A Stellar Performance

Chapters

A big Chance
A long Road
A lot of Tension
A small Change of Plans
A short Breather
A little bit of Fame
A medium amount of Epilogue

A big Chance

During recess, it was no rare sight to see students sitting around somewhere at Crystal Prep Academy with their laptops, working for school instead of relaxing. In the last few days the number of students who spent the intervals between classes doing homework or learning actually seemed to have increased quite much. At first glance, it seemed like Sunny Flare was one of those students. Sitting at a bench in the entrance hall she had her laptop on her lap, staring at the screen as she typed.

However, it only took a second look to notice she was most likely not doing schoolwork, for the passion and joy she expressed while typing were more than evident. Her fingers were flying over the keyboard, a big grin plastered on her face. Closer and closer her face inched towards the screen, her eyes fixed on it with a childish ecstasy gleaming in them. With every word that popped up on the screen her excitement seemed to be growing even more. Dialogue lines, stage directions, descriptions of costumes and props – they all were smoothly pouring out of her fingers onto the screen. Only occasionally she paused for a moment, peering thoughtfully up at the ceiling in await for an inspiration. These moments were short-lived though, as ideas quickly were flowing into her mind and put down on digital paper.

Recess was nearing its end when Sunny put a full stop on the bottom of the page. Feeling a tad exhausted she leaned back, her breath a little short. Sunny wiped some sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, admiring her work. In her eyes the reflection of clever puns, dramatic twists and emotional moments appeared as she scrolled through the document. A look of contentment spread over her face. Several minutes she went over the same lines again and again, unable to cast her eyes away.

While she appreciated her work she could feel a surge of inspiration coming up inside her again. Her fingers returned on the keyboard, about to continue their work. Just as she was about to write the first word however she paused. Her gaze was focused on the email-icon in the taskbar, blinking decently. “Oh, I’ve got post!” she noted, opening her mailbox. There was one new email. As she looked at the sender Sunny jolted up, her heart beating a little faster: It was from the theatre group.

Immediately she clicked on the email, eagerly reading it. The further her eyes moved down the screen however the more the corners of her mouth dropped, her excitement turning into disappointment. Slumping her shoulders she moved the email into a folder called “rejections”, staring at it for a moment. There spanned several pages, all of them having the same sender. Her gaze then went to a small icon on the sidebar, displaying a folder named “approvals”. The number zero was standing in brackets behind it.

With a loud sigh Sunny closed her mailbox. The window with her document reappeared on the screen. She put her fingers back on the keyboard, but they didn’t move. It felt like all inspiration had been drained from Sunny. Again she sighed as she saved and closed the document, returning to her desktop. A document link caught her attention, called “friendship report”. She moved the cursor over it, letting it hover for a while. After tapping on the mouse pad for a moment she closed her laptop, leaning back against the wall behind while letting out one more sigh. Frustration was building up inside her, along a subtle, yet undeniable anger. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to calm herself. Her history homework, she thought, she should get started on it before recess was over. It would distract her, plus if she got it done or at least started with it, she would have more time in the afternoon for her other homework and…

“Miss Flare?”

Sunny nearly jumped up from the bench in shock. Startled she looked to the side, seeing a teacher standing beside her. “Principal Cinch would like to see you in her office” the teacher told her sternly. “Right away!”

Hastily Sunny nodded. She put her laptop into her backpack, quickly shouldering it as she got up and walked past the teacher towards the principal’s office. At first she was in a hurry, almost bumping into other students who threw obnoxious glares at her. The closer she got to the office however the slower her steps became. She was basically sneaking as she approached the door, stopping as she arrived. Standing in front of the office she hesitated. A knot was forming in her stomach. With a gulp she slowly raised her hand, carefully clenching it to a fist as she knocked against the door.

“Enter” a strict voice commanded her from the other side. Her jittering hand embraced the doorknob, slowly turning it around. The ray of light that streamed through the opening door seemed to be everything that illuminated the room, being mainly covered in dark. The only things really visible were the trophy shelves on the walls and the desk at the back of the office. Principal Cinch was sitting behind it, her eyes fixed on a document lying in front of her. She was surrounded by stacks of paper covering the majority of the desk. With a gesture of her hand the principal told Sunny to come in. Stepping inside she closed the door behind her, taking a quick look at the trophy shelves before the light diminished. Though it wasn’t placed very prominently she could still see the award for the Friendship Games they had “won” this year. A trophy for tying didn’t look too impressive alongside all those displaying the victories of Crystal Prep. Nevertheless a slight smile of pride hushed over Sunny’s face.

As she shut the door completely, leaving only the dim light coming in through the shutters to enlighten the room, she slowly walked up to the desk. She watched her reading and filling out documents, putting them on top of a stacks when she was done and taking another one from a different. Standing in front of the principal Sunny was growing steadily more nervous. When she put her signature under what must have been the twelfth document since she came in Sunny shyly cleared her throat.

“Um, P-principal Cinch?” she said, her voice shaking. “I’m Sunny Flare. Y-you wanted to see me.”

The pen abruptly stopped. Over her glasses the principal peered up at Sunny, sending a chill down the student’s spine. “Ah, Miss Flare” the principal finally said. Putting her pen down she leaned slightly back, staring Sunny straight in the eyes. “I’m pleased you managed to come here so fast” she told her, although her face was showing no signs she was actually pleased. She waved her hands towards the chair on the other side of the desk. “Please take a seat.”

Putting her schoolbag on her lap Sunny quickly sat down. The principal placed her elbows on her desk, folding her hands in front of her face.

“I presume you know about the upcoming play of our theatre group?” she asked, looking over her interlaced fingers at Sunny.

“Oh yes!” she replied, her mood brightening for a moment. “They are going to perform the autobiography about Star Swirl the Bearded, right? I got a ticket for it weeks ago!”

The principal nodded. “I am glad to hear that. Your generation has way too little respect for the classic arts. I am actually considering to give students who don’t go at least once very half school year to a theatre performance a lower grade in English.”

Sunny winced slightly. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to reward the students who go instead of punishing those who don’t?” she asked – or rather wanted to ask, but the cold glance of the principal made the question get stuck in her throat.

“As you probably also are aware” the principal continued, adjusting her glasses slightly “Since the autobiography Star Swirl wrote about himself isn’t long enough to fill an entire evening, there will be a short, unrelated play beforehand, as a sort of prelude.” It was slightly, but Sunny believed the principal to be frowning even harder than usual. “However, the part of the theatre group that was responsible for carrying out this very small task has decided to quit on short notice” she said with a strained voice.

Sunny’s fingers clenched her backpack. “I’ve… heard of that” she mumbled, shivering slightly.

Closing her eyes the principal took in a deep breath. Even though she tried to suppress it, Sunny clearly could hear her panting in anger. As she opened her eyes again the look on her face was a little softer, but still very stern. “Since the rest of the theatre group is occupied with performing the main play, I’ve decided to search a replacement for the prelude from outside the theatre group” she told Sunny.

From one of the stacks of paper she pulled out something that looked like a script. Sunny watched her putting it in front of her on the desk. Curiously, but carefully Sunny took a peek at it. When she read the title on the front page her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“I have heard you sent various scripts to the theatre group” the principal said, the sharp tip of her index finger going along the title. “I asked them to print one of the shorter plays and hand it over to me. I believe it would be an adequate prelude to the main performance.”

Sunny couldn’t believe what she heard. “Y-y-you want to perform my play?” she stuttered.

Without raising her head the principal adjusted her glasses. “Indeed.”

Sunny’s jaw dropped. She stared at the script in disbelief, thinking for a moment to be dreaming.

“Also” the principal went on, still looking at the script “Since your grades in all artistic and literal subjects are excellent, I decided you were also the most qualified to bring the vision of your play on the stage.” She glanced up at Sunny. “Would you be interested in directing your play?”

Staring open-mouthed at her script Sunny didn’t notice at first the principal was talking to her. When her mind had finally processed the information she quickly raised her head, nodding frantically.

A smile spread over the principal’s face – not a really friendly one, more impish and devious. Sunny guessed that was the only way she was able to smile. “Good” she stated. Picking up the script she handed it over the desk at Sunny, who quickly grabbed it with both hands. “I will send you an email about the budget. As you probably know, the local newspaper will write about the performance of the theatre group. There will also be a few lines about the prelude.” More sharply she told Sunny: “So I presume you are going to do your best to represent our school accordingly, am I right?”

The passive threat frightened Sunny, but it only dampened her euphoria by a little. “B-but of course!” Sunny hastily said as she stood up. The script in her hands she put her backpack on her shoulders, smiling gently at the principal. “Thank you very much, Principal Cinch” she politely said, bowing slightly. “I guarantee you will not regret your decision.” She turned around, calmly walking towards the exit. Opening the door she stepped out of the office, the script neatly tucked under her arm. Once she was outside and the door closed again Cinch picked up her pen. She was about to sign another document, putting her pen on the appointed line.

