On the night of the Helping Hooves Music Festival in Ponyville, distant sounds could be heard coming from just outside of Sweet Apple Acres. Applause roared from ponies as they stomped their hooves in excitement and joy at the mares atop the huge, dark-blue stage who had just finished singing their performance.
After performing another song with a trio of little fillies, the white-coated mare with a dark-blue and light-blue streaked drill mane walked back to her make-up mirror dresser, excited at the night's success, and promptly said, "That was wonderful!"
The mare wore a black shirt with a mesh opening over her neck, a veil over her multi-colored, music note cutie mark, and very light eye shadow compared to the amount she was wearing earlier that day.
Then, seeds of doubt popped into her. Not yet knowing where all this uncertainty came from, the mare paced back and forth trying to deduce what was nagging at her.
"Hmm... the lighting was spot on," Rara said, slowly pacing back and forth in front of her dresser.
"My piano playing is still great after all these years!" Rara said to herself, slowly increasing her pace.
"My performance was fantastic tonight, so what is bothering me so mu - ouf!"
Suddenly, Rara bumped into her dresser, causing a picture to slip out of a crack in a drawer and fall to the floor.
Rara picked up the photo and examined it, when, out of nowhere, a memory came flooding back of that fateful day back in Manehattan.
After her first audition, Rara was exiting the building to meet her mother, only to find a stallion talking with her right outside the front of the audition building.
Her mother had light-green fur and a jet-black mane and tail, along with a cutie mark of a broken instrument with a tool at the side.
"Mom, who are you talking to?" Rara asked her in confusion.
"Oh hi. You startled me, haha," her mother chuckled lightly. "This is Svengallop." He was just telling me about your performance today, sweetie." her mother responded.
"Svengallop?" Rara replied, taking a second look. He had a fluffy, upright, pink mane with a peach-colored coat. He wore a pair of narrow glasses on his face, a dark blue business suit and a red tie. His cutie mark was covered up by his pants.
"Yes, dear" he replied in a cheerful tone, "And I must say, Mrs. Music Tuner, your daughter’s voice was spectacular. Under my guidance and excellent management skills, she has a bright future ahead of her."
"That’s fantastic Svengallop! I was hoping you were going to say that my little Coloratura has the most wonderful voice you've ever heard in your entire life," Mrs. Music Tuner proudly stated.
"What you mean by guidance, Mom?" Rara asked.
"Why, Svengallop’s going to help you with your singing career, dear," Mrs. Music Tuner explained, "Isn’t that right, Svengallop?"
"That’s absolutely right, Mrs. Music Tuner. I’ve helped two other clients reach stardom and fame long ago, and one of them was no other than the Sapphire Shores," he boasted.
Rara couldn’t believe what she heard, "You mean to tell me you helped Sapphire Shores to be the star she is today?" Rara said in awe.
"That’s right, little filly," Svengallop replied, "If you take up my offer to be your manager, I’ll see to it that your name is known throughout every corner of Equestria!"
Rara looked up to her mother’s excited face and turned back to Svengallop’s and said, "Where do we start?"
"Rara!" A voice shouted in the distance, bringing her back to reality.
Rara looked away from the picture to see an orange pony trot towards her and say, "That was some show you put on out there.
The crowd loved you!" She shouted with glee.
"That’s so sweet of you, AJ." Applejack, AJ for short, was her old friend from Camp Friendship and is just as down-to-earth as she was back when they were little fillies. AJ wore a cowboy hat on top of her head and tied up her mane in a ponytail with red ribbons. AJ was the one who started calling her Rara, and they kept in touch until her career set off in Manehattan, and she got swept up in her newfound fame and glory as pop star Countess Coloratura.
"Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on your song and..." Applejack froze in place and stared at the picture.
A few seconds later, she said, "...Guess it ain’t easy moving on without your manager by your side after all those years you spent on the road together," AJ said in a low voice, trying to consider Rara’s feelings towards the issue.
Rara stared silently into the mirror and she said with concern, "I thought he was my friend, and now he’s up and left me. Svengallop handled everything: the lights, the sound, and all my appearances and concerts. I don’t know how I’ll bounce back from this, AJ," Rara said to Applejack.
Applejack stood there for a minute while the show was going on in the distance; she knew all too well what she was getting at and said, "Now Rara, you're stronger than you think, you do know that, right?" she softly spoke. Rara turned her head towards her longtime friend.
"And you know how much you really shine without somepony else at your side. You're a stronger pony than you think, Rara.
After all, you told that lousy Svengallop off when you found out that he was using your status as a star to get what he wanted."
AJ had Rara's full attention at this point. She continued, "If you stay true to yourself, there is nothing you can’t accomplish, and don’t you forget that, especially after that great performance of yours," AJ proudly finished.
A minute or two passed and AJ was wondering what was going through her head until Rara said, "You're right, AJ. I need to have more faith in my abilities and move forward with my life," Rara proudly said.
"Now that’s the spirit, Rara!" AJ shouted with glee. "Come on- let’s watch the rest of the show before the concert's over," she said with a grin.
"You go on ahead, I’ll just be a minute," she told her friend.
Rara glanced briefly at the picture, swiftly tore it up, and then threw it in the trash, stating, "No more worrying about what lies ahead. Take it one day at a time, Rara, and you can do this without Svengallop," she proclaimed before galloping back towards the crowd, her friend, and her future without looking back.