Last extra one for a while. Vignette - Favors · 12:53am Jun 21st, 2022
Oh man, school is a grind. I really dove in the deep end with this 5 week summer class. 
I'm able to push this vignette out to y'all though.
July 11 – Monday — 2pm
It was weird for Sunset Shimmer to walk into Canterlot High through the front door. Weirder than going to school on a Saturday. It was mid-summer and school had been out for a while, making going inside feel wrong. It didn't help that it was a nice, sunny day that wasn't too hot. Another factor was knowing that she wasn't going to be walking these halls in the fall semester. They would not be her halls to walk until January. Next year.
Yes, Sunset had been on school grounds since summer break had started, but that was typical. The school grounds were a central meeting place for many of CHS' students, no matter what time of the year it was. She had been inside the gym too, but they had entered through a side door and left the same way. She also stayed in the gym the entire time, not going near the main building or the classrooms, like she was right now.
What was really different was that she was there on a very specific mission. It was a two-pronged mission, maybe three, depending on if Pinkie Pie was measuring and what system she was randomly using. How Sunset felt was exacerbated by the warzone at Sweet Apple Acres.
Yesterday they had planned the bulk of their upcoming concert. The moving pieces had been locked in place because of their bountiful volunteers. Things turned sour after that and they were quickly made worse by how tired they all were.
Dash has predicted it; the setlist was a hotly contested topic. However, Dash had come up short on exactly how bad it would become. Sunset was glad she had to leave for a bit to complete this mission. They were often researching songs on their computers, headphones on, listening to them to decide if it was one to pitch to the group. More songs could be examined if they worked individually rather than as a group.
That isolation had a dark side. Backroom deals were being made to trade support or disapproval for songs. At least a dozen formal alliances had been formed between bandmates and all had been broken up by backroom deals that caused someone to stab another member, or members, in the back. Sunset absolutely wasn't blameless. She had taken part in several alliances and spearheaded the destruction of two. She was currently in one with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, but without her there to defend it, the alliance probably wouldn't be standing once she got back from her mission.
Fluttershy could be a fierce fighter when tested and when she wasn't afraid to get personal. It was a very different side than they had ever seen from her. It was vastly different from how she got angry. Fluttershy knew how to destroy enemy alliances and she had stabbed her own allies in the back more times than anyone else had. It was pure manipulation with a noble goal: to produce the best concert they could. Sunset had a sneaking suspicion that Fluttershy was “shy” more so because she knew how easily she could destroy someone's self-esteem, except she was too kind hearted to do it under normal circumstances. Her kindness let her see the vulnerabilities of others, which could be exploited. At one point, Sunset would have exploited them, but she was not that person anymore.
The mission mattered more than losing the alliance did. It was time sensitive, somewhat more so than the raging setlist battle. Yes, they had less than three weeks until the concert, and they needed to decide on the new songs and learn them, however, they could battle all night if they needed to. Even if things went longer than that and looked like they wouldn't be able to start practicing in time, or the rivalries and backroom deals started to affect the core of their friendships, instead of the aggressive but still good natured state they were in currently, as lead on the concert Sunset could put her foot down and make a final executive decision on everything if she had to. Principal Celestia wasn't in her office all night. Sunset had a much shorter window to speak with her and hopefully get some things rolling.
Celestia's office door was wide open, something that Sunset had never seen before. During school hours, it was always closed. That didn't mean you could not approach her, but she kept it closed for a variety of reasons. Sunset heard a familiar voice laughing with Principal Celestia. Vice Principal Luna was in the office, which made her mission a lot easier. It absolutely was not a three-pronged mission now.
Sunset knocked on the doorframe and was immediately beckoned in by a laughing Celestia. When she got a hold of her laughter, she asked a question Sunset wasn't ready for, gesturing for her to sit down with them. "How is the concert planning going?"
Sunset had to reset from the question as she took the second chair facing Principal Celestia's desk. "Actually, that is why I'm here. I'm surprised you know about it."
"I've been a follower of the joint account since the day after it was launched," Celestia explained.
"Me too," Luna added. "I actually introduced her to it."
"I'm surprised, that's all," Sunset admitted. With the two of them already following their joint account, it removed some pressure on Sunset. They at least knew the basics of what was happening. "It went well yesterday, for the first half of the day.” Sunset paused as she yawned. “We are all tired, working hard, so I hope I don’t ramble or over explain things, I just want our plans to make sense when I ask the questions I have for you.”
