the mural

Velra trotted cheerily along the streets of Ponyville, slipping past the crowded center of the marketplace, the loudness of the bartering and the aggressive haggling slowly growing more muffled by distance. Her eyes flickered up as she stood before the lovely flower shop, glassy fuchsia orbs narrowing slightly. Hadn't this been a candy shop a while before? She frowned. Why would anypony get rid of a candy shop? That was crazy.

The smell of paint directed her train of thought down another rail. Paint? So they get rid of candy, sell flowers, but advertise paint? This is one weird shop, Vel thought as she bounded over to the source of the slight stench. She wrinkled her nose, not so used to the strong smell of paint. Or maybe it wasn't really that strong. After all, she wasn't used to it.

Her eyes fell upon a breath-takingly vibrant mural. The colors of paint on the side of the flower shop were ones she'd never even noticed before, blended and layered on with what seemed to be years and years of expertise. Pinks, greens, reds, blues, orange, white... the list could go on and on. Velra was extremely tempted to turn her currently-teal hair into the bright sunset hue of several of the flowers in the painting. She looked to the other parts of the wall-- barren, devoid of paint. Looked like the painter had only started.

Speaking of the painter... ah. Velra spotted her, a beautiful, black-- or was that dark purple?-- mare with silky, straight hair. Velra trotted up to her, grinning almost stupidly as she stared at the mural.

"That's... gosh, well, that's really good. Do you do this for a living, or is it just a hobby?" she asked, hoping not to startle her too much. After all, she did seem to be deep in concentration, as if operating upon a patient.

After she had stumbled across him working in a meadow in Whitetail Woods, Mango had commissioned Blackberry to do a mural of the meadow on the side of her flower shop. Blackberry was very reluctant but he decided it'd be good to get back into working in order to repay the hospitality that Shala Woods had been showing him by letting him stay in her extra bedroom.

Blackberry took a step away from the mural to get a good look at it. He was pleased with the way it was coming along so far. He smiled as he analyzed it trying to figure out what would be the best way to continue on the mural.

Some small paint splotches covered him as he had never worked on something so large. Usually he just works on a regular canvas and has become quite accustomed to how much space he had to work with. Such a large space was proving to be quite a job that he wasn't completely prepared for.

He looked up in surprise at the sudden arrival of Velra. He had been so long in his own world that he had not even noticed her walk up to him. He tossed some of his long mane out of his face and looked down a little bit. "Uh-- thanks," he said a little modestly, before turning his attention back to the mural.

"It's-- it's pretty much all I'm able to do," he admitted, thinking of his real lack of other talents, "I've always been a painter, probably always will be..." he told her looking at the building.

Something about her voice wasn't quite... right? Velra thought for a moment. Wait, what? What was she even thinking? How could a voice not be right? Well, something just seems off about her, now that I look at her closely. Not that she isn't pretty, because gosh, she's gorgeous, but... is... is she really a she, or a he? Velra mentally slapped herself for even thinking such a thought. Pshhh. Stupid imagination. Stop running wild.

She soon found herself more occupied by the mare than the mural. Velra stared at her eyes, a pair of deep, violet pools. Delicately concentrated on the task ahead of her. Gosh, she was a work of art herself. Lean and slim, silken-maned... Velra smiled at the smudged paint on parts of her hooves. The green unicorn acted impulsively, her hoof reaching out to wipe off a speck of orange paint, dangerously close to the mare's mane. When she'd realized what she'd done, her large eyes widened slightly nervously before she brushed it off with light laughter. "Sorry," she giggled apologetically, "it just looked so appealing for a spit-second. And then I remembered that I don't even know you."

Taking her gaze off of her, she shifted and watched the mural. "It's beautiful. I'm sure you'd be a very successful painter, if you aren't already." She grinned. "I mean, this is a great way to advertise."

Blackberry looked to Velra in surprise and took a step to the side away from her when she touched the side of his head. The look on his face showed a bit of confusion, not really too aware of the paint that was on him, as he had been so focused on the work at hand. He reached up with a hoof up to where she had touched and saw some orange paint on his hoof. It than clicked in his head that he must have gotten some paint on his face at some point.

