Canterlot High Magic Club

by Luminous Comet

Audition Revelation

Tuesday classes passed like molasses. Sunset was frazzled from a night of inconsistent sleep and kept returning to her personal notes over what she was actually supposed to be reading, hiding the pages behind her course book. She had compared her own results with Rarity's observations and added what her method had turned up. But the nature of her magic was still a mystery, not to mention what Pinkie and Fluttershy had described.

She couldn't wait until after school, to try and explore the possibilities further. Of course she wanted to find whoever was leaving enchantments around school and make sure they didn't hurt anyone else. But she would lie if she said she wasn't excited just to discover as much about magic as she could.

She sat at the table with the others during lunch, but nothing new came up. They parted with the same plan as the day before, to meet again after the auditions this afternoon. And so the other half of the day dragged on just as much as the first until the final period ended.

The auditorium was decently busy when she got there, about two dozen students sitting in the audience seats, some of them waiting their turn, others just there to watch or to support their friends. Sunset scanned the seats until she spotted Applejack and Fluttershy sitting on one side of the room. She started to head over but stopped when someone stepped into her path.

"Sunset Shimmer!" She pointed at Sunset's face, the other hand on her hip. "You think you can upstage me? The great and powerful Trixie was born for many feats of greatness, and this play is one of--"

Sunset put her hand on Trixie's to push it back down. "Trixie, I'm not auditioning. I'm just here to watch."

She watched surprise and then slight embarrassment play over the other girl's face. "Oh. Well, good, so you know your place then. Be sure to cheer for Trixie's superior art of acting!" She tossed the edge of her hand-made cape as she turned, in an attempt to make it billow dramatically.

Sunset rolled her eyes and smiled to herself as she walked the rest of the way to the others, slipping into a seat next to Applejack. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nothin' important. Rares didn't go up yet. Neither did your friend." She motioned to Trixie making her way up into the waiting row of students.

"Oh, I really wouldn't call us that. I think she just got it in her head that we're rivals or something like that. On the bright side, I guess she never took me too seriously when I was... worse."

An uncomfortable moment passed, having brought it up again. Then, Rarity took the stage and all three of them leaned forward a little, smiling and waving as she looked in their direction.

Rarity looked at the sheet in her hand only briefly, before looking past the audience into the distance, raising one hand dramatically, gesturing at the prop dagger, now dangling from a string nearby.

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still!"

She continued well past the section the others had recited and only stopped when Principal Celestia cleared her throat, indicating that the display had dipped a little into showing off. She bowed sheepishly and jogged off the stage and around to her friends.

"Great job, Rares," Applejack said with a smile, "I only caught about halfa that, but it sounded good."

"Not the role I thought you'd audition for, but well done," Sunset added.

Fluttershy just nodded and squeezed Rarity's hand as she came to sit next to her.

The doors opened and a few more students flooded in, some of them hurrying up to the line, while others went to find seats. Rarity proudly laid a hand on her chest.

"Well, I do take theatre quite seriously. And I do so love long soliloquies. Perhaps the casting would be unorthodox, but I'm confident that my--"

"Skirt!" Applejack hissed suddenly.

"Um, no, darling, I meant that my efforts would speak for--"

"No, that skirt!" AJ pointed squarely across the room to one of the students who had joined the line.

"Flitter's skirt?" Fluttershy asked, trying to follow the way she was pointing.

"Oh, it is rather fetching," Rarity noted, "but I don't think rhinestones are your thing, darling."

"That's the skirt mystery girl was wearing," Applejack said seriously, lowering her voice.

"You're sure?" Sunset looked past her, trying to get a good look past the other students.

"As sure as the rooster crows every mornin'. Those stones reflected in my flashlight. And I remember thinkin' it was too short for somethin' Rarity would be wearin'."

"True, it is pretty daring, but she pulls it off well," Rarity mused before getting back on topic. "So, she was there last Monday night?"

"Flitter?" Fluttershy asked again, her voice a little panicky. "No, no, you must be wrong."

"I'm sorry, Shy. I don't think I'm wrong. I didn't see Flitter, just someone wearin' that skirt. But I didn't see anyone else with the thing until now."

"No!" Fluttershy insisted. Somehow she seemed paler than usual. "I don't want to believe that she has anything to do with this! I've been to her and Cloudchaser's place several times! They wouldn't do all this... right?" Her voice shook on the last word.

"We're not saying she did anything malicious," Sunset tried to calm her down, "but this is the only clue we have right now. She might have been there by coincidence, but she still might know something."

Fluttershy cast her eyes down and nervously played with the hem of her dress. The four of them sat in silence for a moment while Trixie began to bellow out her performance.

"So... Flitter and her sister are your friends?" Rarity tried to start the conversation again.

"Oh, not really... but Cloudchaser has this cute little bunny and Angel has a bit of a crush on her." She smiled to herself. "Um, on the bunny... not Cloudchaser."

"So you've been to her place?" Sunset prompted.

"Oh, yes. This Sunday, they invited me and Angel for a little pet party again. It was the third time already and it is always so much fun I end up falling asleep and taking a nap there. They are both so nice. Although..." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "This Sunday, when I woke up from my nap, I heard them in the other room. They were arguing about something, but I knew it wasn't any of my business, so I didn't pry. It also sounded kind of scary, the way they were yelling at each other..."

"So when is another one of these pet parties?" Rarity asked, leaning closer to her.

"Oh, no, I really don't feel comfortable with this."

"Fluttershy, please," Sunset said gently, leaning a bit past Applejack to be closer too. "This might be our only lead. We need to find out where all this magic is coming from and Flitter might be a witness."

"You know we won't do anythin' if it turns out they're innocent," Applejack added with a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Well..." She looked down again. "I'm actually seeing Cloudchaser again... tomorrow."

=====***=====

"You have a date!?" Rainbow slammed her hands down, making Fluttershy flinch. "With Cloudchaser!?" She leaned over the table in the empty classroom, until Rarity gently pulled her back a little.

"It's not... a date," she said slowly, uncertainty in her voice, "We're just having dinner."

"Alone. Planned three days in advance," Rarity pointed out drily.

"But... we're just trying out the vegetarian place at the mall," Fluttershy continued to protest, though her confidence faltered.

"Just one question," Sunset bargained, sitting back to try and not crowd Fluttershy with the others, "Just ask her about last Monday. It's not even an accusation. After that, you can enjoy the rest of your time together."

Fluttershy still looked unsure, but she shook her head regardless. "But... I-I can't lie to her."

"No lyin'," Applejack said confidently, "I was there lookin' for Rarity and happened to see Flitter. Just wonderin' why she was there. If she has nothin' to do with this, she might even be in trouble and they might need our help."

"Sorry, darling. I would ask them directly, but Flitter was gone so quickly after her audition. It's like she always had a small fanclub around her, too."

"Totally! They're always at the centre of a tiny party! And for the record, I am totally not upset that nobody invited me to any pet parties!" Pinkie chimed in from her sulking position on the windowsill.

"But-but what if she did leave the magic!?" Fluttershy suddenly sat up straight, clutching her hands to her chest. "Not that I believe it, but... what if they did want to hurt Rarity and me!?"

"Then some of us will be there," Sunset said right away, "We'll hang by close enough to see you. If nothing is wrong, we won't interrupt. But if something happens, we'll be right there."

Fluttershy looked up at them, then back down, then glanced around the room nervously. "...okay."