A shrill scream of joy suddenly sounded from the hallway. Startled the Principal bumped with her elbows against one of the stacks of paper around her. The tower tumbled for a moment, before falling over to the side. In a chain-reaction it knocked over all the other stacks, scattering the documents all over and around her desk. The principal gazed at the mess around her, in a mixture of shock, irritation and fury. She took off her glasses, and massaged her temple.

Meanwhile Sunny was standing in front of the office, trying not to let another squeal of joy break out of her. Clenching the script in her hands she giggled enthusiastically, earning her more than one weird glance from bypassing students. Her heart was beating so hard in excitement she was afraid it could burst out of her chest any second. She was feeling so light, as if she could set off from the ground and fly straight towards heaven.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” she squeaked, her voice getting higher with each repetition. With quick steps she rushed down the hallway, running through the pages of the script. As she flew over the text she quickly remembered the play, every word she wrote streaming back into her memory. “I can’t believe it!” she said to herself, overflowing with happiness. Closing her script again she put on a confident look. “This is it! Finally! I will prove these theatre snobs what a great writer I am!” Putting her nose up she huffed angrily. “They think they are sooo high and mighty! Playing only the most famous writers and their own scripts, because everything else is below their standards!” She held the script in front of her again, smirking. “But once they actually see one of my plays on stage, they are going to come crawling on their knees, begging me to forgive their ignorance, and bowing to my talent!”

The sound of the bell echoed through the hallway. Sunny walked towards her class, but didn’t really take care of her way. Her mind was too busy picturing the play. Costumes were forming in front of her inner eye, just like the properties. Of course, she would probably have to make a few cuts depending on what she could get in short time, and how high the budget would be. But that didn’t keep her from dreaming about fantastic landscapes and characters coming to life on the stage. The image became steadily clearer, Sunny seeing the scenery in front of her, and hearing the actors saying the lines she wrote while wearing their grand costumes…

Suddenly Sunny stopped. “Wait” she said, with a look of concern as she realized something. “If the whole theatre group is already performing their play – where am I gonna get actors to perform mine?”

A long Road

When stepping into the theatre hall of Crystal Prep Academy, many wouldn’t believe it to be the theatre of a regular high school. Not only was the number of regular seats exceptionally high, there were even special box-seats installed on the wall for the principal and dean. Even more astonishing however was the stage itself: Like all of Crystal Prep it was shining brightly, the wood polished to a degree where it almost appeared like a layer of glass way lying above it. Large enough to house an entire opera if needed it was equipped with the top-notch technology in lighting and stage machinery. There was even a small orchestra pit, just so big it could host the school’s own musical groups. Out of all the one in the district, this one was probably the most noble and grand theatre hall.

Sunny Flare stood between the front row and orchestra pit, a pen in one hand and a script in the other. After scribbling some notes down on one of the pages she looked up to the large stage, a strict look on her face. “All right, ladies!” she called out to the girls on the stage. “We’ve got until four o’clock before the theatre group needs the stage for their own rehearsal. That should be just enough time for you to learn your text, as well as getting acquainted to where you have to stand and how you have to move. So, shall we get started?”

On the stage Lemon Zest glanced at the heavy script in her hand. “You kiddin’ me?!” she asked, running with her thumb through the pages. She was wearing a short white toga, alongside long striped leather sandals that went up to her knees. She didn’t have her headphones on, but a pair of fake angel wings protruded from her back. “We’ll need, like, till midnight to get all of this into our brains!” she groaned, slumping her shoulders whole rolling her eyes up at the ceiling. “And why the fuss? Tis just a short before the actual play, innit?”

Putting her hands on her hips Sunny snobbishly raised her nose. “It may be just a fifteen minutes short, but that doesn’t mean it’s to be taken lightly” Sunny told her in a stern manner. Abruptly her expression softened, Sunny pressing her fists against her chin as she beamed in excitement. “This is my big chance to get a name as a playwriter!” she squealed, trembling slightly. “If it’s gonna be a success, maybe the theatre group will play one of my plays as their next big performance!”

Stepping to the edge of the stage Indigo Zap clenched her fist in front of her. “Course it’ll be a smash!” she hollered, grinning in confidence. A dark plastic armor with spikes covered most of her body, with a black crown on top of her head that had a red glass jewel embedded in it. “When the curtain drops we’ll still be bathing in standing ovations!” she boasted, raising her fist into the air. “They’re gonna beg us all to join the theatre group as their new superstars!”

Wearing a content smile Sunny nodded. “That’s the spirit!” she praised her, sticking her chest out and placing a hand on her chest. “I mean Principal Cinch obviously has already realised my talent as a writer, or else she wouldn’t have appointed this task on such a short notice upon me.”

“She was probably just desperate” Sugarcoat stated nonchalant, pushing up her glasses. They didn’t fit the rest of her attire, also wearing a plastic armor, coloured in gray. It looked a lot lighter than Indigo’s, Sugarcoat less resembling a medieval knight but rather a Greek hoplite. “School work consumed most of their free time, so the part of the theatre group responsible for the original prelude couldn’t practice enough and quit” she explained, her slightly aggressive voice rushing out of her mouth like a river down a mountain. “She needed to find a replacement fast, and probably just randomly stumbled upon your rejected scripts.”

Huffing at the snide remark Sunny folded her arms. “And they got four weeks of detention for dropping out in last minute” she reminded her. All the girls shuddered slightly, then quickly shook their heads. “So unless you wanna share their fate, I’d say we get started already" Sunny stated, tapping with the back of her hand against her script.

“Sour’s not here yet” Indigo said as she took a look around the stage.

“Sour!” Sunny shouted, forming a funnel with her hands in front of her mouth. “Come on! We want to start!”

She stared at the egde of the stage, patting it with her foot on the ground. It took a moment before they could hear footsteps approaching. Behind the curtain a silhouette appeared, one that was barely identifiable as a human. As the figure stepped into the light it revealed itself as Sour Sweet, wearing what looked like the Frankenstein monster of school mascot uniforms: Her costume was made out of the head of a dog, with one ear being replaced with a cat’s, the torso of a porcupine, the left arm of a bear, the right wing of a flamingo and the legs of a frog. Clearly one could see the stitches between the individual parts, having been hastily sewed together. In the middle of the chest the face of Sour poked out through a hole, looking everything but amused.

Lemon tried her best to hold back her laughter, tightly pressing her hand against her lips as chortles broke out in sporadic intervals.

After glaring grumpily around the stage Sour made an angel face. “May I kindly ask for another role?” she asked with puppy eyes, before hissing through her teeth: “One that doesn’t make me the laughing stock of the whole school?”

Indigo shrugged. “You drew the shortest straw.”

Frowning Sour took a few steps onto the stage. She couldn’t really raise her legs, making every of her motions seem clunky and awkward. “This is ridiculous!” she grumbled, trying to drag herself forward. “I don’t even know why we agreed to this…”

Sunny stemmed her hands against her hips. “First, because we decided to be friends, and friends help each other out” she told the bad-tempered girl sternly. “Second, students practicing for a theatre play that is going to be reviewed by the newspapers are relieved of the afternoon classes Principal Cinch added to the time table. And third…” She pointed with her finely manicured index-finger at each of them “…you all owe me one. Now let’s get started.”

Eyes on the first page of her script Lemon looked a little lost. “Um, not that I haven’t read the play or anything, buuuuut… what was it about again?” she asked, nervously smiling at Sunny.

“It’s the tale of two divine sisters, the elder one controlling the sun and the younger one the moon” she explained, with some pride in her voice. “They fight together to defeat a great evil god of chaos as well a dark magician who has enslaved a legendary kingdom, but then the younger sister becomes jealous of the older one and tries to overthrow her.”

“That’s a very simple premise” Sugarcoat remarked, earning a glare from Sunny.

“The focus is on the characterization!” she mumbled. “Now everybody get on your position! We begin with the first scene, where the sisters encounter the warlock while the god of Chaos watches them from a distance.”

The four girls stepped on their places. Sugarcoat and Lemon went to the left part of the stage while Indigo and Sour opposed them on the right side. Sour slightly hid herself behind the curtain, which took quite a while due to her clunky movements. Sitting down in the front row Sunny put her script on her lap and the pen on the opened page, her eyes fixed on her actors. “And… begin!” she declared.

Indigo cleared her throat, taking in a deep breath while holding the script in front of her. An evil grin suddenly spread over her face, her brows furrowing while she raised both her arms into the air. “WHO DAAARES TO OPPOSE ME, HERE IN MY LAND?!” she yelled, trying to sound as grim and intimidating as possible. “The moment you set foot here, your life did already end!” In an exaggerated gesture she pointed with her finger at the two girls on the stage, holding up her head so high she was barely able focus her evil stare on them. “For thousand years I’ve been ruling this land, hour by hour!!! Now succumb to my will, AND BEHOLD MY DARK MANIACAL POWER! Wait…” She glanced at her script. “MAGICAL POWER! MUHAHAHAHA!”

