//------------------------------//
// Glass Slipper - Dancer - Part V 
// Story: Crystal Note - Where life leads us 
// by TalkingToMyself 
//------------------------------//

“No. Absolutely not.”
“But why not?”
“Because it’s reckless and dangerous.”
“How is this dangerous?”
Glass Slipper was close to shouting and paced through the living room
“It’s my special talent and my greatest passion.”
“I know, Glass Slipper, but that does not make this plan of yours any better.”
“I’m just trying to follow my dream! I want to be a professional dancer and I want to start right away!”
Crystal Note sighed deeply and closed her eyes, trying to keep her patience
“Glass Slipper, you’re too young to leave your home and go for a career in Equestria.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you did? Why was it right for you, but not for me?”

Crystal Note stared at her oldest daughter
“Glass Slipper, it was not right for me to do so.”
“Yeah, it turned out so bad for you. I mean you’re only famous and earn a living from following your passion.”
“Glass Slipper, it’s not as simple as you put it.”
She stood up and blocked the filly’s path, forcing her to look at her
“Listen, when I left the Crystal Empire, it was not for living my dream, it was a flight out of desperation. And I was extremely, extremely lucky to run in kind and amazing ponies who took me in and supported me.”
“So? I’ll take my chances.”
“You will most definitely not. This is your future you’re talking about, it’s not a game. You need to take this seriously.
“I am! I seriously want to be a dancer! I don’t need any of my classes at school to do so, so why waste precious time?”
“Glass Slipper, you will not gamble away your future in such a way.”
“You’re one to talk! You never went to school at all!”
“And I paid the price for that.”
“You earned a living from playing your music! How is that bad?”

Crystal Note laughed bitterly and shook her head
“Is that really what you think? Glass Slipper, when I started travelling I had nothing but my violin. In Ponyville, I would take any job I could to earn a train ticket. I did farm work, gardening, housework, you name it. All while practicing very hard each day.”
“I can do that too!”
“You will not. You will not drop out of school and take such a risk.”
“And why not? I don't need science or history if I get a job in Manehatten!”
Crystal Note shook her head with a frown
“So you want to go to Manehatten?”
“Yes! That's where you got famous as well, right?”

Crystal Note sighed deeply
“I didn't just go to Manehatten and suddenly, I was rich and famous.”
“I know that! I'm willing to work hard! I really, really want to do this.”
“No. I won’t allow it, Glass Slipper
“You won’t allow it? You have no right!”
Glass Slipper’s face turned into a grimace of rage as she yelled at the top of your voice
“You’re not my mother!”

Crystal Note recoiled as if she had taken a blow to her face. Her eyes clenched shut and her coat faded into a dull grey. Glass Slipper froze in panic when she saw the mare’s pain and realized what she had said. Crystal Note didn’t look at her and just kept her eyes tightly shut, so she didn’t see how the filly took multiple attempts to say something
“I… I didn’t mean it.”
“Yes you did.”

Glass Slipper didn't reply. She couldn't.
“I think it's best you go to your room now. You should finish your homework, Glass Slipper.”
The filly nodded and walked towards the stairs. She turned around but Crystal Note was still looking away with her eyes shut
“I'm sorry.”
Crystal Note didn't move, no matter how long Glass Slipper waited. At some point, she left.

A few hours later, she heard voices downstairs, somepony calling out, then hoofsteps up the stairs to her room. Velvet Heart poked her head inside without knocking
“Where's Mom?”
Glass Slipper couldn't stop crying.





Glass Slipper sat at the fireplace, on Crystal Note’s usual spot. There was no fire burning and all she was staring at was black ashes. Velvet Heart had screamed at her, so loud that Sweetie Tooth started bawling. She had run off in tears and Velvet Heart right after her. Rose Quartz next door had noticed and ushered the twins into her home before they got too far. Glass Slipper wondered if she lost the right to call the mare ‘Auntie Pinky’ ever again.

She had fed Cotton Ball when the cat had announced she was hungry. At least one family member she had not chased away yet. Even so, Cotton Ball had scurried off soon after, probably searching for Velvet Heart.
Usually, Glass Slipper cherished the times when she had the house all for herself, no sisters to bother her and no mother to remind her of homework or chores. Right now, she would have given everything for one of them to brag into the living room.

