One Day, They'll Throw Flowers

by ScyStorm

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Lyra, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Bon-Bon, Romance
Length: 5403

Lyra's performances fail to draw the crowds she needs. She finds solace once more in a certain pony.

Lyra's public performances continue to fail to draw the crowds she needs to kickstart her career. It takes the love and care of a certain earth pony to snap her out of her rut once more.

Featured at Equestria Daily on August 26, 2011.
Featured at Canterlot's Finest on November 8, 2013.

This story is Complete!

Published 2011-10-17 00:15:42 UTC
Last updated 2011-08-25 10:25:39 UTC

One Day, They'll Throw Flowers

ONE DAY, THEY'LL THROW FLOWERS

MLP:FiM Fan Fiction
By: Scy Storm
ssbs.furrynet.com

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is one of many stories I've thought up walking around at work with my head full of technicolor ponies. I felt the urge to write something about everyone's favorite non-crosseyed background ponies, and this is the story that came to mind. I really liked it and I hope it comes off as sweet as I imagined it. I love these two! There needs to be more of them.

The sky is awash in many shades of orange and gray as the light of day wanes. Knee-high grass sways in the gentle breeze, a beautiful ocean of jade stretching out as far as the eye can see, dotted with an array of multicolored flowers soaking in what remains of the sun's rays. The meadow ground climbs upward into a modest hill featuring shorter grass, and adorned with one lone, large tree. The sun slowly disappears behind the tree and the horizon beyond, gradually blanketing the area in darkness. The darkness is quickly led away by the light of the rising moon, the celestial body appearing with a sea of bright stars. The meadow comes to life in a new way, the hidden fireflies reacting to the coming of night. Soft glows of yellow light appear as far as the eye can see, lifting up from the grass and the leaves of the mighty tree, as if rising upward to join the sea of stars. The breeze dies down, leaving the glowing pasture steady in the cool calm of night...

Lyra's eyes were closed, her vision filled with the imagery of her song as she sang it, hooves expertly dancing across the strings of her floating instrument. Her lyrics ended, but her music continued for a few more bars, her hooves gradually losing speed until the last few notes were strummed. She released a held breath as her song at last ended, the sound of modest clapping greeting her ears. Without opening her eyes, she surmised it was around four or five ponies applauding her. About what she expected. Her eyes opened, raising her glance from the stage below her and up to the bare-bones crowd that came to watch her as she played. A few had already finished their clapping and were walking away. She sighed, slipping off of her stool and giving a customary bow. "Thank you," she spoke, likely too quiet for anypony to hear, her voice as stoic as her expression.

She stood back up, her lyre magically floating back toward her nearby saddlebag, just large enough to fit the instrument. Just another failed effort, she thought. She had become accustomed to it. This time, however, something new happened. "Miss Lyra? Miss Lyra!" came a sweet, young voice.

The musician glanced back down at the ground in front of the stage, seeing a lone unicorn filly. Her coat was a dark blue, and her wavy mane a solid black. Her bright yellow eyes shined with admiration as she looked up at the stage of the town square pavilion, attention zeroed in on the adult who stood upon it. Lyra stared at her for a brief moment, before forcing a smile. "Hello there, little filly. What's your name?"

The little unicorn's tail happily waved simply from Lyra speaking to her. "I'm Sonata. Your song was... amazing! Your instrument is so beautiful!"

Leave it to a bright-eyed youngster to be the one to give verbal feedback on a performance. Lyra smiled at her, a genuine one this time. "That's very sweet of you, Sonata. Have you been watching me long?"

Sonata suddenly appeared embarassed, her eyes turning away from the stage. "A-Actually, I didn't know they let regular ponies perform at the town square... My parents are at the merchant tents. I heard some pretty music and a pretty singing voice and I had to come see."

"Well... Thank you. They only occasionally use the tower pavilion for official business. I schedule performances here every week, usually," Lyra explained.