“There is no “muhahaha” in the script” Sugarcoat informed the evil warlock.

Putting a hand on her hip Indigo threw a sharp glare at the moon goddess. “I’m sure there are also no smarty-pant remarks in the script” she scoffed “Don’t meddle in my acting and I won’t meddle in yours, okay? Now say your text!”

Sighing Sugarcoat looked at her script. “Your powers are worthless in front of our own” she read out loud. The words were hurrying out of her mouth as if they were being hunted, Sugarcoat making no pause or putting any accentuation on the sentence as she spoke. “Surrender now or into the abyss you go.”

She then nearly stumbled as Lemon suddenly jumped past her into the foreground. “Dooon’t be so arrogant sisteeer, and full of false priiiiide!” she sang out loud, screaming melodically while moving around on the stage as if she was in the disco. “Freedom we seek, not poooweeer, and for the liberation of this kingdom we striiiiive!”

With a mighty sound Indigo stomped on the stage. “ENOUGH!!” she yelled, thrusting out her chest as she spoke in an overly high and mighty voice. “Against me and my horses… er, forces, you two shall not prevail!” She held out both her hands towards Sugarcoat and Lemon, moving her fingers as if she was cursing them. “With this spell I will finish you off, and your quest will be an EPIC fail!!”

“It doesn’t say epic, only fail” Sugarcoat corrected her again.

“Just writhe in agony, okay?” Indigo demanded, annoyed.

After shaking her head Sugarcoat calmly put a hand on her forehead, while holding the script in front of her face with the other. “Oh, ah, I’m in so much pain” she said, sounding more like she was in a coma than in pain. “He’s holding me in his grip. Sister, help me, or out of my body my soul will slip.”

Sliding over the stage Lemon stepped in front of Sugarcoat, but then stepped back as if she had taken a hit to her stomache. “Oh no – he’s holding me too-ooo-ooooo!” she chanted, wildly shaking her body – it wasn’t clear if she was acting to be in pain or just enjoying herself. “It’s like he’s squeezing my HEEEEAAART! But don’t think you’ve won!” she suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Indigo. “We will defeat yooouuu – and not fall apaaaa-aaaart!” She sang a very high note, Sugarcoat having to put her hands over her ears from the shrill sound.

The sisters fought against the spell, one by dancing and singing screams of agony, the other by standing apathetically on the same spot and occasionally murmuring “ouch”. Bending her arms the evil warlock laughed hysterically, her “Muhahaha” become louder every time she repeated it (which was quite a lot). From the shadows Sour then emerged very slowly, either for the dramatic effect, or because she couldn’t move faster in the costume. “Isn’t this just lovely? she asked with a voice clear as a bell and a face sweet as sugar. “My greatest enemies, battling it out amongst each other♥” She clenched her bear first, abruptly changing her expression into one of pure hatred and anger. “And I will squash whoever wins this fight, so they won't be a bother!” she shouted. She then froze, realizing she had wrinkled the script as she clenched her paw. Hastily she tried to even the folds with her flamingo wing.

After struggling some more the sisters suddenly held out their arms, Lemon spinning on the spot while scream-singing at the ceiling. Sugarcoat on the other hand looked like she was stretching herself after yawning loudly. Taking a step back Indigo gasped, making what must have been the most dramatic pose anyone ever made in a theatre.

“You broke my spell, how can this BE!” she screamed, smacking her hands against her cheeks. “No one was EVER able to best ME!”

“Your spell has no effect on us, it’s just like I said” Sugarcoat spoke in a languid voice, lazily raising her hand at Indigo. “You are much too weak, now fear our hate!”

Lemon raised her hands up to the ceiling. “Ooohhh aaaaaalmighty suuuuun, come forth right nowowow and heeeeere!” she sang, circling her hips and wailing her arms in the air. “Show us your liiiiiiiight, and banish the feeeeaaaar!” In a swift motion she turned her hands into a pair of finger-pistols, shouting “Pew pew” while firing imaginary bolts of sunlight at Indigo. Sugarcoat kept holding out her hand towards the evil warlock, looking like she was telling her not to cross the street.

Letting out a long cry of fake anguish Indigo cringed, dropping her script as she clenched her armored chest with both hands. “UUUH! OH! THE PAIN! THE PAIN!” she screamed, dropping to her knees. “I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for me to fall, but you sisters are the most powerful of them…” She peeked at the script lying on the stage. “ALL!”

Her hand longed towards the ceiling, Indigo screaming for another half minute before her body fell forward on the ground. Her She didn't stop there, however, but rolled around on the stage. Her body twitched and writhed in agony as she held up her arms, making dying sounds. Sour stepped forward, again sweetly smiling towards the two sisters.

“Oh my, the younger sister sure has a lot of pride she said in a nice and cheerful tone that was didn't really fit the scene or her line. ”With so much self-contentment in her heart" she switched back into evil mode “I might be able to pull her to the dark-”

A loud choke cut her off. Annoyed she looked down on Indigo, seeing her writhe around on the ground with both her hands pulled around her neck, her tongue hanging out while she rolled up her eyes. “Excuse me, could you please be so kind and die a little quieter?” Sour asked. “I’M TRYING TO ACT HERE!”

Ravishing in her victory Sugarcoat raised her hand into the air like she was holding on to a grabpole in the bus. “Hooray, we defeated the evil mage” she announced, still not emphasizing any word.

“AWWW YEAH!” Lemon jubilated, euphorically perfoming a victory dance. “Now let’s go free all his slaaaaaves!”

Sour happily looked at the two. ”I guess I’m gonna change my plans and let them celebrate for the moment” she decided, trying to talk over the dying warlock lying at her frog feet. ”Then I’ll manipulate the younger sister’s mind – AND CRUSH BOTH OF THEM!” she suddenly yelled, gritting her teeth while angrily looking at the two, before her face softened again just as quickly as she continued: ”And once they’re gone there and there is nobody left to oppose my might…” The sweet chocolate turned bitter again “…I’ll rule over everything, from the face of earth to the realm of sunlight!” She raised an arm, looking cheerfully upwards, before looking back at the sisters with pure rage in her eyes.

Quietly Sunny stared at the stage. Sugarcoat was celebrating her victory over the wizard with the enthusiasm of a zombie, Lemon wailed away on an invisible guitar while banging her head, Sour constantly changed her expression from over-the-top joyful to over-the-top angry, and Indigo was still dying.

First she dropped her jaw, then her pen, and at last the script on her lap.

“That. Was. HORRIBLE!!” it broke out of Sunny, angrily jumping up from her seat. Startled the four girls looked at their director, seeing her seethe with fury. “Sugarcoat, you have to put more passion into it!” she yelled towards the stage. “Indigo, you have to put less passion into it! Sour, you should really work on portraying more than two emotions! And Lemon, this isn’t a musical – you are not supposed to dance and sing the lines!”

Surprised Lemon's eyes widened. “Really?” she asked, looking at her script. “But they rhyme!”

“Because it’s in the style of classic literature!” Sunny moaned. “Never read any works of that time? Wait, don’t answer that.” Bending down she picked up her pen and script. She completely oversaw the disappointed and crestfallen look on everybody’s faces, even Indigo having lost most of her vigor. “Again, from the top!” Sunny demanded as she sat down again, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “And this time, at least TRY to be get it right!”

Her actors exchanged some uncomfortable glances, before sighing in unison.

A lot of Tension

The clock above the door of the theatre hall ticked as the rehearsal of the Shadowbolts went on. Sunny gave her actors strict and precise directions how to perform their roles, how to speak their lines, how to stand and what gesture they should make: Sugarcoat was supposed to play with more fury in her voice, as well as hints of smugness and arrogance. Indigo on the other hand should speak more calmly, acting more subtly instead of over-the-top-in-your-face-evil. Sour, as Sunny tried to formulate it, should try and be both nice AND mean at the same time, as if she was an evil jester, not a clown with a split personality. And for Lemon, she said she would simply be happy if she stopped behaving like she was on a party.

For short moments, the four girls on the stage actually managed to follow her guidelines, performing more in the way the play writer was picturing their roles. However, no matter how many times they repeated the scene, in the end they all fell back into their usual patterns: Sour would eventually make her two-sided expressions as she spoke, Sugarcoat’s “passion” would bit by bit drop until she was back at reading out the script way too fast without any emphasis on the words, Indigo would do the vice versa and start overacting the further the scene went on, and Lemon, after stating her text normally for a while, would turn her text into a musical number at some point again. Sunny watched them with growing impatience, clenching her script and pen gradually tighter. More and more frequently she cut them off in the middle of the scene, scolding them for ruining her play before yelling how to do it right.

