Coloratura rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she looked around her new stage at the sunny Canterlot Games Stadium. “I like it.” She decided with a nod of approval.

The stage-hooves, set decorators and dancers all froze in their tracks, eyes wide with shock. One stage-hoof dropped a pile of hoola hoops. One hoop managed to roll off quite a distance before awkwardly bouncing out of the stadium entrance and into the street outside.

“Oh?” Coloratura looked about uncertainly at the wide-eyed stares. “Did I say something wrong?” She asked, shrinking meekly under all the attention.

Her stage coordinator, a tall cream-coloured pegasus mare named ‘Light Up’, cleared her throat uncertainly as she stepped up to her side. “Uh-um, no, ma’am. It’s just—it’s the first time you’ve ever given us an opinion.”

Coloratura tilted her head to one side in puzzlement. “Is it?”

“Well, um, yes.” Light Up looked to her fellow staff members who were quick to nod in agreement. “Usually you’d have Mr. Svengallop speak for you.”

“Oh.” Coloratura frowned inwardly. She had always spoken and acted on cues from Svengallop and her personality coaches that it hadn’t really occurred to her that she had never paused to speak to her own staff members. Come to think of it, when was the last time she spoke normally with anypony?

‘That’s what that baker pony’s been getting me to do with his customers every day,’ She suddenly realized. It dawned on her how natural it had become for her after a week of his subtle coaching.

She allowed herself a little smile as she found her voice once more. “Well, he’s not with us. That just means I’ll get to chat with all of you more. Please tell me if you have any ideas or problems.” She gave them all a confident nod.

This was quickly met with enthusiastic nods and excited murmurs from her staff. Spurred by their response, she lifted her voice once more, “Alright, everypony. We’ve worked hard today. So let’s finish with a quick dry run of the first act and have the rest of the afternoon off.”

Her staff exploded with cheers and eager cries of ‘yes, ma’am’. One colt even threw her a sharp military salute. Their enthusiasm filled her with a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long, long while. Coloratura smiled as she took her place center stage in their midst. She raised her voice and let her feelings flow. She sang of joy and fulfillment, but most of all, she sang of pride.

It was with a spring in her step and a song in her heart that Coloratura trotted over to her favourite evening haunt. She felt a smile play on her lips as the donut diner came into view. She preferred to arrive before the evening rush, allowing her some time to enjoy her free donut and coffee alone with the baker at the till.

The door bell rang as she slipped through the door. “Hello?” She called out timidly as she trotted up the rows of booths towards the till. ‘Strange. Where is he? Is he out back? She thought. She was just about to take her usual spot at the counter when her snout twitched. An offensive tang assaulted her nose. She gasped as familiarity struck. It was smoke!

Common sense would have dictated her run in the other direction. But common sense seemed to have run away without her as she launched herself over the counter, earth pony hooves propelling her straight for the open kitchen door. She landed in the kitchen to find the baker standing by a pan fire. “Just a little hiccup. Everything’s under control.” He smiled his usual confident smile as he levitated over the kitchen’s emergency fire blanket.

“No, wait!” Coloratura gasped. The floating fire blanket knocked a large bag of flour off a shelf straight towards the flaming pan. The baker froze, his eyes widening in horror.

“Watch ou—” He managed to cry before he was silenced by 40kg of earth pony tackling him in the side. The two flew straight out the kitchen’s back door. He barely managed to wrap his hooves about her, curling the fire blanket around them both before they hit the ground in the alleyway outside. A split second later the door and kitchen windows were blown clear off the building by an eruption of fire and burning flour dust. The explosion rocked the very ground beneath them, sending pillars of smoke rising up in the Canterlot sky.

“W-wow!” The baker coughed and wheezed as he peered out from beneath the blanket at the burning flour dust and debris flaking down all around them. “We made it.” His chuckles were almost drowned out by the fire sirens filling the sky. “You saved me!”

“Y-your kitchen—” Coloratura gasped, looking at the burning ruins of his little kitchen. Firefighter pegasi swarmed the air with dark, heavy rainclouds.

“Eh, was planning to renovate it. Wanted to wire in some running magic, get some of the newfangled machines.” The baker shrugged, covering them both with the fire blanket once more. A sudden downpour drenched the donut diner and alleyway behind it as the firefighter pegasi got to work putting out the fire. “How’d y’know the flour would explode over an open flame?”

“M-my parents were millers,” the mare murmured, shivering with fear.

He tensed perceptibly at her use of past tense. “Sorry,” he whispered as he held her closer against him, drawing a soft little squeak from him. “Stupid of me. Shouldn’t have let all this happen to you.”

“Y-your hoof—” She gave a teeny gasp, noticing the scrape across his right front hoof.

“Oh, must have been from the landing. It’s just a—” He was stunned by the feeling of her little tongue on his wound. She held his hoof gently in her own as she licked his fur clean. The pitter patter of the rain on the fire blanket was all that filled the silence as she worked. She was so focused upon her task that she gave a startled gasp when she realized he was staring at her.

“I-I’m so sorry, this is such an earth pony thing! I forgot you’re a unicorn, you must have healing spells and everything! I—” She blurted in panic.

“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just—” The stallion paused awkwardly, “Nopony’s ever done anything this kind for me.”

She blushed brightly. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was his words or his look, probably both. Whatever it was, she quickly looked away. But there was no hiding her glow under that fire blanket.

“Looks like the fireponies got this,” he finally broke the awkward silence. “Let’s get you somewhere dry.”

“But your diner—” her protest was cut off by a squeak as she was abruptly levitated off the ground and onto his back in a burst of magic.

“There are more important things,” he said, peering over his withers at her with a gentle smile. “Could I please help you dry off over some hot cocoa?”

Before she knew it she had given him a timid little nod. She gasped, quickly wrapping her hooves around his withers as powerful muscles coiled and move beneath her, carrying them away.