Trixie's Class Of Theatrical Arts

Chapters

1 - Introductions
2 - Assigning Roles
3 - Complications
5 - Foaling Around
6 - Let's Get Our Acts Together!
7 - Performance Reviews
8 - A Heart-to-heart Talk
9 - My Heart Does Yearn For His Embrace
10 - Overcoming Performance Anxiety
11 - Practice Makes Perfect
12 - Line, Please!
13 - Performance Reviews, Take Two
14 - The Big Night
15 - Epilogue
4 - Trixie Puts Her Hoof Down

1 - Introductions

The Ponyville theatre house, opened recently in an attempt to draw some revenue into the town, was holding its first class for young foal actors that day. The theatre house was started by one Trixie Lulamoon, funded by Princess Twilight Sparkle after the two had cut a deal.

The deal included Trixie helping Twilight out with her important ‘friendship studies’, and whilst this made little sense to the showmare, it essentially meant that she had a job she could enjoy doing, and all it would take to keep that job was to hang out with Twilight Sparkle and her friends a few days out of the week. And as Trixie was an actor of the highest calibre, such a task was foal’s play.

The theatre mostly held shows put on by Trixie herself, but she also allowed ponies to book time slots to perform their own shows, or hold meetings, since the town hall was always overbooked. And Trixie also came up with a great idea to increase her income even more: she would set up classes for foals over the summer, to teach them the fine art of theatre!

This summer was the first of her classes, and she had received seven application forms from foals wishing to take part. To her surprise, those two colts who never left her alone weren’t among them. She wasn’t complaining, though. She was just happy that she didn’t have to spend an entire summer with Snips and Snails.

And so, the Great and Powerful Trixie sat with what was to be her class for the next eight weeks, and shot them a smile. “Well then, how about we start with introductions? No doubt you all know of the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Most of the fillies nodded, but one of them shook her head. “Really? Well, perhaps you might consider watching one of her shows sometime? Trixie assumed that you would all know of her, so she didn’t prepare her own introduction.” Trixie turned to face the first filly: a pink filly with a tiara Cutie Mark. “Now, how about you go first?”

“… Diamond Tiara,” the filly said. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she looked unhappy to be there. “I’m only here because daddy says I need to show ponies more respect if I want to be a successful business pony. He said I could either go camping with Miss Fluttershy to learn how to be kind to ponies, or come here to learn how to act kind to other ponies.”

Trixie nodded. “Yes, quite right. Acting is a skill that can be used in every profession. Why, even the Princesses have to act nice whenever they meet a VIP, no matter what their mood may actually be.” Trixie turned to the next filly: a grey filly with glasses, and a spoon for a Cutie Mark.

“I’m Silver Spoon,” she said. “And I’m here to make sure Diamond isn’t stuck with these losers all summer.”

“… Not very enthusiastic about theatre, then?”

“I’ve been to some operas before, but they always, like, bored me to sleep.”

“Well, let’s give it some time. The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you beauty that is the theatrical arts! Next!”

The next filly was a yellow Pegasus filly, with a white feather for her Cutie Mark. “Alula, ma’am!” she answered with a salute. “I’m here for the same reason as Silvs, but I’m also pretty excited to get started!” The filly jumped up and ran over to Trixie, to whisper to her: “Hey, any chance DT and I can play the Prince and Princess?”

Trixie picked the filly up with her magic, and levitated her back to where she was sitting. “We’ll see,” she said. ‘Great. This one looks like she’ll be a hoofful.’ Trixie turned to the next filly, who was sitting in-between the two groups of three, and opposite to the showmare herself. “And you?”

“Uh, hi,” the filly said, her eyes shifting between the two groups. Or rather, at the pink filly on one side and the yellow filly on the other. “Uh, my name’s Babs. Babs Seed. And I, uh… am feelin’ pretty uncomfortable right now.”

“Don’t worry,” Trixie said. “We’ll beat that stage fright out of you.” Babs seemed to get even more tense at this, so Trixie corrected herself. “An expression. We’re not going to actually beat you.”

“O-Oh… right…”

The next filly in-line was a white Unicorn filly with a curly mane. Next to her was an orange Pegasus filly with a scruffy purple mane, and finally, a yellow Earth Pony filly with a red mane decorated with a large pink ribbon.

“Next,” Trixie said, to which the other four fillies covered their ears. She raised an eyebrow at that, before seeing the three fillies stand up together.

“We are: THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they shouted in unison, the force of their joint-shouting causing Trixie’s mane to become dishevelled. “And right now, we’re CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ACTORS! YAY!”

Trixie summoned a brush with her magic and fixed her mane, her eyes wide as she stared at the three fillies in awe. “W-Well, you certainly have the right… volume…” she said, earning proud grins from the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’. “However, Trixie was looking for individual names, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, right!” the yellow filly said. “Ah’m Apple Bloom!”

“I’m Scootaloo!” the orange filly added.

“And I’m Sweetie Belle,” the white filly finished. “We’re hoping we can get our Cutie Marks for being actors. Which is why we’re eager to get started right away!”

Trixie nodded. “Yes, yes. All in good time. Well then, how about we get started with some basic terminology?” Trixie used her magic to pull a blackboard over to the group, causing them to groan and sink their head. “Yes, Trixie knows that lectures and theory work are boring. But do not fret. The Great and Powerful Trixie has worked out a schedule to minimise the amount of lectures and maximise the amount of practical work we do, and there shall be no tests on any of this stuff!”

The filly’s heads seemed to perk up at that news, and their face lit up a little bit. “So let’s just get through this and then jump right into it! Oh, but you will need to take notes for future reference.”

2 - Assigning Roles

“Well, now that the boring stuff is over, stop pretending to still be paying attention and actually snap to it!” Trixie shouted as she clapped her hooves together. Most of the fillies jumped a little bit, the exception being Silver Spoon, who seemed to have actually been paying attention. Trixie made a mental note to make Silver Spoon the secondary advisor for any of the foals who had questions. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has here the first script that we will be performing.”

The Crusaders ‘ooh’d as they admired the holy documents before them, before Trixie began to pass them out. “‘Conspiracy – The Descent of Unicornia’,” Apple Bloom read out loud. “What’s it about?” she asked as she opened it up and began to read.

“It is a play from olden times, depicting the major historical event that led to the collapse and near-extermination of the Unicorn society. An event whereby a Pegasus group known as the Thunderbolts, early ancestors of our modern day Wonderbolts, plotted and orchestrated the assassination of the leader of the Earth Pony tribe, and then framed the Unicorn government. Set roughly fifty years after the founding of Equestria, it depicts how the Alicorn Princess Celestia and Luna came to take the throne, and also shows the struggle between the Unicorn Prince and the Earth Pony Princess, both desperately in love with one-another. In the end, it was that love, ending in dual-sacrifice, that allowed the three tribes to narrowly avoid going to war with each other.”

“… Cool!” Scootaloo said as she began to skim through the pages. “So, there’re a lot of action scenes, right?”

“There is a sword-fighting scene, yes,” Trixie said. “Now, keep in mind that this is set a long time ago, so it is written in an old tongue.”

“What is this?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I can barely read it!”

“That’s why we’ll practise,” Trixie said.

“It sounds like a sad story,” Sweetie Belle said, looking at the front of the script with an unsure look on her face. “Can’t we give it a happy ending? Like, the two heroes get married and raise a happy family?”

Trixie sighed and shook her head. “It is a play based on history. The point is to show ponies what actually happened, not how we would like for things to have happened.”

“Whoa!” Babs shouted, her eyes wide as she looked at one particular page. “T-There’s a curse word in here!”

“There is?!” Scootaloo asked excitedly. “Where?!”

“Page twenty! A-Are you sayin’ that we’re gonna be cursin’ in front of our parents?!”

Trixie nodded, and used her magic to summon a bunch of papers. “Your parents have all signed these wavers to allow you all to be here, and these wavers list, in detail, the kind of plays that you can be expected to perform.” The documents poofed away as Trixie’s magic went out.

“No way!” Apple Bloom shouted in disbelief. “Swearin’ in front of mah granny… an’ not gettin’ in trouble fer it?”

“Keep in mind, young foals, that whilst on the stage, you cease to be who you once were, and take on the role and identity of the character you are portraying. In essence, it is not you that will be cursing, but the characters that you are assigned.”

“But I like being me,” Alula said, her expression falling a little bit.

Trixie gave the filly a disbelieving look. “N-No, it’s not… Oh, never mind! Yes, you will be swearing! No, you will not get in trouble for it! Happy?”

The fillies all nodded, except for Diamond Tiara, who raised her forehoof into the air. “So, like, what are our roles?”

Trixie’s smile returned to her face, and she summoned a pair of glasses with her magic and placed them on her face. “Well, to begin, Trixie would like to get to know each of you a little better. You past acting experiences, you hobbies, your interests, you talents… All of this will help Trixie allocate you into roles that should be easy for you to become accustomed to.”

The fillies nodded in understanding, and Trixie decided to start with the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ first. “Now then, you three… what can you all do?”

“Ah can burp ta ten!” Apple Bloom boasted, earning disgusted looks and groans from the two rich fillies.

“Cannot,” Scootaloo challenged.

“Can too,” Apple Bloom protested.

“Prove it!” Apple Bloom accepted Scootaloo’s challenged, and proved her boasts true by proceeding to count to ten whilst belching. “… Huh. I guess you can.”

“Gross,” Diamond Tiara said as she backed away from the filly. “Seriously, were you raised in a bar- Oh, right. You were.”

Apple Bloom scowled at the pink filly. “Ah was raised in a house, same as you!”

“Obviously not the same as me, given your total lack of manners. Oh, and by the way, you’re still a blank flank. No shock there.”

Apple Bloom jumped to her hooves, looking ready to pounce Diamond Tiara and give her a good kick to the face, but Trixie stopped her by reaching out a hoof.

“Whilst that was a rather… interesting talent, Trixie was thinking of stuff related to acting. You know, accents, memorising things, acrobatics…”

“Oh, I’m good on my scooter!” Scootaloo shouted. “And I can dance kinda well, too.”

Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. “Ah’m not sure… Ah can design costumes and backdrops, but ah can’t really act that well, to be honest… Oh! But Sweetie Belle can sing good!”

“Hey, yeah!” Scootaloo added, the two Crusaders turning to look at their friend, who was smiling and blushing as she looked away. “Sweetie Belle’s got the best singing voice in all of Equestria! She should totally be the Princess!”

“The Princess has few singing lines,” Trixie told them. “But, if what you say is true, then there is a part that is perfect for Sweetie Belle. And for you, too, Scootaloo. The role of the jealous Pegasus Baron who engages the reluctant Prince in a swordfight to the death.”

“Sweet!” Scootaloo shouted, pumping her forelegs excitedly. “Oh man, I can’t wait! Rainbow Dash is totally gonna see how awesome I am!”

“Uh,” Sweetie Belle said, raising her forehoof slightly. “I… don’t feel comfortable singing in front of so many ponies.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “And why not?”

“I just get nervous easily…”

Trixie waved her hoof dismissively. “That’s the whole point of this class: to mould you all into top-tier actors. You do realise that you can’t have a Cutie Mark in acting, if you refuse to act because you’re nervous, right?”

Sweetie Belle thought about it for a second. She really didn’t want to have to sing in front of so many ponies, but then, she did want a Cutie Mark. “Well… I guess, I can give it a go.”

“That’s the spirit!” Apple Bloom said. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Actors, go!”

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Please. Don’t you three remember what happened the last time you tried to do any kind of performance work? Let me remind you: you embarrassed yourselves in front of everypony.”

Apple Bloom grit her teeth and turned back to Diamond Tiara. “We still won! And who came in last? Oh, right, it was you two!”

“Oh please! That contest was obviously rigged!” Diamond Tiara responded. “How else would three stupid blank flanks like you have got that medal?”

“Because we earned it, by workin’ hard! Ya know what that is? Workin’ hard?”

“Maybe if you said it right, I’d understand better! There’s a ‘G’ in there, blank flank!”

“Miss Cheerilee said it ain’t polite ta make fun of the way ponies talk!” Apple Bloom shouted, getting up and glaring at the pink filly.

Diamond Tiara said something, but nopony could hear it. They all looked at her questioningly, and the Apple Bloom said something too. Again, not a single word of it was heard. It was then that the fillies noticed two purple domes formed around the two fillies, and Trixie’s horn glowing the same colour.

Despite neither filly being able to hear each other, the fight still raged on. “Are they always like this?” Trixie asked. ‘Honestly, they’re arguing like an old married couple.’

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, glaring at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “These two are always driving us crazy.”

Silver Spoon looked at her hoof with a bored look on her face. “Well, you three blank flanks just get wound up so easily. It’s your own faults, really.”

“What was that?!” Scootaloo asked, jumping up and flaring her wings at the gray filly.

“See?” Silver Spoon said with a grin on her face.

“Uh, just so ya know,” Babs began, “I’m kinda neutral in this conflict…”

“How can you be neutral?” Scootaloo asked. “These guys are jerks! You should come over to our side! You too, Alula!”

Babs’ eyes lowered to the ground. “Well, it’s just… t-they have their good points, alright?”

“And she’s cute, too,” Alula mumbled, though everypony still managed to hear her. She blushed, and quickly turned her face to the side. “N-Nothing! Nothing at all!”

“… Anyway,” Silver Spoon said, ignoring Alula’s little slipup, “For a blank flank, Babs is actually pretty cool. You should be more like her.”

“What kind of good qualities could they possibly have?!” Scootaloo asked Babs, ignoring Silver Spoon’s comment.

“Uh, well… t-they have good toys, an’ they like the same bands and stuff as me, an’ they… they can be pretty funny. Y’know, when they’re not pokin’ fun at you guys on account of your blank flanks.”

“You mean they do other stuff?” Sweetie Belle asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Of course we do,” Silver Spoon deadpanned. “What, do you think we only exist simply to bother you three blank flanks?”

“… I… actually did,” Sweetie Belle admitted with a blush.

“Interesting,” Trixie said, putting her hoof to her chin. The seven fillies stopped their talking and turned to her. She noticed this, and shot them all a confident grin. “Well, this is only an experiment for now, but based on what Trixie has seen and heard of you all, she feels she has some good roles for you. But first, perhaps we could finish this little interview? Without any more distractions?”

The two sides exchanged looks, and eventually nodded together in agreement. “Good. Next up, Babs.”

“Okay, the roles have now been assigned!” Trixie announced, declaring an end to the short recess that she had given her class. The fillies all gather around her to hear their roles. “This is only a first draft, and certain changes may be made later. But for now, your main roles are:

“Apple Bloom, you are the Prince, and the knight to the Pegasus Duke.”

“Cool!” Apple Bloom shouted, receiving a hoofbump from Scootaloo. “Ah can’t wait ta tell Applejack!”

“Scootaloo, you are the Pegasus Baron, the Pegasus Duke, and the Earth Pony’s leader.”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Soooo, basically, I get killed twice?”

“… Yes. But you also get to boss your friend around.”

Scootaloo’s ears perked up. “Oh! Well, that’s a plus, I guess!”

“Sweetie Belle, you are the Prince’s cousin, and the priest.”

Sweetie Belle nodded nervously. “O-Okay…”

“Babs, you are the Princess’ knight and friend, and you are also the peasant who sells information on the Prince’s whereabouts to the Queen.”

“I can do that, no problem!”

“Alula, you are the Prince’s knight, and also the assassin.”

“Uh… O-Okay,” Alula said, not liking the sound of having to kill somepony in front of her parents.

“Silver Spoon, you will be assisting Trixie backstage mostly, but you are also going to be playing the advisor to the Prince, the Princess, and the Baron. We will rework the script to remove the few scenes they share together.”

Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow. “Why not just assign a different pony to each? I mean, you easily put Sweetie Belle as one of them.”

