At last, the day of the event had arrived.
Fluttershy gingerly carried Cecil in his portable terrarium as she walked down the sidewalk. She had gone to the animal shelter and picked him up as soon as it had opened. As a precaution, she had draped an opaque cloth over the terrarium so as not to startle any passersby (and to likewise prevent him from being startled by their reactions). Cecil lay quietly within his carrier, although he was no doubt curious as to where she was taking him.
Before long, she arrived at Canterlot High School. As she approached the gym entrance, she found Shining Armor and Big Macintosh coolly leaning against the wall on each side of the double doors with their arms crossed. Twilight's and Applejack's elder brothers were both clad in plain black t-shirts, blue jeans, and sunglasses. They looked like a pair of bouncers at a nightclub - at least the ones Fluttershy had seen in the movies. Their frosty, unreadable masks gave way to warm smiles as they greeted her and opened the doors.
Inside, she found the gymnasium set up just the way it had been for Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna's belly dance recital a few weeks earlier, with several rows of folding chairs assembled before the stage. DJ Pon3, Pinkie Pie, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Twilight Sparkle, and Dean Cadance were all seated across the front row listening enrapt as Twilight's dog Spike tapped a staccato beat on a goblet-shaped darbuka drum, DJ and Lemon bopping their heads to the rhythm. Pinkie Pie had certainly done an excellent job of teaching Spike how to drum. Twilight's solo was sure to be a good one!
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both walking toward the entrance. Applejack was carrying a large folding table that would serve as their ticket counter while Rainbow carried the cash box. Both of them greeted Fluttershy as they passed. The others then glanced up from Spike's performance to likewise greet their friend and co-star.
"You're sounding real good, Spike," said Fluttershy.
"Thanks," said Spike. He smiled at Pinkie as he added, "I had a good teacher." At this, Pinkie giggled.
"How is your co-star?" asked Twilight.
"Ready as he'll ever be," Fluttershy said as she lifted the cloth off the terrarium. Pinkie and Lemon cooed as Cecil curiously took in their unfamiliar faces.
Just then, Rarity emerged from the wings with Sunset Shimmer, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.
"The dressing room is ready for us!" Rarity called out.
"You'd best start getting ready," said Principal Celestia. "We'll see to our guests."
"Break a leg, girls!" added Dean Cadance.
With that, the principals and the dean went to join Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the entrance while DJ took her position at the sound controls. Fluttershy gently set Cecil's terrarium down in the stage-left wing before following Pinkie, Twilight, Lemon, Sugarcoat and Rarity back to the dressing room.
***
Rarity had once again outdone herself. While the bedlah the girls had borrowed from Chiffon Veil's studio wardrobe during their first recital had been beautiful, the costumes which Rarity had made especially for each of them left those far behind. Each of their outfits was a sight to behold, adorned with intricate scrolling patterns and sparkling beads and baubles.
Fluttershy smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror, admiring the green bedlah Rarity had made for her. Its most notable feature was a thick tassel dangling from the center of her top, ending just above her navel. Gently, she ran her fingers over its contours. While Rarity had assured her that her costume had no sharp edges or anything else that could potentially scratch or scrape Cecil if he should come into contact with it, it would not hurt to make doubly sure.
Off to one side of the vanity counter lay a vase of red roses, along with a card signed by Chiffon Veil, Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and Dean Cadance encouraging them to dance their hearts out.
"Oh yeah!" beamed Lemon as she admired her canary yellow costume in the mirror. "This totally beats that cheap harem girl costume I wore last Halloween!"
Sugarcoat joined Lemon at the mirror to admire her own orange costume. "Thank you again, Rarity,"
"You are most welcome, darlings," said Rarity as she adjusted the top of her purple costume.
Pinkie, clad in her bright blue costume, sidled up to Lemon and presented a tiny yellow imitation jewel to her.
"You suuure you don't want to try one?"
Lemon smiled as she gestured to the gold barbell piercing in her own navel. "Thanks, Pinkie, but I'm good."
Twilight, clad in her pink costume, smiled as she rolled her eyes. Despite her efforts to dispel the widespread myth of belly dancers wearing jewels in their navels, Pinkie had become an ardent proponent of it, as had Rarity, albeit to a lesser extent. Now Fluttershy could not help but wonder whether Twilight regarded belly rings the same way she did belly jewels. As usual, Pinkie and Rarity wore belly jewels matching their respective costumes' colors.
