//------------------------------// // The Good, the Bat, and the Ugly // Story: Just a Little Batty // by I Thought I Was Toast //------------------------------// I approached the enemy’s fortress with well-earned hesitation. Every attempt I’d made to entreat the commander so far had ended in nothing but disappointment and a hasty retreat, yet there was no other option for me and my army. The only way forward was through the pass before us, and this foe was not an enemy we could afford to fight in glorious and honorable combat. Indeed, our only hope was that I could strike a deal with the threat of our siege master’s newest secret weapon. And so I crept up to the fortress of knowledge to bravely await their general’s attention. Or rather, I inched up to Miss Cheerilee’s desk to give her the extra juicy apple Apple Bloom had given me. It only took her a couple seconds to notice me squirming in front of her—even if it felt like hours—and when she did, she looked down at me with a smile. A smile. Not a scowl. No matter what my imagination said. It was soothing to all the foul-tasting butterflies in my stomach, letting me find enough courage in my impossibly daunting mission to continue. “Why, hello there, Nightingale.” Miss Cheerilee set down the papers she was grading. “Is there something I can do for you?” “Hi, Miss Cheerilee….” Casting my gaze back to the five other crusaders by the door, I scuffed at the floor. “I, umm… I hate to bother you again, but my friends and I came up with some more ideas for the talent show.” “Oh….” Miss Cheerilee bit her lip and followed my gaze with her own. “They wouldn’t happen to a bit more practical, would they?” “Scoots was hoping we could bear-wrestle….” “So that’s a no, then,” Miss Cheerilee sighed. “Can’t you girls decide on something more tame?” “Well… I wanted to do a demonstration on quarterstaff fighting…. Sergeant Smiles says I’m getting really good at it.” “No fighting.” Miss Cheerilee instantly shook her head. “Even in controlled conditions, I don’t want to risk anypony being hurt.” “But— But—” But it was completely safe! “There doesn’t need to be any fighting! We could just go through our forms and practice!” There! A compromise! Surely she’d agree now! It was the adult thing to do. “I’m sorry, Night, but I can’t allow that either.” What?! Betrayal! That’s not how compromises work! “But why?” I whined, bringing out the big guns—fully loaded with massive nine millimeter tears in the corners of my eyes. “It isn’t dangerous at all!” “I’m sorry.” Miss Cheerilee bit her lip and looked away. “I wish I could say yes, but the school board was very clear after last year when Snips and Snails attempted knife throwing. I can’t even let Drop Kick do his usual karate demonstration, and he’s been doing that every year since he got his cutie mark.” “Does that mean hoof-to-hoof sparring is banned too?” “Unfortunately.” Cheerilee smiled wistfully. “Maybe next year I’ll be able to talk the board down to allowing certain ponies special permission. I’ve already been talking with Drop Kick’s mentor about safety precautions we can take. If you want, I can talk to whoever is in charge of the Junior Guard division for you and the crusaders.” “Really?!” I immediately perked up. “Great! I’ll go tell the girls we’re doing my idea. Our sergeant’s name is Sergeant Smiles, and—” “And it will still need to wait for next year.” Cheerilee tapped her hoof on the desk. “I’m going to need a lot of time to write up a proposal for the school board. Please keep this year to something tame.” She chuckled. “Music, maybe. Three of your friends certainly have experience with that.” “Yes, Miss Cheerilee.” My wingtips fell to touch the floor like a wilted moonflower. Turning to walk back towards the girls, I tried to smile at them. Seeing how they stopped hopping in place to wilt too, though, I clearly failed to be the inspiring platoon commander I was meant to be. “Aww… no dice, huh?” Apple Bloom was the first to step forward. “It’s alright, Night. I guess we’ll just have to think up a Plan Q.” “But we were just on Plan D. What happened to all the other plans?” “Scootaloo got ahold of them.” Sweetie giggled. “Hey!” Scoots puffed out her chest and flared her wings. “It’s not like the stuff you and Bloom were planning was any better!” “Girls…” I sighed, shaking my head as their bickering dissolved into rough-housing. “Fighting is out, remember?” I paced back and forth as they stopped and glanced at me. “We only have a few days left to think of something.” “Aww, come on, Night! Everything will work out!” Apple Bloom smiled from the middle of the headlock Scootaloo had on her. “Yeah!” Sweetie chirped as she scrabbled to drag Scoots off of Apple Bloom. “We’re good at plenty of things! Finding something to do should be a cinch!” “So you say, but here we are.” Silver rolled her eyes. “I still don’t get why you don’t want to do a group song.” Diamond huffed, crossing her hooves in front of her. “You’ve done it before.” “Besides, did you hear how bad it waaaaghas?!” Scootaloo squawked as she and Sweetie were flipped over by Apple Bloom. “Girls!” I stomped a