Melodies of Friendship

by TalkingToMyself

Chapter 7

Inside the ball hall, Crystal Note found the Grand Galloping Gala surprisingly dull. Ponies stood together taking our sat around smallish tables, all dressed up in fancy clothes, but only a few seemed really happy to be here. Most of them only had polite smiles.

At certain points, as if on some hidden cue Crystal Note couldn’t see, some ponies got up and switched from one little group to the next. It looked like a weird choreography to her, but stiff and mechanical, like gears in a machine.

Lyra, Bon Bon and Octavia didn't look like they enjoyed themselves much more either. However, Lyra wouldn't be Lyra if she would let herself dragged down by this for very long. After a quick raid at the buffet, which Crystal Note accidentally called snack table, much to the displeasure of some unicorns who stood by, the little group found a table to sit down near the dance floor.

Lyra and Bon Bon started their usual banter about the quality of the food, but it soon ended up with them just being Lyra and Bon Bon. Crystal Note had seen this before, but it couldn't stop her from smiling each time. They were just so Lyra and Bon Bon, even in the middle of a fancy gala both of them were just so happy to be in each other's company. Octavia on the other hoof watched the string orchestra playing for the dancers, but she looked very appalled somehow
"Ugh, everything they play is... standard. Dreadfully so. There is no variation in their play whatsoever, no passion at all. Not that many of the crowd would even notice it, mind you."
Crystal Note giggled and smiled
"Well, at least they're dancing."

The dance floor was crammed with ponies in fact. They moved in time with the music in well-measured and calculated motions, but Crystal Note wondered if it counted as dancing when not all of them looked like they had fun with it.
Lyra had noticed as well and shook her head
"You call that dancing, Crissy? You have no idea."
She hopped on her hooves and fell into a deep formal bow before Bon Bon
"May I have this dance, Milady?"
Bon Bon chuckled shyly and blushed
"Lyra, you know I have no clue how to dance to something like that."
"So what? Afraid some of those stuck up nobles you'll never see again will call you out for it?"

Bon Bon giggled even more
"Oh, imagine the looks on their faces. Very well then, Milady. Lead on."
Lyra smiled and took Bonnie's hoof as she led them into the middle of the dance floor.

With their hooves around another, they danced as one and completely attuned to another. They only had eyes for each other as Lyra's playfulness and Bon Bon's grace mixed perfectly into a quick-paced dance. Only, it didn't match the soporific music from the orchestra too well. Bon Bon and Lyra didn't care and Crystal Note laughed as the ponies around them jumped out of the way to make room for their lively dance.

Luckily, Octavia had meanwhile managed to get the attention from some ponies of the orchestra and pointed towards the dancers. Almost immediately, the music changed into a more fitting piece and more ponies were lured to the dance floor by Lyra's and Bon Bon's example. Crystal Note grinned and Octavia hid a very un-ladylike giggle when some of the nobleponies left the dance floor, huffing in annoyance.

"Well, well, I'd never thought I'd see you crash a party like that, Tavi."
Crystal Note froze momentarily when she heard an unfamiliar voice very close to her, but Octavia only rolled her eyes, albeit with a smile. She didn't even turn around as she answered
"And I would have never expected to see you at a formal ball like this. And of course, you're late as usual."
"Hey, the party starts when I arrive, never the other way around."

Crystal Note turned her head to look at the pony who seemed so familiar with Octavia that she even called her 'Tavi', a nickname Crystal Note had only heard from Lyra until now. Next to them, she saw a unicorn mare with a very pale yellow coat that looked almost white in the lights of the ballroom. She had a two-toned mane and tail of blue and sea green and her eyes were hidden behind larges shades with purple glasses. She was also not wearing a dress like the other ponies at the Gala, instead she had a pair of headphones hanging around her neck. Her cutie mark was two bridged eight-notes and she had a confident smile on her face, despite the fact that she looked out of place at the Gala, even to Crystal Note.

The mare lifted her shades for a moment to wink at Crystal Note with bright purple eyes, then she sat down next to Octavia, so close that their flanks even touched. Octavia didn't seem to mind at all, she even leaned a little towards the unicorn and her lips curled into a smile as well
"So, how was Manehatten, Vinyl?"
"My kind of city, Tavi. The city that never sleeps. I only came back because I missed you."
Octavia had the grace to blush as she batted her hoof towards her
"Oh, you could have fooled me. But I know what keeps you coming back."

The two of them seemed to have forgotten everything around them as soon as they started talking, even Crystal Note who was still standing near to them. Crystal Note didn't feel insulted by this at all, in fact it was very sweet to see. She decided to give them a chance to catch up and left the table she'd been sitting at.

