> Silent Song
>  by Flora Spectrum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Noticed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Silent Song walked quietly down the streets of Ponyville. She was making her way out of the market with her saddlebags full of fresh fruits and a basket in her mouth filled with pink and white flowers. Once again, she had gone unnoticed by the other residents, and she was quite content with this. Her hoof steps were inaudible, even in silent rooms, it was no wonder she was never noticed. She knew she wasn't much to look at either, she had been told so. 
Only one pony had actually noticed her, and that was the pony that ran the apple stand. However, this pony's family seemed to be famous for their apples and Silent never carried on an actual conversation with the pony as she was always swarmed with customers. However, she was fine with this as no pony ever talked her.
One pony had noticed her when she was a filly and the two had instantly become best friends. However, that was in the past and she chose to move on.
Silent Song gave out a soft 'oof' as she walked into something and fell back. Her basket was released from her mouth's grip and it spilled the floral contents onto the ground.
"Are you okay?"
She looked up to see she had not run into something, but somepony. She blushed slightly as the stallion held out a hoof. Luckily, her mane covered most of her face. She gently placed her hoof in his and let him help her up.
The stallion appeared to be well built and strong, but of average height and not overly bulky. He was a silverish-coated unicorn with piercing neon blue eyes that matched a single streak in his messy jet-black mane and tail.
"Here, let me help you with those," he offered while encasing her basket in light blue magic and refilling it after it had been placed back upright. 
"Oh, um… Thank you," she whispered quietly, embarrassed at her clumsiness and this stranger's kindness.
"No problem. I've noticed you around, you moved here a little while back didn't you?" he asked with a genuine smile.
"Oh… yes, about three months ago," she replied in her hushed tone while looking at the ground and averting his gaze. He had noticed her? Nopony noticed her.
"I'm Silver Gear, by the way," he offered sticking out a hoof.
She took his hoof again, gently like the last time, and gave it a soft shake before whispered, "I'm Silent Song."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a smile before once again encasing the basket in light blue magic and letting it levitate next to him. "Mind if I help you back home? I'd love to talk to you more."
"Oh, um… sure," she replied quietly as the slight blush reappeared. She began on the path towards home while Silver Gear continued the conversation.
}i{
Silver Gear really liked this mare, as she wasn't like the others he had met so far in Ponyville. He had only been in Ponyville for about a year or so, but Pinkie Pie had already thrown him a party. He had met Pinkie's five closest friends, along with many other ponies including two celebrities. He had heard Octavia and DJ Pon-3 lived here, but he never thought he would get to meet them. However, it seemed Pinkie Pie was friends with every pony and if there was a pony you wanted to meet, you talked to her.
"I don't remember meeting you at Pinkie's party earlier this week," Silver Gear commented to the shy mare walking beside him.
"Who?" She asked in her soft voice. Gosh he loved her voice. It was so soft and sweet and, wait. 'What's up with me?' Silver couldn't help but mentally question himself.
"You know, the pink pony with the pink poufy mane that makes you think of cotton candy. Super hyper, throws a welcome party for every pony that moves here.
"Oh… um, sorry… I don't know who that is…"
"You don't know Pinkie Pie?" he asked in complete shock. She shook her head no. Pinkie was going to have a melt down when she found out there’s been a pony living here to three months that she didn't know about.
"I'm used to being invisible…"
Now Silver Gear almost had a melt down. There was no way this unicorn could be invisible all the time as she was stunning. She was slightly shorter than most ponies and slimmer as well, however she still looked to be of healthy weight unlike so many models that insisted on barely weighing anything at all. Her coat was a flawless pristine white and her golden mane cascaded in soft waves hiding most of her face and brushing the ground. No doubt she was beautiful, 'Wait what? Am I checking her out? I've barely known her for a few minutes!' While he mentally yelled at himself, out loud he asked, "You? Invisible?"
"Yes… why?" she peered up at him through her mane and he saw one of her eyes for the first time and nearly lost it. Her eyes were a shinning bright green and reminded him of the peridot gem. 'Get it together Silver!'
"Nothing, never mind," he replied shaking his head and averting his gaze as they stopped in front of a small house. It was one of the many two story homes that lined the streets of Ponyville.	
"Um, this is it… thank you."
He lowered the basket onto her doorstep and looked over at the shy mare surprised to see her looking at him. "Hey, uh," he averted his gaze once more and put a nervously put a hoof behind his head before continuing, "I, uh, don't know if you've been to the park here in Ponyville yet, but it's pretty nice. I was going to take a walk there tomorrow afternoon, would you like to come?"
"Oh, um… sure."
"Okay" he said trying to contain his excitement but letting a huge grin escape. "I'll come pick you up at about three tomorrow afternoon."
Silent Song nodded and quickly turned back towards the door, but not before he caught a glimpse of her blush hidden mostly by her mane. She walked into her house levitating the basket with golden magic and closed the door behind her.
Silver Gear trotted down the street with a huge grin on his face. 'She said yes! I have a date tomorrow! Wait!' He stopped in his tracks and he mentally barraged himself with questions! "Is it a date? Do I think it's a date? I don't know, does she think it's a date? Do I need to bring her flowers? No she just got herself flowers today! You helped her with them remember? Besides, what if you brought her flowers, and she didn't think it was a date, but the flowers made her know you thought it was a date, when it wasn't and you were the only one thinking it then the whole thing would be awkward!" He took off running towards home with only one thought yelling at him.
'Get it together Silver!'