hoof, and my squad leaders instantly stopped their squabbling as they fell in line to salute. Even hidden by my glasses, my ferocious, totally-not-squinty glare cut them to the bone. “That’s better.” I nodded, turning to pace in front of the glittery, seizure-inducing poster pasted on the front wall of the school. It was, of course, for the talent show, and provided an excellent backdrop for my zeal. “Now, I don’t want to see any more bat fights between you girls! We have a mission, and we only have so much time to complete it!” I stomped my hoof and turned to face them all. “You all are gonna get your fuzzy flanks home, and you’re gonna brainstorm up the greatest showstoppers since the Shadowbolts learned how to eclipse the sun! “The who?” Scoots buzzed her wings. “The Shadowbolts!” I couldn’t help but squee. “Seriously, the who?” “Scootaloo!” “What?!” She squawked as I turned a full force pout on her. “I don’t pay attention to any flight teams besides the Wonderbolts!” “But the Shadowbolts are so much better! They—” I shook my head and quelled my rustling wings. “Whatever. It’s not important.” Rolling my shoulders, I resumed my pacing. “The point is, we’re all some of the best fillies this town has to offer, and I will eat my pickelhaube if one of us doesn’t win the talent contest. Are we going to let a few rules hold us back?!” “No!” “Are we going to admit defeat just because the going got tough?!” “No!” “Then let’s get going and win that talent show!” “Yeah!” There was the thunder of little hooves as the girls raced off to complete my orders, and it set a warm, fuzzy fire burning in my heart. I spent a few moments watching them galavant off bravely into the unknown, a smile on my face, confident that they would find the weapons they needed for the battle ahead. After they had all cantered beyond the horizon, I stretched my wings and gave them a few experimental flaps to get the blood pumping before I launched myself into the air to head for home. It was time I dug out my bat cave, and thought of a way to win this war. The sweet shade of my safe place was absolute as I hung within it. It was like I was floating in darkness as I kept my breathing measured and calm, and my wings dangled loosely at my side—unneeded and relaxed. My mind drifted through the sea of sweet and murky shadows to find a solution to my problem, teasing at various ideas until I could find one that was right. I was so close. I could feel the answer lurking just out of sight. If I could only flap my wings and pounce at it, I’d— “Night! Dinner’s ready!” The tiniest bit of light invaded my sanctum as Mom opened the door to my room and brought in a candle. Its light flickered beneath the door to my hidey hole. “What on Equis? Nightingale Mooncrest, you come out here this instant and clean the mess you made! You know better than to leave your greaves lying on the floor where somepony could step on them! You could cut somepony like that!” Whoops…. “Sorry, Mom….” I dropped to the floor of my closet and shuffled out and into my room to start picking up the toys and clothes I’d hastily thrown on my bed in an effort to open my bat cave. “I, uh… I swore they hit the bed like everything else. They must’ve fallen off.” Mom scowled at me a few more seconds before her face melted into a smile. “Well, I suppose you were distracted. You only make a mess like this when you’ve got something big on your mind.” “I still don’t know what I should do at the talent show.” I squirmed and looked away from Mom. It… it wasn’t really that big a deal. Except when it was. To me. For reasons. “Oh?” Soft feathers filled my vision as Mom set down her candle to pull me into a hug. “And what about the talent show has you worried?” “All of my good ideas were shot down.” I squeezed Mom tight and nuzzled deep into her chest. “I can’t do anything related to the Guard…. And it’s all because of some stupid mistake somepony else made last year!” “You know there’s more to life than the Guard, Night.” Mom rested her head atop mine. “I know for a fact that you’re talented in all sorts of things, especially after everything you’ve done with your friends. Is it really so hard to pick one of those?” I wriggled from within the hug. “It doesn’t feel right just picking something I’m kinda good at. I want to do something great. Something amazing. Something I can actually call my talent.” Glancing at my cutie mark, I sighed. “I know that’s not really an option, but there has to be something I can do that’s close enough.” Mom ran a hoof through my mane, humming a little tune in my ear as she thought. “You could always try singing.” Both of us blinked and turned to find Dad standing in the doorway, watching us. “You have such a beautiful voice.” “No, I don’t.” I shrunk into Mom’s hug a little more. “I’m only good at the really high stuff. If I sing that, nopony but you is going to hear me, and then everypony will think I’m weird….” “You had no problem singing in front of your friends on Einbruch der Dunkelheit.” “That was different.” My ears splayed back against my head. “Also… Diamond thought it was scary….” “You can’t let what other ponies