The day has finally come for the talent show. All the fillies and colts participating were finalizing their acts and skits they were going to do. Several ponies helped Pinkie Pie with last minute things that had to get done before the show. Some ponies had brought over their food carts and set up their stands. Behind the stage, Twilight helped Miss. Cheerilee with organizing the kids to know when which act was going on next.
One group was the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rarity had set up private screens for them as they wanted to keep it a secret what they were going to do. Snip and Snails were going over the different magic tricks they were going to do after getting inspired by Trixie. Lastly was Blaze, aka Rocky in his colt form. He was not running around like the others. He was pacing back and forth with a little worried and excited face.
Today was the day when he’ll finally be changed back to his normal form. He just needed Zecora to come with the potion for him. If she didn’t get here in time, his stunt wouldn’t work as he planned in his mind. He really wanted his old body back as he couldn’t really do the exercises that he does. Nor has been able to really practice magic as he planned. Lastly, Blaze really wanted to go and find those Elements of Order, but he has no clue where to start. He hoped Princess Celestia would have had better knowledge about them when he told her. His mind was going a mile a minute, the colt didn’t see a couple of fillies walk up to him.
"Well, well, well, a little nervous are you? You think you’re going to make a fool of yourself in front of everyone?" Diamond Tiara asked with a smirk.
Blaze looked up at Diamond Tiara. He also saw Silver Spoon was by her side, as always. "What do you want? Can't you see this area is for participants only?" He replied.
"I just came back here to make sure you weren’t going to back out. I would really hate to see all of these ponies that I invited, talking about your act and what you’re going to do," the pink filly said. She then laughed and the grey filly joined in.
"I wasn’t planning on backing down. In fact, how about you get into the front row to get a good view."
"Oh, we plan to," Silver Spoon said.
"I also bought a case of tomatoes to throw if you really do poorly like what you show us," Diamond Tiara added.
Blaze just thought, ” Even in this world, they would waste good tomatoes on bad acts. Won't they be surprised by the ACTUAL thing I plan to do.” "If you would excuse me, I must practice my lines and get the music prepped."
The colt headed off away from them as he didn’t want to hear any more of their snootiness. They turned and walked away. Both were laughing while Diamond Tiara said, "Good luck, you little freak."
Blaze just wanted to buck that filly until she was black and blue. He thought, ” How could a filly be raised like that in this world. Oh wait, it’s because her family is rich. That's why she thinks she’s better than everyone. Now, where is that Zebra with my cure?”
---------Hours later---------
The evening was now setting in as everyone in town had gathered for the event. The food stands were busy selling their items to the audience. Miss Cheerilee walked onto the stage and gathered the crowd's attention.
Once the crowd quietened down, the magenta mare said, "Welcome everyone to Ponyville's Talent Show! We have several fillies and colts that want to show off their skits and acts."
The crowd cheered and stomped their hooves.
"Our first act is going to be a magic act done by Snip and Snails. Please give them a round of applause."
As the crowd cheered, backstage was Blaze as he was keeping an eye out for Zecora. He was starting to panic a little bit as he wondered where she was. The Crusaders were behind a crate wearing cloaks to hide their costumes and makeup. Twilight came up to them and said, "How are you doing my little ponies?"
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all said at the same time, "Nervous." As they show the expression on their faces.
"You might be nervous, I’m starting to panic!” said the green Earth pony. “Where in Equestria is that Zecora?"
"Did someone say my name?" the Zebra mare said as she walked up calmly to the group.
The colt ran up to her and quickly asked, "Do you have it?"
"Worry not your little mind. If you look in my bag, that’s what you will find."
Blaze walked over to her bag and opened it up. He saw several different herbs and other things in there. "You sure you have everything? All I have to do is place this stuff in a tank of water and go in for a dip?" he asked.
"That’s all you have to do to go back to your true form. I am curious why you sent a little filly and her friend to get a singing potion to help you perform."
"I didn't. Did you give them something?"
"I had a feeling her intentions were unclear. That is why I gave her a potion where only the truth is what you would hear."
The colt smiled as he was happy with Zecora's deception. He then heard the teacher announce the next skit. It was Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie that were going to sing a song while on roller skates. He turned his attention back to Zecora. "Thank you again for putting a rush on getting the ingredients. I don't know how to repay you. Oh, would the potion still work if I put dry ice into the water as well?"
"It’s not a problem, my little friend. It gave me an excuse to see this event and attend. As for your question, it should work with no affection."
Blaze removed the ingredients out of the Zebra’s bag and placed them in a box nearby. Miss. Cheerilee then walked off stage and informed the Crusaders were up next. She then walked up to Blaze and said, "You’ll be after them, Rocky. I look forward to what you are planning."
"Oh, don't worry. I have something planned that no pony would expect a colt to do,” he replied. “It’ll be safe for me to do, but probably not for another pony."
"Just try and be safe. I don't want an accident to happen where someone got hurt."
"Everything will be fine. I have planned out several scenarios to recover if it starts to go bad. Oh, looks like the ponies on stage are about to finish."
"Thanks, Rocky." With that, the magenta mare headed back on stage just as they finished.
