(Ponies ponies...ponies. Hopefully my muse doesn't abandon me. Here's another chapter. Enjoy, review, have an apple? )
The performing ponies were really something, showing off talents that drew gasps of awe and surprise from the crowd. A team of acrobatic earth ponies, unicorns, and a Pegasus seemed like they would be the ones to steal the show tonight, Estrella would have stood up and called for an encore, other ponies seeming like they'd do the same . . . until their whole routine fell apart.
It was their final act before the big finish, the ponies preparing to form a pyramid for the crowd. The earth ponies being the solid base followed by the unicorns and then the Pegasus, the mare's bright red coat the crowning feature of the pyramid. Everything looked perfect, the Pegasus galloping towards her stacked teammates, leaping into the air and doing a few aerial flips. . .then her wings snapped closed, a loud squeak of surprise coming from the mare as she tumbled into her team, the pyramid of ponies tumbling sideways onto the stage, shocked gasps coming from the gathered ponies, Princess Luna standing up from her view point to see if the acrobats were ok.
The ponies turned out to be fine, the only thing hurt being their pride, the team of acrobats giving a shaky group bow before making their way off the stage, mortified blushes on their faces, the Pegasus practically hiding behind her wings as the audience gave them a round of. . .awkward applause. Soon a different pair of ponies went up on stage, an orange unicorn stallion with a brown mane, his cutie mark a cluster of feathers and his partner, a light purple unicorn mare with a blue mane, her cutie mark an intertwined pair of dolphins, bowed before the audience.
Music began to play from back stage, no pony having the vantage point to see the player while the two performers began to dance. At first it was just normal pony dancing, the couple rhythmically tapping their hooves as they walked in a small circle about each other, moving in to brush their shoulders together before both ponies stood on their hind legs, each pony's horn glowing as they aided the other in balancing. There were a few impressed whispers amongst the crowd as they began to dance in a slow circle around the stage before the stallion took his partner by the waist…and flung her up into the air off of the stage!
Somepony screamed in shock as the mare began to fall towards the crowd but the stallion's horn began to glow brighter and the dancer twirled gracefully in mid-air, arcing slowly across the closest section of the audience, a gentle round of applause accompanying the stunt before the mare returned back to the stage and into her partner's arms. A few more aerial tricks were performed, the stallion levitating the lighter mare on the tip of his hoof as she went into a pirouette, spinning upon the male's raised limb much to the crowd's surprise. The mare slowed her spinning until she came to a gentle stop, facing the crowd and raising her hooves above her head before dipping into a bow. There was some sort of…jolt between the two ponies before both of their magic just…stopped, a short screech coming from the mare as she tumbled onto her partner.
Luna was starting to get annoyed; both performances were ruined by some outside force, the first she barely caught which caused the Pegasus's wings to snap closed. This time however she noticed the tendril of purple magic interfering with the dancer's own magical circuit, cutting off the flow of both unicorn's spells for just a moment, but long enough to cause them to lose their focus.
"Celestia…" The moon goddess whispered to her sister, turning to face the other Alicorn.
"I know Luna. Somepony is interfering." She nodded to her sister as she let her gaze roam over the gathered audience, the magic had disappeared and whoever cast the spell knew how to cover themselves quite well. "Let us keep a watchful eye for any more mishaps." Celestia nodded to her sister while moving her gaze back to the stage. The two unicorns had escaped being harmed as well, the stallion quite sturdy and refusing to let his partner land on the ground from such a height. Another small round of applause went to both ponies as they quickly made their way off the stage, the male limping only slightly when the announcer mare stated their names while they disappeared behind the curtain.
A few other ponies tried their hoof at the stage, performances going great while they started but once again being sabotaged as they neared the end. Luna shifted about, Celestia was just watching with detached interest. As long as nopony was hurt then she wouldn't interfere and while the mistakes looked dangerous…ponies did come out with only hurt pride in the end. So far she would locate the thread of magic but each time it came from a different source. Sometimes it was purple magic, other times blue, one time it was white. Was everypony guilty?
