ACT ELEVEN
Twilight lay unconscious on the ground, but no one had actually seen what happened, giving Flash the perfect chance to continue his cover by calling the paramedics and faking a story that he and Twilight were simply chatting outside when she suddenly collapsed, possible due to a violent seizure.
Twilight was taken straight to the hospital where she was diagnosed to be in a deep coma, and wouldn’t snap out of it for some time. The doctors had a hard time believing that she really just collapsed from a seizure.
Lightning was the only one to suspect it was really Flash and his mother who did it, but couldn’t prove it, and still didn’t wish to cause more trouble trying to expose him. Still, once again, the play was in disaster, and Principal Luna was on the verge of canceling it all over again, unless they could find someone else to take Twilight’s place. Luckily, Lightning and Starla both had someone in mind, Flutershy.
“What?! Me?!” she chirped and she felt her legs go weak.
“She?” rhymed Rhymey.
“Why not?” asked Lightning. “She’s watched us perform and rehearse. She knows the lines, and the role does call for someone who is timid.”
“I agree.” said Starla “You’ll be great for the role, don’t you think so, Rhymey?”
Rhymey stuttered and stammered, unable to find rhymes to make. Both he and Fluttershy felt very nervous the fact that they would be acting side-by-side and even had a few romantic scenes in the play. This of course was exactly why Lightning and Starla suggested it; to help them both get over their nerves for good.
Fluttershy honestly didn’t know what to do but it was either she agree to join or, unless they could find someone else, Principal Luna would cancel it again. Not wanting the play to be canceled again, “All right, I’ll do it.” Fluttershy peeped. Rhymey gulped hard.
Before long it was opening night, and the school theater was full of staff, students and families. Grandruler and Luna were in the back row, and they even saw a lady wearing sunglasses, and a red tulle scarf over her long hair come in and take a seat. No doubt in their mind, it was Celestia, who had bought a ticket to the show and was coming to see it as an ordinary citizen. Seeing her made Grandruler fell very remorseful for his actions yet, and Luna felt equally as bad, but they didn’t want to consider giving her another chance, not unless she could prove she could or was willing to change and learn to control her issues.
Backstage, Twilight’s friends took their places to help as the stage managers and such, they all felt upset for what happened to Twilight and that she was still hospitalized, but they were still not speaking to each other and passing the cold shoulder around. Lightning and his friends just couldn’t understand it, but they didn’t have time to worry about it, and didn’t wish to stir up trouble now when everyone had to pull together.
Fluttershy was more nervous than ever now that she was actually in the play, and she was being teased and bullied by Sunset worse than ever. “If you screw up during my scenes, you’ll be sorry! Got it?”
Fluttershy nodded and whimpered nervously. Rhymey didn’t like this one bit, marched right over, and said deeply to her face,
“Don’t you bother her,
Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset didn’t like his attitude “Now is that anyway to act to the star of this show? I can speak to anyone anyway I want.”
Rhymey continued to glare in her face,
“You are not the star,
A bully is what you are.”
Sunset clenched her fists, but decided he wasn’t worth it. She had other things to consider… especially after the show.
Fluttershy looked up at Rhymey, shyly. “Um… thanks, Rhymey.” she said. Rhymey felt a little shy himself too, but smiled at her. Fluttershy peeked through the curtains at the huge crowd and felt her heart racing with nervous feelings. “What a big crowd! I’m so nervous.” she whimpered.
Rhymey hated seeing her like this, and wished there were some way he could help her find the courage she needed without feeling nervous around her himself. He started recited a poem he made up…
“When you weep, it makes me sore,
But to me you will always be so much more
My feelings and faith and heart to you sing,
I believe that you can do anything.”
“Huh?” Fluttershy looked up at him, and Rhymey suddenly snapped out of his trance and walked away from her, but Fluttershy thought that poem sounded familiar, and she remembered receiving yet another letter from her secret admirer earlier that week which read the exact same words. Fluttershy’s mouth slowly hung open wide as she watched Rhymey go all the way to the other end of the stage.
While outside, Lightning and Starla were going over some final last minute rehearsal of their lines, and to practice a couple of their passionate scenes. They even mastered a way to make it look like they were kissing without actually making lip contact. “We’re going to be great out there.” Lightning said.
Starla was very excited, but Lightning could tell something else seemed to be bothering her. When he asked her, “Well, I wanted to ask you if you’d go to the Fall Formal with me next week, but I know you can’t.”
