Finding your Voice
A soft mint green glow seeped out of an open window as the world slept. Music, gentle and calm seemed to carry itself on the nightly winds, drowning out the usual midnight melody with something more emotional.
It was another one of those nights, Bon-bon blinked and sighed quietly as she heard the familiar tune of Lyra's lyre float to her from down the hall. It wasn't the first time Lyra had played in the middle of the night, but this specific melody had special meaning to them both.
Bon-bon slowly pushed herself out of bed and softly pushed the door to her room ajar; sticking her head out to steal a glance down the hallway at her friend's room. Just as she suspected, the gentle mint colored light shimmered beneath the frame. The cream colored pony ventured out into the hallway and closed her eyes as she concentrated on the notes being played. The closer she drew to the door, the more clearly she heard the ebb and flow of the notes. They resounded with both the joy and sorrow of a melancholy memory from a moment long gone. She knew this song, very rarely would Lyra play it, and on every occasion there was something on Lyra's mind. The only thing she could think to do was check up on her best friend.
"Lyra?..." Bon-bon whispered as she pushed the door open softly with a hoof. The music abruptly ended as Lyra locked eyes with the earth pony, the unicorn quickly put a hoof to her eyes and wiped away a few tears.
"Lyra... Are you alright?" Bon-bon started as she slowly approached the bed. She looked down to the golden lyre that glistened in the moonlight that fell upon the bed sheets before turning to face her best friend.
"What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"
Silence.
Bon-bon was no stranger to this type of response; Lyra was always very reserved and quiet. If the unicorn was posed with a problem she had no answer for, she would keep quiet rather than dance around the issue at hoof. It had always been that way between them, but Bon-bon understood and didn't question her friend about it; she knew Lyra had her reasons.
"Alright, I'm sorry I intruded on you. Just figured I'd come and check up on you, see if you needed anything." Bon-bon turned toward the door and spoke without looking back, "Goodnight Lyra, see you in the morning."
The earth pony began to leave the room as she noticed the green glow push back the shadows. Mere moments later she heard a quick, desperate, yet somber chord shatter the stillness in the room.
"Wait..."
The blue and pink mane on Bon-bon's head gently bounced as she quickly resumed her place at Lyra's bedside. "Yes? What is it?"
The unicorn's horn captured a nearby notepad and quill in a minty green aura as she scribbled down two words.
Twilight Sparkle.
The name was on everypony's lips these days; Twilight Sparkle had been recently forced into front page news after a series of rather interesting events. Public response was highly varied, but none of it was easy for that poor mare to deal with.
"Twilight? Poor filly has so much on her plate these days... What about her?" inquired Bon-bon as she lifted an eyebrow.
Again the quill flourished over the paper just beneath the first entry.
We talked...
Lyra turned her head and shut her eyes as Bon-bon's flew wide open.
"You... talked? You mean sh-" began the earth pony, only to be silenced by the gentle sound of a quill-tip on parchment.
Yes.
The cream-coated pony fell backwards onto her haunches, processing exactly what this meant when coupled with the music from before. When coupled with the situation Twilight Sparkle was in, that song could only mean one thing.
"She made you remember... Didn't she?"
Silence.
Lyra looked back at her kindhearted friend, the one pony who was always around to help and understand. When no one else would try to, Bon-bon took up the challenge.
'Even through all these years,' thought Lyra as a grin teased the corners of her mouth, 'you're just as kind and thoughtful as ever...'
Bon-bon had been right, Twilight made Lyra remember back to her days as a filly, back when she was a blank flank, back to her very first year of school in Ponyville...
"Alright sweetie! Have a great first day!"
Lyra looked up into the eyes of her mother as the little green filly received a kiss on the ear. She let out an adorable little smile as her tiny horn flickered gently with a green aura. The pencil and notepad that hung around Lyra's neck were lifted as she scribbled a response in her young shaky writing.
