10 - Overcoming Performance Anxiety
“Cut!” Trixie shouted as she slammed a forehoof into her face. “For the last time, you two, a simple peck on the cheek! Not a hoof to the cheek, or a spider on the cheek, or a ‘push her off the stage aggressively’. A kiss!”
“It’s not that easy!” Apple Bloom argued. “Ah can’t kiss! It’s just… too gross!”
“How dare you?!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Anypony would feel lucky to come anywhere close to kissing me!”
“Um, excuse me,” a voice called out from behind Trixie. “I believe you wanted me to drop by?”
Trixie climbed out of her chair and turned to face her guest, Rarity, who was standing at the theatre house’s front door. “Work it out,” Trixie said to the two fillies as she walked over towards Rarity. “You’re here earlier than Trixie had expected.”
“Well I finished my latest project earlier than I thought, so I decided to come by now.” Rarity looked past Trixie’s shoulder towards Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara, who were both shoving each other as they walked across the stage. “Um, shouldn’t you be breaking that up?”
“Just let them get it out of their systems,” Trixie said in a dismissive tone. “Otherwise it’ll just build up and they’ll be worse off later.”
“But-”
“Now then, the Great and Powerful Trixie needs you to follow her backstage,” Trixie said as she turned around. “This way.”
“Wait, aren’t you going to tell me what’s so important that you would call for me on such short notice?” Rarity asked as she followed after Trixie.
“It’s your sister,” Trixie replied simply.
“Oh dear. What did she do this time?” Rarity asked, causing Trixie to look over her shoulder with a confused look on her face. “I assure you, whatever damages my sister might have caused, I will-”
“No no, nothing like that… this time,” Trixie said. “No, your sister’s performance is suffering, badly.”
Rarity gasped in absolute shock and horror. “Impossible! I’ve heard her singing to herself at home! Why, it’s the most beautiful voice I have ever heard!”
“Yes, but that means nothing when she can’t sing in front of other ponies,” Trixie told her.
“Oh dear. She still has that stage fright issue?” Rarity asked. “She told me she had gotten better. Well, what do you suggest we do?”
“Simple. We make her get over it,” Trixie said. “We’ll start small. Have her perform before just the two of us. Then we’ll build it up until she can finally perform before an entire crowd.”
“Do you really think it will be that easy?” Rarity asked as she and Trixie entered a room backstage.
“We don’t really have much choice. If she can’t perform in front of ponies two weeks before the performance, she’s off the cast. Simple as that.”
Sweetie Belle scuffed her forehooves against the floor as she kept her head down and her eyes wide as she stared blankly at the floor. “Anytime you’re ready,” Trixie said in a bored tone. “Let’s start with something easier then. What is your name?”
Sweetie Belle slowly shifted her eyes to the microphone stand standing before her. “S-Sweeti…”
“Come again?” Trixie asked, putting a hoof to her ear.
“… Sweetie Bll…”
“Sweetie Ball?” Trixie asked. “What an odd name.”
Rarity nudged the Unicorn sitting beside her and gave her sister a calming smile. “Sweetie, please just relax. It is only the two of us in here right now.”
“… S-Sweetie Belle…” Sweetie Belle said, her voice cracking on the final syllable. “I, uh… What did you want me to sing again?”
“Anything,” Trixie said. She had originally told her to sing the first song in her script, but by this point she simply wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. “What was that song you were talking about a few days ago?”
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders’ theme song?” Trixie nodded. “Um, I guess I can sing that…” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath, and began singing into the microphone.
“Louder,” Trixie said, barely hearing a whisper from Sweetie Belle.
“When yr… pony…”
“Louder,” Trixie said. “More spirit.”
“I can’t,” Sweetie Belle said, her ears folding against the sides of her head and her eyes tearing up.
Trixie nudged Rarity’s side. “You’re up,” she whispered.
“Me?” Rarity mouthed back.
“She’s your sister.”
Rarity nodded and rose out of her seat. She approached Sweetie Belle and placed a gentle hoof on her head. “Sweetie Belle, it’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid. Neither myself or Trixie will laugh at you or make fun of you, and you have such a wonderful voice, you shouldn’t be afraid to share it with the world.”
“But… it’s embarrassing.”
“Well, I think that’s just silly. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Rarity knelt down and pulled her sister into a hug. “You know, I’ve heard you singing before.”
Sweetie Belle gasped. “Y-You have?”
Rarity nodded. “That’s right, and I think it’s the most wonderful voice in the world.” Sweetie Belle blushed and fiddled with her hooves at that. “I would really like to hear it again. It would make me very happy.”
“… I-It would?” Rarity smiled and nodded. “… O-Okay then. I’ll try…”
Rarity took her seat back beside Trixie, and Sweetie Belle took another deep breath as she readied herself to try singing again. “… When you’re, a younger pony…”
“Louder,” Trixie said.
“… And your flank is very bare. Feels like the sun will never come…”
“Louder.”
“When your Cutie Mark’s not there!”
