Finding a Voice

by AmpUpHeart

Music and Meetings

At dinner that night, Streax told her parents about the requested meeting, to which they agreed to. The next day, she told Cheerilee that her parents said yes.

"Do you think you could be a part of it, Streax?" Cheerilee asked.

"Okay," Streax said, "Why?"

"Because I want your opinion on what we may talk about," Cheerilee answered.

The day was progressing as normal, until Streax began to hear a faint melody. It was vaguely familiar. She tilted her head to hear better. She recalled hearing it on Plasma's orchestra CD. It was an amazing blend of music, with flutes, violins, harps, brass instruments, and even xylophones.

"Streax?" Split said, snapping Streax out of her trance, "How are you doing that?"

Streax looked down. Her left leg was crossed over her right leg, but crossed back under so that her left hoof was under her right hoof.

"I don't know," she answered, "I've always been able to do that. The physical pressure is comfortable for me."

"Weird," Split said, although Streax didn't notice. She was listening to Cheerilee talk about punctuation while listening to the faint music no one else seemed to hear.

"Streax," Cheerilee said, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Streax said, "It's just..." She paused, "Is there an orchestra playing nearby?"

The class began to laugh.

"Actually, yes," Cheerilee said, "The orchestra from Canterlot is coming here to see if any other ponies have what it takes to join them. How did you know that?"

"I'm hearing the music as we speak," Streax said, "Don't you?"

"No," Cheerilee said, "You must have quite an ear to hear that."

Streax looked puzzled for a bit, but quickly drifted off on the faint music once more.

"It's so beautiful," she said.
.....................

That afternoon, when the other ponies had gone home, Streax was helping Cheerilee clean up the classroom until her parents arrived. The four ponies then sat down at a large desk.

"So," Cheerilee said, "Plasma, Wire, I wanted to hold this meeting to inform you of Streax' academic performance."

"How's she doing?" Plasma asked.

"She's quite bright," Cheerilee said, "But she's been having relatively low grades in homework. It starts out smooth, but at the end, errors are constantly made."

"Streax," Wire said, "How late have you been staying up?"

Streax yawned, and said, "Eleven or twelve. Why?"

"Streax," Plasma said, "Why didn't you tell us that you were staying up late to finish homework?"

Streax shrugged, and said, "I guess just like to do it on my own. I like the alone time. The only thing is that I keep zoning out."

"Streax," Plasma said, "Why didn't you tell us? We could've helped you. We're both scientists who know a lot about what's being taught."

Streax, once again, shrugged.

"Also," Cheerilee said, "Did she tell you about the essay she had recently?"

Streax' parents both looked at her, and she looked a bit guilty.

"What happened?" Wire asked.

"I got overwhelmed," Streax answered, "You were asleep when I began to cry and I didn't want to wake you up."

"Streax..." Plasma said.

"If you want," Cheerilee said, "I can let her do half of an assignment if she doesn't feel up to the whole thing. And I can give her extra time on assignments and tests."

"That would be greatly appreciated, Cheerilee," Wire said.

"Alright then. It's settled," Cheerilee said, "But I have one more thing to mention. Streax, do you feel uncomfortable knowing that you don't yet have your cutie mark?"

Streax looked at her bare flank.
"Not really," she said, "I've never really paid attention to it."

"Okay," Cheerilee said, "You can get ready to leave. I'd like to talk to your parents for a second." When Streax left the room, Cheerilee turned to Plasma and Wire.

"Has she ever shown interest in music?" She asked.

"Sort of," Plasma said, "She could always determine the types of instruments in an orchestra ever since she was three. Sounds that are too high pitched for us to hear cause her to cringe in pain because it's so hard on her ears. She likes to sing, but only when no one's around."

"I see," Cheerilee said, "Today, she heard the Canterlot orchestra practicing through the walls of the school. I have a word of advice for you: next year, a choir director is retiring from teaching in Canterlot. Since he grew up here, he agreed to move back and help teach the next generation of singers. Streax, from what I saw, might have potential. I'd recommend enrolling her."

"Alright," Plasma said, "We'll think about it." She and Wire gathered their things and led their daughter back home.

Author's Note:

I'm sorry if the chapters are short and choppy. The excitement of Streax' life is gradual and I'm trying to speed it up to avoid boring anyone.

Comments

[DevourMistress]

Thank you for liking and adding "The Plague Doctor" to your favorites. When more stories become available, feel free to go through them at your interest rate, and have a great day.

[Weavers of Dreams]

Quite charming. We hope you continue writing this. Short chapters, yet always to the point and not leaving much out. Well done.

[Bouncer]

As an autistic individual myself, I have also grown to be quite attached to music. I've been taking Choir classes since middle school, still do today.

I'll keep reading this, I see a lot of myself in this story.