My Little Warcraft - Happy Hearth's Warming Feast of Winter's Veil Eve!

"Okay, so let us go through the next section," spoke Gai'vahros.

The theatre was one of absolute grandeur and glamour, befitting of any other theatre within the kingdom and beyond. The span was enormous, at least a hundred square meters. Tens of rows of seats lined in front of the stage at the left, the right, and the center, all empty as awaiting their use. Upon the ceiling were several rafters with lights of multiple colours and hues fixed upon them.

The group prepared for rehearsal upon the stage, accompanied by none but each other and a handful of guards spread at each doorway. Large, red curtains hung from the top beam and from each side of the stage by golden rails. The sides were covered by two faux walls used to conceal the dressing room behind.

"Little Spike, could you please give us the narration?" asked Gai'vahros.

"Leave it to me, Gai," he replied, standing upon a stool. The little dragon cleared his throat as he spoke, "But it was to the cruel hand of fate that the two warriors, who held only their hatred upon one-another, were to meet amidst the harsh blizzard."

"Excellent. Lady Applejack, your line, please."

"Oh! Oh, right." Taking the time to briefly skim over her words, Applejack tried to memorize the words off by heart on the first try, but couldn't help but keep glancing over at the paper. She then spoke her line, "You destroyed our homes and you destroyed our--"

"Hold on, hold on," interrupted Gai'vahros, waving his hand to motion her to stop. "I'm sorry, my Lady, but do you think you could do a more… uh… stronger accent?"

"How d'ya mean, "strong"?" asked Applejack.

"Could you sound more… you know… dwarven?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "I would -- If I knew what dwarven sounded like."

"Oh… right. Well, it sounds sort of like this --" Gai'vahros coughed "Ye destroyed ah homes, and ye destroyed ah livelehhoods! Ah see to it that yer suffer a worse fate, ye cursed dog!"

"Ohhhh! You mean like a Trottish accent! Sure, I can do that!" Applejack raised her head, taking a deep breath. "Ye destroyed ah homes, and ye destroyed ah livelehhoods! Ah see to it that yer suffer a worse fate yet, ye cursed dog!" An audible snicker came from the side of Applejack. She turned to see Rainbow Dash with her hooves slammed against her mouth trying to stop herself from bursting out with laughter. "What's so funny, Rainbow Dash?"

"N-nothing," she spoke quietly, trying not to laugh. "You just… just sound so ridiculous with that accent!" It was too much for the Pegasi, bursting into laughter with her forelegs over her stomach as she lurched forwards.

"Hey! I don't sound ridiculous!" yelled Applejack in irritation.

"Girls, girls!" cried out Gai'vahros, waving his hands in the air. "Enough of this! We've only got a day and a half to get this all finished! Rainbow Dash, please, could you not make fun of Applejack while she's doing her lines?"

"Oh, right! Yeah, sure." Despite her agreement, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but keep a big grin on her face.

"Thank you. Now, Spike, could you read the narration once more?"

While Gai'vahros practiced with Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were in the dressing room behind the stage. The room was fairly large, able to accommodate at least twelve or so performers comfortably with enough room to move around. Large dressing tables spanned the entirety of the back wall, while the sides were lined with clothes racks with a multitude of costumes. there were some storage boxes on the floor with an assortment of props, from flags to swords.

"Oooooh, I can't wait I can't WAIT!" squealed Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down and around Fluttershy. "I can't wait to practice my lines!"

"O-oh, I'm glad you're really… um… excited, Pinkie Pie," spoke Fluttershy softly. "What part do you get to play?"

"I get to play… uh, let me double-check." Pinkie held the page to her snout, her eyes darting from side to side, scanning the words. "I'm playing the role of the scholar who tries to help Applejack's character! What do you get to be, Fluttershy?"

"Oh… I play the friend of Rainbow Dash who tries to convince her to stop fighting Applejack…"

"Oooooh, so we're kinda like, the same character, but on different sides! I wonder if we actually get to see each other."

"M-maybe you should suggest that to Gai'vahros. I think it's a good idea."

Pinkie grinned in excitement. "Yay! I'll ask him when I go and practice my part! Oh, and before I forget, have you decided what to get Gai for Hearth's Warming Eve yet?"

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh! N-no… I haven't thought about it. I've been preoccupied with the play…"

"Well that's okay! I'm gonna get him a new cape!"

"A… new cape?"

"Yeah! One that'll be totally awesome and make him look like a really, really cool superhero! Then he can save the day and look good doing it, too!"

"… I think he looks really good already…"

"Well, yeah, but he can always look better, right?"

"Um… Well, when you put it that way… I guess?"

"See! I knew you'd agree with me!" Pinkie Pie grasped a small, straw hat from the dresser and plonked it on her head. "I'm glad I got to get your opinion, Fluttershy. Now I gotta go practice and memorise my lines. I'll see ya later!" Pinkie Pie made her way towards the dresser room door as she spoke, "Y'know, out of character. But hopefully in character, too!"

"O-oh… Yes, I hope so, too…!"

Rainbow Dash has finished putting on her costume -- a chest plate with intricate filigree and a single, diamond-shaped amethyst embedded in the center. A centurion-styled helmet matched her armor in colour, while the head crest matched the purple gem exactly. In her hoof she held a prop, foam halberd that looked incredibly authentic aside from the tip of the head being rounded and not sharpened.

"Okay, Gai," she called out, "give me my queue!"

"Excellent," the elf responded. He turned to spike. "If you could, little Spike?"