I will! Love you mom! <3
The tiny green and white-maned filly leaned forward and gave her mother a quick kiss on the nose; earning a collective "Eww..." from some nearby colts, before dashing off to join the other young ponies on their first day in class.
Everything that day was so new and exciting for her, lessons on arithmetic, grammar, and science zipped by almost too quickly. No detail or piece of information escaped Lyra as she scribbled down page after page of her thoughts and notes. Soon enough though, the lessons had stopped so the students could have lunch.
Lyra opted to take a seat under a tree near the schoolhouse instead of with the rest of the fillies and colts. She didn't like conversation, and figured that burying herself in this new experience would take her mind off of how awkward she f-
"Hi!"
Lyra jumped and fumbled with the juice box she had accidently tossed in the air. She caught it and set it down, then focused her attention on the navy-blue and coral-pink-maned filly before her.
"I'm Bon-bon! I haven't seen you around Ponyville before... Are you new? Why are you over here all alone?"
Lyra smiled and again the aura around her horn lifted her pencil and notepad. Bon-bon gave a confused look at the mint green filly before her, but kept quiet as she waited for a response. The unicorn turned the notepad around so the little earth pony could read it.
Because it would be weird.
"Well now that doesn't make much sense, why would it be weird? And why are you writing to talk? Got a sore throat or something?"
Lyra shrunk back at the question with a pained look on her face. The pencil returned to the notepad for a moment then turned back to face Bon-bon.
I can't talk, I'm mute.
Lyra watched the look of sympathy spread on the Earth pony's face.
"That's... that's terrible... you can't say even one word?..."
Bon-bon's eyes fell to the notepad again: Nope.
"Well... Do you have any friends?"
Lyra was just about to write her reply on the page when a brown pegasus colt glided between the two fillies and snatched the notepad lanyard off of her neck. The pegasus was quickly joined by a unicorn and an earth pony as he leered at Lyra.
"Awww, I'm sorry... Is this yours?" sneered the pegasus. He let loose a cruel laugh which was accompanied by the laughter of his posse.
"Hey! She needs that! Give it back!" Bon-bon shouted over the laughter as she faced the group of bullies.
"Aww, come on man," said the young orange earth pony colt. "If she needs it so bad, Why doesn't she just ask for it?"
"Oh wait," grinned the grey unicorn. "SHE CAN'T."
Bon-bon looked back at the light-green filly who was sitting there, fighting back tears. She couldn't stand this, everything about this was disgusting and wrong and mean. She couldn't let these hay-brains win; she had to do something about this.
"Hey! Leave her alone..."
The laughter died instantly as three pairs of eyes glared at Bon-bon.
"Oh?" said the pegasus as he threw the lanyard on the ground and stepped forward. "Or what?"
The blue and pink-maned filly narrowed her eyes and matched the bully's step with her own. "Or I go get the teacher and tell her you were picking on somepony."
"Tch, whatever. Take your dumb paper, we were only having fun anyway," said the pegasus as he grinned. "Come on guys, let's ditch these losers."
Bon-bon waited until the three colts were out of sight before she walked over and grabbed the strap of the lanyard in her teeth. She brought it back to the sniffling unicorn who nodded curtly and quickly put it back on, clutching it to her chest for a good while.
"So... um..." The cream colored earth filly was unsure of what to say to her new friend. Fortunately for Bon-bon, Lyra was turning the paper around for her to read. The earth pony leaned in close to the notepad since the writing was rougher and harder to read than before. Bon-bon figured that writing was probably harder for unicorns after getting upset or sad.
Thank you for standing up for me.
"It was nothing... What're friends for?"
Lyra's face beamed with joy as the pencil flew across the notepad. Really? You mean it?
"Of course I do! I get to be your first friend on your first day at school, don't I? Why wouldn't I want that? Oh, right, I told you my name. I almost forgot to ask what your name is!"
Lyra never wrote so fast in her life, the page whirled around and would have smacked Bon-bon in the face if she didn't jerk back in time. The earth pony squinted her eyes at the paper being shoved in her face as she read.
