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// April 30 [A Midsummer Night's Dream] 
// Story: Silver Glow's Journal 
// by Admiral Biscuit 
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 April 30

Me and Aquamarine were up with the sun and I got coffee going then we took a shower and groomed each other then drank our coffee and talked.

Neither of us wanted to wake up Mister Salvatore or Miss Cherilyn, 'cause they'd been up really late driving us while we were sleeping so it was only fair that they got to sleep in. But I hoped it wouldn't be too long.

Once we were done catching up, we found glossy magazines which said what the hotel had to offer and what the town did. I found where we were on a map, which was between two lakes, and Aquamarine said that the hotel had a restaurant on the roof. I thought that would be a fun place to eat and we both agreed that Gusty probably wouldn't like it.

I wasn't sure if we'd have a lot of time to hang out with her before her play, because I knew how much time Aric put into his theatre work and I figured that all he was doing was making the lights work and it had to be a lot harder to act. I didn't say it to Aquamarine, but I figured that Puck was probably a pretty small role, but she'd still be spending a lot of time making sure that her character was just right.

I didn't know when Cayenne was going to show up, either.

We finally heard a knock at the door between our rooms and I opened the door and it was Miss Cherilyn and she asked if we were ready for breakfast. We both nodded and she said that we would get something to eat and then go to campus to meet with Gusty. I asked if we could eat at the roof restaurant but she said it wasn't open yet but promised that we would eat there before we left Madison. So we ate at the Portage Pi instead. Aquamarine ordered oatmeal and I ordered granola and we shared with each other.

After breakfast we took a leisurely walk around Madison towards the campus. Mister Salvatore was talking on the telephone behind us, trying to get in touch with Gusty but apparently she wasn't answering. I didn't mind so much; Miss Cherilyn led us by a brick building that looked like a castle and down to the lakefront. There were steps leading into the water, plus little buoys that looked like they marked off a swimming area. We both galloped off the steps and jumped into the water and splashed around a little bit. There were a few people walking around that noticed us and one guy who was wearing shorts took off his shoes and waded in with us, but not deep enough that he would get his shorts wet.

Then it was time for us to go see Gusty, so we let Mister Salvatore take the lead because he seemed to know where he was going. I followed along in the air just to stretch out my wings a little bit but not too high because I didn't have any of my flight gear and didn't know how high I was allowed to fly in Madison.

She lived in the Ogg Residence Hall, and when we finally found her room it almost had a lake view, if there hadn't been any other buildings in the way. She hugged us both and then Mister Salvatore and Miss Cherilyn for good measure and said that she was really happy that we came and she introduced us to her roommate who was a girl named Jamie. Aquamarine asked her if that was the girl who made all her clothes, and she said it wasn't, but we'd meet her later.

Then she picked up a newspaper that was on her desk and proudly showed us a picture of herself in costume, which was right atop a review of the play. She said that they had done really well in the first show and now that people knew she was in it she was sure the house would be sold out for the rest of the run.

And then she noticed that Cayenne wasn't with us and asked if she was coming, too, and Mister Salvatore said that she was; the last he'd heard she'd be arriving just in time for lunch.

She said that we just had to meet Nicky, who was her friend who made all her clothes and who had convinced her to audition for Puck instead of one of the faeries and so we said goodbye to Jamie and Gusty practically skipped out of the room with us following along.

We went back out into the street and walked into a neighborhood that was a lot like Aric's and we came to a big old house that had several different front doors and she went to the middle one and rang the bell.

I heard footsteps coming down stairs, and then the door opened and there was a girl with short brown hair and dolphin earrings and when she saw Gusty she leaned down and kissed her on the nose and then sort of realized that the rest of us were all standing on the porch, too.

So we all introduced ourselves and she led us up to her apartment which was kind of cluttered and had lots of playbills on the wall and there was a very fancy looking sewing machine and some humankins and lots of fabric and also a funny looking helmet. I asked Nicky what that was and Gusty said that not only did she make clothes but she could also weld sculptures and Nicky blushed when she said that but admitted it was true and said that she had a whole welding setup in her garage.

