"What the fudging, sugar honey ice tea was that?" Celestia said in a barely controlled voice as she gazed at me. I noticed that she was looking intently at my eyes so I tried to brush away the remaining tears that the events of the last few minutes had caused.
This too she now saw as she then asked, "Anonymous, what happened back there. Are you well?" She gazed at me with those big puppy dog eyes that all those cheating ponies have and her signature motherly voice.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine Princess. Just a tad overwhelming was all. I mean it's not every day that you get to stand in the center of the storm whilst on a flying deathtrap and stupidly try to calm the darn thing." I chuckle lightly as I look back up at the gathered ruler and crew.
"Well Anonymous, while I would like to know the why. For I seem to recall you being so afraid of our 'deathtraps' as you so lovingly call them that I had to use a sleeping spell to get you on board." She gives me a small smile that makes me hope I don't talk in magically induced slumber.
"Nevertheless I think the more prudent question is the how... How did you calm the Storm Sirens Anonymous? They are primal beings almost on the same level as the Wendigos and spirits of Chaos that create near uncontrollable storms, what did you do to them?"
"Uhhhh." Turning and quickly thinking of a way for me to get out of spilling the beans on exactly how I had taken care of the Sirens I quickly pulled on some old lessons that had sat unused for years. Then I turned back to the assembled ponies.
"Oh Celestia you wound me!" I strike a dramatic pose as the princess looks at me, confused.
"I'm sorry Anonymous but how did I...?" Celestia starts to ask, but I interrupt to keep her off balance.
"How could you say the why has no importance! Don't you know that I stepped out of the cabins relative safety to ensure that you and the crew were safe? How could I rest if one of you had been hurt?" I lather on the puppy dog eyes myself, glad to give the ponies a taste of their own medicine for once. It has the desired affect of causing some of those gathered to look down and run their hoofs over the deck in embarrassment meanwhile others are murmuring and looking at Celestia for her response.
Unsure as to where this is supposed to be going, but slightly thrown off by this direction she can only get out a, "I didn't say it was of no importance, just that the how was a more pressing.."
"Oh but why should the means matter if things turned out well in the end. After all, isn't it important enough that your little ponies are safe?" I kneel down and lift the head of the cabin pony that was still laying on the ground though she had regained her consciousness and turn her head towards Celestia to hopefully use the ponies natural cuteness against their ruler. Unfortunately Celestia seemed to have caught wise of what I was doing and moved towards me with a different motherly smile, one that said, 'I know what you're doing so best be truthful now.'
"My my Anonymous I do remember hearing that you had helped the element bearers' younger sisters in their latest school performance but I didn't know that you were such an avid thespian. Perhaps we should turn back now and have you put on a play for the nobility of Canterlot... Unless you wish to finally tell me. The. How." She stressed the final syllable with as much authority as she could muster and her best 'no nonsense' look, which considering she was a near immortal demigod who had ruled a nation for over one thousand years was what one might consider to be extremely effective. "No more stalling Anon."
Desperately trying to find an out I looked around but saw that I had trapped myself on the bow as I was now surrounded by ponies so I decided I had to acquiesce. Plus the thought of going on a stage again was horrifying, especially with Canterlots' nobility involved. "Fine, fine... I kinda sorta sang to the storm sirens..."
"I'm sorry Anonymous, but I didn't quite catch that." Celestia and crew all strain their ears forward to try and hear my words as I try to hide the rising blush of embarrassment coloring my face a slow and steady crimson. Swallowing my mounting anxiety I get ready to repeat myself as the wind started to pick up.
"I said, I kinda sort..." The growing wind and light peel of thunder in the distance mask my words as I try to get the truth to their ears. My eyes are wired shut as I clench my jaw and prepare for them to laugh at me. Instead the gathered ponies are looking around fearfully as the storm begins to reproach.
"A-Anonymous please I didn't hear what you said, but I think maybe we should go back ins-" Celestia began to try and lead me back inside as she laid a wing on my shoulder, but I brush her off quickly and interrupt her.
"I said I sang to them okay! I sang to the weird storm things that were attacking the ship, because apparently I'm insane and that's what my stupid brain decided was best! Go ahead, laugh or call me insane I know it's crazy but it worked didn't it?!" I feel my abnormal flash of anger that came from nowhere disappear with the crack of lightning that punctuated my small rant as I go back to feeling anxious. Only now do I see the encroaching storm clouds, deepening my perturbed mood.
