Lyra sat backstage waiting for her call to go onstage. It wasn’t her first time performing, but it was certainly her first time she had performed at something like this. She was currently at the Canterlot Theatre for the Musical Arts, where she shared the evening’s bill with some of Equestria’s most famed musicians. Just the thoughts of sharing a stage with musicians like Octavia, made her feel incredibly nervous. What if she didn’t perform to an equal calibre? She didn’t want to think about what would happen should that thought come true. Out on the stage Lyra heard a round of stomping applause, and realised that she was soon going to find out whether or not she could match her predecessors. Lyra caught sight of Octavia as she headed into the wings, where she received plenty of praise for a show well done. Lyra looked around her and she realised just how lonely she was. There was no-one waiting in the wings for her, no-one to praise her for a show well done.
Meanwhile, a pony by the name of Bon-Bon was stood in the audience, stomping her hooves in approval of Octavia’s fantastic performance. As Octavia left the stage Bon-Bon recalled the event schedule in her head. As she scrolled through the names in her imagination she recalled a particular musician, a pony by the name of Lyra. The schedule had claimed that she was supposed to be from Ponyville, Bon-Bon’s home town. She’d never seen any sort of musical ponies around the streets of Ponyville for as long as she had been there. Maybe she hid her talent away from prying eyes? Either way Bon-Bon was excited to hear her play. She calmed herself a little as the lights around the stage began to dim. As her eyes adjusted once more to the darkness, she began to search the stage, looking for this mysterious musician. She caught sight of a chair floating out from the wings, followed by some sort of instrument case, with a pony following behind. The chair took it's place at the stage's centre, with the case resting just beside it. The pony removed the instrument from it's case and the crowd began to wonder what sort of music she would share.
A single spotlight shone down on the musician, illuminating her for all to see. On-stage, Lyra's nerves were on edge, although she soldiered on regardless. She sat upon the chair, slouching a little, but regaining some of her composure. Already the crowd was buzzing as people began to mutter amongst themselves about Lyra's unique sitting position. Undeterred, Lyra levitated her lyre into the air and and gently plucked the strings. A melodic sound rung through the audience, silencing those still whispering. She transitioned from those simple first plucks to more complex rhythms with surprising ease. Bon-Bon let her ears drink the wonderful sounds that Lyra created. Her mind began to swim as each delicate note pranced through her head.
"Oh this is wonderful!" thought Bon-Bon to herself.
Lyra continued on, a tiny bead of sweat forming on her brow. Her melody began to build up, her plucks becoming more and more rapid. Bon-Bon could tell that the performance was coming to it's climax, yet she did not wish for it to end. Her mind felt hazy, her body filled with a warm sensation, almost like she were drunk. She let her body sway side to side, lost in Lyra's beautiful music. She wished that this feeling would last forever, alas all good things have their end. Lyra's melody concluded in an almighty crescendo, culminating with the soft 'prang' of Lyra's hoof connecting with the string. A small minority of the audience erupted into a stomping applause, Bon-Bon was included in that minority. The remainder of the audience applauded apathetically, and many applauded out of courtesy.
"I have to meet her in person" mumbled Bon-Bon as she made her way through the crowd.
Lyra packed up her instrument and bowed to the audience, before exiting stage right. Bon-Bon made her way to the main foyer, hoping to catch Lyra before she left for Ponyville. She glanced around the crowded space, searching for any evidence of the mint green pony. Other ponies began to fill the foyer and Bon-Bon started to realise just how fruitless this was becoming. Just when she was ready to give up, she caught side of a mint green and white tail disappearing through the exit doors. Bon-Bon cut through the crowd, like a knife through butter, and slipped outside.
"Lyra?!" yelled Bon-Bon hoping she'd got the right pony.
A voice returned her outcry with a simple response.
"Who wants to know?"
Bon-Bon wasn't sure how to respond, she didn't want to come across as some sort of crazed of fan, even though that's exactly how she felt.
"Uhm, just a fan, I guess" replied Bon-Bon, hoping that was the correct answer.
Lyra stepped out from the darkness, revealing herself to Bon-Bon.
"A fan? That's...new" Lyra responded.
"What? Do you mean to say people don't congratulate you after your performances?" asked Bon-Bon.
"Not really no, I mean I don't really give them chance to. I tend to just pack up and leave once I'm done." answered Lyra, solemnly.
"Why?" questioned Bon-Bon.
"Well, did you see how they reacted tonight? A few people appreciated my performance, mainly those with little to no appreciation for my music, no offence intended. The real connoisseurs didn't even bat an eyelid, they just applauded because they felt like they had to out of courtesy. Don't tell me that I couldn't know that, because I do know that. I could see it from the stage, it was pretty obvious. Now unless you have anything else to say, I would like to get home." replied Lyra hotly.
Bon-Bon just stood there, unable to think of a suitable response. Hundreds of sentences whizzed around in her head, yet she couldn't bring herself to speak them. Even as Lyra began to walk away, one specific sentence burned inside her skull.
She's trying too hard too please others, and it's eating her up inside...
Bon-Bon turned around and made her way back inside, wondering if there was any way that she could help Lyra see her problem.
Meanwhile Lyra found herself on the road to Ponyville, alone.
