As the royal family talked, Twilight is in her dressing room getting ready for her performance. She ties her shoes and gets on her dress she had on to spy on Starlight Glimmer when the royal sisters had a friendship problem. She looks into the mirror as she admires herself while putting her hair in a bun, thinking on how she organized this, this ballet is to raise bits for helping underprivileged colts and fillies and other races get a proper education everywhere.
She takes deep breaths while pushing out with her hoof. "You got this, everything will be fine." She told herself before peeking out from behind the curtain seeing that it was a full house. The color quickly drained from her face as she rushed back into her dressing room and began to hyperventilate.
A knock is heard at the door followed by a familiar voice.
"Twilight darling, are you about ready?" Rarity asked as she trotted in.
"Yes, just a little nervous, you did a fantastic job on this dress Rarity." Twilight said, trying to hide her stage fright.
"Thank you darling, I do try to please, now tell me why are you nervous?" Rarity asked while doing some last minute touchups to Twilight's makeup.
"I just never performed in front of a big crowd like this, I'm scared I might mess it up, this is one of the biggest ballets in all of Equestria, and Cadence performed in this play a couple of years ago, what if I---" Twilight started freaking out before Rarity grabbed her cheeks.
"You're not Cadence darling so don't compare yourself to her, and besides you got this." Rarity said, trying to help her friend.
Twilight took a breath and started to calm down a bit when Starlight Glimmer came in.
"Hey Twilight, are you ready for tonight?" Starlight asked as she trotted in. "That dress is beautiful, It really looks like the one you used to spy on me." Starlight remarked with a smug look on her face causing Twilight to blush a bit.
"What, me spy? Come on." Twilight said playfully trying to deny that she did that, but it did kinda make her want to try ballet for real, so she asked Cadence to teach her ballet, though nothing could prepare her for the surprise she was in for.
When she arrived at Cadence's place to learn ballet she saw she wasn't the only student, standing right in front of her in ballet leotards were Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"What are you two doing here?" Twilight asked them as they began to blush and think of an excuse.
"Well, we just thought we'd help Cadence measure these ballet leotards." Rainbow Dash said as she and Applejack sweat bullets
Twilight arched an eyebrow knowing Rainbow is a terrible liar, "Really, Rainbow? You know you're a terrible liar." Twilight said as Cadence came in and presented her with a leotard.
"Alright, Applejack and I wanted to learn ballet, it's actually a lot like athletics." Rainbow Dash admitted as Twilight turned her attention to Applejack to hear her explanation.
Applejack's blush was as red as her apples, she let out a nervous chuckle before scratching the back of her head, "it's actually a pretty interestin' art form." She said as she adjusted her hat.
"I'm glad you think so, and I'm more than pleased you asked me to teach you three." Cadence said brimming from ear to ear.
Twilight went to go change and after she came out they began to practice.
"Twilight, Twilight, TWILIGHT!" Pinkie Pie shouted, snapping her back into the present, "we begin in twenty minutes, are you ready?"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack came in, in their costumes that resemble a soldier and a cop.
"It's a packed house out there, ya sure yer alright, Twilight?" Applejack asked in her cop costume set to represent both the darkness of crime, but also the good that's inside ponies' hearts.
"Yeah, I'm going to be fine, just a bit of stage fright." Twilight said as she breathed in and out like Cadence had taught her.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash said in her soldier costume set to represent the horrors of war.
"Okay, we're all set with the bubble for your solo Twilight, I had a little help from Discord to make it unpopable until you finish your solo." Pinkie Pie said as they startled walking on stage and getting into position.
Birds began to chip with Fluttershy conducting them from the catwalk where she'd be invisible to the audience, and then the curtain slowly begins to rise.
An uproar of applause echoed through the auditorium as the cast and narrator got a standing ovation, the cast all came out on stage hoof in hoof as the curtain rose for them all to take a bow. Twilight's family with tears in their eyes cheered probably as loud as Rainbow Dash's parents. The curtain closed one last time and Luna came out on stage.
"I'd like to thank everypony and every creature who came to this production, with all of your help we managed to raise over one million bits for the Egghead Foundation, a foundation for helping underprivileged colts and fillies along with other creatures get a proper education. We'd also like to give another round of applause for our fantastic cast and the ones who worked behind the scenes."
Another round of applause swept through the auditorium as the cast came out again along with all the creatures and ponies who worked behind the scenes.
Once the audience left the royal family and Rainbow Dash's parents along with Celestia and Luna stayed behind to say congratulations to their family and friends, Twilight and Rainbow Dash just got out of their dressing rooms when they saw them.
