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Cheerilee's Garden, Chapter 1- The Stage is Set

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The entire theatre complex was abuzz with the voices of a hundred excited ponies, as Cheerilee peeked out carefully from behind the curtains hiding the stage. She saw rows upon rows of ponies sitting in the stands or moving between them, talking to each other as they waited or tried to make one last trip to get some food and beverages before the show. She glanced quickly to the left, and saw that the musicians had already set up in the orchestra pits in front of the stage. They'd only be needed for a few scenes, but Cheerilee was still glad to have them.

Seeing such a big crowd gathered there made her a bit nervous, even though this had all been her idea. Almost all of the seats were taken, and Cheerilee knew there were barely enough to accommodate the entire population of Ponyville. The show would be subjected to the scrutiny of a great many pony eyes indeed.

She retreated back behind the curtains, hoping nobody had seen her. She felt that would have been somewhat unprofessional. Everything seemed to be in order as she inspected the stage for the last time. All the props and the equipment were beautifully made, straight from the hooves of the masters. Cheerilee had only needed to tell them what she wanted, and they had provided it without any questions, even though certain items must have seemed unnecessary. After all, they didn't know what she had in mind for this night, while she did. She was quite sure some of their props would make even a professional theatre jealous!

The stage was divided into sections, each denoting its supposed location. This way, they didn't need time or backstage ponies to change the decor after each act, cutting down on the time needed for scene changes. Cheerilee was a big fan of this system as it meant there was one less thing for her to worry about.

She turned back and headed for stage left where her students were busy getting all dressed up. It was a total chaos, with bits and pieces of costumes scattered across the room like sprinkles on a cupcake. At the centre of this mess were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as Cheerilee had come to expect. The fact none of them had sprouted a "making trouble"-Cutie Mark yet surprised her more each and every day.

"Hey, that's my helmet," Scootaloo told Sweetie Belle accusingly. "Yours is way over there!"

"No, it sure isn't!" she replied as she lifted the knightly helmet off of her head and held it out for Scootaloo to inspect. "This one has a hole for my horn, see?"

"Are ya'll sure it ain't mah helmet?" Apple Bloom said as she scratched her head.

"The king wears a crown!" the other two snapped back.

Cheerilee sighed as she quickly glanced at her other students. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara seemed to progress orderly, if slowly, mainly due to how they constantly flourished and admired each other after every article of clothing they put on, and after every single brush of their mane. Snips was, to her great surprise, ready and waiting. The fact that Snails was backstage on tech duty might have had something to do with that, she mused.

She remained confident they'd make it in time, as she had had the great foresight to start them all on preparations much earlier than anypony would have thought necessary. She had come to know this little group throughout the months, and she was prepared for almost anything. Nothing could possibly go wrong today; she had put too much planning and work into it to see it fail now. She smiled as she envisioned the peace, quiet, tranquillity and relief she'd feel when this was all over.

"All right students," she chimed, "let me just run you through the steps one last time."

There was much groaning to be heard across the room, but Cheerilee wasn't taking any chances with this bunch.

"If you still have a part to play, but aren't needed on set, come back here. If your role is all played out, exit the stage on the other side. You'll be able to watch the rest of the play from there. That is, if you didn't see it enough already," she paused for a moment to ascertain everypony was still listening, and they all nodded.

"If you forget your lines, just improvise or pick up from the point in the script you do recall. If the pony you're playing with skips some of your lines, don't try to correct them. Remember, we may notice if somepony doesn't follow the script, but the audience won't as long as you keep the dialogue flowing."

The fillies and Snips nodded again, and Cheerilee smiled at them.

"Good, now get ready. I have to see to the opening of the show, so be ready and on set in no more than ten minutes."

She walked away as the young ponies got back to it, and Cheerilee thought they seemed to quarrel and delay slightly less this time, though that was probably just her imagination.

The last one she had to check up on was Snails, whom she put backstage due to his absolute inability to do even the most basic of acting; all he'd have to do there was listen for certain cues and then carry out one specific action. She had even written all of that down on a list that was easy enough to follow - even for him. Up to this point he'd done okay during their practices, but you never knew.

She gave him a few reminders, and he reassured her that he wouldn't let her down - all the while wearing that idiot grin of his. Cheerilee sighed as she went back to the main stage, resigned to the fact that she'd have to leave this one up to fate.

She was pleased to see the other ponies already gathered and in position when she got there, all of them sitting around a U-shaped table, the open end of which was pointed into the direction of the crowd. Apple Bloom was dressed up as someone of royal descent: a shining crown on her head and a regal mantle flowing down from her shoulders. To her right were the remaining two Cutie Mark Crusaders, both dressed in exaggerated versions of knightly armour. Sweetie Belle's was coloured as white as her own coat, while Scootaloo's was a bright red. Considering this glaring difference in colour, Cheerilee wondered how they could possibly mistake each other's helmet for their own, anyway.

