Sunset stood in the auditorium, staring at the doors. Every so often, she would move her head and watch the shadow being cast by the flickering hallway light outside move with her field of vision. Maybe I was just on edge and imagining things.
“Ms. Sunset?”
I mean, the thing with the dog was stressful. Pinkie’s been on my mind a lot lately, I’ve been at odds with Celestia, all the while I was still getting used to this new job.
“Ms. Sunset!”
Sunset slightly jumped at the voice behind her and turned around to see one of her students standing there with a worried expression. “Misty. Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment.”
“Everything alright?” Misty asked. “You’ve been staring at the door a lot, considering this is our first rehearsal.”
Sunset shook her head and forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Never mind. What can I do for you?”
Misty handed her teacher a piece of paper. “I think we’ve settled on the casting.”
She gave it a read and tilted her head. “Huh.”
“Something wrong?”
“No, it’s just … not quite what I was expecting. Pipp as Elke is obvious, but how come Rufus isn’t playing Hauke?”
Misty shrugged. “He said he’d much rather play the villain, and everyone agreed that the actual drama club members should get to play the roles they wanted. I had the others read the dance hall scene with Pipp, and Sunny turned out to have the best chemistry with her, so she’s playing the male lead. Is that a problem?”
Sunset shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. We were always gonna have to make some allowances in terms of the girls playing some of the parts written for men. As long as everyone is happy with their assignments, that’s the most important thing.”
“Well, Posey wanted to play the villain at first, and she got a little huffy when we suggested the crazy cat lady instead. But Izzy was happy to take that part, so Posey and Zipp are playing Hauke and Elke’s fathers respectively, or I guess their mothers as the case may be.”
“And the schoolmaster?”
“I’m gonna have to take that one myself,” Misty answered. “Hitch and Sprout agreed to play some of the background villagers, but I don’t think they’ll have time to learn the opening and closing monologues with their other duties. Is that alright?”
Sunset began to smile and patted Misty’s shoulder. “Sure, if you think you can handle it, co-director. I’m glad you decided to get involved.”
Misty returned the smile a little sheepishly. “Should we start by running some scenes then?”
“Actually, I had something different in mind for our first rehearsal. I’m just waiting on someone to show up.”
As if on cue, the door on the opposite side of the auditorium opened and a smartly dressed woman with luxurious purple hair stepped inside, pulling a clothes rail behind her. “Yoo-hoo! Sunset, darling!”
“Always one for a dramatic entrance,” Sunset grinned and made her way over as the students turned to look at the newcomer. “Hello, Rarity. Glad you could make it.”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity replied, giving Sunset a quick kiss on either cheek by way of greeting. “Sorry about the delay. Traffic was murder. Is this all of them?”
Sunset swept her arm in the direction of her class. “All yours, Rare. They’re in your capable hands.”
Rarity clapped her hands and beckoned the students to gather around. “Alright, hello, my darlings. You may call me Ms. Rarity or simply Rarity if you prefer. Ms. Sunset has asked me to give you all a helping hand in the costume department. Now these,” she said, gesturing towards the clothes rail full of period dresses and other assorted clothes, “are on loan from a friend of mine at the community theater. I’ll be taking your measurements and making something custom for each of you before the premiere. But for today, I figured we’d try out some options to get a baseline figured out for your characters. Who’s playing the leads here?”
“That’d be us!” Pipp said immediately, approaching with stars in her eyes while pushing a slightly more apprehensive Sunny forward as well.
“Oh, marvelous. I love your hair. We must talk about colors. I already have some ideas.” Switching to Sunny, she added: “Do we have two leading ladies? I’m afraid I don’t know the script very well.”
“Actually, Sunny’s playing the male lead,” Sunset supplied. “Since they’re married with a child, I don’t think any amount of script finagling is gonna change that.”
“That’s fine, actually,” Sunny pointed out, standing there in her customary jeans and sweater combo. “I’m not really used to wearing dresses.”