Blackberry sighed and lowered his gaze when Velra spoke of his 'success' as a painter. He liked his art, he thought he was a good artist, and he was happy that some ponies around Ponyville liked his work, but as far as he was concerned he was a failure at his only talent and there was nothing anyone was going to be able to say to change his view at that.

"Thank you..." he said quietly, although no smile crossed his face as he looked back up at his current work in progress, "it is nice that ponies around here are able to see the beauty of the natural world" he said as a smile finally crossed his face. It was small and subtle but it helped enhance his feminine beauty.

Velra bit her lip. I swear I can feel my insides practically bubbling and turning into freakin' rainbows when she smiles, she cursed inwardly. It was hardly an exaggeration-- her stomach seemed to turn into a hyper gymnast when she saw the gentle upward pull on the corners of the other mare's lips. "So," the green unicorn grinned, gesturing toward Blackberry's mural, "are you busy a lot? I mean, with this painting job of yours. I'll bet you get a lot of requests and commissions." She tapped her hoof to her chin, accidentally smearing some of the orange paint she'd wiped off Blackberry onto herself.

"I don't paint, but I get pretty busy sometimes. Then again, that's probably because I don't schedule anything and I have three different jobs," she mused. Velra let out a laugh, a warm, inviting sound. "Do you live here in Ponyville, eh... wait, I don't believe I've caught your name?" Velra tilted her head, thinking. "Nope. Well, my name's Velra, but you can call me Vel."

Blackberry's smile faded as he raised an eyebrow towards Velra, "Actually, this is the first job ive had since I came back to ponyville..." he said a little solemnly, "mostly its just been painting to keep sharp," he said looking back at the mural he was working on. His lack of an income was one of the reasons he took this job. He hadn't been able to sell any paintings yet, then again he hadn't tried very hard to sell any. He did not have enough finished works yet to try to set up some sales.

"Blackberry," he introduced himself, "I grew up in Ponyville, but I moved to-- moved away a couple years ago. just moved back about a month ago," he explained, purposely skipping the parts that ponies would typically make conversation about. He really did not want to explain his failures in Manehatten with every pony that walked by.

"What kind of jobs do you have?" he asked, glancing at Velra and then back towards the mural.

Velra tilted her head, still staring intently at the mural as if, when she looked away, it would spring at her in a torrent of colors and hues. "Really?" she murmured. "Well, I'm sure you'll get more jobs, especially after this. I mean, it's kinda hard to miss." Velra chuckled, gesturing at the large wall. "Looks like you got a big job to finish." I could go pick up some snacks from Sugarcube Corner, she thought, it wouldn't be so bad for the poor mare to catch a break. Feels like she's been doing this forever.

She smiled, shifting her hooves slightly. "It's nice t'meet you, Blackberry. When I'm not workin' at Sugarcube Corner, I'm acting-- usually in the theatres of Canterlot with those fancy-schmancy ponies and whatnot. And when I'm not acting, I'm singing. Pretty busy, but I still somehow manage to cram in the time to laze around or stare at murals," she beamed. A bit of faintness washed over her, but she blinked the haze away. The smell of the paint was starting to get to her, not to mention the hunger that nagged at her stomach. "Hold on, Blackberry. I'm gonna go get some treats. I'm staaaaaarved."

With that, she cheerily bounded over to Sugarcube Corner. Velra hastily ordered one of every sweet there was, along with some punch. The register knew better than to ask; Velra was not only an employee there, but also an enthusiastic eater. It wasn't uncommon for her to indulge in the baked goods here. Sighing, the pony behind the counter placed everything Velra had ordered (or at least everything that was still in stock) onto a nearby table, and in exchange, the unicorn set several bits down at the cashier. Acting for rich Canterlot ponies did have its perks.

The food on the table began to slowly grow a magnificent blue color, Velra's magical aura surrounding and engulfing the sweets, gradually lifting them up. She trotted back over to the mural, treats following her. The hungry mare carefully everything down on the ground, careful to keep dirt from getting onto her food. She took a generous bite out of a slice of cake. Grinning almost giddily, she pointed at the sweets. "Want some?"

