Wild Horses
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Wild Horses”
"Applejack, darling, if you keep fidgeting, I will be forced to use a most unlady-like method of keeping you restrained while I work, and I am loathe to do so."
"Consarn it, Rarity, Ah can't help it. Ya got me all gussied up in these... frou-frou duds. Ah look like Ah just got back from some hoity-toity, high falutin' shindig." Applejack started squirming in her newly fit clothing.
Rarity, with the gentlest touch, put a forehoof on Applejack's withers, both to calm her, and to stop her from wrinkling the fine material. "Dear, I only want you to look your best for your big day. A mare only gets to experience wedded bliss with her true love only once in the grand scheme of life, and I want you to look your very best."
Applejack could hear an undertone of hurt in her friend's voice. She sighed. "Ah'm sorry, Rarity. Ah guess Ah'm just nervous."
"Oh, it is perfectly normal to feel that way, Applejack," Rarity cooed, "this is a major event in your young life. It is to be expected."
"Ah feel like a dog about ta give birth ta a chatterin' gaggle o' geese."
Rarity raised an eyebrow as she tried to picture the metaphor. "Well, I, guess that could be one way of putting it, love. Though I hope you don't see your wedding day as being quite that...messy," she said, her voice taking on an air of distaste, as she returned her focus on the balance of Applejack's ensemble.
As she did so, Applejack began glancing about the room. She noted the cleanliness of Rarity's boutique; how everything was in perfect order; not a speck of dust could be found anywhere. Sometimes she envied that level of painstaking detail.
"Darling, could you look straight forward, and hold your head still for just a sec?"
Applejack complied, as Rarity began to adjust the orange mare's collar. "Thank you, my dear. I just... have to...," with a final adjustment, Rarity stood back and clapped her hooves together. "Done!"
Applejack let out a sigh of relief.
"Come, my dear, take a look for yourself! I think you'll find it most dashing," Rarity said, her choice of words were evident as a small smile formed at the corners of her mouth. She floated a full size mirror into position so the farm pony could see the results of her labors.
Applejack looked up as the reflection appeared in front of her. "Sweet Mother o' Celestia."
Rarity's expression took on a slight look of dismay. "You don't like it, darling?"
Applejack shook her head. "Nah, it ain't that at all, sugarcube. Ya done went and did good. Ya did real good."
Applejack looked at herself in the mirror, in awe of her friend's skill. Rarity had dressed her in a bespoke velvet suit; the color of which was a deep forest green. The undershirt was a beautiful sky blue. The jacket was trimmed in gold along the collar and the lapels, and on each shoulder, gold braid, which highlighted the contrasts of the brass buttons running down the front, and the gold inlay of the trim itself, and the maroon striped bow-tie completed the set. She looked downward to see her hooves shod with gold accented shoes of forest green.
"Not to be overdo the effect, my dear," Rarity's voice brought Applejack back to her surroundings, "but I felt it wouldn't be a complete ensemble, without this." She floated an object from a box behind the counter. Before Applejack could see it, she had already placed it on the orange mare's head. Looking back into the mirror, she saw a cowpony hat that looked just like the one her pappy had given her, but the color and material were just like her jacket.
"Oh, darling," Rarity whispered as she put her hooves together in front of her muzzle, "you look so handsome. I can honestly say that Prench cuffs were the right move, that's for certain."
"Do ya think Rainbow will like it?"
"Darling, while I would say that Rainbow will love it, I must admit that if I've done my job as well as I hope I have, she's not going to care one whit about the suit once she see's who is wearing it."
"Thank ya, Rares."
"You're most welcome, darling. Now please stop fidgeting for a moment, while I adjust your bow-tie."
***
"Twilight?"
"Up here, Violet."
Violet followed Twilight's voice into the kitchen. As she entered, she saw the unicorn mare sitting at the far end of the kitchen table, a book open in front of her, and a cup of coffee being held in her magic grip.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Twilight, I didn't mean to interrupt."
Twilight glanced up from her book. She smiled warmly. "It's no interruption, Violet. I was just brushing up on marital customs."
"You mean for Dash and Applejack's wedding?"
Twilight nodded in confirmation. "Mh-hm!"
Violet frowned. "Not to push my flank into your business, Twilight, but why are you reading a book on marital customs?"
A brief flash of surprise washed over Twilight's face before disappearing. "Oh, you didn't know?"
"Know what?"
"Ah," Twilight began, wondering if she had accidentally overstepped her bounds. "I, uh, better not say for now."
Violet let the words mull around in her head for a moment. She kept her gaze on Twilight, watching the bookish pony cringe slightly, looking discomfited as she sat, coffee in magic grip, book in hoof.
