Adventures in Crusading

Students swarmed the halls of CHS in the early morning. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were leaning against their lockers, busy trying to fix Scoots’ crutch. “How’d you even bend this thing anyway?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Crashed my scooter on a downhill,” Scootaloo replied, her face beaming with pride.

“Howdy girls!” exclaimed Apple Bloom as she arrived at the neighboring locker.

“Hey Apple Bloom! How was your weekend?” said Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, jus’ doin’ chores on the farm an’ all that. Helped our neighbors rebuild their barn,” replied Apple Bloom.

“You have neighbors? Since when?!” said Scootaloo.

“Uh, since forever. The Williams’ are some real nice folks. I should invite y’all to meet ‘em some day,” Apple Bloom began until something else entered her train of thought, “Hey, have any of y’all seen Diamond?”

“Yeah, she’s in the language class submitting the Prench assignment early. Like, who does that?!” said Scootaloo.

The bell rang and all the students began making their way to their respective classes. As she walked to the homeroom, Apple Bloom was relieved she wouldn’t be sharing any classes with Diamond this morning. Those feelings from last Friday still tormented her like bats do to orchards.

Later on, the Crusaders sat at their regular table to enjoy today’s lunch. Well, most of them, anyway. Apple Bloom had run off, claiming she was busy with something. The three remaining friends viewed her statement with suspicion, but decided to leave her alone anyway. So here they were, munching Monday’s mystery meat, until a flyer fell onto their table. “What’s it say?” asked Scootaloo.

“It says: Audition Call - The Canterlot Community Theatre Troupe is looking for performers for the fall musical: The Wizard of Oz,” said Diamond.

“Oooh! Can we go! It seems like a lot of fun!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle, nearly jumping out of her seat.

“Yeah, maybe for you. You’re probably just excited because you’d get to sing,” Scootaloo said teasingly. Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out in response.

“Well, if you want to audition that much, then I don’t see why not. And we’ll be by your side no matter what. We should totally stop by later today and see what it’s all about,” said Diamond.

“Sure. I’ll text Bloom to meet us there,” said Scootaloo.

It was now late afternoon, when the Crusaders had gathered in front of a small, shabby theatre in the heart of Canterlot’s art district. Half of the building’s lights had been blown out. The marquee remained stuck-in-time, forever performing the latest musical The Sound of Music. The interior wasn’t much better. The Main stage was crumbling. Entire rows of seats were replaced with a void.

The group made it to the poorly advertised Hall A, where the supposed community theatre troupe was holding auditions. Stepping inside, they noticed the place was a large room, with tables of craft and tech supplies filling the back end. In the front was a stage, lit by a singular spotlight, and surrounded by horribly uncomfortable chairs. There were people running around left and right. Among the chaos were some fellow Canterlot High students, along with the unmistakable Crystal Prep students. A group of five older teens appeared to be running amuck as well.

“Hi there friends!” an overly eager voice shouted behind them. The Crusaders jumped.

“Um, hi-” said Sweetie Belle before getting pulled into a vigorous handshake.

“I’m Izzy Moonbow! Welcome to the show! It’s always great to see new faces!” Izzy had directed them towards the center of the room where the other four teens now stood together.

“Who are these people?” Diamond whispered into Scootaloo’s ear.

“These people, including me, are the founders of Maretime Bay High School’s very own drama club! And now we’re in charge of the Canterlot Community Theatre Troupe! You’ve got Sunny Starscout, head of the props and set department, Hitch Trailblazer, the general director, Zipp Storm, head of the tech department, and Pipp Petals and I are acting coaches! So what brings you four here?” said Izzy.

“Well we’re here cause Sweetie Belle over there was lookin’ to audition for a part in your play,” said Apple Bloom.

“Oh! That’s great! Feel free to pick up a script and choose one of the available characters! See you in thirty minutes!” said Izzy before leaving to see other students.

Immediately after, Sweetie Belle had run off to the backstage area where the scripts were.

“I’ll go help Sweetie with her audition. You girls can go wander around a bit,” said Scootaloo.

“Are ya sure you’re okay doin’ it on your own, Scoots?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Pfft. It’s just acting out some lines. We’ll be fine. And we’re all gonna see the audition in half-an-hour anyway,” Scootaloo said as she hastily moved towards Sweetie Belle, leaving Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara behind.

“So, um, where do you want to go?” asked Diamond as awkwardness filled the air.

“Uh, how ‘bout the prop section. Seems like fun don’t it?” said Apple Bloom as she looked straight ahead.

The two of them went over to a table in the far corner of the room. Craft supplies, pieces of cardboard, and paint cans were strewn about haphazardly. A group of students were busy making houses for the Munchkinland set. “Y’all need any help over here?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Well, we do have one problem. We don’t have enough glue to keep these houses upright,” a student said just as one of the houses toppled over.

Diamond observed as Apple Bloom thought for a moment and got to work cutting and adjusting the cardboard house. Apple Bloom had crafted interlocking joints into the roof and walls to make the structure sturdier. Diamond found herself admiring her friend’s practicality and resourcefulness. How the determination in her eyes was mesmerising, hypnotic even. How her vibrant red hair would toss around in the most perfectly imperfect way. And how cute she looked as she assembled that house. Wait what?! As soon as that thought had run through her mind, Diamond could only follow up with one question:

“Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be her?”

Meanwhile, Scootaloo had helped Sweetie Belle recite her lines until her performance was as perfect as could be. What’s more, the two of them had encountered some of their classmates, as well as a member of the local dance class, who were eager to play a part in the production.

With the half-hour now up, auditions rolled in. With Button Mash cast as the Scarecrow, Tender Taps cast as the Tin Man, and Pipsqueak cast as the Cowardly Lion, it was now Sweetie Belle’s turn to walk on stage and audition for the role of Dorothy.

All of the students were gathered around the stage, while Izzy sat to the side, a clipboard in hand. As Sweetie ran through her lines with grace and charm, her friends silently cheered her on. Soon enough, the audience had become enthralled by her performance, following her every move. To top it all off, she sung a rather moving snippet of Over the Rainbow.

As the sound of clapping reverberated across the room, Izzy had gotten up and proudly exclaimed: “Looks like we’ve found our Dorothy!”, which prompted another, louder, round of applause. Once all was done, and all the props cleaned up, the Crusaders left the theatre, still excitedly cheering for Sweetie Belle.