She tried to remember the last time she had felt so alone. It was… almost two years ago. When her parents had that terrible accident. Usually, just thinking about that made her cry, but she had done little else for the last hours, so now she only stared ahead.

She blinked when somepony suddenly covered her with a blanket
“Glass Slipper, you shouldn’t sit here in the cold. You could get ill.”
She hurried up on her hooves and turned towards the voice
“Mom?”
Crystal Note stood next to her, but something was different. For once, she didn't smile at all. Her coat was back to normal, but her eyes were still dull and lacking their usual warmth. Crystal Note sighed and picked up the blanket again to put it over Glass Slipper’s shoulders
“You sound so surprised.”
“I… I thought you had left.”
“And never come back? Glass Slipper, I might be angry, but I won’t leave you just because of that.”

Glass Slipper stared at the mare with open relief, but Crystal Note kept glaring
“And don’t fool yourself, I’m still angry. I still think it’s a terrible idea.”
Glass Slipped slumped back on the floor and let her head hang down, so she didn’t notice that Crystal Note made the few steps to close any distance between them
“But, I should have explained myself better.”
She gently lifted the filly’s head with her hoof and both eyes met with a hopeful smile.

Glass Slipper stayed silent for now and watched as Crystal Note set up some logs of wood in the empty fireplace. A quick spell later and a fire was burning and brought back light and warmth to the room. Crystal Note sat down in front of the fire and Glass Slipper scooted closer to her as she realized how cold the room had become.

She tentatively leaned against the mare and Crystal Note shifted a little to support her weight. Glass Slipper smiled and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder the moment a hoof wrapped around her. They stayed like this for a while, just waiting for the warmth of the fire to reach them.

Crystal Note was again the first to break the silence
“Glass Slipper, I don’t have anything against your plan to become a dancer.”
The filly blinked surprised and waited for the inevitable 'but' to follow
“But, I don’t think it’s right to drop out of school to pursuit your dream.”
Glass Slipper didn’t want to get angry again. If she was honest, she didn’t want to talk about it at all right now. But she knew that she had to if she ever wanted to look at Crystal Note again without feeling guilty
“And why not?”
Her voice had enough teenage rebellion in it to sound annoyed, but not enough fire to sound like a challenge. She more felt her mother sigh than she heard it
“Because it might not work out as well as you think.”
Glass Slipper tensed up and sucked in her breath between her teeth
“You think I’m not good enough.”
“No. I think you are a wonderful artist, Glass Slipper, ever since the first time I’ve seen you dance. I’ve never seen anypony who could match your passion on the dancefloor.”
“Then why?”
“Because you said you want to go to Manehatten.”

Crystal Note gently squeezed her shoulder as she continued
“Glass Slipper, Manehatten is not just any city. It’s the capital of show business. Ponies from all of Equestria go there to make a name for themselves as actors, musicians, singers or dancers. You can’t just be very talented to succeed there, you have to be simply the best.”
“You made it.”
Crystal Note sighed again
“I was lucky, Glass Slipper. You wouldn’t believe how lucky. I was a crystal pony musician when some influential ponies decided to set up a musical about the Crystal Empire. A good friend mentioned my name to them and they listened to him. And when they invited me, I could show them I was the pony they needed to make their work special. Whatever talent I have, Glass Slipper, it only helped me at the very end of things.”

Glass Slipper pressed her eyes closed. The way Crystal Note explained it sounded hopeless from the get-go, and she wouldn’t accept that
“I can be lucky too.”
“You can.”
Crystal Note nodded and rubbed her back very gently
“And you know that’s what I wish for you from the bottom of my heart. But you’ll have it a lot harder than me, Angel.”
Glass Slipper would usually smile whenever her mom used her pet-name, but not tonight. Crystal Note' voice was heavy when she tried to explain

“I’ve had it easy as a songwriter, compared to the vocalists and musicians. I can work on my own and before they even start, I can take my time. A song that doesn’t work out at first might turn into a masterpiece years later. But the vocalists and musicians didn’t have as much freedom. They had to deal with my style and they had to make it work the way I wanted it. Do you know how many ponies who came to our rehearsals we had to send away again, because they didn’t make the cut? Some days, we wouldn’t pick a single pony to join us. Not because they were not talented, not because they didn’t have enough passion or because they wouldn’t work hard enough. Some of those ponies were the best singers I have ever heard, but they just didn’t match the style we wanted.”