They looked heroic and chivalrous compared to the two ponies on the other side of the table - which was exactly the idea. Silver Spoon's costume was pitch black, while Diamond Tiara's was a deep purple. The style of their costumes was likewise different from the two knights; they both wore something more akin to a courtier's dress or a diplomat's gown than a warrior's armour. Mean looks were being exchanged all over the table, and Cheerilee couldn't decide if they were genuinely trying to get into character, or if the natural animosity of the CMC towards the other two fillies was at work here. The only acting pony who wasn't on set yet was Snips, but then again he wasn't even in the next scene.

Cheerilee walked over to the left side of the stage and held the curtain aside for herself. The leader of the orchestra immediately spotted her as she emerged next to him, and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She nodded at him and he nodded back, turning his attention towards the musicians - most of whom were friends or family of the actors. Cheerilee slipped back behind the curtains, as she heard the first soft notes float through the air. By the time she was back in the centre of the stage the music had increased in volume and could be heard all throughout the theatre, the conversations slowly dying down as everypony took to their seats.

Cheerilee looked up to see Snails - thankfully in the right spot between the stage lights - waving at her sheepishly. The ushers took their cue from the music, and slowly the lights in the theatre hall died down. The pace of the music increased and the feeling of anticipation intensified, until, suddenly, the curtains slid open a few feet, accompanied by the rolling of drums. She stepped forward past the curtains, as Snails turned on a spotlight and aimed it at her, bathing her in a circle of light as she moved. Despite the curtains being partially open the darkness behind Cheerilee revealed nothing to the audience. The music stopped and Cheerilee's voice took over, ringing out crystal clear throughout the enormous room due to the perfect acoustics.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, it is with great pride that my students and I welcome you to our very own play. They have all worked so hard on this over the past few months, and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoy bringing it to you. Of one thing I am certain: this will be an evening you won't soon forget," Cheerilee smiled widely despite herself. It was just the kind of opening she thought everypony would expect, but she was certain that last part would turn out to be true in more ways than one.

"And now without further ado I am proud to introduce, performed in Ponyville for the first time ever: Reginald the Sly!"

The music exploded again during her last words as she disappeared behind the curtains, following them to the right side of the stage as they slid open behind her. The music died down once again as the spotlight was turned off and the main stage lights turned on, slowly illuminating the scene.

Cheerilee could hear the play starting while she went down a set of stairs to get underneath the stage. The size of the stage itself was impressive, but the area underneath it was simply amazing. There was plenty of room to install all sorts of devices to spruce up any kind of play, and the stage itself was thick and well-isolated enough that ponies could work down here without disturbing the actors on stage. She had once started banging a metal pipe against some of the iron stage supports during a rehearsal, just to see if her students would hear it. They hadn't.

She made her way in-between the beams supporting the stage and the various props and gadgets that reached down from the stage, heading for the prompt corner. She finally arrived at a few wooden steps, which took her to a level half-way between the stage and the area underneath it, so that only her head peeked up above stage-level. From there she could watch the play from the same side as the audience, without actually being seen by the audience due to the way the prompt corner was built into the stage: from the audience's point of view it just looked like a slightly raised box.

During some plays a "prompt" would sit here to feed actors their lines if they forgot them, but the dialogue in this one wasn't overly complicated, and they had never rehearsed with the possibility of a prompt in mind. Cheerilee didn't think any of them would even realise she was there.

She tried to pick up the thread of the play, since she had obviously missed some of it on her way there. They seemed slightly further along than Cheerilee had expected, but she didn't know if this was because of them rushing or leaving something out, or if she had just been walking slower than she thought she had been.

She shook her head. It didn't matter. This scene wasn't important to her. A grin spread across her face as she sat and watched, and waited for a scene that was.
All credits goes to Unahim. The story is posted on fimfiction.net as well as many others. I just think it is one of the most amazing fanfics ever and YOU SHOULD READ IT!!!!!!

That is, if you like horror. :)

I know I do.

CHAPTERS
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1- HERE
2- [link]
3- [link]
4- [link]
5- [link]
6- [link]
7- [link]
8- [link]
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10- [link]
11- [link]
12- [link]
13- [link]
14- [link]
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Entire Story (c) Unahim

Enjoy!!!!
© 2012 - 2024 PnFink
Comments3
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9Nine--souls's avatar
Well, I don't like horror... except pony horror!
The thing is that I totally know that the characters in creepy-pony stuff aren't real. But when I watch horror movies (Search "Mama") I never end up that sure about the non-existance of creepy-human-imaginated stuff.