The stern director didn’t notice that with every lecture she gave, her actors were becoming more discouraged and tired. Aside from not playing like Sunny wanted them to, the number of small mistakes they made in their performance was also increasing: Lemon began to stumble as she danced across the stage, or ran out of breath while singing a high note. Sugarcoat forgot to strike poses, even if she executed them lazily and without any vigor, or spoke so fast nobody understood what she said. Indigo kept screwing up her lines, while her overly exaggerated play made her affine for slip-ups – during her death scene she once actually rolled off the stage, needing a short break after she fell on the hard ground. For Sour, walking around in her costume was becoming quite a hurdle: One time she tripped and had to be helped up back on her feet by the others, while on another occasion she got caught up in the curtain when she stepped out on the stage. Again and again Sunny interrupted the scene and demanded to start over. With every repetition the theatre her frustration was increasing, while at the same time anger started boiling up inside of her.

Eventually her patience snapped: From her seat Sunny watched them replaying the end of the scene for what felt like the hundredth time. Sour was switching between her two faces at almost every second word. Indigo was yelling over her on the ground when she was supposed to lie still. Sugarcoat was standing around doing nothing. And Lemon span on the spot so fast, just looking at her made Sunny dizzy. Seeing the disaster, unable to spot any sort of real progress from the first time, she finally couldn’t take any more.

“ENOUGH!!!”

Immediately everyone on the stage stopped. Turning towards Sunny they saw she had gotten up from her chair again, holding pen and script so tightly in her hands they looked like they were about to break in her grip. Her whole body was tense, her muscles strained as she glared furiously at them. She knitted her brows so far they almost looked like a V, while she was showing her grit teeth at her actors. “This is ridiculous!” she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. “You guys are turning my wonderful and deep play about divine responsibilities into a farce! Half of our practice time is over, and we’re not even through the first scene! At this rate we will never get it done in time!”

Still lying on the stage Indigo sat up, looking like everyone rather grumpily at her director. She picked up her script she had dropped earlier, giving it a brief glance. “Seriously, are you sure this is the first scene?” she asked skeptically. “It feels like we’re jumping right in the middle of the action!”

“That’s a narration element!” Sunny told her, rolling her eyes. “Starting in the middle of the events aggravates the watchers’ imagination to think about what happened before and make their own story. If you guys would actually pay attention to English classes-”

“Yeah, right, a narration element” Sour kindly cut her off, before adding more cynically: “Plus it’s a good excuse if the writer is too lazy to think up an introduction…”

Startled Sunny took a step back. “LAZY?!” she shouted, her shock turning into even more rage. Offended she put a hand on her chest. “Do you have ANY idea how much work and sweat I put into this?” she loudly asked them. “How much I suffered to create this masterpiece?”

“It’s not even close to being a masterpiece” Sugarcoat bluntly told her, looking over her script. “I’ve read it completely. Despite the fact it’s gonna take much more than fifteen minutes to perform, neither the plot nor the characters have real depth or meaning. It’s just a very simple story about the fight between good and evil and how power and envy can corrupt someone. It’s neither very well executed nor entertainingly written.”

Sunny took another step back, bumping against the seat behind her. Staring with wide eyes at Sugarcoat she didn’t know for a moment what to respond. “Y-you girls wouldn’t know art if it slapped you in your face!” she eventually snapped back.

Lemon put her hands on her hips. “Oh yeah?” she defiantly asked. She walked over to Indigo, holding her cheek up to the girl on the ground. With a big grin Indigo slapped her with her script. It wasn’t very hard, just so Lemon’s head was turned towards Sunny.

“You’re right – didn’t feel like art to me” Lemon winked, sticking out her tongue at their director while rubbing her cheek. Sunny pouted, about to reply something, when the simultaneous giggles of her actors made her freeze.

“And just look at this costume” Sour chirped, turning around as she presented the various parts of her outfit, from the pink flamingo wing to the “spikes” on her back and the attached cat ear on her dog head. “Doesn’t it just scream art out of every fiber? Or at least ‘look, I’ve been stitched together in ten minutes out of costumes that were thrown away after Nightmare Night’.” Despite saying this in her bad-tempered voice Sour smiled, alongside the other girls on the stage.

“We’re not really much better” Sugarcoat remarked, smirking slightly as she looked down on her cheap plastic armor.

“Yeah!” Indigo agreed, chuckling as she got back on her feet. “I mean could you imagine a more generic villain getup than this?” she asked, pointing at her black chest-plate and crown.

The four actors laughed out loud. Sunny watched them goof around, making fun of their roles and costumes. At first she angrily knit her brows and grit her teeth further. But as they kept making fun on her play her eyebrows suddenly turned into the opposite direction, while the pressure of her teeth was lifted. Her lips fell down, the look on her face turning into depression. For the blink of an eye her anger then suddenly reappeared, even stronger than before. Furiously she held her script high above her head, before loudly smacking it against the floor.

The laughter on the stage abruptly died off. The four girls turned towards Sunny, who was looking at them with a slightly wet sheen in her eyes. Turning away she ran towards the exit, the others watching as she skipped up the stairs. Her silhouette was becoming smaller the further she ascended the large hall, until the four could only vaguely see her silhouette as she opened the door on top, and stormed out.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the hall. Sour, Sugarcoat, Indigo and Lemon looked at each other, all of them bearing somewhat guilty expressions.

After a while Sugarcoat let out a sigh. “We’re idiots” she murmured, all of them staring down at their feet.

A small Change of Plans

Quietly Sunny sat at the stairs in front of the school. Arms wrapped around her legs she hid her face behind them. Only her eyes, bearing a look of apathy, silent anger and suppressed frustration peeked out over her knees as she stared at the school yard. A handful of students were walking around the place, seeming grumpy for no reason as they passed each other without saying a word. Two students walked towards each other without noticing, one having her head in a book while the other stared at the screen of his smartphone. Sunny watched them bump into each other, the girl dropping her book in the process. The two put on a furious look, almost simultaneously snapping insults at each other. As the boy angrily stomped away the girl bent down to pick up her book, both throwing daggers towards the other with their eyes. Staring at the boy the girl didn’t see someone else walking in her direction, until she felt a shoe stepping on her hand. The girl screamed in pain, causing the boy to grin evilly at her while the other student just nonchalantly passed by.

Sighing Sunny lowered her gaze, staring at her knees. She then felt someone bumping against her shoulder. “You think it’s funny to just sit around in everyone’s way?” a girl angrily asked her, sharply glancing at Sunny while marching down the stairs. At first Sunny glared back, but then let out another depressed sigh. Slumping her shoulders she dropped her head, completely burrowing it behind her knees.

Sitting around like this shecould hear the door to the school opening behind her. Various pairs of feet were walking down the stairs, approaching her. To her surprise they suddenly stopped around her, and Sunny could hear four persons sitting down on the stairs. Raising her head she saw Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap warmly smiling at her, with a somewhat apologetic look in their eyes.

Frowning Sunny placed her chin on her knees. “What?” she asked, bitterness ringing in her voice. “Here to keep rubbing into my face how terrible my play is, and what an awful writer I am?”

Sour cleared her throat. “Actually, we wanted to apologize for laughing at your play” she explained softly.

A pair of angry eyes turned towards her. “Oh, so NOW you regret to have stomped on my feelings” Sunny grunted.

“Come on, don’t be like that!” Lemon said, putting a hand on her shoulder. It was quickly shaken off.

“Yeah” Indigo agreed, sounding slightly offended. “We were really worried when you suddenly dashed off!”

Sunny looked at the four girls sitting around her. “Right – you were so worried you took the time to change clothes before coming after me” she remarked, seeing they were all wearing their school uniforms again.

Lemon and Indio blushed, shyly casting their glances away. Sour on the other hand grunted. ”Please excuse us for not wanting to look like clowns while we ran through school” she said in sweet cynicism. Her cheerful attitude suddenly dropped, but didn’t change into a grumpy however. “W-wait, I-I didn'T mean to-!” she hastily began to apologize.

Sunny buried her head in her knees again. “Leave me alone” she demanded, her voice muffled by her legs. “I neither need your apologies nor your pity.”

The others exchanged some worried glances. “Look, we’re really sorry we made fun of your play” Indigo told her, rubbing the back of her own head.

“Even though it really isn’t great” Sugarcoat remarked, then winced as the others threw dark glances at her. “B-but you did put a lot of hard work into it” she quickly added, putting on a forced smile.

“Yeah” Lemon nodded, her voice quiet and low from regret. “It was really not cool of us to mock your play like this.”

Sour folded her arms over her chest. “Although you were not really nice to us, either” she mumbled, more to herself.

Sunny looked up, confused and angry. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she hissed at Sour.

“Um, hello?” Lemon frowned, stemming her fists against her hips. “You kept telling us how horrible actors we were the entire time!”