"Up next we have the…" The announcer stopped mid speech, a blush appearing on her face as she read the next performer name. "T-the Great and Powerful….Trixie." She stated, groaning inwardly at the choice of name, was there a pony so full of themselves in Equestria?
Far in the upper stands near the Princess's own secluded seats, a group of mares gave a collective groan as the title was spoken.
"Is…Is she really?" Twilight Sparkle gaped at her friends, they hadn't heard any sign on the showmare once she disappeared from Ponyville and now she popped up here of all places?
"Ah reckon that filly is up ta her tricks again." Applejack frowned at the stage, the showmare nowhere in sight, the audience looking around the theater for the next performer.
The stage curtains began to whip slowly back and forth by a small breeze, all eyes were drawn towards the stage and gasps of amazement could be heard from the audience from the showmare's entrance. The ceiling of the stage was covered by a pitch black void and the floor being coated in a light veil of smoke.
"What's she up to now?" Rainbow Dash paced to and fro in their…somewhat roomy seating arrangement. It was good to know royalty. Although being inside for so long made her want to run outside and fly around, the urge was contained however, she was going to enjoy the night with her friends no matter what.
"When has that mare ever been anything but flashy in her performance?" Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes as she watched the stage, small specks of light began to appear along the dark coated ceiling, everypony labeling them as stars in the sky.
Luna found herself leaning up a bit to get a better look at the stage, she did love portrayals of the night sky and this was no exception.
A few of the stars began to fall from the ceiling, landing softly upon the stage with a sound of chiming bells as they made impact, the stardust swirling together and forming the outline of a pony.
"Ooooh." Pinkie Pie softly clopped her hooves at the display, the stars were really pre…her clopping stopped, an odd look coming over her face before she looked down sharply into the audience, tongue poking out in concentration as she slowly reached over to prod at Rarity's shoulder, her gaze never leaving the crowd.
Estrella was struck dumb by the entrance, which was just…sheer brilliance. The speech that the showmare made was lost on her ears as she tried to wrap her mind around that entrance, she had wanted to do something similar for her performance but that…well that just blew her out of the water. She mare up on the stage gazed so confidently out over the audience, her form radiantly on display as her star filled cape and hat only added to the prestige. She raised her left hoof, concentrating upon the surface of it before it burst into flames. Somepony in the audience squealed, another gave a startled cry, everypony else was fascinated, her hoof was on fire…sweet.
She lifted her other hoof, concentrating on it as she did the last, mist swirling around her right hoof before a circular orb of ice formed upon it, floating off of her hoof and rotating about in the air. She levitated the ice orb high above her head, her horn flaring with magic as the orb expanded, a giant boulder of ice with a hollowed out center. The ice orb began to spin faster and faster, Trixie's horn glowing brighter as she made explosions of color inside of the ice, the rotating sphere shedding colorful lights on the audience, the gathered ponies delighted with the show. Soon she levitated the ice over the gathered ponies, their applause dying down as heads moved backwards to gaze up at the sphere. The hoof that held the flames in check was pulled back and with one quick toss, she launched a mini fire ball at the sphere, shattering the ice with one blow. Ponies struggled not to get out of their seats at the falling shards of ice…but none were there, instead a gentle snow of ice flowers rained down on the spectators around the stage, melting into the air before they reached the audience's heads.
She hoped the Princess would grant her luck, she didn't want to perform after this mare, the magic tricks and displays she put on show were amazing, Estrella knew everypony in the audience was spellbound, the white mare slumping slightly in her seat.
She shuddered hard as she felt…something zeroing in on her, like a bright spotlight except brought into focus only upon her. ! There wasn't a voice in her head but it was like she could FEEL the words bouncing off of her back, slowly she peeked about the audience, staring around at the gathered ponies, brow furrowing as the feeling seemed to laugh at her. Upheresilly! She glanced up and nearly bolted from the theatre right then and there. Everypony, even the Princesses, were staring intently at the showmare but a pink pony in the upper balcony was staring straight at her! Madly waving and jumping up and down as her friends tried to grab at her bouncing form.
"Rarity look!" Pinkie whispered, not really wanting to yell and disrupt all the zombies around the place. She pointed at the front of the theater before she was gently pounced upon by Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
"What in the hay do you think yer doin Pinkie?" Aj whispered, holding a hoof to her lips as the pink mare was about to give an undoubtedly long explanation of her antics.