> Cutie Mark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Silent Song laughed softly as she walked back to her house. The cause of her laughter walked next to her with a huge grin on his face. It had been three months since she had first met Silver Gear and a lot had changed.
The day after their walk in the park, he had taken her to Sugar Cube Corner in promise of sugary sweets. However, upon arriving, it became aware that he had told Pinkie Pie about her who had of course thrown her a party. Thankfully, Pinkie had kept the party small inviting only her closest friends along with the family who ran Sugar Cube Corner. She couldn’t remain mad at Silver Gear though, because like he promised, there were plenty of sugary sweets.
She still saw Pinkie each time she went to Sugar Cube Corner and the two would catch up over a cupcake, or a dozen in Pinkie’s case. She talked to AppleJack each time she bought apples now, and AppleJack always made a point to listen and carry on the conversation. Silent Song visited the library once a week and Twilight always allowed her to check out more than the usual book limit. The limit usually consisted of two books, but Twilight was happy to meet another pony that truly appreciated a good book and knew how to take care of them.
She never saw Rainbow Dash much, or she did but she was too busy training to become a wonderbolt. However, they always made sure to catch up with each other at one of Pinkie’s parties. In all honesty, Rarity had frightened Silent Song when she first met her. She had run up and gushed over her mane and begged her to model some of her designs for her. Out of pure fear, she had agreed to be a model. However, she had found it rather enjoyable until Photo Finish had tried to make her a full time model. She quickly turned that opportunity down and the pony returned to Canterlot rather disappointed. 
Silent Song was surprised to find a pony in Ponyville as shy as herself. Nevertheless, she and Fluttershy quickly became good friends. Occasionally, Silent Song attended one of Fluttershy’s tea parties. The first time she went she expected animals to attend but was rather surprised to find a bear sipping on some tea.
Even though she had made six new friends, she still considered Silver Gear to be her best friend. Occasionally she would wonder if there was something more between them, but would brush it off and convince herself he didn’t feel the same.
The two walked through the front door of Silent Song’s home. He walked over and sat on her sofa while she went into the kitchen.
“Would you like something to drink?” she called softly from the window that created on opening between the two rooms.
“Water, if you don’t mind.” He called back from where he sat. A moment later, she walked into the living room levitating the two glasses of water. Silver Gear had only been in her house a few times, but each time he noticed her hoofs never made a sound on the wooden floor. He also noticed this each time they were at Sugar Cube Corner, the library, or one of the other businesses in town. He could only figure it was part of her quiet personality. She placed the two glasses on the coffee table and sat down on the opposite end of the couch.
“Thanks,” he took a sip of water before a thought occurred to him. “Hey Song, I never hear you talk about your job. Where do you work?”
“Oh… um,” she took a sip of water before continuing. “I just do different things like foal sitting, or taking care of somepony’s plants when they are away, just small stuff.”
“How does that relate to your cutie mark?”
“It doesn’t I guess.”
“How did you get your cutiemark?”
“Well, it was a little bit of a crazy day for me.” Silent Song took a deep breath and began to recall that day.