“Because there is some comedic value to having you play advisor to all three,” Trixie said. “And as Trixie said, this is a first draft. She has plans that may or may not work, and they would make it impossible for anypony else to play any of the advisor roles.”

“… Okay, I guess.”

“And finally, Diamond Tiara…” Trixie paused for a second, and then looked down at the fillies with a grin on her face. “… You will be playing the merchant, the alchemist, and… the Princess.”

Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened, and they both looked at each other in complete shock. “NO WAY!” They both shouted in unison, looking away from each other and crossing their forelegs. “Not happening!”

3 - Complications

“No way!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“Not happening!” Diamond Tiara added.

“No how!”

“I’d sooner do Math homework!”

“Girls,” Trixie began, “Trixie has selected you for these roles because she feels that you’re right for them.”

“But we don’t get along together!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“And there’s no way I’m going to dance with this, this… common farmer!”

“Well ah don’t wanna dance with some snooty poser, either!”

“Hey Trixie!” Scootaloo called over, drawing Trixie’s attention towards where she, Babs, and Sweetie Belle were gathered around a wooden chest. “What’s in here?”

“That’s Miss Trixie!” Trixie shouted. “And those are various props for performances! Do not open that!” With a sigh, Trixie turned back to the problem at hoof: these two bickering fillies who were to play the lead roles for their play. “Look, you two don’t have to get along. Just act like you do. If you can do that, then you’ll be true theatre ponies, and Trixie will be more than happy to graduate you from her class.”

Diamond Tiara scoffed at the idea of even pretending to get along with Apple Bloom. “Well, maybe if she could learn how to take a shower, I could try.”

Apple Bloom shot a glare at the pink filly. “Ah take plenty of showers! Ah just don’t spend every second of mah life prettying mahself up, ‘cause ah know this thing called fun!”

“Are you implying that I’m not fun?” Diamond Tiara asked, taking a step towards Apple Bloom. “I know how to have fun just fine! Like, last week, I had fun with these three losers who were deluded enough to think they could get their Cutie Marks in being dumb! Oh, good times!”

Apple Bloom took her own step forward. “All ya did was call us blank flanks like ya always do, made Scootaloo trip, then laughed at yer own lame jokes! And we were getting’ our Cutie Marks in badminton, for your information!”

“Clearly not, since you’re still just a loser blank flank.”

Apple Bloom attempted to tackle Diamond Tiara, but was stopped mid-charge by a purple aura wrapping around her body. Diamond Tiara stuck her tongue out at the enraged filly, and proceeded to laugh at her, before being lifted off the ground by a similar aura.

“H-Hey! Put me down!” she demanded.

“Trixie will release you both once you’ve calmed dow-” A loud crashing sound behind her caused Trixie to turn around, where she saw Scootaloo and Babs climbing into her chest full of props, taking things out and throwing them behind themselves. “Hey! Trixie told you not to open that!” she shouted as she ran over to the mischievous fillies, who quickly jumped out of the chest and stood at attention with innocent smiles on their faces. Halos even appeared above their heads as they questioned what was wrong.

Whilst Trixie scolded the two for their disobedience, Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, still floating in the air in Trixie’s magic, shot each other angry looks.

“Just drop out,” Diamond Tiara said. “You’re not being forced to be here, you can just drop out of this class.”

“No way! Cutie Mark Crusaders never quit!” Apple Bloom shouted with an air of pride. “How ‘bout y’all just ask for a smaller role, if’n ya don’t even wanna be here in the first place?”

“In your dreams!” Diamond Tiara scoffed. “What, and be upstaged by you three losers? Not a chance! If I’m going to do this, I’m going to be the lead role!”

Another loud crashing sound interrupted them, and they looked over to see Trixie practically exploding at a broken light on the floor. “SWEETIE BELLE! TRIXIE TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THAT!”

“S-Sorry! I was just curious!” Sweetie Belle shouted back, running towards Scootaloo and Babs and cowering behind them. “I-I didn’t mean to break anything, honest.”

“That’s another thing,” Diamond Tiara said, turning back to Apple Bloom. “You three always mess everything up, and this show is going to be no exception for sure!”

“We don’t always mess everything up! Least no more than you guys do!”

“I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking abou-”

The sound of glass smashing interrupted Diamond Tiara, followed by the sound of Trixie screaming: “ALULA!”

“Sorry! My bad!” Alula shouted, followed by a nervous laughter, and then the sound of a rolled up script colliding with her head.

Trixie then looked over at Silver Spoon, who was still sitting exactly where she had been since the class had started earlier that day. “Well?” she asked. “Aren’t you going to break something, too?”

Silver Spoon looked around nervously, before slowly shaking her head. “I-I’ll just sit here…”

“… Good,” Trixie said, turning back to Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara and walking over to them. “Now, where were we?”

“Alright, you’re on!” Apple Bloom shouted at Diamond Tiara, ignoring the fact that Trixie had just approached them. “Ah’ll show you! Ah’ll be the best Prince ever, even with you as the Princess!”

“That should be my line!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Even with the most un-charming, unsanitary, and uncouth Prince ever, I’ll still make the audience mine by being the most beautiful, most graceful, and most dignified Princess they will ever see!”

“Y’all have an off switch or something?” Apple Bloom asked, rolling her eyes at Diamond Tiara’s monologue.

Trixie grinned at the two fillies. ‘Perhaps there’s hope yet,’ she thought to herself. “So, you two have sorted this out? And you will work together in peace from now on?”

“No!” they both shouted together, startling the showmare.

“We’ll work together,” Diamond Tiara started.

“But we won’t like it!” Apple Bloom finished, both fillies glaring at each other afterwards.

Trixie sighed, and lowered them both back down to the floor. “Close enough,” she muttered as her magical aura disappeared. “But Diamond Tiara raises a point, Apple Bloom. You have a lot of scenes where you are close to the Princess, so to be courteous to her, perhaps you should wash your body every day. Or at least every other day.”

“Yeah!” Diamond Tiara said, sticking out her tongue once more.

“And Diamond,” Trixie continued, “You’d better be ready to let Apple Bloom actually touch you. Especially during the kissing scene.”

Both fillies’ eyes widened suddenly. “THERE’S A KISSING SCENE?!” They both shouted together, the combined force of their voices almost blowing Trixie’s hat off.

“… You didn’t read that far into the script?” Trixie asked.

Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom both exchanged shocked looks, which then turned to disgusted looks, which then turned to angry looks. “No way! Not happening!”

Behind Trixie, the sound of a pony yelping and falling over stopped her from saying anything as she turned around to see what it was. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?!” Scootaloo asked as she dropped a wooden sword and ran over to Babs, who was holding her hoof over her eye.

“Guys! Somepony help!” Sweetie Belle shouted, directing Trixie’s attention to where the white filly was hanging off of a rope, just a few inches off the ground.

“C’mon Sweetie, you can do it!” Alula shouted, apparently encouraging the filly to climb the rope further.

Meanwhile, Silver Spoon seemed to have moved from her spot to buy a snack from a nearby vending machine. The machine seemed to have malfunctioned and refused to give the filly her candy, because now she was banging her hoof against it, demanding it to ‘cough up the goods’.

Turning back to Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara, she once more used her magic to keep them from tearing each others’ manes out, and then let out a deep sigh as she walked slowly over to the closer bar near the theatre’s entrance. Since the barkeep, Berry Punch, was not here yet, Trixie invited herself over the counter and took out a bottle of apple cider from the fridge.

“Let’s just call it a day and pick up where we left off tomorrow,” Trixie said to nopony as she used her magic to open the bottle, and began to drink. Ten minutes later, the theatre doors opened, and Trixie smiled as she looked over. Never before had she been so happy to see the orange farmer with the apples for a Cutie Mark.

“Ah’m here ta pick up…” Applejack looked at the scene before her, and then turned to Trixie with a questioning look. The look disappeared as she saw the bottled of cider in Trixie’s hoof, and was replaced with a look of sympathy. “Ah warned ya that ya were bitin’ off more than y’could chew.”

Trixie grit her teeth together and slammed a hoof into the counter. “Nonsense! Today, Trixie was just off! Tomorrow will be better, you’ll see!”

Applejack nodded her head, but her eyes showed that she wasn’t buying it. “Well, g’luck ah guess. Jus’ be careful. Rainbow’s already bookin’ yer place in the nuthouse.” Had she made that joke before that day, Trixie would have believed it to be just that. However, after the events of today, Trixie wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Whatever. Where’s that marefriend of yours, anyway?”

“I told ya, Rarity ain’t mah marefriend.”

“Right. And Trixie is Pinkie’s sister,” Trixie responded sarcastically.

Applejack sighed, and decided to just collect her sister and her cousin and get out of there. Trixie watched in amazement as the farmer managed to break up Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara’s argument by simply placing her hoof on the yellow filly’s shoulder, and managed to get Scootaloo and Babs to stop playing around simply by approaching them.

‘Trixie must learn her secrets,’ Trixie thought to herself as Applejack paid the two fillies’ tuitions. Trixie looked over to see that Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo decided to fill the newly-formed gaps by arguing with each other, and let out a sigh. ‘Tomorrow will definitely be better. Tomorrow will definitely be better…’

5 - Foaling Around

Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed were sitting together backstage, hiding together after sneaking away from Trixie whilst she was distracted with Scootaloo. The two were playing with their Game Colts together and speaking to each other in hushed voices.

“So how does this work again?” Babs asked Sweetie Belle with a confused look on her face.

“It’s simple,” Sweetie Belle replied. “I trade you my Kadabra, and you trade me your Haunter, and they’ll both evolve. Then, we trade them back.”

Babs nodded, but still looked unsure. “Why do we need to trade ‘em, though?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged, and then unplugged her link cable and blew into it, before plugging it back into the side of her Game Colt. “I don’t know, it’s just how they designed it.”

Babs tilted her head and groaned as she glared at her screen. “Is it really worth it though, with all these connection problems?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, also glaring at her own screen. “Yes! I need all the data, and Diamond Tiara’s the only other pony I know who plays! And she charges me for each trade we make…”

“You two!” The two fillies jumped as the curtain they were hiding behind was pulled away, revealing their teacher standing on the other side. “The Great and Powerful Trixie commands you to put down those games right now and get back to your assigned tasks!”

“But I don’t like singing in front of others!” Sweetie Belle whined, her ears drooping as she gave Trixie a sad look, eyes wide and tears starting to form.

“Nice try, but years of exposure has made Trixie immune to those ‘puppy dog eyes’ of yours!” Trixie used her magic to snatch the Game Colts from the two fillies.

“AH!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she jumped to her hooves. “At least let me save!”

“Don’t worry, Trixie will save for you.” Trixie used her magic to operate both devices simultaneously, saving both games at the same time. “Trixie will be confiscating these. You shall get them back at the end of the day. But be warned that repeat offences will have harsher punishments.”

“Miss Trixie,” Babs started, “Do I really have ta practice mah dancin’ out there, where everypony can see?”

Trixie groaned and brought a hoof to her face. “If you can’t perform in front of your friends, or whatever they are, then how can you perform before a whole crowd?”

“I guess, but-”

“Come on now, we’re wasting time like this!” Trixie shouted as she levitated the two fillies with her magic and carried them through the air and back towards the main hall. Upon her arrival, she noticed that somepony was missing. “Where is Scootaloo?”

“Hm? Oh, she said she had to step outside for a bit,” Alula said, before shifting her attention back to the comic that she was reading.

“Is that so?” Trixie placed the two fillies down and ordered them to get back to their assigned tasks. She then began walking towards the bar, stopping on the way to snatch the comic book from Alula’s hooves. “Confiscated. You shall have this back by the end of the day. Now get back to work reading over your lines!”

Alula moaned as she rose to her hooves. “I was only taking a break! Why can Silver Spoon do that and not me?”

“Alula!” Silver Spoon shouted in an angry tone, causing the filly to quickly place her hooves over her mouth as she realised her mistake.

Trixie turned to the grey filly, who seemed to be reading the reference book on working backstage that Trixie had given to her. Trixie lifted it up to find that there was a fashion magazine on the other side. Silver Spoon smiled sheepishly at Trixie, who simply responded by switched the magazine for the reference book. “Confiscated.”

Silver Spoon groaned as Trixie walked past her, stopping at the bar to place the confiscated items into the safe on the other side, locking it tight with both a key and a magical spell. “Now to find out what Scootaloo’s up to.”

Trixie made her way outside and looked around. It didn’t take her long to find the orange filly… speaking to a rainbow-maned mare sitting on a cloud floating above her. “So I get killed twice, but I also get to show everyone my awesome moves onstage!”

“Sounds good! Can’t wait to see how ya do!”

Trixie made her way over to the Pegasus duo, neither of which seeming to take notice of her approach until she cleared her throat. “Scootaloo, did the Great and Powerful Trixie not order you to either practice your ‘awesome moves’ inside, or to read over your lines?”

Scootaloo sighed and her face fell as Trixie stopped in front of her. “Sorry Rainbow Dash. I gotta go back in now…”

“Hey, no prob! You keep at it, squirt, and I’ll be sure to come and watch you!” Scootaloo walked past Trixie and made her way back towards the theatre house. Trixie, however, remained where she was, and glared up at the Pegasus mare above her. “Problem?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie will thank you not to distract her students from their tasks. It is difficult enough to get them to behave as it is.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, much to the Unicorn’s annoyance. “Havin’ a bit of trouble, ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie?”

Trixie harrumphed and flicked her mane. “Nothing that Trixie cannot handle. She shall have those foals in shape by the end of this week.”

“You sure about that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she jumped down from her cloud and landed before Trixie. “You know the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’, right?”

Trixie nodded. “Those three blank flanks who like to scream their collective name in unison?”

“Yeah, them,” Rainbow Dash confirmed. “Well, this just somethin’ I heard, can’t say if it’s true or not, but rumour has it that Pinkie Pie once sat for those three… and had a breakdown.”

Trixie scoffed. “Impossible. How can anypony, let alone three fillies, ever cause that one to have a breakdown?” Trixie studied Rainbow Dash’s face for a few seconds, and her face fell as she saw that the Pegasus was not making this up. “… W-What have I gotten myself into?”

“Too late to bow out now,” Rainbow Dash said as she wrapped a foreleg around Trixie’s neck. “But if you want my advice, I hear Fluttershy has those three wrapped around her hoof.”

Trixie shook her head. “No help. Trixie cannot afford it. Besides, it would make Trixie a laughing stock if it was revealed she could not handle seven little fillies.”

“Hmmm… Well then, how ‘bout you try offering a reward for good behaviour?” Trixie seemed to consider that for a moment. “Nothing big. Foals can be won over pretty easily. Just offer ‘em a trip to somewhere fun or somethin’.”

Trixie nodded. “That could actually work. Trixie will have to look into that later tonight. For now, though…” Trixie pulled herself away from Rainbow Dash and looked back at the theatre house. “… Trixie probably shouldn’t leave those kids unattended. Especially not with all those fireworks and knives and alcoholic drinks and-”

“Celestia forbid you ever have kids,” Rainbow Dash said in a joking tone, jumping back onto her cloud and grinning at the showmare below her, who did not look amused by her comment. “Well, good luck Drips!”

Trixie’s eyes followed Rainbow Dash’s cloud as it flew past her overhead. “Try not to hit any more trees, Rainbow Crash!” she shouted after the Pegasus, before making her way back over to the theatre house. She stopped as she heard voice around the corner, and recognised one of them. “Ugh. These fillies will be my death.”

Trixie walked around the corner to confront Apple Bloom and whoever she was talking to. She stopped when she saw that the other filly was Diamond Tiara, and out of curiosity stayed back to see what they were discussing.

“Okay, nopony can see us here. Now can you just please try ta cooperate?” Apple Bloom asked as she reached out a hoof.

“You washed it, right?” Diamond Tiara asked as she took a step back from the hoof.

“UGH! For the last time, YES! Now c’mon, or are ya gonna give yer Princess role ta somepony else!”