think define you, sport.” Dad snorted. “If they think it’s weird or scary, then you show them otherwise.” “Your father’s right, sweetie.” Mom nuzzled me and gave me a squeeze. “And if showing them doesn’t work, then you deck them in the schnoze.” “Tempered.” Mom scowled. “I mean, you give them a swirly.” “Tempered!” And now it was The Look. “Okay, okay! Sometimes you need to settle with just stuffing ponies in lockers.” “Tempered!” Mom rose to thwap Dad with a wing, but he was already off down the hall, roaring with laughter. “Get back here and give some actual advice, you loon under moon!” “It was actual advice!” “No, it wasn’t, you lunk! Now get back here and tell your daughter she has to love and tolerate the sh— horseapples out of anypony that thinks she’s weird!” “Lalala! I can’t hear you with all this tasty cricketloaf in my mouth!” There were several exaggerated seconds of chewing from the dining room. “Mhmmhmm! This is so good!” Mom rolled her eyes and I giggled. “Come on, Night. We can all brainstorm more ideas over dinner.” “Oh Luna. Oh Luna! Oh sweet, merciful Luna!” Peeking out from the stage’s curtains, I saw way more ponies than I was expecting. “I don’t think I can do this anymore. I’m just going to look stupid and weird in front of everypony, and— Oh my gosh, is that Princess Twilight?!” “Night, calm down.” Diamond set a hoof on my withers. “Trust me, you’ll do fine.” “How can you say that? You hate my singing!” I shrunk away from her touch. “Oh, Night.” Diamond swept me into a hug despite my best efforts to cringe away. “I don’t hate your singing. It’s just that…” She bit her lip. “…I feel it, you know? Even if I can’t hear it, I can feel all the sad stuff you put in your songs. Can you name one happy song you practiced with over the last few days?” “Most thestral songs aren’t really happy….” I finally managed to squirm away. “At least, not like you’re thinking. We don’t do the sorts of silly and spontaneous songs most day dwellers love.” “Well, maybe you should try broadening your horizons, then,” Diamond sighed. “I don’t like seeing you so sad, and you’re always sad when you sing.” “Maybe…” I murmured, looking to the floor. “Alright, class, it’s showtime! Is everypony ready?” Miss Cheerilee stepped onto center stage, only the curtains separating her from the judgement of the crowd. “Yeah!” Most of the school was loud and ecstatic, although there were a few ponies squirming like me. “Then, let’s get this show on the road!” Miss Cheerilee turned her microphone on and gestured to Backdrop to raise the curtains. “Hello, everypony!” Her voice blared out of the speakers to some scattered applause from the audience. “We have a fantastic bunch of ponies participating this year, and I just know you’ll love seeing all your fillies and colts being the best they can be.” There was more applause and a bit of stomping and cheers. I could hear Dad bellowing out a bunch of encouragement from the the audience, and it made me blush blacker than Nightmare Moon. Thankfully, he was saying it all through clicks and stuff, so nopony else could actually hear how embarrassing he was being. “Oof!” And that sounded like Mom slugging Dad, so she must’ve noticed him flapping his gums. Miss Cheerilee just waited with a smile until everypony settled down. “And so, without further ado, I give you the Ponyville School Talent Show! Give it up for your first act of the night, Snails!” Several wagons rolled onto the stage at a snail’s pace, the colt pulling them somehow trundling at an even slower speed as he stopped to blink and stare out at the audience. The scattered applause died as he observed them—an awkward cough or two coming from the ponies who had clapped loudest—and it was only when he had everypony’s silent, undivided attention that Snails pulled a freshly packed deck of cards from the wagon. “Behold!” With speed so slow a glacier would cry, he opened the pack and pulled two cards out. Hardly daring to breath, he lowered them onto the stage, and balanced one on the other to form a triangle. He glared at the cards momentarily—daring them to move—before nodding, and he repeated the process again and again at an even slower pace until the deck was gone. Then he pulled another deck from the wagon. And another. And another. And so on. Fifteen minutes later, the audience groaned as he finished his latest deck without even a quiver running through his little house of cards. There were wagons worth of cards up there with Snails, and nopony wanted to wait for that. “Miss Cheerilee!” Diamond hissed, pulling several more wagons out from the props room. “He’s got more in case he finishes that! We need to move on or this is going to be a one pony show!” “I’m not going to just force him off stage.” Miss Cheerilee bit her lip. “Then use another stage!” “We don’t have another stage!” “Yes, we do!” Apple Bloom pointed to a very… flavorful… pony in the audience that was sitting near the princess. She had a long cape and pointy hat that was covered in stars and moons, and she was currently sawing several boxes filled with ponies in half with how loud she was snoring. “I