little boring. She placed it in her bag. She then gathered other titles such as 'Flutter Wonders: a unicorn's guide to animal communication' and 'From Here to There and Everywhere: the best book on all forms of teleportation'

"All of these seem perfectly useful!" Violet exclaimed. "What's wrong with these ponies." Violet quickly skimmed through the pages to find them littered with spells. "Are you sure I-"

She looked up to find nopony there. The sales pony had mysteriously vanished into thin air.

"Hey!" Violet jumped.

"There you are." Cloudy said from behind her. "I was worried you had you nose in a book and left reality without me."

"Oh...Ummm." Violet shot another glace behind her, making sure that the pony hadn't just moved to another section of the store. "Just about."

Cloudy laughed. "Well, I found a couple..." She nodded to few books stacked on her back. "I prefer reading your stuff, to be honest."

Violet placed the other books she had found in the box and levitated it above her head. "Well Cloudy, my amazing, sun beam colored friend, you need to branch out a little more." But Cloudy wasn't listening. She was to busy gawking at the box that was floating above

"Oh my Celestia... Violet, did you even bring enough bits to buy all of that?"

Violet lowered the box to eye level. Cloudy reached inside to grab a book. "The sales pony said I could have them... they weren't selling. They seemed useful, and I figured I could at least entertain myself for an afternoon."

"Magical Etiquette." Cloudy read. "Proper spoon levitation, napkin apparition, and more!... I wonder why these weren't flying off the shelves..."

"Ha Ha." Violet rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I should learn a little bit more magic anyway. The exams are coming up after all."

"Exams?" Cloudy looked at Violet curiously.

"Yeah, you know... the exams..." Violet placed her books on the counter. The sales pony had returned, much to Violet's relief.

"I don't know what those are." Cloudy said. She too placed her books on the counter.

"Why the exams are what Canterlot is famous for!" The sales pony explained. "They don't have anything like it anywhere in Equestria."

"That would explain why I don't know about them." Cloudy said, unphased by the pony's sudden interjection. "But that still doesn't explain what they are."

"The exams are a way of passing our class." Violet said. The sales pony eagerly nodded in agreement. "As soon as this year is over, everypony in our grade has to take a special test. The test results will decide whether or not ponies end up in the one of the three schools provided by Canterlot's academic system."

"What are these three schools?" Cloudy asked, now looking a little frightened.

"Canterlot's school for gifted unicorns- that branch mainly focuses on magic and spells-"

"The school of the Arts. That one focuses on academic classes as well as artistic courses." The sales pony interrupted.

"And the school of athleticism and professional sports." Violet finished. "After all, we need to have a team for the Equestria games and all." The small dash of humor went unnoticed as Cloudy's faced started to crinkle with worry.

"Don't worry!" Violet said hastily. "I'm sure they'll make an exception with you. You did arrive late and all." The sales pony nodded again.

"Yeah, don't worry kid!" He said. "And even if you do have to take the exams, with a cute little face like that, you should be perfectly fine."

Cloudy's face started to relax. Violet saw her muscles become less rigid and her mane flatten. She breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Your're right." Cloudy said. "They wouldn't make me take the exams, I don't have a Canterlot education." She rubbed her nose on her hoof. Violet tried not to grimace. Right now was not the time to recite The ten rules of Canterlot behaviour, a not-so-tiny list of rules that her mother had attempted to write when she was a foal. Right now, she should try to comfort her best friend and prevent her from having an anxiety attack in the middle of the only book store in Canterlot.

"Thank you, Violet." Cloudy said. Violet offered her a smile and a hoof around her shoulders. "And thank you mister..."

"Marty." The sales pony answered. "Marty Graw."

"Thank you Mr. Graw. You don't even know us and yet you're offering us such a kind hoof." Violet said, a genuine smile on her face. "You're not from Canterlot, are you?"

Mr. Graw shook his head. "Came from the swamps, myself. Traveled all the way over here for a special mission." He winked. "The old owners of the store were closing up shop, figured I would enjoy a change of scenery. And please, call me Marty."

Violet offered him a simple nod while Cloudy offered him an enthusiastic wave goodbye.

"They really aren't that bad...right?" Cloudy asked as they were heading to Doughnut Joe's.

"No, no." Violet answered, trying to ease the last bit of tension out of her friend's shoulders. "They're just a pain."

They continued to walk. Occasionally they would spring into a conversation about the books they had just gotten, but they mainly would walk in a comfortable silence that Violet could always appreciate.

"Hey Violet!" Doughnut Joe said joyfully as they walked into his bakery. "Glad to see my favorite costumer has returned to sit on her throne."

