Chapter 18:The Show Stoppers
He stood there in silence, thinking as he leaned against a lone apple tree. The wind blowing through his black hair and cooling his head after the chaos he learned of from Typhoon. Orion was a bit tense at the moment, but he was currently suppressing the concerns. For he was preparing to help three lucky little fillies begin their journey to find their cutie marks. The first step that came was perched above his head, in the form of an old and rugged tree house that would serve as their base.
He waited, letting his eyes remain close and letting his mind wonder about. Thinking of the fiery magic that Typhoon and Twilight spoke of after being attacked by a cockatrice. Along with a mysterious pony they could only define as a pony of ashes. It was enough to be disconcerting, and without their old comrade War Fire, their knowledge of such magic and potential chemistry was unknown to them. He lifted his head and snapped open his eyes, the moment he heard Applejack coming with the girls.
"Right on time… I needed a break from those thoughts."Orion slowly stood up and away from the tree before seeing the mare and the fillies coming through the bushes and trees.
"We're almost there young ones!"Applejack called through the bushels and apple trees.
"I've never been here before."Sweetie Belle observed their surroundings.
"Ow!"Scootaloo got a bit banged up a bit do to a mistake by Apple Bloom.
"Oh, sorry."Apple Bloom apologized as the bushes rattled before him.
"Are we there yet?"Scootaloo asked before they slowly emerged from the bushes.
"There? Where? What? I don't even know what we're doing."Sweetie Belle incited before Applejack stopped them before Orion and the tree.
"Here we are!"Applejack directed the fillies attention to the tree house above Orion.
"Hey girls. This is where your journey begins, crusaders."Orion did his best to show case the old and rickety tree house, only to feel a wood board fall and shatter on his head.
"What are we looking at?"Apple Bloom was a bit disconcert by the broken down tree house before them.
"I have no idea…"Scootaloo shared mutual feeling."Scootaloo said before Applejack joined Orion's side to help introduce it more.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, welcome to your new club house,"Applejack presented to a crowd of somewhat silent and disappointed fillies,"Well, don't thank me all at once. This was my club house when I was your age. Sure it hasn't been used in a while, but it's empty and secluded on a private part of the farm. It just needs a little… TLC…"
"TLC as in tender love and care, or total lost cause?"Scootaloo mused at the tree house that creaked with lack of stability.
"Applejack! We're suppose to turn this into our new clubhouse?"Apple Bloom questioned while they all went up the ladder to check out the place.
"That is why I am here. I'm going to help you girls fix it up a bit, so at least be polite and grateful for what you have here."Orion explained his reason for being here on the farm.
"I know… We're sorry…"Apple Bloom immediately regretted her complaint about the club house.
"Besides… Maybe ya'll will earn your cutie marks when you discover your talent for…Waaaaaaah,"Applejack was derailed after suddenly leaning against the tree house wall and suddenly falling right through the wall that fell to pieces,"Uh… House cleaning?"
Orion shook his head and looked to the girls that were now discussing a plan together. With that, Apple Bloom sent Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo away to retrieve some requirements. Leaving Apple Bloom to start getting to work with the tree house along side Orion. They waited for Applejack to pick herself up, dust herself off, and give them a hearty good luck before leaving. It was then that the filly and prince could get to work, and it all started with the roof.
Orion kindly began to chop down wood with his sword and carve them into pieces for a new roof. Apple Bloom would use a red wagon to carry the pieces of crafted wood to the tree house. Where Orion would politely help her muscle all the wood and put it together into a roof. While Orion carried the roof to the top of the tree house, Apple Bloom pulled out the sander for the walls. She began to sand down the tree house top to bottom, smoothing the wood and eliminating splinters and other hazards.
The prince was gentle to place the roof upon the structure, but he had a secret to fixing up the place. He spotted holes all over the tree house, and decided to pull out his secret weapon. His finger sparkled as he tested it on the roof, using his red crystals as an adhesive. It formed a nice and tight seal around the edges of the roof and the main structure itself. It even gave the tree house a bit of a sparkly touch to it that he began to share with the rest of the place.
His crystals began to sprout in clusters around the tree house just like in Ponyville. The holes in the tree house filled with smooth and shiny crystals that made the place dazzle. Just in time for Apple Bloom to finish sanding down the place and take notice of the crystals. She greatly approved of the new look, and especially the fact that the tree house had a nice little security defense now. All that was left was to paint the tree house and set it up with basic furniture for a club house.
Orion even made some crystal shutters in case of issues with rain or snow. He quickly jumped down from the roof to get some pink and reddish brown paint for the outside. While Apple Bloom operated on the inside of the tree house with some yellow and green paint. Orion gave the tree house a good coating of pink paint that slyly covered up all crystal pieces that fixed up holes. While the reddish brown paint gave the roof the nice and styling look of hard cherry wood.