“Luna and I would be happy to hear your plan to make sure you are not missing something,” Celestia said.
“Thanks,” Sunset said, flashing a smile as she felt unexpected relief from hearing those words. “Honestly, yesterday backfired. The plan to relax and only do light planning after a tough two weeks putting the fashion show together. We thought we were wise to put out the pure basics, to start hyping people up, but if only we had waited another day."
Sunset sighed. She was tired. Tired of the arguments, tired from the effort put into these fundraiser events, and tired of failing. "Our classmates are amazing. After a handful of minutes, we were getting offers from so many people wanting to volunteer, we had to choose how we proceeded wisely. We didn't even have time to sort out the roles we needed before the offers began to pour in. We have the moving pieces secured with some things to finish out, but we are out of ways to use the volunteers. Having two bands with us is amazing.”
"That will certainly help how the concert is viewed by prospective audience members," Luna stated.
"We didn't ask, they offered," Sunset stated. "And those offers were just as fast as the others were. We are very happy and grateful to have them on board. The concert has a goal, outside of fundraising. We want it to be an accessible community event that is family friendly, able to be attended by everyone of all ages and to end before eight that night for the kids. That includes making sure song content is appropriate to a six-year old. Promoting it is going to be key and we are getting the team finalized.”
"That is an admirable goal," Celestia said. "I like it. It should help draw in a large crowd. I read on the account that it's being held at the Canterlot Amphitheater?"
"Yeah, we booked the Amphitheatre about halfway through getting everything else sorted out," Sunset explained. "So not the school this time. We won't need someone to unlock it and watch over the event."
"It's a much better location than anywhere at the school," Luna stated. "Especially to bring in a crowd like you want."
"Exactly," Sunset nodded. "Which brings me to why I am here. The concert was my idea, so I'm lead on it. We have a few favors to ask both of you." Both Celestia and Luna perked up at this. "The first thing is, we were hoping you would send out a mass email to CHS alumni, inviting them to come out?"
"Sure," Celestia nodded. "I can do that. Send me what you want sent and I will take care of it. That way it comes from my school email address, which they already know. That increases the likelihood they will open it. Most of our alumni live in Canterlot or the surrounding area."
"That's perfect," Sunset said, smiling. That was one thing down, but it was the easiest thing to ask. "I'll have an email for you by Wednesday. We currently are in…discussions about the setlist. We have to expand our song repertoire to cover the time we want to be performing. Bigger and longer is one of our goals. We want the concert to be seen as a great value, not cheap. People don't like cheap live music, and our fliers are going to be designed to reflect that. They will also have the suggested donation price but that it’s 'donate what you can'. Flexibility for everyone's financial situation.
"Anyway, my point is, there will be at least one moment where we will need to take a step back for a breather, however, we want to have the crowd to always be engaged. That downtime is for us and may be crucial as we change sets. Instead of bringing out a supporting act for a song or two, we decided the better idea is to have someone give the crowd an update on our progress for reaching our goal for that evening. We still want to fundraise all of the cost of the program, but the goal for the evening is the other twenty-five percent we are required to. We will have a thermometer gauge for people to see with the goal that can be filled in.
"Our other fundraisers have not allowed us to update donors because we didn’t know until the event was over what our tally was. The supporting acts really help here too. By the time we do the donation update, everyone will have been in their seats for a while, allowing us to know exactly how much was raised. It also will give them the opportunity to donate more if they want to."
"I suggest that you have the gauge also show the total needed for full coverage of the program, individually and as a group,” Luna said. "You are correct, you have not had the opportunity before this event and doing the update is wise. That flexibility for them to donate again is an opportunity you can't waste, even though you are not directly asking for a second donation."
Sunset nodded and continued. "We will add that. We need someone, or a pair, we trust and who knows us well enough to properly speak for us when giving the update. Also, someone that the crowd will find appropriate. We know you have been keeping track of our progress and it seems like beyond what the program requires of you. You also know us very well and are our principals, plus this is a fundraiser for an academic program. So, to make it plain and straightforward, we are asking you both to come out on stage when our break is planned and give the crowd the update. Will you do that for us?"
"I look forward to the concert," Celestia said. "I think we can do it. Luna?"
