The fun had barely begun and already colts and fillies were running about or spending time with their folks or big brothers or sisters, everypony enjoying the Foal and Filly Fair!
Mr. & Mrs. Cake had just set up their food stand when…
“Hear ye, hear ye!”
"The Ponyville Foal & Filly Fair…"
“...is almost ready to begin!!!”
Everypony looked to see Pinkie Pie (with balloons tied to her tail) and Cheese Sandwich (wearing an outrageous Haywaiian shirt with big silly sunglasses) bouncing by, and watched as Pinkie hopped onto the striking platform of the High Striker game, with Cheese whipping out a whacky hammer (from nopony knows where) and-
*SLAM/DING*
Pinkie landed with a bounce, giggling as Cheese threw away the hammer and then started juggling some rubber chickens, to the onlookers’ enjoyment.
“Pinkie and Cheese are soooo funny!” laughed Rumble as he and Thunderlane watched.
“Making everypony laugh and smile is their bread and butter, little brother,” Thunderlane agreed with an upbeat look.
“Speaking of laughing and smiling…”
The two brothers looked to see Blueblood coming their way, “I’m looking forward to what Rarity plans to contribute to the Foal and Filly Fair!”
“Hey Blue, so Rarity’s getting in on the fun too, huh?” Thunderlane inquired as he and Rumble walked alongside their regal friend, who was obviously on his way to Carousel Boutique.
“She is indeed,” Blueblood chuckled as he waved towards Sweetie Belle and her folks, Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles, all of them waving back.
“Rarity told me yesterday a client hired her to fabricate something special and today’s the day she plans to unveil the product.”
“What’s she making?” Rumble asked, excitably curious.
“I don’t know,” Blueblood admitted, “but she asked Spike to assist her, and you know how much that dragon loves to support Rarity.”
Thunderlane and Rumble shared a knowing smirk, Spike’s crush on Rarity being common knowledge despite the little dragon’s certainty that he was keeping it a well-kept secret.
The three of them approached the doorstep of the boutique, Blueblood giving the door a quick knock, and they heard a familiar voice inside, “Just a minute…!”
Moments later, it opened to reveal Rarity, who looked pleased at the company,” Ah, Blueblood, my darling, and Thunderlane and Rumble too! Come in, come in, you’re just in time!”
“Hi Rarity,” Rumble said as he bounced inside, followed by his brother and Blueblood. “Blueblood said you’re making something for the fair! Can we see what it is, please?!”
“As I said, darling, you’re just in time! Oh Spikey-wikey…!” Rarity called, looking eager.
Grunting, Spike pushed in something covered in a velvet tarp as Rarity dramatically flared, “The hours have been long, the work taxing beyond compare… But it will all be worth it when my client says those three little words… once he feasts his eyes on… this!”
Rarity‘s light blue telekinetic aura cloaked the velvet tarp, which was whipped off with flourish to reveal….
“A Puppet Theater!”
Blueblood, Thunderlane, and Rumble gazed upon Rarity’s creation, finding it to be an ornate miniature theater-like… something, with a purple and gold color scheme, with gems placed in specific places, pink silk beneath the theater-part which looked more like an elaborate picture frame, with vased flowers on each side, and some kind of feathery boa thrown overtop.
“Wow, it’s pretty!” Rumble awed, to Rarity’ delight.
But then she noticed the looks on Blueblood and Thunderlane’s faces. Thunderlane looked unsure whereas Blueblood was eyeing the theater with his brows furrowed, as he stepped closer and gave the whole thing a more scrutinizing lookover.
“Hmm… Mmm… Uh-huh....”
“Well, Blueblood?” Rarity was waiting for her beau’s stamp of approval, her certainty that he would give it beginning to wane.
Blueblood stepped back and, to Rarity’s utter confusion, he was shaking his head with disapproval.
“Rarity, my muse, my dearest,” Blueblood stepped up to Rarity, placing a foreleg around her shoulders, to her bewilderment-turning-to-despondency.
“I am afraid this puppet theater you’ve made is… inadequate.”
“Inadequate?!” Rarity was aghast.
“What’re you saying, Blueblood?!” Spike stepped up, looking peeved. “Rarity put her heart and soul into this puppet theater! Just look at it!”
“Please, hear me out, you two,” Blueblood kindly requested. As he stepped over to the theater, and made one of the wheels spin, making it apparent the wheels weren’t even touching the floor.
“Given these wheels, I assume the client requested a travelling puppet theater?”
“W-well, I- That is…” Rarity flabbergasted.
“And the theater’s opening,” Blueblood stuck his head through it, finding it rather enclosed, “there’s hardly any room here, and room is necessary for the puppeteer to show off his puppets.”