The work they performed was bitter sweet, but by the end, it was all worth it. They stepped down from the newly repaired stairs that were crystallized and painted. They set down the paint cans as they both wiped sweat from their foreheads and looked upon their sparkling work. A clean and refined tree house of light pink and reddish brown stood tall and strong before them. It looked strong enough to hold back the strongest of natural elements, Apple Bloom was more than happy with the results.
"Boy howdy! That was some hard work! But I like the results a ton!"Apple Bloom admitted as they marveled at the finished and beautiful looking tree house.
"So it finally meets your standards. I suppose it's not as high standard as some others."Orion shrugged and chose not to make Apple Bloom feel too bad about their behavior earlier.
"Yeah… Sorry about sounding a bit stuck up, and a bit like Diamond Tiara before,"Apple Bloom apologized for her and her friends behavior while dragging her hoof in the dirt,"Guess the whole club house thing got me all serious about what we were doing this all for…"
"It's alright, you've become the leader of a group dedicated to finding their purpose in this world,"Orion spoke from experience as a leader of the second comers,"Being a leader is never easy. For you are looked to and followed any where and to any end. Trust itself is key to being a leader of the group."
"So I guess I got more important things to worry about than just what our base looks like?"Apple Bloom asked curiously before letting out a sigh for the work to come.
"Yes… But if you trust your friends. With proper leadership and trust among the three of you, only good things can come of it,"Orion explained and patted her little head before she manage to crack a smile,"You think you can do that? For your cutie mark to come, and your friends?"
"Yeah… I think I can. Thanks for the talk as always mister O."Apple Bloom slowly hugged his leg while he brushed her maned and suddenly noticed the time.
"No problem Apple Bloom… Oh, look at the time. It's already noon,"Orion said before Apple Bloom released his leg to let him look to the town in the distance,"I have to go now Apple Bloom. Me and Twilight have some important work to do…"
"Ok… We might come by later on, and perhaps we can help with whatever it is,"Apple Bloom suggested while the man simply chuckled,"What exactly is it that you're working on?"
"Heh… Figuring out the answers to those magic ashes from the cockatrice Typhoon fought,"Orion then began to take a casual walk back to the town where Twilight was waiting for him,"We gotta find out who that stranger was and what kind of magic he's using…!"
"Ok… Good luck on your studies mister O! We'll visit you real soon!"Apple Bloom waved to Orion while he simply raised a hand to kindly wave back to her.
With that, he was walking calmly to Ponyville with his thoughts once again swimming in his mind. It was already bothering him that Apple Bloom and her friends had to witness such atrocities. Thankfully the fillies proved resilient and remained unchanged in personality and sanity. He sighed as his eyes trailed to the dirt road he walked on, and all it's life it could brew. Then he imagined what destruction this fiery ash magic could do to that life and the ponies that thrive off it.
It was almost enough to make him feel a sense of concern, but he had seen many impossible things before. As bad as this magic was, it was just another mysterious magic he had encountered. So naturally he remained undeterred and in no way intimidated, it would be dealt with either way. Such thoughts kept him calm and collective as he finally entered the town after several minutes. He looked around the town, his crystal clusters and pillars glowing all over Ponyville.
It was enough to make him give a casual smile, seeing his crystals well at work. Protecting the town day and night, and never losing power or their potency when it comes to enemies. At least remembering these additions to the town brought the rest of the clarity he needed. Watching children continue to play, the adults enjoying the pleasures of life as well as their jobs. This town was the icing on the cake, and he liked it that way.
Finally he had made it home to the library, the tree was always a sight for sore eyes. It had started to remind Orion of safe havens, and friendly civilizations to be found in the old days. He entered quietly, and was met with Twilight currently operating on some chemistry. The whole reading table was filled with bottles and contraptions used for performing chemical and magic testing. He quietly shut the door before Spike had entered from the kitchen, carrying a bottle filled with ashes.
"Be careful with that Spike. There's no knowing if those ashes can still do harm or not."Twilight instructed her assistant before he slowly gave her the bottle of ashes.
"How could ashes be so dangerous in the first place? I mean… Turning a cockatrice into a flaming cockatrice made of hot embers,"Spike started to question the possibility of a cockatrice being turned into a monster made of embers by ashes,"That sounds pretty far fetched, and beyond the ordinary magic we're use to."
"It is something far fetch, but Typhoon, Fluttershy and even the crusaders witnessed it with their own eyes,"Orion shut the door behind them to get the duos attention,"And I'm ready to believe that to any extent until Twilight proves other wise…!"
"Well I'm glad you got here just in time, because I am spent trying to figure it out,"Twilight groaned and backed away from all the chemistry and books on magic,"The ashes from the cockatrice have nothing to show, they're just ashes from the looks of it now!"
