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[ATTN: Pyro] Times, they are uh... pretty consistent, actually


KaityKat

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// Gratuitous tag: @PyroBlaze //

 

// This first part is really more story than rp. you can read it or skip it. I won't be offended. I'll put a page breaker at the part that rp comes in, so you can find it easier. //

 

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Dramatic Flaire enjoyed nothing more than participating in the performing arts with his family in the Tour d'Equestria traveling theatre, so when the director (and his father figure) Stage Lights announced that they'd been asked to come back to Fillydelphia to perform again, Flaire was over the moon. He loved the ponies of Fillydelphia. They were a great audience. Some of the bigger towns they went to may have more bits to spare, but Fillydelphia really seemed to know how to appreciate hard work. He smiled as he remembered one corn farming family who had apologized for not having more bits to give, and gave them several bags of corn instead. They ate nothing but corn for weeks after. Such generous ponies.

 

"Hey, Flaire!" Lilly Quille called across the caravan, interrupting his thoughts, "How does this look for the poster?" She levitated her drawing over to him.

 

It was a drawing of the caravan emblazoned with Stage Lights' cutie mark. Over that was written the stylized words:

 

Stage Lights

and the

Tour d'Equestria

present:

Hinny of the Hills

 

Along with some time and location information. Flaire smiled wide "It really is amazing that Stage was able to get their okay to do their play on our stage." Lilly laughed "I know! I'm still very nervous! Anne's been practicing the dance steps non-stop since we got the news!" Flaire laughed "If anypony doesn't need to practice dance steps it's her." Lilly laughed back "But you know Anne. 'Everything must be perfect. Ve have a reputation.'." she imitated the Germane pegasus' accent with a smile. Flaire smiled and pointed at the poster "I think Stage will love this poster. You really are an asset to this theatre, Lilly." Lilly laughed "Look who's talking!" she nudged him "Thank you. I do try my best."

 

Just then, a loud stomping sound could be heard just out the front of the caravan, and Flaire stuck his head out "Yes, Thunderhoof, we could never forget about you. Nopony else could pull this massive caravan by themselves." Lilly yelled out to be heard over the wheels "We would be lost without you, Hooves!" Thunderhoof smiled proudly and nodded. Then he made a gesture with his hoof and stamped three times. Flaire nodded "Okay, I'll let them know. Thank you, Hooves." he went back inside and, just then, Stage Lights had come up and was admiring Lilly's art. Flaire spoke up "Hooves says about thirty minutes before we arrive. He didn't say, but he looks pretty beat."

 

Stage thought for a second "Well, he can rest backstage when we get there." he called out so Thunderhoof could hear him "I'll take care of setting the stage, today, Thunderhoof. You've done enough work, for now." a thunderous stomp of approval could be heard, followed by slightly picking up the pace. Flaire laughed "I guess we'll make that 20 minutes." Stage smiled then turned back to Lilly "So just those two things, and that poster will be perfect. Thank you, Lilly. Now, I'll go let Anne know about the time. You two make sure you're ready for dress rehearsal in 20. It's our first musical, and I want to be sure we do it right. The author is doing us huge favor giving us this play, so let's make them proud, yes?"

 

Flaire took a stance and his coat faded dramatically from grey to a dark orange, while his mane faded to yellow and grew longer. When he reopened his eyes, they'd changed to green, and when he spoke, his voice flawlessly matched that of the main character, Teresa, in a practiced but still improving Itailian accent. "I shall do my very best, Singor Lights." Lilly clapped her hooves "Your accent is improving, Flaire." Flaire bowed "All thanks to you, Miss Quille." he changed his colors back, but kept his hair at length, and spoke in his normal voice. "Could you help me braid my mane, Lilly?" Stage smiled "I have been very nervous about this, but knowing you've been working hard on it helps me to relax, just a bit. Be sure to get some singing practice in, too. This is a musical, afterall." he took a deep breath and turned "I'll be sure to practice as well. Our Baldasarre couldn't make it and dropped last minute. I'll be taking his place." Flaire frowned a bit then sighed  "Well, if anypony can pick up a part last minute and totally kill it, it's you, Director." he winked. Stage smiled "Thank you, Flaire. Your vote of confidence is just the boost I need." 