Lightning knew of the Fall Formal, and had considered it to be interesting, but regardless it wouldn’t happen until Tuesday, which was five days away, and Lightning had only two days left to finish his mission and then he’d be gone… he hoped. “I understand.” said Starla.
“But you know…” Lightning said “If I could stay, maybe I would go with you. It sounds like it would be fun.”
This made Starla smile at him, and he smiled back at her. Suddenly, they were called back, as it was almost curtain time.
Professor Abra welcomed everyone and gave the traditional speech, and he explained how Twilight had been replaced at short notice with Fluttershy. Then, it was show time…
The opening number consisted of the chorus singers, singing and dancing in the streets of town, and eventually leading to the high school where Sunset as Rita was introduced, and Fluttershy as the timid and bumbling sidekick, Evelyn, who didn’t sing and dance much but just acted rather cowardly and nervous, just as her character was supposed to be.
Then, the spotlight fell on Starla as the beautiful, but unhappy Michelle, singing a number of how she wished she could be as talented as Rita, if she weren’t so shy and lacking confidence.
Basic story; Rita was a mean girl, and letting her fame and popularity always going too far to her head, feeling she could do whatever she wanted to whomever she wanted. She wasn’t very nice to anyone, and was especially harsh to Evelyn, but especially mean to Michelle whom she enjoyed taunting and ridiculing, only further disheartening her from achieving her dream.
Michelle tried to audition for school recitals, but she seemed to fumble about and make a fool of herself, unbeknownst that Rita had made Evelyn rig the floor and Michelle’s shoes making it hard for her to dance and keep up, which was how she always ensured her own victories when auditioning. After running off in embarrassment, and sitting alone in the woods, she met traveling singing duo, Dylan, a handsome young singer, dancer, and natural-born choreographer, and his piano playing, equally as talented sidekick Cyrus, who always spoke in rhyme. Both had never gone to high school, and made a living by drifting form town to town performing on the road dance and musical shows for money. They demonstrated by performing one of their favorite song and dance acts “Moses Supposes” right before her.
(Skip to 1:11)
It was their hope to one day become superstars to earn a better by showing the world they made it their own way. A budding friendship slowly began between them, especially Dylan and Michelle. They begin the meet in secret and the boys helped to teach Michelle how to be a better dancer and singer. One of Rhymey’s numbers was “Make ‘em laugh!”
One of Lightning and Starla’s duets was a musical number telling her to try and be happy which would really help her.
“Will you try…?”
“If you’ll show me…”
“I’ll show you.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good! One two three four…”
“One two three four…”
“One two three…”
“One two three…”
“Tra-la-la-la-la-la…”
“Tra-la-la-la-la-la…”
“You see?”
“It’s easy!”
The two danced magnificently across the stage making the audience Woo and Awe in astonishment. “Look at me, I’m dancing!” cried Michelle, and when the dance finished up the audience cheered for joy.
Michelle had become a much better performer, and entered many auditions, even doing better than Rita, even when she tried sabotaging things. Rita grew suspicious of this and sent Evelyn to spy on Michelle, eventually discovering the boys and her private lessons. Rita began to plot to break it up and maybe take Dylan all for herself so he could teach her how to dance and sing greater than ever.
This was where Rhymey and Fluttershy began to act together, and surprisingly, they both had completely forgotten about being nervous when they kept in mind that the show had to go on, and they did beautiful jobs.
Evelyn intended to meet up with Dylan, an accidental on-purpose bump into, but she got so nervous that she ended up meeting Cyrus instead. She looked lost and scared, which helped her put on the act, and helped her get closer to the boys and stuff, and learning their secrets and moves which she gave back to Rita, which she used to win over auditions again.
Eventually she followed Evelyn to the boy’s campsite, jumped right out while the boys were giving lessons to Michelle, and offered the boys a deal, if she, Rita, could become a big super singing star, she’d mention about the boys and ensure them that they would get that life they desired, as tempted as the boys were, they didn’t trust Rita one bit, as she seemed just as nasty as Michelle had said. She tried to put the moves on Dylan, but he wasn’t interested in her, as he already had somebody else in mind; Michelle.
All the time they spent together, she was becoming more than just a friend as he began to show it by singing to her...
This made Rita angrier and she was determined to ruin Michelle’s happiness for good.