“Because you WERE horrible!” Sunny argued.

“We were giving it our best!” Indigo yelled. “But you only scoffed at our efforts! That was…” Her voice dropped, Indigo casting her eyes downwards. “…really pulling us down” she murmured. Sunny turned towards her, seeing the sad look on her face.

“None of us have ever acted before” Sugarcoat then reminded her. “Yet you insisted on us playing as if we were all professionals.”

Sour crossed her legs. “After boasting about how great and sophisticated your play was and how we were too bad to get it done right, I guess we were all just consumed by FRUSTRATION!” she suddenly shouted, clenching her fist. Her expression quickly softened however, casting a sorrowful glance to the side. “And then, we just let it all out on you.”

Sour, Lemon, Sugarcoat and Indigo all turned their heads towards Sunny. “We’re sorry” they said in unison.

Sunny’s eyes moved around the four girls, seeing the sincere, genuine remorse in their faces. She took in a deep breath, before letting out a long sigh. “I’m sorry too” she said, stretching out her legs. “I shouldn’t have put so stress on you.” Putting her hands next to her she looked up at the sky, in a somewhat melancholic manner. “And you know what?” she eventually stated, sighing once more. “You’re right. It is a bad play.”

“It’s not that bad♥” Sour tried to comfort her, placing a hand on her back.

“But still bad” Sugarcoat said.

Indigo glared at the blunt girl. “Not helping…”

“It’s okay” Sunny assured them. Staring up at the sky she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I know it isn’t the masterpiece I claimed it to be. It’s just…” She paused for a moment, looking thoughtful at a cloud slowly passing through the clear blue sky. “When I wrote it” she went on, speaking very slowly as she carefully picked each word. “When I came up with the characters, the plot, the scenes, when I pondered about the dialogue, when I thought about how the costumes had to look like, I was just so… proud. Proud at what I was creating, at the world that was forming inside my head. Even when I stitched together that ridiculous outfit, it felt like I gave birth to a child hatched from my own imagination. I was so consumed by it all, I… I never really took a step back and looked at what I was doing. All I thought was ‘this is great, you put so much work into it, it HAS to be great’ – and I was sure everybody would think about it like this. But just because somebody likes something they created, it doesn’t mean everyone has to love it, or that is has to be good. When I saw you perform my play on the stage and for the first time really set my eyes on it, I guess I realized it wasn’t the piece of art I had told myself it was. But instead of admitting that, I put all the blame on you.” She cast her glance downwards, looking guiltily down her legs. “That was wrong. I hope you forgive me...”

Four pair of arms suddenly pulled themselves around Sunny. Surprised she looked around her, seeing the happy faces of her friends as they tightly hugged her. The warmth of their bodies streamed into her own, warming up her crestfallen heart. A cozy feeling emerged from deep within her. The corners of her mouth ascended to a smile, the depression finally vanishing from her expression as they all relished in the group hug.

“You know, it’s really a relief we’re all good again” Sour said as the girls loosened themselves from Sunny, sitting back down around her. “Considering we will probably spend the next three weeks in detention together, along the theatre guys” she mumbled.

“So, we’re not gonna play and tell Cinch we’re out of it?” Lemon asked, sounding not very thrilled. “Dunno about you guys, but I’ve seen enough of the detention room in my life…”

“I think we’ll end up in it no matter if we play or not” Sunny told them, inhaling deeply. “You were right. Cinch was just desperate and needed some sort of replacement quickly. She probably didn’t even read my script, but only looked at my grades. If we were to actually perform, she would send us into detention for damaging the school’s reputation. By quitting, you guys at least won’t have to embarrass yourselves by playing my lousy play.”

Sugarcoat pushed up her glasses. “To be fair, you were right about us, too” she said with a smirk.

Chuckling Indigo stretched out one of her legs, and pulled the other one towards her. “Yeah” she agreed as she wrapped her arms around her knee. “We were REALLY horrible.”

“I think I was pretty good” Lemon declared, jumping up on her feet. A big grin plastered on her face she jammed on an invisible instrument, yelling: “I ROCKED the stage so hard it almost broke apart!” She then threw a glance at the others, seeing their lukewarm receptions. “…All right, scratch that” she quickly admitted, sheepishly rubbing through the green mane on top of her head. “I was awful, too.” She sat back down again, sighing. “It’s kind of a bummer though. I was actually looking forward to performing on the stage.”

“Tell me!” Indigo moaned. “I boasted in front of all my team comrades how I’m gonna blow everybody in the theatre out of their socks!”

“Which team?” Sugarcoat asked, leading to an incredulous stare from Indigo.

“Um, all of them of course.”

Giggling Sour bend closer to Sunny. ”Too bad you didn’t write a play about a bunch of girls who are as weird as us” she chirped, before stating more sourly: “Or at least one so simple and dull even we couldn’t screw it up.”

Turning her head Sunny showed her a slight smile, before staring up in melancholy at the sky again. Her sad expression then slowly lit up, a big smirk forming on her face. “Hey… that’s it!” she said.

Confused Sour watched her stand up. “Er, what?”

Lemon put her hands on her ears. “Am I wearing my headphones without knowing?” she asked. “Cause it feels like I missed something.”

Skipping down the stairs Sunny turned around. A confident look on her face she put her hands on her hips, staring at the other girls who were in return throwing rather bewildered glances at her. “Listen up –I think I have a plan” she proudly told them. “It will most likely get us into detention too, but you might be able to perform without losing your face in front of the whole school!”

A short Breather

For the majority of the year the theatre of Crystal Prep Academy was an empty and desolated hall, only occasionally occupied by the theatre group. On this night however it had turned into one of the liveliest places in all of the school, overflowing with visitors of various age. Most of the seats were already taken, and as people still streamed through the entrance it was to be expected the empty chairs would soon be occupied as well. The noise of casual banter was filling the theatre. Not much attention was put towards the stage, for it was mostly hidden behind a pair of red curtains.

Where the curtains met the thick fabric then rustled slightly. The head of a girl poked out between them, taking a glance at the audience. Her eyes scanned the ranks from the bottom to the top, the look on her face becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Behind her on the stage things were rather busy. Various members of the theatre group were preparing the properties, setting up the spotlights or taking a last peek into their script. Most actors were already in their costumes, while others dashed to the changing rooms or put on their outfits hastily on the stage. The air was filled with tension, everybody moving and talking hectically and in a rather stressed manner. Nobody really took notice of each other, especially of the girl looking out through the curtains. Only one other girl was watching her, apparently in worry.

“Everything okay, Sunny?” Sour asked, approaching her.

Still poking her head out Sunny gulped. “So many… people” she brought out. “I-I didn’t realize how many seats this theatre really has.” Her fingers tightly clenched the fabric of the curtain. Once more her gaze went over the rows, staring at the countless visitors occupying them. The seats were filled mostly filled by students, teachers, parents…

“Oh my gosh!” she suddenly screamed, quickly pulling her head back.

“What?” Sour asked, taking a peek through the curtains.

With her right index finger Sunny pointed at a man sitting in the first row. “That’s the reporter from the newspaper!” she told Sour. “He will write a critic about the play - including our part!” Closing the curtain Sunny took a step back, the blue hue of her face becoming even paler. “Ugh… I suddenly don’t feel very well” she mumbled, holding her stomach. “M-maybe we should have just gone straight to detention…”

She then felt a pair of hands gently a embracing her own. Sunny looked up at Sour, right at her comforting smile. Blushing Sunny smiled back.

“Sorry” she muttered. “I’m getting all jittery here, yet I’m not even going to be on the stage.”

Sour waved it off. “It’s alright” she assured her. “And if it helps, I don’t think at least the students will really pay so much attention to the play.”

As Sunny was giving her a slightly puzzled look Sour opened the curtain pointed at a spot where a lot of students were sitting. Looking more closely at them Sunny then noticed almost all of them, if not everybody had books or notebooks lying on their laps, some scribbling around with pens in the pages. Furrowing her brows Sunny looked at them in confusion.

“Did they bring something to read in case the play will be boring?” she asked, making Sour chuckle.

“They would be playing around with their smartphones if they were bored” she said while letting for of the curtain. “Most of them are probably either learning for tests or doing homework.”

Sunny raised an eye-brow. “They’re doing schoolwork while watching a theatre play?” she asked, crossing her arms. “That’s kind of pathetic.”

“Then what do you call doing schoolwork while performing a play?” a fast-paced voice asked them from behind.

Sour and Sunny turned around to see Sugarcoat standing behind them, pointing with her thumb to the edge of the stage. Indigo and Lemon were sitting on a crate, the latter reading a history book while the former was solving math homework with the notebook on her lap. “Anybody know the root of 274?” she asked, scratching her head with her pen.