"It would be an honor to represent seven of our finest students in such a manner," Luna said.
"With that answered, I have one other thing to ask," Sunset said. This one was the hardest, but there was hope from their response to the previous question. "This event will require us to be backstage from the start. Before, we always had enough hands that one of us could receive the donations. The bake sale worked a little differently, but we were still very much present and not far away if we were needed. Someone has to run the ticket table taking the donations. If the two of you could do it, it would send a powerful message to the donors. They would trust you more than a student. You are mature adults."
"While your volunteers are children," Luna finished. "That extra trust may help some people donate more."
"We considered that," Sunset said, nodding and then yawning. "We want everyone to be comfortable with donating whatever they can. The suggestion is just that, a suggestion. We never thought people would try and shortchange us, but they might go really low if we don't give them a recommendation for how much the concert is worth. How much we are worth. Plus our supporting acts really add value to the ticket. It should serve as a great way for people to judge our performance and if they got their money's worth. Again, we want it to be seen as a great value, not as being cheap."
Celestia nodded. "With the price at ten, and knowing your skill and your supporting acts, I don't think you will have a problem with leaving people feeling like they wasted their money. As you indicated, it will take a lot of proper promotion to bring in the crowd you need, but we have never seen you girls take the lazy way or not put the effort in required. I think the suggested donation is a very good choice, but I am curious about what your other thoughts on the price were?"
"Twilight ran the calculations," Sunset explained. "She kept the prices simple so people could remember them and easily calculate the cost of multiple tickets. The other options Twilight highlighted were twenty, which needed thirty-five percent capacity, and fifteen, which needed fifty percent capacity. Ten needs seventy percent capacity to meet our goal. Not bad, but we thought the other suggestions would drive people away or discourage them. Especially if they can't afford those suggestions. I think the concert is worth twenty, but I don't think we can get enough people to come at that price. We've noticed people seem to feel embarrassed or ashamed if they donate below the suggested amount. We would much rather have someone donate a dollar and come than not come. People are free to donate more if they want to. That is the beauty of 'donate what you can’ strategies.”
"I think it's a great price," Luna said. "Maybe a little low, like you said, but you are right about people feeling ashamed or embarrassed if they donate below the price. At ten, it is low enough that people who donate below are less likely to feel embarrassed. Twenty would almost certainly make them feel embarrassed if they could only donate ten."
"I'm honored you thought of us, for both," Celestia said. "That you trust us to represent you and to take the donations. I'd be honored to also run the ticket table."
"Likewise," Luna said. “Will we be giving out actual tickets?”
"Wonderful!" Sunset exclaimed, finally having some relief off her shoulders. "Thank you so much. We are actually going to have tickets. They will have our joint account information on it so donors can follow us while in Japan. With seven of us, we want to have at least one post a day while in Japan.”
“Those are good tickets to give out,” Luna said.
“Anything else you need to ask?” Celestia inquired?
“One other,” Sunset said. “We also would like to once again check out the school’s portable card readers for the show."
"We will make sure to bring them," Celestia said. "Sunset, you seem…more than tired. Care to talk about it?"
Sunset shrugged. "We expected more rest yesterday, but that wasn't possible with the flood of volunteers, which is better than no one wanting to help. We were expecting to ask specific people to volunteer, once we had sorted out what we needed done, so we are happy we don't have to now. That's all good stuff. Positive.
"But then we moved onto the setlist. We are going to have to cover songs. We don't have time to write enough new ones. Saying it became a warzone is appropriate…but also an understatement. Everyone wants the same end goal; the best concert we can put on for the crowd…except that we each see a different way to obtain that goal. We can't agree on the music. The fighting has become…fierce."
Sunset yawned again while rubbing her eyes, "It's certainly been fueled by our exhaustion. As lead, I have a lot of executive power, but this is something that we need to decide as a group. I can set goals for the night and approve of themes and other things, but I don't want to force the others to learn to play music they may not be able to or don't like if I don't absolutely have to. It would mean we have the wrong energy on stage. I just wish I had some…direction to steer us."
"I don't have advice about figuring out the music," Celestia said. "But I do have advice about the situation. Take a break. You said you need one. You will be no good if you don't step back and recharge. Put the music aside for another day. Pick it up on Wednesday. You all love listening to music. You know a lot of great bands and songs to cover. By stepping back, you can calm down this unexpected storm and perhaps someone will have a breakthrough as everyone gets the rest they need."
