The crowd was applauding loudly as they saw the curtains open, only to start laughing as they saw the lights turn on, revealing the cast frantically trying to finish placing the last touches on the stage before they stopped instantly as they looked at the crowd in shock. Derpy took this as a hint to shut off the lights once more as the group frantically worked on finishing, whispering loudly as they could.
As the lights switched on once more, the crowd could see Dr Wolf and Linda were both standing on stage, now ready to start acting.
“Wow Ms Pinkie, I…”
SLAM!!!
He yelped as all of the hanging streamers and ribbons fell to the ground, the hooks that were once holding them being bent out of place due to the weight problems caused by the replacement lanterns.
The two actors were speechless as Skies darted across the stage and snatched up the loose props and took them backstage.
Doc gulped before speaking. “Wow Ms Pinkie, I didn’t think that you’d all have it done in time.”
“Well, I am a party planner expert.” She said with a small stutter before pointing at the bare rafters. “Do you like the ribbons?”
He nodded as he looked at the bare rafters. “Yes… they look rather lovely, and functional too.”
“It was Dash’s idea. She figured the ribbons would be strong enough to hold the lights.”
“I see. Well, if the others think they are strong enough, I can see it working out.” He said, scratching his head awkwardly. “So, I must warn you that I will have a few appointments here before the party, and I will need some alone time with them.”
“Okay, but you will have to talk to Twilight about this.” She said as they turned to the door, hoping that Twilight would have made a miracle recovery.
There was no miracle.
All that showed up was Quillian, now having most of his body coated in the purple fur dye and wearing two cardboard wings. He kept his uninterested gaze on Doc as he spoke in his casual monotone voice. “Hi Doctor. Are things set up here?”
“I think that your friends have everything well covered here, so I think you can try to relax some now.” He said as he and Linda were both staring at the monotone pony, wondering how he became their last resort.
“Oh, thank Celestia. I can’t express enough how much this makes me feel better.” He said, sounding so monotone that it sounded sarcastic in its delivery.
Doc gulped as he started to hope that this makes him more sympathetic about the others struggles with acting. Then again, he wasn’t the most understanding of people. “The look on your face tells me everything.” He said as he tried to stay on script, now feeling that their acting performance wasn’t going to improve. “So, would you like to sit and talk for a while?”
“I’m sorry Doctor, but I still have several dozen things to make sure are sorted out before Celestia shows up, which will only be in a few hours… Light, it shouldn’t take that long! Act two barely takes an hour.” He said as he turned to the backstage.
Doc quickly cleared his throat before Linda said her lines. “Are you sure Twilight? You seem to be working up a sweat.”
As soon as she said that, the door cracked open as a squirt gun peeked out and squirted some water onto his head, causing the fur dye to start washing off.
“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine.” He said, keeping his emotionless face as the dye dripped down his face. “I’ll see you two later.” He said as he walked off the stage, pausing for a second before looking at Linda. “And you are forgetting to bounce around.” He pointed out before Light yanked him off stage.
Doc gave a small sigh as he tried to ignore what he saw. “So, did Twilight look a little stressed to you?”
“Yeah, I think it was written all over her face.” She said as she started bouncing around again, trying not to lose her balance.
“I wish she would open up to me more about this…” Before he could finish, he saw her starting to stumble towards the edge of the stage. The wolf quickly jumped up and grabbed her wing, pulling with all of his might as she was leaning over the edge on the stage. Her eyes widened in fear of falling before she was pulled back, landing right on top of the wolf. “...pressure she’s under.” He gave a long wheeze as he tried to go through his lines.
“Same. By the way, do you think this place is big enough for a fun party?” She asked as she carefully got off of the wolf.
“ Arg… I’m sure we’ll manage.”
“Okie dokie.” She said happily as she started trying to make her way off stage. “I hope your patients are going to be all… WOAH!!!”
He winced as she tripped, falling into the backstage area. He turned to the audience as he tried to keep going. “Ah, yes. I still have to handle my next case. Well, I’m sure that we can work through this together…”
The wolf froze like a deer in the headlights as he suddenly remembered a major flaw that was left unaddressed. Light assigned all of the minor roles to Elytra.
All of them.
Before he could fully allow the mistake that was about to unfold to sink in, he watched as Elytra walked in. To his relief, she looked exactly like Vinyl Scratch. Body shape, mane, cutie mark, almost everything. The only error he saw was that her eyes were blue instead of red.
Wait… she wasn’t wearing shades…
And Octavia was supposed to come on stage first…
Unless…
Oh no…
“Greetings Doctor. Has Vinyl shown up yet?”
Dr Wolf gave an exasperated whimper as he heard those words leave her mouth. “N… not yet Ms Melody. Although I’m sure that we will see her face soon.”
“Fair enough, however, I wish she would show up on time.” She said as she sat down in front of him.
“Just give her a little time.” He said before turning to the area off stage. “Ah, I think that’s her now…”
Elytra stared blankly at the end of the stage for a moment before she remembered the other role she was playing. She quickly jumped up and ran off stage, causing the wolf to lower his head out of shame and stress. He wasn’t comforted as he saw the green flash of Elytra’s magic, followed by her walking on stage, looking the spitting image of Octavia.
Well, save for the shades she was wearing.
“What’s up? The party mare is in the house!”
Doc winced as he realized how it would look like if two mares swapped bodies, or personalities. “Good evening Vinyl. We’ve both been expecting you. Would you like to have a seat next to… Octavia?”
Now, the first thing that was missing from this scene was Octavia. That was obvious enough. Although if you were in the audience, you’d have noticed that there weren’t any seats either. The two actors looked at each other before sitting on the ground, looking rather nervous about the choice they have made.
“Well, this isn’t as comfortable as the couch in your office. Am I right, Tavy?” She asked as she looked at her right for a second before remembering that she had both roles. She quickly took off the shades and changed back into Vynal’s body.
“He’s working with what he has. It’s not his fault that he’s not in his own office.”
He sighed at this creative choice of her’s, wondering if this would result in him getting them mixed up next session. “Nonetheless, I figure that it’d be wise to get this started before the others are scheduled to get back here. So, why don’t we get started?”
“I’ve just been dealing with a lot of stress lately…”
“No you aren’t. Sigh… We are past that.”
