True to her word, Crystal Note visited Bon Bon’s candy store the next day. There wasn’t much to do at the farm in winter, so the work was taken care of after lunch. She told the Apple siblings she’d be out in town for the day. Half an hour later, she entered the shop. Bon Bon, lured out from the kitchen by the bell on the door, smiled and walked around the counter to hug her new friend. Crystal Note blushed shyly but smiled as well as she returned the gesture
“I would ask if you had a good night, but I just need to look at you to know.”
Crystal Note tilted her head and Bon Bon chuckled warmly
“You’re back to bright and sparkly, Crissy.”
Crystal Note glanced down at her hooves only to roll her eyes a moment later. Bon Bon had used her nickname, she took that as a good sign as well and matched the earth pony’s warm tone
“There’s no fooling you, is there Bonnie?”
They giggled and shared what had happened since they last met, which mainly was Lyra explaining a few crystal pony facts to Bon Bon.
Before they finished, a couple of earth ponies entered to shop. Crystal Note retreated to a quiet corner of the shop while the candy maker took care of her costumers. Of course, she wore her bandana again today, but she still preferred not getting too much attention if possible. She smiled when more ponies siphoned in for sweets, most likely since Hearths Warming Eve was closing in already. Bon Bon’s business turned lively rather quickly as she handed out candy canes, toffees and chocolates with a smile to each of her costumers.
Once the initial rush was settled, Bon Bon noticed many empty spots in her shelves already and retreated to the kitchen to prepare more. Crystal Note accepted the hasty apology from the cream coated mare with a smile and thought about offering help, but then remembered her few failed attempts in Granny Smith’s kitchen. If she failed at cooking soup, she doubted she’d be of any good at making candies.
So instead, she offered to look over the shop while Bon Bon was busy, which was easy enough for her. By the time Bon Bon returned with a new batch of candies, they heard the bell from the nearby school ring and the earth pony groaned
“Here they come.”
On cue, a horde of colts and fillies streamed into the shop, babbling and laughing excited that classes were finished for the day.
Bon Bon and Crystal Note had there hooves full to satisfy all their wishes for a sweet treat. Crystal Note saw that despite her groan earlier, Bon Bon smiled brightly at the foals when she gave them their poison of choice. She clearly enjoyed every smile and ‘Thank you’ she received in return, far more than the bits that landed in her cash register.
As quickly as they had appeared, the students vanished again and left two exhausted, but happy mares behind. Crystal Note collected the empty jars and boxes while Bon Bon restacked. The crystal unicorn in disguise noticed the glances Bon Bon threw at her, especially when she climbed up the ladder to get a box from the top shelf. Any unicorn like Lyra or Rarity would have used magic for that, but Crystal Note preferred using her hooves instead. Even though she certainly was confident enough in her levitation spells, at least.
Whatever thoughts ran through Bon Bon’s mind, she decided not to follow them and went back to small talk
“Thanks for your help, Crystal Note.”
“Don’t mention it. I wasn’t aware you had that much of business.”
“Usually, I don’t. They must have sensed I got help today.”
Bon Bon smirked and drew a face
“I wonder how the Cakes deal with all of this every day in the bakery.”
Crystal Note couldn’t help but giggle
“Pinkie Pie. That pony never runs out of energy it seems.”
“That is so unfair!”
They both chuckled and returned to work. Bon Bon’s ears perked up a little when Crystal Note started humming a little tune.
The rest of the day went on rather quietly. Bon Bon spent most of the time in the kitchen, joined by Crystal Note. She was worried that just sitting there would be too boring for her new friend, but the crystal pony seemed happy just to watch silently.
She had been watching Crystal Note throughout the day, of course. Many things she had seen last night left her curious, but she knew better than to ask all the questions like ‘Why do you hide your magic instead of using it?’ or ‘Why did you call yourself a monster?’
One question though kept nagging at Bon Bon’s mind.
When was waiting for a pot of chocolate mass to get the right temperature, she went for it with carefully measured words
“Hey, Crystal Note? Mind if I ask you something?”
The pony in question tilted her head and her smile wavered a little. Bon Bon was good at reading ponies, so she knew right away that Crystal Note had sensed the cautious undertone in her own voice
“Why are you here in Ponyville?”
The smile on her face fell apart and Crystal Note closed her eyes
“You saw last night. I can’t be in the Crystal Empire like this.”