"That is good advice," Sunset said. "You're right. We're rushing ahead because we don't have a lot of time, spurred on by the jolt we got with volunteer offers, but we are tripping, badly, because of it.”
Sunset pulled her phone out and sent a group text. "I'm following Principal Celestia's advice and ending the setlist discussion. We need to recharge, so I'm making an executive decision. Work on the setlist in to be immediately dropped. We will finish tonight's orientation, but then we will rest. On Wednesday we can start again, this time with calmer heads and maybe someone will have thought of a solution. All alliances and pacts are hereby voided. Any songs agreed upon will be revisited again."
"Alright, I texted them," Sunset said. "We are at Sweet Apple Acres. It's a bit of a drive to get there, so I didn't want to wait. I just hope they see it."
"Good luck," Luna said. "We have confidence you can do this with the right rest and clear thinking."
Sunset stayed for a while longer with the sisters, ironing out more of the details for their roles as ticket masters and fundraiser announcers before she bid them farewell and began the trip back. They had been in the barn and still were, but they were thankfully not arguing.
"We stopped," Dash said as she entered. "How did it go?"
"They are on board," Sunset said with a relieved sigh. "Fully. Celestia will send the email so it comes from her trusted account, they both are happy to give the update, and they both are thrilled at the idea of running the ticket table. Also, they will bring the card readers."
"Well done," Twilight praised.
"Has anything important happened while I was gone?" Sunset asked.
"Yes," Rarity said. She was sitting on a hay bale and working on her computer. "The graphics team just got us the poster. I'm downloading it right now."
It took a bit to download due to the large size of the file and the weak wi-fi signal this far from the Apple's house router. The image opened up on the laptop, but it was very slow to load.
“What size is this poster?” Sunset asked.
“This is designed to be printed at twenty-four by thirty-six inches,” Rarity explained. “Which is basically the same size as a movie poster. If the design is good, they will properly scale the images to other standard poster sizes. eight-and-a-half by eleven, eleven by seventeen, and eighteen by twenty-four. The poster sizes add or lose a little height between the sizes. Poster scaling is only by the width. You will gain or lose the bottom if you scale wrong, so they are going to send us files that account for that and can be printed at any of the sizes. They say it won’t take them but a few minutes to make those adjustments.”
“Honestly, that’s a bigger poster than I was thinking,” Sunset admitted. “I was thinking of just printing on a regular printer on basic paper. That’s going to be bad, won’t it?”
“How often do home printers streak?” Rarity asked. “A big issue is the paper, which is pretty thin. Trying to print a full colored image on it…you just end up with it soaked in ink. Wrong paper and wrong method of applying the ink. That doesn’t even cover coatings. Simply put, all paper is not the same.”
“Are any of y’all wonderin how we're gonna' pay for this?” Applejack asked. “Ain’t these gonna' be expensive to print?”
“I didn’t think this through,” Sunset admitted, sitting down. “Or rather, I thought I had, but the artists have taken this to a whole different level. I don’t want to not use them, after their hard work…”
“Color Wheel, the president of the graphic arts club, has been elusive about that,” Rarity said. “I asked her the same questions you asked, which is why I know all of that, and more, about paper and printing. Something is going on, but I can’t get an answer from them. They are aware of our limitations. The fliers we agreed on yesterday are sized as a ‘rack card’, which is four by nine, and double sided. You saw them and loved them. I don’t think any of us have a printer that can do double sided.”
“Our home printer can,” Twilight said. “It's becoming a common feature. It won’t be able to print those fliers, not to the quality they designed, but it is a nice feature for printing double sided documents, saving you some paper.”
“Color Wheel is going to be coming to the orientation tonight,” Rarity added. “Maybe some of the others in the club too. She…sort of invited herself, which isn’t a problem. While trying to understand how we were going to push the concert so the fliers could be designed correctly, I explained our tactics with using promoters, and she said it would be a perfect time to meet face to face, which, I of course, agreed as well.”
“I’m glad she is coming,” Sunset said. “We will be able to personally thank her and figure out the printing.”
“Picture’s up!” Pinkie exclaimed.