don’t know, girls….” “Come on, Miss Cheerilee! Trixie isn’t that bad!” Sweetie pouted at only half force, but several nearby colts still had to avert their gaze with a blush. “Yeah!” Scootaloo buzzed her wings. “Besides, she’s a showpony! She’ll probably say yes just so we can get the real show rolling!” Miss Cheerilee frowned, biting the inside of her cheek. “Now, now… play nice, Scootaloo. I’m sure Snails’ house of cards will end up very, very lovely.” She glanced out to the stage where Snails was edging another card into place—his normally glazed eyes narrowed with focus and his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth. “If he ever finishes!” Diamond huffed as Snails latest card slid slightly and he began to scrutinize his entire house for weaknesses. “Alright, alright…” Miss Cheerilee sighed. “I’ll go see if Trixie is willing to help. Backdrop, please look after the foals while I’m gone.” She glanced around the room, full of her bored and restless students. “Actually? You go ask Trixie if we can use her wagon. I better stay here.” The stagehoof nodded and gave her a lazy salute, heading out the door and into the audience to make his way towards the princess and her snoring guest. After he made several unsuccessful attempts to poke her awake, she was still unresponsive, and my eyes widened as the princess herself took action, rolling her eyes and lighting her horn. With a yelp, the unicorn shot up and rubbed her rump, having the gall to glare at Princess Twilight for her… help. Her ear flicked as Backdrop talked, and her grimace turned into a smirk as she flared her cape, tossed her mane back with a laugh, and puffed her chest out with pride. Even from this distance, I managed to catch the words ‘great and powerful,’ and noticed how it made my friends roll their eyes. Then, there was a flash and a puff of smoke as the mare ran from the park, grinning like a loon under moon. “Are you sure we should be asking this pony for help?” “Ehh… it could be worse.” Scootaloo shrugged. “Trust me, she’s a lot better now than compared to when she first rolled into town.” “That doesn’t inspire confidence,” I huffed, crossing my forelegs. I itched to say some more, but kept silent on the matter as my friends went back to chatting. They clearly knew this Trixie better than me, so who was I to judge? Instead, I settled for watching Snails continue at a snail’s pace. Time seemed to crawl by as he laid out his cards with agonizing slowness such that even I was squirming restlessly with boredom, and I practiced standing still for the Guard. I couldn’t help but sigh in relief when Trixie’s wagon finally rolled up beside the stage. Then, I remembered I’d have to perform now that it was here, and the swarm of butterflies sleeping in my stomach launched into flight again. The fireworks and blinding lights that burst from the wagon as it unfolded into our second stage only made the swarm worse, having them whip up a hurricane inside me. I was so glad I’d listened to Dad when he said I should wear my glasses…. “Next!” Miss Cheerilee’s voice rang out through the audience as she walked out on our newest stage. “Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie!” Snails blinked after a few moments, looking up from his latest card to notice the new stage before shrugging and returning to his work. The two fillies whose act was up roller skated onto the stage, and Miss Cheerilee went off to talk to the students who’d be going next. I was… almost last. At least, I think I was? I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not…. There was this little, itty-bitty piece of me that was saying it’d be better to just get it over with like I was ripping off a bandaid. Either way, though, I had time before I was up. I might as well get a few last bits of practice in to try and silence those stupid butterflies. “And now we have a hometown favorite, Apple Bloom!” I glanced up from my work to see Bloom walking to the center of Trixie’s stage. Was it really already halfway over? “Howdy, y’all!” Apple Bloom waved to the crowd as they stomped and cheered for her. “I ain’t got much reason to be up here this year. I picked something a mite more homey for my act.” She hopped off the stage and trotted around the back of our other stage—Snails still doing Snails things—and pulled a blanketed cart around the corner. “I baked y’all your intermission snacks this year!” There were cheers as Apple Bloom set up shop in front of the stage. “And since they’re part of the show, they’re completely free of charge!” “They’re what?!” There was the agonizing cry of an Apple getting jack as the rest of the audience roared even louder. “Don’t worry none, sis!” Apple Bloom had to stand on top of the cart to see her sister over the stampede of ponies trying to get in line. “I already worked out a payment plan with Granny!” “Bribery.” Scoots muttered, glaring murder at Apple Bloom as a pony literally ate their fritter out of her hoof as she tried to give it to them. “She’s going to win because she bribed everypony.” “The audience aren’t the ones in charge of judging, featherbrain.” Diamond Tiara