The filly's eyes turned back to the musician, nodding several times. "Well now I know! I'm going to try and come back here more often, I promise! Your... uh... instrument is really pretty!"

Lyra glanced down at her saddlebag briefly. "Ah. It's called a lyre."

"Oh, okay! It's really pretty! I want to play an instrument too someday, I think. I'm not sure... But I really love music, and I just know when I get my cutie mark, it'll be musical!"

Lyra couldn't help but see her younger self in the filly, if only little bit. "It's always good to have ambition. Stick to that, and you'll perform up here too eventually."

Sonata nodded a few times, but then her smile faded slightly, turning her head to look behind her at the now empty audience area. "It doesn't look like a lot of ponies showed up, though."

Lyra's smile immediately disappeared. She sighed softly, her lyre saddlebag magically lifting up and draping over her back. Sonata glanced back to her, and whimpered. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." she trailed off.

"It's alright, dear. I'm used to it," Lyra said as she stepped down from the pavilion stage.

That answer didn't exactly help ease Sonata. The filly whined a little. "I'm gonna come back, Miss Lyra, I promise! I'll tell everypony about you!"

Lyra forced a smile again, gently patting the unicorn on her head. "That's very sweet of you, Sonata, but you don't need to."

Sonata ignored the suggestion completely. "People will warm up to you, and see your shows. Then, one day you'll be on a big stage somewhere, playing for lots of cheering ponies, and when you're finished, they'll throw flowers at your hooves," the filly said, her eyes sparkling with desire, as if reciting her own personal fantasy.

The mare was taken aback slightly. It's as if the filly could read her mind. Long did she wish to be like Canterlot's greatest musicians, playing to the adoration of hundreds, bowing amongst a shower of red roses and other assorted flora. Lyra became momentarily lost in her personal fantasy, her voice stammering. Before she could say something in return to the filly, a voice rang out from a few yards away. "Sonata! We're going home now!" yelled the female voice.

Sonata gasped, turning around briefly, before she looked back up at Lyra. "Those are my parents. I gotta go. But everything I said, I mean it! I'll be back!"

The filly immediately dashed away from Lyra, the musician watching her go, eventually raising her hoof in a soft wave. "Bye, Sonata..." she said, not nearly loud enough for the filly to hear.

Her gaze turned toward the ground, the mare unable to shake the filly's mistimed words. She lost count on how many times she's scheduled herself onto the pavilion's public performances list. Her biggest crowd couldn't have been more than twenty ponies, even after having many performances under her belt. Was everypony just busy, uninterested in music, or... was she really not as good as the young filly would have her believe? She often wondered what else she needed to do to make people interested. Even more, she pondered quitting altogether. Quitting on her dream. She could never fully convince herself to go down that path, however. She would not forgive herself if she ever disappointed... her.

Lyra raised her head up again, glancing to the sky above. The sky was beginning to fade into shades of orange and pink. Night time was approaching, and would be there in a few hours. Her little concert had gone long enough. She brushed her hoof across her cheeks, clearing away a few tears that had slid down, and began her slow trot home.

Ponyville's premiere candy shop at last came into view: The Sweet Spot. Lyra always felt a bit of relief whenever she saw its colorful exterior, but it did little to fix her mood on that night. Her eyes soon caught a pale, red-maned pony happily trotting away from the shop. The filly spotted the unicorn, and trotted faster towards her, a wide grin plastered on her face. "Good evening, mithith Lyra!"

Lyra forced a smile. "Hello, Twist. How were today's lessons?"

Twist adjusted her glasses with a hoof. "Awethome! Mishth Bon is the betht teacher ever!"

"Glad to hear it, as always. You keep practicing, alright?"

Twist nodded several times, before glancing at the sky. "I gotta go home before my parenthh get worried. Good night, mithith Lyra!"

