//------------------------------//
// Home alone - Part III 
// Story: Crystal Note - Where life leads us 
// by TalkingToMyself 
//------------------------------//

Crystal Note joined the few ponies on the balcony just outside the court hall. Princess Celestia had just announced a break and instead of heading to get a snack like most of the others, some fresh air was just what Crystal Note needed right now.

She smiled when Lady Ramonia waved her over and took the spot next to the middle-aged earth pony mare. Unlike many other nobles, Lady Ramonia had not received her title through heritage, but rather earned it through hard work and dedication. Unsurprisingly, she and Crystal Note got along swimmingly 
“We’re making good progress today, don’t you think?”
“Yes Milady. It’s very refreshing after all the hesitation we saw yesterday.”
The small group of ponies nodded in agreement
“This is a big change, indeed, for Canterlot and for the Crystal Empire. Speaking of change”, the Lady winked to Crystal Note, “I’ve heard you had a lot of changes as well recently, my dear. You’ve finally given up your small apartment and moved into a manor, or so I’m told.”
Crystal Note blushed with a smile and shook her head
“I wouldn’t call it a manor, really. It’s about as big as a typical Canterlot townhouse I’d say.”
A unicorn stallion who had also joined the group fell into a sly smile
“I guess you can’t put on Canterlot standards on a smallish Crystal Empire. The Crystal Palace is very impressive, I admit, but the other houses seemed rather small.”
Crystal Note just giggled and nodded in agreement
“Well, you won’t hear me complain on that. I’ve already have my hooves full keeping the house clean with three little rascals, I could never keep up if it was any bigger.”

The ponies laughed, Lady Ramonia wholeheartedly but some others merely chuckled politely
“That’s when you should hire a maid or a housekeeper at last.”
Just as the stallion said that, a member of the palace arrived with a large tray to offer a drink to everypony. While the unicorn stallion just picked up a glass without even acknowledging the earth pony, Crystal Note and several others smiled or thanked the mare. Crystal Note held the glass in her hoof instead of using her horn and allowed herself a grin as she utterly confused every unicorn who noticed this. Casually, she continued with the conversation
“My sister used to work as a maid, but I’m not sure she could help me if I asked her. She’s rather busy these days.”
“Oh? Busy with what, if I may ask?”
Crystal Note smirked gently
“Well, she’s the head of the Crystal Council and a personal advisor of Princess Cadance. There’s always something to do for her.”
The stallion coughed as his drink went down the wrong way, and he was not the only one
“That is, um… quite an accomplishment for a simple maid. How very fortunate for Princess Cadance to have servants like her.”
Lady Ramonia, the only noble without a horn of the little group, narrowed her eyes and fixed him with a challenging glare
“Clearly you read the same papers as we all did. The pony who wrote them has a good head on her shoulders. Princess Cadance does well to trust her advice. If that pony was a servant, I’d call it a terrible waste.”
The unicorn was quick to nod and agree
“Of course! However, it surprises me that a maid can reach such a high position. Usually, only the highest nobles are named as councillors.”

Crystal Note’s expression remained neutral
“The Crystal Council is chosen by election, Sir. We nominated the ponies we saw best fit for representing the needs of every pony in the Crystal Empire. It’s not important if that pony is a miner, a soldier, a trader or anything else. Those who earned the trust of the ponies get voted, simple as that.”
The unicorn noble couldn’t quite suppress a sly smirk, not hiding the sarcasm in his voice
“How very liberal of you. However, there is a reason Canterlot has set its fate into the hooves of the old houses with their long lineage and respectful traditions.”
Again, Lady Ramonia frowned but this time, another unicorn quipped in
“Times have changed, though. There are four ruling princesses now instead of only one. Canterlot may still be the capital of Equestria, but other cities have caught up or even overtaken Canterlot in certain aspects already. The old linages have watered down over generations and new families have taken their places. Traditions are fine and well, but we limit ourselves if we just blindly cling on the past.”

Most of the ponies in their little group nodded
“This new alliance with the Crystal Empire offers great chances for the future of Canterlot. Even Prince Blueblood realized this.”
A few smiled and giggled and a mare turned to Crystal Note
“Is it true the councillor stared Blueblood into silence when the prince visited the Crystal Empire a few months ago?”
Crystal Note hid her giggle behind her hoof
“It is hard to be intimidated by a pony like Prince Blueblood when you have survived King Sombra and his dark magic for many years.”
The ponies chuckled, although it sounded rather tense from some of the unicorn nobles.

The discussion travelled to lighter topics and Crystal Note took the chance to watch the other groups that had found together. Princess Luna stood surrounded by the largest number of ponies and discussed passionately with them. She made no secret that she supported a deepening of the relations with the Crystal Empire in the north and her presence today helped clear out many concerns. On the other side of the room, Crystal Note saw Prince Blueblood talked to a few ponies who were still sceptic. Princess Celestia had already returned to her seat and therefore only talked to one pony at a time when they approached her. 
Overall, she was confident that the court would come to a conclusion shortly. Rose Quartz’ propositions were all reasonable and none of the demands was out of place. Hopefully that meant she could return home soon and see her three fillies again.