Deciding that she had no reason to suspect anything sinister, Violet decided to drop it for now. Besides, she had another matter that she wanted to talk to Twilight about; something that had been gnawing at her for a while, now. It was getting to the point where she couldn't really hold it in anymore, and she wanted to find out from the source of her consternation.
She smiled in an effort to assuage Twilight's fears, and ease her discomfort. "Well, don't worry, then, Twilight, it's probably nothing important."
She noted Twilight's poorly concealed expression of relief. She gave her another moment, and then she broached the subject of which she did find to be of great importance.
"Hey, Twilight, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Twilight smiled warmly, apparently happy to change the subject. "Certainly, Violet. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?"
"Yes, tea please, thank you," Violet replied as she took a seat at the opposite side, nearest Twilight.
She watched for a moment as Twilight gripped the decanter in her magic, and levitated it from the stove to a tea cup that was now sitting in front of Violet. As she did so, Violet organized her thoughts, and took a quiet, calming breath.
With tea poured, and empty coffee cup refreshed, Twilight's attention was now Violet. After a few seconds of silence, she felt the need to prod the young pegasus, but didn't want to make her feel rushed. Twilight knew what happened when rushed questions came pouring out unbidden. It was not a pretty sight to behold.
"Well," Violet spoke, her voice tinged with uncertainty, as if she had yet to fully gather herself, "I just want your advice on something."
Twilight nodded. From mathematics to magic, advice was her specialty. There was nothing that couldn't be found in a book somewhere. With access to her library, Twilight had her hooves on a veritable fountain of information, ready to be parsed and learned.
"I want to know what it's like to be in love."
Silence.
"Because I... may have feelings for somepony."
The silence became much longer, and was threatening to fill the whole of Equestria, when Twilight managed to collect herself long enough to respond.
"I see."
Horseapples!
Twilight quickly tossed the involuntary mental curse to the back of her mind as she focused on Violet's question. Violet's straight-out-of-the-blue question. Violet's where-in-Tartarus-did-this-come-from-and-why-do-I-have-to-be-the-pony-answering-it? question.
"Do you..." she began, "know who this pony is?"
Violet nodded. "Yeah, I know who she is."
Twilight continued. "So this pony is a she?"
Violet started. She hadn't realized she let slip the gender of the presumed mystery pony.
Twilight caught Violet's subtle reaction before she could conceal it. "I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to know that?" She said with warmth in her voice, attempting to allay Violet's fear of discovery.
"Well, I didn't want to complicate matters." Violet responded, as she began fidgeting with her hooves.
Twilight smiled. "Don't be worried, Violet. You know that anything you tell me will be completely confidential. Nopony will know anything. This will be between you and me. We are, after all, lab partners. I think we can trust one another."
Violet kept her face impassive as a cold, wet stone of trepidation fell in the pit of her stomach.
Lab partners. Like their relationship was just a working partnership, and nothing more. She took a deep breath.
"Okay," Violet responded, a smile appearing as she rallied herself to let loose some of her feelings. She took one more deep breath, and began.
"You see, Twilight," she said, "when I first came to Ponyville, I stayed with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, as you know, because I didn't have any real friends that I could relate to. There aren't many ponies my age, here, and so I generally kept to myself, sticking by Dash and AJ. To be honest, I kind of felt like a little lost puppy, what with my following Dash around everywhere she went. No offense to my sister, because I do love her dearly, but that gets really boring after a while, not to mention how frustrating it has to be for somepony like Dash, who is used to being free to do her own thing without anypony tagging along."
"You'd be surprised."
Violet halted at Twilight's comment. "What do you mean?"
Twilight smiled in response to Violet's question. "Well, let's just say that even if you weren't here, Rainbow Dash would still have a pegasus admirer keeping tabs on her hero at all times."
Violet scrunched her face in concentration for a moment. "Ah, yes," she said, relaxing her expression, "the little orange filly, Scooter something."
"Scootaloo." Twilight provided.
"That's her." Violet cleared her throat. "Anyway, so I felt that I needed to find something to do, some way to earn my keep, some way to keep myself busy. So Dash went around trying to help me find a place to work, and as you know here as well, I was turned down for the weather patrol position."
Twilight nodded.
Violet continued. "So, you know that." She cleared her throat again. "Anyway, and that's when we visited you, and you so graciously offered me a position here, as a lab assistant, something I appreciate, by the way, since I don't have a major degree in any scientific field."
"You show a lot of promise for it, Violet."