"Anon!" Celestia called loudly to me to snap me out of staring into the storm and as I turn around she envelops me in her wings and hugs me. "Shh, it's okay just calm down. Everything will be okay now." If not for the freak-out I was already having I probably would have gone bug eyed at what the diarch was doing, but as it stood I began to relax into her warm embrace as it felt like all the warm, pleasant summer days of my childhood had decided to give me a group hug. "You are not going crazy dear Anonymous and none hear would dare call you insane after watching you calm a Storm Siren."
"Well apparently I didn't do a good enough job of it Princess, the storm is coming back isn't it?" I can't help but relax further into her despite my claims of doubt as the softness of her fur stubbornly brings a smile to my face. I'm not fully able to dispel said smile when she opens her wings again and looks down at me with a smile of her own.
"And why are you so certain that a storm is sure to come from this my little human?" Her knowing smile deepens as she further unfurls her wings so that I may see a wonderous sight indeed. Beautiful clouds of white that seem as fluffy as the down of a baby penguins that had beams of Celestia's sun piercing through to sparkle upon the now calm sea below. A few creatures even seemed to be bursting up from the water to dance in these rays of light before returning to their oceanic home. It was such an idyllic scene that I even felt a few small tears of contentment form in my eyes only to find that a few of the nearby clouds began to mist us lightly, a chuckle rising from deep in my chest as I smirked at the coincidence.
"So I actually helped calm them down? I thought the storm was returning though..." I trail off as I catch Celestia looking upon me still with a warmth to outshine any of the heavens rays that pierced the clouds. "W-what is it?"
"You showed amazing courage Anonymous in both taming the wild Sirens with your Voice and braving your fears to protect my citizens despite how much the circumstances were essentially out of one of your nightmares from what Luna has told me." I blush again as she continues, "Though a storm was indeed approaching us it was from a parting gift that the lead Siren had left you with, do you notice now that you feel calm and safe that the sky reflects this?"
I look to the clouds again and start to piece together the meaning in her words. "So what my mood is affecting the weather now? Isn't that kinda dangerous?" I cast a worried glance over the crew in fear of accidently causing them harm.
"Shh, rest easy Anonymous," She says as she pets the back of my head with one of her wings before continuing, "it is most likely a smaller effect than you fear and almost definitely not a major threat to yourself or others. Your emotions likely were able to control so much of the remaining storm because it was one conjured up by the Storm Sirens in the first place."
Looking back towards the sky I do indeed see that the storms remains are in fact dissipating as most of the previous storm had begun traveling a great distance away, leaving this small pocket around us. With the threat the storm had posed gone, the crew offered some passing thanks to me and the princess before returning to their stations and preparing to get us back underway to out original destination with all haste. I start to feel a tad awkward as I notice that Celestia has yet to stop hugging me, not that I wanted her to stop, even though the danger was supposed to have passed and I didn't need to be calmed anymore.
"So uhh, that is what the Voice is supposed to be like? I thought it was kinda just for..." I trail off as I notice that at some point she had pulled me closer and into a seated position next to her on the bow, seemingly content to enjoy the view.
"Prancing ponies to sing about friendship in the middle of towns?" She gives me a knowing look as I chuckle nervously. "Well while it is a driving force for the maintained peace and happiness of my citizens it has also been an integral part of this world since well before myself or Equestria even existed. That your Voice was strong enough that you could emotionally connect with a Storm Siren and bring it calm is extraordinary to say the least, but what I wonder the most is why you seem so adverse to the idea of embracing your Voice and sharing it with others?"
I look down to the sea as I think back a few years to a time when I could belt out songs left and right with old friends without blinking even though doing so was often considered more strange in my home world than not singing in my current one. When did I stop singing to the world? When did I stop sharing my Voice?
"To be honest Celestia I used to be quite the opposite back home, my siblings would even make a bit of fun at my expense because of it, calling me a little songbird and such... Eventually though I think I lost my reason to sing except when I needed to let off a little steam." I hug my knees tighter to my chest and let her pull me over so I'm leaning on her barrel.
"What happened Anon... you can talk to me about it if you need to. I know what can happen to one who closes love and song out of their life, I know all too well... So please, feel free to talk to me if you want to. If not then we can just stay here for a while and watch the sun set, does that sound okay?" She offers one of her calming smiles as she lets me choose to vent to her or not and I notice just how much I had been shaking while telling her these things. Slowly I shake my head to rid myself of darker thoughts and lean into her fully as a few small tears fall from my eyes as I gaze out at her sunset.
"I lost the people that gave me reason to sing... and now I'll never get those back that weren't fully... gone." I manage to softly get out as I notice from the sound of my own voice that she had put up some sort of privacy spell. "I'll never find another human that can make me sing." I finish as she turns to look me in the eye.
"Maybe, but maybe you can still find another who can." She softly comforts me as we watch the sun set.