Diamond Tiara huffed and slowly lifted her hoof up. “F-Fine… I’ll concede to holding your hoof and dancing with you, but you have to agree that kissing is completely out of line!”

Apple Bloom, her face turning red, nodded as Diamond Tiara’s hoof touched hers. “Y-Yeah, we’ll talk ta Miss Trixie about that later. But fer now, could y’all…”

“… What?”

“… Y’know…” Apple Bloom mumbled something that neither Trixie or Diamond Tiara could hear.

“Louder! I can’t hear you!”

“… T-Teach me how ta dance?” Diamond Tiara broke out into laughter almost immediately, causing Apple Bloom’s face to turn an even brighter shade of red. “S-Stop that! Ah’m bein’ serious!”

“Hmmm… Well well, this is an interesting predicament. Tell me, blank flank: what is in it for me if I take my precious time to teach you how to dance?”

Apple Bloom sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ah get it. Ah’ll do yer homework fer the first week of the new school year.”

“First three weeks,” Diamond Tiara corrected, which Apple Bloom reluctantly accepted. “Very well then. But we’ll need to find somewhere else to practice. I don’t want anypony seeing me dancing with the likes of you.”

“Fer once, we agree on somethin’. Don’ worry, ah know the perfect spot.”

Trixie grinned as she watched the two making plans to practice outside of her class. ‘It seems that there is still hope yet. I’d better not throw in the towel, either. Still, it’s funny that they’re going on about not being seen together… when they’ll have to be seen onstage, anyway.’

Although she laughed at it inside her mind, Trixie had to admit that it felt nostalgic seeing her students like that. It reminded her of her youth, when she would be absolutely adamant of practising in isolation, and only ever being seen during a performance. Now-a-days, she didn’t get why she felt like that. Maybe it was just a foalhood thing, she thought.

Taking a breath, Trixie prepared herself to confront the two fillies. Even though they were actually doing work, she couldn’t leave them outside unattended. She rounded the corner and approached them as if she had heard nothing. “You two! There you are!” The two fillies jumped at the sound of her voice and quickly turned to face her. “What are you both doing out here?”

“N-Nothin’!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Right, Diamond Tiara?”

“T-That’s right!” Diamond Tiara said, nodding her head.

“Well then, how about instead of ‘nothing’, you can inside and do the ‘something’ that Trixie assigned you to do?”

The two fillies nodded their heads quickly, and followed after Trixie as she turned to lead them inside. ‘Well, the day is almost over anyway. These two seem to be taking this seriously… Now if only I could find some incentive for the other foals.’

6 - Let's Get Our Acts Together!

A bright new day, and a bright new mood for Trixie as she readied herself to face the horror of what she had come to know as her class of theatrical arts. However, she now had a plan. Over the past few days, she had not only had some time to gather some valuable information on her pupils that was sure to help her out, but she had also been able to work out a deal that would surely motivate them to work harder.

“A trip aboard the S.S. Blueblood?!” Diamond Tiara shouted at the top of her lungs. “That’s like, the second-most luxurious air cruise that flies over Equestria!”

“They serve the types of tea that we’ve only dreamt of tasting,” Silver Spoon added. “And the finest art on display for all to see.”

“The Wonderbolts are always guests on that thing!” Scootaloo shouted, her wings shooting out of her sides as she thought about the idea of potentially meeting the greatest flyers in all of Equestria.

“Rarity would probably faint from shock if I turned down a chance to fly on the S.S. Blueblood,” Sweetie Belle muttered to herself.

Apple Bloom and Babs Seed, however, did not look very interested. “How would ya even afford somethin’ like that?” Apple Bloom asked. “Isn’t a lack of money why y‘all are doin’ this class thing in the first place?”

“Never you mind the details,” Trixie said, deciding to stay silent about the fact that she had forged a letter to Princess Celestia in Twilight’s hornwriting. She was actually surprised it had gone off without a hitch; she had planned for the Princess to inquire about the strange hornwriting or the oddity of her request, but it seemed that Trixie had underestimated her own abilities.

Celestia looked over the guest list for the upcoming cruise aboard the S.S. Blueblood, giggling to herself as she came across the names of eight ponies in particular: one showmare with a flair for theatrics, and seven fillies from Ponyville, four of which she had come to learn from her student had a tendency to cause a ruckus everywhere they went.

“This will certainly be a cruise to remember. For once, I can’t wait.”

“All you have to know is that Cheerilee and Trixie will only take you on this trip if you can pull your acts together, and actually take this class seriously!”

“Miss Cheerilee?” Alula asked. “What’s she got to do with this?”

“Your parents and guardians would not agree to Trixie taking you on a trip outside of Ponyville without another caretaker with her,” Trixie said with a shrug. “Trixie cannot see what possible reason they could have for that. The Great and Powerful Trixie is one hundred percent reliable and trustworthy!”

“Miss Trixie,” Babs Seed called out, raising her hoof. “I hafta use the bathroom.”

“Hold it in. Trixie is not finished yet.” Trixie used her magic to pull out a small wooden sword from a nearby chest. “Now, because your families are all such sticks in the mud, the Great and Powerful Trixie is sad to say that you shall have to resort to wooden props for your show. Apparently metal is too dangerous or something… Personally Trixie doesn’t see what the problem is. When Trixie was your age, she was eating swords and breathing fire inside lion cages whilst tying to magically defuse a bomb that was on a timer. In fact, Trixie remembers this one time where-”

As Trixie continued to share her life story with her students, Scootaloo grabbed the sword and turned to Alula. “Wanna go practice our sword fighting scene?”

Alula thought about it, and then shook her head. “Nah, I’ve gotta practice my lines more. But I’ll be happy to watch, if you want me to.”

“Cool. Let’s go over there.” Scootaloo pointed over to a large empty space, and the two fillies walked over to it. Trixie was too busy describing how she had once defeated a pack of hungry tigers in front of an entire audience with nothing but her own wit and ingenuity (and magic) to notice.

“Hey blank flank, come on,” Diamond Tiara said to Apple Bloom, who turned to her with a confused look on her face.

“Uh, what?”

Diamond Tiara simply huffed and grabbed Apple Bloom’s tail. “Let’s go!” she shouted as she started pulling. “I’m getting that trip aboard the S.S. Blueblood, even if it means working with an uncouth blank flank such as yourself!”

“Leggo of me! Ah don’t care about some stupid airship trip!”

“Stupid?!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shouted incredulously in unison.

“Look, I don’t care whether you care or not!” Diamond Tiara shouted, taking a step towards Apple Bloom and giving her a threatening glare. “I’ve been waiting for a chance like this my whole life, and you are not going to mess this up for me!”

Apple Bloom took a step back and looked around for her friends. However, Scootaloo was too busy fencing with the air, Babs had already ran off towards the restroom, and Sweetie Belle was too engrossed in Trixie’s stories to notice anything else going on around her.

“If you understand, then let’s get to it!” Diamond Tiara pulled on Apple Bloom’s tail again, dragging the worried filly with her towards an empty corner of the room. “We have a lot of work to do to hammer that hick accent out of your brain!”

Apple Bloom groaned as she was carried away by the now-enthusiastic pink filly, and Silver Spoon decided to get to work learning the ins-and-outs of backstage working. Since Trixie was still busy describing to Sweetie Belle how she had defeated an entire group of sirens with own beautiful singing, Silver Spoon decided to go ahead and familiarise herself with the backstage area and equipment.

Babs returned to her much needed bathroom break to find that all but Sweetie Belle were now working on something productive, and frowned as she watched. Feeling a little left out, Babs picked up her own script and took it somewhere away from the others to practice her lines.

“And that is when the Great and Powerful Trixie-” Trixie stopped after realising that she had at some point gone off on a tangent, and looked around the room to find that everypony was working hard with something to do with the play. “Huh… Well then, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall leave you all to it then. Do not hesitate to ask if there is anything you do not understand.”

Trixie saw a white hoof shoot up into the air, and looked down at Sweetie Belle, who was sitting on her haunches in front of her. “Miss Trixie, can you teach me how to jump through rings of fire whilst juggling knives?”

Trixie put a hoof to her chin and thought about it. ‘That’ll probably lead to a lawsuit.’ Trixie shook her head. “No, but what Trixie can do is teach you how to use magic to enhance your singing performance during the show.”

“You can? Cool!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she sprang up to her hooves.

Trixie decided to take Sweetie Belle backstage to help her practice. “It should not take long. Surely you already know the fundamentals of magic at your age.”

“Uh… not exactly,” Sweetie Belle admitted with a frown and a blush.

Trixie bit her lip and looked ahead of herself. “Oh… W-Well, no problem. The Great and Powerful Trixie is an expert, after all…” ‘This might be a problem.’

7 - Performance Reviews

“H-Hey… What are you doing?” Diamond Tiara asked as she backed away nervously from Apple Bloom, her face beet-red and her breathing deep.

“Ah should have noticed it sooner… Yer grace, yer beauty… Though mah father would never approve, ah dare say… ah’m in love.”

“Cut!” Trixie shouted, and less than a second later the two fillies moved as far away from each other as they could and started gagging. Their friends rushed over glasses of water and some mouthwash for the two. “Apple Bloom, Trixie has told you to ditch the accent whilst in-character!”

“Ah’ve tried, Miss Trixie,” Apple Bloom said, chugging her entire glass of water in one gulp. “But ah’ve spoken like this as far as ah can remember.”

“Well try harder. That can be your homework for this weekend.” Clapping her hooves together to gather everypony’s attention, Trixie summoned a stack of papers with her magic and levitated each one to the correct recipient. “Speaking of which, these are your performance reviews for the past week, and your practice assignments for the weekend. Those who do not put the effort in – and Trixie will be able to tell – will have to stay behind after class on Monday to complete the assignments then.”

“Wait, it’s only noon,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “Are we leaving early today?”

“Since you’ve all made stunning progress this past week, Trixie has decided to give you all a reward. You may leave early, but any who wish to stay to practice are more than wel-” Trixie stopped when she realised that she was now talking to clouds of dust, and when she heard the sound of a door closing behind her she turned around to see her seven pupils outside through a window. “… Very well then. The Great and Powerful Trixie shall just have her lunch and then take the rest of the day off at the spa.”

Trixie approached the bar at the entrance to her theatre house and opened one of the cupboards. Inside contained her stash of peanut butter crackers, which made the showmare lick her lips as she pulled out a packet and brought it over to the counter.

“Class let out early today?” Trixie jumped at the sound of Applejack’s voice.

“Trixie felt they could be allowed to take the rest of the day off, since they have pretty much exhausted Trixie’s lesson plan for this week anyway.” Trixie sat down at the counter and opened up her snack. “What brings you here?”

Applejack motioned to the wagon she was pulling behind her, which was stocked full of barrels. “Heard the place has been booked for a PTA meetin’ tonight, so ah figured ah’d come and drop off some refreshments. Any barrels that don’t get emptied ye’re free ta keep.”

“Very well. Just find somewhere to dump them then.” Trixie dunked her first cracker into the peanut butter and took a bite of it. Almost instantly her face lit up. There was something magical about peanut butter crackers that just made all of the day’s stress go away.

“So how’s the class goin’? Apple Bloom learned how ta speak fancy yet?” Applejack asked, taking a seat at the opposite side of the counter to Trixie.

“Haven’t you seen her practicing at your house?”

“Nah. She’s embarrassed ‘bout us seein’ her practicin’, so she does it at her clubhouse.”

Trixie used her magical to pull out a glass of apple cider from the fridge behind her and removed the cap. “Well, all seven of them are making good progress, but they’re all still sorely lacking in some regard.”

“Hey, mind if ah have a drink? Ah’m mighty parched from pullin’ those barrels all the way here.”

“That’ll be five bits,” Trixie said.

“Cheapskate,” Applejack mumbled as she reached into her hat and pulled out five bits. She exchanged them for a fresh bottle of apple cider from the fridge. “Ah still don’t see why ye’re buyin’ this fancy brand when ah’m willin’ ta sell our own cider much cheaper.”

“Your cider lacks the unique taste that can only be found in this Manehatten brand. Not only does this cider appeal to Trixie more, but with Trixie’s theatre being the only place you can buy this brand in Ponyville, it draws in a crowd.”

Applejack took a drink of her cider. She had to admit that it wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t going to do so out loud. “So, y’all were sayin’?”

“Hm? Oh, right. First off, there’s that Babs Seed filly. She’s certainly got the motivation and the skills to be an actress, but… it feels to Trixie like something is holding her back. Almost as if she is intentionally dragging herself down.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Trixie tried to talk to her about it, but the only thing that Trixie could get from our little chat is that Babs Seed is unaware of the problem herself, and that she seems to be afraid of something.”

“Afraid?” Applejack asked, now concerned for her cousin’s well-being. “Of what?”

“No clue,” Trixie said with a shrug. “It was just the impression that Trixie received from looking at her, maybe Trixie is simply reading too much into it.”

Applejack put a hoof to her chin and though about what Trixie had said. ‘Ah’d better have a word with Babs tonight, just ta be one the safe side.’

“Next up is Silver Spoon. She seems to be a smart, dependable filly, but she’s far too easily distracted, and it throws off her focus and her timing.” Trixie sighed as she remembered a certain incident where Silver Spoon messed up her timing, and attempted to make up for it by rushing herself… resulting in an accident that almost set the entire stage on fire. “Also, Trixie has noticed the fillies in this town like to start fires where it shouldn’t even be possible to do so.”

“Yeah, ya gotta watch out fer that,” Applejack said with a solemn nod.

“The next two, Alula and Scootaloo, and both wonderful actors and very athletic, making certain scenes a breeze for them. Unfortunately, they both have a tendency to forget all of their lines, to overact, and in Alula’s case, to put far too much energy into her scenes.”

“Ah heard Sweetie Belle’s comin’ along nicely though. Rarity said she heard her practicin’ her singin’ and it sounded great.”

Trixie nodded. “Indeed, there is very little wrong with Sweetie Belle… besides her stage fright.”

“Ah.”

Trixie sighed and held a hoof to her face. “Well, that and Trixie may have helped her tap into her magic a little bit… and now she is constantly pestering Trixie to teach her more, when what she should be working on is memorising her lines.

“Finally, we have Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara. Our star players… who are both making the slowest progress out of the entire class.”

Applejack frowned at that news. “How so? Ah mean, mah sister may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but when she’s out fer a Cutie Mark she can be pretty surprising.”

“Well, to start with they both despise each other. And although they have arranged a sort of truce to get along whilst onstage, which is fairly common in the acting world, Trixie has her doubts about how long it can last. After all, they both seem to have relatively short fuses.”

“Er, ah guess so… Filthy Rich and ah’ve been tryin’ ta get those two ta get along for so long now, but nothin’ we do works. Well, they don’t really hurt each other, so we’ve decided it’s probably best to just leave it be for now…”

“Then there’s their acting skills,” Trixie continued. “Diamond Tiara you’d think would be good at portraying the role of a Princess, but just like Scootaloo, she goes over the top. And Apple Bloom is the exact opposite; her accent and her inability to pronounce around half of the words on the script are holding her back.”

“Y’know she can’t really help that, right?” Applejack asked, her brow furrowed as she faced Trixie.

Trixie simply shrugged and bit into her next peanut butter cracker. “Well, we have plenty of time to work it out. But the biggest problem is that neither of them seem to be putting their hearts into it. They both have their own motivations for taking this class, but that’s just it. They’re only interested in taking the class, and are not putting their all into improving themselves.”