"Did you try the ashes from that stranger yet?"Orion asked before sitting down on the couch.
"No… But if the ashes he gave to the cockatrice came from him, there's a good chance they're going to turn up nothing as well,"Twilight groaned out loud in stress before quitting on the project,"You can try it out if you want. I need to get out of the library for a bit."
"Ok… Where do you plan on going?"The man asked while Spike simply sat up and started taking a nap.
"Ms Cheerlie asked if I could help organize preparations for the school talent show,"Twilight informed and handed a letter Cheerlie sent to them for Twilight and Orion,"She sent this for both you and me, but you were long gone and forgot to check the mail."
"Oh… Well you're the organizing pro. I'll see what I can do with the ashes here."Orion said before looking around and seeing some good cleaning Spike did while he was gone.
"Alright, hopefully this is nowhere near as stressful as these ashes were,"Twilight collected a not book and quill pen for taking notes before heading toward the door,"Give me a call if something happens with the ashes, and please get along with Spike while I'm gone."
"Not a problem, enjoy your day!"Orion waved her off before she was gone and Orion was free to pat Spike on the head.
The moment, she was gone, he was chuckling as Spike awoke to him patting his head. Spike grumbled and found his blanket under the couch seat he sat on. Before he then decided to go upstairs and take his snooze in his own bed. After that little bit of fun, Orion slowly stood back up and decided to try his hand at this chemistry and study of these alleged magic ashes. He wasn't entirely confident about this, this was more of his comrade, War Fire's secondary talent.
Whenever War Fire wasn't fighting or trying to burn everything to a crisp. He was quite talented in many forms of chemistry, excluding romance from the list according to Thunder. Orion took a deep breath and took up the bottle of ashes before trying his luck with the beakers. He dumped the ashes into the main beaker and turned on the burners before he watched the magic of science. The ashes mixed with what looked like water before the burners forced the mix through the tubes.
Four different chemicals traveled with it and began to do what looked like a cleansing. He simply watched it all flow together and dissipate the impurities before it came out the very end. He looked to an empty glass and watched as a liquid that appeared to be almost completely black. There was just an ever so slight tint of red to go with the liquid before it filled up the glass to only an ounce. Orion was already puzzled before he slowly shut off the burner and looked over the strange liquid.
"Strange… If only she stayed and tested out the pony ashes… Looks a bit strange,"Orion reached and picked up the glass jar to smell it and get quite a funky smell,"Ugh… Has the hint of copper… But it's faint. Blood perhaps?"
The only way to be certain was simple, he dipped his finger slightly in the liquid. He then put his finger to his mouth to taste it, and got the full foul taste of blood on his tongue. He almost choked on it and rushed to a sink as fast as he could, putting soap on his tongue. Then taking a sponge to it, cleaning his mouth vigorously to eliminate the nasty taste of blood from his tongue. He groaned at the taste before Spike was once again coming down the stairs in a grumpy mood.
"What are you doing down here now…? Is a nap too much to ask after cleaning the place up?"Spike ranted before Orion exited the kitchen wiping off his finger.
"Sorry… But I just found out a little something about those ashes from our mysterious friend,"Orion groaned and picked up the jar to swish it around to test consistency,"It's blood… Old blood… VERY old blood…"
"What?! The ashes are made consistently of fire and… BLOOD…?! That's disgusting!"Spike cringed and wanted to get sick from the thought of such a thing.
"No kidding… Our mystery friend may not actually be a pony at all,"Orion sat the jar down and started pulling out books from the shelves with a new curiosity on his mind,"He may just be some manifestation of a pony, made from the ashes and blood of a pony… I gotta try and learn something about this…"
Orion took a stack of books and piled them on a small table by the couch. He sat down and took out the first book from the stack, quickly reading the title "History Of Magic".It was a good book to start with, but he had a gut feeling that he was going to be here for quite a while. He couldn't be more right about that, for it was an hour later that he had read the entire book, and found nothing. It was then time for the next one labeled, "The Science Of Blood".
Once again, there was nothing to be found on the subject at hoof, and there was much to read still. He went through book after book after book, with nothing to show for it. Hours passed and he was getting nowhere with the books he selected, all his books were good for was making a mess on the floor. At least he would get to toy with Spike a bit while he racked his brain to find something on the blood ashes. He didn't even notice the Cutie Mark Crusaders enter the library.
As much as Apple Bloom and her friends wanted to say hi, they could see he was busy. So they remained quiet and began to take out stacks of books, and started to read and organize them. Though it was becoming apparent that the girls didn't know the first thing about organizing books. For a pile of books littered all over the place, and all around the oblivious Orion. It was not until Spike rushed to the library room and was overwhelmed by the mess they made of his work.
