Ballet Studio Grand Opening

Prima Bella hummed and put the broom away, walking to the front door and opening it, putting the stopper on so the studio wouldn't get stuffy and to also let ponies know to walk right on in. She took a final look around and smiled, clearly pleased with herself. And now, all she had to do was wait for somepony to come along.

Cloud Dancer hummed to herself as she flew through the Town Square. Yep, it was definitely certain: the ballerina was definitely in love. She had fallen very deep indeed for a certain stallion, and with the newfound emotions came a bit of worry. What would happen when she returned to Canterlot? Visits to Ponyville were few and far between... but he'd promised her to come see some of her performances, and maybe to visit her for a turn. That would be lovely.

Now, what was that? The cyan pegasus paused in mid-air, looking down at the quiet little building with curiosity. It looked suspiciously like... a ballet studio.

That must mean that there was a new pony in town. A new dancing pony. Sure enough, opening the door was a unicorn with a ballet cutie mark that was similar to her own. Both curious and slightly disgruntled, the pegasus landed silently on the street before her and approached the mare.

"Hello," she greeted. "I was just curious to see your new establishment. It's not everyday that little Ponyville gets a studio, is it?"

Prima scowled and adjusted one of the pictures from a Swan Lake production she'd done a few years ago and then turned, seeing a pegasus mare start for the studio. She put on a genuine smile and trotted over to meet the mare. "Hello there, and no I suppose not. But I liked it here and always wanted to teach after I left my company. How rude of me, I'm Prima Bella, who might you be?" She asked politely. "Although... You do look awfully familiar."

"Oh," Cloud said, blushing slightly. "My apologies. I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Cloud Dancer, an you might recognize me if you go to shows in Canterlot. I'm the prima ballerina of the Royal Canterlot Ballet. We do performances about every one to two months. I'm on break here in my Ponyville residence, but I'll be heading back to Canterlot next week. Your studio appearance came as a large surprise!"

She smiled at the unicorn. Her unicorn dancers were some of the nicest, and though they were floor performers, their style and grace was impeccable. She wondered if this unicorn had been the same.

"That's right! You were the darling little thing who played Clara a few years back for the Hearth's Warming eve performance of the Nutcracker. You were absolutely wonderful," Prima said excitedly. "Nice to see you again. Why not come in and sit down so we can talk?" She asked, shifting to the side and nodding to the door.

"Yes, that was me," Cloud said quietly, with just a hint of pride. "Thank you for inviting me in. You've certainly piqued my interest."

The younger pony followed Prima inside, barely making a sound. She stopped in the lobby of the studio and settled gently into a chair, shuffling her wings to make herself a little more comfortable. 

"You've done a wonderful job with the place," she commented. "What company did you belong to before you came to Ponyville?"

Prima took the other empty chair and levitated the tea set over from the nearby counter, pouring two cups and setting one down in front of the other ballerina. "Thank you, I'm glad that everything was built correctly, especially the floor. And I was with the Manehattan Ballet Company for 7 years, technically I'm still part of the company but I'm not doing many performances anymore," Prima said.

Cloud smiled.

"We all know the importance of a perfect floor," she said knowingly. Though she was a Canterlot pony at heart, she didn't touch her tea, seeing as Prima was a unicorn, and unicorns tended to have high standards when it came to drinking tea. Cloud, unfortunately, did not have a horn, and, seeing as that might be a problem, didn't attempt to drink it her way. She mused over Prima's posture and smiled again. "I was born in Manehatten. It's a lovely place, if you stick to the right side of town. What do you plan on doing with this lovely studio?"

"Indeed, landing after jumps can be quite painful on the wrong type of floors," Prima said, grimacing at the memory of practicing at home as a child.

"I'm sorry, do you not like tea? I can get you something else if you'd like," She said.

She noticed the pegasus hadn't touched her tea and tilted her head, thinking something was wrong. Maybe Cloud was a tea drinker. This tea set was nothing fancy, just a plain white and easily replaceable if it should break. Even Prima didn't fuss over drinking her tea the 'correct' way. She may be a Manehattan pony but she was by no means a high society priss.

"Oh really? Were you in the On Poite Ballet Academy?" Prima asked. "And as for the studio, I plan to teach."

"Oh, no," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Tea is fine."

She sipped lightly at the hot drink, continuing to look around at the studio. She was rather impressed.

"Were you in the On Poite Ballet Academy?"

Cloud looked away, setting her teacup back on it's saucer. "I wasn't. It's... rather hard to explain. I didn't grow up dancing; rather, I only discovered my talent for it when I was around sixteen. I was part of Cloudsdale's weather team internship. I got my cutie mark in the sky, clearing clouds. It attracted a rather large audience. They pulled me aside and told me that, though I was a fantastic cloud kicker, my talents could clearly be displayed in a dancing setting. Don't get me wrong, they weren't firing me... they were giving me a chance. I chose to audition for the Royal Canterlot Ballet when a dancer got injured in a stage accident. It's... strange. I went in with no lessons under my belt, but I was given the position despite having no credentials. One thing led to another, and I found myself as the head of the company at the tender age of eighteen."

"If you're sure, I don't mind making you something else," Prima said, setting her cup aside.

Prima listened to Cloud's story, furrowing her brow. It was a little odd that she rose to head of a ballet company so quickly, it was practically unheard of especially for someone so young.

"Quite strange indeed. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying darling but it's very odd for you to have risen up so quickly within the company, especially when you had no formal training and after only dancing professionally for two years. It sounds like you're a genius in silk slippers," Prima said.

Cloud blushed and set her cup down, half-empty.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that... I think I owe it more to ambition than anything. I ran away from home when I was sixteen, which is why I was on the weather team. I was trying to find my place in the big bad world." She bit her lip. "We just did a production of La Sylphide, and that required a lot of airwork. It's a lot different than dancing on a wire, because that requires a center of gravity. Air dancing is like the very sky is your dance floor, and instead of using your legs, they become a second embellishment, for positioning and balance. I had to build up wing strength for a year before I could last long enough in the air to do a flying show. We've done a few of those: The Firebird, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker... Though, I the Nutcracker, the Sugarplum Fairy was played by a pegasus named Rose Water."

She smiled at her hostess.

"What was your favorite show to do? Mine has to be Giselle or The Firebird. I love the classics."