Crystal Note dashed through the busy streets down from the castle as fast as she could. She narrowly avoided running into some ponies as she cut some corners to reach the station in time.
The court had taken longer to conclude as she had hoped, mostly because of some nearly endless speeches when everything had been decided already. As soon as it was polite to leave, Crystal Note had grabbed her things and started running. If she was fast enough, she could still catch the train to the Crystal Empire.

Finally, she reached the main street and could already see the station in some distance. She raced up the last fleet of stairs to the right track and sighed in relief when she could see the train
“Phew, just in time! Now all I have to do is… wait, no!”
She doubled her speed, but the train was already moving, almost tauntingly slow. By the time she reached it, it was already halfway out the station and all doors firmly locked
“No, wait please! I need to get on! Please!”
It was no use, of course. She slammed her hooves against the doors, but they stayed shut, then the train picked up speed and was out of reach. Crystal Note stared after it until it was out of sight.
“No… I was too late. Too late!”
She couldn’t hold back a desperate sob that broke out of her as she slumped down to her haunches
“But I promised…”

“Miss? Are you alright, Miss? You’ve been sitting here for five minutes now and… are you crying?”
Crystal Note turned her head towards the pegasus mare who had placed a hoof on her shoulder. She noticed her worried expression and rubbed her hoof over her eyes
“Yes, I’m okay, thank you. I just… missed my train.”
“Well that must’ve been one mighty important train, huh?”
The mare reached out to help Crystal Note back on her hooves and carefully guided her away from the tracks
“You look like somepony just kicked your puppy.”
Crystal Note looked down herself and noticed her grey coat and the lack of light. She sighed and shook her head
“It’s silly, really. I just missed my train. There will be another one tomorrow, right? I have no reason to fall apart because of it.”
“Unless, you had somepony very important waiting for you back home.”
Crystal Note looked up surprised
“How do you know?”
“Eh, let’s just say I’ve seen that look before. So, who is it? Maybe your coltfriend?”
The pegasus waggled her eyebrows while smirking at Crystal Note, who couldn’t help but giggle
“No, nothing like that. But my three fillies… I promised I’d be back soon, but now I have to break my promise.”
“Ah, now I get it. No wonder you look like a week of rainy weather.”

Crystal Note sat down with her head hung low, but the pegasus mare just sat next to her with a reassuring expression
“They’ll be fine, you’ll see. It’s always hard leaving somepony for the first time, especially as a parent.”
Again, Crystal Note could only look surprised at the mare
“How do you know it’s the first time?”
“Eh, I’m just good at noticing things. Name’s Eagle Eye.”
She reached out her hoof and Crystal Note noticed that her cutie mark was a magnifying glass. She smiled and shook the offered hoof
“Nice to meet you. I’m Crystal Note.”
“Oh, I know that.”
This time, the mare at least had the decency to blush
“I, um, I’m a fan. Been to your concerts and stuff.”
She smiled sheepishly and rubbed her hoof, but Crystal Note just smiled back
“It’s always nice to meet somepony who appreciates my songs. Thank you, Eagle Eye.”
“You’re welcome. You know, this is a little odd maybe, but could I get your autograph?”
Crystal Note giggled as Eagle Eye twitched nervously and produced a pen and some paper out of her saddlebag. She wrote down a few lines for the mare, along with her signature, and handed it to the baffled mare
“Here you are.”
“Wow. Thanks! Um…”
Crystal Note tilted her head when the pegasus still shifted uneasily in her seat
“Do you need something else?”
“Nonono, it’s just… if you need to get to Colthaven that badly, why don’t you just take the express train for Manehatten? It would be faster than the train you missed, even.”
“Why do you think I would want to go Colthaven?”

Eagle Eye blinked in confusion
“But, didn’t you just try to reach that train?”
“The train to the Crystal Empire, yes.”
“Crystal Empire… oh! Did you hear the announcement?”
Now Crystal Note shook her head confused
“I didn’t hear anything. Did something happen?”
“Well, apparently there’s been a change of plans. The train won’t leave from this track, but on a different one today. Um, let’s see…”
Eagle Eye lifted up to get a better view and scanned the station
“This one! Over there!”
Just as she called out and pointed to a track at the other end of the station, Crystal Note heard a loud voice over the noise
“Last chance boarding for the Crystal Empire, please clear the doors now!”
“No! Wait! Please!”
Crystal Note grabbed her saddlebag and ran towards the train that was about to leave
“Wait for me! I’ll miss my train, again!”
Luckily, the other ponies heard her and jumped out of the way as she passed through, but when she reached the train, all the doors were closed already, except for one.
At the end of the train, one of the conductors still held his door open and Eagle Eye hovered in front of him, asking him to wait just another minute.
“Wait for me, please!”
Crystal Note shouted again, and the two ponies noticed her. Eagle Eye laughed when she leapt right through the open door and Crystal Note turned around just in time to wave as the train set into motion
“Goodbye Eagle Eye! Thank you so much!”
“Bye Crystal Note! Say hi to your fillies from me!”
“Of course. If you ever visit the Crystal Empire, come and visit us!”
“Will do!”
Crystal Note smiled and waved as the door closed. With a sigh of relief, she finally calmed down and started looking for an empty seat.