"What the hay stacks?! Oh you gotta be kidding me! I just cleaned all this up!"Spike ranted before Orion slowly shook himself back into reality and looked around.
"Huh…? You say something Spike? Or are you just wining about…what the hay,"Orion went from yanking on Spike's chain, to being shocked by the mess the crusaders were making,"Girls?! I didn't even hear you all come. What are you three doing in the library…?!"
"We're trying to get our cutie marks for being librarians…!"Apple Bloom continued to mix up the books as they tried to situate all the books they could fine.
"You're all making a mess everywhere…! And I just cleaned this up early."Spike tried to swim in the books and try to find his broom in all the books.
"Girls…! I think this librarian job is not for you…"Orion incited before slipping and almost being buried into the pile of knowledge.
Suddenly, the door to the library opened and Twilight entered along with Cheerlie. Only to be more than a bit shocked to see the mess of books that littered the library. They looked to the chaos just in time for Spike and Orion to emerge from the pile to greet them.
"I had nothing to do with this!"Spike wanted to make that much clear about the situation they had here.
"Welcome back Twilight. Greetings to you Ms Cheerlie, how goes your day?"Orion greeted the teacher and Twilight before standing up among the book pile.
"Hmm… Well we sure aren't getting our cutie marks for being librarians…!"Apple Bloom finally agreed with Orion before the man lifted all the books up with his magic and placed them back on the shelves.
"Huh, I should think not…"Spike groaned and found his broom to start sweeping.
"Girls, I think you're going about this the wrong way,"Twilight insisted that their random adventures through different activities was getting them nowhere,"Instead of trying things in areas you're not familiar with. Why not try things in areas that you already like?"
"And I have the perfect place to start."Cheerlie entered and showed off a poster of the school's talent show.
"Show case your talents…"
"For all to see…"
"Perform in the Ponyville's school talent show!"Sweetie Belle concluded the girls reading on the poster.
"There will be all sorts of awards. Best dramatic performance, best comedy act, best magic act. Surely you can find your talent here…!"Cheerlie insisted the idea of trying out the talent show to find their talents.
"This would be the perfect place to discover our talents. Juggling!"Apple Bloom announced brightly on the subject
"Acting!"
"Magic tricks!"
"Square dancing!"
"Tightrope walking!"
"Tiger taming!"The girls started out gentle with a list of possibilities that ended with the most dangerous talent they could imagine.
"My little ponies, you're missing the point. Think about the things you already enjoy doing,"Twilight tried to suggest while Orion slowly walked pass the girls to Twilight's side,"Think about what you're already good at."
"Sure! We can do that!"Scootaloo admitted with more haste than they expected.
"Yeah, sure we can!"Sweetie Belle backed up Scootaloo's answer.
"Well, whatever it is, we'll do it as…"Apple Bloom started before the three fillies got together to announce.
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders!"The girls announced and got right to work as they bolted out of the library.
"Well thank goodness for that. I wanted to speak about what I've found so far on the ashes,"Orion said before pulling Twilight aside and looking to Cheerlie,"Ms Cheerlie, a moment please? I'll assist you with setting up the stage for the show after words."
"Oh… Yes of course…! I could use the help."Cheerlie agreed to his help while he dragged Twilight away and spoke in secret.
"So did you find something out about those ashes?"Twilight asked quietly and looking around as they stood by the kitchen entrance.
"Well…it's not much, but I did find out that the ashes are infused with very old blood,"Twilight's eyes widened at the reveal and her muzzle slowly cringed at the thought,"Who ever the blood belonged to had to have died centuries ago, maybe even eons ago…!"
"Blood and ash infused together…? This is some sort of dark magic…! It has to be,"Twilight thought about the magic that must have been used in such a binding of materials,"But… There's no explanation or history of any pony capable of such atrocious magic!"
"There is one I can think of… But he died by my own hooves long ago,"Orion admitted before he remembered the always popular enemy of his distant memories,"Necrid Ghoul… The necromancer…"
"Old blood… Maybe that stranger was him…! He came back as his very remains…!"Twilight worried at the thought of their enemy being a powerful warrior like Orion.
"That can't be…! Me, Clover The Clever, and… Another friend disposed of Necrid's only remaining means of resurrection into the great Equis mountain,"Orion did not want to even think of the idea that an old enemy was returning from death itself,"I watched his afterlife gem melt to nothing in the mountain's lava…!"
"You have to admit though. It is sounding like it could be him, don't you think?"Twilight insisted upon the thought as it lingered for her while Orion turned away and towards Cheerlie.
"I hope to Tartarus it isn't him… We were so certain that he was just a memory now…"Orion sighed, and felt the thought now sticking to him as he went to Cheerlie to go and assist with the talent show.