She brought us all bottles of Leinenkugel's and we sat in the living room and drank our beer and chatted. Gusty had to answer a telephone call and when she was done she said it was Cayenne and she was on her way over and she was so happy she was practically glowing.

I thought we'd go out for lunch at some point, but after Cayenne arrived, Nicky brought us snacks and we just sat around talking until it was time for Gusty to go to the theatre and get ready.

That probably would have been our chance to get dinner, but none of us felt like it because we were having so much fun talking and Nicky had lots of snacks including hummus which was really tasty.

All six of us walked to the theatre together, and Nicky pointed out some of the landmarks around campus for us. She had to stop at a friend's house and pick up a huge bouquet of flowers—she said it was for Gusty and she'd had to hide them there so Gusty wouldn't sniff them out.

When we went to the theatre we went into a special line that was named Will-Call, and we got our tickets and then the ushers led us down to our seats which were right in front. Nicky didn't have as good of seats as we did and I felt bad about that, then Cayenne noticed that the barriers between the seats folded up and she thought that if we all crowded together we could make enough room for her, so she went to get Nicky, and she was so happy that she was almost crying.

We read through the program and Cayenne pointed to Gusty's biography and it was weird to see it in print like that.

It sort of took us all unawares when the house lights dimmed halfway and the crowd fell silent. I looked behind me and I could see a row of windows and I knew that was the light booth and the sound booth and I could imagine that there were people up there who were now completely focused on the instructions that came through their headsets and then the lights went all the way out and the play began.

I know all of us were on the edges of our seats waiting for Gusty to appear, and the whole first act passed and there was no sign of her, but then in the second act she came right out on stage and I could see right away how at home she was there. She had a crisp, formal accent, and her voice carried over the theatre, and whenever she was on stage she stole the scene.

We couldn't talk about anything else during intermission, and I wanted it to end as fast as possible so that we could see her again. There was almost a sigh of relief when the lights went down again and then she came back on and I just watched mesmerized right up until she spoke her final monologue and then the stage lights went dark and suddenly there was so much applause it was like thunder and everyone was on their feet and Miss Cherilyn was wiping tears from her eyes and when everyone came out for curtain call it got so loud I thought that the whole theatre might collapse around us.

After everyone had bowed they all went up through the house and stood by the doors to greet everyone and there was a long line of people by Gusty but when she saw us she waved us forward and I felt like I was sort of a celebrity too. Nicky gave her the flowers and Gusty hugged her and kissed her and there was a bunch of applause at that, too. Then she hugged and nuzzled the rest of us and I would have liked to talk to her right then but there were so many people in line who also wanted to so we moved down the line and greeted everyone else who had been in the play (except for Nicky, who stayed right beside Gusty).

We talked for a little bit once the crowd had finally left, and she said that she was going to a cast party and we could come if we wanted to and we all knew by the way she said it that we'd be imposing and she was just saying that to be polite, so we hugged her and told her again how well she'd done and she said that she would like to see us again before we went back. She looked over to Miss Cherilyn who was standing the closest and then turned back to us and said in Equestrian that she would be spending the night with Nicky (which I don't think was a surprise to any of us) and so we said that we would come see her in the morning.

I thought it would be nice to see the play again; there was a matinee performance, but she said that it was sold out, and there was a rumor that they were going to extend the show for a second weekend so that everyone who wanted to could see it.

When we got back to the hotel we went up to the roof-restaurant and sat outside where we could look over Madison.  It wasn’t so high up as the Space Needle or the Willis Tower had been, but there was still a pretty good view.  It was really too late for dinner, so we had some snacks and a few drinks and then it was time for bed.

Neither Aquamarine nor I thought it would be right to have Cayenne take the other bed and be all by herself, so we said that she could sleep with us.  Aquamarine wound up in the middle, and I was on the window-side of the bed.