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.