“Hm.” Rarity pondered that a bit, circling around Sunny with a thoughtful expression. “Yes, you have a good jawline to be playing a male character. I can work with this. Don’t you worry, darling. You won’t look any less spectacular. I’m thinking riding corset.”
“C-corset?” Sunny asked.
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Rarity insisted and began going through the costumes she had brought.
Sunset decided to leave Rarity to it at that point and made her way over to the lone student who hadn’t gathered around the fashionista. “How we doing over here, Arts and Props Department?”
Sprout stood thoughtfully in front of a large piece of plywood leaning against the wall. So far, all he had accomplished was to give it a white foundation, from which point on he’d simply stood there staring at it. “This … is a lot more daunting than I first thought, Ms. Sunset.”
“Why’s that?”
He shook his head. “It’s all this space. I have no idea what I’m doing here, and I have no idea how to use those.” He gestured to the spray cans standing at the base of the plywood.
“Listen,” Sunset said, picking up one of the cans and shaking it to get it going. “I know it’s scary to try a new medium and new tools, but it’s really not that different. You’re used to working with a pencil, right? So all of your muscle memory is in your fingertips and your wrist.”
He nodded, uncertain of where she was going with this.
“If you do it like that, it’ll take you forever to work with this space.” She pressed the spray cap and made a short red line by moving her wrist. “Basically, you scale everything up. How hard you depress the cap is the same as how much force you put into the tip of your pencil. And instead of just using your fingertips and wrist, you use your arm and your whole body.” Making an arc with her arm and pressing down on the can harder, she painted a big arc.
Sprout furrowed his brows and nodded, displaying an expression that he so rarely exhibited during history class, trying to learn something new.
Sunset picked up another can of yellow spray paint and got that going, too. “Don’t be afraid to go bold,” she instructed and began painting her cutie mark while dual-wielding the spray cans. Her hips gyrated to make her whole body trace the arcs she was creating on the plywood. This is fun, Sunset thought as she lost herself in the process for a few moments, I haven’t done this in way too long. Getting up from the squatting position she used to apply the final touches, she took a step back and looked at the finished work with some pride. “See? Just like that.”
When Sprout didn’t answer, she looked over and found him seemingly lost in thought with an intense stare on his face, squarely focused on her hips.
Frowning, Sunset snapped her fingers in front of his eyes a couple of times. “Hey, eyes up here.”
“What?” He met her eyes and began to blush furiously at having been caught staring. “Sorry, that was just … kinda captivating.”
She handed him one of the cans and turned him towards the plywood. “Go on, you try it now.”
Sprout brought the nozzle of the can up to the wall and paused, frowning. “What if I make a mistake?”
“We’re artists. We don’t make mistakes, we have happy accidents,” she replied with a grin.
He gave her a blank stare in return.
“Guess you’re too young to get that reference.” Sunset shrugged. “So what if you do make a mistake?” She picked up a can of white paint and began spraying over her cutie mark drawing until it was completely covered over again.
“Ms. Sunset! That was beautiful,” he cried out in a strangled voice. “Why’d you erase it?”
Sunset grimaced slightly. “It was alright. I’m way out of practice. But the point is, you can always start over. You can’t be afraid of making a mistake, or that fear will hold you back from ever getting started in the first place or learning from them.”
There was a brief pause, until he said: “Okay.” After one more deep breath, he pressed down on the can and began drawing the outline of some hills in the distance, hesitant at first, but more steadily as he went along. After about the halfway point, he took a look, picked up the white spray can in his left hand to erase the early uncertain lines and replace them with something more akin to the later ones.
Sunset smiled to herself and stepped away without Sprout even noticing. It was then that she spotted a woman in a yellow blazer step into the auditorium. Here we go, shock and awe, Sunset. Where the heck is Applejack?
Swinging by Hitch, she asked: “You got the proofs for the fliers?”
“Uh, yeah. Here, Ms. Sunset,” Hitch replied and handed her a piece of paper.
Sunset snatched it up, gave her student a wink and arced around to intercept her target without even breaking her stride.
