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// Lights, Camera, Action! 
// Story: Falling 
// by Maddie Koester 
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I was backstage in the mares dressing room with Rarity. She was trying to get my dress perfect, and it was taking forever. While she did that, a peach colored unicorn with a golden mane walked in. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure it out.

“I’m supposed to do make-up for ‘Love Berry’. Is this the right room?” She asked. Her voice was soft and smooth; it reminded me of the chimes we used to have on our porch.
“Why yes, it is, I just have to fix this dress, so you can get set up,” Rarity replied before I could speak. 

She pulled on the red fabric and took it up at the shoulders. Then she walked out and I sat down at the chair. The unicorn was wearing a white dress that sparkled in the light. I must have seen her at a dinner party. The party! She was the one talking to Pineapple Crush. She did my makeup silently, then walked out of the room. Huh, I guess she might be a bit shy. I walked out to meet Platinum. He was wearing a gray shirt with blue jeans. I saw him blush when he saw me. I smiled back and walked over.

“You ready for this?” Platinum asked.
“Not really,” I replied, “I’ve never been in a play.”
“Same, but I’m super excited!” Platinum exclaimed.
“Ok everypony, we are on in Five,” Mrs. Cheerilee said. 

I smiled nervously and walked over to where I should be. Copper Shell was near me, and she gave me a fake smile. I sat down so that I could see the crowd. Mother and Papa were seated in the front row on the right side. I looked and saw Polished Pebble, Pineapple Crush and the peach unicorn, Diamond Tiara and Pipsqueak, and the original CMC. I smiled and watched as Mrs. Cheerilee walked out on stage.

"Mares and gentle-stallions! I am pleased to announce the play 'A Tale of an Inventor' begins now!" Cheerilee exclaimed.

The crowd cheered with delight as the curtains opened. The play went on smoothly, now all we had to do was wait for Copper Shell to slip up.

The show was halfway through and Copper Shell was going on soon. I walked off the stage and when I walked past I noticed her mike was on. I sat down, knowing I didn’t go on for a couple minutes. Platinum was about to walk off stage, and Copper Shell made her mistake.

“This is gonna be just like when I actually did it,” Copper Shell had said, but every pony heard it. 

The crowd probably thought it was just part of the show, but I saw a confused look on all the actors faces. I just had to hope that Mrs. Cheerilee heard. Copper Shell noticed her mistake as soon as she said it, but didn’t have time to fix it because she had to head on stage. I smiled in the darkness of the stage. This was fun and full of revenge. We were toward the end of the show, and Platinum was confronting Copper about breaking his fake invention.

“How dare you break it, It was amazing!” he fumed.
“All the more reason to destroy it!” Copper laughed back.
“Fine then, ZOMBIES ATTACK!” Platinum yelled. 

Jazzy Apple, Controller Note, and Hurricane walked out. 

"Niiiiiiight Shaaaaaade!!!" they groaned.
"Gah!" Copper screamed.

They  “chased” Copper off stage, and the crowd laughed like mad. Once the crowd died down, I walked out to give my lines. 

"Oh, Golden Thunder! You did it! Night Shade is-" I said as I tripped over my dress. 

I stumbled and before I realized what was kissing Platinum Streak, on the lips. Then Platinum started kissing me back and acted like it was part of the show, so I did the same. 

"Gone," he finished, as he smiled cheekily.

I looked into the cheering crowd and saw Mother glaring at Platinum, and Diamond Tiara giving me a matching glare. I ignored them and bowed, as did Platinum. Then we walked off so that we could do final bows. The extras, then “our parents”, the CMC zombies, Copper Shell, then finally Platinum and I. We all did one bow together and then the curtains closed. The cast started talking to one another and the lights came on. I walked back to the girls dressing room, getting a lot of stares from the other ponies. I noticed Copper Shell with Mrs. Cheerilee, and I smiled. I went over to my area in the dressing room and started changing. Some other fillies came in and asked me about the kiss, and it was very annoying. They saw me trip, but thought I did it on purpose. I walked out of the room and ran into Controller Note.

“You did great Shining, that was so much fun!” she exclaimed.
“Thanks, you did great too,” I responded.
“I heard Copper Shell, and heard that she got four days of detention and they are going to find her parents.” Controller told me.
“She deserves it,” Platinum responded from behind me. I turned around and said, “You scared me!”
“It was hilarious, also should we talk about what happened out there,” he asked.
“Nope, let’s just go find our parents and hope we don’t get in trouble.” I responded. 

Controller ran off to go find Jazzy, and Platinum and I walked out into the crowd. A lot of parents smiled and congratulated us on our performance. The foals in the crowd ogled at us. We walked over to the side and waited. Our mothers showed up at the same time.

“You are in so much trouble!” they fumed.
“It was an accident!” Platinum exclaimed.
“Mhmm, sure,” His mom said.
“You’re grounded from play-dates for two weeks Shining Feather,” Mother commanded.
“Same for you mister,” Diamond Tiara told Platinum.
“But-” Platinum started. 
"No 'buts' Platinum Streak," Diamond Tiara ordered.

The two mares turned and looked at each other.

“Diamond, you should teach your son some manners,” Mother said.
“Your daughter started it!” Diamond seethed, “so teach her not to kiss in front of a crowd!”
“Your son let her! And she clearly tripped, he should have caught her without kissing her!” Mother replied, almost 	yelling. 

Ponies around us started watching, and I had never felt more embarrassed. Then Papa and Pipsqueak came over. Papa walked in front of Mother and spoke quietly to her, while Pip glared at the crowd until they started walking again. Then Pip walked over to Diamond Tiara and talked to her.

“Come on Shining Feather,” Papa said. 

I said bye to Platinum, then followed my parents. I realized that I needed to figure out what made them so angry at each other if I was going to be friends with Platinum. When we got home, I was sent upstairs before I could ask about it though. I walked out onto my balcony and opened my wings. I flew up a little bit, but a strong gust of wind knocked me back down. With a sigh, I walked back inside and changed into my pajamas. I would have to wait until Monday to figure out what happened to Platinum and ask him to try to find out what happened. Before going to bed, I walked over to the pink rose. It was sitting on my dresser in a small vase. That was when I realized that I actually enjoyed the kiss, a little. I smiled a bit, turned off the light, and laid down on my bed. It took me a while to fall asleep, but when I did, I dreamed of that night.