Without waiting for a response, the filly trotted her away around Lyra and down the nearby road. Lyra regarded her with a silent wave, before resuming her own canter. Within moments, she was inside the candy shop, a certain cream-colored earthpony busy wiping down the front counter. She immediately stopped and regarded the new visitor with a bright smile. "Welcome back, lovely," said Bon-Bon.

Lyra's cheeks reddened slightly. Her large saddlebag magically lifted from her back and rested gently against the wall behind the counter. She stepped forward and leaned her head over the counter to rub cheeks with the earthpony. "Came back just in time, it seems," she remarked, referring to Twist's departure only moments before.

Bon-Bon nuzzled her lover happily, although her smile faded a little when she detected a hint of dampness. She pulled her face back, pretty blue eyes swelling with concern. "How was the performance?" she asked, as if not already knowing the answer.

Lyra sighed, her lower body falling to her haunches, into one of her sitting positions that bothered Bon so much. "Same as usual."

"You weren't crying the last few times, small crowds or not," Bon stated with obvious concern in her voice.

Lyra twitched. She had cried a bit more on the walk home. "Oh. Well there's that..."

Bon sighed audibly, looking downward and shaking her head. "I knew I should have came. I've missed too many now."

"No! No, it's not that. Besides, you know I don't want you to interrupt Twist's lessons."

Bon-Bon removed her apron and hung it on a hook behind the counter. "She's getting very good at this. A natural born candy maker. I can afford to cancel one class."

Lyra remained firm. "Being a mentor is important, Bonnie."

Bon walked around the counter, joining the turquoise unicorn on the main shop floor. She stared into her orange eyes for a few quiet moments, pondering. "What made you so sad today?" she finally asked.

"It's... nothing major. Really."

The earthpony stepped forward, lowering her head and rubbing it against Lyra's side. "Please?"

A small shudder of delight went through the unicorn. She couldn't possibly resist her lover's caring actions. "Just, some memories, is all. They went through my head."

Bon-Bon nodded softly and began to walk around the shop, tidying up, including locking the front door and flipping the sign to 'Closed.' "Memories, you say?"

"A little filly spoke to me. Cute girl, really liked my music. She said some things that just... reminded me of my past, and my aspirations..." Lyra shut her eyes as she spoke.

"I can understand memories of your past being hurtful, but your aspirations?"

"My dreams seem harder and harder to reach with every failed performance that goes by, Bonnie... It's getting harder to think about them."

Bon shifted a few jars of candies back into their place on a shelf, and sighed softly. "Beautiful dreams should never feel like nightmares, Lyra."

The unicorn fought back tears as her eyes opened once more. "I just... wonder what I'm doing wrong. Is it how I play?"

"You mean refusing to use magic? Honey, it's far more admirable that you play as well as you do with your hooves alone. Any pony would agree. Don't even think about blaming your instrument, either."

Lyra glanced upward, watching the cream pony walk around the shop, tidying up after the customers she had earlier. "Well, what about my singing? I haven't been doing that for very long."

Bon flashed her a reassuring smile in the midst of her cleaning. "Long enough to get good at it. You were shaky at first, but you sounded lovely in the last performance I saw, and you've done many more since then."

Lyra felt a smile attempt to curl across her face, but it didn't get far. "Maybe I need to do more. I sit up there with my eyes closed, just... lost in visions of my song."

"Visions, hm? Maybe you should take up illusionary magic. Bring those scenes to life on stage?"

"Bonnie, you know I've never been very good with magic..."

Bon-Bon huffed a little and clopped one of her hooves on the floor. "You're still a unicorn, it's not beyond your ability. Why not speak with the librarian, Ms. Sparkle? Or the tailor, Ms. Rarity?"

Lyra dipped her head low, rubbing the back of it with one hoof. "It's an option, I guess..."