With Lyra and Bon Bon dancing and Octavia occupied, Crystal Note decided she'd get herself another cup of punch for now. She weaved through the groups of ponies effortlessly and without drawing too much of attention. If somepony looked at her, it was mostly because of her dress anyways for sure. Rarity had really outdone herself with such a wonderful gown.

Crystal Note felt surprisingly at ease, even all by herself and surrounded by ponies she didn't know. Somehow, the crowd gave her a feeling of anonymity and she could easily blend into the background if she wanted. Not that she felt the need to right now, as nopony was watching her. Her dress had seemed so enormous in Rarity's mirror and her new manestyle looked so fancy, but compared to the ponies of Canterlot, her attire was still plain no matter how beautiful she felt.

She felt so good from the successful performance with her best friends and after receiving support from Princess Cadance, she didn't even want to hide it. The sparkles that danced on her body in the bright lights of the ballroom were a visible sign for everypony to see and even if Crystal Note didn't notice it, drew in some attention.

The music from the orchestra had reached by now something like an easy jazz and Crystal Note found it easy to match her steps to the rhythm of the music around her. She hummed, counting on the noise of talking ponies all around her to drown it out. Maybe because of that, she felt confident enough even to sing softly under her breath. Without any second thoughts, words formed into a song that matched the music as well as the happiness she felt.

With a cup of punch floating next to her in a glow of her magic, she slowly made her way back towards their table, her hooves still skipping more than actually walking. As usual when her music took over, her eyes closed down and she walked a few steps without looking as she sung for herself.
Until she bumped head first into another pony.

She almost shrieked as she backed away and instinctively let go of her magic. Her cup fell down, but luckily was caught by another unicorn's magic
"My, my, careful my dear. We wouldn't want to spoil anything on your dress now, would we?"
Crystal Note looked up at an incredibly tall unicorn mare with white coat, a pale pink mane and a friendly smile
"Are you alright, my dear?"
Crystal Note stared until the words of the kind voice reached her brain and she stuttered out a response
"Y-yes Miss...?"
"Oh, Fleur de Lis, but you must call me Fleur, my dear. Here, I believe this is yours."

She levitated the cup towards Crystal Note who took it into her own magic, with more effort than it should have been judging from Fleur de Lis' concerned expression
"Are you alright, my dear? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
Crystal Note quickly shook her head
"No, Miss Fleur. I'm sorry I ran into you, I should have been more careful."
"Oh, I'm not. It's always a pleasure to meet a friend of Rarity."

Crystal Note must have been staring again, since Fleur de Lis smiled and even chuckled a little
"I would recognize Rarity's style anywhere, my dear. And I know she only makes dresses like these for her closest of friends."
At that, Crystal Note blushed softly and shook her head
"Oh, I, um, Miss Rarity is a very generous pony indeed. She made these gowns for our first performance as a group."
"Performance you say?"
Fleur de Lis fixed her with a taxing look, which turned into a bright smile again
"Oh, of course my dear. You played in the entrance hall when we walked in, and at personal request of Princess Celestia herself I hear."

Crystal Note felt her blush intensify as she nodded shyly. Fleur had talked in a normal volume, but as soon as she had mentioned the princess, ears perked up all around them and ponies turned around to find out whom Fleur was talking too. They looked at the smallish mare with her modest but tasteful dress and her unusually coloured mane. A few frowned at how such a plain mare would get the attention from Fleur de Lis and even the princess, but then they saw the sparkles that danced over Crystal Note's coat. Suddenly what they had thought as plain only moments ago seemed particularly intriguing, almost exotic.

Some of the ponies stepped closer to include themselves into the conversation and Crystal Note instinctively backed away a few steps. Fleur de Lis seemed oblivious to this and just continued
"So tell me, my dear, why aren't you at the main stage right now? Clearly, if you received a personal invitation, there must be a reason for it."
Crystal Note stuttered out a response that hopefully made sense
"I t-think it was rather P-princess Twilight who recommended u-us for..."
One of the stallions didn't let her finished and just latched on the first thing that caught his attention
"Oh ho, acquainted with two of the Princesses, are we? Well done, indeed."

"I think it's rather three Princesses she keeps company with, isn't that right? I definitely saw Princess Cadenza call her to a private meeting."
A mare with yellow coat and white and pale lavender mane stepped uncomfortable close to Crystal Note who could feel her confidence leave her quickly
"It's not every day we get to know nobility of the Crystal Empire. I'm Upper Crust and it is my pleasure to meet you, Miss...?"
Crystal Note stared, so intimidated by all the ponies who stared at her that she almost missed the question
"Oh, um, my name is Crystal Note. But, um, I'm not of noble origin. In fact..."
The same stallion as earlier interrupted her again
"You're so modest, Milady. But you surely must be of an important family. After all, you're a unicorn and you socialize with all the Princesses, so..."
"Stop!"