huffed, pointing to the few ponies left in their seats. “That would be Princess Twilight, and I think she’s smart enough to not let a little food get in the way of seeing the brilliance that is me and Silver.” I gave a snort of laughter and Diamond blanched. “O-or you, Night! You have a good chance of winning too!” “Nice save.” I kept on giggling. “Hey! What about me?!” Scoots buzzed her wings. Diamond shrugged, waving her off. “Silver and I have a bet going on just how long it will take you to get disqualified.” “Hey!” “What?! Don’t tell me you actually picked something in line with the school board’s rules!” “I’m in the show, aren’t I?!” “For now.” Diamond smirked. “But Silver and I know you too well for your own good.” “Hmmmf!” Scoots scowled and crossed her forelegs. “Scootaloo! You’re up in ten!” Backdrop called from the background. “Break a leg.” Silver smiled wryly as we waved Scoots off. “I get paid triple if you do.” “Oh, girls….” I sighed. “I hope you enjoyed intermission everypony, but it’s time for some stunts from our own Scootaloo!” Scoots wings buzzed fiercely as she rocketed onto the stage, turning sharply at the last second to stop before the edge. “Hey, everypony, you ready for some awesome stunts!” “Yeah!” The crowd stomped their hooves. Scoots shot a hoof up. “I’m not talking radical stunts or cool stunts! I’m talking fully-fledged, one hundred and twenty percent awesome, Rainbow Dash approved stunts!” “Yeah!” The approval just got louder. “Without a helmet!” “No!” The reaction from every parent in the crowd was instant, but it didn’t dampen their applause. “Killjoys,” Scootaloo muttered before turning to gesture to the ramp, hoop, and pool—complete with circling fin—that was setup behind her. “You all ready to see me jump the shark!” “No!” “Aww, come on! It’s totally safe!” Scootaloo grabbed the shark fin as it passed her and pulled it up to reveal a scowling Rumble, face as black as his mane. “Argh! Hey! Scoots! You said nopony had to know it was me!” He tried to swat her away. “Not my fault if ponies want to make sure you don’t eat little fillies.” Scootaloo shrugged. “Besides—” She smirked. “—you’re just so cute when you blush!” She pecked him on the cheek, and the crowd went absolutely bonkers—d’awwing and whistling and stomping. “Wha— Huh— Whuh?!” Rumble froze for a moment before the black dominating his face suddenly spread to the rest of his body. He dived back down with an eep and a splash, and the crowd laughed up a storm while Scootaloo did a victory lap around the pool. Lucky, yucky, icky colts. “She’s certainly a showmare, I’ll give her that.” Diamond rolled her eyes. “Silver, what’s the clock at?!” “You’re good.” Silver glanced away from her vigil on the clock tower in the distance. “For now.” “Come on. Come on. Come on!” Diamond stomped a hoof. Scoots finally came to a stop before the ramp, and turned to the cheering crowd. “Oh, yeah! I got one more thing for you!” She pulled out a remote and flicked a switch, the metal hoop suddenly erupting in flames as little slits on it opened up to release burning oil. “The hoop is on fire!” With a buzz of her wings, Scootaloo was off and up the ramp before Silver’s hoof could meet her face. Her startup was perfect; her execution was flawless. Scootaloo easily launched herself through the loop without even singeing a feather. She cleared the jump despite a sparkly-eyed shark sticking up his head in the middle of the tank to watch her rise like a phoenix above him, and she was so cheeky, so confident, so awesome, that she flipped over to flick Rumble’s snoot with her tail as she passed him. Rumble tumbled back into the pool in shock, bubbles and a trail of iron-colored blood rising up from where he sank to the bottom. It took him a few seconds to surface, a little blood trickling down his face, the only casualty to Scoots death-defyingly insane stunt. Of course, the adults were not as amazed as the rest of us. “Disqualified!” Miss Cheerilee’s judgement was swift and harsh. “You told me there wouldn’t be anything dangerous when I said yes!” “I told you there would be no shark.” Scootaloo scowled defiantly between our teacher and the outraged audience. “I thought the fire was obvious. What kind of hoop jump doesn’t have fire?” “I— You— Rules—” Miss Cheerilee sputtered before tossing up her hooves and going to make sure the next act was ready. “Disqualified! Again! And stay after school on Monday so we can talk about just how many weeks of detention you’ll be getting!” I flinched at the D-word. Miss Cheerilee almost never gave that out. “Aha! I called it right down to the second!” Diamond crowed triumphantly from behind me, the tinkle of bits suggesting a rather large pay off. “At least she didn’t get set on fire,” Silver grumbled. “I can’t believe that bet almost paid off.” “Hush, you.” Diamond giggled. “You know I’m just gonna spend it on spoiling you and the girls at Sugarcube Corner.” “Yeah, and I was gonna spend it taking you all to the spa.” “I’ll do that too, then. It’s not like Daddy minds when I ask for money to do that with you girls. He says it’s good practice for making business connections.” “Of course, he does,” Silver sighed. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, you’re up!” “Already?” Diamond blinked. “I thought somepony was between us and Scootaloo.” “Rumble was probably disqualified because of Scootaloo.” Silver adjusted her glasses. “Or he quit.” Diamond smirked. “It’d be just like him to do that so he could go comfort his little bundle of feathers in time out.” “Eww….” I scrunched my face. “Diamond and Silver, where are you?! You’re supposed to be on stage right now!” “Watch and learn, Night.” Diamond sniffed, flicking her tail side-to-side as she and Silver sauntered out of the hall in their tutus. “One of us is going to win tonight, and you’re going to need to bring your best to beat me!” “And me.” Silver droned, rolling her eyes as she passed me. “Celestia forgive, if you should ever forget me.” Prancing onto the stage, they began their ballet routine, and my butterflies surged at just how hypnotic and beautiful it was. Diamond glittered in the stagelights as she leapt and spun and arched—bending in all sorts of directions I never knew ponies could willingly go. It wasn’t until halfway through that I noticed she was even incorporating moves we learned in the Junior Guard—things that I practiced with her, things I helped teach her. I’d never realized my training could be used like that, and it left a different sort of warm and fuzzy feeling in me. “I can do this.” I smiled giddily as Diamond jumped to execute a flying kick that transformed into a twirling spin. “I can do this!” “What? Did you think you couldn’t?” I turned to find that Sweetie Belle had come up behind me to also watch Diamond and Silver. “I, uh… maybe?” Although the grain of the stage floor called to me, I forced my gaze back over to Diamond and Silver. “You have a great voice. You know that, right?” There was an audible pout waiting to pounce on me in Sweetie’s voice. If I looked back, I’d surely be doomed. “How are you and the others so sure of that when you can’t even hear it?” I rustled my wings. “We can feel it.” Sweetie set a hoof on my withers. “And if that isn’t enough for you, I took a recording of a couple songs you sang with this spell Twilight showed me a while back.” A couple of sheets of music paper were levitated before me, but I only spared them a passing glance with Diamond and Silver’s finale approaching. There was a shuffling sound from Sweetie behind me. “It, uh… writes out any music it hears with pitch perfect accuracy, so I got to see just what you were singing. From one singer to another, you have to believe me when I say you’re really good! I even tried singing a few of them myself—you know, in a key I could actually hear—and it made my mom and dad cry they were so moved!” Diamond and Silver finished with this massive, swirling spectacle that made it seem as if they were floating across the stage without ever landing on one hoof. I finally glanced back at Sweetie to see her brow was all scrunched and wriggly as she frowned at me with the tiniest bit of pout. “That could have just been you, you know.” I eyed her cutie mark. “Nope!” she squeaked, shaking her head vigorously. “I copied you note for note, and if you won’t believe me, then I’m gonna prove to you that you can do this!” “I already know I can do this.” I looked back at Diamond as she soaked in her applause. “You don’t have to prove anything to me.” “Yes, I do!” Sweetie huffed, crossing her forelegs and puffing her cheeks out. “Go on!” She shoved the music sheets in my face again. “Pick a song you aren’t doing, and I’ll show you just how good you are!” “Uh…” I squirmed. “Shouldn’t you be doing a song that shows everypony your talents?” “It took a lot of work to get these recordings and figure out the best key I could sing them on.” Sweetie smiled. “Trust me, Twilight will see just how much talent it takes to do this.” “I— I don’t know….” I ran my hoof over a knot in the wood. “Would you feel better about it if we sang together? I’m sure Miss Cheerilee won’t mind.” “No— I mean, maybe— I mean, yes?” I glanced back up. “It’s just… supposed to be sung like I sing it….” “Then come on out and sing with me.” Sweetie held out her hoof. “I, uh…” I glanced out at the audience. “Sweetie Belle!” Miss Cheerilee cantered up looking a lot more frazzled than when the show began. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You’re up next! Are you ready?” “…yeah, okay.” I quickly took Sweetie’s hoof before she could pull it away to answer Miss Cheerilee. “Great!” Sweetie beamed, turning to answer our teacher. “Sorry, Miss Cheerilee! There’s been a change of plans! Can you move me to Night’s slot so we can sing something together?” With a twang, part of Miss Cheerilee’s mane sprung loose. “Yes, yes, I can do that.” Her eye twitched. “I’ll just need to go and spend another five minutes looking for the next act.” “Are you alright, Miss—” “I’m fine! I’m fine! The talent shows have just been getting more and more stressful every year. It’s worth it to see you all happy, though. I’m fine.” Miss Cheerilee punctuated her last sentence with an incredibly steely