Blackberry remained very quiet up until the point when Velra left to get some food. He was so focused on his work that he found it hard to converse with the other unicorn. After she had left, Blackberry turned his full attention back to the mural he was working on. His horn glowed and his paint brush and palette raised up and began to resume work where he had left off. He would pause periodically with his eyes closed remembering the meadow he was currently painting. He did not like to have to paint off memory like this-- but unlike his easel, it was a little difficult to take the shop out to the meadow.

He was so focused on his brush strokes that he did not even hear Velra return with her pastries. He had made some progress on his mural to one who knew what to look at, although to an untrained eye they might not notice the work on the couple flowers he had been working diligently on.

He took a step back again and bumped into a floating danish. He turned his head slowly and stared at it in confusion. Around that time Velra had asked if he wanted some of the sweets she had brough back with her from Sugarcube Corner. He was quite hungry. He'd been out here all day without anything to eat. "No thank you..." he said softly looking down away from Velra. His pride once again was getting in his way. He was finally getting money to pay Shala back for the room he was staying in, the last thing he wanted was to take any other kind of charity... He also had become accustomed to going a day or two without food as he often had to do so in Manehatten when he did not have enough money to get a meal every day.

She watched as the darker unicorn worked patiently, focus concentrated thickly enough to be sliced by the same knife Velra had used to split apart the very cake she was devouring now. She frowned. Blackberry didn't want any of these sweets? But there was such a wide variety! There had to be something! Eyes sparkling with an idea, she carefully cleaned the paint off of the painter's hooves and parts of her face, blue glowing around the areas for a second before the patches of color disappeared, wary of not disrupting her concentration. She was oh-so-tempted to lick the paint-- it looked dangerously similar to the frosting of the cupcakes in the pile sitting before her.

Velra ignored Blackberry's reply and pushed a slice of Dutch cinnamon-apple pie in the other mare's direction. "C'mon," she coaxed, taking another bite out of her own pastry before swallowing and continuing, "you've gotta be the least bit hungry. Unless..." Velra arched a brow, ready to play the guilt card.

"You don't like any of these sweets?" she lowered her voice, her eyes darkening slightly as she dropped them to Blackberry's hooves, "I baked most of these, y'know..."

Blackberry blinked, looking down at his hooves as the paint on them began to pick itself off. He looked up at Velra a little confused as to what she was doing.

He frowned a little, the last thing he wanted to do was upset this new pony. She had been very kind to him, and now she was even offering him food. At this point his stomach gave a little growl having smelled the pastries. He gave a weak smile and rubbed his head a little, "I guess I could eat something..." he said a little sheepishly.

He looked about the various pastries Velra had brought with her and pulled an apple strudel out of the air and gave a small smile to Velra, "thank you," he said in his soft tone as he began to slowly eat it.

Velra grinned, clearly pleased with herself. Vel always wins, she thought rather arrogantly. She had become more competitive after she moved to Manehattan, becoming friends with several of the pegasi in the slums. Their sporty ambitiousness must have rubbed off on her, because she found that she really hated losing. And not getting her way. But Velra had always tied that characteristic with the fact that she had been brought up as the typical spoiled brat in an influential, wealthy family.

"I knew you'd want something to eat. I saw how concentrated you were, figured you've probably been here the entire day. It's no problem at all, Blackberry-- but you know, you really shouldn't neglect your tummy," Velra giggled, "I heard that little rumble. If you're hungry, you should eat. I know mares like to watch their weight and all, but it ain't a crime to indulge." She beamed brightly at her new friend, finishing her cake with her last big bite. Velra soon continued onto another pastry-- a berry tart.

Blackberry rolled his eyes a little at the look of success on Velras face as she seemed lost in her own world. He may never be able to understand some ponies around here-- especially those who work at Sugarcube Corner-- between Velra and Pinkie pie, he seriously worried if the Cakes purposely hired the craziest ponies in town.

"I do tend to lose track of time when I'm work--" he said softly, "its easy to forget to eat when you're busy working on something-- and I became accustomed to going days without food when I was-- living elsewhere--" he again avoided the subject of Manehatten, although just barely.

Blackberry's attention had drifted off towards his work again, examining the most recent section he had done. "My weight has nothing to do with how I..." Blackberry's attention snapped as he turned his head a little towards Velra for a second, "what did you just call me...?" he sighed.