“Better!” Trixie said. “But more spirit! Don’t just read the lyrics, feel them! Make them reach our hearts!”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “So the three of us will fight, fight fight! There is nothing that we fear!”
Rarity smiled as she listened to Sweetie Belle’s singing, and Trixie gave herself a pat on the back as she closed her eyes and planned her next move. ‘… Hey, this song’s pretty catchy…’
“Not until we have our Cutie MARRRRRRKS!” Sweetie Belle panted for air as she finished her song, and she smiled as she saw both Rarity and Trixie applauding her. “I… I did it!”
“See? I knew you had it in you,” Rarity said, making Sweetie Belle blush.
“Alright,” Trixie said. “Next step is having you sing in front of your parents.” Trixie noticed Sweetie Belle freeze up suddenly and droop her ears against the sides of her head. “If you can sing before your sister, your parents should be fine too, right?”
“I… I don’t know… The two are kinda different…”
Trixie sighed and looked towards the clock to her left. “Not much time left today… We’ll continue this tomorrow. And the Great and Powerful Trixie has something that may help you out, if you still feel you are unable to perform.”
“What’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked cautiously.
Trixie reached into her cape and pulled out a small plastic bottle. “Trixie got these from Doctor Turner. These pills will boost your confidence. Allow you to perform before any crowd.”
Rarity pulled Trixie towards her violently. “Excuse us,” she said to Sweetie Belle as the two mares turned away from her. “Are you insane?!” she whispered to Trixie. “I’m not letting you feed anything weird to my sister!”
“Relax,” Trixie whispered back. “They’re only sugar pills. We don’t have much time left before the show, so Trixie thought we could use the power of suggestion to help push things along.”
“But that’s cheating! And what if she finds out halfway through her show?”
“That’s the beauty of it. If Trixie’s theory is correct, after a few practice performances before real crowds, we should be able to tell Sweetie Belle the truth and she should have no problem performing on her own from then on.”
“… Are you sure? Maybe we should consult Twilight first…”
“You doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie?”
“Are you a certified psychologist?”
“Is Twilight?”
“Well then, recite every single book in the Ponyville library in sorting order and write a one thousand word summary on each one, and I shall trust you as much as I do her.”
Trixie sighed and pressed her forehoof between her eyes. “… Fine. Consult Twilight first, and let Trixie know tomorrow what you decide. But the alternative might not be effective enough to erase her stage fright before showtime.”
“Well that’s a risk we’ll just have to take.” Rarity turned back to a curious-looking Sweetie Belle with a smile on her face. “Sweetie Belle, you know that mother and father are always supportive of anything we do, and you know that there’s nothing to fear from performing before them, right?”
“I guess… but…”
“Well then,” Trixie said as she got up, “Trixie suggests you spend the night practicing and preparing for tomorrow. I will give you a note to deliver to your parents after today’s classes end.”
“What should I do for the rest of today’s class?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Try to memorise your lines, or if you think you’ve already done that, practice them.” With that, Trixie left, Rarity and Sweetie Belle following shortly after her.
Trixie waited until Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were both in position. “Okay, let’s try this again! Once more, we’ll practice with a simple kiss on the cheek before we move it up.” Taking a look at the clock to decide how many attempts they could fit in, Trixie prepared herself for a long practice session. “Aaaaaand, action!”
“My apologies, m’lady,” Apple Bloom said with a bow, “But ah fear I must return before my guards discover my absence.”
“Prithee, can we meet like this once more, my Prince?” Diamond Tiara asked.
Apple Bloom put a hoof beneath Diamond’s chin and drew her face closer. Trixie was on standby to yell ‘cut’ as she watched their faces inch closer together. “Cu-” Trixie stopped as she realised they hadn’t broken out into some kind of fight or argument this time, and everypony in the room gasped as they watched the two fillies, both blushing furiously, connecting their lips together.
Apple Bloom pulled away and stared into Diamond Tiara’s eyes. “Yea. For as long as there is breath in my lungs, nothin’ in this world shall keep us apart.”
“Cut!” Trixie shouted. The two fillies quickly backed away from each other and started gagging, demanding water from their respective friends. Meanwhile, Trixie couldn’t find the words to critique their performance as she was still lost by what she had just seen. Merely half-an-hour ago the two couldn’t stand being too close to each other, but now… ‘W-What the buck did I miss?!’
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,003 users online
302,120 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice chapter! Have some grist for the mill:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislavski%27s_system
Well, sometimes she has these little "episodes", but~
Oh, you meant the other kind of certified. I dunno, could be...
knew it, Apple Bloom wants the D...T.
Severe Significant Sexual Tension or SSST.
Okay what does Trixie being able to do Twilight's job have to do with neither her nor Twi being registered psychologists and are you really trying o have Rarity suggest the fact Twilight can do a job is what makes her trust her over Trixie? Since that's what I got... Otherwise very cute fun and aww poor Sweetie.
3119740
It's Rarity's way of saying that Twilight's
an eggheadwell-read on many subjects, which is why she trusts Twilight's judgement despite her not being a certified psychologist