“Um, it’s hard to be successful in the fashion…”
“Nope, but closer.”
“... My dear and faithful student?”
“Not yet! Roommate.” He clarified as he gestured next to her, before remembering that she was playing both of them.
“Oh… Now I remember.” Elytra said as she looked to her left. “My roommate is so noisy.”
He looked at her expectantly as he was waiting for her to continue. “So… why don’t we talk about it?”
“Well, we don’t remember much more than that, don’t we, Vinyl?”
“That’s right Tavy.”
He winced as soon as he heard that. “A… are you sure?”
“Not at all.”
“Nope.”
He gave an exasperated sigh, trying to figure out what was more frustrating at the moment. Elytra forgetting her lines, or swapping between Vinyl and Octavia. “Well… we need to talk about something.” Doc said, trying to at least try to pull something off here.
“Can I eat? I’m so hungry that I could eat an elephant.”
“A little something to settle the stomach would be nice”
Doc looked confused as he tried to figure out where this was in the script. “Um… the cake is for the party…”
“Doc, that’s not what we are talking about. We want to taste the love… but in the changeling way, not the other way.”
“Please forgive her improper phrasing, but she isn’t far off.”
He sighed as he rubbed the ridge of his nose, which was getting sore at this point. “Is it alright if I ask why you eat so much?”
“Because we’re hungry. That happens over time like everypony else, man.”
“And to try and put it gently, we don’t have many ways to eat anymore.”
“Yeah, love doesn’t grow on trees.”
“Well, there is always the reformation project.” He reminded the changeling. “Have you ever considered it as a better way of obtaining love?”
Before she could respond to the wolf, Quill walked on stage. “That wasn’t in the script. Why is it so hard to…”
“GET OFF THE STAGE NOW!!!”
Doc’s eyes widened as he heard Light scream at the stage-hand before he literally stormed on stage to grab him.
“That’s no way of talking to a princess.” Quill said before he was suddenly picked up by the alicorn.
“Shut up! You can stick to the script when it’s your turn!” He barked angrily as he started carrying him off of the stage.
“Why? Nopony else has. Not even the doctor.”
“TAKE IT TO SOMEPONY WHO CARES!!!”
“Like the audience, which includes royalty, celebrities, critics, your little brother who is laughing like a banshee, the…”
“SHUT UP!!!”
Doc winced at Light’s scream as he stormed off stage, leaving him and Elytra there, both looking rather shocked by this.
“Um… why is the teddy bear alicorn screaming at a princess? That is just totally uncool.”
“Yeah. I hate to be a gossip, but that doesn’t sound like either one of them.”
He rubbed the ridge of his nose, admittedly impressed that Elytra is staying in character.
Well, characters.
“I think I need to look into fitting him into tomorrow’s schedule.” He admitted with a sigh, glad that nopony was taking anything they were saying seriously. “But let’s focus on you. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Well, frankly, I don’t understand why so many people are just okay with all of the hugs and stuff like that. It’s uncool man. I love a rave like every other party mare, but I want people to respect my personal space.”
“Yeah, I mean, not all of us want to spend an hour just hugging some random stranger. Some of us have standards and preferences.”
“Ah… I think I see what you are talking about.” He said as he started to relax, surprised about how he was able to get away with public therapy sessions. “Physical touch isn’t your preferred love language.”
“My what now?”
“I thought it was french?”
“No. The love languages are forms of expression that people use to show affection, and I’m not just talking about couples. These languages apply to friends, family, and other people in general. These languages are Words of affirmation, Acts of service, Receiving gifts, Quality time, and physical touch.”
“Oooh…”
“I don’t get it.”
“Well, the main way I tend to express to others is with words of affirmation, being able to talk to ponies to be able to give them comfort or encouragement. I listen to ponies and try to give them the encouragement and assurance needed for them to improve. Acts of service imply helping people with certain tasks, like helping your parents clean the dishes or take out the trash. Tasks like this can apply to friendship, like helping them with something around the house, or even a loved one with making dinner for them.
Then we have receiving gifts, which is the process of giving and receiving items of sentiment. Such items can range from flowers to jewelry for lovers, or toys and clothes for family and loved ones. I’d suggest looking into their interests, needs, and personal preferences before picking out a gift for them.
Quality time is spending personal time with the people you care about. It could be a walk on a trail, a movie, or just sitting with them and having a conversation. Spending time out of your day for somebody else can show them how much you care. What you care about most can be shown by how much time and money you invest in it, or them.
Then there is the one that Thorax seems to be the most familiar with, physical touch. The act of hugging, petting somebody back, or other physical ways to show assurance, comfort, or simple care.
Love isn’t a simple thing that only comes between husband and wife. It’s a wide spectrum of people, ranging from friends to family, and conveyed through a wide array of actions. The most important thing to remember is that love is a two way street. In order to fully receive the love and care of others is to give it in return.”
As Doc finished his lecture, he was shocked to hear the crowd applauding him, reminding him that he was still on a stage. However, he did feel a little better about some people possibly taking this to heart.
As the crowd started to quiet down, Elytra licked her lips at the wave of love that came in for that speech. “Wow… that was awesome!” She said, wondering what it would be like at the end of the place before she shifted back into Vynal’s body.
“Do you think you can kindly get them all to applaud again?”
“Yeah, we’re still hungry.”
And there was the laughter again.
Doc sighed as he knew this talk would take a considerable amount of time to help her understand this fully. “We’ll talk about this more later.”
“Why?”
“Was there a third act that we didn’t know about?”
“It’s going to be a long play if so.”
“I’ll have to rosin my bow.”
The poor wolf shook his head as he looked at the clock on stage. “I guess I shall be seeing you two tomorrow.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Because…”
“Just get off stage please.” He pleaded with a long sigh.
The changeling took the hint as she slowly walked off stage, but she stopped right before she was out of sight. “Are you sure that I can’t have a little…”
Before she could finish, she found herself snatched off stage by the stressed out alicorn, much to the doctor’s dismay.
“Ah… I think those two are going to get along just fine.” He said as he wiped off his forehead with his arm. “I do wish that Twilight would talk to me about this whole matter. It would make…”
“We’re back, doctor. I’m glad to see…”
Before Skies could finish his line, Quill used his magic to take hold of the door. “Not yet.” He scolded him in his same monotone voice before slamming it shut.