}i{

Silent Song sat at her desk looking through a folder. The folder was filled with short stories that she had written. 
“I want to do more!” she exclaimed slightly frustrated. “I want to write more than little stories!”
She leaned back in her chair and a thought began to form. A main character, side characters, the plot, a twist, possible conclusion all began swarming her brain. She leaned back over her desk and began scribbling words down on a piece of paper with a pencil encased in her golden magic. She pinned the page to the bulletin board hanging above her desk and continued writing.
After two hours, her brother knocked on her door but she never answered. After a moment, he walked in anyway.
“Hey, you want to play a game? I have the latest Call of Pony, or are you busy?” he asked noticing her writing at a speed that would put the wonderbolts to shame.
“Extremely.” She answered plainly never averting her gaze from the task in front of her.
“Any idea when you’re going to be done?”
“Not a clue.”
He nodded and closed the door leaving her in silence. After several more hours of writing, she dropped her pencil and leaned back in her chair with a sigh and a smile. She had gone though three pencils and one big eraser, but it was finished. She had finally finished her book, but she now realized she wasn’t finished.
She realized that she had been humming for a while now. However, she couldn’t place the song. It was as if she had never heard it before, but as if she had known it all her life at the same time. 
She stood and walked over to the baby grand piano that sat on the other side of the room. She had taken lessons before, but that was about a year ago. It had been a while since she last played and it as if her heart was telling her that needed to change.
She sat on the cushioned bench and rested her hooves on the keys. She closed her eyes and her heart took over. Her hooves flew over the keys playing a melody like she had never heard before. As she played, a vision appeared in front of her closed eyes. However, the picture she saw did not stay still, but flowed.
She wrote the last few notes of the song on her music sheet and began playing through the song once more. As she sang the last few notes, she heard hooves clapping behind her. She turned to see her mother clapping and smiling.
“That was really good! I haven’t heart that song before, did you write it?”
“Yeah,” she walked over and sat in front of her art supplies. She pulled out a small eight-by-ten canvas along with several brushes paints. She had painted several things before, but none of the other times compared to this. Before, she would have an idea and paint it, simple as that. However, this was pure inspiration. Normally she would use acrylics, but this called for watercolors.
“Sweetie, did you write this?” her mother asked noticing the pages neatly stacked on her desk.
“Yeah-huh,” she answered blankly already working on what she believed to be a masterpiece. However, she knew for some reason she didn’t care how it turned out, she just had to get it out of her brain and on canvas. ‘No, not my brain, but my heart,’ she realized. ‘Like the book, the song, and now this painting, it’s all from the heart.’
“Sweet pea, this is really good!” her mother exclaimed after reading the first few paragraphs. “A few spelling errors, but really good!”
“Yeah-huh.”
About an hour later, a stallion walked into the room to find not only his daughter sitting on the room painting, but his wife sitting on the bed reading.
“Hey squirt!” he greeted only to be met with silence. He walked over and kissed his wife on the cheek, “Hello dear, how was your day?”
His wife’s eyes only continued to move back and forth across the page. After another moment of silence, she pointed to the stack of papers face down next to her. “Read,” she commanded.
He picked up the stack and began reading. After a moment he asked, “Did Song write this?”
“Yeah-huh,” both his wife and daughter answered in unison.
Another hour or so later, a colt a few years older that Silent Song walked into his sister’s room surprised to find the rest of his family there.
“Whoa, party in Song’s room,” he commented with a smirk only to be met with silence. “Hey mom, if your not cooking dinner can we order pizza?” He was met with only more silence, as his mother seemed determined to finish reading the page she held. His sister sighed and lay on her back seeming content with herself. He walked over and noticed the wet painting where she had sat just a moment before. “Cool! Did you paint that sis?”
“Yeah,” she replied looking up at the ceiling.
“That’s awesome!”
His mother looked up and set the page down on the bed the same time his father did.
“What chapter did you just finish?” she asked looking over excitedly.
“Twelve, how was the ending?” he asked matching her tone.
“I’m not giving away and spoilers!”
“Mom, Dad, did you see what Song painted?”
The two looked over to see a small canvas leaned up against the wall. As her parents and brother admired her artwork, Silent Song stood up and stretched. “Can we order that pizza now?” The three turned to look at her and smiled.
“Sure,” her mother answered with a smile, “after you look in the mirror.”
She walked over to her mirror confused by her mother’s strange request. She looked at her reflection not surprised to find her same long mane and green eyes. She turned to the side and found something new.
Her cutiemark.
On her flank, a green pencil, the same color of her eyes, crossed with a paintbrush dipped in the same color creating and x with a black music note behind it. She turned to see her family beaming.
“Congrats squirt!”
“Bout time sis!”
“Come on sweetie,” her mother said walking towards the door, “let’s go order that pizza!” Silent Song skipped out after her mother as her father sat back down on the bed and continued reading. Her brother walked over and began reading the pages he assumed his father was done with.
“Did Song write this?”
“Yeah-huh”
A few moments later, Silent Song returned to her room.
“Hey, is cheese pizza okay with you two?”
“Yeah-huh.” The two spoke in unison.
“Okay,” she turned to go, but and idea came to mind. “Hey dad, can mom and I go get hooficures tomorrow?”
“Yeah-huh.”
“Sweet! Thanks daddy!”
	 