They looked at the poster. The bright red center faded to a thin edge of white, with more on the corners to round it out. The seven of them were standing in a V line, in an outfit they had worn while performing. Rainbow Dash was front and center with her guitar and Sunset and Applejack on the wings, with their guitars. They had used the guitar players to frame the band. Pinkie Pie clearly had a drumstick, in her left hand, and Rarity’s keytar could barely be seen from the pose. Above them said “RAINBOOMS” in the sparkly rainbow color emblem the team had designed. Under their feet in gold was “Fundraiser Concert” and below that, “With Flash Drive and Trixie and the Illusions.” The next two lines were “Saturday July 30 – 5pm to 8pm” and then “Canterlot Amphitheater.”
There was no mention of the suggested donation, but the poster was running out of room without making it look cluttered. The fliers would hopefully be nearby and the Rainboom’s social media account was easy to find. The account had all of the concert’s information pinned at the top.
“What is the gold thingy behind us?” Pinkie asked.
“That would be the outline of Japan’s imperial seal,” Twilight explained. “The chrysanthemum, although it isn’t just the imperial seal. Usually, it’s filled in, not an outline. Almost all of it is blocked by how we frame it and it is missing the second layer of petals behind it. That’s why you don’t recognize it.”
“It’s a subtle geometric pattern,” Fluttershy said. “It gives the poster a level of depth that it would otherwise lack. It pushes us out from the background, almost as if we are stepping out of it.”
“It does add an extra level of depth,” Sunset admitted. “The posters will look amazing, if we can get them printed. They certainly won’t look good using my printer.”
“Not even the school’s would do the job,” Twilight said. “Theirs are basically larger, faster versions of a home printer that can carry more paper. Or rather, our home printers are simplified versions of the office ones. The office ones came first.”
“We can solve the printin' later, y’all,” Applejack said. “It’s gettin' close to orientation time. We need to set up.”
“That I can agree with,” Dash said. “What do we need and where do we get it?”
“We keep the extra tables and chairs in here,” Applejack said, heading to a door. “For family reunions and all.”
Everyone went about setting up for the orientation. With seven pairs of hands, plus Big Mac and Apple Bloom, everything was set up with ease. They still had an hour, so the snacks and drinks would wait until they got closer. They didn’t want the cold stuff getting warm.
Without the setlist being discussed, they found themselves sitting around a table, waiting. It was good to have the rest before the orientation. It had been too long since they had chit-chatted as a group.
A knock came at the open barn door. Standing in it was a slender, baby-faced woman in dark blue jeans and a graphic T-shirt. Her bob was dyed a pastel rainbow. Her backpack’s strap framed her shirt’s graphic, a cloud beside a pine tree.
“Color Wheel, Darling,” Rarity said, hopping up.
“I hope this isn’t too early,” Color Wheel said.
“Nonsense,” Rarity replied. “You’re fine. It will give us the chance to talk. Come on in and sit down.”
Color Wheel beckoned to someone outside. A middle-aged man with a strong family resemblance to Color Wheel and wearing black jeans with a red polo that had an old-fashioned printing press embroidered on it stepped into view.
“Rarity, this is my father,” Color Wheel explained. “Type Set.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir,” Rarity said, reaching out to shake his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” he said as he shook her hand. “My daughter has a lot of positive things to say about you and your friends. You have made quite the impression on her and it sounds like at your school as well.”
“Thank you, sir,” Rarity replied. “We do our best to be our best for everyone. Please, come in and sit. No sense standing up, right?”
They joined everyone at a table and introductions were made.
“So, you seven are raising money to go to Japan?” Type Set asked. “For a whole semester?”
“Yes, Sir,” Rarity nodded. “We are really lucky all of us got accepted. We were not just competing with students at CHS, but internationally as well. I don’t know of anyone at CHS who applied this year, but others have before us. There are only so many slots in the program. You also have to meet the academic requirements and possess the language skill necessary for having class in whatever country you are going to. The program has a lot of schools in all participating countries connected to it. We had one last fall from Japan and this fall four are coming to CHS.”
“I would imagine getting into the program includes an impressive resume of extracurriculars and letters of recommendation,” Type Set said.
“Yes, Sir,” Dash said. “I was the last to get my acceptance letter. We’re pretty sure that is what got me to squeak into the program. My grades are solid, but nothing too impressive. I’m the captain of every sports team at CHS. I have to have good grades or I can’t play. I have to set a good example too. Anyway, I had great letters of recommendations, we all put in our essays about going as a group, and during our video interviews they asked us about each other. That also set us apart from other applicants. The committee knows we will have support while we are there. Best friends level support.”