Silence fell upon the two ponies as Lyra continued to stare blankly at the floor. A few awkward moments passed, before Lyra felt the presence of Bon-Bon's head slip underneath her bowed face. The cream pony firmly slid her cheek up against Lyra's chest, and up to her neck, pushing the unicorn's head back to a raised position. She wrapped her forelegs around the warm, turquoise pony before her, her lower body laying down upon one of her hips, partially leaned against the unicorn for support. Lyra attempted to speak, but no words came. Instead her eyes closed, a great warmth flowing through her body, activated by the slow, caring nuzzles of the cheek against her neck. The unicorn draped one foreleg across Bon's back, her chin resting upon her curled mane. She felt like she could cry, just let out all the emotion she'd felt over the previous few hours, safe in the embrace of the one who loved her most. She held it all back instead. Bonnie didn't want her to cry. Bonnie wanted her to be strong, and believe in herself. It just seemed too hard to do that without Bon wrapped around her like she was. The two lovers remained cuddled together quietly for some time, before the earthpony finally broke the silence. "So who is this new little fan of yours?"

Lyra exhaled a breath, releasing it as a pleasant sigh, the troubles of her day feeling a bit distant in that moment. "Her name is Sonata. Blue & black filly. She wants to be a musician some day."

Bon smiled, her cheek still sliding slowly against the unicorn's pelt. "Remind you of anypony?"

"Myself, when I was younger... and, well, now that I think about it... She reminded me of you."

Bon-Bon pulled her cheek away from Lyra's neck for the first time in their embrace, instead moving the end of her snout to slide against the unicorn's cheek, kissing it softly once. "Me? Why is that?"

Lyra leaned into the earthpony's new nuzzle, her cheeks growing warm. Her eyes opened and looked upward at the ceiling, memories flooding her field of vision. "Because of the day we met."

~*~*~

A gentle breeze blew through the trees of Ponyville Park, causing a few birds to get spooked by rustling branches and fly through the air, chirping. Various ponies were taking their afternoon strolls, some alone, and some with friends, chatting away about the day's events. Something new went through the air that day, however. Something other than the sounds of wildlife & the cacophony of passerby voices. It was the soft, soothing melody of a stringed instrument. A lone, bright turquoise unicorn sat in a most curious position upon a park bench, a lyre magically floating in front of her from the magic of her horn. Her hooves danced across its strings, delicately, yet precise in their movements. The air around her was filled with her somewhat somber melody, a melody that could be heard at least a few yards away from her spot in all directions. On her face lied a frown, situated beneath her shut eyes. Slowly her song began to slow down in tempo, the unicorn growing tired of the somber song, bringing it to a close a few bars before its finish. Her eyes then opened, orange pools full of sadness. Then, they shot full of surprise at the sudden sound of a voice. "That... was beautiful..."

She turned her head to the side to see a cream-colored pony staring at her in amazement with wide, cyan eyes. Her mane was curly and striped in pink & blue, while her flank was adorned with the image of three wrapped candies. The unicorn stared at her in silence, astonished, before forcing an utterance of words. "I... Th-Thank you!"

The grinning earthpony trotted closer, her saddlebag swaying. "I've never seen an instrument like that! Or heard it! It makes such amazing melodies for its size."

The unicorn glanced at her floating instrument once, using her magic to set it on the bench nearby her, then giving her horn a rest from magic-using. "I'm... I'm really glad to hear that from somepony..."

The earthpony opened her mouth to speak again, but cut herself off with a gasp. "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Bon-Bon," she spoke with an outstretched hoof.

The unicorn stared at the offering, somewhat timidly pressing her own hoof to Bon's and shaking it up and down. "I'm... My name is Lyra."

"Nice to meet you! I've never seen you here before."

"Well... I'm from Canterlot. I'm new to Ponyville, only been here a few days, actually."

"That would explain that then!" Bon's tail flicked, the earthpony going silent for a quick moment as her mind drifted back to something Lyra had just said. "What did you mean when you said you were 'glad to hear that from somepony?'"

Lyra's eyes drifted away from Bon-Bon, her gaze returning to her lyre. "Oh... You're the first pony that's spoken to me about my music."