Before he knew it, Orion was now near the school house, putting everything together. Along side Cheerlie, he lifted up the main stage and made sure it was fastened on nice and tight. His crystals working as an adhesive once again since it did so well with the crusader tree house. He looked to Cheerlie as she stood on a ladder and slowly hooked up the stage curtains. He noticed the ladder creaking and wobbling as she struggled to stay still and hook in the curtains.
He reached and created a strong hold on the bottom of the ladder with his crystals. It was just in time to see her finish the curtains and come back down, and that's when he started to think. An enemy of his could be returning from his past to seek destruction of this present world. If it truly was the case, then he needed these ponies to be ready, for they have turned soft and unprepared. The citizens from his past were one thing, but these ponies of today were all too vulnerable.
"Looks good! All that's missing is the back stage and some walls and we got ourselves a stage,"Orion admitted while raising his hands to lift a couple walls to the side,"This is a quality stage, I gotta say Cheerlie. Very impressive!"
"Thank you. We try our best to create a quality environment for learning and fun for the future of Ponyville,"Cheerlie giggled and took down the ladder in time to see the walls come together with the stage,"I must admit, I'm very glad that you took the time to help me with all this. It's usually a lot harder work setting this whole thing up!"
"It's not a problem… I figure if I'm gonna teach these children at times, I might as well help the school as well,"He smiled, but now he had to finally speak with Cheerlie on the matter that worried him,"Um… I have something… Something I wish to talk about regarding the children."
"Oh, of course! Is there something you wish to teach them about?"Cheerlie asked and appeared to have caught on to his intentions a bit.
"Actually there is… But… Here's the thing. It also regards what I was speaking about with Twilight,"Orion admitted and gestured the teacher to walk with him around the stage,"These kids… They are a lot of bright and shining faces, and they are just the right ponies for the future… Mostly…"
"Why, that's very sweet of you to say Mister O. Those children are just a room full of joy,"Cheerlie chirped, and Orion simply nodded and looked away as he thought of his proposal,"So what is it that you wish to teach those silly fillies and crazy colts?"
"Me and Twilight have been trying to figure out the mystery behind an assailant made of ash that attacked three of your students and the princess herself some time ago,"He quickly started to explain as they went around the back so he could lift the back of the stage up,"And after some studies, we fear this enemy may be some pony from my old world… A pony that knows much about dark magic…"
"Ok…where exactly are you going with this?"Cheerlie was on the verge of losing her smile and grew nervous.
"I don't want these children to be vulnerable and defenseless, should this stranger be an enemy of mine,"He took a deep breath, and he finally came out and said it,"So… I wish to teach them safety and show them the dark magic to be weary of… Just so they know what to be cautious about."
"What…?! But… Dark magic in my classroom?! I could never expose my students to such things!"Cheerlie exclaimed in shock at the proposal.
"I know… But it's far better than what could happen if they find out about it by the hooves of the stranger himself,"Orion explained while Cheerlie looked away and tried to breath easily to steady her nerve,"As hard as it is to believe. It's better if they just learn about it from a professional rather than encounter it in a much worse form."
"Perhaps, but I just don't know if I want the children learning about such evil magic…"Cheerlie admitted with great worry for the children she cared passionately about.
"I understand your compassion for the children… I in fact have a friend who shares a deep care for children,"He admitted as he thought of a good friend of the shadows,"She absolutely loves children… And she would never want them to be put in any danger… And she was titled as the queen of darkness… A permitted user of dark magic."
"Is that so…?"Cheerlie looked to Orion wanting to lower her head instead with drooped ears.
"Yes… And so it was mandatory for children to at least know of her dark magic so they understood how dangerous dark magic,"Orion explained as he fastened the rest of the stage together and lined it with lights from crystal shards,"The children understood and they were more cautious around her magic, but they were still the gentle and happy faces that saw her like she was a mother to them all."
"I see… And were the children naturally safer?"Cheerlie asked and was given a nod as her answer.
"She was so happy to know that they were safe, and knew what to do in the presence of dark magic,"Orion stopped as they made it to the front of the completed stage to look it over,"So please… Let me share that with these children. Because I don't want anything to happen to any of those kids either… Especially Apple Bloom and her little friends."
"If you can promise me their safety in these lessons, and promise that they won't get hurt. I suppose I can give you an hour to teach them."Cheerlie agreed to the proposal with simple and very understandable terms for such education.
"I promise… They will be safe during these lessons, and much smarter about magic as well."He agreed with a promise and was given a nod.
"Then you may teach them. I just hope you know what you're doing."Cheerlie hoped as she and Orion looked to the glorious stage that was going to shine with talent before a crowd of ponies.