 

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The massive caravan had been standing in the field just outside Fillydelphia for the past week. The posters that Lilly Quille had designed and copied had advertised the return of the Tour d'Equestria with their new play. The well acclaimed work of a Canterlot author who'd lent the script to the theatre to perform where they went. There were plenty of excited ponies waiting to see what the troupe had to bring to this play.

 

Thunderhoof waited beside the caravan for his cues. Inside, Everypony stood waiting in a shoulder-to-shoulder line, in costume, for the stage to open, when Stage double tapped the wall of the caravan.

 

Thunderhoof started stomping, growing in volume until it reached a loud thunderous rumble, quieting the audience, then reducing to a volume sensible as a sort of drumroll.

 

Stage used his magic to amplify his voice and project it outside the caravan, while also unlatching the caravan wall to ready it. "From across the mountains," Stage began his introduction "and over the plains. From all over Equestria and beyond. I, Stage Lights, bring you the talented ponies who make this traveling theatre possible. Ladies and gentlecolts. From the creative minds at Manehattan Theater, The Tour d'Equestria presents..."

 

Thunderhoof kicked the side of the caravan, and the wall facing the audience pivoted on its bottom edge, falling slowly until it landed parallel to the ground, supported by a couple legs that had been attached on the outside, the wall becoming a stage, backed by a red velvet curtain behind which the cast stood waiting. The curtains opened and the cast all walked out to the middle of the stage.

 

"Hinny of the Hills!" Stage Lights finished, leading his cast in a bow to the applause.

 

"Starring Dramatic Flaire as Teresa" he gestured to Flaire who stood forward and bowed, then Stage stood forward "And myself as Baldasarre." he bowed.

 

The applause slowly died down, and all the actors except Stage Lights went back behind the closing curtains. "Please. Enjoy our first ever musical performance. Our actors have all worked very hard to bring you only our very best. As a courtesy to their hard work, I ask you to save your applause until you see the curtains close, and keep conversations to a quiet minimum. Thank you." he bowed and backed up to disappear behind the curtains that just finished closing in front of him.

 

============

// sorry, lol, not about to type out a whole play haha //

============

 

After the performance, the curtains closed on Flaire as he sang the last note of the final song, the applause growing until the curtains were fully closed, staying so for only a half second before reopening with the entire cast standing shoulder to shoulder giving their final bows.

 

When the applause died down, the actors all came down from the stage to interact with the fans. Flaire and Stage stood beside each other as their characters, chatting with ponies most of whom wanted to congratulate them on their portrayals of their characters, or on their skilful singing despite not having done a musical before.

 

One pony came up to speak to Flaire "Dramatic Flaire?" she asked to which Flaire diverted his attention and replied in Teresa's voice "Yes, that's me." he cleared his throat and continued in his own voice, still donning the colors of his character "Sorry. Yes, that's me." The pony smiled "I don't know how you do that. Your voices are so perfect! If I remember correctly, the last time you visited, you played Princess Twilight?" she asked, to which Flaire nodded "That was one of my favorite roles to play." He adopted the princess's voice and quoted her " 'There will always be darkness in the world, but there will also always be those who find the light!' " The pony clapped her hooves and continued "Impressive range! How do you color your coat and mane, if I may ask. Looking up close, it doesn't look like you're wearing any paint." Flaire smiled and spoke in his own voice again "Trade secret, I'm afraid. But if you come to enough of our plays, you might be able figure it out." he winked. The pony laughed and nodded to him as she left to let others have their turn.

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Flux was very happy to be here, though she could barely sit still through the show. She was enjoying herself though, humming along to the songs and smiling widely the whole time. When it was over, she bounced her way over to the meet-and-greet, still humming her favorite song of the show to herself cheerfully. The changeling was, despite being one of the kinds that didn’t need to hide anymore, in her typical purple unicorn form. She had spent years hiding behind this form, and she hadn’t broken that habit yet. 
 

“Hiya! I’m Flux, nice to meet you all! That was a great show!” She said happily, bouncing in place a bit in front of the actors and smiling widely at them. “Especially you, Flaire, great job! And whoever did your costuming, assuming it was somepony else.”