Sunny rolled her eyes, before the growing unrest on the stage made her realize the time. “You can do that after the play is over!” she hastily told them, taking a few steps away as she turned towards her actors. “Quick, the curtain will rise in a few minutes – change into your costumes and get ready!”

All four of them nodded. Putting their books down Indigo and Lemon headed for the changing rooms, followed by Sugarcoat. Sunny watched them go, a look of concern in her eyes. “I hope they won’t get stage fright” she murmured.

Sour put a hand on Sunny's shoulder. “Don’t worry” she comforted her. “Indigo is used to people watching her from all her sports, and I doubt Sugarcoat or Lemon really care about being watched by a bunch of strangers.”

Sunny looked a little skeptical at Sour. “And what about you?” she asked.

Walking backwards Sour headed for the changing rooms. “Oh, you know me” she chirped at Sunny. “I’ll just put on a big smile - and hope nobody notices how much my knees are shaking.” She winked at Sunny, before turning around and running after the others. Sunny looked after, chuckling. Butterflies were still going crazy in her stomach, but she did feel like some of the pressure had been lifted off her shoulders.

“Um, excuse me!” somebody suddenly called besides her, sounding rather unfriendly. Startled Sunny turned her head, seeing one of the actors throwing a furious glance at her. He was wearing a large pointy hat on top of his head, while a long cape resembling the starry night sky was flowing from his shoulders. From his face an incredible beard was hanging down his body. Sunny’s gaze followed it down to the ground, the fake hairs curling up in front his feet towards her, until her eyes eventually landed at her own feet.

With a sheepish grin she stepped off his beard. “Sorry, Star Swirl” she quickly apologized, before rushing off the stage. The boy looked after her, the anger in his face having turned into surprise. Another actor approached him, with a smug grin on his lips.

“What’s that face for?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips. “Finally realized the main role is too much for you?”

Ignoring the insult he pointed with his finger towards Sunny. “That girl just stepped on my beard.”

“So what?”

“She said she was sorry” he replied, both boys looking in bewilderment after her.

A little bit of Fame

One by one the remaining seats in the theatre hall were occupied. Murmurs and whispers were going through the audience – mostly the adults, as the students were busy reading or writing. Above them there was a small, but luxurious box hosting a handful of chairs. Only one of them was currently occupied, by a woman with a very strict and stern face. She looked down on the audience, her main interest lying in a certain man in the first row. While gazing downwards she could hear footsteps approaching from behind, followed by the sound of the entrance curtain being pushed aside. “I’m glad you could make it, too” the principal stated without turning her head.

Panting Dean Cadence sat down next to her. “I’m so sorry for being late” she apologized between breathes, putting her handbag under her seat. “There was a group of students who had gotten in a fight, so I tried to talk to them and find out what was the prob-“

“Did they use violence?” Cinch interrupted her.

The dean seemed a little irritated by the question. “Um, no, but-“

“If they didn’t lay hand on each other, there was no reason for you to intervene” the principal cut her off again, her voice full of coldness and discipline. She took off her glasses, at the same time pulling a small handkerchief from her pocket . “And even if things had gotten rough, all you would have needed to do was take their names and give them detention” she told her while cleaning her glasses. “That would hardly take more than a minute, don’t you agree?”

The dean gave her an odd glance. “Well yes, but-”

“It is not our job to meddle in the personal affairs of students, Miss Cadenza” the principal once again interrupted her. With a venomous look in her eyes she peeked towards the dean. “If they don’t get along with each other, we are not responsible to sort things out for them. Do you understand?”

Cadence frowned slightly, putting on a slightly more aggressive look. “Excuse me, Principal Cinch, but as a dean it IS my responsibility to deal with matters concerning the student body” she defiantly responded to her superior. “You may be the administrative head of the school, but you can’t tell me how I shall deal with the students!”

Putting her glasses back on Cinch glared at her for a moment. With a huff she turned her attention back towards the audience. “If you say so” she simply replied, crossing her legs while placing her hands on her lap. Cadence incredulously raised an eye-brow at the remark, but after a moment she also put her focus on the ranks below them. “Besides, a little bit of discord among the students isn’t necessarily a bad thing” the principal suddenly went on. “It can boost the competition, and help improve the grade point average.” Cadence gazed at the principal again, before sighing in silence.

The constant stream of people that was entering the theatre had almost completely ebbed off. Only occasionally a single person was coming in through the doors, hastily searching for their seat. Eventually everybody in the grand hall sat on their place. A slight unrest began to emerge. Then, within a few seconds the bright lighting in the theatre hall was getting dimmer. The conversations died off, all attention turning towards the stage.

The curtains rustled for a moment, before a woman stepped out between them. She walked towards the edge of the stage, hands behind her back as she faced the audience. Her appearance was a weird mixture of the general stereotype of a Crystal Prep teacher, with blazer, skirt and glasses, as well as elements of a theatre director with a scarf around her neck and beret on top of her head. She was welcomed with polite applause. Her gaze went through the ranks of the visitors, frowning slightly at the students who were barely looking up from their books, before she took in a deep breath as the applause ended.

“Good evening, and I welcome you all to the performance of the Crystal Prep theatre group” she greeted everyone in the hall with a loud voice, speaking in a rather up-high manner. “As someone who has graduated at this noble institution several years ago, it is my pleasure to present you tonight a theatre play about one of the greatest authors in all of history, which itself is one of the most dignified and excellent works of classic literature.”

Again polite applause, again mostly by the adults. Principal Cinch clapped slowly into the palm of her hand, while the dean put a tad more passion into it. In the front rank of the theatre, the reporter also clapped, but while doing so it looked like he was repressing a yawn. The director if the theatre group didn't notice him, watching the audience with a rather pleased smile. A slightly annoyed look suddenly hushed over her face, the woman clearing her throat.

“But" she stated, sounding like she had to force herself to sound interested "Before the excellent actors of our theatre group will entertain you with the main act, a small group of students OUTSIDE of the theatre group” – she seemed to put a great stress on the fact they were not part of her group – “will present you a short, unrelated play they have practiced.” She took a step to the side, lazily holding out her arm towards the gap in the curtains. “Please welcome the director of the group, who is also the author of the play: A student of this school, Sunny Flare.”

Again applause, but a lot quieter. On the box seats only Dean Cadence was clapping, the principal sitting calmly on her chair. For a moment however, the curtains remained still. The applause had almost ended when a girl finally stepped out between them. She was standing with a slightl buckle, nervously smiling and rubbing her arms as she sneaked towards the front of the stage. Looking over the full theatre her legs began to tremble, feeling like they could give in any second. She gulped, trying to ignore her pounding heart as she stood up straight, folding her hands in front of her. With a slightly more comfortable smile she looked at all the visitors. Seeing the adults stare back at her tightened the knot in her stomach, so she focused on the students who were still focused on their schoolwork.

“G-good evening” Sunny said towards the large hall. Her voice was a little hoarse, so she cleared her throat. “Um, the play we are about to perform has the name ‘Of Amazons and Amateurs’. It was written by me, but without the help of my friends, I couldn’t have done it. We put a lot of effort into this performance, so… I hope you enjoy it!”

Walking backwards Sunny waved at the audience, quickly leaving the stage through the curtains under quiet applause. Principal Cinch frowned. She pulled out a script from her handbag, setting her gaze on the front page. Reading the title she raised an eye-brow, before putting her attention on the curtains as they were slowly being pulled apart, revealing the stage.

The props, if one could call them props, were very simple: In the middle of the stage a wooden plate was lying, as if a small stage had been simulated on the big stage. On top of it three girls were standing. One was wearing a grey plastic armor, the second a white toga with striped sandals, and the third a black plastic armor alongside a pointy tiara. In front of the plate a fourth girl was standing. She resembled the leader of the theatre group as she also wore a scarf, glasses and a beret, but also a dark grey sweatshirt and black pants. Holding a clipboard in her hand she scribbled around it with a pen.

“All right” she chirped with a crystal clear voice, smiling as bright as the sun. She was facing the audience, pausing for a moment as she presented everyone her friendly face. ”So, we’ve been rehearsing this play a straight hour. To summarize the progress so far - YOU GUYS DIDN’T MAKE ANY!” she suddenly yelled, smashing her clipboard on the ground and stomping on it.

Surprised gasps echoed through the hall. Some of the students raised their heads from their books, looking a little irritated at the stage. Hiding behind the curtain on the edge of the stage Sunny looked over the audience. She scanned for somebody who laughed, or just grinned. But to her disappointment she didn’t find any signs anyone found the scene funny. If anything the visitors were shocked and confused.

“It is kind of admirable, I have to admit” Sour went on, again sweet as honey as she paced up and down in front of the mini-stage. “I mean you have such an ingenious, amazing script, a true masterpiece that would put many of the greatest authors in all of history to shame…” The corners of her mouth dropped, and her shoulders slumped. “…and yet you manage to turn it into a complete disaster” she grunted, knitting her eyebrows so far her glasses slid down her nose.