	

> Convincing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Silver Gear burst out laughing while Silent Song smiled. “I can’t believe…” he managed to say while trying to catch his breath, “you tricked your dad like that!” He paused to wipe a tear from his eye. “Did you get in trouble?”
“No, my dad actually thought it was pretty funny himself.” She waited until he had fully recollected himself before asking, “How did you earn your cutiemark?”
“Well, my day was nowhere as crazy as yours,” he stated as he began to remember, “it was actually a pretty normal day.”

}i{

Silver Gear sat on the floor of his bedroom surrounded by blue prints. He could hear his younger twin sisters laughing and playing in the living room. He was babysitting as today was their birthday and their parents were out picking up the cake and a few last minute decorations.
He knew his parents had gotten them each a few gifts, but he knew they wouldn’t get what they wanted this year, or any year. They wanted what every young filly wanted, a puppy. However, his dad’s allergies prevented a puppy going any where near their apartment.
‘I wish I could get a puppy,’ Silver Gear thought to himself, ‘but get one piece of dog fur in the house and dad goes-wait. Dog fur…’ He pulled out a freshly sharpened pencil and a new sheet of blue paper.
Hours later, the family of five sat around the dining room table and the two twins opened their gifts. Cake had been eaten, balloons popped, and now the birthday girls opened the last of their gifts. They smiled and put on their new matching headbands, one teal and the other lilac.
“I have one more gift, but you two have to close your eyes!” Silver Gear instructed getting up from the table. The two quickly squinted their eyes shut as he walked towards his room. “Now peaking!” he called over his shoulder and was met with giggles as the two covered their already closed eyes with their hooves.
A moment later, the married couple, who had been looking on curiously, smile as their son walked back into the room. “Okay,” he said already grinning, “open your eyes.”
The twins jumped out of their seats and ran towards their brother. In front of him walked two robotic puppies being controlled by the two remotes levitating next to him. A ribbon was tied in a perfect bow around each puppy’s neck, one being teal and the other lilac.
The parents watched as he began showing his sisters the different controls and as the puppies began to beg and roll over. Silver never noticed his cutiemark, which consisted of a blue screwdriver and a gear, appear on him, as he was too busy trying to convince his sisters to name the puppies Spot 2.0 and Fluffy 3000.