Crystal Note jerked into an upright stance, shocked at how the stallion seemed to assume something this ridiculous over the simple fact that she had a horn
"I don't socialize with all the Princesses. In fact, I've only talked to Princess Cadance twice in all my life, and I've never even met Princess Celestia. The only one I know is Princess Twilight, but that's normal if you live in Ponyville."
Upper Crust scrunched her muzzle
"Ponyville you say? But clearly, you are a crystal pony, why would you ever go a town like Ponyville?"
Crystal Note looked at her with a confident smile
"Because that's were my friends live. I feel at home with them in Ponyville, even if I'm from the Crystal Empire. Where we don't have a noble class, by them way."
She turned back to the stallion
"If you want to know, my mother was a simple seamstress and my father worked in the mines. They were not more important than anypony else in the Crystal Empire by any means."

The unicorn nobles around her looked very surprised and exchanged a few glances. All of a sudden, the attitude changed from curious to disinterested. Upper Crust scrunched her muzzle again, like she had just tasted something bitter
"I see how it is. I suppose Princess Cadance asked for her to play as a favour from Princess Celestia. If she had any reputation, clearly we would have heard of a Crystal Note before."
"Indeed so. And her performance was not very impressive either if I recall correctly. Not at Canterlot standards by any means."
The other ponies nodded and Crystal Note looked between them, completely confused by their behaviour.
Only Fleur de Lis still smiled and chimed in with her kind voice
"Now, now, she was playing in the background at the entrance hall. I'm sure Miss Crystal Note is capable of more, given the opportunity."

The stallion smiled in a way that made Crystal Note want to hide somewhere in shame and his voice was now harsh
"If you say so, Lady de Lis. However, I believe we still have other important ponies to meet. Shall we, Upper Crust?"
"Most certainly. Tata, dear."

As quickly as they had gathered, the ponies suddenly wandered away in different directions again, leaving only Fleur de Lis and a baffled Crystal Note behind
"Well, I think I should let you mingle some more, Crystal Note. It was a pleasure to meet you."
Fleur gave her a warm and sincere smile before she walked off as well.

Crystal Note just stood in the middle of the ballroom, her cup of punch almost forgotten as it sunk to the floor when she let go of her magic
"What just happened?"
She asked nopony in particular, but she got an answer nonetheless
"The normal snobbish Canterlot treatment, I'm afraid. It is something that is bound to happen when you don't fit into their narrow terms of approval, Darling."
Crystal Note turned her head and saw Rarity come over to stand with her
"Don't let it get you, Darling. They wouldn't recognize your talent anyways, they just wanted to get closer to the Princess through you."

Crystal Note just sighed and shook her head
“But, why would they? Can’t the just go over and say ‘Hi’ to Princess Celestia?”
She pointed at the tall alicorn who stood out from the crowd and was indeed surrounded by ponies and engaged in conversation
“Darling, that’s simply not how things go in Canterlot. You can’t just visit the palace and chat with the Princess. That is simply unheard of.”
Crystal Note furrowed her brow
“It works like that with Princess Twilight.”
“Why, yes it does. But there is a marked difference between Twilight and Princess Celestia, mind you.”
“Really? I mean, I’ve never met Princess Celestia, but everypony keeps telling me that she’s very nice and kind and always trying to help everypony. Isn’t that just like Princess Twilight?”
Rarity only had a fond smile for Crystal Note and her innocently honest way of seeing things. She gently put her hoof on Crystal Note’s shoulder
“Don’t let any of those Canterlot ponies ever change the way you think, Crystal Note. You are absolutely correct.”

Crystal Note smiled back and Rarity noticed with some satisfaction at the glimmer on her friend’s coat didn’t fade away. She knew what this meant but felt the need to say something nonetheless
“I came over to see if you needed some assistance with the sudden attention, but you’ve handled it just perfectly. Well done, Crystal Note.”
Rarity held back a chuckle when Crystal Note immediately blushed from praise
“I wouldn’t call it perfectly.”
“Considering how everypony crowed you out of the blue, I’d say you did just fine, Darling. And your performance with the ensemble was beautiful as well. Why, I even had to mention your name a few times since ponies kept talking about you. I hope you don’t mind?”
Crystal Note’s smile brightened up at that
“Octavia will be thrilled to hear that.”
“And you as well, I certainly hope.”
Rarity watched her closely but the smile didn’t waver as Crystal Note nodded
“It was fun and I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear, Darling.”