It was then that the day had passed and the night of the talent show had arrived the next day. Orion, Cheerlie and even Twilight were making last minute adjustments as the sun began to set. Orion adjusted the spot lights with his magic while watching the sun set in the west. This told him that his dear sister Tia was going to bed and Luna's night was about to begin. So in a way he felt flattered that the talent show was starting tonight as a way for ponies to enjoy the night.
After setting up the area for the ponies to stay in for an audience. Orion stood tall and watched the crystals make the stage glitter a bit, adding a bit of flare for the student performers. He then heard the fluttering of wings above his head, and that's when he spotted not one, but two Pegasus. He chuckled as he saw it was not only Typhoon arriving to watch the show, but even Thunder Blitz arrived. This was a rarity for Orion, for Thunder Blitz was known to be a distant rogue most of the time.
They were waved to as the duo of Pegasus made a smooth landing within the audience area. Thunder shook off the blast back mane style he got every time he flew at light speed. With his mane fixed back up, nice and cloudy puffy like, his glowing tattoos really illuminated in the night.
"Well this is a treat…! Didn't expect both of you to pay a visit!"Orion hung over the rope fence and called to the stallions.
"He visited me and Fluttershy and decided to come to the talent show, see if there really was any talent,"Typhoon admitted while Thunder yawned and looked around to the stage,"I just came to support the girls, just like I heard you were doing."
"This is a nice stage, from the looks of it you put your own little touch to it, but I can't help feeling like this may have been a bit much,"Thunder was suddenly firing off his criticism about the stage for a school talent show,"I mean it's nice, but I feel like it's too nice. This is just a school talent show, it's not like that Equestrias got talent event I hear is performed in Canterlot, holy cow…!"
"Oh my gosh…he's talking again…"Typhoon groaned while the mares giggled at the annoyance the glowing Pegasus brought to his fellow warriors.
"Me and Cheerlie worked hard on that stage, just leave it alone chatter box!"Orion yelled the moment he saw Thunder messing with the curtains
"But it's just a talent show for a school house. This ain't exactly a fancy smancy city like Canterlot,"Thunder flew down and stomped on the wood to check the quality,"So what exactly do they need to show off their flare for? They are a simple and hard working town just like you sai-"
"Just shut up and have some appreciation for something ponies busted their flanks to put together!"Orion interrupted Thunder with a cold punch to the center of the stallion's head.
"Lets go Thunder, we got front row seats to the show…"Typhoon dragged Thunder away while the electric stallion rubbed his head with soreness and a bit of fuzziness.
The mares finally managed to stop their cackling just in time to see the guests arriving. As well as the students leaving the school house in their outfits and some of their supplies for their performance. Excitement mounted as Typhoon and Thunder took their spot in the audience. Orion looked around as the crowd began to fill the area, looking for Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. It was then that he barely caught them just entering back stage with wearing strange outfits.
"Gather around, and find your seats every pony! We'll be starting the talent show very shortly!"Cheerlie announced to the crowd before her from the center stage.
This was Orion's only opportunity to get back stage and wish the girls luck. He crept through the back stairs and through the entrance to see at least six different groups of children. Preparing to show their talents in dancing, magic, singing, card tricks, most of them appeared simple. Though the minute he snaked his way through the performers, he found the girls were doing anything but simple. The strange punk rock outfits and make overs proved it so as well as their odd background set up.
"Uh…girls? What is this little…band you got going on here?"He asked as he looked at all the things in this strangely new act they were putting together.
"It's a rocking and rolling band we're doing to sing about not having our cutie marks,"Apple Bloom answered as they showed off their complete lay out of the performance,"I'm gonna be a dancer!"
"I'm gonna be the singer!"Scootaloo added with equal excitement, only to shock Orion.
"And I'm gonna be working all the affects, and I'm also dancing!"sweetie Belle ended, leaving Orion feeling the whole performance feeling backwards.
"But uh… I thought Sweetie Belle was going to sing and… What?"Orion remained confused as the girls did a bit more dancing to show off a bit more.
"So do you like it Mister O?"Apple Bloom's pure innocence was intoxicating and hard to resist.
"Uh…. Yeah I suppose so…if it's what you fillies want to do then… By all means,"He decided to let them have this, rather than shoot the little fillies down,"I'll be rooting for the three of you. Break a leg out there."
He did his best not to cringe as he walked away and out from back stage. He shuddered once he was alone, and kept moving and praying that they would not go through with this band. The weird punk rock outfits, the horrible painted background, the roles they were doing. All of it was just a large and hot mess, maybe not even hot, just a big mess perhaps. He pinched between his eyes in cringe as he slowly joined the other comrades just in time for the first event.
"You gonna even take a look at the card tricks being done? What's up with you?"Typhoon asked of Orion only to get a sigh in response.
"Is the girls you rooting for really that bad?"Thunder chuckled to himself and was quickly placed in a choke hold.