“Well, they’re only kids. What can ya do?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. The Great and Powerful Trixie will make sure to whip these fillies into shape before the big day, and when the parents of Ponyville see what a wonderful job Trixie has done, they’ll practically be lining up to sign their children onto Trixie’s course next summer! Mwahahahahaha!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and backed away as Trixie’s maniacal laughter filled the room. “Er, yeah… Well, good luck with that. Ah’ll just… be goin’ now…”

A full minute later, Trixie’s laughter had died down, and she turned back to Applejack, only to find that the orange mare was gone. “Well, that’s certainly rude,” Trixie said with a harrumph. “And she wonders why Trixie isn’t interested in buying her cider for the theatre house’s bar…”

8 - A Heart-to-heart Talk

Applejack approached the guest bedroom in the farmhouse and knocked three times on the door. “Babs? Can ah talk to ya for a second?”

“AJ? Sure,” a voice inside said. Applejack opened the door and walked inside, and found her young cousin Babs Seed reading from her script. “What’s up cuz?”

“Babs, ah was talkin’ with Trixie earlier today,” Applejack said, walking closer to Babs and taking a seat on the wooden floor next to the filly. “She said y’all were havin’ trouble actin’ out yer lines.”

“What?! That’s ridiculous!” Babs protested. “Here, check this out! Pray, lay down thy steel and let us join our hooves as comrades! No more shall we be enemies, for friendship is the sharpest blade in any arsenal…”

Applejack was impressed initially, but noticed that Babs’ voice began to waver near the end of her line, and that she even trailer off into silent muttering near the end. “Babs, is there somethin’ botherin’ ya?”

Babs quickly shook her head. “Of course not! I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“Y’sure? Y’know, Trixie seemed ta think y’all were afraid of somethin’.” Applejack noticed her cousin flinch.

“Me? Afriad? Heh, good one. Yeah, that Trixie mare’s pretty funny sometimes…”

Applejack sighed and scooted closer to Babs, wrapping a foreleg around the filly to draw them together. “Look Babs, y’know ah’m yer cousin, an’ that ah care ‘bout you. We’re family, an’ family look after each other, no matter what. So if there’s somethin’ botherin’ ya, please, don’t be afraid ta tell me about it. Ah won’t laugh, an’ ah won’t go ‘round flabbin’ mah gums about it, neither.”

“… Well… it’s just, I don’t want the same thing to happen that happened the first time I was here…”

“Beg pardon?” Applejack asked. “What d’ya mean?”

“Y’know… When I was being bullied in Manehatten, my folks sent me down here to get away from it. But instead of talkin’ to ya ‘bout it, I went and became the same type of bully I was tryin’ ta get away from.” Babs pressed herself into Applejack’s coat and closed her eyes. “I only wanted to make sure nopony tried pickin’ on me by actin’ strong, but I acted like a bully so much that I actually became a bully.”

Applejack stroked Babs’ mane softly as she listened. “Y’all are afraid of actin’, ‘cause of what happened back then?” Babs hesitated for a second before nodding. “Babs, you listen ta me. You’re you, an’ no amount of actin’ is gonna change that. Y’all can be an assassin or the Prince of whatever while ye’re onstage, but it don’t change who ya really are in yer heart.”

Babs opened her eyes and looked up at her cousin with a hopeful look. “Are ya sure?”

“Sure am,” Applejack said. “Just remember who ya really are an’ don’t ever let no stage persona change that. ‘Course, if ya don’t believe that yerself, ah can have a word with Trixie about getting’ ya out of theatre class-”

“No,” Babs said quickly, pausing for a bit before continuing. “No. Don’t do that. I really want to be with my friends on that stage…” Babs gave her cousin a smile and wrapped her forelegs around her in a hug. “Thanks, cuz. You’re right; I’m me, and no stupid script is gonna change that!”

Applejack smiled back and returned the hug. “Glad ah could help.”

“Hey, I don’t suppose you could stay for a bit and help me practice my lines, could ya?”

“Ah’d be happy to! Ah jus’ gotta go fetch Apple Bloom in before it starts rainin’.” Applejack rose to her hooves and turned to leave the room, a warm feeling in her chest from being able to help her cousin in her time of need. Next stop: the clubhouse.

Apple Bloom grimaced as she stared the repulsive object straight in the eyes. She felt sick to her stomach and her brow was dripping heavily with sweat as she continued staring with gritted teeth. ‘Ah can’t believe ah’m actually thinkin’ ‘bout doin’ this. But it’s the only way…’

Apple Bloom gulped and took a step forward, only to take another step back and clench her eyes shut. ‘No way! Ah can’t do it, it’s just too much!’

Apple Bloom opened her eyes again and glared at the picture of Diamond Tiara taped to a ponnequine in front of her. The picture was originally used by Scootaloo as a dartboard, but right now, it served a much more repulsive purpose.

No matter how much they pleaded, the kissing scene could not be removed. Trixie insisted that it was the most important part of the play, and that so many tickets were sold the moment news of the scene reached the ears of the public.

Apple Bloom didn’t want to do this scene, but at the same time, she really wanted a Cutie Mark. And besides, backing down before Diamond Tiara did would be like admitting defeat, and there was no way that she was going to do that.

The picture of Diamond Tiara seemed to come to life for a moment. Apple Bloom stared at the smug-looking, arrogant little filly in the picture, giving a smile that seemed to say ‘worship me’, and growled. And then she heard laughter. The mocking laughter of Diamond Tiara, chanting her victory of the farm filly and proclaiming herself to be a much better actress than Apple Bloom will ever be.

Apple Bloom swallowed the lump in her throat, steeled her nerves, and then lunged forward, lips puckered.

Applejack simply stared into the window for what felt like a millennium. She tried to close her eyes, and reopen them, in the hopes that she had hit her head and was simply hallucinating. No such luck. Her head was fine, and the image in front of her was still the same: Apple Bloom locking lips with a ponnequine that had a picture of Diamond Tiara’s face attached to it.

“Eenope,” was all that she could before she slowly backed away from the clubhouse, her eyes still wide and her mind a whirling storm of chaos as she tried and failed to burn the image from her memory.

9 - My Heart Does Yearn For His Embrace

Babs took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her hoof travelled to the imaginary sword strapped to her side and her eyes shot open as she spun around on the spot. “If thy intention is to stalk, perhaps you might consider practising stealth. Show thyself, coward who would hide in the shadows!”

Diamond Tiara adjusted her tiara before stepping out onto the stage floor, approaching Babs from the front. “And here We thought Our skills would equal even Our father’s.”

“P-Princess!” Babs quickly righted herself and lowered down to one knee, bowing her head so deep her face almost made contact with the floor. “A thousand pardons! Had I known it was you-”

“Rise thy head, good knight Francisco. Pray tell, how did thou knowest of Our presence following your every move?”

“… As thy knight, it is my job to be always vigilant of my surroundings. However, Your Majesty’s presence was indeed expertly hidden, to the point that I could not even identify thee without facial confrontation.”

Diamond Tiara giggled. “Actually, We wished to speak with thee in private, but it seems the Royal Guard is sorely lacking in this area…”

“When I noticed an unknown presence tailing my shadow, I sought to confine it to an area whereby I couldst fight without injuring others.”

“So thou dragged Us here to cross swords?” Babs nodded. “Wouldst thou still care for a light spar with the blade?”

“M-My lady, I couldn’t-”

“At ease. We merely jest, Francisco. As we hath already made clear, We simply wish to speak with thee. Nothing more.”

“… By all means, my lady. As your knight, I am here to be of whatever service I may be able to offer to you.”

Diamond shook her head. “Neigh. We wish to speakest to not Our knight, but Our good friend since childhood.”

Babs looked around for a moment with a cautious look on her face, before turning back to Diamond Tiara. “I pray Your Majesty doth not intend to speak to me about that Prince of whom has caught thine eye.”

Diamond Tiara blushed and turned to walk towards an imaginary window, gazing up at the ceiling above her as if there was a beautiful night sky above her head. “‘Tis truth that Our heart does yearn for his sweet embrace. His soft words flowing into Our ears, and his hold so gentle as to wash away all pain We hath endured in this war. Good Francisco, We-”

“My lady, though he may be a kinder stallion than many, he is our enemy no less.”

“Even so, Our feelings cannot be denied. Yea, We love him.”

Babs shook her head. “Love is no game, Your Majesty. Tread lightly this path, and be sure your feelings hold true.”

“Then allows Us to shout it from the top of this very window: I love Sir Montague of Earth!”

“And so do I,” a voice called out behind Babs. Both Babs and Diamond turned around suddenly to see Apple Bloom walking towards them. “So do Ah, Prince Montague of Earth, swear my love for Princess Capoolet of Unicornya!”

“Cut!” Trixie shouted, stepping onto the stage where the three fillies were gagging over the lines they had just performed. “Well, that was certainly a great improvement on your part, Babs.”

“Y’think so?” Babs asked, brushing a hoof through her mane as she gave her teacher a smug grin. “Yeah, this is ain’t so hard ta get, y’know?”

“Good attitude!” Trixie said with a smile. “Keep that up! That optimism is what’ll make you big someday!” ‘I have no idea how she got past that little problem of hers. I guess I just must be a better teacher than I first though.’

“Can we have some mouthwash after these kinds of scenes?” Diamond asked, stilling gagging along with Apple Bloom. “Even if it’s just acting, talking about liking that blank flank is-”

“Get used to it,” Trixie said. “You’ll be kissing her soon enough, so what do a few words matter?”

“About that,” Applejack said, approaching Trixie from behind, “Are ya absolutely sure the kissin’ scene is necessary?”

“Oh my dear Applejack,” Trixie said, shaking her head as she approached the farmer. “You don’t know much about the theatrical arts, do you?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Well Trixie does,” Trixie said. “Trixie has a degree from Celestia’s School where she majored in Magical Arts, and minored in Theatrical Arts. Trixie knows how the world of theatre works, so trust Trixie when she says that the kissing scene is the most vital scene of all.”

“But-”

“After all, you wouldn’t like it if Trixie, a showmare who has never worked a day on an apple orchard her entire life, were to suddenly question the methods with which you use to buck trees, now would you?”

“Ah guess not, but ah just don’t see why they can’t simply fake it?”

“Because it wouldn’t be convincing enough,” Trixie said. “It’s bad enough we have to rely on wooden props for weapons and to have a gap between the fillies when they’re fighting. The Great and Powerful Trixie is trying to teach real theatre here!”

“Then why not jus’ make it a kiss on the forehead, or on the cheek?”

“Because that doesn’t have the right level of impact. Especially not when their final kiss at the end is followed by the dual-suicide pact they both take. That kiss cannot be anything less than on the lips.”

“Ah’d better get mah Cutie Mark from this,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“If you want your Cutie Mark that badly, then work on pronouncing the words as they are meant to be pronounced!” Trixie said as she turned to Apple Bloom. “You keep mispronouncing words, and it’s dragging your performance down!” Trixie heard Diamond Tiara giggling and turned to face her. “You, on the other hoof, have the opposite problem. You do a fine job pronouncing your lines correctly, but your tone of voice is simply… far too casual. And modern. At least Apple Bloom can make her voice sound like a Prince’s.”

“Right, well, it’s already past noon now,” Applejack said as she looked over to the clock on the far wall. “How ‘bout we let ‘em all take a break an’ go get some pizza?”

“Pizza?!” Apple Bloom and Babs exclaimed in unison.

“There will be time for pizza later! After they are done practising!” Trixie declared, turning to face Applejack, only to find the farmer giving her a stern stare. With a sigh, Trixie said: “Fine. One last scene, then pizza.” The fillies cheered, and the two mares made their ways offstage to watch as the fillies acted out their next scene of the day.

10 - Overcoming Performance Anxiety

“Cut!” Trixie shouted as she slammed a forehoof into her face. “For the last time, you two, a simple peck on the cheek! Not a hoof to the cheek, or a spider on the cheek, or a ‘push her off the stage aggressively’. A kiss!”

“It’s not that easy!” Apple Bloom argued. “Ah can’t kiss! It’s just… too gross!”

“How dare you?!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Anypony would feel lucky to come anywhere close to kissing me!”

“Um, excuse me,” a voice called out from behind Trixie. “I believe you wanted me to drop by?”

Trixie climbed out of her chair and turned to face her guest, Rarity, who was standing at the theatre house’s front door. “Work it out,” Trixie said to the two fillies as she walked over towards Rarity. “You’re here earlier than Trixie had expected.”

“Well I finished my latest project earlier than I thought, so I decided to come by now.” Rarity looked past Trixie’s shoulder towards Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara, who were both shoving each other as they walked across the stage. “Um, shouldn’t you be breaking that up?”

“Just let them get it out of their systems,” Trixie said in a dismissive tone. “Otherwise it’ll just build up and they’ll be worse off later.”

“But-”

“Now then, the Great and Powerful Trixie needs you to follow her backstage,” Trixie said as she turned around. “This way.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to tell me what’s so important that you would call for me on such short notice?” Rarity asked as she followed after Trixie.

“It’s your sister,” Trixie replied simply.

“Oh dear. What did she do this time?” Rarity asked, causing Trixie to look over her shoulder with a confused look on her face. “I assure you, whatever damages my sister might have caused, I will-”

“No no, nothing like that… this time,” Trixie said. “No, your sister’s performance is suffering, badly.”

Rarity gasped in absolute shock and horror. “Impossible! I’ve heard her singing to herself at home! Why, it’s the most beautiful voice I have ever heard!”

“Yes, but that means nothing when she can’t sing in front of other ponies,” Trixie told her.

“Oh dear. She still has that stage fright issue?” Rarity asked. “She told me she had gotten better. Well, what do you suggest we do?”

“Simple. We make her get over it,” Trixie said. “We’ll start small. Have her perform before just the two of us. Then we’ll build it up until she can finally perform before an entire crowd.”

“Do you really think it will be that easy?” Rarity asked as she and Trixie entered a room backstage.

“We don’t really have much choice. If she can’t perform in front of ponies two weeks before the performance, she’s off the cast. Simple as that.”

Sweetie Belle scuffed her forehooves against the floor as she kept her head down and her eyes wide as she stared blankly at the floor. “Anytime you’re ready,” Trixie said in a bored tone. “Let’s start with something easier then. What is your name?”

Sweetie Belle slowly shifted her eyes to the microphone stand standing before her. “S-Sweeti…”

“Come again?” Trixie asked, putting a hoof to her ear.

“… Sweetie Bll…”

“Sweetie Ball?” Trixie asked. “What an odd name.”

Rarity nudged the Unicorn sitting beside her and gave her sister a calming smile. “Sweetie, please just relax. It is only the two of us in here right now.”

“… S-Sweetie Belle…” Sweetie Belle said, her voice cracking on the final syllable. “I, uh… What did you want me to sing again?”

“Anything,” Trixie said. She had originally told her to sing the first song in her script, but by this point she simply wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. “What was that song you were talking about a few days ago?”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders’ theme song?” Trixie nodded. “Um, I guess I can sing that…” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath, and began singing into the microphone.

“Louder,” Trixie said, barely hearing a whisper from Sweetie Belle.

“When yr… pony…”

“Louder,” Trixie said. “More spirit.”

“I can’t,” Sweetie Belle said, her ears folding against the sides of her head and her eyes tearing up.

Trixie nudged Rarity’s side. “You’re up,” she whispered.

“Me?” Rarity mouthed back.

“She’s your sister.”

Rarity nodded and rose out of her seat. She approached Sweetie Belle and placed a gentle hoof on her head. “Sweetie Belle, it’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid. Neither myself or Trixie will laugh at you or make fun of you, and you have such a wonderful voice, you shouldn’t be afraid to share it with the world.”

“But… it’s embarrassing.”

“Well, I think that’s just silly. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Rarity knelt down and pulled her sister into a hug. “You know, I’ve heard you singing before.”

Sweetie Belle gasped. “Y-You have?”

Rarity nodded. “That’s right, and I think it’s the most wonderful voice in the world.” Sweetie Belle blushed and fiddled with her hooves at that. “I would really like to hear it again. It would make me very happy.”

“… I-It would?” Rarity smiled and nodded. “… O-Okay then. I’ll try…”

Rarity took her seat back beside Trixie, and Sweetie Belle took another deep breath as she readied herself to try singing again. “… When you’re, a younger pony…”

“Louder,” Trixie said.