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Stage Lights spoke first "Why thank you, Miss Flux! We all work very hard to make sure our performances are as perfect as they could be! I didn't get as much practice as my actors, so my singing was a bit off." he laughed "Flaire is definitely our star! He's a talent all his own." he nudged Flaire and smiled

 

Flaire laughed "Hey, you did just as good as me, Director. Besides, the others were all great. As for my costume," he gestured to the dress he was wearing "we get custom costumes from a seamstress in Manehattan. I usually play the lead female roles because of my feminine physique." he closed his eyes and adopted his character's voice again "And I can do the voices pretty well, anyway, if I do say so myself." when his eyes opened again, they'd changed from his character's green to his own blue color, as he was starting to lose focus on his still shifted colors. "Acting is my passion. I'm glad that you enjoyed my performance." he smiled at the unicorn.

 

// I was just reading old rps and realised I'm playing Stage Lights differently than I have in past.... I'm too lazy to fix what I've already typed, but if he speaks again, I'll do it right. lol just thought I'd say why he's changing suddenly lol //

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Flux kept bouncing happily as the two responded to her, watching them. It was interesting how Flaire could get their voice to change so much, but that was just a fun talent as far as she knew. The change in eye color, however, was a bit more interesting, and it gave her a bit of a pause as she tried to figure it out. 
 

“How’d you do that? The eye color thing?” She asked, tilting her head questioningly. She kinda hoped she had found another changeling friend, but she would like to be friends with them even if it was just illusion magic. 

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Flaire puzzled for a second then laughed a little "Oh, did I lose my eyes? That happens, sometimes. Too bad the other pony didn't stick around a little longer, her question is about to be answered." he reached back and undid the hair tie holding his braid in and his mane began to recede to its normal length. Then he focused to shift the colors in his coat and mane so that it faded from top to bottom changing from dark orange and yellow to a semi-dark grey and neutral purple color while he shook his head to get the braid out. he sighed with relief and stretched his hooves to scattered applause from the one or two ponies who were watching. "Tada!" he said in a tone that sort of half mocked himself.

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He bowed and laughed. "That's right. That's right. Try to contain your amazement." then he smiled at the unicorn "It's okay to ask questions, I get them all the time. I'm sure nothing you have for me will come as too much of a shock." he chuckled. "I've heard them all." and he winked.

 

Meanwhile, Stage stood beside him and just shook his head smiling in a "That is Flaire, for you" type manner. 

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Flux watched the transformation with wide eyes, clapping as it finished like Flaire was putting on another show. She smiled happily, giggling slightly for a moment before she put her hoof to her chin in thought. 

 

"Are you some kind of special changeling? I've never seen pony magic do that before." She asked curiously, looking him over a bit. He certainly looked like a pony, but if he was a changeling he could look like anything he wanted. That'd be pretty cool though, to make another changeling friend. She giggled again, thinking about if she should drop her disguise or not.

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He smiled. That was a pretty common first question. "I'm only half changeling. It used to be more risky for me to reveal that, but ever since Queen Chrysalis was first defeated, I've been able to really let my guard down." he frowned "It wasn't too long ago, tho, that I've had some.... unsavory reactions." after a second, he shook himself away from those thoughts and smiled "It certainly doesn't hurt my acting career, right Director?" he nudged Stage Lights who had  gotten engrossed talking with somepony else. He looked over at Flaire "Yes? You are speaking with me?" Flaire just laughed "I have missed a ponish joke, again? I am sorry." Flaire patted him on the shoulder "You're fine, Director. I was just saying my changeling abilities were helpful in acting." Stage smiled "I knew from the moment I saw him in Manehattan, years ago, that he would be a star, one day." he looked at Flaire "And just look at how far you have come. Je suis fier, Dramatic Flaire, I am proud." Flaire blushed and looked away "Anyway, all I can do, really, is change my colors and voice, but it comes in handy all the time." he smiled and looked at the unicorn again.

 

// French translation: Je suis fier = I am proud //

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“Oh? No need to worry about that with me! As long as you’re nice, I’ll be your friend no matter what race you are! Besides, it’d be pretty silly for me to shun you just because you’re half-changeling.” Flux giggled, smiling warmly at him. She didn’t really think about what that statement might imply, not that she was thinking about hiding anything anyways. “You’re right, those abilities are super helpful for an actor! I’d try, but I’m not sure I could sit still long enough to learn the lines. That improv stuff seems like it’d be fun though.” She smiled happily, bouncing in place again. 