Type Set nodded. “I played ball in high school, so I understand the requirements the school must enforce for its players to be eligible. You don’t have to graduate summa cum laude to get your diploma. You remember that, all of you, the grade isn't necessarily a good judge of the knowledge you have learned from the class, especially when there is only a limited number of questions you can ask on a test.
“I had a friend in college, his thing was history. He knew that subject so well, but he failed the first test. If it had been an essay test, he would have nailed it. What the teacher thought important were details his mind didn’t. Two approaches to the same set of facts and lessons that had radically different results when it came to the test. He now teaches history at the collegiate level and he tells his students that story on the first day of class. It also helped him shape his tests to be better judges of their knowledge.
“You girls certainly sound like you will take this opportunity to heart and ultimately use it to better the community. Color Wheel showed me some of the videos of your band. I’m impressed. You have skill. Music is something I enjoy, but was never good at making. I’m sure your concert will go well, if you have the right materials to get the word out.”
“That’s the big question,” Sunset admitted. “At the top of the hour we will be meeting with the volunteers we are hoping will join the promotion team, but honestly, I’m not sure how we are going to be able to get it done with what your daughter and the rest of the graphics art club has put together. It is amazing artistry, but printing them is going to be a problem. None of us have printers that can handle their details, let alone the size of the posters. We don’t want to waste their effort, so we are trying to sort out how to overcome that hurdle.”
“I thought you would say that,” Type Set said with a nod. “Yesterday morning, when I got up, I found my daughter at my computer, fully engrossed in a project. That’s nothing out of the ordinary, especially on the weekends, as the computer is used for rendering art. It's the only one powerful enough in the house to run the software and it has a drawing tablet. What caught my eyes was that she wasn’t drawing. It was texts and messaging while at the computer and that breaks the rules for its use. It is my work computer and those tasks are what she has her laptop for. When I enquired what had her so preoccupied, that’s when she explained she was trying to help you by volunteering her art skills. Then I learned who you are and why you need to fundraise. Quite frankly, I am impressed by the seven of you and I am happy to have my daughter using her talents to help others. Good art is worth a lot of money and many artists don’t have a way of knowing who they can help. Many charities and nonprofits have need of it, but never ask because they either don’t think of it, or like you said, printing gets expensive. If they can’t print it, why bother getting the artwork donated.”
Type Set nodded to his daughter and Color Wheel grabbed something from her backpack. She laid the flier that had been designed on the table. It was a high-quality print. Rarity was the first one to gingerly pick it up and look at both sides before passing it to Sunset on her right.
“That looks absolutely gorgeous and eye-catching,” Rarity said. "Everything about the fundraiser was spot on, our social media account info looked good, and the framing was perfect."
“I’d like to help you girls out,” Type Set said. “If you look on the back side at the bottom, you will see my mark. I own a print shop in town and I saw an opportunity.”
“Printed by Type Set Graphics,” Sunset said, reading the bottom. “In support of the Rainbooms' fundraiser.” Sunset looked at Type Set. “Are you saying you want to donate the fliers so long as it has your mark on it to advertise for you?”
“I’d love to help you without any strings attached, but it sounds like this job will be massive,” Type Set explained. “The only way I could justify doing this is if the posters and fliers have that added to them. It’s out of the way, doesn’t detract from your information, and I can justify it as advertising costs. Honestly, I need to do more advertising for the business, but it is something you have to constantly manage, so it usually gets put on the backburner. Your volunteers are about to plaster the city with posters, so why not?"
“That’s a tiny string to be attached,” Sunset stammered. “A thread really. It’s…” Sunset was at a loss for words.
“Absolutely!” Rarity exclaimed, accepting the offer since Sunset was speechless. “Sir, it would be an honor, really our pleasure, to use the designs of your daughter's club and your fine services.”
“I’m at a loss for words,” Sunset admitted. “Thank you doesn’t seem like enough.”
“Add in five tickets to the show and we will call it even,” Type Set said.
“Done!” Sunset exclaimed. “With these designs, we can really make this thing happen. We are not going to let the crowd down when we perform.”
