//------------------------------// // Hearth's Warming - Part VI // Story: Crystal Note - Where life leads us // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Glass Slipper giggled with Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon as they followed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo through town towards the frozen Ponyville Lake. Diamond Tiara had decided to stay behind for now and spend some time with her mother. Spoiled Rich had surprised them all with fresh cinnamon rolls in the morning and Diamond Tiara had pulled her to the side at that. Glass Slipper didn’t hear what they said, but their talk ended with mother and daughter sharing a long hug, so she was happy. She obviously wasn’t the only one, as they were greeted by loud laughter from all directions. On the frozen lake, Glass Slipper saw many ponies skating and playing and on the edge of the lake, there was a whole parade of snow ponies. Glass Slipper immediately found her two sisters building another snow pony with their Aunt Lyra and their newest Aunt Bon Bon. Crystal Note sat at the side, probably because she wouldn’t even get a chance to do anything with how excited Sweetie Tooth and Velvet Heart were to play in the snow. Sweetie Belle saw that Glass Slipper had found her family and turned towards them, Silver Spoon following along. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo headed on the ice instead. Glass Slipper giggled when Sweetie Tooth saw her. She ran towards her through the snow and lunged into a hug from her big sister. Velvet Heart was not far behind her and Glass Slipper giggled as she was thrown over and they rolled through the soft snow. Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle laughed as they watched and when the twins introduced themselves to Silver Spoon, Crystal Note took the chance to pull her oldest daughter into a hug as well “How was your slumber party, Angel?” Glass Slipper smiled at her pet-name and nuzzled her mother “It was great! We had a lot of fun!” Crystal Note smiled and ran her hoof through Glass Slipper’s mane “That’s wonderful, dear. I hope you got at least a little sleep as well?” Glass Slipper blushed and by that told Crystal Note everything she needed to know “I see. We’ll make sure to get you in bed at a decent time tonight, then.” “Mo-om! I’m not a baby anymore.” Crystal Note giggled and nuzzled the ticklish spot between Glass Slipper’s ears “I know, I know, but you’re still my little Angel.” Glass Slipper laughed when a snowball hit the back of Crystal Note’s head. She turned around and saw Lyra trying to look innocently and Bon Bon grinning at her “Sorry, but that was sappy, even for you.” All the fillies laughed as Crystal Note threw a snowball back at them and Lyra hid behind Bon Bon. Silver Spoon turned to the twins “Hey, how about we go ice skating while the grown-ups act like fillies?” “Yeah! Let’s go!” The twins raced off and onto the ice, which ended in Sweetie Tooth immediately landing on her flank and slithering off, but giggling nonetheless. Silver Spoon followed them and took a few careful, wobbly steps so she wouldn’t lose her balance. Glass Slipper on the other hoof just switched from walking to skating as soon as her first hoof touched the ice, making it look very easy. Sweetie Belle behind her needed far more time to get used to the ice and Silver Spoon watched Glass Slipper skate around like it was nothing at all, just a tad jealous “How are you doing that?” Glass Slipper giggled and skated in a wide circle around her friend “I grew up in the frozen north. What do you think we’re doing there for fun?” She jumped up and spun in the air before she landed perfectly on her hooves again, unable to supress a grin “Okay, now you’re just showing off.” “Just a little.” They giggled and the twins approached them again, not quite as safe on their hooves as their big sister. Glass Slipper slowed down to give them some hints and took them for a few laps around the whole lake, skating around the other groups of ponies. Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle managed to keep up, thanks to Glass Slipper’s advices. When Sweetie Tooth and Velvet Heart finished their second lap, they clearly got a hang of it and tried some more daring manoeuvres on the ice. Glass Slipper grinned and showed off some jumps and spins as well. Many ponies watched her and a few tried to duplicate her moves, but nopony moved as gracefully on the ice as Glass Slipper. She turned around when she heard familiar wind-chime laughter and skated over to her mom. Crystal Note didn’t have any problems on the ice either, even if she stuck to regular skating without any tricks. The twins joined her as well so they could all skate together. They didn’t get too far though, as two ponies Glass Slipper couldn’t recognize at first approached them. One of them was a sky blue pegasus with a mane in all rainbow colours and the other was an earth pony with orange coat and a cowpony hat. Although she