Bon Bon frowned. She hadn’t even mentioned the Crystal Empire with a word, she’d just been curious why Ponyville instead of literally any other town. But since Crystal Note immediately jumped to the Crystal Empire, it had clearly been on the mare’s mind all along. That, together with how she had reacted made it very easy for Bon Bon to understand
“But that makes you sad. It’s still your home and you miss it.”
Crystal Note’s eyes flew open and she stared at Bon Bon in surprise. The earth pony got that reaction often, most ponies didn’t expect a pony who had dedicated her life to candy to deliver sharp conclusions like this.
Crystal Note overcame her initial surprise rather quickly and mumbled
“Maybe I do, but it doesn’t matter. Things have changed. I have changed.”
Bon Bon stirred the chocolate to see if it had the right consistency already and remarked casually
“You didn’t have a horn until recently, I guess. It’s clear in the way you talk and how upset you were last night. If you had been a crystal unicorn all your life, you’d either be better at hiding it or you’d be more collected about it by now.”
Crystal Note just stared with eyes as wide as saucers, unable to process how easily she'd been figured out by the earth pony she just met yesterday
"There really is no fooling you, is there?"
"The last pony who managed to do so was Lyra."
"Figures."
They giggled softly and Bon Bon started to spread the chocolate into moulds. From the corner of her eyes, she kept watching the crystal pony. She could almost see the gears running inside her head as Crystal Note mulled over if she should tell the story behind everything or not.
“Doesn’t matter.”
Crystal Note’s head jerked up suddenly as she was pulled out of her thoughts
“I’m sorry?”
“Doesn’t matter that you have a horn or where it came from. You’ve been nice to Lyra and me and everything else is just past, so it doesn’t matter.”
Bon Bon put down the empty pot and fixed Crystal Note with one of her serious looks
“Don’t get me wrong, if you want to talk, I’m all ears. And if you want to vent sometime, I’m here. But if you don’t want, I’ll stop talking now and we’ll never mention it again.”
With that, Bon Bon turned away and picked up the filled mould with her mouth, which prevented any further discussions effectively.
She turned back to the stove and prepared another batch of chocolate batter but added some chopped nuts this time. Crystal Note watched silently from the corner of the room she had chosen as her refuge.
After a couple of minutes, she walked to Bon Bon and took a closer look at things as her curiosity finally won out in the end. Bon Bon smiled and explained a few things about making chocolate and together, the filled the hazelnut chocolate into moulds when it was ready.
Bon Bon went right away to prepare a new mix of dark chocolate this time while Crystal Note helped by cleaning all the used pots. The crystal pony looked far more relaxed now she had something to do and Bon Bon decided it would be safe enough for chatting again
“So, what’s it like living with the Apple family? Pretty busy I guess, running a huge orchard.”
Crystal Note nodded and smiled
“It’s not that much work during winter. And they are all very nice, they’ve practically welcomed me into the family already. I feel good with them, but sometimes it’s a little strange.”
“Strange as in Lyra-strange or something else?”
Bon Bon smiled at the little giggle she was able to lure out of the crystal unicorn at that
“It’s hard to explain. I guess Applejack feels somewhat responsible for me, which is nice. But she can be a little overprotective. Also, this means her friends are looking out for me as well. They are all very nice, don’t get me wrong, and I really enjoy when we hang out, but whenever there’s just a small problem, they get all serious about it. I guess it comes with being the Elements of Harmony, they’re used to dealing with almost everything in half an hour.”
Bon Bon giggled softly
“I have to admit, from the outside they really seem a little strange at times, but they saved Ponyville and Equestria a good number of times now, so I guess that proves it works.”
She giggled a little more behind her hoof
“Even if it’s hilarious to watch Princess Twilight freak out.”
Crystal Note frowned with a little sigh and Bon Bon stopped right away
“I’m sorry. Sore spot?”
The crystal pony slightly shook her head, even if the frown stayed
“Princess Twilight goes too much out of her way. She’s determined to find a way to help me with my… condition. She keeps offering me magic lessons. I know she wants to do some research to find out more. She’s even gone so far to ask the other Princesses for help.”
Bon Bon recognized the tone in the crystal unicorn’s voice far too well
“Did you ever tell the princess you feel uncomfortable with that? Or any of them? ‘Cause all of that sounds to me like they’re only trying to help out a good friend. I bet they don’t even realize how you might feel about it.”