}i{

“That was really sweet of you,” Silent Song said with a soft smile.
“They still have them,” he commented grinning.
“They do?”
“Yeah the two of them share an apartment in Fillydelphia and they take them to the dog park at least three times a week.”
“Do they get a lot of strange looks?”
“They strangest, but they don’t care. They love those dogs.” He continued to smile just thinking about his two sisters walking two robotic dogs at the dog park. However, one thought kept reoccurring. “My special talent is inventing, and I’m an inventor. Song, why aren’t you an author, or a musician, or an artist?”
“Oh, no I couldn’t be,” she said looking down.
“Why not? That’s exactly what your talent is.”
She sighed, “Follow me.” She stood and began silently walking down a hall. Silver Gear followed without saying a word. He had been in this hall before, but always walked to the end, as that was where the restroom was. They stopped in front of a door he had passed several times, but like now, it was always shut. She opened the door and he followed her in. He stared in shock at what he saw.
Painted canvases covered the walls. They didn’t capture a single subject, but they displayed colors that swirled and flowed as if to express emotions. He stopped in front of one painting that particularly captured his attention. Different shades of white flowed across the canvas it swirls giving off a mix of emotions he couldn’t describe. He looked below the painting and read the name as the pony behind him spoke.
“Inspiration.”
He turned around to see the quiet pony that had spoken in the silence. “This was the painting from your story, wasn’t it?” She answered with a small head nod. “Song, this is really good, all of these paintings are. Why won’t your share them with the world?”
“Because that’s only one pony’s opinion. The art world can be a mean place, they may hate my work, then every pony will know and I will never live it down.”
“What about writing? You wrote a book in one day, that’s amazing enough as it is.” She silently walked over to a desk in the corner. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a stack of papers and set them on the desk as he walked over. He picked up the top sheet and began reading. “Song,” he paused to finish the sentence, “this is really good. Why haven’t you taken this to a publisher?”
“Because countless potential books are denied and never heard of. I can’t face that kind of embarrassment.”
“Well, you still have music-“
“No, I couldn’t. I haven’t performed for anypony since I was a filly.” She protested looking at the floor and averting his gaze.
“Well…”he thought for a moment before running out of the room. “I’ll just sit out here and you can pretend I’m can’t hear a thing!” He called back into the room. “Just play what your heart tells you!”
‘My heart…’ she thought to herself as she slowly walked towards the small baby white grand piano she had for as long as she remembered. She sat on the soft bench and rested her hooves on the keys. She didn’t need any sheet music for this. It was the first song she had ever written, and it was truly from the heart.
As Silver Gear sat out in the hall, his jaw dropped. The piano playing in the other room was exceptional, ‘and that voice,’ he thought ‘oh my gosh that voice.’ He could hardly believe that was Silent Song singing in the other room. As her speaking voice was quiet, timid and shy, when she sang she sounded strong, loud and confident. The song ended too soon and Silver found himself walking back into the other room to find Song standing by the piano gazing at the ground and a blush evident on her cheeks.
“Song, your art, your writing, your voice, is all amazing,” he said walking towards her, “how can you not be confident in your talents?”
“I attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, where I met several other fillies and colts like me. However, they were all exceptional in art, music or writing while I am just average. I knew I would never be as good as them or amount to anything special. How can I be famous when I’m invisible?”
“Song, you are invisible because you don’t let others see you. I know you are scared of embarrassment, but what if you shared your talent under another name?”
“Another name?”
“Yeah, think about it. If things turn out well, then great, and if they turn out horribly wrong, then nopony will know it was really you.”
She paused as if to contemplate this. “I think I could do that.”
“Great!” he said grinning, “Now we just need to come up with a name.” She looked up at him and gave him a soft smile.
“I already have one in mind.”
	

> Happiness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Silver Gear dashed towards his best friend’s house very proud of himself. He had become a messenger for Silent Song, or rather the mysterious Flora Spectrum, for the publishing company, the art critiques and the recording agency. He had received good news from all three this afternoon and couldn’t wait to share the news. He burst through the door to Song’s house and looked around frantically.
“Song? Where you at? Come out I got great news!” He yelled looking around for the owner of the house. A head slowly popped up from behind the couch.
“Silver?” a quiet voice called. “Sweet Celestia Silver why would you scare me like that? You better not have broken my door!”
He looked back at the door before shrugging, “Eh, I’ll fix it.”
“So, what was so important that you had to break my door?” she asked him quizzically.
“Oh, right! Your book is being published, the recording label loved what you sang for them and the art critiques liked your work and want to see more!”
“Oh… wow,” she slowly walked over and sat on the couch, “I guess that is good news.”
“We should celebrate!” Silver Gear declared.
“We should?” 
“Yeah! I’m going to take you on a date!”
“You are?” She asked looking at him with her one visible eye showing pure shock causing to realize what he just said.
‘Oh no, what did I just do?’ he thought to himself. ‘Oh come on Silver, you know you’ve wanted to ask her out for a while now, so don’t chicken out when you finally have the chance!’
“Yeah, if you would like to go that is.”
“I…” she took a deep breath as a deep blushed formed on her cheeks. “I would love to.”
“Great! I’m going to get my tools to fix that door, then I’ll meet you back here at six.”
“Okay, I just have to go do a few things in town,” she said averting his gaze and walking out the door that was partially broken off it’s hinges.
“Okay, see you tonight!” he called running back towards his home. Song sighed and began walking into town.
She felt bad for lying to him as she had nothing to do in town, but she couldn’t be around him right now as she was too embarrassed. A pony had asked her on a date, she had never been on a date before.
“Do I need to pick out something to wear? Ponies don’t normally wear clothes though. Maybe I should do something different with my mane?” she stopped to look at her reflection in one of the store windows. “No, I look better this way, remember?”