Doc blinked a few times before trying to continue. “It would make things easier for both of us if she’d open up. So many…”
“We’re back, Doctor. I’m glad to see…”
“Not yet.”
Slam!
He winced, wanting to try again. “So many people think that they need to hide their doubts and fears to keep from dragging their friends and family down. However…”
“We’re back…”
Slam!
“They don’t understand… that it only prolongs their issues until they boil over in disastrous ways.” He finished, relieved that he was at least able to finish his line as he looked to the door…
And saw nothing.
The wolf whimpered before he heard Quillian speaking up. “That’s your cue. Come on.” He said as he opened the door, right before shoving Skies into the room.
The speedster cringed before turning back to the doctor. “We’re back, doctor. I’m glad to see that we aren’t catching you in the middle of something.”
“Too late.” Quillian said bluntly as he made his way to the doctor. “Sorry for taking your time. Rarity thought it would be good if we spent some time talking to you to unwind. Since I managed to handle the guest list… why wouldn’t I’ve done that ahead of time?” He asked as he looked off stage. “Light, I told you that you…”
Before he could start ranting again, Doc spoke up instantly. “A few minutes of free time? Well, I guess we shouldn’t waste time. Take a… seat…” He said shakingly as they all looked at the floor once more.
They all sat on the floor again as they tried to go on with the act. “So Twilight, you have been rather… stressed lately.” Skies started to say before Quill interrupted him.
“Don’t pause in the middle of the sentence. You’ve been on stage for a while now. Try to act like it.”
“An hour isn’t a long time!” He grumbled as he crossed his hooves.
“It’s an hour longer than most people here.”
“Um… back on script, please?” Doc whispered, but nowhere near quiet enough to go unheard.
“So… where are we?” Skies asked as he turned back to the doctor.
“Oh… well, we were just talking about your…”
“No… where on the script?”
He blinked a few times as he tried to process this strange request, soon coming to the conclusion that the pegasi forgot his lines. “Um… page eighty four…”
“I was under the impression that we were on page one hundred and five.” Quill chipped in.
“No, that’s Light’s copy. He likes using the larger print.” Doc corrected him.
“Is he short sighed?” Skies asked curiously.
“Only in directing.” Quill quipped bluntly before Light’s head poked out of the backdrop.
“It’s page ninety three.” He whispered harshly.
“Um… maybe it was ninety two actually.” Skies said bashfully.
“I wrote this play! I know what page we are on! Ninety three!” The director repeated himself before ducking back backstage.
Skies nodded as he focused for a minute, smiling as he remembered the page. “Essful in the fashion world.” He blurted out before wincing, realizing that he was not only on the wrong page, but mid sentence too.
“Wow, you were right.” Quill said as he rolled his eyes. “It was ninety two.”
Skies gritted his teeth as he tried to continue with his line to the monotone pony. “So I am just as stressed as you most days. I have to manage several stores…”
“Which you have store managers for.”
“Ah… then there is the constant need for change…”
“Which you have always been able to do effortlessly.”
“And… having to juggle all of our adventures alongside of that, it just makes things…”
“And all of the main six have done that effortlessly. Seriously. Why couldn’t Light have thought about these simple…”
“SHUT UP!” Skies yelled as he slammed his hooves on the ground. “I’m sick and tired of this! All you have done is whine, gripe and criticize, and you have done nothing to help us! Where were you when they handed out emotions? Hu?!? Now, why don’t you hop off your high horse, and shut your mouth?!?”
The crowd was speechless, let alone Doc. Skies, who had been a bundle of nerves so far had suddenly snapped, showing his rage without any restraint. The only thing more shocking than the feat of rage was Quill’s lack of a reaction.
He remained silent for a moment, keeping eye contact with the enraged pegasi before speaking a few words. “Maybe you should cut down on coffee. It seems to be affecting your blood pressure.”
Well, the crowd was laughing again.
None of the cast was.
Doc was glad that nopony caught onto this incident. However, there was now the problem of the angry pony in front of him. “Um.. we’ll talk about this later. Why don’t you go get some fresh air? We’ll meet at the party.”
“It’s not in the script.” Quill pointed out as the wolf was trying to escort Skies off of the stage. “We are going to be skipping a big part of the play.”
“I’m skipping a fight scene right now.” He said firmly as he led the angry pony off of the stage. “Now Rarity, please take those breathing exercises I told you about. It works for all kinds of stress.”
“Fine, but the fight scene would have been more entertaining.” He huffed as he left the stage before calling out after Quill. “Einstein, you are what I’d call… uncouth!” He barked as he stomped off stage.
“Well, at least he’s finally getting in character.” He said before turning to the wolf.
“That makes one of you.” He scolded him, sounding like a disappointed father with his slow and stern words. “Look, I understand your high standards, but you have to hold some understanding about other people’s situations. Many of them have never been in this situation before, and it puts them in an emotionally volatile state of mind. I am going to ask you to stop this pattern of scolding the others and focus on your own performance. Do I make myself clear?”
He blinked a few times as he tried to process his stern request. “Um… is this in or out of character? I have different responses for both depending on if you are ab libbing or just going out of character.”
He growled softly before speaking softly. “Get off stage.”
“We already skipped the part of you talking about managing stress…”
“Get off.”
“Golden is supposed to interrupt us…”
“Go.”
“Well, if you want to improvise, that’s on you.” He said as he started to leave the stage on the right side.
“Take the left side. I want you and Sk… Rarity to have some space.”
“Please remember to use our stage…” Before he could finish, a green glow of magic came over him as he was thrusted to the left side of the stage.
He sighed as he wiped his forehead. “Well, I am never going to worry about running out of business.” He muttered softly before Golden came in, grunting as he was trying to shove a few boxes on stage.
“Ah, sorry for interrupting, y’all.”
“Don’t worry. You weren’t interrupting anything.” Doc said with a long exhale.
…
“Of course Twilight.” Golden said obliviously, sticking to the stript as Doc face-palmed. “I’ll have these set up as quick as insert southern phrase here.”
…
“Why, thanks Rarity, and you look prettier than insert another phrase here.”