"Just shut up and enjoy the show flank hole!"Orion choked Thunder almost to the verge of passing out before they could be settled and enjoy the show.
In all of the acts that were performed, some were in fact pretty good to Typhoon's standard. Orion simply watched with worry for the inevitable disaster that was waiting for him at the end. While Thunder was already taking a snooze half way through the show. Orion was simply rolling his eyes before they got to snips and snails doing some magic tricks. It was a simple trick, simply pull a rabbit out of a empty magicians hat, couldn't go wrong.
Other than the trick suddenly going wrong and the colts losing the rabbit. Their fumble was indeed both hilarious and impressive, Typhoon appeared to have enjoyed it. Thunder was at least awake half way and clapping his hooves, completely careless and unaware of what happened. However this meant bad news for Orion, there was one more act that had yet to be performed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Orion was already bracing for it just in time for Twilight to join them.
"Hey… You didn't perhaps see what the girls were doing for the show, did you?"Twilight asked of Orion before he looked at her with complete cringe on his face.
"Yeah… They're going to end up a laughing stock to all of Ponyville…!"Orion groaned before the light came down and the final performance had begun.
The music began slow and mellow for a start, just as Scootaloo began to sing. Already she was off key so much, but it didn't stop her from trying her hardest to amuse the crowd. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed in such, but Scootaloo was the voice of the crusaders. They seem to be getting a bit nervous as Sweetie Belle began changing set ups after seeing Thunder snoring again. It was then with a team effort and the high note, "Very Loud" Thunder was awakened.
As the crusaders began to sing and dance completely off key and with the worse lyrics ever created. Thunder flailed and fell to his back, completely startled by the sudden loudness. Orion looked down in guilt to see the girls humiliating themselves in front of the crowd. Just in time to see his electric friend getting up and applauding for no reason other than being half asleep. It was deterring for the girls that they weren't amusing the warriors, and it even appeared that they truly were disappointing Orion.
That was when Orion looked up, and noticed them folding in a different form. He could hear the shakiness in Scootaloo's voice and Apple Bloom holding back tears. Sweetie Belle had even began to have jelly in her legs and she was tripping all over the place. While she also missed setting certain pieces of their musical up, this was getting worse, but this was not entirely their fault. Suddenly he realized they had not taken their eyes off him for most of the performance.
"Oh no… What did I just do…?"Orion realized he showed no faith and support even if they weren't doing all too well.
It was then that the fillies performance was put out of their misery. The set up collapsed around them after a failed change of the background. The crowd before them had then begin to laugh at the girls once the act was finished, a cold punch to add to their embarrassment. Finally the curtains came down to end the suffering for the fillies and conclude the show. This was the opportunity he needed, he got up along with Twilight, for she also saw the way they folded.
"Twilight? Mind if I take this one? This is a little bit of my fault…!"Orion insisted that he take this issue as he placed blame on himself for what happened.
"Alright, just be easy on them. I could see that they were breaking under the pressure…"Twilight warned before the man quickly rushed through the audience to get back stage.
He rushed up the stairs and into the back stage where the kids waited for judgment. He moved through the teams of children, and spotted the girls in a corner at the back. He sighed, and already noticed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo crying while Apple Bloom kept her head bowed and crying on the inside. He slowly approached them and thought of what to say after what happened.
"Hey… That was quite a performance. Really gave it your all girls…!"He tried to show support to make up for earlier.
"You don't need to try and make us feel better… We know our performance was horrible…"Sweetie Belle stuttered with her words as she sniffled and tried to stop her sobs.
"We tried to do something we weren't familiar with and made fools of ourselves…"Scootaloo rubbed her teary eyes and looked away in shame.
"And we did it in front of you…! You couldn't even look at us! That's how bad we were!"Apple Bloom groaned and felt her heart aching from the whole event.
"And I'm sorry… I turned away and crushed all the confidence the three of you had for this,"Orion suddenly apologized and took the blame for how the performance turned out,"I should have just supported you regardless of what you all did. You were all very brave going on stage and doing what you worked so hard on…!"
"Yeah, but now they're laughing at us out there. They knew all too well how bad we were."Apple Bloom sat down with her ears drooped and her head low to the ground,"We were just embarrassing to our family, and you."
"Never… No matter what, never forget that confidence I saw in the three of you before,"Orion insisted that they keep their chins up even in the face of shame,"Because from now on… I'll always support you three no matter what…!"
"Even after how bad we were in the talent show?"Scootaloo asked and was given a nod in response.
"Back on stage girls! It's time for the awards!"Ms Cheerlie found them just as the students were going on stage for the awards.
"Back on stage? No!"Sweetie Belle Certainly didn't want to go on stage again.