Quiet murmurs were spreading through the ranks. More and more students put their books aside to look at the odd spectacle. Biting her lip Sunny tried to spot any signs of amusement in the audience, but only found them to awkwardly stare at the stage.

The girl in the grey armor adjusted her glasses slightly. “A play about two amazons trying to defeat an evil warlord isn’t a masterpiece” she told her bluntly, speaking in a fast manner, but with a clear voice to the audience. “The only thing ingenious and amazing about it is how ingeniously ignorant you are at the amazing amount of clichés you used.”

On the other side of the mini-stage the girl in the black armor laughed – a very artificial, very fake and very over-the-top laugh. “I think YOU got it all wrong!” she called out to Sour, holding her head up. A big grin on her face she glanced down on Sour, although it was questionable if she even saw her as her face pointed at the ceiling. “It’s not the PLAY that’s great and the ACTORS that are bad…” She put a fist into the air, wrapping her black cape around herself with her other arm in an overly dramatic gesture. “It is YOUR terrible PLAY that hinders us to FULLY display our TRUE talent as superstars!” she grandiosely declared.

One hand on her hip Sour raised an eye-brow. She pushed up her glasses again, sighing. “I could be mad at you for being so ignorant at my genius” she cooed, clenching her teeth slightly. “But since we all are gonna get expelled if we don’t put up a play by the end of the month, I’ll just look over it – and instead polish your performance into something that could at least vaguely be accepted as acting” she snorted.

Still wrapping the cape around her body Indigo held her head even higher, looking behind her. “Say what you want, but MY acting is gonna knock out everyone in the theatre!” she declared, dramatically turning her shoulder to Sour. The arrogance in her look suddenly turned into panic as her foot gout caught up in her cape, making her stumble and fall flat on the mini-stage.

Sugarcoat peeked down on her. “Good start” she complimented her.

The hand of Sour hit her forehead, but she still put on a smile. “You know, I think I’ll let this one slide” she stated, before glaring at the girl in the toga. “Because at least you got that this is a theatre school and not a musical casting.”

Lemon shrugged. “Can’t help it” she said. Leaping forward she suddenly jumped off the fake stage, past the startled Sour, and slid on her knees to the edge of the real stage. “I WAS BORN TO ROOOOCK!!” she sang, smirking while playing the air guitar.

“THEN GO TO A FRIGGIN MUSIC CAMP!!” Sour shouted, again stomping on her clipboard. The impact was so strong her glasses slid off her nose, falling towards the ground. Startled Sour hastily tried to catch them, but lost grip of them. Slipping through her finger the glasses dropped down on the stage, the sound resonating in the dead-silent theatre.

In that moment, the four girls on the stage looked at the audience. Everybody was staring in confusion at them, seeming like they didn’t know how to react. Breaking out of their roles the actors stood uncomfortably on the stage, the irritation in the audience making them nervous. Almost in panic Sunny looked over the ranks, still seeing no signs anybody actually enjoyed her play. Slowly she shifted her gaze upwards, towards the box seats. Her breath stopped when her eyes met the principal's, seeming the very opposite of amused. Her heart sank into her knees, goosebumps crawling over her skin. Dropping her head she let out a long depressed sigh, slowly retreating her head behind the curtain.

Suddenly, somebody laughed.

It was a stuttering snicker at first, a quiet chortle blown out of the nose. As it contined it turned into a steadily growing chuckle, increasing until the sound of loud laughter echoed through the whole theatre. Jumping Sunny poked her whole torso out from the curtain, hectically searching for the source. In the middle of the theatre she spotted a girl around her age, having a rather heavy book on her lap. Holding her stomach with one hand she seemed to be bursting from laughter, wiping tears from her eyes with the other. Everyone around her was staring at her, more and more heads in the theatre turning towards her. From the edge of the hall another chortle suddenly erupted, this time coming from a male student. One by one then more students broke out into laughter. Like a wave it rolled over the theatre, eventually also infecting the adults - even the teachers couldn’t resist their chuckles any longer.

Slowly Sunny’s eyes were growing wider as she watched and heard how bit by bit the whole theatre was breaking out into laughter, the entire hall rumbling under their chortles. With each second the laughter continued the corners of Sunny’s mouth rose higher. A feeling of joy and pride overcame her, of a kind she had never experienced before. “They’re laughing” she whispered, her voice beaming with excitement. “They… they like it! They like my play!”

Hearing the laughter the tension was lifted off the actors’ shoulders. Sour, Sugarcoat, Lemon and Indigo sighing in relief, before continuing their performance. The mixture of cynicism, slapstick and absurdity made the audience cracked up at every single joke, no matter how dull or silly it may have been.

“I’ve got rock in my soul!” Lemon shouted.

“And stones in your head” Sugarcoat remarked.

“I AM THE MOST POWERFUL OF ALL!!” Indigo declared before stumbling off the fake stage.

“Please, everybody calm down AND STOP BEING IDIOTS!!” Sour yelled, losing her glasses again.

The flood of laughter wasn’t coming to an end. Sometimes it were just small giggles underlining the play of the girls, sometimes chortles so loud they had to make a small pause until things had calmed down again. All the students in the audience had raised their heads out of their books and put their pens aside, forgetting their school work for a moment as their attention was focused on the stage. With genuine glee shining in her eyes Sunny relished in the visitor’s amusement. Every giggle at a gag, every guffaw at a goof, every crack up at a comic relief, every whoop at a wit, every chortle at a joke and every snortle at a slip-up made her heart beat in happiness.

Time went by quickly, almost too quick. Before Sunny knew it the final scene had arrived: Indigo was lying on top of Sour, one leg on the fake stage with the other pointing up at the ceiling. Lemon and Sugarcoat were standing next to her. The former didn’t seem to take notice of the situation as she danced and sang around on the spot, while the latter simply continued to speak her text, so fast and monotonous however she could barely be understood. Beneath Indigo Sour tapped with her fingers on the floor, her glasses lying diagonally across her face.

“You know what?” she asked dryly. “Let’s just forget this greek drama stuff and try comedy.”

The whole hall burst off into frantic laughter and applause. Over the clapping and laughing one could hear books falling off from laps, some of the students, nearly falling off their seats. The adults were also rather cheerful, the parents more than the teachers, but everybody in the ranks seemed to have a good time. On the box seats things were a little more divided: While the dean heartily laughed into her hand the principal had a much more reserved look on her face, staring down at the stage as if she wanted to burn it with her gaze.

Luckily the four actors didn’t take notice. After the two girls on the ground got back up on their feet they all positioned themselves at the front of the stage, taking each other's hand. Standing at the side Sour turned her head to Sunny, who was still hiding behind the curtain. She held out her free hand towards their director, smirking as she nodded towards the stage. At first Sunny hesitated, but then confidentally ran across the stage. The moment she came out from behind the curtain the applause got even louder. One by one the visitors were standing up, some of the students putting their hands into their mouths and whistling. As she moved over the stage Sunny gazed over the ranks, the ecstasy of the people putting her in awe. Reaching Sour she grabbed her hand, and turned towards the audience. From the other end of the line Indigo leaned forward, grinning at Sunny.

“See?” the blue-haired girl in the black armor said. “Told’cha we’d be bathing in standing ovations!”

Sunny smiled back at her, before facing the wildly applauding audience again. The whole hall was on their feet, wildly clapping, cheering and whistling at the five girls. All of them took another step forward, almost standing at the edge of the stage. Tears of joy were forming in Sunny's eyes, eventually rolling down her cheeks.

She hadn’t created a literal masterpiece that would be remembered for generations, that was for sure.

But she had created something that people could enjoy and appreciate.

And as she bowed alongside her friends in front of her fellow students, the numerous parents and teachers, she found that wasn’t something so bad, either.

A medium amount of Epilogue

As audience and stage were separated by the thick curtains again murmurs and chatter returned to the theatre hall again. It sounded a little different from before however, being a lot heartier and cheerful. Many of the students were also participating in the banter, talking in a for Crystal Prerp unusually friendly manner with each other. Meanwhile, behind the red wall of fabric, the theatre group was preparing the main act, hastily setting everything up. Despite the hectic and stress however, the atmosphere on the stage felt somewhat lighter, almost as if some of the tension seemed to have been lifted off the students' shoulders. The members of the theatre group walked around, carrying props and practicing their text in a much more relaxed and friendlier way than before.

From the edge of the stage Sunny was watching them. Her backpack at her feet she had crossed her legs, hands put on the crate she was sitting on. Her gaze went over the busy students, many of them wearing a cheerful smirk. The corners of her own mouth refused to drop as well, a big smile having dominated her face from the moment she had left the stage.

