Over the next few days, rehearsals were going smoothly. The kids in the pageant quickly learned their lines as they practiced their steps. Screw Ball was getting coaching from Cotton, but sometimes, Cotton would get picky and give strict instructions.
Twilight had asked for Star and Gem to come up and rehearse their scene from when they start on the quest to find a new land.
Gemstone said her lines without the use of the script, "Oh, this is simply taking forever. My hooves are killing me! How long have we've been walking for?"
Star also delivered her lines without the script, "About five minutes, Your Highness."
"Oh, I never imagined finding a new land would be so hard, but it'll be worth it. Don't you agree?"
"I actually think that the three tribes could've tried harder."
"Stoppp!"
"What's wrong?"
"That's is what's wrong!"
"Your Highness, it's just a stream. We can cross it easily."
"I refuse to get my gown wet. I have no intention of arriving at my new land looking like a bedraggled earth pony or worse yet, a rough-and-tumble pegasus. I, for one, have no intention of stooping down to their level. On the hand, I have no trouble watching you stoop down." She jumped on to Star, who grunted. "And do watch the gown, darling. It's worth more than all the books in your library."
"Good! Very good!" Twilight clapped.
Star glanced up at her cousin, "Uh, Gem? Could you please get off?"
"Uh? Oh, sorry."
They left the stage just as Screw Ball and Apple Jewel came on to do their scene.
Screwy held the map to her face, "Yes, yes. This is definitely the right direction." Off to the side, she saw Cotton making hoof gestures to her.
Jewel said her lines, "It feels like we're going in circles."
"But that's impossible, are…" She saw Cotton was doing more signals, causing her to be distracted, "you… suggesting… that… I'm… reading… the map… wrong…?"
Jewel's brow furrowed, but said, "Absolutely not, your chancellorness. It's just that, there are holes in the map, and-"
"Of course, how else could…" Screwy got distracted again, "I see… where… I was going?"
This time, Apple Jewel briefly looked behind her to see Cotton on the sidelines, moving her hooves. She turned back to Screw Ball to speak her line, "Yeah, uh-"
"Or… talk? I need to be… able to talk, I mean how… would we survive if I just… suddenly shut up?"
"Heaven forbid that should happen, your chancellorship. Heh. It's just that the map is also upside down."
"I got a… newsflash for you, Cookie… The earth is round… there is… no up… or down…?"
"You're right. It's such a relief to me that you're in charge of this map…"
"Relief? You don't need relief…? If any pony needs… relief around here, it's me… I'm a chancellor… I'm a big shot… you're just my… um…"
"Secretary."
"Whatever. You take the map… while I… enjoy some relief."
"Yes. Chancellor Puddinghead."
Twilight spoke, "Good girls, but Screw Ball, it seemed you were fumbling with the lines. I'm sure with some more practice, you'll be fine by the show. That will be all for today. Thank you, kids. You may go. Ra-Ra, you're up."
Screwy and Jewel went off to the backstage where the rest of their cousins in the cast, along with Zoo-Zoo, met up with them. Ra-Ra's piano playing in the background drowned out the noise.
"Cotton, what were those signals you were giving me?!" Screw Ball demanded.
"I was trying to help your act better!"
Jewel pointed, "Look more like you were trying to mess her up! Screwy knew her lines by heart. I know 'cause we spent the night practicing!"
Whirl said, "Yeah. From what I saw, you were distracting her, not helping her with hints."
Starling motioned, "What's this really about, Cotton?"
Cotton gritted her teeth and scowled, "Alright, fine! I deserved the part of Chancellor Puddinghead, not Screw Ball! The night before the auditions, I was working hard to make sure I would get the role! But when I became the understudy and Screw Ball thought I could help her, I decided to make sure she didn't want the part anymore if I pushed her enough!" She panted heavily from her ranting.
Around her, the kids were troubled by this statement, but it made Screw Ball furious.