...
“Well, since you two are going I’ll just work on this while Doc turn page gives me instructions. Twilight and Rarity leave the stage.”
As the audience was roaring in laughter, Light stuck his head out. “Golden! What are you doing?”
“Quill told me to read what was written and not add lib.”
“Not everything!”
“I didn’t read anybody else’s lines.”
“Just forget his instructions!” He whined before ducking back to the backstage area.
Doc bit his lip before trying to continue. “Well, may I help you set everything up?”
“Awe, don’t sweat it Doc. I’ll have it all set up in no time.” Golden said as he opened up the boxes, setting a few plates and bowls on the table. “I know that you have been talking about when to take initiative and when to let others help, but I also recognize when other people need help as well and to take charge to help as well.”
He was actually impressed that Golden was remembering his lines fairly well, making him hope that he was improving. “Well, I do admit that I would struggle reaching the table, let alone lifting the heavier object. Perhaps I can list everything off for you so you can make sure that everything is here and in position.”
“Well, that’d be mighty kind of you.”
Doc nodded as he started listing everything off. “Alright, the cupcakes are supposed to be arranged on the large platter, the fruit salad is to be divided into the serving bowls, the punch is to be poured into the punch bowl, and the pie is to be set on the pie platters. Did you get all of that?” He asked as he turned around, gasping as he saw how Golden translated this.
The pies were set on the large platter, the cupcakes were set in the small bowls, the fruit salad was dumped into the punch bowl, and the most noticeable mix up was the puddle of fruit punch dripping off of the small pie platters. “Yep. That’s everything. How does it look?” He asked, looking oblivious about his blunder.
He winced as he felt pained to stick to the script right now. “It’s… perfect. You sure have a way with setting food up.”
“There’s nothing to it. When my relatives visit, I set up meals for them just like this.” He explained, causing quite a bit of laughter from the audience. “I’m willing to bet that you have set up a meal or two like this before.”
The wolf could only close his eyes as he prayed for forgiveness. “Well, my wife is more skilled at baking, but I help her where I can.”
“Well, if she ever needs a second opinion, I would be more than happy to give some pointers.” He said as he took a small cup and filled it with the fruit salad. “Want a drink?”
He gulped as he was given the cup. “Um… shouldn’t we save this for the party?”
“Awe, a little sip to cool the tongue won’t kill anypony, and you’ve been working as hard as any of us.” He insisted as he kept eye contact with the doctor.
“Well… if you insist.” He said with a weak chuckle, feeling somewhat thankful that he wasn’t being forced to drink muddy water again. He brought the cup to his lips, taking a bit of the fruit salad in his mouth.
“How is it? Not too strong, right?”
“Mmmfff… nope… but a little too much ice.” He said as he was chewing the orange and peach slices, taking a moment to wipe some whipped cream off of his lips. “A little sweet too.”
“I hope the princesses will like it anyway.” He said before waving to Celestia and Luna in the audience. “Are you thirsty?”
“They aren’t here yet!”
“Yeah they are, in row… oh…” He mused as he remembered that they were still acting “So, I guess I’d better get going.”
“Oh, so soon?” He asked as he set the cup aside.
“It’s in the script, isn’t it?” He asked before Doc cleared his throat, reminding him about his actual script. “I mean, yes! It is in the script!”
“Sigh. Well, I hope to see you again soon.”
“Well, I am going to be back on stage soon…” He said before Doc frantically pointed to the backstage area.
“See you at the party!” He pleaded, his nerves getting the better of him again.
He nodded as he walked off of the right side of the stage. “Applejack exits, stage left!”
“That’s stage right!” Quill’s voice said from near the stage exit.
Dr Wolf groaned as he tried to continue. “Ah, she has always been so helpful to others. Sometimes I wish I could be able to help half as much as she…”
“DERPY! WATCH IT!” Light yelled before Schuberry came on stage, waving her arms around as the wire rig was flinging her around more sporadically than a bounce house.
Doc yelped as he tried to stay under her, wanting to make sure that a child didn’t get hurt on stage. “Somebody! Help me!” He pleaded as he was running around the stage.
Kirouac instantly ran on stage, helping Doc as they spotted for Schuberry as she was finally lowered down gently onto the floor. The kid smiled as she steadied herself, right before she was jerked up again, being dropped right on top of Doc.
Kirouac breathed a sigh of belief before smiling at the wolf. “Oh, hi Doc. I hope we aren’t causing any trouble for you.”
“Oh, no trouble at all.” He grunted as he tried to put on a fake smile.
“So, wasn’t that the best flying you’ve ever seen?” Dash’s recording asked, queuing Schuberry to roll her eyes at the line as she got off of him.
Kirouac got a bit of a mischievous look on his face as he decided to add lib. “Maybe?” He said with a chuckle before looking at the doctor. “Oh, um… We were talking to each other and we think we need a second opinion.”
“Oh, really? Well, tell me what’s on your mind.” Doc said with a small smile.
“Well, Fluttershy keeps saying that I…”
There was an awkward pause, sounding like the sound cut off for a moment. “Um… keeps saying what?” Dr Wolf asked before his own voice came on over the speakers.
“Okay, setting this up for Dash… how does this device work anyways?”
*BEEEP!*
“AH! My ears!” The sound of him frantically tapping the buttons of the soundboard could be heard as the real one winced at the noise. “That’s not it at all!”
As Doc was looking embarrassed at the fact that he was listening to a recording to himself, he suddenly remembered what was on this recording.
*creak…*
“Um… Doc? May I talk to you for a minute?”
“Oh? Of course. Come in, Derpy. What’s on your mind?”
“W… what makes you think that something’s on my mind?”
“Something is always on our mind. A problem, a funny joke, what we plan on having for lunch…”
“Hehe, okay, you have a point. I… I wanted to ask about Kirouac… you have been working alongside him quite a bit…”
“Of course.”
“W… what do you think about him?”
“He’s rather down to earth in spite of being nobility. Never shies away from hard work. Just the fact that he chose to help Light shows quite the generosity of his. Although, his charisma sometimes gets him into trouble.”
“R… really?”
“Yeah. Sometimes he forgets that he’s in a normal setting. I remember seeing him sign a menu without realizing what he was doing.”