The colt headed over to the Crusaders and Twilight were at. He began to hear the conversation they were having.
Apple Bloom then said, “And I'm the main dancer. Hi-ya!” She did a karate chop as she said the last part.
The purple mare started to look a little worried when she said, “Oh?”
“And I'm in charge of . . .” Sweetie Belle started to say.
“Costumes?”
“. . . and sets and props. How'd you know?”
“Really, girls? Are you sure . . .”
"Well, I think you three will do fine. Whatever happens, know that you did your best and you had fun doing it. Now go out there and break a leg," Blaze said.
"Thanks, Blaze," all three fillies said. They then took off their cloaks and got into position on stage.
The purple Unicorn leaned her head down to the green Earth pony and whispered, "Please tell me their act is good from what you saw when you were with them."
Blaze just replied, "I have no knowledge of what they are planning. Now shush, they are about to start."
The Crusaders started their performance the same way they did on the show. Seeing it live though was a little worse as you could hear off-key their voices were. The Crusaders finished their singing just before the last of the background scenery fell over. They waited to see the reaction from the crowd.
What the crowd did was they started laughing. The curtains were drawn closed soon after. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo walked off stage with their head down low.
Blaze walked up to them and said, "Nice job girls. That was a good performance."
"Are you kidding? That was terrible," Scootaloo said.
"The ponies laughed at us." Sweetie Belle said.
"I don't know if we can ever show our faces in Ponyville again." Apple Bloom said with a sad tone.
"I know that was probably not the reaction you were expecting, but remember, you had fun getting ready and doing it. That’s all that should matter," the colt said.
Miss. Cheerilee then walked up to us. She had a sad face as she said, "I’m sorry, Rocky, but I don't think we’ll have time for you to do yours. It will take some time to clear off the stage and make it safe again."
"Miss. Cheerilee, I can take care of that with no problem. I have to anyway make the things I’m going to be needing with my Jutsu."
"I totally forgot that it was you, Blaze. Then go right ahead and get ready."
The green Earth pony headed on stage and went to work. He first used his Jutsu to have all the wood reshape into a large, wooden cauldron. He then began to fill it with water. He formed several blocks of dry ice from the air and placed them in the water. Lastly, he placed the wooden box of ingredients behind the cauldron so the crowd couldn’t see it. Blaze signal Miss. Cheerilee to set the lights and draw the curtain open.
From the crowd's view, they saw a spotlight shining straight down on the smoking cauldron. The green colt walked into the light from behind it. He had his face look like he was planning something evil. The crowd remained quiet as they waited to see what was going to happen.
He started to chant in an evil tone, "Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double, toil and trouble." He said random plant names as he was tossing the ingredients into the water. When he put the last one in, the Earth pony was looking like he was about to say something. After a few seconds, he pulled a script from the box and looked it over. The colt turned his head to look off stage. "Blaze! You gave me the wrong script! I told you I didn’t want to do a scene from this Macbeth!" With that, he threw the script towards the offstage, where no one was standing.
Rocky walked to the front of the stage to address the crowd. "I’m so sorry folks,” he said. “My planned performance got backfired by a certain human. Don't worry as I have a backup plan and this tub of water will get used. What I’m going to do is dive from a one hundred foot tall diving board into this tub of water. I would like to ask all Pegasi and Unicorns to refrain from trying to rescue me as I perform this. I will be perfectly safe. I’ll say that no other pony should try this."
The colt walked to the right side of the tub, from the crowd’s perspective. He turned his head again off stage and said, "Blaze, would you mind creating the diving board underneath me?"
The green Earth pony tapped his hoof as he channeled the jutsu into the wood, causing the platform to form and rise up into the air. It continued to rise up to the desired height. Once it was there, he looked down at the tub below. It was the size of a pinhead. The ponies' heads were mere color dots in his vision.
The colt walked to the edge of the diving board. He stood on his hind hooves and assumed a diving position. He had his forehooves stretched out to above his head. He did a couple of small jumps on the board to check the bounce. Rocky then did a big one and dove off. He formed into a cannonball position and started the sonic spin. He used his ki to make slight adjustments to stay on target.
Upon impact with the water, it created a huge column that came down on the ponies in the front row. They were now soaked to the bone. Due to the speed of the fall, Blaze crashed through the tub, the stage, and went deep into the ground. The force of hitting the ground caused a tiny earthquake that everyone on the ground felt.
The cure for the Poison Joke worked instantly when he was surrounded by the water. The only problem now is that Blaze was in his human form, in a cannonball position, in the ground, and was stuck. He wiggled his hands closer together to teleport. The black hair human managed to do so and teleported to a spot off stage. While in that puff smoke, he created a shadow clone. The clone then shadow transformed into Rocky and teleported back into the hole.
The human Blaze came walking out onto the stage and picked up the tub to reveal the hole in the bottom of it. The crowd gasps at the sight. Blaze puts the tub back down nearby. He then shouted down the hole in the stage, “Rocky! Are you ok?”
The colt Blaze replied from the hole, “I’m ok! A diamond broke my fall. I think it’s bigger than me.”