Velra nodded pleasantly as she bit into the berry tart, dark purple filling on the corners of her lips. She grinned after giving one mighty lick, then continued to savor the taste of the pastry. She turned her gaze to Blackberry, ignoring how he seemed to stumble on his words as if he were purposely skipping past something, "Yeah. I know what you mean-- my eating habits and schedule have gotten really, really weird after traveling so much back and forth through Canterlot and sometimes Manehattan. And then I'm busy performing, and I can't eat anything on stage." She sighed. Her busy life sometimes took a toll on her health, which already wasn't too decent to start with.

"What did you just call me...?"

A slight flare of alarm in the air caught Velra's attention. She cocked her head to the side and blinked, lightly exaggerating her confusion. The green unicorn arched a brow. "What do you mean?" Her lips quirked as she thought... "Oh, hungry! I thought you were?"

Blackberry flinched a little at the mention of Manehatten. He was haunted by the memories of Manehatten.

Blackberry sighed as he turned back to his mural, stepping up to it as his horn began glowing and he began painting again. He remained silent for a moment before finally opening his mouth, keeping his eyes on his work, "I'm not some mare you know..." he grumbled.

Velra laughed-- she could hear the seed of agitation in Blackberry's voice, but she didn't understand its source, nor why the other mare was irritated at all.

"Nope, you're not some mare I know. I only met you today, after all. But we can change that," she sang, purposely oblivious to Blackberry's annoyed attitude. She took another bite out of her tart before taking a sip of fruit punch, to which her nose wrinkled at. "Ugh," she groaned. "Never try any punch after eating pastries. They don't seem to go well together." She finished her berry tart, extinguishing the poor taste the mixture of juice and sweets had left on her tongue.

Blackberry hung his head some with a long sigh. "I'm NOT a mare..." he growled. He gave an exasperated sigh as he looked back up to his painting.

He didn't want to be rude to Velra, but he just HATED being called a girl, even if she was a little-- well-- like Pinkie Pie-- who STILL to this date calls him a girl... regardless of how many times he tells her... He hated to snap at a pony so nice...

Velra blinked.

Once, twice.

And then: "OH." Laughter soon followed her epiphany. "I'm sorry, Blackberry, I didn't mean to call you a mare," she giggled, still grinning brightly at him despite his obvious annoyed state, "it's just that, well, well-- you're so pretty! But I'm kinda glad you aren't a mare, I mean, you'd make a lovely mare, but it isn't every day where you see a gorgeous stallion like yourself." She winked playfully at him, still thinking the entire situation was rather humorous. "Hey, have you ever been asked out by a stallion?"

Blackberry glanced over as Velra finally figured out what he had been trying to tell her. A little more on the ball than Pinkie Pie he supposed. He closed his eyes and nodded slightly as Velra apologized, but then shot his eyes open and blinked as she continued to talk.

"I don't ask to be pretty..." he sighed, "I'm just naturally this way-- even if I cut my mane short, it grows back so quickly that it'd cost me a fortune to keep it consistently short," he explained.

He furrowed his eyebrow, not quite sure what Velra intended by winking at him, a bit oblivious to a lot of things like that. After her final question his eyes shot wide and he quickly shook his head defensively, "What!? NO!" he denied, trying to forget some of the guys he crossed in Manehatten that were a bit-- forward with him...

Velra was stuck in another fit of laughter again, ribs shaking as her hooves pressed hard against the ground, keeping her from falling over in utter hilariousness. Oh, she would have to tell her good friend Pinkie about this one-- or-- hey, hadn't Pinkie mentioned something about a gorgeous, dark stallion-mare? Velra finally sobered up a bit, silly grin still playing on her lips as she chuckled at Blackberry, taking delight toward his loud outburst.

"Really?" she mused, flirtatiously fluttering her lashes at him, more than happy to get another embarrassed cry from the other unicorn. "You should really use your looks to your advantage! Why, if I were even half as pretty, I'd be towing stallion after stallion behind me, maybe even a couple of mares."

She snickered. "I bet you could infatuate a mare and stallion simultaneously," she paused to toss a sidelong glance at Blackberry, letting her gaze take on a coy, suggestive look, "you've already gotten me; all we need now is another stallion."