Lyra Heartstrings
After that day, Lyra and Bon-bon were inseparable. The two hit it off instantly and were best friends in a matter of days. Halfway through the school year Bon-bon got her cutie mark by inventing a new candy at the family sweet store. Lyra still hadn't gotten hers, and was slightly upset about it. But Bon-bon was there to keep her smiling and remind her that she just needed the right opportunity.
Halfway through the year, that opportunity came.
"Alright class! Settle down, settle down. Now today I have a surprise for you all; a nice pony from Canterlot made a large donation to the school and gave us a bunch of musical instruments!"
The class buzzed to life as everypony discussed what instrument they wanted to learn. Lyra merely sat in the back with her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Both of Lyra's parents played string instruments; Her mother played the harp while her father played the violin. She figured that her cutie mark would have to do something with music as well.
"Alright, I'm going to let the back row go first. Lyra? Would you like first pick?" smiled the teacher.
Lyra felt like she was going to explode with happiness as she nodded furiously and ran to the front of the class. She looked into the proverbial box of wonders and started to sift through the many different instruments that lay within, hoping one would stand out. Just as she was beginning to grow frustrated, Lyra spotted something shining at the very bottom of the box. A miniature, harp like object that appeared to be made of polished gold. Instinctively she reached out with her magic and carefully removed it from the container, holding it up for the teacher to see.
"Ah! Well Lyra, that instrument is called a... well, a lyre. Go ahead and hold onto it, you'll be needing that for later."
All Lyra could do was grin like a foal as she scurried back to her seat next to Bon-bon. The rest of the day for her flew by as if a dream, rarely could she take her eyes off the instrument in her hooves.
The weeks passed and Lyra spent day after day gently tugging on the strings of her lyre, fiddling with and learning the intricacies of this strange yet beautiful device. Bon-bon's visits never really concerned the topic of music, and she never actually heard Lyra play. But Lyra's parents insisted she was a prodigy in music.
Bon-bon would soon get the chance to see what they meant.
On the second to last week of class, a talent show was held between the classmates at the Ponyville school. Both fillies were in their usual seats, watching each of the volunteers get up and do their best. One colt did a decently impressive yo-yo routine which was followed by a filly in a tutu that gracefully bounded around the front of the room. Bon-bon cheered and applauded each participant as they finished when she felt something brush against her foreleg. She looked down at some incredibly familiar writing, turned and gave her mint green friend a curious glance, then read the note.
I'm going to perform.
"Really?" whispered the earth pony with a supportive grin. "What're you planning on doing?"
I'm going to play the lyre.
"Oh wow! Well good luck!" grinned Bon-bon. "When are you going to play?"
"That was excellent, Carrot Top!" said the teacher as the small orange haired filly skipped off the stage. "Now, does anypony else want to volunteer?"
Lyra flashed her best friend a coy grin as she levitated her instrument and trotted down the aisle. She ignored the condescending snickers that the three bullies were unleashing her direction as she took her place at the front of the class.
Slowly the lyre was lifted in a soft green light. Lyra closed her eyes and felt each individual string in her grasp. She knew the notes, she felt the song just waiting to be unleashed from her mind. But, it felt like it was missing so-
"Lyra? Is something wrong?" asked the kind mare in charge of her class.
The unicorn gave a brief shake of her head and looked down the center aisle back at her closest friend. Bon-bon was grinning wildly and motioned at Lyra to go on.
"Come on Lyra, show them what you've got." The cream colored pony whispered to herself.
The glow around the lyre and the unicorn's horn intensified as soft notes slowly filled the room. Within moments, every voice in the audience was utterly silenced in equal parts of awe and respect at the quiet pony's natural talent.
A huge smile plastered itself to Bon-bon's face, she closed her eyes as the ebb and flow of the notes moved her right along with the melody. Suddenly the music was disrupted by a rapid rising scale of staccato notes along with a peculiar sound.