“… And your flank is very bare. Feels like the sun will never come…”

“Louder.”

“When your Cutie Mark’s not there!”

“Better!” Trixie said. “But more spirit! Don’t just read the lyrics, feel them! Make them reach our hearts!”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “So the three of us will fight, fight fight! There is nothing that we fear!”

Rarity smiled as she listened to Sweetie Belle’s singing, and Trixie gave herself a pat on the back as she closed her eyes and planned her next move. ‘… Hey, this song’s pretty catchy…’

“Not until we have our Cutie MARRRRRRKS!” Sweetie Belle panted for air as she finished her song, and she smiled as she saw both Rarity and Trixie applauding her. “I… I did it!”

“See? I knew you had it in you,” Rarity said, making Sweetie Belle blush.

“Alright,” Trixie said. “Next step is having you sing in front of your parents.” Trixie noticed Sweetie Belle freeze up suddenly and droop her ears against the sides of her head. “If you can sing before your sister, your parents should be fine too, right?”

“I… I don’t know… The two are kinda different…”

Trixie sighed and looked towards the clock to her left. “Not much time left today… We’ll continue this tomorrow. And the Great and Powerful Trixie has something that may help you out, if you still feel you are unable to perform.”

“What’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked cautiously.

Trixie reached into her cape and pulled out a small plastic bottle. “Trixie got these from Doctor Turner. These pills will boost your confidence. Allow you to perform before any crowd.”

Rarity pulled Trixie towards her violently. “Excuse us,” she said to Sweetie Belle as the two mares turned away from her. “Are you insane?!” she whispered to Trixie. “I’m not letting you feed anything weird to my sister!”

“Relax,” Trixie whispered back. “They’re only sugar pills. We don’t have much time left before the show, so Trixie thought we could use the power of suggestion to help push things along.”

“But that’s cheating! And what if she finds out halfway through her show?”

“That’s the beauty of it. If Trixie’s theory is correct, after a few practice performances before real crowds, we should be able to tell Sweetie Belle the truth and she should have no problem performing on her own from then on.”

“… Are you sure? Maybe we should consult Twilight first…”

“You doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Are you a certified psychologist?”

“Is Twilight?”

“Well then, recite every single book in the Ponyville library in sorting order and write a one thousand word summary on each one, and I shall trust you as much as I do her.”

Trixie sighed and pressed her forehoof between her eyes. “… Fine. Consult Twilight first, and let Trixie know tomorrow what you decide. But the alternative might not be effective enough to erase her stage fright before showtime.”

“Well that’s a risk we’ll just have to take.” Rarity turned back to a curious-looking Sweetie Belle with a smile on her face. “Sweetie Belle, you know that mother and father are always supportive of anything we do, and you know that there’s nothing to fear from performing before them, right?”

“I guess… but…”

“Well then,” Trixie said as she got up, “Trixie suggests you spend the night practicing and preparing for tomorrow. I will give you a note to deliver to your parents after today’s classes end.”

“What should I do for the rest of today’s class?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Try to memorise your lines, or if you think you’ve already done that, practice them.” With that, Trixie left, Rarity and Sweetie Belle following shortly after her.

Trixie waited until Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were both in position. “Okay, let’s try this again! Once more, we’ll practice with a simple kiss on the cheek before we move it up.” Taking a look at the clock to decide how many attempts they could fit in, Trixie prepared herself for a long practice session. “Aaaaaand, action!”

“My apologies, m’lady,” Apple Bloom said with a bow, “But ah fear I must return before my guards discover my absence.”

“Prithee, can we meet like this once more, my Prince?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Apple Bloom put a hoof beneath Diamond’s chin and drew her face closer. Trixie was on standby to yell ‘cut’ as she watched their faces inch closer together. “Cu-” Trixie stopped as she realised they hadn’t broken out into some kind of fight or argument this time, and everypony in the room gasped as they watched the two fillies, both blushing furiously, connecting their lips together.

Apple Bloom pulled away and stared into Diamond Tiara’s eyes. “Yea. For as long as there is breath in my lungs, nothin’ in this world shall keep us apart.”

“Cut!” Trixie shouted. The two fillies quickly backed away from each other and started gagging, demanding water from their respective friends. Meanwhile, Trixie couldn’t find the words to critique their performance as she was still lost by what she had just seen. Merely half-an-hour ago the two couldn’t stand being too close to each other, but now… ‘W-What the buck did I miss?!’

Author's Note

Psst! Next chapter will show us exactly what Miss Lulamoon missed! Stay tuned for it and be warned that it may or may not be very shippy ;)

11 - Practice Makes Perfect

Apple Bloom cringed and glared at Diamond Tiara. She was glaring back. Apple Bloom swallowed the lump in her throat and inched forward. Diamond Tiara inched back. ‘All that practice in the clubhouse didn’t help one bit!’ Apple Bloom thought as she froze up.

“Come on!” Trixie shouted. “Just a little peck on the cheek! How hard can that be?!”

Apple Bloom was half-thankful that Trixie had allowed them to practice with kisses on the cheek before moving up to the lips, but it was still a tall order. Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle she would be fine with. Even Silver Spoon might be tolerable to some extent. But Diamond Tiara?

Building up her resolve once more, Apple Bloom began inching closer again… only to feel a hoof press into her side and push her aside. “Wah!”Apple Bloom managed to keep her balance as she fumbled about the front of the stage.

“It’s not that easy!” Apple Bloom argued. “Ah can’t kiss! It’s just… too gross!”

“How dare you?!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Anypony would feel lucky to come anywhere close to kissing me!”

“Um, excuse me,” a voice called out from behind Trixie. “I believe you wanted me to drop by?”

“What did ya push me for?!” Apple Bloom asked as she turned to Diamond Tiara with a scowl.

“Because you were about to k-k… kiss me,” Diamond Tiara finished in a mumbled tone.

“Duh! That’s the scene,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya think ah’m happy ‘bout all this?!”

“Shut up! Just stop doing gross things, blank flank!” Diamond Tiara said, shoving Apple Bloom before turning to leave the stage.

“Ah have ta, or the play’s a bust,” Apple Bloom said, catching up to Diamond and giving her a shove.

“Stop that!” Diamond shouted as she shoved Apple Bloom.

“Make me!” Apple Bloom challenged as she shoved Diamond Tiara.

The two continued to argue all the way to the backstage changing room, shoving each other the whole time until Apple Bloom had finally had enough. “Enough!” she shouted. “This ain’t gettin’ us anywhere! It ain’t gettin’ you on that fancy cruise, and it certainly ain’t earnin’ me a Cutie Mark!” Apple Bloom looked over her should and at her flank with a frown on her face.

Diamond’s eyes widened at the reminder of the cruise that was on the line and she somewhat calmed down. “W-Well, what do you suggest?”

Apple Bloom bit her lip for several moments, trying to avoid the only answer that was obvious to her. “We… have ta finish the scene.” She saw Diamond’s expression turn to one of disgust. “Properly.”

“Ewwww,” Diamond said as the thought crossed her mind. “But that cruise, even daddy couldn’t get tickets to it…”

“And this might be mah true callin’,” Apple Bloom said to herself. “Ah can’t let this chance slip by…”

The two stared at each other in silence for many awkward moments, their faces turning red in a matter of seconds and their eyes darting all over the room. “T-There’s nopony here,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “It might be easier ta… practice, here.”

“You can’t be serious,” Diamond said in a sickly tone. “We have to do it in front of everypony anyway, why make it worse by practising?”

“D’ya wanna give everyponymore reason ta laugh when they see us not only kiss, but mess up?”

“I guess you’ve got a point, for once.” Diamond Tiara gulped. “Just so we’re clear, I still hate you.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah hate ya too.”

After a few seconds of neither filly making any move, Apple Bloom took a step forward, only to stop when she saw Diamond Tiara attempt to do the same. Diamond also stopped, and Apple Bloom decided to continue, only for Diamond Tiara to also continue.

They both stepped back and Apple Bloom groaned. “Ah’m the Prince. Ah think ah should take the lead.”

Diamond Tiara nodded. “F-Fine. But remember, only a kiss! Keep your hooves off my beautifully-groomed fur!”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Trust me, mah hooves will be on standby to stop mahself from throwin’ up.” Once again, Apple Bloom took a step forward. Diamond Tiara flinched and closed her eyes as she saw Apple Bloom’s lips pucker up.

A shiver ran through Diamond Tiara’s body as she felt Apple Bloom’s lips make contact with her own, but thankfully she only had to endure the feeling for less than a second before Apple Bloom pulled away. “… Was that it?”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “What d’ya mean?”

“I mean, I barely felt anything! Are you sure you’re doing it right?”

Apple Bloom blushed. “W-Well how would ah know?!”

“That was just terrible!” Diamond Tiara said. “Would Trixie be okay with that?”

Apple Bloom wanted to say ‘yes’ so that they could just get out of there, but thoughts of her Cutie Mark re-entered her mind and stopped her. “Ah… Ah dunno… M-Maybe we should try again. Y’know, jus’ ta be on the safe side.”

“… F-Fine.” Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, and once again the feel of Apple Bloom’s lips against her own caused her body to shake. Only this time, it lasted for longer. When Apple Bloom pulled away, Diamond shook her head. “Still not feeling anything, which means you must be doing it wrong.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “Well what other ways are there ta kiss a pony?!”

Diamond Tiara remembered some of the romance movies that Silver Spoon had made her watch, and her lower lip quivered. “T-Try putting your hooves on my cheeks,” she said. “BUT ONLY ON MY CHEEKS!” she quickly added.

“How will that-”

“Just do it,” Diamond snapped. Apple Bloom nodded and hesitantly lifted her hooves towards Diamond’s face. Many times she had done this in the past, but usually to kick the filly or scare her off with muddy hooves. She placed her hooves on Diamond Tiara’s cheeks and squeezed.

“Not so tight!” Diamond shouted. Apple Bloom quickly eased up. “O-Okay. Now do it.”

Apple Bloom slowly brought her face closer to Diamond Tiara’s for the third time that day, both fillies closing their eyes as their lips met. Immediately Diamond could feel the effect of simply having Apple Bloom’s hooves holding rushing through her body, making her mind go blank and her face heat up as she unconsciously lifted her own hooves to grab Apple Bloom’s forelegs.

Apple Bloom herself also had to admit that the experience wasn’t quite as appalling as she had first feared. As she felt Diamond take a step back, her own body instinctively made a step forward, keeping the other filly there whilst she finished trying to determine whether this feeling coursing through her body was a good thing or a bad thing.

Finally, Apple Bloom had to pull back for air, and to allow the blood to drain out of her face. Diamond Tiara turned her head to the side and scuffed a hoof against the floor. “Y-Yeah… Like that…”

“So ya think we’re good ta go then?” Apple Bloom asked, her heart racing as Diamond turned her head and allowed their eyes to meet.

Diamond Tiara simply wanted to say ‘yes, we’re good to go’, and it would not have been a lie. In her mind, she couldn’t possibly fathom how a kissing scene could be anymore improved than that.

But for some reason unbeknownst to her, she replied: “W-We’d better try it again, just to make sure we’ve got it down.”

“Y-Yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed with a gulp. “J-Jus’ one more time?” With Diamond Tiara’s nod of approval, Apple Bloom stepped forward once more and kissed Diamond Tiara. She felt Diamond’s hooves grabbing a hold of her shoulders and quickly back her head away.

“I-It makes it more realistic,” Diamond said. Apple Bloom slowly nodded and returned to kissing Diamond Tiara.

After what felt like an eternity passed, the two separated once again and quickly backed away from each other. “… T-That should definitely be good enough,” Diamond said. “It seems you can do something right.”

“T-Thanks,” Apple Bloom replied, not sure why she was thanking her instead of getting mad at the comment.

“APPLE BLOOM! DIAMOND TIARA! ON STAGE NOW!” Trixie shouted from the direction of the stage. The two fillies jumped and took a moment to calm their beating hearts before making a move out of the changing room, both enacting a mutual ‘silence treaty’ as they walked.

As they approached the stage, Diamond Tiara grabbed Apple Bloom’s leg and whispered to her: “Remember, nopony finds out about what happened back there.”

“Ah’d sooner bathe in a tub of parasprites,” Apple Bloom replied in a flat tone.

The two shook on their non-disclosure agreement by way of turning their heads from each other and huffing, and then both made their way onto the stage.

Author's Note

So with not much else to do today (so borrrrrred), I decided to write this chapter up now and treat you all with a double-update :3

Hope you all enjoyed it! ^_^

12 - Line, Please!

“Wretched cur! I warn thee, turn back now, or… or… Line!”

Trixie groaned and threw her script at Scootaloo’s hooves. “Come on! This is the fifth time in a row you’ve forgotten your lines!”

“Uh, I’ve forgotten mine, too,” Alula said with a sheepish smile.

Trixie sighed and shook her head in disbelief. ‘Honestly, at the rate things are going, there’s no chance they’ll be ready in time for the big day…’

“Ooh, now I remember!” Scootaloo shouted cheerfully as she read over her lines in the script. “Man, some of these lines are tricky.”

“And there are so many, too. It’s like trying to remember all the stuff Miss Cheerilee teaches us,” Alula said.

Trixie’s ears twitched and she turned her attention to the two fillies. ‘… I think I may just have an idea…’

“Okay, good to go!” Scootaloo said as she tossed the script back to Trixie, who caught it in her magic.

“Me too!” Alula added.

“That’s great,” Trixie said, “But how about you take five?”

The two fillies turned to their teacher with confused looks on their faces. “You’re giving us a break?” Scootaloo asked.

“But it’s not even lunchtime yet,” Alula pointed out.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie merely has to step out for a few minutes, that is all. Trixie would ask that you continue to practice on your own for a bit, but she knows that it would be a futile request.”

“Where ya goin’?” Scootaloo asked.

“Just out to see a friend,” Trixie said as she grabbed her hat, placed it on top of her head and left the building.

“Two strawberry milkshakes,” the waiter said as he placed the two drinks down onto the table where two mares, Cheerilee and Trixie, were sitting. “Enjoy.”

“Thank you,” Cheerilee said before she leaned in to take a sip of her drink. She gave a pleasant sigh at the much-needed refreshing beverage. “Now, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about? The Crusaders haven’t torn down your theatre house, have they? ‘Cause that’d be an issue to take up with their families, not me.”

“It’s not that,” Trixie said. “Not yet, at least. No, the Great and Powerful Trixie has come to you today to ask you to impart your wisdom as a teacher.”

Cheerilee blushed at the compliment. “W-Well, I’m not really sure if I’ll be all that helpful, but if you have any questions, I’d be happy to-”

“Then let’s cut right to the chase,” Trixie said. “How in Equestria do you get your students to remember everything that you teach them?”

Cheerilee gave a puzzled look at the question. “I’m… sorry?”

“In particular, two fillies named Scootaloo and Alula. How do you get them to remember all of the things you go through with them in class?”

“Um… I’m guessing they’ve been having trouble remembering their lines?”

“That is correct,” Trixie said. “Actually, that is an understatement.”

Cheerilee simply shrugged. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t say there’s any specific technique that I use. I just try to make my classes as fun as they are informative. And of course the occasional fieldtrip never hurts anypony.”

Trixie put a hoof to her chin. “Trixie does not think she has the bits for a fieldtrip.”

“I’ve heard you’ve been offering positive reinforcement for their good behaviour. Is that true?”

Trixie nodded. “It seems to have worked like a charm.”

“Perhaps you just need to offer a little extra to these two fillies, then. Something special that they will both work extra hard for.”

“like what? What do they both-” Trixie stopped and thought back to her experiences with both fillies.