Bon gasped, beside herself. "Are you kidding? Such beautiful melodies and everypony is ignoring them? That's simply a travesty!"

Lyra sighed softly. "I'm used to it, don't worry. But... I really appreciate you speaking to me, at least. Makes this day a little better."

A look of concern came into Bon-Bon's eyes as she heard those words. She began to notice the unicorn's appearance. She seemed slightly ragged and unkempt, especially in her tail. "You look somewhat... disheveled, Lyra."

Lyra's gaze shifted back to Bon-Bon, and then down at herself. "Oh... W-Well, I've been sleeping out here under the stars. I could probably use a brush for my mane, too."

"Sleeping? Don't you have a home, or a hotel room?"

The unicorn blushed in embarrassment. "No... I don't. I left Canterlot with a lyre, some money, various essentials, and a dream. I don't want to blow my funds on hotel fare."

"Oh, no no no no no! That won't do at all! Come now, Ms. Lyra, I was on my way home. You should join me. I'll treat you to some tea and we can talk some more there."

Lyra stared at the earthpony with amazement, before managing to shake her head. "Oh, please, I could never impose on-"

Bon-Bon interrupted her. "Impose nothing. It breaks my heart to see a great pony so down on their luck, even if you're just starting out here. Please allow me to offer my hospitality, at least... at least until you've picked yourself up out of this rut. Please?"

Lyra continued to stare in amazement, right into the hopeful, caring eyes of the earthpony. Not a single resident of Canterlot or Ponyville had offered this sort of hospitality to her. She could feel her eyes getting misty. Finally, a smile spread across her muzzle. "A-Alright. I'll do it."

Bon-Bon could only smile in delight as she watched the unicorn drop off the bench, magically slipping her lyre into a large saddlebag, eventually floating it and a smaller saddlebag onto her back. Bon-Bon trotted up to her side, ready to lead the way, flashing a smile to the unicorn. Lyra returned it, widely. "Thank you..." she said, just above a whisper.

The earthpony simply nodded, and the two went on their way, a new spring in the unicorn's step.

"Forgive me for asking, but do you always sit like that?"

"Sure. Doesn't everypony?"

~*~*~

"I guess that was a bit of a fangirl reaction," Bon-Bon remarked.

Lyra laughed softly. "That's why the filly reminded me of you. Our first conversation. It's a memory I cherish, just like... many other memories that followed."

Bon-Bon tightened her hug on the unicorn a little. "I'll make sure you never forget those memories."

Lyra sighed wistfully. "You were the start. After you, I came to see how great the ponies of Ponyville really were, despite how ignored I was in the park those first few days. It was a far cry from my treatment in Canterlot..."

The unicorn's smile faded. Bon-Bon slowly slid out of her hug, standing up and staring at her lover with mild concern. "Now those are memories you don't need to think about."

Lyra shook her head around a bit, her eyes looking at the floor. "Sorry... Really. I just wish... I just wish it was easier to get the ponies here in Ponyville to warm up to me. Everypony here is so nice, but I can't seem to catch their hearts with my music. Not like I caught yours."

Bon moved to Lyra's front, and sat down on her haunches. She pressed her forehooves against the unicorn's own and raised them up to about their chest level. Lyra turned her eyes upward, meeting the beautiful, caring gaze of the earthpony. "You will capture their hearts, Lyra. They'll speak of you fondly, and begin to flock to you. You'll stop performing at the town square, and you'll be at the concert hall instead. One day, you'll have such a following that they'll beg you to come back to Canterlot and perform for their crowds."

Lyra's mouth opened slightly, as if to say something, but she couldn't bring herself to. Her eyes were frozen in Bon-Bon's gaze as the earthpony recited the dream she held for her own unicorn lover's success. "You'll go back there, and all those ponies who chided you for your instrument or your lesser magical prowess will be stunned into silence. You'll perform in front of great crowds, and join great orchestras. The crowds will shower you with flowers with every bow you take. One day, Lyra. I promise you."

