//------------------------------// // 18 - Auditions // Story: The Perfect Rose // by tom117z //------------------------------// Perfect Rose wasn’t nervous. Whoever said she was nervous!? YOU are nervous! Or at least that’s what she internally argued with Fluffy, the doll sitting idly on a plastic chair amid the theatre hall. The stupid manticore kept insisting that the weird butterfly things in her stomach were her being super weird about the fact that she would be auditioning for a part in the pageant in front of the entire class and how could that… ever make… her… The griffon gulped rather audibly. But not because she was nervous, she had to make that clear. “Are you nervous?” “GAH!?” she squawked at the silly idea that she was freaking out over this! “No no no! Heh, he heeee…” Sundance blinked. “But you’re-” “Shaddup!” “Um… Okie dokie loki…” “Come on, fillies! I’m trying to enjoy the show here!” Bright Spark complained. “But… This isn’t a show? We’re trying to get into a show.” “No way! Seeing some of these things are super funny!” “Why?” “Well, cos they’re bad.” “That’s mean.” “You’re mean!” “Just because you can’t act!” The colt crossed his hooves, grumpily pouting to himself as he muttered under his breath. “I’ll show you not acting you stupid dumb smart filly…” Rose heard him, though, raising a claw awkwardly into the air. “Um, isn’t that just what she said you’d do?” He just pouted harder. “Ice Shard! Come on up!” There went another sacrifice off to the doom of the pageant gods. At least it was him, so they could all get a good chuckle if he sucked at it. “Man, Miss Caring Hoof is tearing through these,” Bright Spark noted when he emerged from his self-pity pit. “I thought this would take forever.” “If it took forever, I’d miss Time Catcher’s cooking,” Rose remarked. “So I’m glad it’s not.” “Mmmm, food…” “Take this seriously!” Sundance verbally shot at the pair. “We’re going to be in a play! And we’re not only representing the school, but we’re doing the Hearth’s Warming Pageant. Do you know how important that is?” “I think we’ve heard it a bazillion times by now,” her griffon friend deadpanned. “I’m sure you will get a good part. You’ve been working really hard at this.” “But what if I don’t!? What if Bright Spark laughs at me like a meanie!” “I’m not mean!” he continued to insist. “Maybe I just shouldn’t even try…” Sundance continued without missing a beat, starting to pace around in agitation. “Maybe I should just run away to Manehatten and start a new life of crime or something oh I don’t know HELP ME!” Perfect Rose blinked. Somehow, seeing Sundance freak out so much was making her own jitters dissipate somewhat. Somewhat. “Come on, Sunny,” Rose addressed her friend sympathetically. “You’re really really good at this stuff! Just because everypony would be… watching… us… Um, er, what was I saying? Oh, right. You’ll be great! Better than me…” Sundance stopped in her tracks, giving the griffon a questioning look. “Why do you say that?” “Well, because it’s a pony play and stuff…” Perfect Rose scuffed the ground with her talons. “It sounds cool and all, ghosts and swords and things, but I probably won’t be anywhere near as good as you.” “I’m sure you’ll get a part. How about we promise to all try super hard and get into the play?” Sundance suggested. “So we can all have fun and do really well!” “Eh, I guess I can,” Bright Spark said with a shrug. Perfect Rose let out a breath, glancing off to the side where her faithful companion sat silently on his plastic chair. She looked into his beady eyes and knew Fluffy had a point. If Sundance was going to try as hard as she could to get a place in the play, and even Bright Spark was going along with it despite not being anywhere near as excited for it, then how could she do any less? She wasn’t nervous after all, so why did she have to be afraid? Rose looked back at her friends with a nod of her head. “Okay. Let’s all get in and have adventures and fun and then lemonade at the end!” “Now you’re speaking my language!” Bright Spark piped up. “I thought that would be spells and stuff,” Sundance mused. “I speak multiple languages.” “Uh-huh…” “So, we doing this?” the griffon then asked. “Working hard and showing our parents how good we are and then we can all be happy?” “You betcha!” Sundance confirmed with a tilt of her head and a happy smile. Across the hall, Ice Shard’s audition came