‘Scootaloo, age nine, a Pegasus who can’t fly but is fast on her scooter. She likes fun things, and hates thinking. Friends with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Desperately wants her Cutie Mark… There’s only so many times that line can work. Think, what else does she like? The Wonderbolts… That rainbow-headed airhead… Hmmm…

‘As for Alula… She’s the same age as Scootaloo, she likes to have fun and to laugh with others. She’s the athletic type. She hates having nothing to do. She’s friends with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, though she seems to favour Diamond Tiara more, to the point it’s almost like a creepy obsession…’

Trixie gasped and a light bulb lit up and then exploded above her head. “Eureka!”

“You’ve thought of something?” Cheerilee asked.

“I have indeed! The Great and Powerful Trixie would like to request something of you!”

“Um, s-sure. What is it?”

“Trixie has to go somewhere for a bit. Could you watch her class for her until she gets back?” Cheerilee opened her mouth to answer, but Trixie simply picked up her milkshake and climbed out of her seat. “‘Kay thanks.”

“W-Wait!” Trixie ran off down the streets of Ponyville before Cheerilee could say anything. “… Darn it. So much for having time off over the summer.”

It was a typical Friday afternoon for Rainbow Dash. In that she was finished with her weather duties for the day and was taking the rest of the day off napping on a soft cloud in the middle of the park.

“Hey!” somepony below her shouted, but she did not budge. “Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow simply stirred, but did not move. “… Alright then, have it your way!”

Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her legs, her eyes slowly fluttering open as she felt the wind rushing against her body. She could see the sky moving further and further away above her… “Wait, what?!”

Rainbow Dash came to an abrupt stop mere moments before she hit the ground. Before she could make sense of what was going on, she was rotated and placed gently onto her hooves on the ground. Standing before her with a satisfied smirk on her face was Trixie Lulamoon.

“Ah, good! Now that the Great and Powerful Trixie has your undivided attention-”

“What’s going on?” Rainbow asked, looking directly above her. “Did you magic the cloud I was lying on away?!”

“Perhaps, but that’s not the issue,” Trixie said, waving her hoof dismissively. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has come here today to… to ask y-you for a… f-favour…”

“A favour?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow and giving the showmare a suspicious look. “This… wouldn’t happen to be a trick, now would it?”

“It is not,” Trixie assured her. “Trixie merely needs you to perform a few aerial techniques and… allow her to photograph you…” A blush formed on Trixie’s face. ‘I probably should have thought this through.’

“You… wanna take pictures of me?” Rainbow Dash asked. Trixie nodded. “… Why?”

Trixie bit her lip, and took in a deep breath. “… B-Because you’re… cool,” she said. Rainbow’s ears twitched. “And… awesome… and radical…”

Rainbow Dash was still confused, but she was also flattered, and grinning at the positive comments being sent her way. “Oh! Well, in that case, I guess I could show you a few things I’ve been workin’ on.”

“A-And could you also… s-sign them, afterwards?”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snicker as she reached a hoof forward and stroked Trixie’s head. “Sure! Anything for a fan. Y’know what, Trixie? You aren’t so bad!”

‘Death! Death awaits you if you do not remove that hoof!’ Trixie took another deep breath, and then forced a smile across her face. “T-Thanks, Rainbow Dash.”

“I’m back!” Trixie shouted as she entered the theatre house, coming face-to-face with an angry-looking Cheerilee.

“Well, you certainly took your time!” Cheerilee shouted, backing Trixie against a wall as she scolded her. “I thought you were simply going to take a few minutes! Do you have any idea how much of my day I’ve lost doing your job for you?!”

“H-Hey,” Trixie said, sweating and giving a sheepish smile as she tried to calm the angry teacher down, “Trixie apologises, but it was necessary in order to help her students.”

“Oh, really?” Cheerilee asked. “And that’s why you left me alone with what is easily the most rowdy group of foals in Ponyville on what was supposed to be an enjoyable day off with my friends? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through waiting for you to come ba-”

“Oh hey, isn’t that that big red apple farmer outside?” Trixie asked, turning her head to look outside of the window.

“Big Macintosh?!” Cheerilee asked with a gasp, running past Trixie and through the theatre house’s front doors.

Trixie used her magic to lock the doors quickly and wiped the sweat from her brow. After that, she looked around for Scootaloo and Alula, and found Scootaloo sitting on her own at the bar.

“Hey,” Trixie said as she took a seat beside Scootaloo. She saw the script in the filly’s hooves, and almost cracked a smile. “You’re reading your lines?”

Scootaloo nodded. “… I just can’t get them to stick in my head. I’m sorry…”

Trixie shook her head. “Well, these things happen. It’s a shame, though.” Scootaloo turned to Trixie with a questioning look on her face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was planning to reward you if you could remember all of you lines in time for the show, y’know?”

“You were?” Scootaloo asked. In answer to her question, Trixie used her magic to pull out three photographs and hold them in the air in front of Scootaloo. Scootaloo gasped as she saw three photographs of Rainbow Dash performing cool tricks in the air, each one signed by Rainbow Dash herself.

“Trixie has a whole album of these, but not enough room in her trailer to keep them, sadly.” Trixie sighed and magiced the photographs away. “Perhaps Trixie should just throw them into her fireplace.”

Scootaloo gasped once more and quickly shook her head. “I’ll take them!” she cried. “If you can’t keep ‘em, give ‘em to me!”

Trixie grinned at the little filly. “Oh, you want these photos that badly?” Scootaloo nodded. “Very well then. How about this? You work hard remembering those lines of yours, and the Great and Powerful Trixie will keep a hold of these photographs a little longer. You memorise your lines before the big day, and the album is yours.”

“Deal!” Scootaloo shouted as she immediately turned her attention back to the script, putting her entire heart and soul into memorising every last line in there.

As she did that, Trixie climbed out of her seat and looked around for Alula. She found the filly sitting by the stage on her own, reading a script of her own. With a grin on her face, and a plush toy that looked suspiciously similar to a certain pink filly with a fondness of tiaras, Trixie made her way over to the other filly who was having trouble remembering her lines.

13 - Performance Reviews, Take Two

Two full weeks had passed since Trixie’s ‘special training’ had helped Scootaloo and Alula with their problem remembering their lines. In the time since then, many more problems had arisen within her class, but one way or another, she had been able to solve each one. Except for the matter of spontaneous combustions. That little mystery still eluded her.

“Here you go,” Twilight said as she levitated a cup of tea down in front of Trixie. “Be careful. It’s hot.”

Trixie held the cup in her magic and focussed on a spell to cool down the tea a little bit. “Not a problem. It wouldn’t be the first time Trixie has burned her tongue.”

“But it’d still be a pain if I had to clean up tea stains from my floor,” Twilight said, giggling at the deadpan stare that the showmare gave her. “I’m just kidding.”

“I wonder about that,” Trixie said as she brought the tea to her mouth and gave it a taste. “It’s not bad. Where’s your assistant? He always makes surprisingly great tea for such a rude little-”

“He’s taking the day off today,” Twilight explained, taking a sip of her own tea and frowning. ‘I was sure I got the taste down this time.’ “Sorry. Tea’s not exactly my specialty.”

“Well, it’s to be expected,” Trixie said simply.

“… What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That with your magical ability, it’s to be expected you would have very noticeable flaws to balance it all out.”

“And what about you?”

“Oh please,” Trixie laughed. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has no flaws. That’s the difference between you and I.”

“… R-Right.” Twilight took another sip of her tea. “So, how’s the class been going? The performance is in two days now, right?”

“Well,” Trixie began, “It was off to a rocky start. The fillies were completely disobedient and caused such chaos it would make Discord blush.”

“I’ve heard they’ve gotten much better, though,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile.

“Oh, most certainly. Take Sweetie Belle for example. That filly was so shy, she refused to sing if there was so much as a hint of somepony listening to her. Now? She’s actually asking Trixie to listen to her singing and tell her how it is.”

“And she’s good, right?”

Trixie nodded. “She’s a natural. Unfortunately her voice can still be a little soft whenever there’s a big crowd watching her, but Trixie has taught her the art of voice enhancing magic.”

Twilight’s ears drooped to the sides of her head. “Oh no.”

Trixie tilted her head at that. “Is there a problem with that?”

Twilight bit her lip and pictured in her mind an image of Sweetie Belle, waking up in the morning, and waking every last citizen of Ponyville with a voice that could shake the ground beneath their hooves. “Er, no… Nothing at all… Wait, since when could Sweetie Belle use magic?”

“Trixie taught her,” Trixie said, a proud grin on her face. “Well, she’s still an amateur really. Can barely hold her magic for a few seconds, even whilst exerting some effort. But she’s definitely made some progress lately.”

“Wow…”

“And then there’s Silver Spoon. That little egghead has been a delight to work with. So attentive and diligent, though a little bit of a klutz. Still, with Trixie’s wonderful guidance, she has made a fine stagehoof and a competent actress. Babs, too, has proven herself to be far more suited to theatre than you would first think. Though she started out kind of mediocre, her performance suddenly improved a lot one day she has only gotten better since.

“Scootaloo and Alula are still proving to be problems, mostly in that they are just so full of energy it’s hard to control them, but they can at least remember their lines now, and they work well with the others in their scenes. The biggest surprise though, is how far our stars have come along. At first, they couldn’t stand each other, but now-”

Trixie noticed the grin plastered on Twilight’s face and stopped, eyeing the other mare suspiciously. “W-What?”

“Oh, nothing!” Twilight said, not even having noticed that she was staring. “It’s just, I think somepony else has been enjoying these classes, too. Don’t you think?”

“… Well,” Trixie said, a slight hint of red on her face as she turned her gaze away from Twilight, “Trixie must admit, it has certainly been a lot more enjoyable teaching these foals how to perform than she originally thought it would be. And sometimes… it was quite refreshing to just be around those kids and simply laugh after a hard day…”

Twilight simply smiled as she watched Trixie attempting to subtly fiddle with her hooves beneath the table. “It almost sounds like you’ve made some new friends.”

“Hardly,” Trixie scoffed. “They merely serve as a pleasant distraction from everyday life, that is all.”

“Oh really?” Twilight asked. “So when the play is over and their classes come to an end, you won’t miss them at all?”

“… W-Well, there is the cruise coming up. Since they’ve been so well-behaved and all.”

“Right. But after that?”

“… Trixie will simply take on another class of eager students ready to learn her ways,” Trixie said. “And she will simply have fun with them, too.”

“And you won’t miss having Sweetie Belle asking you to teach her more magic?” Twilight asked. “Or Silver Spoon asking you for instructions on how to use the backstage equipment?”

Trixie was silent for a few moments as she thought about all the things that would be ending after the big performance in two days. Scootaloo’s enthusiasm keeping everypony’s spirits up after things look bleak… Alula’s cheering from the sideline whenever somepony was practising their scene… Even the way Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom would break into a fight over the silliest of reasons.

“What do you want from me?” Trixie asked eventually, directing a glare towards Twilight. “After the cruise, Trixie will have no reason to see them again. She will just get over it, it’s not that big of a deal. There are more ponies out there, after all.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the response. She had been expecting something along those lines, but not worded quite so brutally. “So that’s it? They’re just there to keep you amused and then can be tossed aside at a moment’s notice?”

“Hey! Don’t twist my words like that! Trixie isn’t tossing them aside, she just has to move on and can’t linger in the past like that!”

“Is that how you dealt with it in the past, when you were a travelling performer?” Twilight asked. The way that Trixie flinched answered her question. “I see.”

“What do you see?” Trixie asked, her glare not faltering.

“You only ever meet ponies when you’re travelling, or in this case, teaching theatre. But outside of that, you really have no idea how to uphold any social interactions with them, so you simply move on to your next performance and wipe them from your memory.” Trixie said nothing. “Is that a flaw that the Great and Powerful Trixie has?”

“… It… might be one,” Trixie said hesitantly. “But only if you view it as such. Trixie’s show is a one-mare performance, so realistically, making friends doesn’t really benefit her in any way.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said with a gentle smile. “You’d be surprised what a simple chat with a friend can do when you’re feeling down, or how a fresh perspective from somepony else can resolve a problem you’ve failed to wrap your head around for days, or even weeks.”

“Oh? Is that from experience?”

“It is. And not just mine,” Twilight said, drawing a questioning look from Trixie. “Didn’t you say it yourself? How much fun you have with them, and how much light they bring to a day that’s been nothing but bleak?”

“… Not quite worded like that,” Trixie said, “But… Yeah…”

“And you know something?” Twilight asked. “I bet, they wouldn’t mind attending another year at ‘Trixie’s Class of Theatrical Arts’ after they’re done here. And keep in mind that some of them you can always see again through us.”

“… But what would Trixie talk to them about outside of theatre?” Trixie asked.

“You taught Sweetie Belle magic, right?” Twilight said. “Come on, Trixie. It’s not that complicated. You’ve read many novels and plays in your time. You should know what to do. Oh, and just so you know, the same goes for everypony else you’ve spoken to in Ponyville, too. Vinyl Scratch, Cheerilee, Applejack, Rarity, the Cakes… Just make some idle chitchat now and then. It doesn’t have to be anything significant. Just let them know that you’re still around and doing well.”

Trixie was silent again, during which Twilight was considering entering the Equestrian Records Book for ‘longest time keeping Trixie silent’. “… Darn it,” Trixie said after several moments, removing her hat and throwing it into Twilight’s face. “Where’s that assistant of yours?”

Twilight removed the hat from her face and gave Trixie a confused look. “Huh?”

“Trixie… is ready to write that dumb letter now.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up, and she bounced out of her seat with enough energy that one might confuse her for Pinkie Pie. “You stay right here! I’ll go find him right away!”

As Twilight burst out of the library, singing something about how the day had finally come, Trixie simply slouched onto the table beside her and sighed. “That’s three times now. One of these days, Trixie is going to beat her.” Trixie picked up her teacup and sipped the tea inside, only to cringe at the poor quality of the taste it held. ‘… Maybe I should challenge her to a teaoff.’

14 - The Big Night

More ponies showed up for the performance than Trixie had thought would have. Granted she had passed out fliers around the entire town – three times – and pinned them in every store – multiple times whenever the store owners had rudely torn them down – and of course having Rainbow Dash pass out fliers by telling her that Scootaloo’s fame depended on it was sure to help, but she still hadn’t expected to fill out all of the seats and still have ponies coming into the theatre.

Berry Punch didn’t seem too happy having to serve so many guests, but Trixie was grinning from ear-to-ear as her eyes almost literally turned into bit coins.

“That’s a lotta ponies out there,” Apple Bloom said as she poked her head out from behind a curtain, frowning as she looked out at everypony sitting down and standing up behind the filled-in seats. She smiled nervously and waved a hoof when she saw her family sitting near the front, Granny Smith waving back and Big Macintosh fiddling with a camera with a troubled look on his face.

“I didn’t think there’d be so many,” Sweetie Belle said, her voice shaky, which told Trixie that it was time for an inspirational speech.

Twilight Sparkle motioned in the distance that the final pony was now inside. Trixie nodded and walked backstage to talk to her class one final time before the show started.

“Alright fillies,” Trixie began, “This is what we’ve all been working towards for the past two months. Everything all comes down to this one moment. Unlike the rehearsals, there are no do-overs, so-” Trixie stopped as she noticed the fillies’ worried and uncertain looks as their bodies were shaking. “Er, but remember that you’re not being graded on this, and you’ve all worked so hard that the Great and Powerful Trixie shall reward your efforts regardless of how tonight’s performance goes.”

The fillies seemed to ease up at that, but only slightly. “Still, it’d look kinda bad if we make fools of ourselves out there, huh?” Scootaloo said.

“We’ve all worked so hard, it’d be a shame to mess up now,” Alula added.

“Just do your best, and remember everything that the Great and Powerful Trixie has taught you,” Trixie said. The fillies started smiling at her. “Trixie will be ready with cue cards in case any of you seem to be struggling on any lines.” The fillies started snickering. Trixie raised an eyebrow. “T-There will also be three intermissions with which to-” The fillies were flat-out laughing now.