"Well you could have handled that better couldn't you?" said Lyra to herself.
Lyra sighed, of course she could have handled that better. For starters she could've avoided storming off like that. Second, she could of done with the whole mini rant that preceded her exit.
Way to go Lyra, you probably alienated the only pony who actually considered herself a 'fan' of yours...
Lyra sighed once more, and then grunted as she bumped into something.
"Now then, what 'ave we 'ere?"
Lyra looked up to find nothing but a dull white smile staring back at her.
"It's dangerous t' be out 'ere by yerself missy. Ain't y' ever been told that?"
Lyra gulped, and shook her head.
"They say that there be those that prey on mares that walk alone in the night...An' yer tellin' me that you ain't ever been told that?"
Lyra shook her head once more.
"Well maybe we should show ye what yer've been missin'"
We?
"Come on lads!"
Lyra suddenly felt a strong force from nowhere shoving her to floor. She struggled against it, but it was too strong.
"That's it lad, lets see what we got 'ere..."
Lyra felt hooves patting against her body, stopping as they reached her lyre case.
"Well, this could sell for a few bits...Pleasure doin' business with ya missy. Now you just wait there, an' we wont have to come back an' make you wait...ok?"
The thieves took off at a fairly quick pace, certain that they would make a clean getaway. Lyra felt the force holding her down release her from it's grasp, letting her get to her hooves. Without wasting a moment of time she gave chase towards the lyre thieves. She wasn't going to let them get away with her lyre, it held deep sentimental value to her. She closed in on the thief holding her lyre and leapt onto his back, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Her lyre case skittered a few feet away from her. Lyra scrambled over to it, pulling it towards herself, and curling up in a ball.
"I warned ya missy, now we're gonna 'ave to make sure ya wait..."
Without another word, hooves trampled across her body, pain flooding through her senses. She felt her lyre case being dragged away from her.
"Was it worth going after missy? This stupid piece o' metal an' string?"
Lyra whimpered, as the stallions continued to beat their point into her. She then heard a sound that sickened her to her core. It was a sharp twang and Lyra knew instantly what it was. He was cutting the strings to her lyre.
"How d' ya feel now?
Twang!
"Still think it was worth it?"
Twang!
"Well?!"
Twang!
Lyra had taken as much as she could of this torture, she was ready to accept her situation and give up. This was until a familiar voice rung through the darkness.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
The thieves made themselves scarce, the moment they heard that voice. Lyra's lyre clattered to the floor, it's appearance looked somewhat similar to it's owner, battered and bruised. Lyra pulled it towards herself and cuddled up to it, weeping softly.
She could hear hooves making their way towards her, with a voice calling out to her.
"Hell-Lyra? Is that you? What happened?" exclaimed the voice.
The sound of hooves sped up, as the pony made their way over to the injured musician.
"Lyra, Lyra what happened? You! Help me with her! We need to get her some place safe now!"
Lyra saw that the mystery pony was Bon-Bon, standing alongside a pony she didn't recognise, an escort perhaps?
Bon-Bon helped Lyra up, splitting Lyra's weight between her and her escort. Making sure that Lyra's lyre was properly secured, the three of them began making their way towards Ponyville.
Is there gonna be a second part to this chapter?
83606
Yes there will be. I'll start working on it soon enough
14863 even though I'm an appledash and pinkiepieXfancharacter fan myself... you should make a rainbow pie chapter(... where is the lolwut rainbowdash emoticon... oh well i'll improvise...) also, it shhould take place in an alternate dimension... or it could be a nightmare
I'm usually not a huge fan of shippings, but the cover is win.
Before reading: Good job! You have all my favorite ships up on right now. For this, you get 2 mustaches.
Once I read it, it will determine how many more I should give you.
twinkie pie is the best.
Needs more TwiPie. Not normaly interested in the pairing, but you REALLY made it work. I'm a fan of Rarishy, and I liked it here as well, though oddly enough it was my second least favorite of the pairngs. There just wasn't a lot there for that one, but I'm not saying it was bad. Not even neutral, I did like it, I just liked AppleDash and TwiPie more ...the Rarishy wasn't my LEAST favorite. I'm not interested in background pony shippings at all, so I didn't even read the last one. I probably will if you add more stories to this, just because the stories are relevant to each other. I really want to see further development on Twilight and Pinkie's relationship though. Especially since, it's kind of just physical-lust-with-friendship for now (which isn't a bad thing for the start of a relationship! It just gives a opportunity to show more romantic development, which I'm highly anticipating)....I'm rambling
Anyway it's nice to see a fanfic like this after having to wade through all the over-dramatic angst, ridiculous love triangles where ponies won't make up their minds, cheating, death, tragedy, horror, and heartbreak that oversaturate fanfiction.
"Oh I am aware of how fast some of these go.
That's why I've been working to improve them, making them longer, adding bits in between.
These are just place-holders, and will be changed and rearranged to make everything fit perfectly."
That's a wonderful idea. I like that approach! Sorry if my way of quoting a post completely neglects a simpler way. I just registered like...seconds ago. Just to comment on this story collection.
Lol "Hey we should do that too!"
I loved that part.
Will there ever be more to this?