Kirouac raised an eyebrow at this as he looked at the doctor, who could only give an awkward shrug.
Derpy’s giggles could be heard on the recording as the real one was frantically trying to adjust the sound board. “Wow… I thought he was… well… always perfect.”
“Not even the princesses can hold that title. From my experience, I believe that he has learned to hide any anxieties with his charismatic side. The truth is that he’s just like any other pony when you look hard enough.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and he also makes me wonder if royalty have all got a sense of cheekiness. Why do you ask?”
“Well… It’s just that he’s a nice guy… and… I was wondering if I…”
“Ms Hooves… are you telling me that you are interested in dating him?”
“Ahhh… I know it’s weird! He’s a king, and I’m just a mail mare. But… I just… feel something different when I’m with him… I… I don’t know if it’s actually chemistry… but… how can I tell?”
“I see… love is quite a tricky thing. The first thing I should warn you about is infatuation.”
“W… what’s that?”
“It’s an emotional high that couples tend to have when they start dating, or when they find each other physically attractive. Those emotions tend to be described like love at first sight, but tend to wear off over time.”
“So… You’re saying that any love I may develop won’t last?”
“No. It’s just why I suggest taking things slowly, that way when that first time wears off, you can tell if there is real chemistry. Love isn’t a race, but a long journey that people take together. My advice is to get to know him as a person. Learn about his likes, dislikes, hobbies, and goals in a casual setting, like at a coffee shop, or with other friends. As you get to know him as a friend, you’ll soon learn if there is a romantic connection between the two of you.”
“Ah… but… what if there isn’t a connection between us?”
“Well, at least you will have built this relationship on a friendship. Maybe after the play you could ask him if he'd like to spend some time with you.”
“I… guess so… It’s just… scary.”
“Taking a first step tends to be. Take your time, and maybe even if it doesn’t work out, you will have found the experience worthwhile.”
“Oh… okay… thank you doc. I guess I should let you get back to work before Dash shows up.”
“Fair enough. I hope that you will be… what’s this red light?”
As the recording ended, the entire audience was cheering for the actors, who were trying to react to this. Doc looked scared, knowing he broke doctor-patient confidentiality again. Schuberry looked confused as she tilted her head, looking at the two grown ups. Kirouac was the only one who seemed rather calm.
In fact, Doc noticed that he was smiling a little. “Um… Fluttershy? What do you have to say about this?”
He cleared his throat as he looked at the sound booth, seeing Derpy’s head peeking out. “Well… she’s a sweet, funny pony who never lets the world get her down. In all honesty, I wouldn't mind getting to know her more as a friend, and then we can see where it goes.” He replied honestly, getting a louder applause from the audience.
Dr Wolf smiled a little, glad that this mistake didn’t turn into a tragedy while seeing Derpy’s blushing face in the sound booth. “Well, I am glad that we were able to settle this. It’s good to stay grounded…” Before he could finish, Schuberry started to be lifted off of the ground, desperately reaching for the floor as she was being lifted higher. “S… Stay grounded! Grounded!” He repeated as he saw that Derpy was looking scared, like she wasn’t in control.
“Thanks Doc. I guess I do need to keep my head out of the clouds sometimes.” Dash’s recording said as the two guys were running around the stage, trying to make sure that she didn’t get hurt.
“Yeah, it’s nice when you can stay close to us!” Kirouac added as he tried to use his magic, struggling to catch the scared filly.
“It’s my pleasure! I’m glad that I could break the tension before anything else could snap!” Doc shouted before the audible sound of a metal cable snapping could be heard, releasing Schuberry from her restraints and sending her flying out of reach of the guys, all the way to the backstage area.
Both men froze in shock and fear, looking at each other for a few moments before turning to the princesses, wondering where exactly they would be banished to after an accident about this.
As the two stallions started walking to see if the child was okay, Golden walked out with a smile. “It’s alright guys! She’s unharmed.”
“OH! Thank Celestia! Are you positive?” Doc asked as he and Kirouac gave a sigh of relief.
“Yeah! She landed on Quillian’s unconscious body!” He said innocently, causing the others’ eyes to widen as they ran over to the knocked out pony. They were soon followed by the rest of the cast, who all looked worried about the monotone pony, even if he acted like a jerk.
As the group was trying to tell how seriously he was hurt, Dr Wolf looked to the rest of the cast. “Who is the first aid pony?”
Skies looked worried as he pointed to the backstage area. “Twilight was the first aid pony.”
He winced as he tried to find an alternative. “There has to have been a backup!”
The pegasi nodded before he pointed to Quillian. “He was the backup.”
Linda turned to the wolf as she pulled at his vest. “Aren’t you a doctor?”
“Of the mind! Not the body!” He explained before realizing that everybody could hear them, and also see half of them.
The group started murmuring about how to handle his care as Light was trying to talk to the doctor. “Doc, w… what should I do?”
“Um… cover for us!”
“W… wha?”
“You’re the director! Cover!” He ordered as he motioned the others to help him carry the unconscious pony.
Light turned to the audience with a scared look, at first worried that they were going to be judging him over this incident.
However, he started to get the opinion that they somehow didn’t catch on.
They were still laughing.
He gave a nervous smile as he tried to gather his nerves. “Um… Ladies and gentlemen… as you may have noticed, there has been a bit of an accident… but I’m sure that Quillian will be perfectly fine.” Light said as he listened to the group carrying Quillian across the stage, in spite of the fact that they could have gone behind the backdrop.
“What’s all of the red stuff on the ground?”
“Fruit punch.” Dr Wolf explained to Linda as he pointed to the puddle by the table.
“I swear, if anybody takes this out of context…” Kirouac moaned, fearing his nation’s reputation.
Light bit his lip as they left the stage, wondering how he was going to fix this. “Well… I’m sure that we will continue soon… assuming that none of my cast is running away… So… Um… Accidents happen all of the time in plays like this. For example, there was this play several years ago, where they actually had a full orchestra. However, when they started playing the kettle drums one of the child actors got scared by the sudden loud noises, and while closing his eyes in fear, he ran into a tuba.