So she continued to use Evelyn to sneak dancing tips from the boys, but Evelyn wasn’t sure she wanted to anymore, or even be Rita’s servant. For she was starting to take a likeness to Cyrus, and he felt the same towards her, but still had no clue she was working for Rita, neither did Dylan, but Rita blackmailed Evelyn to remain loyal to her by threatening to expose her as the little sneak she had been. Evelyn had no choice but to comply.
Things really began to heat up between Michelle and Rita as they continued to compete against one another, especially as they had both been chosen to audition for the royal English dance academy that would make them international stars if they got in, but thanks to Evelyn playing the rat, Rita managed to get loads of good moves form the boys, leaving Michelle having a very hard time to compete with her, but the judges couldn’t decide which girl was more deserving. Prompting Rita to cheat having Evelyn sabotage Michelle’s shoes again by waxing them and making them slippery, and causing her to slip and fall all over herself, really hurting her chances of being chosen.
Then things went from bad to worse as Rita, feeling she had already won, made an announcement to the judges, thanking Dylan and Cyrus for teaching her all the moves she had learned. Making Michelle feel that Dylan had betrayed her, resulting in a falling out, and worse off Evelyn, out of shame and guilt, confessed to Cyrus what really happened, leaving Cyrus horrified and shocked to discover that she was Rita’s little rat the whole time, leading him to no longer trust her seeing what was happening to Dylan and Michelle. He wouldn’t even give her a chance to explain and just stormed off leaving Evelyn hurt and in tears.
It was a long act of sad and betrayed faces, and Michelle was ultimately deciding to quit dancing feeling no one had any confidence in her, but finally Evelyn couldn’t take another moment of this, and began to pull some strings of her own, having found her courage to stand up to others as Cyrus had taught her all through the play, eventually turning to Cyrus for extra help and guidance. At first he wasn’t very open with her for the way she hurt him, but when she mentions of the way that she can help Dylan and Michelle, and even him, he agreed to help her.
They both talked to Dylan, and he was in on it too, but the biggest problem they had was getting Michelle to consider rejoining, and she was still acting stubborn and refused to believe a word they said, but Evelyn spilled the beans on how Rita had been cheating all this time with the wax shoes, and she also wanted to get back at her for all her pushing. Michelle agreed to do it.
Before long, the final, really grand audition had begun with members for the board of the royal academy judging for themselves to determine who the best was. Rita went first, and she did well at the start, but during her next performance she slipped and skidded down. That was when the others came out on stage and exposed her as the cheater she was, and a horrid blackmailer. Evelyn even presented the judges with all the lists and plots of Michelle’s dealings including the moves she had stolen form the boys which were really taught to Michelle, as Dylan publicly announced.
The crowds and the judges applauded for Michelle, and booed at Rita, even throwing things at her and forcing her to run off in embarrassment, and the judges let Michelle have her fair turn, but she only would if Dylan would join her, and they performed their Lucky Star number. Evelyn and Cyrus joined with them, and in the end, all four of them had received acceptations into the royal dance academy to become famous.
Michelle felt she owed Dylan her life, while he insisted he owed her his life for him and Cyrus make their dreams come true as well.
The final musical number was of the four friends having graduated from the royal dance academy with flying colors, and becoming real worldwide super stars, but really all Dylan and Michelle seemed really deem worth it all was each other, and kissed before everyone. Cyrus and Evelyn had become a couple too…
…the only difference was Fluttershy actually kissed Rhymey herself. No play acting, and whispered to him she now knew he was her admirer, and she was willing to give it a chance if he wanted to.
The play had ended, and the crowds cheered like crazy. Professor Abra never had felt such glee in his life. Grandruler and Luna were very proud of the students, and Celestia, having seen the whole thing, especially with the couples and their difficulties, made start her feel a little different inside. The first steps to helping her get over her issues. She felt maybe she was ready start changing, but didn’t know how to prove it to her sister or Grandruler.
The students gathered on stage to take the final bow, only Sunset wasn’t present, and she was said to have been seen heading out the door after she had walked off stage after her final scene. “Her loss…” Lightning whispered to Starla, and she sniggered softly.
Indeed, Sunset had rushed outside, and could hear all the cheering inside. “Huh! Enjoy it while you can…” she hissed, and then she gazed up at the full moon, and saw a small glowing of light coming from the statute in the front of the school yard. “I’ll be back, Canterlot High, and when I return, you’ll all regret you ever messed with Sunset Shimmer!” then she jumped right at the statue, and actually disappeared.