"They're just gonna laugh at us some more."Apple Bloom added with damaged Apple pride.
"Yeah, what's the point?"Scootaloo finally dried her eyes and wanted no part of the awards herself.
"Come on… Do it for me girls. I want to see you all through this talent show all the way through,"He requested that the girls finish what they started when they agreed to be in the talent show,"I'll be cheering you on the whole way from now on, no matter what. I promise…"
"Well… Ok…"The girls all agreed to go back on stage with their heads low.
This was the opportunity for the prince to quickly rush back to the audience. He almost tripped, going down the steps of the back stage before running to the crowd again. He pushed his way through the crowd and found his spot with Twilight, Typhoon and Thunder. He let out another sigh and started to watch as Cheerlie announced the awards. This time, he was ready to support the girls wether they won or lost in the talent show.
"Our first award goes to… Snips and Snails for best magic act!"Cheerlie announced before the two small colts were given their award, and were awarded a round of clopping hooves.
"Not bad… Come on girls, don't lose your nerve…!"Orion applauded for the colts, prayed as he saw the girls getting weak in the knees already.
"The next award goes to… Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie for best dramatic performance!"Cheerlie announced before giving the dramatic duo of fillies their awards.
"Those girls were descent. A lot better than those last performers…!"Thunder admitted while finally waking up completely.
"You weren't even awake long enough to see them, shut up…!"Orion yelled before they went silent for the final reward.
"And finally, the last award for the night goes to… The Cutie Mark Crusaders!"Cheerlie announced as every pony cheered while Orion fought through the shock and stood up to applaud.
"I don't…believe it…!"Typhoon was also trying to shake off the shock from the crusaders apparent victory.
"For best comedy act!"Cheerlie added and cleared the confusion up completely for all the warriors.
"Well done girls… Your performance worked out after all…"Orion spoke to himself as the children and teacher went back stage to get situated.
"Hey… Lets go back and congratulate the girls for winning."Twilight bumped the side of his arm and gestured to the stage.
"Yeah… They definitely deserve it after all that. You guys good to head home?"Orion agreed, and asked as Typhoon nodded and looked to Thunder, only to see that he was gone.
"He's already heading off to take another snooze. I'll see you around Orion."Typhoon slowly took to the skies and gave his good byes to Twilight and Orion before going home.
It was then that Twilight and Orion walked casually to the back stage one more time. While the audience was slowly dispersing and heading home for the night. They walked up the stairs and entered the back stage area to see Children cooling down and getting ready to leave. While the Cutie Mark Crusaders were just investigating the true means behind their performance. Though it seems that they were unsuccessful as they noticed their flanks were still blank.
"Congratulations ponies, job well done!"Twilight gave her sincere congratulations to the solemn fillies.
"Yes, even at your worse, the three of you triumphed over the odds!"Orion admitted how impressed he was with their perseverance in the talent show.
"Thanks Twilight and Mister O…"They all appeared a bit sadden, even in light of their victory.
"Hey, you don't sound too excited."Twilight noticed this and decided to pry for some answers to their sadness.
"We worked really hard and won ourselves a prize, but we still don't have our cutie marks…!"Scootaloo sighed in defeat from their ultimate purpose in entering the talent show.
"Which is the prize we really wanted…!"Sweetie Belle added clarity to what they entered for.
"Oh girls…"Twilight and Orion felt bad that they didn't earn their marks.
"But we think we know why."Apple Bloom revealed that they may have learned a lesson.
"Yes, we know why."Sweetie Belle verified Apple Bloom's revelation to their problem.
"Oh? Please tell us, I'd personally love to give a special report to the princess."Twilight showed interest in what they learned about their cutie mark trouble.
"Well, maybe we were trying too hard."Sweetie Belle began to explain the lesson they had finally learned.
"Yes? And…?"Twilight enticed them to continue with more interest.
"And instead of forcing ourselves to do something that's not meant for us…"Scootaloo added the main details of what they learned not to do.
"Yes, yes?"Twilight was getting more excited to see them realize what they truly needed to do.
"We each should be embracing our true talent!"Apple Bloom added even more to their lesson.
"And that is…?"Both Twilight and Orion were eager to hear their answer.
"Comedy!"The three fillies exclaimed and blew both of their minds to pieces.
"Well then… This may take a while longer for them to learn…"Orion whispered to Twilight while the girls rushed to show their awards to an arriving Applejack.
"One day Orion… One day they'll learn…"Twilight encouraged more patience for the fillies.
"Yeah… I know… It just takes some time…"He admitted while they watched the girls talk about their act.
I don't know if you would consider this a bit rushed or not, I'll leave that all up to you, the lovely readers. I hope you all had a wonderful and spirited hearts warming/Christmas every pony. I hope you enjoyed, and please stay pony every one.