The child got stuck, and it led to him needing to be taken outside and have it cut open with metal snips. Due to the band having to borrow the tuba due to them leaving their own at home and having no spares, the play was utterly ruined. Now… I can’t help but feel a deep sense of regret over the failed play, because… not only was I the child actor who got scared by the loud noises… but…
It was my tuba.”
As he started to wipe his eyes, he felt Dr Wolf pet his back, looking rather concerned for him. “Light, we’re going to have a talk about this when we are done. Quill is okay, at least to our knowledge. We can go back to the play… but we are down another Twilight.”
He nodded as he looked at the crowd. “Yeah… I’ll just… we’ll continue with our regularly scheduled programming… or something like that.” He said as he started to walk off stage, sniffling a little as he walked off.
Doc looked sympathetic for the alicorn as he took his spot on stage. He knew that he had good intentions with the whole play, but with how much they all were messing up, he feared that Light’s stress and anxiety had already risen to unhealthy levels.
Maybe that was the reason why they didn’t insist on shutting the play down. They were already neck deep into this mess, and even though they may put themselves on the high ground, Light would drown from the wave that would come from it.
He took a deep breath as he went back to acting. “Well… that was… interesting… I… oh, where are we at now?” He muttered softly before hearing Golden come on stage.
“Hi Doc! I’m back with the final treat.” He said as Linda came bouncing after him.
“Yep! Nothing says party more than a giant caaaAAACCCKKK!!!” She yelped as she slipped on the spilled punch, knocking down the center table that the cake was supposed to rest on, breaking one of the table legs.
Doc ran over and caught the table, having to function as the missing table leg to keep it from falling over. “M...my… that cake looks heavy. Are you sure that you can handle it on your own?”
As he looked over to Golden, he realized that the pegasi was visibly sweating. He wasn’t the best of physical specimens, and his shaking legs were a clear sign of his struggles. “Awe… I can handle it. My legs are sturdier than any table here.”
“Sadly, I can believe that.” He said as he had to extend his arms over his head in order to keep the table level. “Just don’t drop it… WAIT!!!”
He realized his mistake as Golden almost instantly took his instructions the wrong way again as he started to drop the cake. Luckily, Skies’s quick speed allowed him to run out and catch the cake before it could smash onto the floor. As he tried to hold it up as long as he could in his hooves, Kirouac ran onto the stage as well to help him carry it onto the table, causing the wolf to give a small groan as he now had to hold up the heavy cake.
Why did they make this prop an actual cake and not something lighter?
Golden looked startled for a minute as the other two male actors ran off of the stage. “Don’t worry… I can carry my own weight.”
He nodded as he was straining to hold the weight over his head. “I can see that… sometimes we… all have to help hold up our own parts…”
“So, how are you holding up with all of these meetings?” Linda asked as she sat down away from the table, not wanting to knock anything else over.
“Well… I always try to do my best to help others with their weight.” He said as he now understood how straining this cake was to carry. Then again, Golden had to carry it on his back. He had to hold it with his arms, and over his head as well.
“That sounds great!” She said as she started scooting on the ground, not confident about bouncing anymore. “By the way, have you gotten a chance to talk to Twilight?”
“Sadly, not in detail.” He admitted as his arms started shaking, right as Light crawled behind the tables, which didn’t have long tablecloths. The alicorn had a piece of lumber on his back as he crawled next to the doctor. He raised it up to try and use it as a replacement. However, it was clearly too long for it. He whimpered softly before seeing Skies come on stage. “Ah, Rarity! How are you doing?”
“Well… it feels good to have vented some of my emotions.” He said, no longer looking nervous or scared. His temper also looked like it had been cooled after the accident earlier. “I just wish Twilight could have shared with us what was on her heart.”
He nodded as he tried to hold out a little longer. “Well… from what I could see she’s…”
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*
His eyes widened in shock as he heard a power saw running right next to him. He turned to see Light cutting the wood right next to him, using his wing to make sure that none of the wood chips got in his eyes. However, it was very loud, and he had to try to yell in order to be heard.
“... trying… but isn’t… and she…”
*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*
Just as Doc finished, he finished cutting through the wood, leaving the stage silent as Linda spoke up. “Wow… that sounds pretty clear.”
“Yeah… so how can we help her?” Golden asked as the alicorn set up the leg before summoning an electric drill and some screws.
“Well, I think that our best move is to…”
*VVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
“But she’ll have to…”
*VVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
“So we’ll just have to…”
*VVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
As soon he put the last screw in, he petted Doc’s back, letting him know that he could let go now. He let out a deep breath as he lowered his sore arms as Golden spoke up.
“Wow. You’re good.”
“Well… sometimes being able to speak and being able to listen tends to help a lot.” He replied as he walked back to the rest of the groups, looking worn out after that little exercise. “Where are the others?”
“Coming in hot!”
The group heard Dash’s recording go off, all now wondering how Schuberry was going to “fly” around.
The answer was Kirouac.
The audience started laughing as they saw Schuberry being levitated right alongside him, having her hooves stretched out as if she was a superhero. It didn’t help that he kept saying “Woosh” every now and then.
As the king set the mute girl down, Skies looked shocked as he tried to speak. “Dash… you shouldn’t go flying around like that inside. You could get the food dirty.”
“Awe, come on! The floor is spotless!” Dash’s voice said as Schuberry pointed to the red puddle on the floor. “How can I get anything dirty?”
Doc winced as he tried to ignore the half-dragon in the room. “Ah… so all we are missing is Twilight and Fluttershy.”
“Shy was right behind me.” Dash’s recording said, while Schuberry looked like she was wanting to giggle at the fact that Kirouac was right in front of her.
Kirouac kept silent for a moment before speaking up. “I’m here. Sorry I fell behind.”
“Oh, it’s quite alright.” Doc said with a small nod. “We were just talking about Twilight.”
“Yeah, essentially we’re gonna party hard tonight.” Linda said as she waved her hooves in the air, still sitting on the ground.
“Hey, you’re going to make us dizzy if you’re gonna keep bouncing circles around us.” Golden said obliviously, still seeing it right to stick to the script in the wrong places.
“Well… party hard wasn’t exactly how Doc put it, but hopefully Twilight should start relaxing after tonight.” Skies said as he looked at Schuberry. “Do you understand, Dash?”