"Are you trying to get us thrown out?" Twilight added, staring incredulously at her friend, she had almost leaped into the ceiling and nopony even saw her? Well that was Pinkie Pie for you.
"Um…s-she was pointing at something." Fluttershy stated, peeking over the balcony and towards the general direction where Pinkie gestured, ducking for cover as soon as the pink mare began to make a scene, even though it looked like no pony saw them. Nothing was out of the ordinary but she was curious about what Pinkie was pointing at.
Pinkie Pie wriggled about, trying to escape the restraining grip Aj and Dash had on her, staring at Rarity with puppy eyes.
"What is it darling?" Rarity titled her eyebrow, staring over the crowd as well. "Is there some famous pony that you saw?" She smiled wide, searching with renewed vigor; maybe she could propose a business offer after the performers were done.
Aj and Dash just stared at the white mare, always quick to look for a ticket to fame.
"No Rarity down there!" Pinkie whispered in her ear, wrapping her arm around a startled Rarity and pointing down specifically towards a white dressed mare.
"How in the…" Dash gaped.
"Ya got me.." Aj shrugged and went back to her seat.
"Looklook, right down there. Remind you of anypony?" Pinkie grinned, soon everyone else had joined in on the watching, six pairs of eyes zeroing in on a terrified actress.
Applause burst from the audience as Trixie wrapped up her performance as beautifully as she began, the showmare giving a pride filled grin before levitating her hat off of the stage, her horn flaring as the item grew large enough to cover her, the hat spinning around quickly to show off the stars sewn into the fabric with a blinding pattern before floating in front of the showmare, Trixie disappearing off the stage presumably inside her hat, which floated off backstage and out of sight. More applause came from the audience, she knew she was awesome and nopony else could tell her otherwise. Even Twilight had to silently give credit to the mare, her tricks had certainly been revamped since the last time she saw her.
Estrella could have curled up in a corner and faded away at that very moment, no pony could top that performance and the mare didn't even mess up once! A detail thoroughly noted by the watchful eyes of the Princesses even as they too joined in on the applause. To add to her already skyward anxiety she could feel Pinkie staring at her back even HARDER now, like a giant weight bearing down on her that refused to let up. She didn't dare turn around; she couldn't bear to let anypony see her scared out of her wits.
"A wonderful performance by The Great and Powerful Trixie!" The announcer said, more applause echoing around the theater. That mare really knew her stuff. "Now our last performer for the night…" Estrella was screaming her lungs out inside of her mind even as she rose like a robot, slowly making her way around the side of the theater and heading back stage. "Stellaluna." The mare announced; the applause from before slowly dying down as the audience waited for the last performer.
"Oh my word." Rarity gasped softly as the white mare stood and made her way to the stage. "Is that…?" She began, looking over at her pink friend, the other mare's head vigorously nodding up and down.
Twilight was curious to say the least. "So you two know this…Stellaluna?" She held back a chuckle, her gaze angling towards Princess Celestia and Luna, sure enough both goddesses were chatting about the choice of name as well.
"That's the pony we met in the lobby tonight. She's really nice for a famous actress" Pinkie vibrated, four other bodies crowding in on her and Rarity didn't give much bouncing room.
"S-she looks scared…" Fluttershy murmured as Estrella went out of sight behind the stage.
"Did you guys even see Trixie?" Dash gushed, trotting back around their section. "She was like…" She gave a small hop in the air, fluttering about and throwing up her hooves in a comedic pose. "Whoosh!" She kicked out both front hooves. "Bam!" She spun around through the air before coming to an immediate halt as a there was a loud attention grabbing cough from somepony she had disturbed, she lowered her voice but her friends got the point.
"Ah don't think ah'd want to go up there after a stunt like that." Aj shook her head before heading back to her seat. "That gal may be boastful but I reckon that was the best magic show ah've seen from her so far." There were a few grudging nods of agreement from her friends.