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Flaire began to wonder about this unicorn. Some of the things she was saying  gave him an impression that he just couldn't shake. He didn't want to make any assumptions, and he felt like just asking would be rude and kind of out of nowhere, but he wanted to know. He was busy thinking of way he could get her to say more things that would let him know what he wanted to know when Stage spoke up saying simply "Oh,  you are a changeling, perhaps? Yes?" he looked at Flaire "Quoi? I thought it was an appropriate question. Do you not?" he asked in response to the look Flaire gave him, but then Flaire looked back at the unicorn also interested in the answer

 

// French translation: Quoi = what //

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Flux kept bouncing in place happily, humming along to a song only she seemed to hear. When Stage spoke up with his questions, she stopped humming with a "huh?" Tilting her head for a moment, she looked like she was trying to remember something before giggling to herself and dropping the disguise, revealing the reformed changeling underneath. She was still very purple, just with some gradients into pink at places.

 

"Silly me, I keep forgetting I don't need to do that anymore! Yep, I'm a changeling! Sorry about the disguise, guess I haven't broken that habit yet." She giggled again, still smiling happily at the two.

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Stage smiled and clapped his hooves excitedly "Se magnifique! Flaire, mon vieux! It is your opportunity, non?" he slapped Flaire on the back, but he just looked at him and gave a half smile. "I-I.... suppose...." he regarded the changeling with some confusion, mostly confusion with his own feelings. He looked down. "I'm.... sorry, I..." he looked back up at Flux "I know that you all changed.... and.... it's just...." He looked at Stage. Stage looked at him much like a father looks at his son who's having a difficult time,  and spoke up "Oh, mon chou.... you must excuse Flaire. He has poor history caused him by the actions of the changelings, as led by your former queen Would you like to come speak backstage?" he gestured to the caravan-stage that was behind them. 

 

// French translations:

Se Magnifique = that's magnificent

mon vieux = my friend (essentially)

non = no

mon chou = my child (essentially) //

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  • 2 weeks later...

Flux’s smile faded a bit and she stopped bouncing as she began sensing Flaire’s feelings. She tilted her head at his words, confused as well until Stage explained things. At that point, her expression saddened for a moment before Stage asked if she wanted to talk backstage. She nodded, letting the two lead her over there. 
 

“I haven’t been a part of a hive since Shining Armor’s wedding, I think it was. I remember hearing about it afterwards, once I woke up and wandered into a town. I don’t remember what my life was before that, but I am sorry if I was a part of what happened to you.” She said once they were backstage, sitting down and watching them. 

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" "

Flaire sighed "It's.... not your fault.... not personally, anyway." he frowned. He looked up at the changeling. He was honestly not sure what he expected, upon meeting a changeling. "I-I uh...." he scratched the back of his head "I have to admit... I used to hate changelings.... a lot. More than most." he looked down again "And then the reformation happened, and I had to face the fact that... I might meet you, one day." he looked at her again seeming to be searching for some kind of answers to his questions in her eyes "I... I know it's not your fault..." he frowned and said the next part with a fair bit of venom "It's not even Queen Chrysalis' fault, really." he took a deep breath and looked off in the distance "Kids can be cruel, sometimes...." he said distantly.

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Flux listened silently as Flaire spoke, taking in what he said with a serious expression. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say after it was all said and done, so she simply nodded and gave an affirmative noise. There wasn’t really anything to say to that, not that she could think of anyways. She let the moment pass in silence, giving a small sigh afterwards. 
 

“Well, I can’t make you get over your feelings towards changelings, but hopefully you do someday. Just like ponies, there are many good ones out there, but you still need to watch out for the bad.” She said, looking over at Flaire. 

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" "

Flaire smiled "You're right about that. Sorry about my reactions. I generally try to be fair to others. Celestia knows I've had my fair share prejudice. I don't want to put that on others, too. You know, Stage Lights wasn't wrong. Meeting a 'real' changeling is an opportunity for me. I never really had anypony who really understood where I come from. My mom has tried to answer questions before, but.... she doesn't really know much either." he frowned again "...and... y'know, i never met the stallion who gave me my.... abilities." he looked back at Flux again "Sorry to unload on you, like this." he smiled "Maybe... we can be friends?" he hesitated for only a split second before offering his hoof. 

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