“I think it’s *BBBZZZTTT* You are listening to Radio Golf 1, the first radio broadcast system. Blueblood has just lined up for hole 12, and is now shooting for a par… ouch. Right into the moat. My, it’s always sad to see a grown man cry.”
The group all turned Derpy, who could only shrug as the soundboard was getting beyond her control, now somehow picking up radio signals.
“Glad you agree, Dash.” Linda said as she scooted over to her friend and gave her a high five.
Doc nodded as he looked to the off stage area. “Now… where is Twilight? She should be here by now.” He said as he started praying that Twilight would have somehow woken up by now.
As the entire cast looked to the side of the stage, they all saw a purple alicorn take the stage.
Just not the one they were expecting.
Everybody in the audience was losing it as they saw Light taking the stage, who looked like he took a bucket of purple paint and dumped it on his head and body, missing the entire back half. The entire cast could tell that this was actual paint, and not fur dye. It was clumpy, not looking like it had been mixed beforehand.
The worst part was that he put on a dress over this to try and cover the other half of his body which he couldn’t coat with the paint in time. This blue dress was a little too big for his male body as well. Rarity’s huff could be heard as it was obvious that the purple paint was going to stain the dress.
Yeah, the teddy bear alicorn looked desperate to his peers with this stunt.
“Ah! Everybody is here! Good!” He said as he tried to stay in character, looking embarrassed at his current situation. “Is everything ready?”
Doc blinked a few times as he tried to take in the sight of Light in this state. “I… I believe everything should be fine.”
“But this is the princess we are talking about!” He countered as he was doing a fair job at acting, even though it was clear to Doc that he was extremely nervous about this. “Everything has to be perfect for her!”
“Twi. Everything is already set up.” Golden pointed out as he got another cup and filled it with some fruit salad. “Just taste the food.”
The alicorn looked shocked at the cup, knowing that he wasn’t good at handling acidic oranges. He put on a brave face, and took a bit of the mix in his mouth. He winced as he tried to get through the orange slices, making a few faces before swallowing. “Gah… that’s good.” He said as he looked at the bare ceiling. “Dash… good job on the lanterns… they look nice.”
“*BBBZZZTTT*And I am just a pony! I make mistakes from time to time…”
“Thank you Dash!” He raised his voice as he used his magic to yank the wires out of the speakers, in full view of the audience.
Skies blinked a few times before pointing to the puddle and sawdust. “And look! The floor is spotless.”
Light had to take a few deep breaths as he tried to pretend that the mess wasn’t there. “Yes… so… maybe this will be perfect?” He suggested with a nervous smile before there was an awkward silence for a moment. “Um… Maybe this will; be perfect…” He repeated himself, looking at the leg that was actually intended to break as he realized that not only was it replaced by a 2X4, but he had no stagehand to yank the cable that was supposed to trigger its breaking.
“Um… MAYBE… this will be… perfect!” He repeated as his horn glowed, trying to pull on the cable backstage. His mind process said that if he yanked it hard enough, maybe the cake would fall over on its own. However, it’s hard to levitate the right object when you are not looking at it.
So, instead of the table being pulled, the speakers, backdrop, and wire rig all fell from the rafters, causing the entire cast to yelp and jump to the ground, trying to take cover to avoid the falling props. The most shocking part was the wire rig slamming onto the right-most table, causing the punch bowl to fly over the cake and knock over the left-most table.
Suffice it to say, the only thing left standing was the center table.
Light’s eyes were wide open as he looked at the trashed stage, making his breathing shaky as he tried to speak. “O… OH NO...TH… THE CAKE!!!” He screamed as he impulsively stuck to the script, gesturing to the only stage prop left standing.
Skies and Kirouac looked at each other, both giving an awkward shrug as they got up and grabbed the table with the cake and overturned it, slamming the cake onto the floor.
The director grimaced at the sight, turning around as he once more tried to gather his words. “N… no… the… princess… time… I can’t… I mean… I just… I… I…” His breathing slowed down as the weight of the situation hit him. He looked over to the other cast members, namely Doc as he spoke softly, even though the acoustics allowed everybody to hear.
“I… I’m sorry… I… I wanted to make this perfect… I… I tried too hard to… I wanted to make this work… Maybe… Maybe I didn’t plan this well enough… Or I didn’t work hard enough… or… maybe my idea was just… flawed from the start.” He admitted, his eyes tearing up as he looked at his failures. “I… I shouldn’t have tried to handle this… I… I messed up… too many times… I’m sorry to all of you… I never should have pulled you into this… I… I’m sorry.” He apologized to them before slowly turning to the audience with his head lowered, ready to do what he felt he should have done so much sooner.
As he started to open his lips, about to end the play, Doc spoke out desperately. “I’m not perfect!” He blurted out, making the alicorn freeze as he heard those words ring out. “I’m not perfect. We are not perfect. I know that you wanted perfection, but that’s the thing about perfection! It’s not something we can achieve.
We want perfect plans to work, but we lack control of other factors in life that affect them. We want perfect lives, but we have to deal with the broken situations that we have to live with. We want perfect communication, but often fail to convey what we truly mean, and how we feel. We want to help others without mistakes, but sometimes fail to understand or react correctly. We want perfect love, but we are imperfect people who will fail and falter.
We sometimes want to seek this to find the respect or love of others, but other times it’s to try and prove something to ourselves. We want to prove that we can achieve this perfection in spite of our flaws and shortcomings. Throughout all of my years, in and out of my office, I have never met a perfect pony, not even alicorns.
I too have fallen short of perfection. I have made mistakes, gotten angry, broken things, ruined plans… I’ve even hurt those whom I care about most. We can’t find perfection, but we can learn from our failures, become better people, and maybe help others through what we have learned.”
Light was left speechless as he looked at the wolf, who walked to him with sympathy in his eyes. “D… Doc… I… I don’t.”
He simply smiled as he placed a paw on his shoulder, ignoring the wet paint. “You have good intentions. We all just managed to mess up together. Don’t look down on yourself because of this. Let’s just keep going, and try to do better. After all, we’re most likely going to laugh about this mess later.”
The teddy bear alicorn gave a weak smile, feeling comforted before hearing the crowd starting to applaud. He knew that none of this was scripted, but even with all of the mess ups, there were at least a few people here who found something they liked about this play.
