Act 11: Learning from a Mentor's Show (part 4)


More excited murmurs filled the auditorium as the puppeteers made the Epona puppet "run" again. "Prince Leo took the egg, mounted Epona, and crossing the sea with his heart full of hope, journeyed towards the island where Princess Miranda kept watch over her sleeping subjects in the Enchanted Palace." the Dewott narrated.

The lights came up on the set of a castle exterior, complete with a massive twelve headed Hydreigon puppet. "Whoa..." Lita gasped.

"I can only imagine how many puppeteers you need to perform something that big..." Ruby agreed as she watched the magical rainbow sword batter the Hydreigon in showers of color.

"Maybe we can ask the actors once the show is over." Shimmer smiled, oblivious to the audience's cheers as the Hydreigon was defeated, allowing the Flareon inside the huge castle set.

The Sylveon smiled as the Flareon arrived in her room. "Milord, I rejoiced to see your victory over the Hydreigon. There is yet a more terrible foe to conquer, and he is my captor, the cruel Darkrai. Beware of him, for if he should kill you, I will throw myself out of the window onto the rocks below."

The audience gasped in horror at this, but the Flaeron calmly passed an egg from paw to paw. "Be comforted, milady: for in this egg I hold the life or death of Darkrai."

The orchestra struck up an exciting melody as the Flareon sang to the rainbow sword. Something I want to protect, something I can't give up,
I want to see, this world at peace... he sang.

Onward, my rainbow sword; strike your very best,
and rid the earth of this wicked spirit!

"Go, Rainbow Sword!" Lita cheered as the sword started battling the Darkrai puppet in flashes of rainbow colors.

"You can do it!" Ruby was equally excited as the battle raged on the stage.

After a few tense moments, the Darkrai puppet dragged itself to the window, where it saw the Flareon. "Ah, wretch! it is you, is it, who torments me!"

The puppet prepared to heave a huge poisonous breath, but the audience watched as the Flareon smashed the egg on the stage, "killing" the puppet.

Lita's cheers were the loudest as the Dewott narrated As the evil spirit breathed his last, the spell was broken, and the sleeping islanders awoke. The army, once more awakened, advanced with a victory cadence to the palace, and everything returned to the way it was meant to be."

"Aw"s filled the theater as the Sylveon embraced the Flareon. "As soon as Princess Miranda was freed from her prison, she held out her hand to her deliverer, and thanking him profusely, led him to the throne and placed him at her side." the Dewott went on as the Sylveon did this. "The twelve maids of honor, having chosen young and brave warriors, arranged themselves with their lovers around the queen."

Once all the Eeveelution couples were in place, a Braxien in the role of a priestess arrived. "Then the doors were opened, and the priestess and her apprentices entered, bearing a golden tray of wedding rings." the Dewott went on as the lights went down over the pantomime wedding. "A massive wedding was held, and the lovers united before their friends, their adopted families, and most importantly, before Arceus."

He concluded "After the wedding there were feasting and music and dancing for six months, at least, and as far as I know, they are still celebrating today!"

"Bravo!" Lita cheered as the lights came up for the curtain call.

"THAT was amazing!" Rio raved as the puppeteers led off the bows. "I wonder how long it took to rehearse the fight scenes?"

"The Aurora Players are very good at what they do." Ruby replied. "Once the curtain call is over, we'll get a chance to ask the actors firsthand!"

"Then tomorrow, we get to perform one of our plays for them." Lita reminded the group as the cast took one last bow together. "Don't forget!"

"Which play are we doing for them?" Sakura asked as the audience got up to leave.

"We're doing 'The Weaver's Son' tomorrow." Lita replied as the group made their way out of the theater and towards a meeting room. "I'll give everyone their instructions once we get back from the Q and A session."

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"Welcome, Moonlight Players..." the Sylveon smiled as the group arrived to meet with the Sylveon, the Flareon, and the Dewott. "My name is Irida...I've been performing with the Aurora Players for seven years now."

"I'm Aidan, one of the main heroic actors of the Aurora Players." the Flareon began.

"...and I'm Kaitou, and I mainly narrate and play comic roles." the Dewott smiled. "Thank you for being part of a great audience."

"What do you guys want to know about what we just performed?" Irida asked the group. "Or about what happens behind the scenes?"

"How long does it take to rehearse a fight scene?" Rio asked.

"It depends on the complexity of the fight, and the number of actors and puppeteers involved." Kaitou explained. "The large scale fights you saw take about two weeks to rehearse--first each individual pair rehearses their part of the fight, then we practice it together. We have certified combat trainers working with us to be sure the fight looks real to the audience, and we can do it safely."

"With puppeteers, fights become a bit harder, because they have to coordinate their movements to have the puppet react realistically in the fight." Aidan agreed.

"How long did it take to build the palace set?" Brenna asked.

"That took about three weeks to build, from initial concept to finished set." Aidan explained. "But that's not even the most complex palace set we've ever built. That honor goes to Keira's palace for the finale of 'The Nine Talonflames'.".

"To be fair, that is one our longer plays..." Irida grinned.

"How do you write the songs for your musicals?" Ruby asked.

"Above all, don't tell your audience something, then have a song about it." Irida explained. "Many times, a song can be more effective than dialogue at conveying a character's emotions..."

To Be Continued...