Wondering what they were laughing and pointing at, Trixie turned around quickly to see Apple Bloom standing on a stepladder behind her, holding a sign with stink lines drawn on above Trixie’s head. The filly gave a nervous giggle. Trixie gave a bemused scowl.

However, hearing the laughter from the fillies behind her, Trixie decided to spare the insolent filly her due punishment and instead simply teleported her to the centre of the group and turned back around to face them again.

“Wow, thanks Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said, wiping a tear from her eye. “I feel lots better now!”

“For once, you actually did something half-funny,” Diamond Tiara said, clearly trying to force her smile into a frown.

“That’s the spirit,” Trixie said, half-glad that the fillies were happy and half-annoyed that it was at her own expense. “Don’t let your nerves take a hold of you! Just relax and let the flow of the performance take you.” The fillies all nodded in unison. “And remember, even professionals slip up occasionally, so don’t forget those improv lessons.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the fillies all answered together.

“Alright, we’ve got an audience waiting out there,” Trixie said. “Let’s make this a show they’ll remember.”

The fillies all put their hooves together into the centre of their little ring – Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon joining in with the assistance of Babs Seed and Alula – and Sweetie Belle looked at Trixie with a look that told her to join in. The showmare did so reluctantly.

“Great and Powerful Theatrical Arts Class…” Apple Bloom said, “GO!”

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs all cheered with Apple Bloom as the fillies raised their hooves to the air. With that out of the way, everypony ran to get into position for the curtain’s opening.

“I hope you daaaaaaaance…”

A soft smile crossed Rarity’s face as she listened to her sister’s long-awaited singing performance onstage.

“I hope you daaaaaaance.”

Her parents beside her were watching with such looks of pride, and tears rolling down their faces. She rolled her eyes and wondered if that was how they reacted whenever she performed.

“I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean… Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens…”

“She gets that from you,” Magnum whispered to his wife, who playfully kicked the stallion’s foreleg from his side.

“You see that glow on the tip of her horn?” Rarity asked quietly. Her mother nodded.

“She’s been bragging about that at home,” Rarity’s mother told her daughter. “We’re so proud of her.”

“I wish I hadn’t forgot to bring batteries for this thing,” Magnum said as he looked down at his camera with a frown.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Rarity said. “Big Macintosh should be recording the play. I’ll ask him for a copy of the tape later.”

“Have at thee!” Scootaloo shouted as she drew her blade, pointing the tip towards Babs.

“You realise that your actions will amount to war between our people?” Babs asked as she drew her own blade, signalling for Diamond Tiara behind her to take cover. Diamond quickly ducked down behind the nearby throne on the stage. “The Pegasus tribe is no match for our magicks.”

“The Pegasus tribe shan’t be fighting alone. When word gets out that it was thy Princess who did slaughter Lord Gaia, the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi shall join forces to smite your people and you accursed demonic powers!”

“Lord Gaia has fallen?! Is it true?!”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yea. Of course, thou wouldst know all about it, wouldn’t you?”

Babs scowled in rage at the grinning Pegasus before her. “‘Tis a lie! Our Princess would never-”

“Perhaps not, but all that is needed is that the people will think it to be true.” Scootaloo lunged forward and crossed blade with Babs.

Rainbow Dash sat up straight in her seat, waking up now that something exciting was finally happening on stage. She watched as Babs thrust her blade forward, only for Scootaloo to back flip out of the way. “YEAH! Nice moves, kid!”

Scootaloo stopped for a moment before resuming her performance. She raised her sword into the air and brought it down towards Babs, only for the defending pony to counter and knock the sword out of Scootaloo’s hooves. “C’mon Scoots! Don’t let her get the better of you!”

Scootaloo performed a spinning roundhouse kick to knock Babs’ sword out of her hooves, leaving both fighters unarmed as they stared each other down. “Alright! Now kick her flank!”

“Ssh!”

“Quiet!”

“Keep it down!”

Rainbow Dash blushed as she remembered she was watching a live play and sank down into her seat, laughing nervously at all of the glares pointed her way. Beside her, Fluttershy sighed and held her head within her wings, wondering if it was possible to die from embarrassment.

Silver Spoon walked out onto the stage at a fast pace, her long robes making it difficult to move, but thanks to all the practice she’d had she at least wasn’t falling onto her face.

“Prince!” Silver Spoon called out, stopping to look around for a bit. “My lord? He is gone. Wherefore can he not stay where it is safe? The King is going to have my head on a platter if he is not found.”

Alula walked out onto the stage slowly in the background, dressed in all black and carrying a knife in her hoof. Silver Spoon turned to face her, only for Alula to suddenly charge forward and thrust the knife into Silver Spoon. Dramatic music rang out through the hall as the spotlights on stage turned red.

“W-Who-”

“What?” Alula asked as she looked down at the grey filly. “What foul trickery? This is not the bastard Prince.”

A gasp escaped Cloud Kicker’s mouth as she continued watching the scene with bated breath.

“Where is he?” Alula asked, grabbing the collar of Silver Spoon’s robe with her hoof. “Where is the Prince? Tell me.”

“O-On my honour, I shall tell you nothing!”

“Then you die like the dog that you are!” Alula pulled the knife out of Silver Spoon and brought it down on her once more. Silver Spoon stumbled back a bit before falling onto her front. The lights dimmed as Alula turned around to leave the stage.

“She’s died twice now,” Silver Spoon’s father muttered from the audience. “She does it very convincingly, though.”

“She’s been doing most of the backstage work,” Silver Spoon’s mother reminded him.

“True. She must be pretty efficient to time it all so well.”

“My apologies, m’lady,” Apple Bloom said with a bow, “But I fear I must return before my guards discover my absence.”

“She’s so good!” Applejack whispered to Granny Smith, who nodded in agreement. “Ye’re gettin’ all this, right?” she asked Big Macintosh.

“Eeyup,” the stallion replied as he zoomed out the camera to fit both fillies into the shot.

“Prithee, can we meet like this once more, my Prince?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“That’s my girl,” Filthy Rich said with an air of pride to Applejack beside him. The farm pony simply rolled her eyes.

Apple Bloom put a hoof beneath Diamond’s chin and drew her face closer. Everypony in the room watched in anticipation, some mumbling as the two fillies’ faces drew closer together.

“T-They’re not really gonna-” Applejack started.

“They can’t be-” Filthy Rich said.

The two fillies connected their lips, and the mumbling in the audience increased, along with a wave of ‘d’awww’ from the fillies at the front, and a wave of gag sounds from the colts beside them.

“They are,” Granny Smith said, a grin on her face as she watched Applejack and Filthy Rich staring with wide eyes.

Apple Bloom pulled away and stared into Diamond Tiara’s eyes. “Yea. For as long as there is breath in my lungs, nothing in this world shall keep us apart.”

A sniff from Big Macintosh caused Granny Smith to turn her head. She could see something sparkling down the side of his face and reached into her bag for a packet of tissues. She offered one to the stallion.

“Thanks,” he said as he took the tissue and wiped the tear from his face.

All of the fillies were on stage for the final act. Silver Spoon and Alula were standing opposite to each other as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked in-between them, one adorned with a horn ornament and the other with wing ornaments. Babs Seed followed the two into the middle of the stage. Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were already in the middle of the stage, lying down in separate, open caskets.

“The tally has been counter,” Babs said, unrolling a scroll and staring at it intently, “And it would seem that a decision has been reached. By majority vote, we shall now herald Equestria’s new, neutral ruling bodies: Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.”

Silver Spoon and Alula clapped their hooves as Babs put down her scroll to crown Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “The term ‘Princess’ as opposed to ‘Queen’,” Babs continued, “Is such that they may not make decisions on their own, but rather, they must reach an agreement with the governing body, which shall still be headed by all three tribes.”

Scootaloo took a step forward. “… When my sister and I first arrived in these lands, we were greeted to the sight of war, brutality, and conspiracy. Ponies fighting ponies, and blood spilled for the sake of power.” Scootaloo cast her gaze over the two fillies still in their caskets. “However, that was only what we saw with our eyes. With our minds, we could see so much more. Potential for a grand kingdom, where ponies could live together in peace and harmony, regardless of race. In particular, we met two who exemplified exactly this.

“And yet, for the sake of a crown, two star-crossed lovers were denied the simply, happy life that they sought out. I ask that you all consider: ‘Wherefore?’. Love is the most positive force in the world, yet because they were both born to different tribes, does that make it something evil? Do they not deserve the happiness we all seek out, simply because of their lineages?”

Sweetie Belle stepped forward to join Scootaloo. “My sister and I pray that, in another life, the light of happiness may still reach them. For now, though, we would like to ask that you all take a moment of silence, in honour of these two fallen ponies.”

The entire room was silent for a few moments, before Scootaloo spoke up again. “Everypony, we ask that you work not under us, but with us, to create a new world. A world where ponies are free to love. A world of harmony between all.” Scootaloo turned towards the caskets and nodded. Babs moved towards them and began placing the lids over both. “Good night. May you both find peace in the next life.”

“We did it!” Apple Bloom cheered as she joined her friends backstage after the show’s performance.

“That was totally cool!” Scootaloo said as she bumped hooves with her friends.

“I was so nervous, but we pulled it off!” Sweetie Belle said with an excited smile on her face.

“We didn’t get our Cutie Marks,” Babs said, “But it was pretty neat!”

“Of course, I was the star,” Diamond Tiara boasted as she passed by the Crusaders.

“You, like, totally blew them away,” Silver Spoon agreed as she followed her friend.

“You were wonderful!” Alula said, shooting a sideways glare towards Apple Bloom as she passed her. “Maybe next time, I can be the Prince for your Princess role.”

Trixie watched the seven fillies discussing the outcome of the play amongst themselves, with an argument breaking out between the Crusaders and the two rich fillies shortly afterwards, before turning around to see Twilight Sparkle approaching her.

“That was really great!” Twilight said.

“Well, obviously,” Trixie replied in a proud tone of voice. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was the one teaching them, after all.”

“Everypony’s out there talking about what a great job you did shaping them up,” Twilight told Trixie. “And how they’re amazed you didn’t give up and go crazy before the big performance.”

Trixie frowned at the news. “Is that why there was such a big turnout?” she asked. “Ponies just wanted to see Trixie’s screw-up?”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. “No no no no no! That’s not what I meant at all!”

“It’s okay,” Trixie said, grinning as she poked her head out of the curtain for a brief moment. “If that’s what they came for, then they must have been sorely disappointed, before being thoroughly amazed at the wonderful performance Trixie’s students put on.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “They really were. In fact, there are a lot of parents out there wondering when the sign-ups for your next set of classes will be available.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Sign-ups?” she asked. Twilight nodded. “Those ponies… want Trixie to teach their children?”

“Well, mostly it’s the children that want to be taught, but a lot of the parents also want you to teach their children, too.”

“… Well, Trixie isn’t quite sure just yet,” Trixie admitted, “But… perhaps the Great and Powerful Trixie will consider it. But first…” Trixie turned towards the seven fillies, whistling to stop the fight between Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara and gaining the attention of all seven at once. “Class, the night isn’t over yet!”

“It isn’t?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Of course not.” Trixie smiled and glanced up towards the nearby clock. “As soon as your teacher, Cheerilee, is here, the Great and Powerful Trixie has reserved a table at the Ponyville Pizzeria!”

The seven fillies broke out into excited cheers at the news. Twilight gave Trixie a warm smile before turning to leave. “Well, have fun.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Trixie asked, stopping Twilight in her tracks with a confused look on her face. “You’re joining us, Twilight Sparkle.”

“I am?” Twilight asked.

Trixie nodded. “If you’ll recall, Trixie still owes you one for funding the construction of this theatre house in the first place.”

Twilight shook her head. “But you’ve already repaid me by helping me in my studies.”

“Don’t take Trixie for a fool,” Trixie said. “You have plenty of friends to help you with that. You’re just trying to give Trixie charity whilst disguising it as a business transaction, but the Great and Powerful Trixie is not so pitiful that she would accept free help! So come along and let Trixie repay you already.”

Twilight sighed and turned back to face Trixie. “Well… I guess I am sort of hungry. Okay then, I’ll come.”

Moments later, Cheerilee made her way to the backstage area, and the ten ponies left together to celebrate the success of Trixie’s Class’ first – and probably far from last – performance.

15 - Epilogue

“ALLLLLL ABOARD!”

Cheerilee uncovered her ears and looked down at her eager students carrying their bags as they followed Trixie towards the boarding ramp. “Is it really such a good idea to bring fillies like that onto such an expensive-looking cruise? I just hope they don’t cause too much trouble when we take off…”

Meanwhile, Celestia greeted the boarding fillies with a warm smile and wishes to enjoy the cruise. ‘Let the fun begin.’

“Our cabin’s down this way,” Trixie said as she turned to the left, followed by the fillies and Cheerilee. “It looks like we’ll all be sharing a cabin, but it’s apparently pretty spacious. And just a heads up, Trixie’s not sharing her bed with anypony, even if you have nightmares or are homesick.”

Cheerilee frowned, wondering how such a pony could have become such a successful teacher, even with so few students.

“Too bad,” Scootaloo said to Apple Bloom, nudging her from the side. “Guess that means you won’t get any alone time with your new fillyfriend.”

Apple Bloom blushed as Sweetie Belle giggled. “Don’t worry,” Sweetie Belle added. “I’m sure you and Diamond Tiara can find somewhere on this big ship to be alone.”

Babs couldn’t help but laugh as she saw steam coming out of her cousin’s ears. Finally, Apple Bloom erupted. “Ah told y’all, we’re NOT GOIN’ OUT!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ran past Trixie as Apple Bloom chased them. “Hey!” Trixie shouted. “No running off on your own!”

“No need to be so embarrassed,” Silver Spoon said to a glaring Diamond Tiara. “Everypony needs love, after all.”

Diamond Tiara snapped to her friend with her teeth baring. “We are not like that! It was just for the play!”

“It’s okay,” Babs said. “You can be honest. We won’t judge you.”

Diamond Tiara roared and stamped her hooves on the floor. “WE. ARE NOT. A. THING!” Diamond Tiara charged past Trixie and took a turn, Silver Spoon, Babs, and Alula running after her, pleading for her to wait up.

“Wait!” Trixie was about to chase after the fillies, but stopped as she realised how fruitless it would be. She instead turned to Cheerilee behind her, who looked just as exhausted as the showmare herself. And they hadn’t even taken off yet. “… Wanna hit up the bar?”

“… Sounds good.” The two mares changed direction and headed off towards the nearest bar as indicated by the maps strewn about the ship.

“How do you lose track of a radiant filly like Diamond Tiara and her clingy sidekick?” Alula asked as she and Babs traversed the maze that was the S.S. Blueblood, walking through what felt like the same corridor for the fifth time. “For that matter, how did we get so lost that we’re walking around in circles?”

“It’s not circles,” Babs told her. “It’s jus’ that a lot of these hallways look the same… I think.”

“I’m borrrrred,” Alula whined. “And hungry, too.”

Babs’ stomach growled at that. “Yeah, I guess it is time ta eat somethin’… Hey, check it out!” Babs pointed to a small cupboard-like hole in the wall. “It’s a dumbwaiter!”

“That’s not very nice,” Alula said.

“No, that’s what it’s called,” Babs deadpanned.

“Oh… So, what does it do?”

“It’s a lift they use to take food from the kitchen to other floors. I bet we can use it ta get down to the place where they serve all the food!”

“But are we allowed to?” Alula asked.

“It’s either that, or we wander around aimlessly for the rest of our lives tryin’ ta find the stupid stairs.”

“Hmmm… Guess you’re right. Okay, let’s go!”

The two fillies climbed into the dumbwaiter, just about able to fit with some breathing room left over. Babs hit the switch outside and pulled her hoof back in as the door closed… taking away what little breathing room they had.

