Bon Bon winced as the morning light successfully invaded her sleep with a slight sting to her eyes. Nothing a thorough rubbing couldn't cure. She awoke with a yawn and noticed that her companion wasn't in bed with her. It wasn't very alarming, as today was the day, after all. The cream colored mare finished up her morning preparations and proceeded to get her bags to go shopping.
As she finished fastening her straps around her, she turned to notice a familiar minty mare had been shadowing her. "There you are, Lyra. Are you ready for you ready for your big day?" a small frown was Lyra's silent reply. "I know you're nervous." Bon Bon gave her marefriend a slight nuzzle. "I also know everypony will love your song."
After much practice and going from one studio to the next, Lyra finally found the opportunity to have her song premier on Colt Classic Radio. It was a dream to have one of her songs played for ponies all over Equestria since she was a little filly. Now she had her chance. This afternoon, everypony would have their chance to hear her song which she named "Heartstrings."
"I just hope everypony appreciates it. I spent months perfecting every note."
"Lyra."
"I went through countless strings to get it to sound just like I had imagined. I just hope the results aren't in vain."
"Lyra, I-"
"What if I'm over confident about how it sounds? I could be the joke of all of pony-"
"Lyra!" The sudden shout snapped the mint colored mare out of her rant. "I have heard you play, and I know all of Ponyville will love your song. So stop letting your fear get the best of you, okay?" The last part was added with Bon Bon's soft smile. A sure-fire way of melting through Lyra's doubts, at least for a little while.
"You're right." Lyra's words were a little less rushed and her look of trepidation had faded. Bon Bon had a certain art of combining her voice and smile to calm Lyra down. "I just gotta relax." Lyra made her way to the door before coming to a stop with a timid turn towards Bon Bon. "Promise you'll listen to it when it comes on the radio?" The minty blue unicorn looked at her pleadingly.
Bon Bon couldn't help giggle. "You got it harp flank," she teased.
"You're the best candy rump," Lyra teased back.
With that, Lyra was out the door, a little more stride in her trot towards the studio. Bon Bon could feel the start of a good day.
~~~*~~~
Living near the Everfree Forest had its advantages. One of them being able to collect the best tasting berries this side of Ponyville. She liked to make her candy as natural as she could. Since most of the native creatures lived in the inner-most part of the forest, she could collect her berries without worry. However, she couldn't help but worry about Lyra. Lyra's worries didn't bother Bon Bon, it was rather the simple fact Lyra was worried that upset her.
For most of the week, Lyra had gone on about how she was getting her song featured at Colt Classic Radio. She had also mentioned that after the song ended, the studio would give her a interview of sorts. Bon Bon knew that if Lyra was nervous during her interview, it would lead to something that could make it all go downhill. She would start her unique stutter.
The candy-colored mare's thoughts were swiftly interrupted as a root from a nearby tree caused her to face plant into a patch of blue flowers that seemed to be heavily powdered. The powder, in turn, caused her to erupt into a sneezing fit. Once she was able to regain her composure, she examined the culprit. There was something oddly familiar about the plant that Bon Bon couldn't place her hoof on. She collected herself and set out to her next destination. But not before added one of the mysterious flowers to her bag.
~~~*~~~
The sound of busy ponies walking to and fro filled Bon Bon's ears when she entered the marketplace. The chatter of several ponies served as background noise as she sunk deeper into her thoughts. She couldn't shake the thought of Lyra's stutter away. It wasn't just a stutter. It starts out as a stutter, then transforms into broken apart speeches about foreign topics that lay deep within Lyra's mind. What would start as a discussion of her music talent would morph into what Lyra had for dinner last week.
For the second time, Bon Bon's thoughts were intruded upon. This time she had seemed to gain a few extra pounds on her side. She looked to discover her bag had been loaded to the top with apples. "That'll be four bits," came the demanding voice owned by a small yellow filly with a red mane and a distinguishing pink bow atop her head.
Bon Bon was in no mood to be ordered around, especially not by a filly. "Aye didn't poot dos en mai bayug!" she closed her mouth instantly, unsure of the monstrosity that had just come from her vocal chords. She wanted to make her point, but that was a little overkill in the speech department.
"Likely Story," came the little pony's retort. "Four bits, lady!"
Bon Bon stared down the tyrannical barbarian of a salespony. Luckily, the small filly's mouth was shut with a forceful hoof. "Applebloom!" Bon Bon recognized the savior to be Applejack, a pony known for her honesty. "ah am really really sorry about that. She's new." Applejack gave a nervous chuckle. Bon Bon wasn't one to hold a grudge, but her mind told her not to open her mouth. "Here, take these," Applejack nervously said, tossing a few more apples into her other bag.
There was more than enough in her bag, but she scowled at herself to keep her mouth shut. Her expression was most likely misconstrued, as Applejack had tossed more apples into her bag. If she kept this up, she might put more into her other compartments that held her berries and her flower.
In an effort to keep a happy customer, AJ placed the remaining basket of apples on the cream colored mare's back. Bon Bon gave a strained smile in hopes to cease her offerings and started her journey home. "Yall come back now," Applejack desperately shouted to her in hopes she would remain a loyal customer.