"Hey, there's our little star." Night Light said as he enveloped Twilight in a big hug. "You sure did everypony proud."
Twilight blushed bright red as Celestia and Luna approached. "I think the dress was absolutely stunning." Celestia said. "That was the one you used to spy on Starlight when she was helping Luna and myself right?" Celestia asked, causing Twilight's jaw to drop.
"You know?" Twilight asked shocked that she does.
"Yes, the castle may look like it's well designed, but it has thin walls." Celestia said, revealing how she knew. "Now, I think you all should enjoy time with your families, thank you for doing this Twilight."
"Celestia and Luna then took off to take the bits to the foundation leaving the royal family, along with Rainbow Dash and her folks staring up at the sky.
Crowds of ponies chatter amongst each other as they gather into an auditorium in Canterlot that's in an uproar as eagar spectators fill the rows of seats awaiting tonight's charity performance of "The Sheltered Princess" a ballet about a princess who didn't see the negatives in the world.
Ponies take their seats as they look at the ballet's programme outlining the events soon to take place. At the top was the plays name in bold and italic text "The Sheltered Princess" staring: Twilight Sparkle.
The climax of the ballet will be a solo dance performed by Twilight Sparkle who will be in a bubble symbolizing how she is in the world, and how she doesn't see the negatives.
The royal family takes their seats in the front row, Cadence was dressed from head to hoof in a garment the same as Twilight's, but in a magenta color, Cadence wore this to display her support for Twilight. Flurry Heart was also in a similar dress, but in light blue, her hair pulled back into a bun made her even cuter as she smiled in anticipation to see her aunt perform in one of the biggest ballet's in Equestria.
Shining Armor sat by his lovely wife and daughter dressed in a black tuxedo with a purple tie to show his support for his sister as liquid pride already began to fill his eyes as he wiped his eyes gently with his hoof. The parents of the star, Twilight Velvet and Night Light dressed in a red satin dress and a charcoal black tuxedo with a red necktie sat by Shining Armor as the mother teared up imagining how when Twilight was young she used to sing and dance for her whenever she wasn't nose deep in her studies.
"Looks like the shoe is on the other foot" Night Light playfully said to his daughter-in-law and son as they blushed remembering how Twilight once came to one of their play recitals, they too were performing for charity at their school production of "Romeo and Juliet" Her and Shining played the lead roles of Juliet and Romeo and their stage attire was reminiscent of the ones seen in the renaissance Twilight Velvet let out a giggle producing a Polaroid picture she had of them kissing to remember the moment.
"I can't believe I remembered my lines." Shining Armor said as he looked at the picture.
"I can't believe Princess Celestia attended your performance." Night Light said as he seen who the narrator is going to be.
"I can't believe we didn't notice until after their play." Twilight Velvet said as she put the picture away.
They all sat there as they waited for the ballet to begin as the narrator, Celestia herself got ready on stage.
The curtain rose completely as the lights dimmed and the crowd fell silent, the spotlight shines on Twilight as Celestia began to narrate..
"Once there was a beautiful princess who was loved throughout the land for her golden heart and her bright smile, but was hard to have a real conversation with because of the way she thinks, her mother had secluded her from the horrors of the world, so all she saw was the good." Celestia started as music from Trotkovsky
startled to play and Twilight starred to dance.
"She didn't know the horrors of war, not the darkness of ponies' hearts." Celestia
continued as Applejack and Rainbow Dash came out representing the things she had said. Among the crowd Windy Whistles was tearing up at seeing her daughter on stage with her husband Bow Hothoof taking a picture without the flash.
After a series of pirouettes and other ballet moves the lights faded and the curtain closed for Twilight to get prepared for her solo.
The cast all went backstage to help Twilight get in the bubble, she pressed in managing to climb inside without it popping, Twilight got back in position as the rest of the cast stood in the wings and watched as the curtain rose and Celestia began to narrate again.
"The princess saw the world through rose colored glasses, to her there was gray area, she could make the best of every situation and just see one side, the good side, she was so shelthered from the world that she was in her own little world, a bubble if you would." Beethooven's Für Elise played as Twilight started to dance, she floated above the crowd who were all stuck in awe and bewilderment as she performed for them not giving her stage fright a second thought. Twilight finished her performance as she picked up Flurry Heart as she let out a giggle and Twilight eskimo kissed her nose. After returning Flurry to Cadence and returning on stage, the bubble popped a mimed gasp escaped Twilight as the curtain fell and the lights brightened.