From the crowd, a white Unicorn was heard shouting, “OH! A DIAMOND BIGGER THAN A COLT! I MUST SEE IT! I MUST!”
“Calm down, Rarity. Let’s get Rocky out of there first. Then, we’ll talk later about retrieving it and splitting the bounty on it,” the black hair human said. “Now, Rocky, I’m going to activate ‘Old Faithful’ to get you out.”
“Wait, old what now?” The colt Blaze shouted.
Blaze then did several hand signs. Once done, he shouted, “Water Style, Water Geyser Jutsu!”
The ground started to rumble. The ponies on the ground were looking for the source. All of a sudden, a column of water burst out of the hole in the stage. Soon after, a green body could be seen coming up in the water. The colt was flung into the air by the force of the water.
Once Blaze spotted the green pony, he stopped the jutsu. The human was moving around the stage as he was looking up as the green colt was now falling back down. Blaze was shouting, “I gotcha! I gotcha!”
The colt was falling towards the stage while waving his legs in a panic state. Ten feet off the ground, Blaze jumped into the air to catch the pony. Once caught, they did a forward spin towards the front center of the stage. The black hair human landed on one knee with both of his arms out to the side. Rocky landed on the human’s head. He was balancing on one hind hoof as he took his pose.
Together, they said, “TA DAAAAAA!”
The crowd cheered at the amazing stunt show they just watched. They both bowed and left the stage. In the backstage area, two fillies tackled the human one and another tackled the colt to the ground.
“That was amazing!” Apple Bloom said with excitement.
Sweetie Belle then added, “You have to teach us how you did that!”
“I think Rainbow Dash would have made it look cooler,” Scootaloo commented.
Miss. Cheerilee walked up to the pile of ponies and single human. “Alright my little ponies, we need to go and get back on stage. It’s time to hand out the awards.”
The colts and fillies went back on stage and lined up in the skit order as they went on. Once they were all lined up, the magenta mare said to the crowd, “Let's hear it for all our talented fillies and colts. Our first award goes to...” They go through the different awards, from the best magic act, best skit, and best comedy. Then, Miss. Cheerilee concluded by saying, "The judges and I decided to add another award for this little pony for doing something spectacular. The award for best stunt goes to Rocky!"
The crowd cheered and applauded. Rocky got out of the lineup and walked up to Spike to receive his award. The medal was a round circle with an action star exploding in the middle.
"Let's hear it again for all of those who participated," the magenta Earth pony said.
The crowd cheered once more, then started to disperse. The other kids were also leaving to return to their homes. Blaze watched the entire thing from backstage. The Crusaders exited on the other side from where he was at. He saw how happy they won an award. Just like the show, when they pulled off their costumes, their flanks were still blank. Twilight walked up to them and was chatting about something. He then turned his attention back to the stage.
Blaze saw his other self was stopped by Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon was nearby but was not standing next to her. He decided to walk up closer to listen to the conversation.
The pink filly said, in an angry tone, "You lied to me! You never planned to do that thing you showed us in the woods. Now, what am I going to do with all of these tomatoes?"
The colt replied, "I had to do my backup skit as I never got the potion from Zecora. I’m just glad Miss. Cheerilee allowed me to change it at the last moment."
Blaze was now close enough to them to speak without shouting. "What’s going on, Rocky? Is Diamond Tiara giving you some trouble?" He asked.
She looked up at Blaze with an angry look. Both he and Rocky were listening closely as they thought they heard her grinding her teeth. Diamond Tiara replied, "No. I was just leaving," with her teeth clamped down.
With that, she walked off stage. Silver Spoon followed while having a small box of tomatoes on her back. The human and colt were then approached by the Mane Six, the Crusaders, and Blaze’s new friends from Royal Guard Training, the ones that were not on duty.
"Well I see ya got your body back," Applejack said.
"Nice trick there, Blaze. I would have pulled up at the last second and flew across the crowd," Rainbow said. Showing her ego.
"How come your colt form is still around? Did the cure not work correctly?" Twilight asked.
"Remember Blaze, you promised we can go after that diamond later," Rarity said.
"Nice performance Blaze. Woohoo," Fluttershy said in her soft voice.
"IamsohappyyougotyourbodybackBlaze! Inowneedtothrowyouanotherparty! Oh, Ineedballoons,streamers,confetti,cupcakes,drinks,andeverythingelse!" Pinkie said in her hyper mode.
“Ok. First, I’m happy that I’m a human again, Applejack,” Blaze replied. “Rainbow, I couldn’t pull up without blowing my cover. The cure did work, Twilight. This colt is a shadow clone. I Didn’t want anyone to think the worst. Don’t worry Rarity, we will. That diamond isn’t going anywhere. Thank you, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie, don’t take this the wrong way. I have something else I need to take care of before I will even think about partying.”
“And what is that, sugarcube?” the orange mare asked.
“Something I’ve been dreaming since I got turned into a colt. Al, you coming?”
“Sure am!” replied the white hair human. He quickly started to follow the other human and colt.
“What do you think is more important?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Fang spoke up, “I think I know what it is. Something humans say they need, but I think something they crave once in a while.”
They all were thinking about it. Then several put a disgusted face as they came to what that thing is.