"Oh, um... thanks." She said, her face turning crimson from the quick compliment offered by Twilight. She took another deep breath. "So, anyway, you gave me this position, and I have to say it has been the best thing that has happened for me since I got here, even factoring in the whole Maelstrom of Doom thing that happened last week."
Twilight's expression was one of embarrassment. "I'm sorry about that, Violet, I..."
Violet interrupted her. "No, no. That wasn't your fault. Nopony can ever be prepared for everything, and that was something neither of us expected. I figure if you didn't expect it, nopony else would have even considered it."
It was Twilight's turn to blush. "Thank you, Violet. While I don't completely agree with your assessment of my abilities, I do appreciate your willingness to look past my mistakes."
Violet cleared her throat, finding it difficult to organize her thoughts when faced with the adorkability of a blushing Twilight.
"Yeah, well, you know, nopony's perfect." Although I think you're pretty close, Twilight Sparkle, Violet's mind offered.
Silence filled the void for a moment, before Twilight spoke up again.
"So, Violet, if you don't mind my asking, what does this have to do with this special somepony on whom you've set your sights?"
Violet looked down, and began to trace circles on the table with her forehoof. "It's, um," she spoke, so softly that it could barely be heard above a whisper, "there's a pony who has made me feel so special, so needed, that I realized that I wanted them to feel special, and to feel needed." She looked up at Twilight, but said nothing.
Twilight nodded. "You can tell me, Violet. I won't tell anypony."
Violet took another deep breath, and quelled the movement of her hoof.
"I like you, Twilight."
Twilight's eyes went wide, and her jaw went slack. She quickly pulled herself together long enough to get out a question. "What did you say, Violet?"
Violet took another deep breath. "I like you, Twilight. I think you're the most beautiful mare I've ever seen." Her thoughts rushed forth, neither her mind or her muzzle able to stop the words from gushing out. "Not only the most beautiful mare, but the smartest mare I've ever known. You're funny, you're brilliant, you're kind, you're sweet, you have a compassionate soul, Twilight, and to top it all off, you're the most skillful adept I have ever met, and likely will ever meet. You are unparalleled on every conceivable level. There is no boundary to the majesty and might of your magic, nor a block or boundary to your knowledge. You are Dulcinea, the unattainable, the blessed image, the vaunted icon, the eternally desired."
Twilight's eyes returned to their wide state, and her jaw decided to give in to gravity once more.
Violet, for her part, had managed to stem the flow of her heart, and was now turning an amazing shade of red, one that would rival the prettiest prize apple in her soon to be sister-in-law's orchard.
Twilight's mind went on autopilot. "I see you've read the story of Don Coyote," she said absent-mindedly, her eyes staring blankly forward.
Violet continued to sit quietly, her mind spent. Now she waited for Twilight's reaction, and hopefully, her acceptance of Violet's outpouring of emotion. Her stomach was a bevy of butterflies, all vying for her attention. She ignored them as best as she could.
"That's..." Twilight began, and then paused.
Violet's butterflies flapped harder against her stomach. She watched as Twilight made a move to speak again.
"That's very sweet, Violet..."
Uh-oh.
Twilight took a deep breath, bringing her foreleg in toward her chest, and then exhaled, pushing it away from her, as if sweeping aside any stress that may have found itself in her path. She finished her sentence.
"...but, sweetheart..."
Nononononononononono...
I'm in a relationship, remember?"
Crash. Violet felt her heart crumble into pieces, right atop her stomach, which was torn open as the fluttering butterflies escaped, viciously taunting her as they sailed haphazardly toward the kitchen window, and the promise of emotionless, ponyless freedom. She was certain, as they fled, that one of them farted in her general direction, though she couldn't be sure.
She stared down at the table, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. The urge to bolt was growing strong, but she didn't want to run. Embarrassed? Yes. Humiliated, in fact. Regardless, she wasn't one to run away from a problem, especially one that she had a hoof in creating. So there she sat, waiting for Twilight to emotionally pummel her heart into a pretty red dust.
Twilight looked at Violet, and felt for the poor young mare. Young love was always the most confusing feeling, especially if it had the unfathomable problem of involving herself in its affections. She knew she had to help Violet come to terms with this, lest she contribute to not only a painfully uncomfortable working relationship, but quite possibly the disillusionment of a very intelligent young mare, and who knows what Princess Celestia might say about that, even if it wasn't Twilight's fault. Well, she certainly wasn't going to risk that happening.
"Violet," she said, her voice firm, "look at me."
A moment passed, but Violet did bring herself to face Twilight.
"Good. I want you to know a few things; firstly, don't feel embarrassed. I think it's sweet that you've found something in me that you like so much that you had to express it."
Stab-stab-stab-twist. I don't need that heart.