}i{

Silent Song walked down the street laughing with her best friend. It was the summer before Song would attend Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and Crimson Rose would move back to Cloudesdale. 
Crimson Rose was the only filly close to her age to ever notice her and the two instantly became good friends. She was a cream colored Pegasus with deep green eyes. Her mane that fell straight but curled at the ends that was a deep red that matched the rose that was her cutiemark. Song had gotten her cutiemark a year after her, but she was never jealous of her best friend.
“Hey Song,” her best friend said with a smile.
“Yeah Rose?” she asked returning the smile.
“I saw a really cute mane style the other day, can I style your mane the same way?
“Sure!”
“Come on! Let’s go back to your house, it’s the closest!” The two fillies ran towards Song’s house completely oblivious to the looks they received from the high society ponies they almost ran into.
As they ran up the stairs into her bedroom, Song wasn’t surprised to find the house empty. Her parents were at work still and no doubt her brother was out hanging with his friends.
Song sat on the rug in the middle of her room while Rose grabbed the hairbrush on her vanity. “Now, just sit still. This should only take a minute or two.” 
Silent Song smiled. Crimson Rose always came up with new idea for manestyles and fashion; it was a wonder she didn’t get her cutiemark for it. Now that Song thought about, she really didn’t understand what Rose’s cutiemark stood for.
“Okay, done!”
Song got up and walked over to her mirror. Her mane now fell covering one side of her face and framing the other. “Won’t I walk into things?” she asked her best friend.
“Not since you can still see out of her other eye. Besides, you look better this way.”
“I do?”
“Yeah, by only showing part of your face it gives off the impression that you’re a lot prettier than you actually are.”
“Oh… okay.”
“Face it Song, we can’t all be beautiful,” Rose said giving her mane a quick toss. “Well, mom is going to be home soon, see you later!”
Silent Song didn’t say anything as she left, but only continued to look at her reflection. Maybe Rose was right; maybe she did look better this way.
As tears began to cloud her eyes, Song sat at her piano and began playing a sad melody. Like all of her songs, it was from the heart.

}i{

Song glared at her reflection and walked into the business that she had been standing outside of. It had been years since she had last seen Crimson Rose and she could care less what she thought. After all, she was only one pony.
“Hello! Welcome to the Carousel Boutique!”
“Rarity, I was hoping you could help me.”

}i{

Silver Gear looked to the mare at his side and smiled as they strolled through the park. Dinner had went well, but Silver couldn’t get over what Song had done with her mane. It now fell equally on both sides and framed the side of her face. 
“You know you really are beautiful.”
“Silver, stop it,” Song said blushing violently as she paused in front of the pond. “That’s the seventh time tonight.”
“Sorry, I can’t help it,” he said with a grin. They sat next to each other in silence as they looked out on the pond. Luna’s stars shined brightly in the sky causing the pond water to shimmer. Slowly, Silver moved his hoof over and rested it lightly on Song’s.
He noticed she didn’t object, and the blush on her cheeks was evident. “You know,” he said after several minutes of silence, “you have a book being published, several pieces of art being put in a show, and music career waiting, but nopony will ever know it’s really you.”
Silent Song continued to gaze out at the pond as she thought. “One day, I’ll be brave enough to stand up and say, ‘I am Flora Spectrum,’ but for now,” she said turning to meet his eyes, “I’m happy.”