"You mean… you were trying to make me quit the play?!"
"Yes." Cotton huffed.
"How could you do this to me?!"
"How could you do this to me?!"
"Well, it's not my fault I'm a better actress!"
The others gasped.
Cotton's face turned boiling red, "That's it! We settle this once and for all!"
"Totally!"
"Fine, I challenge you… to a skate-off! Whoever wins plays Chancellor Puddinghead!"
"You're… on!"
In a haste to leave the area, Cotton bumped into a lever just as Twilight called the end of rehearsals, making everyone leave for the day. Sunset was on the stage just as Ra-Ra was preparing to leave when suddenly, a trapdoor gave way and they both fell in.
"Where… where are we?" Ra-Ra asked as she looked at her surroundings of a tiny room.
"I think we're underneath the stage." said Sunset.
"How did we get here?"
"We must have stepped on a trapdoor."
"Can we get out?"
"Hm… I don't see a door anywhere, and the trapdoor is too high for us to reach… I hate to say this, but I think we're stuck here."
They exchanged worried glances.
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The kids went to a nearby frozen pond that was close to the castle. Screw Ball and Cotton wore red, shimmy skating outfits and skates. They were on different sides of the pond, glaring at the other. Fire Spark called out on the sidelines.
"The rules of the skate-off are simple. Each pony gives off their best skating skills and whoever shows the better skills wins the contest. There should be at least one judge who should be impartial. Zoo-Zoo, since you haven't known us for long, you can decide who the better skater is."
"Oh, wow, I'll try."
"Great." He turned back to the competitors, "Skaters, are you ready?"
"I was born ready!" Screwy declared.
"Well, I was ready before I was born!" Cotton proclaimed.
"Alright, then. Screw Ball, you're up first."
Screwy smirked as she got into position, "Watch how a pro does it…" She got on two hind legs and skated in circles before twirling a couple of times. Most the cousins cheered her on.
She skated to a halt in front of Cotton, who bitterly glared at her.
Fire pointed, "Okay, Cotton, your turn!"
With her head held high, Cotton skated on the pond using all four of her hooves, twirled up in the air, and did a somersault before making a perfect landing. The cousins gasped in amazement and cheered. Screw Ball's mouth gaped, but she quickly closed it before her show-off cousin could see it. She knew she had to up her game if she wanted to win this.
Cotton watched as Screwy put up a ramp and a row of barrels.
The kids gasped at this.
"Is she crazy?" Starling whispered.
"Her name is Screw Ball, after all." mentioned Whirl.
Screwy smirked as she moved at fast pace and lifted high into the air as she did a couple of poses and flip-flops. She landed on the ice with perfect tact as she flashed a smile.
Cotton bared her teeth as she headed for the ramp and barrels. She then took a blindfold out and placed it around her eyes.
Screw Ball and the others gasped.
"Don't do it, Cotton! It's too dangerous!" Screwy yelled out.
"Says you! You're only saying that so I can't win!" Without another word, Cotton skated on to the ramp, flew up into the air, and did somersaults. When she thought she was going to land, she fell out of sync. She took off the blindfold and screamed.
Screwy knew she had to do something and fast. She made a trampoline in place of the barrels and Cotton bounced off it. Screwy quickly summoned a large pillow, where Cotton softly landed on. She rushed over to her cousin's aid as everyone else stood in silence.
Cotton was hyperventilating from her scare.
"Are you alright?" Screwy asked her.
"You… you saved me… You could've had the part all to yourself…"
"Now why would I want a dumb old part when I could've lost my cousin?"
Tears welled in Cotton's eyes, "Oh, Screw Ball, what a fool I've been! Can you ever forgive me?!" She sobbed.
Screwy wrapped her arms around her cuz, "There's nothing to forgive… I'm just glad we got the old Cotton Candy back…"
Cotton embraced the hug and nodded. They skated back to where the others were. "The skate-off is off."
