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// Chapter 4: This Ain't A Scene, It's A... Wait, Never Mind 
// Story: I Prefer Show Tunes 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	"Nope!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, dropping her script. "I'm not doing it!"

Cheerilee frowned at her. "Sweetie Belle, come on. We have to get this scene down for the play, and we're not getting anywhere with rehearsal."

"I am not going to kiss Rumble!" she exclaimed. She paused, then spared him an apologetic look. "No offense."

He shrugged. "None taken. Besides, I don't wanna do it either."

Cheerilee sighed. "Sweetie, you spent five minutes complaining about the accuracy of the script, and now you're saying we cut something out of it? Why are you being so picky about this?"

Sweetie groaned. "Because, this is different! The kiss is optional! But, Luna can't just ignore the fact that there are bat ponies being made into slaves and treated as livestock by the other ponies! They're part of her cause and part of the reason for her revolt against Princess Celestia to begin with!"

"Sweetie, that's a rather... controversial matter that I'm sure the play can do without," Cheerilee told her.

Diamond Tiara peered in from the side of the curtains with Silver Spoon, who had been watching the exchange for quite a bit. "What are they arguing about?" Diamond asked.

Silver shrugged. "Probably some stupid revision Miss Cheerilee made to the play."

Diamond frowned. "What kind of stupid revision?"

Sweetie stamped her hoof once more. "The struggle of the bat ponies is essential to the plot! Because of Discord's experimentation of ponies during his rule and tricking Luna into using her powers into creating them, she feels responsible for their mistreatment! She wants to make up for the mistake she made while trying to battle Discord, and in doing so makes an entire guard comprised of them so that they may have a form of employment and housing within the castle!"

Diamond's eyes widened. "Cheerilee's trying to take that out of the play? Especially when the bat ponies are still under prejudice due to Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon and their loyalty to her during that time has followed them for the past 1000 years?" She narrowed her eyes. "I can't believe her! She's so unbelievably ignorant!"

Silver stared at Diamond for a long moment. "How do you even know all that?"

Diamond glared at her. "Because, despite what you think, I know an awful lot more than you do." She turned to Sweetie and Cheerilee once more. "When in the gaze of your enemy, one must appear to be incompetent so that others believe it to be so."

Silver blinked. "OK... What are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna tell Cheerilee about it?"

Diamond frowned. "I don't know. I mean, I don't want her butchering the play and it's meaning..." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Sweetie Belle. "But I also don't want to help that stupid Crusader, either." She sighed. "Ugh, I hate not knowing what to do!"

"So just go say something," Silver told her. "It doesn't have to be for Squeaky Wheel, you know."

Diamond groaned a bit. "Ugh... I hate this." She walked away from the curtains and towards the student and teacher. "Miss Cheerilee?"

Cheerilee sighed a bit raggedly before turning to face Diamond. "Yes, Diamond? I'm in the middle of a discussion with Sweetie Belle.

Diamond tried to ignore Sweetie's glare and instead focused on Cheerilee. "Well, that's what I was here to talk about. I, uh..." She swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth. "I kinda... agree... with Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie's eyes widened, and everypony in the immediate vicinity gasped loudly. Snips and Snails dropped their set pieces. Twist spilled a can of paint from the top of her ladder, drenching three other foals in midnight blue. Pipsqueak's costume fell apart, almost as if it were from his own surprise. 

However, Cheerilee got over her shock quickly and she put on a more questioning face. "Wait, you mean to say that you understand the struggle of the bat ponies and what the play means to convey with it?"

Diamond rolled her eyes. "Duh! I mean, it's an absolute necessity! Without the torture of the bat ponies caused by Discord and his beguilement of Luna, the story has, like, no meaning! Luna became rebellious against Celestia because everypony was being super nasty to the bat ponies and used them as a scapegoat to avoid all of the other dribble that commoners had to go through!" She frowned at Cheerilee disapprovingly. "The thought of someone taking something so meaningful out of a play is absolutely atrocious!"

"Uh, yeah!" Sweetie agreed, though still somewhat shocked. "What she said!"

Cheerilee sighed. "Oh, well... I was trying to save us on time, but it would appear that we're going to have quite a bit more time trying to get this all down... Now the show's gonna run for at least two hours."

Sweetie shrugged. "So? The show is supposed to be that long!"

Diamond nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's all super essential to the story! Otherwise, like, what's the point?"