Blackberry stared at Velra in bewilderment. His paint brush kind of floating in the air hanging awkwardly infront of him. "I have absolutely no interest in such thing," he said sternly, "I don't care how I look, I would never want a guy interested in me..." he said shaking his head, a look of disgust on his face.

He furrowed his brow and thought for a second about the last thing Velra said, ignoring the bit about needing a stallion, "wait, what do you mean by that?" her asked confused, "already have you? we just met..." he told her.

Velra grinned goodnaturedly and trotted over to stand next to Blackberry, gently bumping his shoulder in playfullness. "I'm just kidding, Blackberry."

She snickered, levitating yet another dessert in the air-- a pumpkin pasty-- and finished it in one mighty bite, cheeks pouching up dramatically like a hamster's before she swallowed. Velra quickly set her sights on another pastry, her horn and the sweets glowing blue as she brought it through the air and into her mouth. She licked her lips.

"You, Sir Blackberry," Velra spoke, suddenly bowing on one hoof as she lowered her head, voice taking on a dignified, mature tone, "are the manifestation of the purest innocence."

She abruptly burst into giggles again, no longer bowing as she bounced around Blackberry in an enthusiastic manner. "You're the most cutest, most sweetest colt in the world!" she declared. "'I have absolutely no interest in such things,' you said. Why, I've bet you've never even thought of using your looks to your advantage? Celestia, Blackberry, that's adorable!"

Blackberry leaned a little away from Velra and tilted his head in curiosity at her. He had never quite run across a pony quite like her-- and he's met Pinkie Pie. He was not quite sure exactly what to make of her, or how to respond to her properly.

"I have no interest whats-so-ever in using my looks for anything..." he said raising an eyebrow at Velra, "I pay no attention to the way I look and wish other ponies could do the same..." he told her.

"Youre... a very odd pony..." Blackberry said lightly, trying not to sound insulting at all, "has anyone ever told you that before?" he asked.

Velra chuckled and ceased her bouncing, letting her rump hit the ground in a rather melo-dramatic 'oof!' and grinned yet again at Blackberry. Just as quickly, though, her smile twisted down into a quivering frown, her fuchsia eyes widening in a rather hurt manner. She drew back, scandalized, "Blackberry! How could you possibly say that about me?! Why, I'm the most normal pony there is in all of Equestria! Why would you even suggest such a hurtful thing?"

She levitated another pastry-- a cake-pop, she noted-- and finished it in one enthusiastic bite. Swallowing, she waved her hoof rather accusingly at Blackberry, "Why, it's you! You're the crazy one here. Not me. I'm not odd or weird or peculiar or out of sorts at all." She shook her head furiously. "Nope, if anyone, it's you. With your magical fairy-mustaches and conspiring feathers. You think I don't know about the Looney-wort rebellion you're starting?" Velra let out an irritated little humph.

Blackberry stared at Velra, completely unsure how to respond to her response. The look on his face was that of bewilderment, one eyebrow raised, one furrowed.

"Oh, hey, look at the time..." Blackberry said looking upwards towards the sky, "If I spend all day talking, I will behind the deadline for my painting..." he lied as he turned his attention back towards the mural, glancing out of the corner of his eyes towards Velra.

Velra laughed again, bright and cheerful and no longer scandalized. "I'm kidding, Blackberry. Yes, I've been called 'odd' before, along with a long list of other terms, some not-so-savory." She snickered, recalling the time when she had bumped into a group of tipsy Manehattan ponies. "Celestia, Blackberry, you're the most adora-- oh, crap-nuggets," Velra cursed, feeling a dizzy spell coming on. All of that bouncing and leaping around and levitating certainly didn't do her any good, not when she was prone to headaches and weakness all the time. But she didn't want to lie in bed all day. Not like she did when she was at the estate. Not like she did when her name had been Lady Amethyst Dream of the Lavaliere...

Dark spots were beginning to form in her line of vision, and Velra had no intention whatsoever of spending the rest of her day with her head propped up against a pillow. Hastily, she grabbed a slice of fruit tart-- she was in no means for any sort of levitation now-- and took a bite out of it, swallowing. The darkness slowly ebbed away, but her head was still feeling rather light.

Velra blinked, brow furrowing. "Did I just say crap-nuggets?"