"And how…" Screw Ball got rid the ramp and barrels before sighing, "What was I thinking?"
"What we were thinking…?" Cotton gestured. "I let my petty jealous get in the way of what is supposed to be the happiest time of the year. I feel so ashamed… You really are the best pony to play Chancellor Puddinghead."
"Maybe, but I certainly could use some help to improve." she smiled.
Cotton grinned, "And this time, I won't make such a big fuss."
"You know, as long as we're all here, how about we rehearse some more?" Fire suggested with a smile.
But everyone around him groaned.
"If you don't mind, big brother, I'd rather have some fun at the moment."
The kids randomly agreed.
"Skates for everyone!" Screwy announced and the next thing they knew, every pony in the group had skates on.
For the rest of the afternoon, the kids had fun skating around.
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Sunset and Ra-Ra were searching endlessly for a way out, but nothing presented itself.
"It's no use…" Ra-Ra slumped in despair.
"Don't say that. There's also a way out. I should know."
She looked up in interest, "Was that when you were kidnapped?"
"Pretty much, only growing up, I didn't know I was kidnapped. I was always told that I was abandoned."
Ra-Ra gasped.
"Yup. Starlight wanted to keep me away from my family, so she made up that lie so I wouldn't want to seek them out. She made me think I had nowhere else to go."
"That's horrible!"
"Well, it's horrible now that I know I missed out on something that I never knew I had…" She sighed and turned away so she didn't have to face the pony next to her, "Whenever I see you and my sisters together, I can't help but wonder if that had been me… growing up with them…"
Ra-Ra put her hoof to her heart, "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that way…"
"It's not you personally. It's just… I missed so much with them… my family…"
Ra-Ra slowly went forward and gently touched the princess's shoulder. Sunset slowly faced her.
"I never meant to take your place… but I can see in this day and age that your sisters love you. You're someone they haven't seen in so long, and they are joyful that you're here now. Never had I seen them so happy."
"You… you mean that?"
Ra-Ra nodded, "Honestly, when Twilight asked me to come for the show, I thought I was going to see my old friends again. Never had I imagined I would meet their husbands, children, and long-lost sister. So much has changed since I last saw them. Of course, I too have changed… I almost married a stallion who was just using me. He only cared about himself, never about me. So seeing them with their families makes me a little sad because I want a family, too…"
Sunset was gob-smacked to hear this.
Ra-Ra gave a tiny smile, "I guess we both feel a little left out."
A smile grew on Sunset's face, "That's true."
"Maybe we could start over and become the friends we should have been?"
The unicorn held her hoof out, "I would like nothing better." They shook on it. Suddenly, they could hear muffling shouting above them.
Twilight and the girls came back into the theatre when they realized Sunset and Ra-Ra were nowhere in the castle. They called out their names.
Applejack shouted, "Ra-Ra! Sunset! Where are you guys?!"
Pinkie cried out, "Ra-Ra! Ollie-oxen-free! Sunset! Ollie-oxen-free!"
AJ was about to call again when suddenly, she could hear muffled yells. She quickly told her sisters, "Shush! I think I hear something!"
They were quiet until they heard the faint yells more clearly and went straight to the trapdoor. Pinkie found the lever and it opened the trapdoor.
Sunset and Ra-Ra could see a light above them, and Twilight and Applejack's heads poked in.
Twilight questioned, "Are you guys alright?"
"We've been looking everywhere for you two!" AJ exclaimed.
Shortly after they got the two ponies out, they explained how the trapdoor must have been set off and that they got stuck underneath until they were rescued.
"I'm just glad to see you're alright, darlings." said Rarity.
"Oh, we would have been fine. With Ra-Ra as company, we could have stayed there for days!"
"Ditto." Both mares laughed, causing the others around them to be confused.
Rainbow rubbed her neck, "Did we miss something here?" Her sisters could only shrug.