had not seen them before, it was not hard to guess who they were, even before their mom greeted them “Rainbow Dash! Applejack! It’s so great to see you again!” “Howdy Crissy!” Before the two could greet each other with a hug, Rainbow Dash blocked them with her wings “Yeah, yeah, friends and family and stuff. But first, we have a score to settle, Crystal Note!” Crystal Note tilted her head when Rainbow Dash smirked and pushed her nose against hers “Last winter, you won the race because I went easy on you. But now, I demand a rematch!” “Rainbow Dash! You’re scaring the little ones.” Sweetie Tooth and Velvet Heart had backed away from Rainbow Dash and now cowered behind their big sister. Glass Slipper forced herself to stand tall against the over-confident pegasus, even if she was intimidated by Rainbow’s brash behaviour. To her defence, Rainbow Dash immediately stopped getting aggressive “Hehe, sorry?” Crystal Note stood beside Glass Slipper and put her hoof on her shoulder while the twins stayed behind them “Why does everything have to be a challenge for you? We just want to have some fun today.” “Hey, races are fun.” Applejack just rolled her eyes “Not if you’re all sour loser, Dash.” “Ha! I never lose!” “But didn’t you just say you lost last year?” Rainbow Dash glared at the filly who had dared to chime in and Velvet Heart hid back behind her mother “I said I went easy on her.” “Sure you did, Dashie.” Applejack sighed and stepped between the two mares “How about we just try again from the start?” “As long as Rainbow Dash apologizes to the girls, I can agree on that.” Crystal Note stayed calm, but Glass Slipper knew she was boiling behind that. They both didn’t like when the Velvet Heart or Sweetie Tooth got scared, but Crystal Note had a surprisingly short fuse when it came to that, compared to her usual patience. Rainbow Dash seemed to know she messed up and rubbed the back of her head, even if she didn’t look at Crystal Note “I’m sorry I came out a little too strong here. I promise I’ll make up for it.” Applejack glanced between her and Crystal Note. Finally she lay her hoof over Crystal Note’s shoulders “I’ll make sure she keeps that promise. Apples gotta stick together, after all.” Crystal Note didn’t look very appeased yet, but Glass Slipper knew exactly what to do. She slipped between Applejack and her mom, so Applejack’s hoof would lay on her back as well “Thanks Aunt Applejack!” Glass Slipper giggled at her surprised expression but then smiled along when Applejack did “Nice to finally meet you, Glass Slipper. And you two as well.” The twins finally came out of hiding and flanked her honorary aunt with timid smiles “You’re Aunt Applejack?” “I sure am, Sugarcube. And you ought to be Sweetie Tooth, right?” “Uh-huh.” Glass Slipper winked to her mother who finally calmed down, then to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus mouthed something like ‘I owe you’ to her, but she wasn’t done pushing her luck it seems “So, about that race…” “Augh, Rainbow Dash. You should stop while you are ahead.” A few more ponies who surrounded them now listened in and giggled “Aw, come on, what’s wrong with a little friendly competition? First to finish three laps around the lake wins!” “Fine, but only so you will stop bugging me about it.” Crystal Note rolled her eyes and her voice was more playful than really annoyed this time. “I’m in!” Glass Slipper beamed at Rainbow Dash, and quickly more ponies called out “Me too!” “I’ll race!” “YEAH!” In the end, about two dozen ponies joined Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Crystal Note and Glass Slipper, including Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle took the twins back to the shore of the lake, where a crowd had already gathered “Fillies and Gentlecolts! Welcome to the twentieth annual Ponyville Ice-Skating Grand Prix!” Seemingly out of nowhere, a pink mare with cotton candy mane and a megaphone called out to the ponies, like a professional announcer of some kind. While Glass Slipper was utterly confused, the other ponies of town just giggled and cheered along. Only Applejack tried to say something “Um, Pinkie Pie, you know this is only the second time we race, not twenty?” “But twenty sounds like ten times more fun than two!” The ponies from the audience clapped and cheered, so Applejack just rolled her eyes “Whatever you say, Pinkie.” “I say: Let’s get this race started! Every racer to the finish line!” Glass Slipper turned around and suddenly, there were two flag posts on the ice and black and white chequered banner spread between them. She was sure that there had been no such thing just a second earlier, but when she looked at the others, they just shrugged “That’s Pinkie Pie for you. Best just go with it and not think about it too hard.” The ponies gathered at the line and Pinkie Pie was there with her megaphone “Rules are simple: First pony who finishes three laps wins. No wings, no magic and no knocking ponies over on purpose. Oh, and no