Crystal Note looked down and shook her head frantically
“I couldn’t. They’ve all been so nice to me. What if Applejack would kick me out? Or what if Princess Twilight just orders me to do those experiments? I don’t want to risk it.”
Her head shot up again when Bon Bon burst into giggles and added
“Or what if, Celestia forbid, you’d run out of excuses for yourself?”
The expression on Crystal Note’s face was priceless and Bon Bon went from giggling into full but kind-hearted laughter
“Crissy, that’s not how friendship works at all. Just look at Lyra and me, we keep throwing quips at each other and sometimes Lyra drives me crazy. That doesn’t mean we’re not best friends. I bet even they argue at times, that’s normal between friends.”
A blush from Crystal Note was more than enough to confirm Bon Bon’s guess and she went on
“In essence, your friends will either accept how you feel and stop, or they’re not really your friends. I think, right now, it’s more important you find out what you really want, Crystal Note.”
Crystal Note’s eyes stayed locked on Bon Bon, wordlessly pleading for the earth pony to go on
“Right now, you’re in denial I think. You hide away, you do things you don’t want because ponies expect them from you, but it doesn’t make you that happy. You like Ponyville, but you say your home is the Crystal Empire. You like spending time with your friends, but you’re afraid to tell them when you don’t enjoy yourself. You shouldn’t feel that way.”
Crystal Note nodded silently and Bon Bon, now satisfied with what she shared, returned to her preparations.
When Lyra arrived at home late in the afternoon, she found Bon Bon doing her thing in the shop and Crystal Note sitting in a quiet corner, staring at the floor. Before she could address the crystal pony, Bon Bon pulled her into the kitchen and brought her up to date.
Lyra’s initial frown turned somewhat softer when Bon Bon reached the end, but she still sighed
“I think that might be a little much all at once, don’t you?”
Bon Bon nodded and her ears flopped down a little
“I know, but it just happened. I was trying to do some chitchat but everything I said just hit her like a brick. I think she has a lot on her mind but barely anypony to talk about it.”
Lyra nodded in affirmation and saw what Bon Bon was getting to
“So, we keep her company and keep it easy, until she’s ready to talk about stuff.”
Bon Bon joined her nod and they smiled when they invited Crystal Note to stay for dinner again.
Unsurprisingly, the crystal mare tried to decline but this time had to cede against Bon Bon’s stubborn insistence
“You helped all day in the shop. Either it’s dinner or I have to pay you a wage for that.”
Crystal Note submitted to her fate with a shy smile and a mumbled ‘Thank you’, but Lyra just grinned and pulled her towards the stairs
“Awesome. That means we get to play some tunes while Bonnie is cooking. You brought your violin? No? No problem, you can use mine. This is going to be great.”
Lyra’s speed picked up as she nudged the crystal pony up the stairs and into her room and her rambling blocked out Bon Bon’s protests of Lyra dodging housework, again. However, once she heard the music coming out of the room, Bon Bon just smiled and finished closing the shop before she vanished into the kitchen.
A week later, Lyra watched and listened as Crystal Note made the bow travel over the strings of the violin in her hoof. True to their promise, the two musicians had met to play together a lot during the last few days, either in the park or at the room above the Sweet Shop, often joined by Bon Bon.
Today, Lyra had offered some sheet music to her new friend, mainly to test out what level Crystal Note was playing at. As soon as she got a feel for the tune however, she barely needed the sheets anymore and just finished each piece by heart.
“Like I said before, Crissy. With your talent, you could go pro easily.”
As expected, Crystal Note blushed at just the slightest hint of praise
"I just practice a lot, that's all."
Lyra shook her head and pointed at the sheets of music
"You never played these songs before, right? Those are from my last year at music academy, that's pretty advanced stuff and you just picked it up like that."
Crystal Note stared at the notes and shook her head
"I must have already known it, then."
Lyra grinned and chuckled
"Hey, I’m the first to say that Canterlot Music Academy is really old-fashioned, but I doubt they'd teach us songs that are a thousand years old so you could know them."
Crystal Note smiled faintly as Lyra giggled over her own joke, but the mint unicorn could see it didn't reach her eyes
"I guess not. And I didn't really have anyone to teach me anyways. I never had sheet music when I learned how to play.”