Rarity gasped in realization as Blueblood stepped back and declared, “I am afraid the error you made here, Rarity, was focusing on making the theater's appearance rather than making it practical and sufficient in its intended purpose of presenting puppet shows.
“Therefore, I am sorry, dear, but I cannot give this puppet theater a passing grade.”
Rarity began to tear up as Spike protested, “Obviously, Blueblood, you don’t know what you’re talking about. This thing… is perfect!”
“Perfectly AWFUL!!!” Rarity suddenly wailed, the boys in the room stepping back in surprise as Rarity went into another of her moments.
“How could I be so blind?! This is terrible… Simply TERRIBLE!!”
She reared up, bemoaning and almost fell flat on her back, Blueblood quickly magicking up a fainting couch to catch her, as she began to sob in utter shame and pity!
“Oh, it’s not that bad, Rares,” Thunderlane forced a supportive smile.
“Uh-huh! I bet you could make a better puppet theater and do something special for the fair!” Rumble encouraged.
“Muh-muh-maybe, but- Oh forget it, Rumble!” Rarity despaired, “I simply wouldn’t finish in time! The client expects his travelling puppet theater within the next hour-her-her…!!”
Her aura levitated a carton of ice cream and a spoon towards her as she began the hazardous-to-her-figure practice of stress-eating. The very sight of it was somewhat disturbing to the boys present.
“I wanted to leave my creative mark on the fair! And I’ve failed - Mmm... - miserably! Mmm. - And that makes me - Mmm - MISERABLE!! AhuhahuhaHUAAAUGHhuhuh…!”
Spike considered Rarity’s words before whispering to Blueblood, “See if you can lift her spirits, I’ll be back as quick as I can.”
Before Blueblood could ask Spike what he had in mind, the little dragon hurried out the door, Blueblood, Thunderlane, and Rumble sharing a concerned look. Taking a deep breath, Blueblood used his aura to wrest the ice cream carton out of Rarity’s magical grip, and levitated it and the spoon into rarity’s freezer and kitchen sink respectively, to Rarity’s protest.
“Give those back…! How am I to wallow in pity without my Vanilla Oat Swirl…?”
“Now, Rarity, you must buck up,” Blueblood gently insisted, “so you made a mistake, and yes time may be short, but you can’t let that stop you! That client is expecting his ideal travelling puppet theater in a while, and I’m sure he’s promised to entertain some colts and fillies with his puppets!
“If you give up, then you’re disappointing the puppeteer and those colts and fillies.”
Rarity wiped her tears, as the image of colts and fillies disappointed at not being able to see a show they’d been looking for filled her mind’s eye.
“Tell you what,” Blueblood took Rarity’s hoof and gently pulled her off the fainting couch and onto her hooves.
“I’ll assist you in making a new puppet theater, and I’m sure we can throw one together in time for your client.”
“C’mon, Rarity, you can do it!” Rumble smiled supportively, and that smile spurred Rarity’ own smile to appear.
“Blueblood’s a technological genius and master engineer,” Thunderlane added with a nod of agreement.
“If anypony can help you make a theater that will satisfy your customer in time, he can!”
Seeing her love and her friends smiling at her, believing in her, Rarity took a deep breath, wiped her face with a nearby hoof towel, and slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of her funk.
“So be it, gentlecolts! Let it never be said that Rarity didn’t give it her all!”
“Then let’s get to work,” Blueblood’s horn lit up and everypony watched as some lumber, paint cans and brushes, tools, and fabrics levitated into the room from upstairs and outside while Rarity covered the failure theater with her tarp and moved it aside.
“Sounds like you two have this well in hoof,” Thunderlane commented.
“We’d like to stay but the fair’s waiting!” Rumble pulled at his big brother’s wing, wanting to get a move on.
“You go on ahead, boys,” Rarity made a gentle shoo-shoo gesture with her hoof. “Blueblood and I need to concentrate!”
“Perhaps later on, we’ll catch a puppet show together,” Blueblood said with a confident raise of his brow as he saw some flatboards.
“C’mon, little brother, time for some fun,” Thunderlane led his brother out the boutique as Rumble said bye to Rarity and Blueblood.
The fair was in full swing with the many foals and their families filling the streets of Ponyville. Various games and stands were as far as the eye can see. One such food stand was where Thunderlane and Rumble stopped at first, as it so happened to be run by Mrs. Spice.
"Here you go, boys. Two orders of pizza muffins piping hot and ready to go." Mrs. Spice gave the brother their bags of pizza muffins.