Cheerilee frowned at both the students. "Well, if you two know so much about it, then how about you two lead the practice for it?" She rubbed her temple. "I'm getting a migraine."

Sweetie looked to Diamond with wary eyes. "Um... OK, I guess." She shifted awkwardly. "So, uh, what scene do you want to do?"

Diamond thought it over and hummed a bit. "How about we do the opening scene? You know, where everyone's singing about the story of Nightmare Moon and how she came to be?"

"Ooooh, you mean 'No One Mourns the Eclipsed'?" Sweetie asked, her eyes sparkling. "I love that sequence!"

Diamond smiled a bit. "Same." She frowned, her eyes narrowing as she remembered who she was talking with. "Though, I doubt it's because of the overture and the musical styling..."

Sweetie frowned, then sighed. "Whatever, Diamond. Let's just get on with it." She turned to the rest of the cast. "Come on, everypony! Let's get this show going!"


*	*	*


"Ugh, stupid play..." Silver Spoon muttered, shaking her head as she passed the dozens of star decorations. "I wish Diamond had never made me get involved in this stupid... dumb... thing!" She sighed in annoyance as she glanced at her crude bat wings on her back, no doubt drawn by the Cutie Mark Crusaders or even Snips and Snails. "I didn't even want to be a stupid bat pony..."

"OK, that's it!" a voice shouted.

Silver blinked, then trotted over to where she heard the voice. She wasn't sure what to think when she saw Button and the other Crusaders sitting together, obviously angry and annoyed for whatever reason.

"Button, what part of 'Sweetie is just actin' don't ya get?" Apple Bloom asked. "Ya know she wouldn't kiss Rumble if she had a choice in the matter."

"Yeah, well, maybe she shouldn't act like she enjoys it so much!" Button commented, growling angrily. "I mean, does she even know what she's doing to me?"

Scootaloo scoffed. "You think you're the only one tired of this play business? She's become totally immersed in this stupid thing!"

"Yeah!" Button concurred. "I mean, did you see her and Diamond Tiara back there? They were making friends!"

"Ugh, you're telling me..." Silver Spoon commented under her breath. She froze as the Crusaders' attention swiveled towards her. "Oops."

They all collectively glared at her. "What do you want, Silver?" Scootaloo snapped. 

Silver frowned at them, then snatched her bat wings off of her back and threw them behind her. "I'm here because I'm sick of this play, too!" She growled angrily. "Ugh, stupid Diamond made me audition for this stupid play and now I'm stuck playing a stupid bat pony!"

Scootaloo blinked. "I thought you did everything she told you to because you liked to...?"

Silver shook her head. "Not this time! This time, I'm suffering when I should be up there having fun with her! She's having more fun with Sweetie Belle than she is with me!" Her ears fell down. "I don't get why they get to have fun while the rest of us are stuck with the trash..."

Scootaloo frowned. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from. I mean, it's cool playing Rainbow Dash, but it's not fun watching Sweetie and Diamond make friends! I thought they hated each other!"

"Yeah! Diamond tried to make me her coltfriend and now they're talking like they've been friends since forever!" Button shook his head. "Where's her loyalty?!"

"Whoa, guys, Ah'm upset, too, but don't you think we're overreacting?" Apple Bloom questioned. "Ah mean, Sweetie is gettin' a bit immersed in the play and all, but maybe--"

"She's making friends with Diamond Tiara, AB!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "You know, the girl that's been making fun of you since you were little!"

Apple Bloom frowned. "Well, yeah, but they're just actin'!"

"Oh, really? How long will it be until the two of them are the best of friends, and soon, all of us will be forgotten?" Scootaloo stood up dramatically. "Before you know it, they'll be doing Silver and Diamond's stupid butt bump!"

"They wouldn't dare!" Silver and Apple Bloom exclaimed, horrified at the thought.

"OK, that's it!" Button proclaimed. "From this moment forth, we will no longer tolerate the traitorous ways of Sweetie Belle!"

"Uh, dude, isn't she your girlfriend?" Scootaloo asked, suddenly remembering the fact herself.

Button paused. "Oh, yeah... I guess we can talk about it after the play is over, then." He stood up once more. "From this moment forth, we shall not tolerate the traitorous ways of Sweetie Belle until after the play so we can all talk about it!"

Apple Bloom sighed. "And that's when everythin' went downhill..."