"... I... .il..be.. heard."
The music relaxed into its more even and gentle flow again, but the accompanying voice didn't stop. Bon-bon looked around the room to see who was helping Lyra with her song, but was only able to see dropped jaws and wide eyes.
'Who's singing then?...' She thought as the music again shifted into something with more energy.
"I refuse to be quiet, I demand to be heard. This music I play is as good as your words.
Though I'll never speak... I'll reach for the sky. Just because I can't talk, doesn't mean I won't try..."
The song continued until the final chord was played, the teacher turned toward the young unicorn who was holding her instrument and darting her eyes at the deathly silent crowd.
The three colt bullies gaped in utter disbelief at what they just witnessed.
"Lyra Heartstrings... That was truly amazing. If there was ever a way for somepony to earn their cutie mark, that was it! Bravo Lyra! Come on class, I think that she deserves some congratulations on her cutie mark, don't you?"
Slowly the gears began to turn in the mint green pony's head as the teacher spoke. Lyra took a quick glance at her flank and nearly exploded with joy as she saw the image of a golden lyre emblazoned upon it. The moment the teacher incited the class, Lyra was quickly overtaken by everypony's cheers and applause.
Everypony except Bon-bon, who sat in the back with moist eyes and a look of complete disbelief. Not once did her eyes leave the musical unicorn as she once again took her seat. Bon-bon quickly dried her eyes and leaned over with a whisper.
"Come find me after class okay?"
Lyra tilted her head a moment, then shrugged and grabbed her pencil and paper to scribble her response.
Alright.
Bon-bon was waiting outside the main door of the school when Lyra came bouncing out with the biggest smile the earth pony had ever seen.
"Hehe, somepony's happy about their cutie mark."
The unicorn held up a hoof to her best friend and fished through her bags for her speaking utensil. She took the bag off of her back and shoved her muzzle inside to get a better look amidst all the things that seemed to have no place in her pack. Lyra heard Bon-bon snicker as her head was shoved into the bags looking for her pencil when she heard her friend speak up.
"Um... Lyra, it's on your ear."
All the green pony could do was facehoof as she brought her pencil down to her notepad and wrote her response.
You could have told me earlier, candybutt.
"HEY, Be nice!" giggled the earth filly.
But yeah, I'm really happy I finally got my cutie mark.
"Me too, you had me worried that you were going to be a blank flank your whole life!"
No kidding! That would have been awful... No voice and no talent. I'm sure glad that's not the case!
"Yeah..." Bon-bon paused a moment and recollected her thoughts. "Yeah, me too. You ready to go?"
Mhmm!
"Alright then, let's head back," said the candy-flanked earth pony as she headed off toward town with Lyra happily bouncing along beside her.
The walk was quiet but beautiful, not yet summer but still somewhat spring. Everything around the two fillies radiated the look of fresh life that spring carried with it, yet was as pleasant and warm as a midsummer day. Bon-bon struggled with doubt as the scene played over and over again in her mind.
'She spoke...' Bon-bon thought, 'I don't know how, but that was her voice. That was her si-'
She looked up to see a familiar notepad nudging her shoulder repeatedly. The earth pony flashed an unconvincing smile at her best friend and looked down at the hastily scrawled message.
You've been staring at the ground since we left school, what's wrong?
Bon-bon sighed inside. She knew she couldn't be forthright and say: 'I heard you sing when you were playing your song'. Lyra would never believe that, and it was just a cruel way to try and tell somepony who was born mute that they had spoken without knowing it. A groan of frustration escaped her lips when the light bulb finally flipped on.
"I was just thinking about your song, I really liked it. I was just wishing I could hear it again I guess," Bon-bon said as she faked a sad face; inside, she was grinning like a madpony.
The unicorn gave a compassionate smile as her horn lit up, lifting the instrument from its place on her saddlebag. She kept even pace with Bon-bon as the notes began to play exactly as the intro did in the classroom. All the earth pony had to do was wait for the right moment; a rapid rising staccato of notes.