"Thanks, Mrs. Spice. Your pizza is always so good!" Rumble replies as he accepted his bag.
"Has to be to keep you boys coming back for more. Now I won't waste any more of your time so you go on and enjoy the fair."
Thunderlane grabbed his bag, placed some bits on the counter, and waved Mrs. Spice goodbye. As the two walked off to enjoy their muffins, Thunder looked down at his brother.
"So Rumble what do you want to do fir..." He wasn't able to finish his question due to Rainbow Dash suddenly flying down in front of him (And giving him a mild heart attack) with a happy Scootaloo on her back.
"There you are Thunderlane! I've been looking all over for you it's almost time!" Dash exclaims as Scootaloo gets off her back.
Thunderlane fixed her with a stink eye as he clutched his bag. "Rainbow can you please not do that, you scared me half to death."
He slowly composed himself and eased the grip on his bag. "Almost time for what?"
"The event the weather team volunteered to set up. Me and you were voted to host that event remember?"
"Already? They sure work fast, I was hoping to spend some time with Rumble today," Thunderlane sighed.
Rumble and Scootaloo gave curious glances to both of the older ponies. Having no idea that the weather ponies were planning an event for the fair they couldn't help but think of what they had planned.
"Hey Dash, what event are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked fluttering her wings excitably.
"Sorry Scoots, you're gonna have to wait till we make the announcement to the fair."
"It was supposed to be announced and finished an hour after the fair started but i guess they finished early," Thunderlane looked a bit disappointed at the fact that he couldn't spend more time at the fair with his little bro. "But that also means you foals get to enjoy this surprise early."
He perked up a little when he noticed how excited Rumble was getting.
"We should probably head over there now before they start without us." Rainbow takes a look at the two foals. "Think you two can handle yourselves for a few minutes?"
"Sure can!"
"You betcha!"
The two pegasus flew off, leaving the two excited crusaders behind. The young pegasi started walking around the fair to wait for this special event to get started.
"What do you think they have planned for us Scootaloo?" Rumble asked, his wings fluttering, eager for some fun.
"Who knows but with Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash hosting, it's sure be awesome!"
The excitement of the two foals was rather short-lived as a voice they instantly recognized piped up from behind them.
"Well well well. If it isn't Scootafail and Fumble Bumble."
“Ugh…” Rumble and Scootaloo looked to see none other than Hotshot, their unfavorite pegasus classmate and bully.
The shades he wore only served to make his smarmy smile look all the more annoying as he whipped out a comb from under his wing and ran it through his orange mohawk, “Enjoying yourselves, geek-baits? I know I am, since I just won these sweet shades over at the skeeball stand. The pony running it even said I scored higher than any player she’s ever had.”
“And we should care, why?” Rumble huffed while Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“Oh, Rumble, envy is such an ugly thing,” Hotshot bragged, “i mean, not everypony can have such awesome wing-eye coordination as me. Which is what’s gonna help me win the-”
Before Hotshot could complete his sentence, a loud horn rang over the fair, and an equally loud (and familiar) voice sounded.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, colts & fillies of all ages! If you’re interested in showing off your skills and looking awesome all colts and fillies are welcome to participate in the Ponyville Foal and Filly Fair Race!”
“That’s right, Dash! For the next fifteen minutes, colts and fillies are welcome to signup and submit their names to participate over at the Ponyville Weather Office. Come on down and be ready to run because this is gonna be a Race to remember for the rest of your foalhoods!”
“Was that Rainbow and Thunderlane?” Scootaloo wondered aloud.
“It was!” Rumble wondered if this announced race was what Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane were hinting about before they flew off.
“You dumb-dumbs seriously don’t know?” Hotshot jeered, “The mayor told the ponies organizing the fair to make a big event this year! And… Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane and the weather team volunteered to set it all up.”
“And how do you know that?” Scootaloo asked with narrowed eyes.
“Heh, because my dad’s part of the weather team, who are the ones setting the race up,” Hotshot bragged, “and he’s told me exactly what to expect, so they may as well crown me winner already!”
Hotshot then launched himself upwards and hovered in the air for a moment while saying, “Smell ya later, losers!”
As the brazen blue pegasus colt zoomed off, leaving Scootaloo steaming while Rumble sighed.
“Oh, he so needs to be knocked down a few pegs!” Scootaloo’s wings buzzed, itching for excitement.
Rumble looked at his friend, smirking, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Oh yeah, we’re gonna enter that race, Rumble, and beat the horseshoes off of Hotshot!” Scootaloo declared before running off, saying, “C’mon!”
“Hey, wait up!” Rumble chased after her, following her down the road towards the weather office.