grin. “We totally need to get her something for this,” I murmured as she disappeared. “Yeah… apples probably won’t cut it this time.” Sweetie nodded. “How about cake?” “Apple cake?” I tilted my head. “Maybe with orange blossoms?” “Sounds good. I’ll talk to Apple Blo—” “Night! Night! Night! There you are! Did you see me?! Wasn’t I fantastic?!” Diamond cantered up a sweating, panting, filthy mess, poorly disguised in a frilly tutu and makeup. “You mean, weren’t we fantastic, right, Diamond?” Silver rolled her eyes as she trotted up at a more sedate pace. “Yes, I saw you both.” I giggled, sweeping them both into a hug. “It was the best act of the night so far. You did great.” I sniffed to find a rather sharp smell poking into my nose like a spear to the lungs. “Argh, Diamond! Nightmother preserve me, you need a bath! I didn’t realize ballet gave you this much of a work out.” “It’s not the ballet.” Silver smirked. “She was running all over the place looking for you after we were done. I told her you were probably exactly where we left you, but she didn’t listen.” “There was plenty of time between when we finished and when the applause ended for her to move.” Diamond huffed. “I wanted to be sure.” “Are you sure you didn’t want to run through the audience just to hear everypony telling you how great our act was?” The smirk grew. “Silver!” “What? We all know you love attention.” “But— But— Fine! I liked the attention! But I was totally just looking for Night!” Diamond turned her snout up in the air. “It’s not like anypony else’s opinion really matters here! Nopony else would have noticed us using Guard training.” I giggled. “You know my Mom and Dad probably noticed. Did you ask them?” “Maybe….” Diamond blushed. “Well, you did a great job. You both deserve all the attention.” A bit of heat creeped up my neck at a few of the more impressive adaptations of our training Diamond had used. “You, uh… might have to teach me a few of those moves, by the way. I’ve been looking for a few more tricks to catch Rumble by surprise.” Diamond blinked, then smiled. “Sure! They probably won’t be of much use in a fight, though.” “With how distracting you made them, I’m sure I can find a use for them.” I shrugged. “Mom says I got to use every advantage I can get.” Silver snorted, biting her lip so hard I saw a trickle of blood. “What?” “Oh, nothing.” Silver snickered in a poor attempt to hold back a full on laugh. “I’m just imagining what’ll happen if you use ballet against Rumble.” “Isn’t it great! He’ll be so embarrassed!” I grinned. “I just know he’ll hate losing to something so girly.” “You do that, and Scoots will probably tar and feather him.” Silver held a hoof to her mouth. “She does hate the mushy stuff.” I nodded. “Sweet Celestia, you’re so oblivious.” “Huh?” “Nevermind.” Silver shook her head. “You two just go ahead and do this. I’ll be bringing popcorn.” “Was Silver always this weird?” I looked to Diamond. “Nope.” Diamond shrugged. “She only started acting like this after you moved here. I guess you just drive her batty.” Diamond hrmmed, rubbing her chin. “Or maybe…” “Maybe?” Silver prompted, waving her hoof in a little circle. “Maybe she has a crush on you!” Diamond’s eyes sparkled like her namesake, while her grin grew to enormous proportions. “Silver! Why didn’t you tell me you liked fillies as much as colts?! That gives us so much more gossip to talk about!” Silver stared at us for a minute or so, wordlessly trying to mouth something. “I’m done!” She finally threw up her hooves. “You got me! I’m madly in love with Nightingale, and I would like nothing more than for her to sweep me off my hooves and fly me away to the moon!” “Umm…” I shrunk away slightly, looking to Diamond for help. “Geeze, Silver, there’s no reason to be so sarcastic.” Diamond pouted. “You have been acting weirdly even since Night moved here, though. Can you blame me for thinking that?” Oh, thank Luna, that was sarcasm. “We need to have a talk.” Silver grabbed Diamond by the ear and started pulling her away. “Do you want—” I started to follow. “Alone.” Silver gave me that look Mom gave Dad whenever he was being an extra special kind of stupid. “Okay….” I couldn’t help but flinch back. “I should probably practice a little with Sweetie Belle anyways. We, uh, decided to sing together.” “I’ll make sure Diamond is there to watch it,” Silver groused as she led Diamond out the back. “Break a leg, you two.” “What the hay was that about?” I shuffled from hoof to hoof, looking between Sweetie and the door. “Don’t ask me. I Pinkie Promised I’d stay out of it.” “A demon’s promise?” My face scrunched up. “Is there something I should know about? Come on, Sweetie. I’m your friend.” “If you can’t figure it out on your own, then it’s not important enough for me to tell you.” Sweetie squirmed. “That sounds like something my mom would say.” I snorted. “Uhh… sure! Let’s go with that!” “You’re really bad at lying, you know that?” My scrunch turned into a squint. “And you’re just awful at practicing.” I rolled my eyes. “Alright, alright. I get it. You can’t tell me or Pinkie will do Pinkie things. What even happens when you