When Celestia noticed her approach, she narrowed her eyes dangerously.
“Hi, Principal,” Sunset said loudly and cheerfully, “what brings you to this specific place at this specific time?”
Celestia mustered her former student sternly, and Sunset knew full well that she wasn’t fooling her about anything. It was only the presence of the students that gave her an umbrella to execute her covert strike. “I was going to check in on the drama club,” Celestia answered carefully.
Sunset nodded. “Right, this is their time slot to use the space, isn’t it?” She strained her neck to glance at the clipboard Celestia was holding and read the words ‘Notice of Dissolution’ upside down on it. “Well, since they’re not performing anything this year, I co-opted the slot for my class’ production of Der Shimmelreiter.” She put the paper down on Celestia’s clipboard and added: “Certainly would have made things easier if I could have asked the drama club advisor to make it a co-production.”
Staring daggers for a couple more moments, Celestia looked down at the ad. “Corporate Sponsors: Carousel Boutique & Sweet Apple Acres,” she read aloud.
“That’s right. No strain on your budget.” She nodded towards Pipp and Sunny, who had put on a first selection of costumes and were trying out how well they would hold up for the dance scene, with Sunny looking slightly awkward but Pipp easily leading them into a few effortless turns.
A strong voice with a Southern drawl then made itself heard behind Celestia. “Heads up! Comin’ thru. Oh, hiya, Principal. Good timing. Ah was hoping to get a word in with ya today.”
Thank harmony, cavalry’s here, Sunset thought.
Celestia strained to put on a smile as she turned to look at the blonde apple farmer who was effortlessly carrying in two crates of non-alcoholic cider, one hoisted onto her broad shoulder, the other held with one hand. “Ms. Applejack. Nice to see you. Things are going well, I hope?”
“Sure,” AJ replied, not even setting down the weight while engaging in a casual conversation. “Listen, Sunset tells me that you have a heck of a time finding a contractor to do one of the school’s bathrooms?”
The principal nodded while looking up at the taller woman. “On the second floor. You know the one. It hasn’t been remodeled since before you went to school here.”
“Shucks, that bad, huh? Well, mah cousin owns a hardware store, and he’s getting in new stock for toilets and sinks and such. He says he’d be happy to donate the old ones. Better than throwing ‘em out. They’re nothin’ fancy, but they’re practically new and do the job. Been sitting on shelves for years. If ya give me the thumbs up, ah can install ‘em for y'all over winter break. Should only take me a couple days.”
“That’s very kind of you to offer, Applejack,” Celestia said carefully.
“’Course. CHS has always been good to us. Happy to give something back.” Applejack then began guffawing. “Besides, ah can probably do the work better than some rando ya hire from the Yeller Pages. Ah worked mah way through business school as a plumber’s assistant. … Probably explains why ah’m a better plumber than a businesswoman.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true,” Celestia replied pleasantly. “I always appreciate it when alumni take an interest in helping the school. Why don’t you come by my office next week? We’ll talk details then.”
“Sure thing,” AJ replied, giving Sunset a wink, and went over to the students. “Alright, pipsqueaks. Why dont’cha take a break with some refreshments?”
Sunset looked over the crowd as her students happily got some drinks and began chatting amongst themselves. “Pippsqueaks! That’d be a great name for my subscribers,” Pipp was telling her sister.
“Sounds cringe,” Zipp replied flatly.
Meanwhile, Applejack made her way over to Rarity after dropping off the crates, put an arm around the fashionista’s waist and pulled her in close. “Hi, beautiful,” she said and gave her a kiss on the lips.
Rarity began to blush and giggle. “Oh, my. Darling, not in front of the kids.”
After that public display of affection, Sunset’s eyes automatically wandered over to Sprout. Sure enough, he’d taken one look, pulled out his sketchbook and was already furiously drawing something that was almost definitely not PG-13.
She turned back to Celestia, who she could see seething beneath her skin. “Now, here’s the thing …”
But before Sunset could finish her sentence, Celestia stepped past her towards the students. “May I have your attention for a moment, everyone?”