Lyra tilted her head and frowned
“Really? Bummer. Must have been hard to learn without any help.”
Crystal Note sighed and stared at the sheets in front of her
“We didn’t really have any musicians, back then. The king needed miners, smiths and soldiers for his armies, but no singers or violinists.”
Lyra watched the crystal pony carefully. She had been offered tiny fragments of Crystal Note’s past over the last week, narrowly avoiding the emotional turmoil she had to witness on the first day they met. Today however, she didn’t see any signs of Crystal Note losing her light again, so Lyra felt safe enough for another question
“Who taught you how to play, then?”
“My mother. She couldn’t really play that much, but she knew how to hold it at least, from her own mother. I quickly got a hang of it and she knew many songs, so she would sing them to me and then I would repeat them on violin. I started adding new things to the songs I knew and well,” she turned her head to look at her cutie mark, a trio of musical notes, “This one appeared soon after.”
Lyra smiled and glanced at her own mark with her namesake lyre on her flank
“Sounds familiar. I was always interested in music, but when I first picked up a lyre, it just clicked and bingo! Cutie mark.”
The both giggled and when Lyra held out her hoof, Crystal Note bumped with her own
“So you know how to sing as well? I couldn’t carry a tune if my life depended on it.”
Crystal Note chuckled and nodded
“I learned as many songs as I could from everypony.”
At Lyra’s inquisitive stare, the crystal mare blushed and looked away shyly, so Lyra decided not to push it and instead changed topic
“So, what’s your mother doing these days?”
As soon as she said it, Lyra immediately wanted to kick herself. Crystal Note clenched her eyes shut and suddenly, all colour seemed to be sucked out of her as her coat changed into a dirty grey hue
“She, she passed away when I was nine.”
Now Lyra only wanted to kick herself even harder and she stumbled through an apology
“Crissy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
Crystal Note shook her head and took a deep breath
“It’s not your fault. There’s no way you could have known.”
Lyra bit her lip so she wouldn’t blurt out what she thought. She couldn’t have known, but she should have guessed it. She had read about the Crystal Empire and the war. She had felt sick by just reading about everything that had happened, but she only now realized that Crystal Note had to see most of it with her own eyes, when she was still a filly. Add that to the fact she already had one emotional breakdown when her parents were only mentioned and Lyra couldn’t help but feel like an idiot.
She carefully placed her hoof on Crystal Note’s shoulder and the mare turned her head. Their eyes met and the crystal pony managed a little smile when she took in the other’s concerned expression.
Lyra understood right away. Crystal Note appreciated the gesture, but she didn’t want to talk about it. Lyra nodded and put her hoof back on the floor. They sat together silently for a while, Crystal Note looking at the wall with a thousand-mile-stare into nothingness.
Lyra then suddenly smiled again and gently nudged her friend
“I’ve got an idea!”
Crystal Note snapped out of her daze and focused back on the excited unicorn
“Maybe you’re not that confident dealing with an audience on your own, but you managed pretty well when we played together. So we should work with that!”
She jumped back on her hooves and with a glow of her horn she picked up the music sheets and browsed through them, looking for something
“I have a friend, she’s a professional. She plays concert but with others in groups and orchestras. Maybe that's more like your style.”
Crystal Note blinked surprised at the sudden change of pace in her friend, but Lyra could see she was at least intrigued by the idea
“How about we go visit her tomorrow? You can show her what you can do and maybe she’ll even have a gig for you.”
Crystal Note blushed and looked at the sheets Lyra offered to her in the golden magic glow. They seemed to be very advanced, so she whispered
“Maybe, we can just meet for now?”
Lyra got a hold at her enthusiasm and nodded with a sheepish grin. There was no need to rush, after all.
“Sure. Lunch tomorrow sounds good?”
“Um, sure.”
“Great! I’ll let her know and we’ll figure out where to go. Just be here around noon, okay?”
“Okay…”
Lyra kept grinning and let the topic drop for now. Even though the crystal mare didn’t share her inital excitement, she could see in her eyes that she was looking forward to this. Before Crystal Note could lose herself in the ‘What if?’-game again, something both she and Bon Bon had seen her do a lot during the last week, Lyre picked up her lyre and started an easy-going tune.
Crystal Note shared her genuine smile and waited for a cue to join in on her own instrument. Together they played away the rest of the afternoon and any lingering doubts.