The mint green unicorn filly lay on the warm leaves and moss that served as her bed as she felt the oncoming chill of the autumnal dusk.
She was alone in the forest. Her mother had gone, but she knew she would return; she always did, and she would bring back sweet treats with her. Her mother had warned her that the days would be getting colder, but she knew that once she was back, they would cuddle up together and the cold wouldn’t matter as she kept her safe and warm.
Her mother was the only pony she had ever known. She had no idea what existed beyond her, but had no particular desire to find out. Her mother loved her, and that was all that mattered. She brought her food, gave her hugs and sometimes would sing to the accompaniment of a beautiful sounding instrument she caressed with her forehooves.
The staccato fracture of a dried out twig being snapped underhoof carried across the crisp evening air causing her ears to prick up and swivel, trying to locate the source of the sound. Further hoofsteps reached her ears, hoofsteps that were too fast and random to be her mother’s, so she tucked herself down as low as she could, hoping the stranger would pass by and not notice her.
“Mom! Mom!” an unfamiliar and heavily accented voice ricocheted among the trees of her forest sanctuary.
Keep down, a voice inside her head told her.
“I’m sure she went this way!” she heard. The stranger was definitely closer now.
She felt her heartbeat begin to race, part of her natural instinct telling her to run!
A cream coloured shape passed into her line of sight.
RUN screamed half of her; STAY screamed the other half.
“Come out of there” called a more grown up voice, “You don’t know if it’s safe!”
“But Blinky‘s gone in here, he must have!” replied the desperate sounding cream figure, scanning around.
“He’s a firefly, we’ll see plenty of others, now come out please.”
The figure of a cream coloured filly stopped, lifting one forehoof in the air and staring straight at her!
“Hello” she said softly, looking into the terrified golden eyes and advancing slowly.
The mint green unicorn pinned her ears back and stared in fright.
RUN! Her head screamed.
She didn’t. There was something about this unexpected visitor that was kind; kind like her mother, who would be back with her soon.
The cream filly moved forward, tentative step at a time.
“Hello” she said again, allowing a gentle smile to grace her face, “It’s OK. No need to be scared.”
“Bon Bon!” called the adult female voice and the mint green filly cowered in response.
“Are you alright honey? I’m coming in!”
“It’s OK” whispered Bon Bon reassuringly, “It’s just my Mom. She won’t hurt you.”
She stretched out a cream coloured forehoof slowly to gain the trust of the timid filly. The two were mere inches apart and clearly about the same size, yet one seemed larger because she was so full of self-confidence whilst the other could be seen quivering with fright at their meeting.
“Where are you honey?” came the adult’s call from a few tens of yards away, an edge of nervousness creeping into her voice.
“Mom” Bon Bon responded in a quietly hissing voice, trying to balance the need to be heard against the risk of scaring the young unicorn into running away.
“Is that you over there, honey?” the voice came again.
She sounded a bit like her own Mom; soft and caring, but the accent was something she had never heard before. In fact she had never been spoken to directly by any pony other than her own mother as far as she could recall; it had only ever been her and her mother. Oh, how she wished she was here now!
“Over here, Mom” hissed Bon Bon again, her pink and purple mane fluttering in the merest ripple of a breeze washing gently through the forest, brushing the yellowing leaves and releasing a few from their tentative hold on the higher branches.
A few yellow and orange leaves tumbled randomly down around them, fluttering to the forest floor where they added to the gathering multicoloured carpet. Some of the new fall of leaves crunched under approaching hoofsteps that sounded like her mother, yet the nervous filly knew they weren’t.
“Ah, there you are Bon Bon” she sighed, relief evident in her voice, “What are you …”
“Hush, Mom” whispered her daughter, “I’ve found a new friend.”
The mare caught sight of the shivering unicorn filly and lowered her head so as not to frighten her further.
“Well, hello little one” she said softly, “Are you alright? Have you lost your mother?”
The mint green filly trembled even more now that the adult was talking directly to her, her animal instinct still weighing up whether to run or not. Her golden eyes suddenly flashed in the reflection of a stray sunbeam striking a tree bedecked with yellow leaves close by.
“Momma?” she whispered so quietly that Bon Bon who was nearest couldn’t hear. Only the trained ear of an attentive mother could make out that plaintive cry of a foal for love when she was scared.
“It’s OK, little one” she coaxed gently, taking an opportunity to look over the unicorn filly. She seemed in reasonably good health, but malnourished and cold.
“Would you like to cuddle into me while we wait for your mother to return?” she asked softly.
She nodded uncertainly, the autumn chill seeping into her fur just enough to convince her that the warmth of a protective mare would be better than waiting alone. She knew she shouldn’t leave the spot where her mother had left her, otherwise she may not be able to find her again, but the thought of sweet warmth was so tempting …
The cream coloured mare nestled down beside the nervous filly and quickly felt her mint green head rest against her as her trembling started to subside.