As he was about to speak, the group was interrupted by a soft groan. “Ahhh… how long was I…” The entire audience started laughing and applauding as Twilight walked on stage, her head bandaged, but otherwise looking unharmed.
Light looked a mix of shock and embarrassment as he looked at the princess, who was now looking at the mess with wide eyes. “Um… I can explain all of this… Twilight…”
As she started to get a grasp of his poor disguise of herself, Quillian walked on stage as well, holding a bag of ice to his forehead. “Light, tell your little brother that the next time he builds a wire rig, he’d better…” He paused as he saw the two alicorns in front of him, looking at his purple coat and fake wings. “Well… one of us needs to change…”
“Get off the stage, please?” Light asked with a shaky sigh.
“Fine. I don’t want to ad lib about the mirror pool or time travel. I’m going to put more ice on my head.” He said as he walked off. “And somebody had better clean up this mess, because I’m not planning to do much with a light concussion.”
Twilight nodded as she rubbed her forehead. “Let me handle it. I think I can manage to fix everything, in spite of my headache.” She explained as a bright flash came over the stage, fixing almost everything, even putting the food into the right containers. The only thing that wasn’t fixed was the broken cable on the wire rig.
However, the spilt cake was fixed too, making Skies and Kirouac sigh before taking the table and turning it over again.
The princess blinked in confusion before looking at Dr Wolf. “We are already that far in?”
He shrugged before he gave her a nod. “Yeah… fairly far.”
“So… does Luna show up now?” She asked before Elytra came on stage, looking like a filly version of Luna.
“Yes! Tis I! Woona!” She announced, causing quite a few people to laugh at her mispronunciation.
Twilight and Light both instantly turned to her and bowed at the same time. “Your highness!” They said at the same time, both staring at each other as they tried to figure out who was playing who.
“Yes, and we are here for the party, although I see there was an accident with the cake.” The changeling said, doing too cute of a voice to be taken seriously.
“Yeah… it looks like the table leg gave out.” Golden added as he pointed at the 2X4. Kirouac looked at it for a second before he grabbed it, snapped it in two, and tossed the loose piece aside while trying to look innocent at the same time.
“Oh… Celestia is here already? What is she going to say…” Twilight paused as everybody realized that they were dealing with two roles for one changeling again.
Light looked at the princess of friendship for a second before running off of the stage. The cast looked at each other in confusion as they heard a bunch of things clattering backstage. After half a minute, he ran back on stage, his body coated in white chalk dust and his mane coated in glitter. It also appeared that he was using a piece of copper pipe as a tiara as he spoke up.
“My dear and faithful student!” He called out, earning a lot of applause and laughter at his poor impression of Celestia. “I believe you have put quite the effort into this. Why should a little spilt cake ruin everything?”
Twilight blinked a few times as she tried to speak. “I… I… Um…” She winced in pain, having a hard time remembering her lines.
“I was just trying to make this perfect for you.” Golden whispered, shocking everybody about how on point he was on someone else’s lines.
The teddy bear alicorn looked confused as he looked at him. “I know Twilight. You have always put your heart into everything you do.”
“I just wish that I could have done better.” Twilight and Golden said at the same time. “I didn’t want things to fall apart like this.”
“Only one thing has messed up, and I could never be mad at you over this.” He said with a small smile. “I thought your friends would have let you know that.”
“Yes… they helped me remember that I can’t make things perfect, even as an alicorn.”
He smiled as he petted Twilight’s shoulder, who was finally saying the lines on her own. “Good. Well, I think that we can fix this little problem.”
“Really? How?” She asked eagerly before Golden spoke up.
“I think the script says that we go to the bakery.” He explained, getting another laugh from the crowd.
Light rolled his eyes before turning to Linda. “Do you think we can get another one in time?”
She nodded as she thought for a second. “I… don’t remember how long it will take…”
He gave a weak chuckle as he had to reply for her. “Seems like a short enough time to wait for some sweets, as long as we help out.”
Kirouac raised his hoof with a smile, still failing to be bashful in any way. “Your highness, how will we handle the food he… HE… HACHOO!!” He violently sneezed, the chalk powder from the alicorn having messed with his sinuses.
Now, a sneeze would have been fine, if he wasn’t part dragon.
Being pointed away from the teddy bear alicorn would have been fine too.
Everybody stared in horror as Light’s messy and clumpy mane caught on fire, who then subsequently started screaming in horror. As the rest of the cast was frozen in shock, trying to figure out how to save him, Kirouac wiped his nose before seeing the chaos he caused.
Luckily, he was quick on his hooves as he grabbed the punch bowl with his magic and chucked it at Light, dousing the flames with the fruit punch. “Excuse me. How will we handle the food here?” He asked as he gave a small sniffle.
“Oh, I’ll try and do what I can to help clean things up here.” Doc said with a small bow, trying to process what all the king had done in front of him.
“At least half of the group would have helped him! Just saying!” Quill called out from backstage.
“Hey! Don’t question the princess of the sun!” Light hollered back with a small huff as he wiped the fruit salad off of his face, just enough so he could see. “Very well, doctor. And thank you for helping Twilight and her friends. I knew I could count on you.”
As the rest of the cast left the stage, Doc turned to the audience with a smile, and decided to go off script again. “Sometimes the most complex of problems can be solved with the simplest of solutions. Sometimes the key to finding peace is to open up to others. Maybe we all should toss aside the concept of perfection, and focus more on the goal of self improvement and acceptance.
Of course, the feats of the body can never trump the health of the mind. If you need help, seek it from friends, family, or professional therapists. My hope is that none of you give up on yourselves, and always find ways to grow.
I am Dr Wolf, and as always, it’s good to be helping.”
“POP”
“AHHH!!!” Doc yelped as a lightbulb went out right above him, right before the lights all went off.
None of the cast was expecting an applaud from the audience, let alone one as loud as they were getting. As they all walked on stage to make sure that Doc was okay, the lights came back on, revealing a standing ovation for them. They were all shocked, not understanding how they could have bumbled their way through this play and be applauded for this.
Even Quill walked onto the stage, even raising an eyebrow at this reaction. The group all exchanged looks of confusion before they all simply shrugged and bowed for their audience.