~~~*~~~
Bon Bon was almost home. The literal fruits of her labor had marked a good day. Still, she couldn't help but feel her throat was a tad bit scratchy. "Aye need some woter." Bon Bon froze where she was. It was the same as before. It didn't feel or sound like signs of an agitated throat. It was as if she suddenly picked up a foreign accent from another world. She had to test this phenomenon again. She would go with something simple. "Mai nayme is Bown Bown." Seconds later, she was at full speed towards her house. Something was wrong, and her name was certainly not 'Bown Bown'.
After several glasses of water, Bon Bon concluded that drinking liquids would bring no restoration to her poor throat. She tried to ignore her newly acquired annoyance by emptying her bags from earlier that day. She couldn't help but ponder as she stored her over-abundance of apples. Her voice seemed perfectly fine this morning. Her voice didn't show any signs of change until she picked that- her thoughts screeched to a halt as she pulled out the mysterious plant. Why didn't she see it before? A town meeting was called in an effort to raise awareness of the notorious plant. She couldn't recall too many details, for at the time she was in a heated funny face making competition with Lyra.
Thinking about Lyra had brought another realization. It was almost time for her song to play! She pushed the issue of her voice to the back of her mind while turning on the radio. She released a sigh of relief when she heard the beginning of Lyra's song fill the room. Bon Bon's eyelids began to close. The creamy mare was swept away by the soothing melody. She had the pleasure to witness its creation. It was strange to think that what Lyra had been working on the past few months was now flowing out of the radio. To this day, it still melts her heart. Lyra was definitely one to use her talent to its full potential.
"Okay, that was 'heartstrings' by the talented Lyra Heartstrings." The song had come to a bittersweet end as the dj's voice came through. "I must say that was quite a piece. Care to share the history behind it, Lyra?" All that followed after the question was a well known silence that was occasionally broken by the stutter of a nervous pony.
Little cracks of a nervous voice poured through the radio. It was only going to descend from there. Bon Bon had to do something, anything to help her marefriend. She spotted her phone, a recent invention in the Equestrian world. Communication was a large issue for non-unicorn ponies who could not use magic for telepathy. Telephones became a wide spread phenomenon overnight, as the ability to communicate from far distances could now be preformed without unicorn assistance. Radio stations jumped at the chance to have callers make request and provide feedback. Feedback was just what Bon Bon had in mind as she reached for the phone.
~~~*~~~
"Miss Lyra, I asked if you could share how that lovely piece came to be." The tan colored colt cocked his head to the side as he waited for a response.
Lyra could hear the question, but a response felt like a definite impossibility. Try as she did, her mind just couldn't form a mental sentence that didn't involve the description of power tools and the Sherlock Hooves series. Since she was a filly, nervousness would scramble her mind into an incoherent mess. It made the first few dates with Bon Bon difficult, not that she ever minded. What she would give to have her here now.
"Oh, it seems we have a caller coming in." The dj's words broke Lyra out of her jumbled thoughts as he placed the caller on speaker. "Go ahead caller you're on the air!" Lyra's attention focused on the phone. Was someone really calling to talk about her song? Was this song really that inspiring to-
"Aye thought the sowng was beautifawl," came a mildly intrusive voice from the phone that caught both Lyra and the dj off guard. There was silence followed by a muffled giggle. The latter having a tad bit of familiarity. The caller had appeared to have hung up shortly after. Lyra briefly wondered if the caller had something in their throat.
"Well, uh, yes! I agree that it was a beautiful piece. It surely takes quite a bit of talent to create such a wonder." Despite the smile forming on her face, Lyra couldn't tell if the dj's words held truth or not. She had faith in her music. She didn't know if others carried the same faith. "Lyra, I apologize, but we have to cut this interview a tad short. I know you haven't even had a chance to get a word in. Would it be possible to have you come in another day? I'd certainly enjoy another performance." the dj's pleading eyes were softened when Lyra gave a nod. She didn't mind not saying anything. She just got a fan!
~~~*~~~
A bubble bath seemed the best way to end a day in the cream colored mare's opinion. She found the cure to her vocal ailment after reading a bit in from the book titled 'Supernaturals: Natural Remedies And Cure All's That Are Simply Super', which was distributed to everypony during the poison joke scare. She also discovered that poison joke was edible, though it still held the consequence of a joke. She dismissed how that knowledge came to light. Perhaps she could make a candy that could prank on a Pinkie Pie level.
Suddenly, she heard the door quickly open and close, followed by the clatter of fast hoofsteps. "Bon Bon, did you hear my song? Somepony called in and said it was beautiful. You should have heard their voice." Lyra was all smiles, which was a relief to the candy maker. It was worth the intrusion of her bubble bath.
"That's great. You sounded wonderful this evening." A mental sigh of relief came to Bon Bon hearing her voice sounded normal again. "I also heard that you got called into another interview. Think you'll be okay?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. I'm too tired to think about it now," Lyra answered with a yawn. "I think I might grab a bite then head to bed. Anything to eat?"
Bon Bon smiled. "We have plenty of apples."
After having some of Sweet Apple Acres finest fruit, Bon Bon felt a little guilty for not telling Lyra the truth about her newly acquired fan. She made silent steps into their room, ready to confess the days events, only to find Lyra sound asleep. She snuggled in beside her, inhaling her minty cool scent and joined her in a well needed rest.
"I'll always be your number one fan."