"Sure, if you stop calling me "little"," he responded in chagrin. His little claw flipped over to the next page of the script before he began to scan the lines for a moment. "The tension grew evermore between the two warrior until, finally, their tempered served to fuel their blades, and the two drew upon one-another."

Gai'vahros then pointed to Rainbow Dash to signal her part.

"You'd not bested me then, nor now, nor ever, wretched fool!" she cried out with all the feeling she could muster, causing Gai'vahros to smile as she watched her performance not only in her voice but also in her movement. She swung the halberd to her side before swinging it horizontally in front of her. However, she did not judge her surroundings to be as close as they had been, and inadvertently struck Applejack in the side of the head.

"Hey!" she screamed as she turned around, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. "Watch where ya swing that thing, Rainbow Dash!"

"It's not my fault you were in the way!" retorted Rainbow Dash, defending herself. "You're standing too close to me!"

"Because I'm supposed to be this close to you! We're supposed to be practicin' our lines, not practicin' how to clobber me in the head!"

"Well we can do that at the same time."

"Then pass that darn thing over here and let me hit you in the head!"

"You trying to start a fight, Applejack?"

Before the fight could escalate any further, Twilight raced up and stood between the two of them, pushing them apart with her hooves. "Hey! Girls!" she cried out. "We shouldn't be fighting for real! We're supposed to work together and try and get this thing done! We've only got until tomorrow evening to get this finished."

both Applejack and Rainbow Dash huffed and turned away from one-another.

"Fine, then," spoke Applejack in frustration. "I'ma go an' revise my other lines now that I know how I need to speak them."

Rainbow Dash, however, merely maintained her position as before. "Okay, Gai, read me my --"

"Go and take a break, Rainbow Dash," the elf interrupted her, holding the script by his side. "You should go cool off."

"I'm fine! Just read me --"

"I said, go and take a break, Rainbow Dash. Go grab something to eat or something. I'll see you back here in twenty minutes."

Rainbow Dash wanted to speak, but nothing could force a single word from her throat. Instead, she placed her costume and weapon along the back wall of the stage and quickly flew out from the theatre doorway.

"Gai'vahros?" spoke Twilight Softly as she turned to him. "Are you okay?" She asked, but she already knew the answer. In those jaded eyes of him laid some form of frustration.

"… I just don't want them two being at each other's necks while we're performing," spoke Gai'vahros. He sighed before turning and sitting on the edge of the stage. "Maybe this was just a bad idea to begin with."

"Don't worry about them too much," comforted Twilight, nudging his shoulder with her cheek. "They'll be fine once they've had some time to relax. We've all been working hard on this, so it's natural that some of us would get a bit… you know. Restless."

"I guess you're right, my Lady Twilight. I know I've been pushing everyone hard, but we've not got long before we perform it. Still, while Rainbow Dash is cooling off then everyone else can spend the time to relax, too."

Fluttershy stood at the dresser table, trying to fix her hair so that she could seat her hat properly, but every time she tried to move her long fringe to one side it always sprung back. The best she could do was put the hat on her head at an angle. "Oh, I hope this will be okay," she muttered to herself.

"Oh! Fluttershy, darling," called Rarity from the doorway of the dresser room, having walked in with a hanger with a dress on it over her back, "I'm so glad that someone was in here! I was beginning to think that everyone had given up!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Fluttershy worryingly.

"Well I saw Rainbow Dash leave the castle as I came back, Applejack was sitting in a corner with her head in her hooves, and Gai'vahros and Twilight were sitting on the stage looking completely glum! Did something happen while I was out making this costume?"

"I… I hope not. I've been in here putting on my costume…"

"Oh. Well, actually, I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment, darling."

"Um… What did you want to talk to me about, Rarity?"

"Well I've been thinking about what present to buy Gai'vahros ever since we came to Canterlot, so I went and did a bit of window shopping to get some inspiration. I didn't know what he liked, so I stuck to finding anything… you know. Knightly."

"Well, that's a good conclusion…"

"Oh, I'm so glad that you agree! Anyway, there isn't anything that I could find that was very "knightly", so I thought, instead of buying him something, why don't I make him something. And I know just what to make him!"

"Oh? What are you going to make him?"

"I thought I would make him a brand new cape to go with that armor of his! All of the cloth was redone, so it's only natural that he should have a new cape to go with it, right?"

Fluttershy felt her heart jump into her throat for a moment. She had remembered what Pinkie Pie had said earlier about getting him a cape, too. "O-oh… that sounds really great, Rarity," agreed Fluttershy, "but, um --"

"I'm so glad that you agree with me, darling!" exclaimed Rarity with a huge smile. "I thought that his current wear was incredibly out-dated and a bit bland, so I thought about upping the thread count -- Oh, and adding some gold in places, too! I think a nice gold filigree border around the edges would be gorgeous! Don't you think so, too, Fluttershy?"

"I-I think it would look really nice, Rarity. But Pinkie Pie --"

"Oh, yes, which reminds me… where is Pinkie Pie, anyway? I didn't see her when I came back."

"She told me she was going to go and revise her lines for her part and --" Fluttershy shook her head "-- Oh, but that wasn't what I was going to say. Rarity, Pinkie Pie is --"

"Oh, don't worry, darling. Pinkie is probably in Canterlot trying to find a gift for Gai'vahros. Now, come, could you give me a hoof with this costume? It's incredibly fiddly for me to put on properly on my own."

"Um… okay, Rarity…"