"Secondly, I must admit that you are very attractive, and have many fine qualities one would look for in a mate."
Stab-sta-what?
Violet echoed her internal masochist's sentiments. "What?"
Twilight continued. "That's what I said. You are very attractive, and have many fine qualities one would look for in a mate."
This was unexpected. "Go on."
"Well, you are intelligent, you're quick-witted, you're capable, and are a fast learner. You have an attractive physical appearance, and a youthful exuberance that one doesn't find in many ponies these days," she said, smiling. "Pinkie aside, of course," She added.
Violet didn't know what to say to that.
"The thing is, Violet," Twilight continued, "that I am with Luna. I love her dearly, and she is my soulmate. You know I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, or make you feel embarrassed, but I feel that telling you like this, one adult mare to another, is the best way for you to see that it's not your or your qualities that push me away. It's that I have found my special somepony."
She paused a moment, and then said quietly, "Do you still want to know about what it's like to fall in love?"
Violet just nodded gently, her mind still hazy.
"I'll tell you." Twilight confirmed. "Being in love is like finding the best friend you never knew you had, and for whom you never knew you were searching. It's like the warmest sun that blankets you, even on a cloudy day. That pony completes you and complements you in every way. Their smile, their laughter, even their tears bring out the most powerful feelings inside of you. They bring the best from you. You are so overcome with that feeling, that you must share it with the rest of the world, and when that pony is not around, your heart aches, and when they return, your heart is overjoyed. You wonder how you ever lived without them, and you pray that you will never have to know that old feeling again. That, my dear, is what it feels like to be in love."
A silence lingered between the two of them for a moment, as Violet took in what her mentor had told her. She looked at Twilight, whose expression was the very definition of serenity. Violet looked down at her hooves, lost in her thoughts, and contemplating all that she had learned in this embarrassing, if informative, lesson on love and relationships.
"Twilight?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. "Do you think somepony will ever love me like that?"
Twilight smiled at her question. It spoke so favorably of the young mare. "Violet," she said, "I bet you that right now, there is a pony out there just waiting to see you from across the room, and realize that there's something special in you that they haven't found in anypony else."
"You really believe that?"
"Violet, I have learned that not only is anything possible when friendship is involved, but that in this town, surprises can happen around any corner at any time, and they're not always of the pink and poofy maned confetti cannon variety."
Violet couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image that produced. She looked back to Twilight. "Um, Twilight? This might sound silly, but, would you mind if I..."
Twilight smiled warmly, knowing what the mare wanted to ask. "Yeah, go ahead. You can give me a hug."
Violet smiled, and with slight trepidation, maneuvered over to Twilight, and squeezed her in a tight embrace, warmth coursing through her when the unicorn returned that embrace. She smiled when she heard Twilight's next words.
No matter what, we're still lab partners, and as far as I'm concerned, lab partners can give each other hugs any time they want. In the name of science, of course."
(/)*(\)
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New chapter is up.
Poor Violet. Still, she's young! She'll find someone.
I like it Hugs In the Name Of Science
2984212 - Sure she will!
2984863 - I use that as an excuse to hug everyone, all the time.
2985630 not an excuse its a very very valid reason
2985647 - Because science rules.
I was wondering when Luna would come up. also poor Violet
I'm wondering who she'll end up with.
I don't want to say that I forgot about Luna for a time but.....yeah that happened......flame me if you want.....
An enjoyable chapter as always. Please continue this with like millions of sequels after the story is done. Or just never end the story.
I could live with an ever ongoing story
Fairly nice chapter, methinks there will be wedding bells in the next few chaps
2988625 - I know something you don't know.
Seriously, though, I remember one of my first crushes, and it turned out that he only thought of me as a friend; *smash* went my heart into itty bitty pieces. Still, don't worry about Violet, Painbow, I'm sure good things await her in the future.
2989704 - Don't feel bad, Tarascha. As you can see from the chapter, Violet had forgotten about Luna, what little she knew anyway. I really appreciate your comments. It makes me happy to see someone enjoy my stories.
2990837 - Thank you, Lollingtroll. Indeed, the wedding doth approacheth, and soon.
Not gonna lie, I forgot about Luna and shipped this through the entire story
2992228 - <maniacal laughter ensues> I figured most people forgot about Luna.
"in the name of science." >.>
hugs plus love = happiness......my god a breakthough in the science world has be made O-O
2992455 I was questioning the reliability of my memory until this chapter.
That’s an interesting ensemble, to be sure. My brain needs some help picturing it. Anybody willing to create some fanart?
Look under your seats! You get a marefriend, and you get a marefriend…