“You poor dear” cooed the mare, “Out on your own on such a cold evening. I’m sure your mother won’t be long. I’ll go as soon as she comes back, if you like.”
She felt the filly nod again.
“Do you have a name?” asked Bon Bon curiously.
The large golden eyes betrayed no answer, but they developed a faraway stare and then started to close as the warmth from the mare’s body began to sweep away the cold and she suddenly felt very tired.
When she awoke, the stars were out and the moon was riding high in the sky.
“Sorry to wake you, little one” said the mare comfortingly, ”But is your mother always this late?”
The young unicorn looked around her, noticing that Bon Bon was snuggled up asleep on her other side. She raised her head up towards the moon, watching as her breath misted up in front of her.
It was cold.
It was late.
Her mother had never been this late before.
She shook her head, her large eyes staring up sadly at the sympathetic mare looking for her to somehow make her mother appear. It was the first time she noticed that this warm mare she was snuggled up to didn’t have a horn, so had no magic anyway. Her heart sank.
“We can’t stay out here all night” said the mare softly, “I’m sure that your mother knows it’s cold tonight and wouldn’t be late unless there was a good reason. Shall we go and see if we can find her?”
The young unicorn knew not to go off with strangers, but equally it was very late and her mother hadn’t returned, so her choices were limited and the soft comforting voice of the mare beside her helped make up her mind. The lonely little filly raised her head slowly showing her big trusting eyes as she nodded meekly.
“Come on then” urged the mare, gently helping the young unicorn onto her hooves.
Bon Bon stirred with the filly beside her moving away and started to feel the chill where her new friend’s warm body had been, waking her up too.
Leaving the warmth of the little nest she had made on the ground, the mint green filly felt a chill on her tummy and for the first time realised how hungry she was. She was used to hunger so it didn’t bother her unduly. Sometimes they wouldn’t eat for days and at other times they had more than they could eat; it was just the life to which she had become accustomed and it seemed to be perfectly normal.
Bon Bon rose to her hooves and gave her new friend a gentle nuzzle by way of saying hello. The young unicorn was a little shocked; nopony had ever shown that amount of affection to her except her mother. Come to think of it, she had very rarely even seen any other ponies except for her mother at all.
The mare walked slowly, the fillies staying close, their little legs skipping over the outcrops of foliage that the adult with her longer legs took so easily in her stride.
Ahead, the bright lights of the town beckoned. The unicorn filly couldn’t remember ever having been to a town before and was becoming more nervous as it loomed larger with every step she took closer.
“It’ll be a lot warmer in the town” encouraged Bon Bon seeing her new friend’s reluctance, “You want to get warm, don’t you?”
She nodded, never having been to a town before and not knowing any different, but trusting her companion who seemed to be so knowledgeable about things of which she herself knew nothing.
The mare led them down a street, the bright lights hurting the young unicorn’s eyes and making her run around to the other side of the adult in the hope that it would be darker. It wasn’t.
The noises were so much louder than they were out in the forest. The strange smells assaulted her senses and she felt completely out of her depth and nuzzled in closer for reassurance.
“What’s wrong, little one?” asked the mare, “Are you not used to the town?”
The filly looked up, but the bright lights hurt her eyes, making tears smart down her muzzle.
“There, there, little one” she cooed reassuringly, “Climb onto my back and you can close your eyes then, if you want to.”
She nodded, and the mare knelt down allowing both fillies to clamber onto her back, her own daughter climbing up second so as to help keep her new friend upright and stop her falling.
The mare walked further into the town, the lights, the sounds and the smells all growing stronger until she arrived at a large old oak tree where she knocked on the door.
After a few seconds, the latch lifted and the door opened inwards revealing a yellow unicorn with a fluffy white mane and a kindly smile.
“Hello, and what can I do for you this evening?” she enquired politely.
“Crystal” acknowledged the mare with a smile and a nod of her head, “We have found a young filly abandoned in the forest. She says she was waiting for her mother to return, but we waited for hours and I’m worried something may have happened to her.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place” said the yellow unicorn cheerfully, “Please come in, and we’ll see what we can do.”
The cream mare knelt and her precious cargo of fillies climbed down, the mint one shivering in fear.
“What’s wrong?” asked the yellow mare softly, ”There’s nothing to be scared of in here. My name is Crystal Clear and I’m the librarian here in Ponyville. This is my home and it’s also the library.”
“I can’t see the sky any more” whispered the young unicorn.
Crystal knelt down facing her.
“Are you used to always seeing the sky?” she asked gently.
The filly nodded.
“So you’ve never been in anypony’s house before?”
The filly shook her head and the two mares exchanged glances. She was clearly feral, a nomadic pony.
“Would you like me to see if I can find your mother?” asked the softly spoken librarian.
The young unicorn nodded, her innocent wide eyes staring back, desperate to feel the closeness of her mother once again.