Once they had applied their makeup, the girls were ready. Veils draped over their shoulders like cloaks, they walked on their bare feet out onto the wings - Twilight, Lemon and Rarity on the right, Fluttershy, Sugarcoat and Pinkie on the left. Twilight gave Sunset the thumbs up indicating that they were ready. They could already hear the dull roar of the audience. After taking a moment to check on Cecil, Fluttershy took a moment to discreetly peek out from the end of the curtain.
It was a slightly better turnout than they had expected. In the back row, she saw Dean Cadance with Chiffon Veil and four other women from the adult class. In front of them sat a large cluster of Crystal Prep students: Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Fleur De Lis, Suri Polomare, Frosty Orange, Garden Grove, and Orange Sherbette. The rest of the audience was filled with Canterlot High students - most of them from the drama, fashionista and eco cliques: among them, Trixie Lulamoon, Lyra Heartstrings, Sweetie Drops, Watermelody, Sophisticata, Octavia Melody, Blueberry Cake, Photo Finish, Sandalwood, Sweet Leaves. Even Wallflower Blush and Juniper Montage showed up!
As expected, the overwhelming majority of the audience was female. Not counting Shining Armor and Big Macintosh, the only guy in the audience was Sandalwood. Fluttershy felt her cheeks flush a little as her eyes lingered on him. She had once harbored a crush for the green-haired fellow, as he shared her love of animals. While those feelings eventually subsided, her heart still skipped a beat at the sight of his tall, lean frame. Knowing him, Sweet Leaves probably dragged him here. She could not help but wonder what was going through his head. Hopefully, he did not feel too awkward...
Just then, Fluttershy noticed movement near the entrance. Her eyes widened. Standing at the ticket counter, talking to Rainbow Dash was none other than her brother, Zephyr Breeze. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. Zephyr Breeze had told her that he was going to go hang out with Snips and Snails today. What was he doing here? Somehow, she doubted that he had come just to flirt with Rainbow.
***
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened with disbelief when she looked up to find Zephyr Breeze standing before her, cash in hand with a wannabe suave grin on his face.
"One, si vou plait."
"Zephyr Breeze? What are you doing here?"
"Why, I'm here to support my sister and her friends."
"Well, you're just in time," said Applejack as she took Zephyr's cash and handed him his ticket. Rainbow breathed a silent sigh of relief. She could always count on Applejack to steer Zephyr's attention away from her.
"Merci beaucoup!" As always, Zephyr added a wink for Rainbow which never failed to annoy her.
As Zephyr proceeded to the seating area, Sunset walked out onto the stage.
"Good morning, everybody," Sunset boomed into the microphone. "And thank you all for coming! The junior class at Chiffon Veil's dance studio has worked hard to prepare today's event and have they got a show for you! Now, who's ready to rock the casbah?"
Everyone in the audience cheered and clapped. Indigo Zap even gave a few ululating "warrior princess" trills - she and Lemon Zest had gotten very good at doing those. As Zephyr took his seat on the edge of the third row near Sandalwood and Sweet Leaves, he cupped his hands to his mouth and belted out at the top of his lungs.
"Good luck, Flutter Butter!"
***
Backstage, Fluttershy sank to her knees. Up until this very moment, Zephyr Breeze had always been discreet about her belly dancing hobby. She never had any reason to worry about him blabbing about it to any of their classmates. Now he had just blurted out his (widely known) nickname for her in front of nearly half the student body. Why now, of all times? And in front of Sandalwood, of all people?
In that instant, every trace of her courage evaporated. She had hoped to maintain the element of surprise up until the moment she actually unveiled herself. Now, she had lost that advantage. This was far worse than the time Snips and Snails shined the spotlight on her during the Battle of the Bands. She could already feel all of her classmates' eyes upon her. She could already hear them laughing at her. She could not stop trembling.
Sugarcoat knelt down and took her friend's shoulders.
"Fluttershy?"
"Hey, you okay?" added Pinkie.
Fluttershy could only turn to gaze at Cecil in his terrarium. On the other side of the stage, Twilight, Rarity, and Lemon were wondering what was going on. At that very moment, DJ began playing the music for their group introduction routine! Slowly, the curtains began to open. Fluttershy closed her eyes as a tear streamed down her cheek.
"You girls go on...without me."