It didn't take long. Before Bon-bon knew it, that key part in the melody was being played. But something was different, as she watched her friend pluck the strings with her magic, Bon-bon heard that voice again.
"...I will be heard..."
'No way...' the earth pony thought as again the music shifted into something more energetic and passionate.
"I refuse to be quiet, I demand to be heard-"
Bon-bon didn't miss a beat.
"-This music I play is as good as your words."
The melody came to a sudden halt as random strings were plucked out of order.
"What the-?!"
The madpony smile migrated from inside to outside as it affixed itself to Bon-bon's face.
"Lyra, I heard your voice!"
Furious scribbling ensued.
HOW?
"Heck if I know," the earth pony shrugged. "Why don't you tell me what you were doing just now?"
I just played what I thought and felt! And you're telling me you HEARD IT?
"Yup! Let's test it, try saying something else. Then I'll repeat it back to you if it works."
Lyra nodded and grabbed her instrument once more, she awkwardly plucked at the strings in no real order. It seemed as if the unicorn was searching for a song by stumbling over notes.
This was reflected in the stumbling, twinkling words that Bon-bon heard.
"Um, hi? I think?... Is this uh... working? I feel silly..."
"Hi Lyra, don't feel silly. It's working just fine," smiled the earth pony as watched her best friend well up with tears. The mint green unicorn reached again for her notepad and pencil and fought to write something legible through the gentle shakes of her shock.
We need to see if my parents can hear.
"Of course. Come on, let's go to your house then."
Lyra's parents were surprised to see the two fillies burst into the house so abruptly, but their surprise was replaced with nothing less than pure pride as Lyra pranced around the room to show off her new cutie mark. The question of "what happened" came up as far as the mark was concerned which led to Lyra giving her parents a private show of her musical skill.
Not once did they comment on any voice of any kind.
... Twilight made her remember how she felt when she first found her voice.
The quill lightly flew over the paper for a good minute as Bon-bon kept silent vigil over her friend. Lyra finished her message and noiselessly floated the paper over to the earth pony.
Having Twilight be able to hear me reminded me of when we first met, yes. I know that she's the element of magic, and Celestia's student. And that it's probably because she's got such a connection to all magic that she was able to hear me... But she gave me hope Bon-bon.
"What happened?" whispered the blue-and-pink-maned pony.
She was able to hear me... So... maybe, my magic is getting stronger. Maybe I'll be able to speak to other ponies someday if I keep working on it.
At first it was quiet, then Bon-bon opened her eyes and smiled.
"You know what I think? I think that someday, everypony will know your voice," Bon-bon leaned in with a grin.
"As long as you don't give up. Remember what you said in your song."
"I refuse to be quiet, I demand to be heard. This music I play is as good as your words.
Though I'll never speak... I'll reach for the sky. Just because I can't talk, doesn't mean I won't try..."
"Never stop reaching," the earth pony said with a playful punch to her unicorn friend's shoulder. "Don't ever stop trying, and someday, all of Equestria will have to know your voice. That's what I think."
The unicorn wiped away a tear from her eye as she grabbed the quill once more.
Thanks Bon-bon.
"Anytime. I'll see you in the morning then, goodnight Lyra."
The golden lyre on the bed was encapsulated in a soft green glow as four notes were slowly struck in a chord.
"Goodnight Bon-bon."
The cream colored mare smiled and departed, shutting the door behind her. Lyra looked out the window her bed was facing and stared at the moon. Her lyre still hung in the air by her side as the world seemingly stood still.
A soft mint green glow seeped out of an open window as the world slept. Music, confident and gentle seemed to carry itself on the nightly winds, drowning out the usual midnight melody with something more passionate.
"I refuse to be quiet, I'll fight to be heard. This music I play is as good as your words.
Though I won't speak like you, I'll still reach for the sky. You say it's not possible? Just watch me try."