"Ohhhh but Stella is gonna be great too." Pinkie huffed, bouncing over to Fluttershy so she could get a better angle to view the stage, the yellow Pegasus quietly shuffling over to give her friend a bit of space.
Rarity flipped her mane as she stared at the stage, so far the mare didn't show herself either. "She must be planning quite the entrance. With a stage name that bold then we should be prepared for quite the show."
Luna was hiding a smirk, somepony masquerading as her? She didn't miss the few glances from the audience to see if it was she who would be performing. She gave a small wave of her wing as the gazes turned back to the stage in confusion, she was still here so who was the imposter?
"I think something is wrong…" Rarity stated, 3 minutes and no performer on stage. "You don't think Trixie…"
"Ah wouldn't put it past her…" Aj knew that mare was still as bad as she used to be.
"She's still down there…" Pinkie was staring at the sides of the stage.
"How do you kno.." Twilight never got to finish her sentence.
There was a loud burst of confetti and an obnoxious blaring noise from a whistle in Pinkie's mouth, nearly half the ponies in the audience leapt out of their fur. Fluttershy had disappeared behind the back rows of the seat so fast Rainbow Dash had to give the Pegasus an impressed look.
"COME ON STELLA DON'T BE SHY! GET ON STAGE AND SHOW THOSE GUYS!" Pinkie Pie hollered.
Estrella was backstage just…standing there. She had passed Trixie on her way back to her seat, the showmare barely sparing her a glance, boy she was in a league of her own that pony. Now it was her turn to show her stuff, but right now she didn't feel she had too much to show…
"WHOOO COME ON STELLAAAAAA! WE'LL BE CHEERING FOR YO-OMPH!" There was a loud thud that strangely sounded like somepony being tackled to the ground.
Luna had to duck down and cover her face with her wings, her sides shaking with barely contained mirth. Even Celestia was hiding a grin, her face lightly red as she tried not to laugh. Her student had picked quite an interesting group of friends.
Estrella found herself grinning as well, a small laugh coming from the mare as the coiled up tension and anxiety seemed to just melt away. Trixie was brilliant but that didn't mean she was the only pony who could be great as well. Slowly she stepped onto the stage horn glowing softly as she dimmed the lights above, her white body and dress glowing softly in the dim lighting. Her face was calm despite the smile she wore as she gazed over the crowd, a few mutterings here and there about the mystery mare. She gave a silent apology to the showmare before her as she too covered the ceiling in a veil of stars.
"Is she copying Trixie?" Twilight stared at the star filled ceiling, they looked real but she could see the illusion.
Pinkie was frisked for any more potential disruptive items, Aj and Dash hardly finding anything on her though.
"A prankster never gives up her secrets." Pinkie whispered as she got weird looks from the two mares.
"It's a really nice sky…" Fluttershy giggled from her previous spot, now that the attention was back on she had come back.
"She doesn't seem like the one to steal a routine." Rarity stated, "She's too nice of a mare to do it without a hint of shame."
Amongst the few murmurs of copy pony and an indignant gasp from a certain showmare, Estrella made sure to make her sky glitter with starlight, once again Luna was all eyes and ears for the stellar show. The actress took a deep breath, magic swirling softly around her horn before she began her tale, voice soft but everypony being able to hear her.
" A philosopher once asked, "Are we mortal because we gaze at the stars or do we gaze at the stars because we are mortal?" Pointless really."
Estrella's horn glowed a bit brighter as the stars above shined even more beautifully, little by little the mare lost herself to her tale, pouring her heart into the performance for her audience. A single star gave a brilliant flash, gasps coming from the crowd as the mare's black mane was now white as the stars themselves.
"Do the stars gaze back? Now that's a question."
(Estrella telling the story Stardust, a lovely film with action and romance. Enough advertising. My brain fizzed out when I tried to make up a story for her to tell so I used a movie I saw instead, sorry if you authors out there don't like it but bleh -shrugs- Pinkie Pie is ridiculously fun to write about and Trixie is just...awesome...the greatest showmare in all of Equestria!...no she isn't giving me death looks right now what are you talking about? Anywho. Hope you readers out there enjoy it so far :3 this was all written on spur of the moment even though I have some more ideas about it. )