No! Shit, I had more prepared. Please don’t do this! But with the attention of all the students now turning on them, there was little else Sunset could do but stand behind Celestia.
“I came here today because I have something to tell the drama club.”
Pipp and Rufus gave each other a look that was caught only by a few in the class. The drama club president and vice-president made one step forward each and looked at the principal with poorly disguised apprehension.
Celestia drew in a breath to speak and … hesitated. Sunset saw her look around at the students, most of them smiling from enjoying their break after a hectic but also fun first rehearsal. She looked at the clipboard in her hands with the flier. She then dropped her shoulders almost imperceptibly and exhaled before speaking. “I came here to tell you that … I’ve never read Der Schimmelreiter, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing your rendition.” Glancing over in Sunset’s direction, she added: “I’m sure your temporary drama club advisor will save me a seat for the premiere.”
“Best seat in the house for you, Principal,” Sunset promised immediately.
Beaming and entirely unprompted, Pipp and Rufus took a stage bow in perfect unison. “Thank you, Principal Celestia. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed,” Pipp said before turning around to the rest of the gang. “Three cheers for Principal Celestia! Pipp, pipp, hooray!”
Celestia nodded with a smile that appeared perfectly natural as the students cheered her. “Thank you. Don’t let me keep you from your rehearsal,” she said and turned around, but not before adding: “Ms. Shimmer, a word. Outside.”
Sunset actually felt a shiver down her spine from the raw amount of steel Celestia had put into that last word. So she gave her class two thumbs up coupled with a nervous smile and followed silently.
Rather than stopping in the hallway, Celestia actually kept walking until they both emerged from the school building and into the backyard, which was pretty well deserted except for the noise of the sports clubs on the track field some distance away.
“Celest…” Sunset began, but Celestia held up her index finger to make her shut up.
Taking a narrow silver case from her jacket pocket, Celestia took out a cigarette and lit up.
Sunset had never in her life at CHS, be it as a student or teacher, seen the principal smoke. But rather than point that out, she had the good sense to remain silent while Celestia walked up and down the grass and took a couple of long drags.
When the cigarette was about halfway gone, she finally stopped and said: “Well played, Sunset.”
“Thank you?” Sunset replied with a sheepish smile. “Machiavellian scheming isn’t a skill set I’m particularly proud of these days, but it’s one I’m good with. Sort of like when the Mane-iac had her redemption arc and started helping the Power Ponies outwit the criminal underworld of Maretropolis.”
“I don’t read comic books, Sunset,” Celestia replied flatly. “But I get the gist. You set everything up so I’d look like the bad guy in front of everyone if I went in there and dissolved the drama club today.”
“Or,” Sunset pointed out, “I gave you the opportunity to look like a hero if you saved the drama club, which you did and I knew you would.” Or at the very least hoped you would. “Choose to look at it that way.”
Celestia shook her head. “There’s just one thing I can’t figure out. How did you even know I was gonna give them the news today?”
“Ah,” Sunset said, clicking her tongue. “Funny story, I was gonna tell you about that. Did you know that if you type in the school’s IP address directly into a web browser, rather than the homepage URL, it completely circumvents the login page for the teachers? I mean, any recent college graduate could theoretically navigate to your personal calendar that way if they got a teacher to tell them the right subdomains. You might wanna get IT on that.”
“Sparkle,” Celestia said with a frown.
“I cannot confirm or deny the involvement of any white hat hackers based out of Canterlot U.” However, what I can’t deny is the fact that you look fucking terrifying when you blow cigarette smoke out of your nostrils like that. Could give a dragon a run for its money. “Would a deluxe cake set from Sugarcube Corner help in asking forgiveness in lieu of permission?”
Celestia took one last long drag from her cigarette before putting it out. “It’d be a start,” she said and reentered the school.
Sunset also eventually went back inside to rejoin her class for rehearsal, right after the shaking had stopped.