“Hey, Sunny!” someone called out to her. Turning her head she saw the boy with the ridiculously long beard approaching her. Despite the very striking costume she almost didn’t recognize him, for the face framed by his fake beard had a much warmer look than during their first encounter. “Nice show you put up there!” he complimented her. Moving his hand under his large pointy hat he scratch his head. “Cinch would immediately close our group if we performed something like that, but if you ever write a similar play again… we’d be happy if you sent us the script.”

Sunny blushed slightly. “Thanks” she politely responded. Another boy suddenly walked up behind him, grinning as he put his arm around his shoulder.

“Come on, dude!” he told him, gently leading him onto the stage. “It’s almost time for your big moment!”

The Star Swirl actor resisted slightly. “I-I’m not sure if I’m up to this” he stuttered. “M-maybe you should jump in…”

“You got this, bro” he assured him, clapping his back.

Sunny looked after them, with a feeling of contentment and pride. A chore of laughing voices then turned her attention to another direction, seeing four familiar girls walk from the changing rooms towards her.

“Did we rock this thing or did we rock this thing?!” Lemon yelled, pumping her fist into the air. From her headphones loud punk music was blaring over the noise from the stage and the audience.

Sunny smirked defiantly at Lemon. “For once, I agree with you” she said, adding in fake mockery: “Though you did rock it with a tad delay.”

Indigo rubbed the back of her head. “I’ll be honest” the usually bold girl admitted in a sheepish voice. “Everytime they didn’t laugh about one of the puns in the beginning, I felt like I was about to throw up.”

“They were probably just not expecting to see comedy at Crystal Prep Academy” Sugarcoat remarked, speaking just as fast as she had on the stage. Sour watched her curiously as she pushed up her glasses.

“Seriously, how do you keep this thing from sliding off?” the girl with the ponytail asked, nudging Sugarcoat’s glasses slightly. “It wasn’t even in the script that I drop them!”

“But it worked!” Indigo reminded her.

“Yeah” Lemon agreed, winking. “All five times!”

Indigo and Sour, while Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. Suddenly all four of them could feel a pair of arms being wrapped around them. Pulling them as closely towards her as possible Sunny gave her actors a tight hug. “Thank you, girls” she whispered, smiling even brighter than before. A little embarrassed, but with happy looks on their faces the others put their arms around her and each other. The five of them remaining in the group hug for a moment, cuddling each other.

“Okay, getting a bit too sentimental” Indigo's voice cut through the moment, the tomboy looking a little annoyed.

With a chuckle the girls let go. Releasing each other they formed a circle, Sunny looking contently at her actors. They all stared back at her, except for Lemon who was moving her head to her music, lost in her own little world. A small yawn then crept up her throat, holding a hand in front of her mouth as it tried to make its way out. “You know, I think I know how Dean Cadence felt when she set up our new time table” she told the others, stretching herself slightly. “Now that the stress is off my mind, I'm feeling kind of burned out.”

“I am surprised everything went so well” Sugarcoat admitted. “Rewriting the whole script into a comedy about students practicing your original play was pretty much of a stunt.”

Sunny shrugged. “Well, my play wasn’t really good, and you guys obviously couldn’t play the way I intended you to” she explained. “So, I thought why not change it into something that you could handle better?”

Crossing her arms Indigo frowned. “I don’t like it if you say it that way” she murmured, a little offended. “Kind of sounds like we threw the towel.”

Putting a hand over her lips Sour giggled girlishly. “Considering the reactions of the audience” she cooed, suddenly punching into her palm with a self-confident smirk on her face “I’d say it was a total knock-out!”

Sunny, Indigo and Sour chuckled, while Sugarcoat grinned a little wider. Their joy came to a sudden halt however when they could hear a furious voice call over the noise on the stage and Lemon’s music.

“THIS IS A SCANDAL!”

Startled the four girls turned their heads, alongside a large part of the theatre group. From the side entrance Principal Cinch was walking onto the stage, her high heels furiously clapping on the wooden boards as she approached the girls. The Shadowbolts looked in fright at her, shivering slightly. Only Lemon was oblivious, jamming out to her music without noticing what was going on. Quickly Sour pulled off the headphones from her ears, irritating her for a moment. As Lemon's gaze met the principal’s furious eyes however she quickly caught on, staring at her in surprise.

“You didn’t perform the script I told you to!” the principal yelled straight at Sunny, holding an accusing finger in front of her face. “I expected a dignified play representing the spirit of academic excellence this institution stands for, not this… this foolery!”

Sunny ducked slightly, fearfully looking at the principal. She didn't have a response, only able to stutter and tremble under her hostile glare. Suddenly the other four girls stepped in front of her, staring confidently back at the head of their school.

“You are being rather vague” Sugarcoat noticed, crossing her arms. “It kind of sounds like you didn’t really read the script.”

“And if you read it” Lemon went on, Cinch's moving her head back in surprise as she pointed with her finger at her “You'd know what we played was like, ten thousand times better!”

“Yeah!” Indigo agreed, putting a hand on her hip while waving with her other towards the red curtain. “I mean didn’t you hear the applause? They were literally shaking the theatre!”

Cinch glared angrily through her glasses down on each of them, before calming herself slightly. “The only thing that was shaken tonight was the good name of Crystal Prep Academy” she stated, folding her hands behind her back. “This school has a reputation! A silly little play like yours is not worthy of this stage.”

Sour stared up at the principal, confidence radiating from her eyes. “Well, the theatre group here seems to have liked our silly little play. Am I right?”

But as she turned towards the other students on the stage she found most of them were looking away, in a mixture of fear and shame.

“Cowards” Sour scoffed, pouting.

For a moment Cinch looked rather pleased, but only to look even angrier the next second. Her heavy breathing caused her glasses to slightly slide down, the principal casually adjusting them.“You will all face the consequences for humiliating this school!” she strictly told them, her voice growing louder and more furious a she spoke. “I will make sure you will be accurately punished for this… this…”

“Outstanding performance out there!”

The principal winced, looking irritated behind her. She, Sunny and her gang as well as the whole of the theatre group watched the reporter walking onto the stage, a big grin plastered on his face.

“That was amazing!” he praised the girls, walking past the baffled Cinch right at them. He grabbed Sunny’s hand, the whole girl trembling as he shook it. “Absolutely well written comedy, a good mixture of slapstick and humorous dialogue, with the right amount of cynical elements. And the actors all played their roles as if they were really identifying with their characters! Very well done!”

The constant shaking made Sunny feel a little dizzy, but she seemed happy. “Y-y-you think so?” she asked.

“Absolutely!” he assured her, still shaking her hand. “And it was quite bold, too! A self-critical act about the overconfidence of amateur actors, and on top of that at a school theatre! I wish I could write more than just a short note about it in the newspaper, but I’ll definitely put a more elaborate review on my blog!” Letting go off Sunny’s hand he then turned towards Cinch, who quickly swallowed her apparent shock. “I’m really surprised to see comedy at your school” he told her. “It’s good to see you broadening your horizon. I take it you are also here to congratulate the students for their spectacular work?”

A slightly smug look on her face Sour took a step forward. “Yes, Principal Cinch” she chirped, shoving her smirk into her frowning face. “Do tell him how you were just about to ‘reward’ us♥”

The principal looked down on Sour, while glancing towards the reporter. “This isn’t over yet” she quietly hissed at the girls. She threw one more glare at Sunny, who just smiled confidently in return, before she walked off the stage, trying not to stomp with her high-heels too hard on the floor.

“Well, I better return too for the main act” the reporter told the girls. He gazed over at the theatre group, who were just finishing their preparations, and leaned a little closer to the girls. “Though honestly, after watching the autobiography of Star Swirl three times this year already, your silly little play was the real main act for me” he whispered, winking at them. Sunny blushed slightly, watching the man head for the exit.

“We should get going too” Indigo suggested, pointing with her thumb off the stage. “I’m not a fan of fancy, but tonight I feel like I’m in the mood for some culture.”

“You think we’re gonna sit near a few eggheads who can help me with history?” Lemon asked as they got going, knocking her own head. “Can’t get the names of the presidents in there…”

“It would help you to concentrate if you didn’t put the volume of your headphones on maximum while learning” Sugarcoat adviced her.

As they were about to leave the stage Sour stopped, turning around. “Are you coming, Sunny?” she asked, seeing their director was still standing at the crates.

Sunny smiled at her. “In a minute!” she replied “Just have to take care of something first.”

Sour shrugged, then went after the others. As they were gone Sunny sat back down on the crate. Unzipping her backpack she pulled out her laptop, placing it on her legs and opening it. She typed in the password, her desktop popping up shortly after. Using her mousepad she moved the cursor to the icon “Friendship report”, and double-clicked.

A blank document stared at her. Sunny put her fingers on the keyboard, then hesitated. After a few seconds her hands began to move, words appearing on the screen.

“Dear Dean Cadence…”

Author's Note

And that's the end of this story. Thank you for reading it :)

For the friendship letter, read the corresponding chapter in Dear Dean...