habanero muffins on the track!” The ponies laughed even when Pinkie Pie kept a straight face “What, those things can be dangerous when you don’t know how to deal with them.” Glass Slipper laughed along and got into position, between her mom and Applejack. Pinkie Pie checked that everypony was in line and then started a countdown “Ready? Set!” Every racer leaned forward to get a good start, except for Glass Slipper and Crystal Note who just crouched down a little. “GO!” Glass Slipper heard the blast of a canon and saw confetti raining down, but she didn’t let herself get distracted and bolted off. She used quick and short strokes of her hooves to quickly build up some speed. Next to her, some ponies just started actual running on the ice and fell over almost instantly, others wobbled as they tried to get in motion. So far, only Rainbow Dash and Crystal Note got a similar start as Glass Slipper, though Apple Bloom and her big sister weren’t far behind. Rainbow Dash kicked her legs as fast as she could against the ice, but she didn’t cover much ground. Next to her, Crystal Note went ahead with long, wide swipes of her hooves, so it looked really easy compared to Rainbow’s frantic kicking. Glass Slipper grinned and did the same as her mom, quickly taking the second place only because Crystal Note was a few inches ahead from her longer legs. They reached the first turn and Crystal Note leaned far to her side. She effortlessly shuffled all four hooves over another and made the turn without losing any speed, then went back to her long strides as soon as the track got straight again. Glass Slipper grinned and did the same, but she leaned a little further and gained some on her mom, so they were almost side-by-side. Rainbow Dash had picked up on their technique by now and managed to not fall further behind, but Applejack was now gaining on her as well. Glass Slipper grinned when she heard the cheering from all the ponies around the track and picked up her speed a little more. When they reached the second turn, she leaned so far to the left that her shoulder almost touched the ice. Crystal Note had to let her take the inner line and Glass Slipper entered the finishing straight as first. She heard the calls from Sweetie Tooth and Velvet Heart as she skated over the finish line for the first time, but she saw that Crystal Note had used her length advantage to catch up. She giggled and pulled ahead again when they reached the turn again. Rainbow Dash was on their tails, her athletic body helping her to make up for her lack in technique. The three of them were almost a full turn ahead of everypony else when they reached the finishing straight again. They caught up on some of the slower ponies by now, who skated out of the way to let them pass, no hard feelings. Crystal Note was in front again with Rainbow Dash in second when they reached the main field of racers. Glass Slipper heard a yell and in front of them, a pony lost his balance and fell over, pulling two others down on the ice with him. The ponies next to them stumbled along and blocked most of the track. Crystal Note dodged the bulk of ponies by skating towards the edge of the lake, but that meant she had to go a greater distance. Rainbow Dash went for the inner line, but she also had to slow down so she wouldn't hit anypony. Glass Slipper grinned and saw her chance. She headed straight into the bulk and gracefully leaned from side to side, slithering between the ponies in every way she could while barely slowing down. At the end, she reared up and only skated on her rear hooves for a few seconds, making it even easier to dodge the others. When she left the bulk again, she was two pony lengths in lead and took the last turn at full speed. She dared to look behind her and saw that Crystal Note had managed to catch up on Rainbow Dash at the end of the turn again, but she grinned as there was no way they could catch up on her anymore. She still picked up her speed once more as she approached the cheering crowd. Just before she reached the finish line, she reared up again so she would only skate on her right rear hoof, her left rear hoof stretched behind her as she leaned forward and her fore hooves spread as well in a classic ballet pose. Like that, she slithered over the finish line. The ponies cheered even louder and Pinkie Pie screamed into her megaphone. She turned around and just drifted backwards from her momentum, so she could watch Rainbow Dash and Crystal Note pass the finish line nearly at the same time. From her perspective, it looked like Crystal Note was slightly ahead, but Pinkie Pie announced Rainbow Dash as second, so she cheered along with the others. Glass Slipper heard somepony call her name, then she crashed backwards into a big pile of snow. Her mom quickly skated towards her to see if she was okay, but Glass Slipper just laughed and pulled her into the snow as well. Rainbow Dash seemed to have the same idea and dived right after them, landing square on both of