"Then, one day you'll be on a big stage somewhere, playing for lots of cheering ponies, and when you're finished, they'll throw flowers at your hooves."

The unicorn felt the tears slide down her cheeks. Tears of both sadness, and happiness. She desperately wanted to believe all these words. Words spoken to her by Bon-Bon, and little Sonata earlier in the evening. Deep inside, a part of her did truly believe it. The part of her that kept her from quitting on her dreams, even through the string of failures. "Oh Bon-Bon..." she finally managed to mumble out.

Bon-Bon moved her hooves away from Lyra's, reaching one up to wipe her cheeks of the tears. "True genius can't stay at the bottom forever, Lyra."

The unicorn's face showed a genuine happy smile. "Are you sure you aren't still hopelessly fangirling over my music?" she joked.

A soft, cute giggle came from the earthpony, as she leaned in closer. "'Fangirling'? Never. I fell in love with your music that day... and I fell in love with you not long after..."

With that, Bon pressed her muzzle to the unicorn's. Lyra's heart nearly jumped from her chest. Her eyes threatened to release tears once more as her entire body was overcome with warmth. She slipped her forelegs around the earthpony, tilting her face slightly and returning her kiss with earnest, eyes drifting shut. Bon-Bon leaned in close to her lover and shut her own eyes, the two ponies melting into the deepened embrace, time seeming to stand still around them. Soon enough, their tongues met, shudders coming over their forms, Lyra's being a particularly shaky one. Every ounce of pain and suffering felt by the unicorn over her tumultuous evening washed away in a matter of moments, flushed away by the love and care of the greatest earthpony in Equestria. Lyra easily lost track of how long the kiss lasted, and really, she didn't even care.

Rather suddenly, however, Lyra's eyes popped open in surprise as a curious feeling came over her, just before the kiss ended. Bon-Bon slowly pulled away, panting, her tongue held just outside her lips. A string of saliva stretched across their tongues briefly, snapping as the earthpony opened her eyes once more. She wiped her hoof across her lips , a devious smile stretching across one cheek. Lyra panted softly, then took notice of a new presence in her mouth; a hard, cherry candy. Lyra rolled it around on her tongue for a moment, before an amused smile stretched across her face. "You naughty girl."

"Made it myself, dearest," Bon-Bon remarked, shortly before breaking out into giggles.

Lyra's smile stretched into a grin, and she quickly found herself breaking out into laughter alongside the earthpony. The two laughed in unison for a few moments, Lyra eventually calming herself and sighing. "It never fails. You should be a professional creator of happiness."

"Well... I kind of am. Who doesn't like candy?"

Lyra laughed once more, before leaning her face against Bon's neck. "I love you. So much."

Bon's cheeks went red. Those words coming from Lyra always warmed her deep inside. "I love you too."

The cream pony stroked one of her hooves through Lyra's mane for a few precious moments. Eventually, she stood back to all fours. "I'm going to go into the workshop and clean up after myself and Twist's adventures today. After that, how about we go upstairs for dinner and a bath?"

Lyra nods, and stood up to all fours as well. "I'll help you clean. I'm hungry, we'll get to dinner faster that way."

Bon-Bon giggled softly, the two walking toward the rear door of the room. "How does stew sound?"

"Only if there's plenty of carrots in it."

"Always, dear."

Lyra approached the waiting stool on the pavilion stage, shifting the large saddlebag on her back and magically resting it down. She looked out at the crowd waiting for her. Fourteen ponies this time. A good number, but nothing really big. True to her word, however, right in the front of the crowd there was a little filly by the name of Sonata. The same filly who approached her last week and promised to keep visiting and bring more ponies. Perhaps the crowd was her work? Lyra flashed the bright eyed girl a little smile, and sat in her stool, magically floating her lyre to position in front of her. She took a few breaths, concentrated, then lifted her hooves and began playing. She stared emotionless at the strings as she strummed them, her ears soaking in the melody, always impulsively checking for mistakes. A wonderful calm came over her, the unicorn drifting away into her own music, like always.