Glass Slipper closed her eyes and sighed, but it sounded dangerously like a sob
“So you say there is no chance for me! That I should just stay in the Crystal Empire forever and do whatever. I mean, I can still dance as a hobby, right?”
“No, Glass Slipper. That would be a terrible waste of your talent. I think you should be a dancer.”
“Then why don’t you want me to go for it?”
“Oh, Angel”
Glass Slipper’s frown softened a little when she felt the soft nuzzle from her mother
“I just want you to happy with the path you chose, but the one you have in mind is so risky. If you go to Manehatten, you’ll have the most competition on every step of your way. If your dancing style doesn’t match the flavour of the season, you could stumble before you even get a good start. I know you’re a hard worker, but what if something happens, maybe you’ll break a leg during practice or…”
“Mom!”
Glass Slipper batted towards Crystal Note when she wouldn’t stop rambling
“You just worry too much.”
“I’m your mom, Glass Slipper. That’s my job.”
This time, Glass Slipper did smile and she nuzzled her mom’s neck softly when Crystal Note planted a kiss on top of her head.

Glass Slipper knew she couldn’t take hearing more of her mom’s worries anymore, so she tried something else
“If you were in my place, what would you do?”
“Honestly? If I was fourteen again, I probably would have already run away weeks ago.”
The teenage filly turned towards her mother with her jaw on the floor and Crystal Note just giggled
“Surprised? You heard the stories, how much of a troublemaker I was at your age.”
She sighed deeply before she could continue
“We had to grow up so fast back then. We had to take any chance we had, because we might not get another one anytime.”
The hoof around her shoulder squeezed gently
“But Glass Slipper, you have time. You have all the chances. You don’t have to rush this, you can be patient and be clever with your future.”
“How?”

Crystal Note sighed
“I don’t have a straight answer for that. I want you to finish your classes at the very least. It’s less than two more years now, it would be a waste to throw this all away.”
“Okay. Let’s say I wait another year and a half. What then?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go to Manehatten right away. There are academies and colleges all over Equestria. Your Aunt Lyra went to Canterlot Music Academy, maybe that would be a good start.”
“I don’t have to learn how to dance.”
“I never doubted that. But if you had a diploma that confirms this, you’ll have it easier to convince other ponies as well.”
Glass Slipper rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh
“I guess. But that sounds so boring!”
Crystal Note leaned in for another nuzzle
“Think of it that way, Glass Slipper: You’d be with other dancers who might be able to teach you a thing or too and you might run into ponies who can help you get a job later on.”
Glass Slipper just sighed again
“Mom, you even make dancing sound boring. Almost.”
“Good. That means I’m doing something right here.”

Glass Slipper giggled along with Crystal Note and leaned a little more against the mare. Crystal Note’s hoof was still wrapped around her shoulders and Glass Slipper closed her eyes as she tucked her head gingerly under the mare’s chin. They stayed like this for a couple of minutes when nopony said anything. 

This time, Glass Slipper started talking
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was wrong.”
“Oh, Angel. You weren’t wrong, you were just passionate about the thing you love. I should have been more understanding. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“Stop!”
Glass Slipper pulled away so she could sit up and look at Crystal Note
“I was wrong! I shouldn’t have thought you wouldn’t understand. I should have realized you only get angry when you’re worried. And I should have remembered you always supported me, since the first day we met.”
She sniffled softly and threw herself against Crystal Note’s chest
“Because you’re my mom. And I love you.”

Just as she hoped, she felt hooves wrap around her and pull her close as she tucked her head in again and pressed against her mother. She sobbed and tears started running down her cheeks
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
“Shh, Angel. I love you too. Nothing in the world will ever change that.”
“Mom!”
Glass Slipper kept crying for long time, after she had thought she had lost her mother again and after arguing so much. Her mom kept her close and when the fire died down again, she wrapped the blanket around both of them to keep her warm, until they both felt ready to get up again.