“Wonderful,” Type Set smiled, extending his hand to be shook. As lead on the project, Sunset shook it first, then Rarity for her work with the artists, followed by everyone else. “I don’t doubt that you will put on a performance of a lifetime. I also don’t doubt that you will have the time of your life in Japan, while also learning a lot."
“Color Wheel, Darling, I can’t thank you enough,” Rarity said. “The designs are gorgeous. The club did such a great job.”
“Thank you,” Color Wheel said, blushing a little. “We were thinking simpler until my dad made his inquiry. He is the one who came up with the idea of having the shop print them and told us to go big or not at all. He wanted to meet you all to properly discuss it before we moved forward.”
“That’s why you kept it from me,” Rarity said. “I admit, I was getting worried from our talks and seeing what you were making, but you clearly were holding something back. The others were not until they saw the poster and realized how big you had gone. This is better than I ever could have dreamed. And you, Sir, thank you, again. I’m very glad you thought of the idea. We are indebted to you."
Type Set let out a laugh. “I’d love to say Color gets her art from her mother, but the woman can’t draw even a half decent stick figure. She can cook though, boy can she cook.”
“Um, Mr. Type Set, Sir?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yes, Fluttershy?” Type Set replied.
“Color doesn’t have any siblings, so why did you ask for five tickets? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t mind at all!” He said with a laugh. “The other two are for my two employees who will be doing a lot of the leg work on the actual printing process. Actually, it’s technically one employee and an unpaid summer intern. I have a few big designs I have due this week for customers, logos and such, so I won’t be in the shop much.”
“We will be very glad to have them come,” Fluttershy replied. “And grateful for the work they will be putting in.”
Type Set stood up. “Well, I know you girls have an orientation to do here shortly. Color has some more fliers with her and can cover anything else. The ones she has are drafts, of us making sure the color and coating was good, so a few are bad prints. That happens, but they are perfect for tonight's training. We will have the first set ready on Wednesday. I came separately from Color. I came from the shop and have to go back there for a bit, then home to work on those designs I mentioned. You all have a good evening. It was a pleasure meeting you and I am happy that I can be helping you out in this way.”
They bid him farewell and thanked him again.
Sunset turned to Color Wheel. “Color, your dad is cool. Amazing really."
“Thanks,” Color Wheel said. “I was explaining who you were and such while I worked on the first draft of your name emblem. I knew we could use the outline no matter what we printed it on. That was when he said that he would love to help, depending on how many you would need printed, and then it all clicked for him. He is good like that, a quick thinker, on top of being an artist.
“He went to school for art, but the market for what he likes to do is…well basically it's non-existent. He needed a stable job after the degree and stumbled into working for someone who did signs. He made so many horrible signs because people didn’t know what they were doing. Out of that pain, and necessity, he decided to open his own graphics studio. Having the printing services along with designs allows him to do most things for customers, and plenty of people come in for printing needs that don’t require him to make graphics. The people who just need his copiers are the bulk of his business.
“Still, I know it takes a lot for him to operate and he doesn’t have much of a profit margin. Otherwise he would have another employee or two. His biggest issue is competing with the big business print shops that are popping up. There used to be a handful of print shops and sign makers in the city. Now it seems like every package delivery service does printing as well. They can undercut his costs for printing on a lot of things, pulling away his main customer base."
“And that’s where people think of first,” Rarity finished. “I know how that feels. Boutique fashion has the same problem. Quality works of art trying to compete with mass production. When you have to spend all of your time working on the art, you can’t advertise like you should. You also typically have to flip that profit back into the business for supplies, not advertising.”
“Exactly,” Color Wheel nodded. “I love doing art, specifically working with pastel chalks, but there is little market for that. I’ve seen my dad do them, but I have never done emblem graphics before. I enjoyed doing yours and playing with the colors. Once I had the design, I came up with a dozen different color schemes. A few were gold, to fit with the rest of the lettering, and I was playing with the lighting angle. The others were rainbows, but then you start asking questions like pastel or bold colors for the rainbow? Sharp or blended color transitions? What angle for the rainbow? Does the rainbow repeat? If it does, how many times? Where is the light coming from? How much sparkle? How do you not let the red in the rainbow blend into the red background? I think you get the picture.”
“I do, I do,” Rarity nodded. “Wonderful work on it. I really do love it. You can’t tell it was your first one. There is just enough sparkle to it, without it being glitter.”