One by one, she performed several of her best melodies, stopping to allow applause in between each one. She impulsively glanced around the crowd with each set of applause. Some ponies left mid-show, while other, different ponies wandered into the area and took their place. The crowd hovered around a dozen or so listeners. More than last week, but still not what she wanted to see. She pushed the feelings down, however. She could be sad after the set was over. She continued to cycle through her small list of performance pieces, until at last she reached her final song; the one she sang lyrics to. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began playing the most complicated notes out of all of her songs. After several bars of music, her vocals began to flow, and her favorite vision seeped into her thoughts...

The sky is awash in many shades of orange and gray as the light of day wanes. Knee-high grass sways in the gentle breeze, a beautiful ocean of jade stretching out as far as the eye can see, dotted with an array of multicolored flowers soaking in what remains of the sun's rays. The meadow ground climbs upward into a modest hill featuring shorter grass, and adorned with one lone, large tree. However, this time, something new lies at the base of the tree. A picnic mat stretched across the grass, and seated upon it, a beautiful cream-colored pony. Bon-Bon. The first-person view changes, and Lyra sees herself trek up the hill, joining her lover on the picnic mat. The two stare into each others eyes and press their hooves together as the sun disappears into the horizon, slowly but surely replaced with the light of the rising moon and its sea of stars. The two turn their gazes away from each other and out into the meadow, as the field of jade begins to light up with the yellow glows of the previously hidden fireflies. The army of glowing creatures rises into the air, some coming from the tree directly above the two ponies and hovering down around them. They glance around in amazement, before their gazes fall upon each other once more. Without a spoken word, the two lovers embrace in a kiss, as the breeze dies down, leaving the glowing pasture steady in the cool calm of night. A night punctuated by the joining of two souls...

Lyra did her best not to visibly shudder on stage. She couldn't hide the smile on her face, however. She's surprised her lyrics or her playing didn't falter at all as she forcefully altered her own mental vision. It was all Bon-Bon's idea, of course. "Try adding something new to your vision, something happy. Maybe you'll feel better when your show is done."

She could think of nothing better to add to the vision. Perhaps Bon-Bon knew that all along. The musician let out a loving sigh, unheard by the crowd thanks to her music. She lowered her head and centered her concentration on the final bars of her song. Her playing began to slow down, gradually, delicately, until there was silence. The applause then came. Mentally, she counted around a dozen or so ponies. Her crowd had remained steady for the entire show, it seemed. She had secretly hoped more would have shown up while her eyes were closed. She tried to tell herself that things were looking up, she just needed to stay positive.

With a heavy exhale, her eyes slowly opened, facing the stage below. What she saw caused her to snap them wide open in surprise. Three beautiful red roses lying at her hooves. She raised her head, front and center to the head of the modest crowd. There was Sonata, her eyes shining with admiration, cheeks wet with happy tears now that she had seen Lyra's entire show for the first time. Nearby the blue filly was Twist, the redhead clapping her forehooves together, eyes wide in similar admiration. Then, seated behind them both... was Bon-Bon. In her hooves she held a bouquet of roses, from which three were missing. They locked eyes. Bon's beautiful blue eyes were misty as thoughts of what Lyra must be feeling were going through her head. She held her emotions back, a bright smile on her face, before she quietly mouthed the words, 'I love you.'

Lyra could not hold her emotions back. Tears freely flowed from her eyes, her heart deeply touched by Bon-Bon and Twist's gesture. For what felt like an eternity, she stared at the love of her life, before remembering how every musician should end their show. Her lyre slowly levitated back to the stage floor, and she slipped off her stool, bowing gracefully to the audience.

For the first time, Lyra's show-ending bow came with a bright, accomplished smile.

THE END

MLP:FiM and all Characters/Locations Copyright © Hasbro & Lauren Faust
Characters/Locations used without permission

~ Scy