"Trust me, Princess." Hollywood declared. "You are so going to love this!"
The two flutter ponies took Princess Majesty to a large, circular amphitheater, filled with mares and stallions who were all talking and laughing among themselves, while they waited for the show to start. Finding a seat in the third row opposite the stage, Majesty and her two friends too a seat on the stone benches.
"Wow, there must be over a hundred flutter ponies here!" Majesty said in awe, looking around at the gathered crowd. "I've never seen so many of you in one place!"
"They have a good reason to be gathered here, Princess." Yum Yum assured her. "You've never seen anything like what we're about to show you!"
The curtain rose, and Majesty saw a lovely flower-covered stage with a fountain in the center.
"Ladies and gentlemen, mare and stallions and foals of all ages!" The announcer's voice boomed throughout the amphitheater. "Please, put your hooves together for Lady Flutter and her Summerwing ponies!"
Six mares all came out on stage, bowing to the audience, before beginning their dance. They started slow at first- twirling, jumping, kicking, and leaping in midair- before gradually getting faster and faster. Majesty was impressed by their leaps and flips, but didn't seemed to be very awed by the Summerwing ponies' performance.
"Not bad, they are very good performers." Majesty conceded. "But I don't see anything that makes them any more or less special than Dream Valley's dance troupe back home."
"Just wait for it, princess." Hollywood told her. "These girls are just getting started!"
Next the Summerwing ponies took off into the air, dancing and spinning around in graceful arcs above their heads. They seemed almost like butterflies fluttering about the sky to Majesty... but she was still not impressed.
"Okay, that's even more amazing. But I've seen more incredible stunts from the Fort Dash fliers." Majesty scoffed. "I'm still not seeing what you are both so-"
And then... she saw.
The Flutter Ponies flew up in front of the sun, and a thousand colors exploded from their wings. Red, blue, green, yellow.... a tapestry of colors suddenly exploded all over the arena. The six Summerwings danced all through the sky, the sun shining down through their wings, and filling the area with a rainbow.
"Wow!" Yum Yum exclaimed.
"Incredible" Majesty agreed, her jaw almost hitting the floor. "Simply... incredible!"
"Not so unimpressive now, are they?" Hollywood asked, a smug smile spread her face. "I told you there was something special about them."
"But how..." Majesty stumbled over her words, dumbfounded. "But why...?"
"It's called the symphony of color, one of our greatest traditional ballets." Hollywood said proudly. "In our oldest legends, it is told how a mare of the ancients attained flutter wings through magic, then did a fantastic dance across the sky to create a fantastic display of color."
"But the mare grew proud, and flew too close to the sun, which caused her beautiful wings to burn up." Yum Yum continued. "She fell from the sky, and we flutter ponies remember it as a tale of a pony who did not respect the gift of flutter flight."
"We created this ballet to remember how much we revere the gifts that have been given to us." Hollywood finished. "It's a celebration of everything we flutter ponies are
On stage, the six summerwing dancers all rose simultaneously towards the sun, before dropping back towards the stage in a glorious dive. The audience exploded into thunderous applause, including the unicorn and her two friends.
"I never you you were capable of such beauty..." Majesty Whispered, still in awe. "Tell me... may I speak to the dancers, if it's all right?"
"Here, let's go up to the stage." Hollywood replied with a smile. "I'll introduce you to Lady Flutter and her troupe."
....
Farther away in a wood stockade, the three captured males were being held against their will. Applejack and Wind Whistler were only able to talk to them through the bars, but soon discovered their level of unhappiness and discomfort. The two mares tried to ignore the two flutter pony guards glaring at them, as they tried top comfort the captives.
"Ugh, it's so cramped in here!" Ice crystal groaned, trying to shift around while being stuck in a tiny cage with his two friends. "When are they gonna let us out? I have to go to the bathroom!"
"Awwww, poor Icey!" Wind Whistler frowned, caressing his hoof through the bars. "Those mean old flutters keeping you in a tiny cage? That's -TWEET!- terrible!"
"We'll be all right here, Miss Whistler." Tornado replied, struggling to stand up in the cramped cage. "Just make sure Majesty wins that duel tomorrow, so we can get out of here!"
"I don't know, you three actually look better off in there." Applejack goaded them. "Maybe we should just leave you in there for the Flutter Ponies."
"Noooooooo, you can't just leave us to Rosedust and her tribe!" Thundercloud pleaded, rattling the cage bars. "The flutter ponies will try and put us to stud to create other flutters!"
"And you three want me to let you out, so Ice Crystal can be put to stud with Wind Whistler again?" The three stallions and Windy all scowled at her. "Okay, okay... just teasing all of you. I wouldn't leave you thee become flutter mares' playthings."
"But we can't get out unless Majesty defeats Rosedust." Tornado noted, shaking his head worriedly. "Do you think the princess has a chance?"
"I don't know, Tornado, I just don't know." Applejack replied with a sigh. "We'll just have to see if Majesty has what it takes in her."
...
"Excuse me, Lady Flutter?" Hollywood called out to her, trotting up onto the stage. "This is Majesty, the visiting princess of Dream Valley. She wanted to Meet you."
"Huh? Oh yes, Princess Majesty, The one who is challenging the queen to a duel." Lady Flutter and Majesty bowed to each other. "Always good to learn someone enjoyed our performance."
"I thought it was incredible! Such passion, such dedication you put into your art form!" Majesty declared, smiling and bowing to the pink flutter pony with the ladybug cutie mark. "I've never seen such strong emotion in a dance before!"
"Really that surprises me, princess." Lady Flutter replied in surprise. "After all, it was your own mother who was my dance instructor when she was younger; she was the one who taught me to put my feelings into my movement and form while dancing."
"What?! My mother? My cold-hearted, ruthless mother?!" Majesty squeaked, her mouth agape. "I'm sorry, lady flutter, but you must be mistaken. My mother never taught any dance classes, at least that I've heard about."
"Oh no, your mother did indeed teach a dance class I was in, back during the Dragon Wars." Lady Flutter explained. "I was a young noblefilly for flutter valley, and I had been sent along with several other fillies from the nobility to entertain the troops during the war. There were almost a hundred of us from different kingdoms in the confederacy, and most of us were scared and shy, and few of us even knew how to sing or dance. But your mother had been sent along as the princess of Dream Valley, and she took charge of all us girls on the tour. she taught us to dance, to take out are fear by finding joy in the joy we were bringing to the troops on the front lines. I am eternally grateful for the lessons she taught me during those trying times."
"I can believe she took charge, but I can't believe she taught you anything about feelings." Majesty shook her head in denial. "My mother the queen is many things, but kind is Not one of them. She has about as much warm hearted feeling inside of her as an iceberg."
"You would be amazed what some people are like, Princess Majesty, once you get to know them." Lady Flutter told the filly as she trotted offstage. "You may find more in a pony than what you believe them to be."
As the dance troop flittered away, Majesty was left to ponder the noblemare's words.. and to wonder how she was going to overcome the diffcult challenge of her battle with the flutter queen.