break those?” “You don’t wanna know.” Sweetie shivered before picking up her discarded music sheets to hide behind them. “Now, which song do you want to do?” Looking over her shoulder as she browsed through all her pages, I pointed to the song I’d been planning to do. “That one.” “That one?” Sweetie squinted at the sheet, frowning a little. “Are you sure?” “I’m sure.” I nodded. “It’s not the best song to sing, but it’s one of my favorites. Dad used to sing it to me when I, uh… when I had trouble sleeping.” “Well, if that’s how you feel, I’m game.” Sweetie shrugged. “These are all your songs after all.” “And for our final act of the night, we have a bit of a last minute adjustment!” Miss Cheerilee had had to spend more than a minute straightening her mane before going on stage this time. “Sweetie Belle and Nightingale have decided that rather than competing they would like to sing you a song together!” As everypony’s applause rang out, Sweetie and I poked our way out and onto the stage. She was all smiles and waves for the audience. I was… more subdued—simply settling for walking onto the stage and giving a bow. The lyrics to the song were still swimming through my head, helping to put me in the proper mood. As confident as I was, though, my stomach butterflies were swirling about again. There were so many ponies, and I wanted this to be perfect—even if it couldn’t be. “You ready?” Sweetie whispered from the side of her mouth. “As I’ll ever be,” I sighed, bracing to just take the plunge as quickly as possible. Sweetie motioned for the crowd to quiet down, and then together we sucked in a breath and began. “In stiller nacht~ Zur halben wacht~ Ein stimm begunnt zu klagen~ Der nächtge wind~ Hat süß und lind~ Zu mir den klang getragen~” The crowd was dead silent now. Staring. Watching. Judging. I couldn’t help but squirm at all the eyes on me and Sweetie. “Von herbem leid~ Und traurigkeit~ Ist mir das herz zerflossen~ Die blümelein~ Mit tränen rein~ Hab ich sie all begossen~” There was a loud sniff followed by the avalanche that was Dad blowing a tissue. His eyes were full of liquid courage as he watched on, Mom smiling at me as she patted his back. “Der schöne mond~ Will untergon~ Für leid nicht mehr mag scheinen~ Die sternelan~ Ihr glitzen stahn~ Mit mir sie wollen weinen~” There were several sniffles now—as well as a few yawns from a bunch of the foals—and that brought a teeny-tiny smile to my face. “Kein vogelsang~ Noch freudenklang~ Man höret in den lüften~ Die wilden tier~ Traur'n auch mit mir~ In felsen und in klüften~” The park itself was silent now. There wasn’t so much as a hoot or a chirp. “Wohin ich geh~ Wohin mein blick sich wend~ Stets begleit' von meinen sorgen~ Ziehen mit bis an das end~ In dem herzen tief verborgen~” I spotted Diamond in the back by her dad, crying but… smiling? She froze for a second when I saw her, before Silver elbowed her in the ribs and she meekly waved. “Der schöne mond~ Will untergon~ Für leid nicht mehr mag scheinen~ Die sternelan~ Ihr glitzen stahn~ Mit mir sie wollen weinen~” Closing my eyes, I lifted my face towards the moon, and waited for everypony’s final judgement. The applause was quiet, humble, and reverent—not at all like the stomping and cheers everypony else received. It was alright, though. It was supposed to be like that. “I’m done!” Startled from the shattering silence, I fell on my butt with a squeak. Glancing over to the other stage, I found Snails was standing with his skinny chest puffed out. He had slowly moved from a card shack onto a card house, and from there I had apparently missed him making a mansion. He currently had a castle, with towers and turrets, that was pretty much the size of the entire stage. Everypony blinked at it in wonder before bursting into wild applause that completely ruined what little quiet was left. I would have pouted, but honestly, he deserved it. The response to it was so loud and lively, I didn’t even notice Princess Twilight walking down to the stage until it was far too late for me to bow. She looked between the two stages smiling, shaking her head and muttering something to herself. “I suppose…” She had to wait for the audience to calm down. “I suppose I don’t even need to bother with announcing who won after seeing the audience’s reaction to you.” She smiled radiantly at me, Sweetie, and Snails. “But in the interest of fairness, I’m going to go backstage to congratulate the rest of your class so I can think just a little more on my decision. As far as I’m concerned, you’re all winners tonight.” As she walked past me and Sweetie to talk with the rest of the class, I couldn’t help but dance a silly victory dance with Sweetie across the stage. “We won! We won! We won!” I hopped up and down like a loon under moon before freezing mid-jump and flopping to the ground. “Or Snails won….” Several bad dad words flew from my mouth before I could stop them. “Diamond is so not going to like that.” “She’ll live.” Sweetie waved a hoof. “Besides, we got second place! Woot! First is the worst!~ Second is the best!~ Third is the one with the floofy chest!~ Sing it with me, Night!”