//------------------------------// // A Bit of Drama // Story: Of Stones and Roots // by Ignimbrite //------------------------------// Agate certainly wasn't kidding about the community art center being an older building.  It was a style that hadn't been used in decades.  It was a shame, really, as it was a rather nice style. Masquerade and Kind Face stepped inside. “Don't be nervous, dear.  You'll do fine.” Kind Face looked up at her aunt, wondering if she really was that bad at hiding how she felt or if her aunt could just tell because she was her aunt.   Granted, her aunt at least assumed she was only nervous because of her audition.  If she knew the real reason for Kind Face's nerves, they never would have left Ponyville in the first place. Just my luck.  Just my luck she first had to come along and then find an actual performance center.  How am I supposed to get out now? They stepped inside to find a young mare who was trying to sort through some papers. “Oh dear, oh dear, where did he put it this time?” Masquerade stepped forward and cleared her throat.  “Um, excuse me…” The mare jumped back, scattering several papers.  She tried to catch them with her hooves, mouth, and wings, only to fan them further away instead.  Kind Face immediately bent down to help pick some of them up as Masquerade apologized. “I'm sorry ma'am.  I didn't mean to startle you.” “Oh no, it's no matter.  It wasn't you, really, it's just my boss asked me to find a few things while she was away.  She and her husband went out to see if they could recruit an actor… oh… what was her name again?... Well, no matter.   “Anyway, nicest ponies you'd ever meet, but those two are terribly disorganized, so naturally, all the important papers are filed among old flyers and ads for the theater. “Oh, I completely forgot.  My name's Rising Star, by the way.” “Masquerade, and this is my niece, Kind Face.  It's nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too.  Thanks for helping pick this stuff up, by the way.”  She picked up the pile and set it on the table from which it came. “So, what brings you two here?” “This.”  Masquerade reached into her saddlebags and pulled out the letter.  Rising Star took it and looked it over. “Hmm… I didn't think he'd taken to sending out letters, but then, auditions have been a bit slow lately.” She looked over the letter again. “... Wait a second.  You're that filly from Canterlot?” Kind Face shrunk away and bowed her head.  “Umm…Maybe?” “Kind…”  Masquerade shook her head and looked to Rising Star.  “Yes, she is.” “Really?”  Rising Star knelt down to Kind Face's level.  “What was it like over there?  Did you really camp out on the roof like in those articles?  Are you really friends with an alien?” “What?  You mean Obsidian?  He's not an alien, he's… what did he call it again?  He explained it that day he was introduced to the class, but…”  Kind Face scrunched her face trying to remember the term he'd used. “Really?  I could've sworn those papers said…” “They also said I was a changeling.  Do I look like a changeling to you?” Rising Star almost asked if Kind Face was aware of exactly why changelings were called what they were, but she decided it wasn't worth it. “Fine.  I get your point.  By Celestia, he did look like one in the pictures, though. “So, I take it you two are here to audition?” Masquerade nodded.  “Kind is, or at least we're here to find out the times when auditions begin.” “Ah, well they'll probably begin when my bosses get back.  Until then, I can show you around the place.”   She stepped forwards and opened up the door before her.  Beyond it was the seating for the audience, and beyond that, the stage. “Whenever you do audition, this is where you'll be, just like in the performance.  Come on, I think you'll like it up here.” With that, she spread her wings and flew a short distance through the air, landing gracefully on the stage. Kind Face stepped over to the side wall where the stairs were, but hesitated to go up. “Go on,” Masquerade prodded, “go see what it's like.” She climbed the steps and stood up beside Rising Star.   “Welcome to the stage, Kind.  Best place a pony could be.  Living as a new character in a world of imagination, all in front of an audience that loves you.  This…”  She spread her wings as if soaking up the love from the imagined audience, “this is the life.” “Woah.” As Kind Face looked up across the rows of seating, imagining them all filled with ponies, Masquerade snapped a photo of her and Rising Star together. “Aunt Masquerade!…” “What?  You look adorable up there.  Oh!  Why don't you show off for Rising Star here so she can see what you can do?” Rising Star smiled.  “I would like to see that.  Go on; it'll be good practice for later anyway.” Kind Face hesitated, then jumped off the stage to her aunt, where she picked up her saddlebags.  She then ran back up the stairs and disappeared backstage. Rising Star turned to Masquerade, confused. “What's she doing?” Masquerade only chuckled.  “Let's just say you're about to see how those newspapers gave her her nickname.” Kind Face looked in the mirror.   She had actually been on a real stage for a moment, and next to an actor too!  And the actor said that she might have an audience loving her again! In her excitement, she'd almost forgotten about her plan. By Luna's snot, the plan! Her mind raced.  She couldn't just leave them hanging, but this was the perfect opportunity to sneak out.  She needed to do something… Of course… Hearing hoofsteps behind her, Rising Star turned around to see… “What?!?” She turned around to see herself walking up. At least, a filly version of herself walked up. “Welcome to the stage!  Best place a pony could be.  Living as a new character in a world of imagination, all in front of an audience that loves you.  This… this is the life!” “That's… you're…”  Rising Star sat down on the stage and stared at the young duplicate.  “Okay, that's not what I was expecting at all.  You're a quick change artist?” “Yup!” “Well, that's certainly a change from the usual ponies that come in here.”  She smiled.  “So, what else can you do?” Kind Face grinned, then took off, reappearing later as the blue unicorn character that she had used in Canterlot.  She then went through a few more characters the same way, including, much to Masquerade's disappointment, Applebloom.  Finally, she got to one last one. “There is one more I've been wanting to try, but I'm still kinda practicing it.  It may take a bit longer to get right.” She ran backstage and pulled out her kit. “Okay, what to do, what to do?  Green.  That's a good color.  Green fur, what eyes?  Red?  Blue?  Blue looks good.  Something's missing… oh right, the horn.  Can't be a unicorn without a horn.” She looked up in the mirror. “Okay.  Gotta find a voice they won't recognize. Ahem… mi mi mi… Nah, that's no good.  Mi mi… ugh, now I sound like Granny Smith.  Hmm… there's got to be something… oh, I know!   “Ahem… ‘I'm sure you all thought this was funny, but impersonating an ESS agent is a serious offense!  The only reason you three aren't in jail right now is because you're still foals.’ “Yeah, that'll work.” She looked in the mirror again before turning to the door that would lead out the back of the building.  Her ears fell a little. “I'm gonna get in so much trouble for this.” As she stepped outside and headed towards the park, she could already hear the more distant relatives of the Stone family arriving. “It'll be worth it.”