to an end with several adults, Caring Hoof included, jotting down notes on a pad. The unicorn mare in particular nodded several times at what she had written, biting her lip for a moment as she seemingly considered some things before the pony cleared her throat and looked up at the colt on stage. “Thank you, Ice Shard. That was… nice? Ahem, please exit the stage and wait for the results after the others have had their turn.” The colt did so without so much as a word, hopping down as Caring Hoof swapped her notes for a checklist and studied it for a few moments. She took her quill and ticked off Ice Shard’s name, looking through the remaining students’ names before she gave a nod to herself and placed the list aside. The teacher turned around, saying a few words to some other kids before approaching the troublesome trio and their stuffed manticore companion. “Alright you three, you all have yet to have your moments to shine!” she noted cheerily. “Any takers?” Bright Spark just shrugged noncommittally while Sundance froze in place, her eyes turning into saucers as she stared up at the teacher with renewed trepidation. Ignoring any she herself might allegedly be feeling at that very moment, she stepped up beside Sundance and gave up a gentle nudge with her wing. The effect was immediate. “GWAH YES I WOULD PLEASE MISS!” she proclaimed with flustered eagerness. “…Please?” Caring Hoof raised an eyebrow for a moment, but then replaced the expression with an amused chuckle. “My, you are certainly keen. I would be a horrible pony, and teacher, to keep you from it. The stage is yours, Miss Sundance.” The filly looked a mix between someone who had just won the lottery and one who had just been presented with a speeding train coming towards you on a narrow bridge with nowhere to go but down. “Yes yes! This is great and terrifying STAGE! I’m going!” Sundance scurried off, the group all watching her go with a mix of amusement and worry for the excitable and yet clearly overwhelmed child. On her part, Caring Hoof just shook her head before regarding Perfect Rose specifically. “You can be next, Perfect Rose. Since Bright Spark doesn’t seem all that concerned.” “Fine with me!” the colt remarked. Now it was Perfect Rose’s turn on that bridge. “Um… me… Next…?” “Uh-huh. Unless you have a problem with that?” “Um… no?” “That’s settled then! Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” The teacher turned and walked away, gathering her notes as Sundance readied herself on stage with the presented script. All the while, Rose just looked between them as her stomach suddenly seemed to grow heavy and her feathers stood on end. Fluffy was rather smug when she finally acknowledged that she was, indeed, a little nervous. “Queen Platinum!” Sundance squealed in delight as the group exited the theatre hall with the rest of the class, Caring Hoof shepherding them back to class. “EEEEEEE!” To say the filly was pleased with the results would be an… understatement. Especially since Platinum was not only the first ruler of Equestria but was also one of the starring roles of the play. So ‘over the Mare in the Moon’ did not even begin to describe the sheer joy the filly was exhibiting at that moment in time. “Yeah, but I got Clover. So that’s WAY better!” Bright Spark bragged. “He’s a wizard!” Perfect Rose rolled her eyes. Yes, despite all the evidence that might have said the contrary, the seemingly apathetic Bright Spark had also landed one of the leading roles… As the story’s primary magic user no less. Perhaps becoming a wizard was just fated for the colt after all. Landing the part had certainly convinced him that was the case. As for Perfect Rose… “Yeah, well, I’m Pegasus Guard Number Five!” Perfect Rose declared, gaining a couple of odd looks from the other children around her. “That’s way cooler.” “Um, Rose…” Sundance started gently. “It’s awesome you got a part and all, but you do know it’s just a background character, right?” The griffon blinked. “I’m not sure what that means, but who cares? I got armour and a sword and everything! That’s better than a wizard and pretty princess.” “Nothing is better than wizards…” Spark grumbled. “Yes there is, adventuring griffon guards and Fluffy,” she shot back in a matter-of-fact tone. “Maybe Commander Hurricane would have been better, but I can be a guard. I’ll be a great guard! Just you watch!” Sundance