them. They all laughed together, until out of nowhere Pinkie Pie appeared again with a loud screech that echoed over the lake “SNOWBALL FIGHT!” Glass Slipper gasped when Pinkie Pie landed on her and started forming snowballs. Before she could throw the first, several already flew towards her and hit her squarely. Rainbow Dash flew upwards to safety and Glass Slipper jumped over the snow pile to get cover. Crystal Note was not as lucky, since Pinkie Pie pulled her in front of her for cover as the second salve of snowballs came flying and hit her all over. Glass Slipper laughed so hard when she saw her mom’s surprised expression that she ended up falling back into the snow. The snowball fight lasted for hours and it seemed that the whole town was taking part. Alliances formed quickly and some improvised snow forts were set up. Ponies squealed as they ran from cover to cover or showered each other with snowballs. The 'no wings, no magic'-rule didn't hold for too long this time, but a common sense on fairness made everypony team up on Starlight Glimmer when she threw dozens of snowballs in every direction at once with her magic. Once the unicorn mare felt she was sufficiently wet and cold, she teleported to safety and helped Sweetie Tooth and Velvet Heart defend their fort, using her hooves this time. Glass Slipper in the meantime teamed up with some pegasi and earth ponies and tried to chase down every pony who was brave enough to head into the open, which meant that she was also constantly in crossfire from all sides. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so cold but laughed so hard at the same time. Way past noon, Pinkie Pie finally called for a peace summit and Princess Twilight as the representative of Ponyville went into negotiations. They agreed on hot chocolate and cupcakes for everypony, and the war ended peacefully. Glass Slipper looked around and found nopony she knew nearby. Unsure on what to do, she watched everypony from a distance. She saw Velvet Heart riding on Starlight Glimmer's back towards the biggest bulk of ponies. Sweetie Tooth was already there with Bon Bon and helped her aunt hand out cups of hot chocolate to everypony. They both looked so happy. Suddenly, Glass Slipper felt cold, but it wasn't from the snow. She had not seen her sisters this happy since... since before... when... she couldn't even finish the thought and it dropped into her stomach like a lump of ice. She shivered and she was sure she felt the brightness fade from her coat. A gentle touch on her shoulder and looked up with a start. Only to find Applejack next to her with a warm smile "You look a little lost there, Sugarcube. Everything alright?" Glass Slipper nodded on instinct, but it was not enough to convince the mare "I think I know what's going on here." Glass Slipper glanced up and Applejack was still smiling, but it was a forced smile this time, like in reality, she felt anything but smiling. Just like Glass Slipper felt right now. "You lost yourself in the spur of the moment and you didn't think about them for a while. But then it just hit you out of nowhere. And now you're not sure how to deal with it." Glass Slipper blinked surprised, but she nodded and Applejack still had that same sad but understanding smile "I know how that feels. Better than you might expect. So let me tell you something my Granny told me when I was your age." Applejack sat down next to her and put her hoof around her shoulders "It's okay to forget for a while. You're not a bad pony for not thinking about your parents every single minute of the day." Glass Slipper’s ears flopped down, but Applejack dropped her trademark hat on Glass Slipper’s head before she could say anything “You shouldn’t dwell on the past if it means missing out on what’s happening around you, Sugarcube. Right now, you’re happy and everypony around you is happy as well. I’m sure your parents would love to see you smile a lot more than just that.” Glass Slipper smiled softly and adjusted the hat slightly as she looked up to her aunt “Thank you, Auntie Applejack.” “Anytime, Sugarcube. Now how about we get us one of them hot chocolates and if you want, you can tell me all about them. Just as soon as I make sure you won’t start crying, I’d never hear the end of from your Mama if that’d happened.” Glass Slipper could even giggle again as she followed the taller mare towards the biggest group of ponies “Auntie Applejack? I was wondering, how did you and Mom get to know each other?” “Well shucks, don’t tell me your Mama never told you? Why, you’re part of the Apple family and you don’t even know how!” Glass Slipper smiled brightly when she realized that Applejack had called her ‘family’ so readily. With a cup of hot chocolate, she followed the mare to a quiet corner on town square and listened as Applejack told her how Crystal Note had first arrived in Ponyville during fall. Not too long and Sweetie Tooth and Velvet Heart sat beside her, enraptured by the stories from their newest aunt.