“Very well. I‘ll just cast a spell” she announced, then stopped quickly, “You have seen spells cast before have you?”
The filly nodded.
“Oh, that’s alright then. I’ll continue.”
Crystal stared over her glasses at the mint green unicorn filly in front of her and a wisp of her aura reached out, identifying her, then it hunted around the ether to seek out the nearest familial connection and relayed an image back to the spell caster. Then she shut the spell down, having seen everything she needed to see.
“I think you should all come with me” stated the librarian, directing her comment at the other mare, then adding as an aside out of the hearing of the two fillies, “I will be needing you, I’m afraid to say.”
The cream mare nodded in understanding and knelt down to carry the two fillies again as they made their way to the hospital.
When they arrived, Crystal directed the others to a waiting room while she alone trekked on to the reception desk and asked some questions in a hushed voice. The receptionist nodded sadly confirming her worst fears and she brushed a tear away with a forehoof before making her way back slowly to the waiting room.
She entered the room, catching the eye of Bon Bon’s mother, shaking her head gently and kneeling down in front of them. The cream mare held both fillies to her, knowing what was coming.
“Little one” enquired Crystal softly, “Is your mother the same colour as you with a gold and white mane and a musical instrument as her cutie mark?”
The young unicorn’s eyes widened in delight.
“Momma?” she asked, her face lighting up.
The cream mare heard the happiness in the filly’s voice, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes and desperately wanted to wipe them away, but instead held the two fillies closely.
“Your Momma loves you very much, but she can’t see you any more” Crystal began.
“Momma?” the filly asked again, her face looking puzzled.
“There comes a time in every pony’s life when … well, they have to stop, even if they don’t want to.”
“Momma?” the filly repeated as a tear fell from the cream mare’s muzzle onto her.
“I’m sorry, little one” said Crystal, her eyes now starting to well up too, “She can’t be with you any more.”
A white coated nurse slipped discretely into the waiting room that was empty aside from their immediate party and leaned down to whisper something into the librarian’s ear. Then she passed down a clipboard that the librarian flipped through, shaking her head sadly as she read the contents before looking back up to the nurse and then back to the confused looking filly.
“Your Momma is sleeping at the moment and she can’t say anything to you or hold you like I know she would want to, but you can say goodnight to her if you want.
Still unsure of what was going on, the young unicorn had picked up on the air of sadness that had engulfed the grown-ups and was starting to feel a big hole of emptiness open up inside her.
“Would you follow me please?” asked the nurse, and they set off back towards the corridor and into a part of the hospital that most ponies only ever visited once.
The nurse pushed open a pair of double doors and led them into a sterile room where a mint coloured mare was laid on a table.
“Momma!” shouted the filly and scampered joyfully over to give her a hug.
The nurse had seen this sight hundreds of times before and held on to her professional detachment while she watched as the tears came from everypony else. It always stung, but she had learned to keep it together for the sake of those who had just come to realise their loss.
The mint green filly was hugging her mother tightly and trying to get her to wake when the nurse tapped her on the shoulder and held out a polished golden coloured horseshoe shaped instrument to her.
“She wanted you to have this” said the nurse, handing it over as the last memento of her mother, ”Now it’s time to leave. You have to let her sleep.”
The young unicorn held the lyre tightly to her as she was led away from the emaciated body of her mother who had set off that afternoon to busk for food in Ponyville and never come back. It was clear to them all that this devoted mother had not eaten in days and anything she earned, she had given to her daughter in an act of supreme selflessness. Times had been hard and busking hadn’t earned her as much as she had needed until some time that evening, the beautiful sound of her lyre had stopped.
As she turned round for one last parting glimpse of her mother a flash appeared around her and within a second, it had gone.
“What was that?” asked the nurse, startled.
“Look Mom, look at her flank!”
All eyes turned to the young unicorn and saw the image of a golden lyre still glowing on her flanks, the self-same as those on her mother.
“Are you her guardian?” the nurse asked the cream mare.
All eyes turned to her; Crystal’s enquiring, Bon Bon’s pleading, the mint green filly’s still reflecting her inner shock.
The mare could see this newly orphaned filly would have to be cared for, and if not by her, then by whom?
“Yes” she confirmed after a pause, a lump of emotion rising in her throat, “She is my ward.”
Bon Bon’s face lifted into a smile despite the surroundings and rushed over to give her new sister a big hug.
“What is that?” she asked inquisitively.
“A lyre” she replied, “It makes nice music.”
“Do you have a name?” asked the cream mare.
The filly shook her head.
“Then how would you like to be called Lyra after your mother’s special talent?”
She nodded and turned once more to see the familiar mint green mare, her glance lingering, until something inside of her told her that her mother was at peace and was happy for her to go and start her new life. She turned back to her newly adoptive mother and looked up into her eyes.
Slowly, tentatively, she reached out a forehoof.
“Are you my new Momma?”
“Yes Lyra, I am.”