"Hey, Joe." Violet said, placing a few bits on the counter for her usual. "Hope you kept the seat warm for me while I was gone." The two fillies grabbed their pastries and sat down on their favorite spot; a worn futon placed by a window. Violet used to sit here alone, enjoying the scenery of the Canterlot ponies walking past, their noses in the air and their ridiculous personalities on full display. Now that Cloudy was with her, it made the moments even more enjoyable.

"Oh, yes. I would love some more sugar in my tea." Cloudy said, covering part of her mouth with her hoof. "But not too much! I would hate for all of those calories to go to my head- it's big enough already!"

Violet snorted. Taking a bite from her blackberry-jelly doughnut, she gazed at the couple sitting right outside their window. "Oh, don't worry dear." She said in a high pitched voice. "In Canterlot, it's all the rage!" She and Cloudy fell into a fit of giggles.

Cloudy coughed. "Well, in that case- Miss! Oh, yes, Miss! I'll take a separate cup of sugar please- yes, a full cup of sugar! Thank you!"

Violet had to hold her mouth shut with her hooves as the Mareista appeared, and the stallion ordered something absolutely preposterous. Cloudy's words fit the scene perfectly.

"And me as well, darling!" She continued as the mare. "Ah, yes... but you don't suppose I could get the sugar free sugar, dear?" The two fillies burst into laughter at the lame joke. Cloudy's lemon bar was smeared around the corners of her mouth, and a couple of drops of blackberry jelly fell onto Violets chest as she laughed.

"Well if it isn't the fluorescent freak and her rock colored friend." A voice called from behind them.

Violet's head turned to see Shimmering Ruby in all of her gaudy and tacky glory. She was adorned with her usual attire, as well as bright pink sundress. Violet felt her lips curl up for a split second; Shimmering was many things, but fashionably gifted was not one of them. In short, she looked horrible in that dress. Like a black widow wearing a pink bonnet.

"Fluorescent?" Cloudy whispered to Violet. She quickly responded with "beautifully bright", leaving Cloudy with a small smile.

"Hmph!" Shimmering said, not liking the outcome of her words. After the incident that happened earlier that year, Shimmering quickly realized that Cloudy wasn't going anywhere. She then found other ways to get under her skin, most of which included bringing up Cloudy's unique appearance. "Whatever. I heard both of you managed to get invitations to Fancy Pant's grand ball?"

"What's it to you?" Violet responded, quirking her eyebrow. Shimmering shrunk back, still uncomfortable with Violet's responses. Normally she would be answered with silence, not a sharp tongue.

She cleared her throat and fixed a stray hair in her bright red mane. "I'm just making sure to keep my schedule open. I would hate to miss out on the night's entertainment."

"What do you mean?" Cloudy asked before Violet could stop her.

"Why the Canterlot waltz, of course." Shimmering said. A horrid look quickly flitted across her face, only to be replaced with a face look of worry. "It's tradition. If a pony can't preform the Canterlot waltz, well, they're not really a Canterlot pony, are they?"

"My father met Fancy Pants one day while walking back from Canterlot Castle." Cloudy said, her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sure things were explained... I've never heard of the Canterlot waltz, so I doubt I have to learn it."

Shimmering shot her nose in the air. "Suit yourself. Don't dance, but you will permanently be known as a non- Canterlot pony from then on." She turned away, grabbing a bag of all organic-gluten free cookies. "I suppose that doesn't really mean much to you."

"What...?" Cloudy whispered.

Shimmering reached the door. "Such a shame. And it seemed as though you were just starting to fit in..." She started walking out. "I mean, if you don't fit in know, I don't even want to think about what your poor, cutie markless life is going to be like when the exams are over." The door slammed shut. The chime of the tiny bell echoed in Violet's ears. Cloudy was silent for the rest of the day.

Then the madness began. From that day on, Cloudy had begged Violet to teach her the steps. Days of endless dancing, and nights of secrets. Mr. Parch had found something in the archives as he was restoring some documents, and since then Cloudy had a curfew. That didn't stop them, though. Cloudy simply snuck out her house when Celestia raised the moon high in the sky.

"Yowch!" Violet snapped out of her daydream to see that Cloudy had tripped over her own tail again. Violet felt a sigh of worry creep out of her lungs. There were only three days left, and Cloudy wasn't going to be happy until she learns the steps. The only problem? The dance had been trained into Violet's bones since she was out of her crib. To teach a pony the dance in a matter of days... it was unheard of.

There was another thud from Cloudy's direction. Violet winced.

That wasn't going to stop her from trying.