“… This might not have been the best idea after all,” Babs said as she felt the dumbwaiter moving downwards.

“Hey, look!” Apple Bloom said as she pointed a hoof towards an item on the menu. “They’ve got apple fritters!” She looked at her two friends, who were both still grinning as they nursed their drinks. With a frustrated sigh, Apple Bloom lowered her menu. “Ah todl y’all, it ain’t like that.”

“What ain’t like what?” Scootaloo asked, earning a giggle from Sweetie Belle.

“Would the two of ya jus’ drop it already?! Honestly, what is with the two of ya?”

“But it’s funny,” Scootaloo said.

“And you two do make a cute couple,” Sweetie Belle told her, earning a confused look from Scootaloo. “What? They do.”

“Well, we ain’t a couple!” Apple Bloom said. She noticed somepony behind her two friends. The pink filly in question, sitting with her friend Silver Spoon as she giggled about something. A grin crossed Apple Bloom’s muzzle. “In fact, ah’ll prove it,” she said as she turned to the empty table beside her. On it was a plate with some uneaten peas and a spoon. She grabbed the spoon, scooped up some peas, and took aim.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were enjoying themselves, despite their little argument earlier. After somehow getting separated from Babs and Alula, the two decided to follow the ship’s maps to find the dining room and order some ‘Canterlot cake’, an expensive cake that, as the name implies, is unique to the city of Canterlot.

While there, they even managed to strike some conversation with some of the ponies that recognised the two from knowing their fathers. In particular, Sir Fancypants himself had invited them to join him for tea the following morning. Needless to say, the two were excited beyond words.

“This cruise is turning out better than I ever dreamed it would,” Diamond said as she took another bite of her cake, her face beaming at the rich taste and soft, fluffy texture.

“I agree,” Silver Spoon said. “I can’t wait to tell father that I actually met Sir Fancypants!”

The two fillies squealed in excitement together, though it was short-lived. Something hit Diamond’s forehead, causing her to flinch. She looked down at the table to find peas, and then looked back up again, just in time for Apple Bloom to fire the next load.

Diamond Tiara ducked out of the way, then slammed her hoof onto her table. “What does that blank flank think she’s doing?!” she asked as she scooped up a small portion of cake onto a spoon and prepared to fire. “I’ll show her not to mess with me!”

The dumbwaiter door opened, and Babs and Alula quickly jumped out, glad to be breathing air once more.”Next time,” Alula said, “I’ll lead the way.”

Babs could only nod in agreement, before a loud voice shouted from behind her: “Hey! What are you two fillies doing back here?!”

The two turned around to see an angry chef looming over them, a rolling pin in his hoof as he cast a menacing glare over the two fillies. “Uh… Eheheh… Um, hi?” Alula said, putting on her warmest smile.

“This is a restricted area!” the chef shouted, ushering the two fillies out by using his rolling pin to nudge them. “Come on! Out out out!”

“Okay, okay!” Babs said as she and Alula ran out of the kitchen together. “Sheesh. No need to bust an artery.”

“Hey, I see the Crusaders over there!” Alula pointed towards the three fillies sitting together at a table in the distance. “Come on. Let’s go join them.”

“Sounds good ta me,” Babs said as she followed after Alula, licking her lips as she looked at all of the delicious-looking foods around her. As they neared the location where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting, something hit Babs’ head, causing her to jump before lifting a hoof to examine what it was. “… Cake?” Babs looked around for the source of the sudden cake assault, and found Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looking her way with nervous looks on their faces, and a piece of cake on their table. Babs glared. “Oh, it is on.”

Babs jumped up and grabbed a hoofful of cake from the table behind her, closed one eye to aim, and threw the cake through the air and towards Diamond Tiara.

Diamond saw the incoming cake and ducked out of the way. Meanwhile, the two door behind the pink filly opened, and in walked…

“Sorry I’m so late,” Blueblood said as he entered. “I had some business that I had to attend t-”

SPALAT!

The entire dining room fell silent.

“Is it really okay to leave them on their own like that?” Cheerilee asked as she took another shot beside Trixie.

Trixie was busy focussing on the pool game to her right, a shot glass in her hoof, ready to drink whenever a ball was sank. Unfortunately, the two playing were the worst pool players in existence, and thanks to that the showmare was still sober. “Ah, they’ll be fine. What’s the worst that could happen? They’re nearly ten now, right?”

“Most of them are nine. Babs and Diamond are ten,” Cheerilee told her.

“Then like Trixie said, they’ll be fine.”

Trixie felt something tugging her tail, and leaned back to look under the counter. There, she found Scootaloo hiding, wearing a trenchcoat, a pair of shades, and a hat. “Hey, we need the room key!” Scootaloo whispered.

“What?” Trixie asked. “What are you doing? And why are you wearing all that?”

“No time! We need a place to lay low, quick!”

Cheerilee sighed as she also leaned back to find the Pegasus filly under the counter. “Scootaloo, what did you do?”

As if to answer Cheerilee’s question, the doors burst open at that moment, and in walked a smartly-dressed, well-groomed stallion… with cake on his head and running down the side of his face.

“Has anypony seen a group of disruptive little fillies in here recently?!” Blueblood shouted, veins showing on his head and anger filling his voice.

Trixie and Cheerilee quickly shook their heads. “No,” Trixie said, reaching into her cape and pulling out their room key with her magic and giving it to the filly. As Blueblood turned to leave, Scootaloo used her swiftness and her agility to sneak out through the other end of the bar.

“… You were saying?” Cheerilee asked.

Trixie sighed and ignored the shot glass, instead reaching for the bottle itself. “And this is only the first day… Celestia help me.”

“Well don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Cheerilee said as she took the bottle from Trixie’s hooves. “And, unfortunately, us teachers must drink in moderation whenever we’re on duty. Even on trips.”

“… Trixie doesn’t want to be a teacher anymore.”

“Too late. Deal with it.”

Three days of fun-filled chaos passed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, the two rich fillies, and Alula all had the times of their lives. Princess Celestia declared the trip a booming success. Cheerilee had issued out many apologies, Trixie had overworked her magic assisting her class in their quick escapes, and Prince Blueblood… started a petition to ban Ponyville from participating in Canterlot events. Thankfully, with Fancypants refusing to sign, the petition did not achieve enough signatures to pass.

And so, life continued as normal for the next three weeks. Babs Seed had returned to Manehattan, school had started up once more, and the theatre house’s business had shot up thanks to the smashing success of the fillies’ play.

Trixie Lulamoon counted out the bits earned from the day’s performance and added them to the bits earned from selling refreshments at the bar. “Here’s your pay for today,” Trixie said as she hoofed a bag of bits to Berry Punch, who happily snatched them away and trotted her way towards the door.

“Great! Saturday night, here I come!”

“It’s Fri-” Berry Punch was outside of the door before Trixie could finished what she was saying. “… Well, whatever, she’ll figure it out. Or, she’ll be so drunk it won’t even matter anyway.”

Trixie glanced up towards the clock above her head. School was going to be over in five minutes, assuming Cheerilee was as punctual as a certain lunatic Alicorn that lived in the library. “Guess Trixie had better prepare for the newcomers… After a quick drink.” Using her magic to grab a bottle and open the top, Trixie brought the bottle to her mouth and prepared to drink…

“HI MISS TRIXIE!”

Trixie lost her magical focus and dropped the bottle to the ground as she jumped, clutching her chest with a forehoof as she took deep breaths. She turned around to see three very familiar fillies standing behind her.

“W-What are you doing here?” Trixie asked. “School should still be in session.”

“We got ta leave early,” Apple Bloom explained. “For doin’ so well on our tests.”

“We came here with the others. They’re just being a bit slow,” Sweetie Belle said.

Within the next five minutes, many excited fillies and colts took the theatre house by storm. If Trixie thought that seven foals were difficult… “I think I’m starting to regret this…”

“C’mon, let’s start!” Alula said as she pulled on Trixie’s foreleg.

“Er, right…” Trixie looked around at the many energetic fillies and colts storming around the theatre house, some of which were chatting with each other rather than paying their new teacher any notice. “Alright, time to start our first class!” A few foals stopped to look at Trixie, but the majority were still speaking. ‘Celestia help me…’

“QUIET!” The theatre house fell silent. All eyes fell on Diamond Tiara, who turned to Trixie with a smug grin on her face.

‘Or, that.’ Trixie cleared her throat and looked over her eight new students. She asked them to introduce themselves one-by-one.

Berry Pinch. She seemed calm and stable, especially when compared to her mother.

Archer. Another Scootaloo. Trixie could already feel the migraine coming along.

Rumble. He was shy and quiet. An angel among demons.

Shady Daze. Trixie almost failed to notice him.

Twist. Liked to hoof out free sweets. Trixie could already sense where that would lead.

Dinky Doo. Cute, but clumsy.

Snips. Trixie shuddered.

Snails. Trixie shuddered more.

“Well then,” Trixie said, looking over her eight newbie students, and her six ‘advanced’ students and assistants with getting the newcomers up to speed. “Welcome to Trixie’s Class of Theatrical Arts. Let’s begin with the basics, shall we?”

4 - Trixie Puts Her Hoof Down

Trixie grimaced as she looked down at the seven fillies lined up in front of her, her heads already aching from their expressions alone. Sweetie Belle seemed to be distracted by a butterfly flying above her head, Scootaloo and Alula were talking about the Wonderbolts and just paying their teacher no mind, and Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were texting each other on their phones, despite being right next to each other, and Babs Seed and Apple Bloom were both silently making fun of the two posh ponies’ way of speaking.

“Enough!” she shouted, momentarily startling everypony, before they got back to not paying her much mind. “Do you ponies want to learn theatre or not?!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. One second,” Scootaloo said before turning back to Alula. “So, like I was saying, Fleetfoot is-”

Trixie stomped a hoof on the floor and groaned as her students continued to ignore her. ‘This is it,’ Trixie thought to herself. ‘Time for drastic measures.’ A light shone around Trixie’s horn and she fired a spell at her seven students. They all stopped whatever they were doing immediately and screamed as the spell hit them.

“W-What happened?!” Diamond Tiara asked.

“What did you do?!” Apple Bloom demanded.

“Just a little something to get you all motivated,” Trixie said as she admired her work, grinning at the fillies’ new appearances. “The Great and Powerful Trixie did not want to resort to this, but if you have any desires to go back to the ways you were, then you will start paying attention!”

“‘Go back’?” Apple Bloom asked. “From what?”

“GAH! C-Cuz, your mane!” Babs shouted.

Apple Bloom gave the filly a confused look. “My mane? What about it?”

A loud shriek from the other end of the line of fillies made everypony turn to ace Diamond Tiara, who was looking at her reflection in a small pocketmirror. When the fillies saw her with a long red mane, they all gasped and turned to Apple Bloom. Sure enough, her mane was a pink and white-striped mane done up in a similar style to Diamond Tiara’s, the only difference being the large pink ribbon on the back.

Scootaloo’s mane was changed to a pink and purple curly mane, Silver Spoon’s was changed to a scruffy purple mane that felt like it hadn’t been washed for a few days, Babs’ was a messy purple mane that felt strangely smooth to her, Sweetie Belle’s was a clean, nice-smelling silver mane tied in a braid, and Alula’s was a short red mane with light stripes that curled over to one side.

“Get it off me!” Silver Spoon shouted.

“This feels weird,” Sweetie Belle whined, playing with the braided part of her new mane with a hoof.

“This is way too dorky for somepony as cool as me!” Scootaloo shouted in protest to Trixie.

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle cried in response.

“I dunno. I kinda like it,” Alula said, flicking her new mane’s fringe and giggling to herself.

“Eh,” Babs said. “It’d be better if it matched my tail…”

“You can’t do this to us!” Diamond Tiara told Trixie. “My daddy will be furious when he finds out about this!”

“Actually, your daddy gave Trixie permission to do this if you refused to take this class seriously,” Trixie responded, earning shocked gasps from each of the fillies present. “In fact, all of your carers gave Trixie the okay to use this spell if you give her anymore trouble.”

“That’s a lie!” Apple Bloom said. “Applejack would never let ya do somethin’ like that to us!”

“No, but that granny of yours would,” Trixie said. “Trixie believes her exact words were: ‘Eh? Oh, sure, sure. Go right ahead…’”

“No way…” Apple Bloom looked downcast for a second, before something hit her in the back of her mind. “Wait, when did you talk to Granny Smith?”

“Last night, Trixie visited your home to speak to your carer. She is not surprised you don’t remember, since the two of you were busy sleeping in each other’s hooves on the couch.”

Apple Bloom and Babs both blushed as the other fillies tried to stifle their giggles, with the exception of Sweetie Belle, who let out a ‘d’awww’ instead. To save themselves further embarrassment, the two decided to stop questioning her, but Diamond Tiara wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

“Change my hair back, now! I can’t go outside looking this!”

“And you won’t have to,” Trixie said. “So long as you stop horsing around and make some decent progress today, Trixie will remove the spell. Otherwise, it will remain in effect for seven full days and nights. And if you do exceptionally well, then Trixie will reward you special cupcakes she has ordered from Sugarcube Coroner.”

“‘Corner’,” Scootaloo corrected. “Not ‘Coroner’.”

“Oh. Yes, Trixie can see how that makes more sense,” Trixie said. “Oh, and don’t try to style your new manes or anything back into what they used to be. It won’t work.”

“This is an outrage!” Diamond Tiara shouted, stomping her hoof on the floor.

“If you don’t like it, then stop your whining and hold Apple Bloom’s hoof!”

“What?!” both Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom shouted in unison.

“The two of you will be expected to dance with each other, so at the very least you should be able to hold hooves!” The two exchanged glares at each other, before turning their heads away in disgust. “Well then, enjoy your new manestyles,” Trixie said, before turning to Silver Spoon. “Now, as for you…”

“Wait!” Diamond Tiara shouted, but it was no use; Trixie was already instructing the now-attentive Silver Spoon on her first task. “T-This can’t be happening! I can’t let other ponies see me like this. It’d be a disaster!”

“Y’think you have it bad?” Apple Bloom asked. “Look at me! I look like… well, you!”

“Watch it, blank flank! In case you couldn’t tell, I’m in no mood for your stupidity right now!”

“No, you watch it! It’s yer fault we’re in this mess in the first place!”

“No, it’s your fault! And your stupid friends’ faults!”

“Uh, it’s actually all our faults,” Alula said, receiving twin glares from the two fillies in response. “N-Never mind. I’ll just… be over there…”

“Anyway,” Apple Bloom continued, “Ah don’ wanna walk ‘round lookin’ like this, either. AJ’d never let me live it down!”

“So what do you suggest? That we actually…” Diamond Tiara made a gagging expression before continuing. “Hold… hooves?”

“It’s either that, or we walk around with each other’s manestyles for a whole week.”

Diamond Tiara looked down at Apple Bloom’s outstretched hoof, and stared at it uncertainly for a few minutes. “A-Aren’t you at least going to wash it first?”

Apple Bloom sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ah washed it this morning! Jus’ hold it already!”

With a whimper, Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, and slowly reached her hoof forward. She eventually came into contact with something solid, and furry, and dared to open and eye slightly in order to confirm that she had made contact with her enemy’s hoof.

“S-See?” Apple Bloom asked, looking to the side, just passed Diamond Tiara’s head. “That wasn’t so bad, was i-”

“Ew,” Diamond Tiara said, pulling her hoof away quickly. “Ew, ew, ew ,ew, EWWWW! I can’t believe I just did that! I’ve totally got loser germs on me now! I’ve got to go wash up before it infects me completely!”

Trixie and the other ponies watched as Diamond Tiara zipped towards the restroom as fast as she could, panicking the entire way. With a sigh, Trixie moved over to Babs and Scootaloo to give them their instructions for the day. ‘Baby steps, Trixie. I’ll get everypony else started first, then work on them. By the end of the day, they will be able to stand close proximity with one another.’