hummed. “Well, I guess if you’re happy then I am too! Oh, this is going to be amazing! I can’t wait to tell my parents!” “Yeah, mine will be glad and all I guess,” Bright Spark noted. “Maybe I can convince Caring Hoof to let me do some big spells and explosions!” “You are not blowing up my big play!” Sundance immediately shut his idea down. “Okay, one, ‘your’ big play? Two, you are so boring.” “I think you’re both fun!” Perfect Rose innocently replied. “I just wish that Goldenblood could be part of it too. He would make a good Puddinghead!” Bright Spark levelled her a deadpan look. “Really? I don’t see it.” “Oh, well, something! I just think he should be allowed to have fun with us. That’s all.” “Yeah, me too. But we can still play our parts, right?” “Nothing is stopping me!” Sundance announced. “I’m going to be the Queen Pony!” “Hey! No! I’m Queen Griffon!” Rose protested with a whine. “Heh. Well, I took your crown!” “Awww! You can’t do that!” Sundance stuck out her tongue in a cheeky display of defiance towards her feathered friend. The griffon, in turn, dramatically gasped at the sight and let out another whine. She then looked towards Bright Spark, stopping in front of him with a dangerous look that caused his fight or flight instincts to scream danger. “Brighty…” she started in an eerily sweet tone. “If you were to choose one of us to be the Queen Adventuring Awesome Person, which would it be?” “Uh… I mean…” “Yes, Brighty…” Sundance spoke in the same tone that made the colt wonder just how someone of a natural prey species could be just as terrifying as somepony from a predatory one. “Which one of us would it be…?” The colt took a step back, nervously looking between the two fillies with a nervous chuckle as he looked for a way out of the situation. Perfect Rose, on her part, just glared at him harder. “Can I just stay silent?” he pleaded. “No,” they both answered quickly. “…Fluffy?” Both girls blinked at his answer, craning their heads around to look at the stuffed toy sitting victoriously on the griffon’s back. They then looked back at Bright Spark. Then to each other. And then to Bright Spark again. Then both of them huffed indignantly as they turned around and walked away from the colt in a grumpy fashion. “Hey! You asked…!” He scrambled to catch up to the two of them, grumbling to himself all the while. And then, further on ahead where the rest of the class had gotten a lead during the whole exchange, Caring Hoof looked back at the three with a bemused expression. “Come on you three. We’ve still got a small walk back, don’t fall behind now!” “Sorry, Miss Caring Hoof,” the three droned in response. The trio sped up to make up the distance, all while the unicorn mare herself slowed a little until she was walking alongside the children. “Everything alright?” she asked. “Hm. All good!” Perfect Rose replied. “Just stupid girl stuff…” Bright Spark complained. The mare giggled behind a hoof. “Oh, I imagine. You did choose to be friends with two fillies, young colt.” “Yeah, well… they’re cool I guess.” “High praise. Now, were you all satisfied with the parts we gave you?” “Oh, yes! I love it!” Sundance confirmed brightly. “Thank you very much! We won’t let you down!” “Oh, I know you won’t. Don’t worry yourselves so much, it’s all just a good bit of fun,” she assured them. “How about you, Perfect Rose? I know your part isn’t as… prestigious as your friends’.” “I’m okay with it. I’m looking forward to looking all cool, actually!” she replied. “Why do you ask, Miss Caring Hoof?” “Just checking up, that’s all,” she explained kindly. “I know things haven’t always been easy for you at school…” She grew silent for a moment, deep in thought, before shaking them away and smiling back at the children once again. “Oh, never mind that. I’m happy that you’re satisfied with your parts. Now come on, or the other teachers will think I’m a slowcoach!” Well, they couldn’t have that, could they? The four of them joined back up with the rest of the class, heading back to their school a few streets away. As they went, the griffon in the group briefly thought about what the teacher had said. How things hadn’t always been easy, what certain ponies had said and done… What else would they say, seeing her up on that stage? But she soon let the issue slide from her mind once more, just enjoying the revelry of their incoming pageant and the parts they had to play.