“Thank you,” Color Wheel said. “I’ll make sure to send that file to you, all of them, for you to use. With my dad owning the graphics company, and how much I enjoyed doing the emblem, it really made me think about following in his footsteps. It’s not something I had really considered, outside the fact that it would be fun to work with my dad, but now I see where I could be doing more than running the copiers for him.”
“If either of my parents were in the fashion industry, I absolutely would follow them,” Rarity said. “Of course, they would have to be into fashion in the first place.”
“Rarity,” Sunset said. “We have to finish setting up. Everyone will start arriving in about ten minutes. No need to stop talking with Color. We can cover it. And thanks, Color, we appreciate it. All of it.”
"Ah yes," Rarity sighed. "Orientation. I look somewhat forward to that. It will be much better having these copies of the fliers. I'll be busy making our outfits while they canvas the city. We still haven't settled on a setlist and the war over songs caused Sunset to put us in a timeout to cool down and rethink the approach to that problem."
"You have solved so many others, I am certain you will figure it out," Color Wheel encouraged. “The whole school is behind you because we believe in you. We know you will come up with something amazing.”
Reads out pretty good. Setting up for events is always a challenge.
And ominous foreshadowing is ominous. It's always the nice ones...
The idea is to make it cheap enough to get them in the door. Once they're in, offer concessions, merch, and have other donation boxes scattered throughout. If they haven't hit their goal before the tally, the people that paid $10 will likely toss in a couple bucks more.
It was always a feature. Just print one side, reload the paper into the printer with the opposite side up, then print the second page. The only difference is that modern printers can do it automatically.
"We had one last fall from Japan and this fall four are coming to CHS.”
But that, is another story...
cdn.anime-planet.com/anime/screenshot/k-on-6.jpg?t=1625761608
cdn.anime-planet.com/anime/screenshot/a-place-further-than-the-universe-15.jpg?t=1625853425
cdn.anime-planet.com/anime/screenshot/laid-back-camp-1.jpg?t=1625851185
cdn.anime-planet.com/anime/primary/school-live-1.jpg?t=1625753110
(I couldn't pick a favorite. K-On feels like it would make the most sense. Sora Yori already took their huge ambitious trip. I'm imagining Rin was the single student that just went last fall, while the Outdoor Activity Club took the trip together. And School-Live, because it doesn't get nearly enough attention.)
As for the song selection, the idea should be to pick songs, then cover them in Rainboom's particular style. It doesn't have to be a straight cover. Do you know how many covers of Senbonzakura there are? Lots.
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My printer always chews up the paper and it gets stuck if I try double side print this way, so not always the case.
It always nice to see an update on the story progress, though I'm only reading bits from these vignettes since I'm wanna save it for the actual story release.
Awesome post! I kinda wish we really COULD see the poster they got lol. Oh also..
did he mean to say without any strings?
5666369
Thanks. Yeah, I almost forgot about the logistics of the posters. That segment was the last written for the Music Arc. lol. But it is realistic. It is done all the time.
5666386
Man, if I had the time, I would love to watch that show and write their visit to CHS. I'm aware of how many covers there are for a lot of songs. There are plenty of songs where I prefer the cover over the original. I have friends in cover bands. It isn't always easy to change songs you cover and you still have the problem that where Dash is going to pick songs that won't easily be able to be converted and work for Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight.
Foreshadowing is fun.
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Yes, That should be without. Hmm. Passed multiple rounds of editing and three sets of eyes. I wish I could draw up the poster. It would be fun to actually see it.
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School has ground everything in my life to halt. Working on it as fast as possible.
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I'm curious...... what's the general idea or purpose behind this vignette? Something like a prologue or slice-of-life before they leave for Japan and end up in the SAO main storyline? Plus, setting things up for people in the real world and CHS before the SAO Death Match event leads to their reactions of hearing the girls trapped in it?
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The vignettes in general are suppose to be short slice-of-life pieces as the girls get ready to go to Japan (saying goodbye to friends and family, fundraising, etc.), and a way to bridge the gap between the Aincrad story and the launch of Ruby Palace, which has been slower than initially expected. To keep things flowing and the readers connected and excited, by getting some form of update. The vignettes recently got long and detailed (oops). This one is specifically setting up for the next one, piecing together their fundraising campaign.
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I see, thanks for the reply and clarification